Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
‘Sallies helping people pay for rental bonds
The Salvation Army has dipped into its reserves to help people who were turned down by Work and Income pay for rental housing bonds.
Salvation Army policy analyst Alan Johnson said the people were all referred by Work and Income offices.
“Effectively they’ve just turned up and said Work and Income told us to come down here.”
“These are people who are on a welfare benefit, who would normally have received that sort of assistance from Work and Income.”‘
You and your Neo liberal nightmare Paul, your posting are getting quite delusional and repetitive, can I suggest you type happy news into google it may change your perception and quality of your links (that is if you. must satisfy your link addiction) I drove across akl today (football) and talked to a cross section of people, no one interestingly brought up the Neo liberal nightmare, nor did I see any evidence of such, strange that as based on your ramblings it is so pervasive Possibly it’s just in your head and on the Internet, so a virtual neoliberal nightmare, thus easily solved, wake up and set your google default search to happy news😀
and if you get sick, and/or old, or god forbid find yourself without savings, and spare cash…….some of these things money will not prevent anyway, so think on mate
Oh for chrissake! You really should be called blue delusion or better still brown delusion from all that nose-diving.
Either you are just pushing hard because you hate the pinkos, or you are completely out of touch with the reality of many of our citizens today.
The right of centre movement IS predicated on support for the business community in the wonky belief that trickle down will happen. It won’t, it doesn’t, it never has and it never will. That is neo-liberalism. It’s there, it’s happening, it’s a reality and it prevents those who can from doing the right thing for the less fortunate among us.
If you can do no better than latch on to someone’s comment and squirt back a muddled, slightly cheeky piece trying to sound as if you know better than anyone, then . . . . . . It’s this lofty condescending attitude about natzi supporters that shits me right off.
Darryl Evans, CEO of Mangere Budgeting in South Auckland, says on some roads in South Auckland every second house has additional accommodation erected – be it an occupied garage, a portable cabin with a chemical toilet, or tents pitched on the front and back lawn.
“Up until a few years ago, a family member might let you camp in the garage at no cost, as a temporary set-up,” said Evans.
“But now landlords have cottoned on to how desperate people are, and are renting out garages or Portakabins for hundreds of dollars. Our food bank – every food bank in Auckland – is under the most pressure its ever been.”
If those things happen I hope I would take a stoic and epicurean view towards what are the vaguiries of life. I would also do as much as I can to avoid such mishaps by educating myself, work hard, drink in moderation, don’t have kids I can’t afford, move if I have to, don’t smoke, exercise, try to avoid divorce, have appropriate insurance, and try not to be a burden on others all let other be a burden on me, but if all else fails be pretty glad I live in nz, a country where nearly 60 billion is spent on education, health, pensions etc and nearly 5 month of your income in wages and salaries is paid to the state to fund as such
I hear the first step is to take your moral compass and smash it into a hundred pieces with a claw hammer. Everything just falls into place after that.
RD – I see that your excellent education ran to such important skills as language structure and spelling. Well done. Forever sounding aloof and superior to all around you.
Reddelusion
I don’t know what individual you are using as your example? It can’t be you that people are not interested in. TS anyway, can’t leave you alone and individuals here always respond to your cries for individual attention and your jibes, and other malfunctions resulting from your depressed and tortured mind.
And under Labour that would do the trick, currently people are playing a game of monopoly, except that one or two start with $1000,000 and rush around putting hotels on all the streets, whilst the other players start with a hundred and don’t have a shitshow chance of all the things you so “proudly” hope you would do…get it?
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
‘Dunedin’s housing crisis: Sex for a place to sleep
Dunedin’s “dire” housing situation is forcing some at-risk youth to engage in prostitution to get a place to sleep, or to sleep rough in cars, a Methodist Mission survey has revealed.
Eleven of the 300 at-risk youth (aged between 16 and 20) who responded to the survey said they had engaged in prostitution for the “primary purpose of accommodation”.’
Refusing rental housing bonds all helps to limit expenditure on the people forced to the fringes, and accumulates so that the papers can say in BIG letters that there is a surplus. No-one but a sourpuss would want to downplay Gnats’ surplus.
What a lovely surplus you have Mr Key. Yes it is and I am very comfortable with that. It shows what excellent managers we Nats are. And of course we still have our welfare state not like other western countries. It is just leaner and more efficient now than under Labour. People sleeping in cars? More efficient. If they can afford cars I am sure they have an income that they have whittled away on foolish spending.
English on The Nation……..for those not up with the play……..the 8 years long National Party government has no responsibility, none at all, for the housing crisis. Indeed, still, is there a crisis at all ?
Would you bring up your kids with ‘responsibility’ models like English ? Or Mr ‘Selfie’ Key ?
Apparently it’s to protect the reputation of the motel, like the woman in charge of running the Otago Hospital gets an extra payment to protect her reputation, so they get extra payment.
So the owner of the motel units that look like they’re worth $90/night tops would say no to long term occupation at $120/night ? ‘Reputation’ be damned.
Another explanation is that WINZ are “clipping the ticket” or charging through the costs of facilitating the accomodation, and doing it by way of a loan to the “client”. One way of extending the budget.
I’d love to see the statement / invoice that covers the services provided for the loan. I know it’s cynical to think like this, but when WINZ are behaving like loan sharks by making emergency housing a loan you start to expect that the rest of the deal follows a similar moral definition.
Graeme
I bet you are right on that. WINZ order. Punish the bannies (short form of portmanteau of bennies and bastards.) Also indicates trend direction.
I sort of wish I hadn’t thought that now. I’ve spent the last two hours thinking we’ll see Payday Loans and the like called Social Service Providers, and lined up for a “Service Delivery Contract” by some fool nat in the near future.
“Apparently it’s to protect the reputation of the motel, like the woman in charge of running the Otago Hospital gets an extra payment to protect her reputation, so they get extra payment.”
I heard it on the radio a few weeks back, RNZ, will try & search later, but Motels apparently worried about housing the ‘unhousable’ & people not wanting to stay at their motels because of that. SO scaring their customers with all the beneficiaries staying there.
“The paper identified weaknesses within the current funding arrangements, including a lack of accountability for providers and no clear standards, insufficient funding, gaps in provision, and a growing need for services to address homelessness. “
“The number of homeless families living in hotels and motels at state expense — the last resort for Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents — has dropped dramatically since Governor Charlie Baker took office promising to end the practice. “
I’m wondering if the govt could buy houses on the market, rent them to families in a rent to buy scheme. They’re going to be paying accommodation supplement to private landlords anyway, why not to banks instead and get people set up for life?
“why not to banks instead and get people set up for life?”
So you’re suggesting a class of people for whom the government will step in and subsidize a house for, and people who don’t fall into this class will have to pay for their own house entirely out of their own pockets?
Yeah, don’t see that going down well with ‘middle New Zealand’.
As opposed to a class of people who are forced to live in cars? Sure, I can see why middle NZ would prefer that over those people being helped. Because we’re now a selfish fuck country.
But actually what I am suggesting isn’t going to hurt middle NZ, it would help. Like I said, they’re already going to be paying accommodation supplement to landlords, why not the banks instead? Or would middle NZ prefer to support landlords rather than young families?
The govt could front up with the deposit, remain the legal owner until such time as the resident can take over, and then get the deposit back if they ever sell. I’m just thinking out loud, I don’t know if the logistics work, but I can’t see the moral problem with it.
I agree it should be possible to find better accommodation for less money, but have a look at the reviews on that site. I’m not sure how many are appropriate for a family with kids.
as an ex homeless person i can state that anything is better then the street.
reviews are also quite depended on the experience a person had at an establishment.
I am not saying that WINZ should put women and children up in a hotel that rents rooms by the 30 minutes, but that most hotels/motels/hostels in Akl and elsewhere would be quite appropriate for housing homeless people under the banner ‘ of emergency housing’.
What gets me is that obviously $ 190 is a rate that WINZ would have ‘negotiated’ with private providers. Is that the best that they could have negotiated, or was that the maximum these providers can tax WINZ for a night?
I’m wondering if there is a rort going on with that rate.
The comparison wasn’t with being on the street, it was was with being in the $190 unit. I thought the comments were useful. Single room with only a bed, nothing else. Very noisy. Suitable for a young drunk man. Not great for kids. Those were the comments. I find it hard to believe that Winz can’t find cheaper emergency accommodation than that unit but a quick tourist search isn’t a solution either. Auckland people might be able to comment on whether finding something for the families in that video for less than $190 is realistic.
I was thinking things like Book a Bach would be cheaper if they can negotiate a weekly rate but Airbnb has probably pushed the rates up, and all that phoning round and negotiating would be too much work for Winz, hence they’ve gone for the option that’s easiest for them, it’s not costing them after all.
book a batch are mostly private and fully furnished.
i think with emergency housing it is actually easier if they are sparsly furnished as that would reduce the risk to the person staying the night in ‘breaking’ some old piece of crap that they then have to re-fund for full price and some.
But even then, a simple motel accomodation with a TV, shower, etc would be good for emergency accom.
Longer term might need to be better organised, i agree, but 190$ to get a person of the street per night when that person has no money is ludicrous. I guess even the housed person would say that.
And those room/trailer things with no insulation/water etc should not cost more then 50 a night as all you can do in them is sleep.
I also get the impression that we’re talking about weeks, not just a night or two, so the accommodation really needs to have cooking facilities and a decent bathroom and living for a family, esp at this time of year.
should have cooking facilities, but that article about the young women in the South Island, was simply a cabin on camp grounds, no water, no toilet facilities. Just one of these ‘rent a room’ things. She owes now 2 grand + for a two week stay.
You are right mauī, it does make it real. I am ashamed to be a NZer. There is something very very wrong with that situation, and this country has let that happen.
Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 3.3.1
Some things out of a spin doctors mouth- Alistair Campbell
“In his first meeting, he always gave the organisation’s top people a plain postcard, and asked them to write what their organisation’s objective was, and what strategy was being deployed to meet it.
“Nine times out of 10, I gather in a stack of different objectives, strategies which are tactics, or strategies which are objectives,” Campbell said.
“”I say to them, you don’t have a spin problem, you have a reality problem”
We have seen national all over the place this week, they should be all saying the same things or shutting up, but no it was talking over the top , denying things they had said.
Guess what Duncan Garner then comes out, as if on cue, labour has a Little problem. There is enough wreckage amoung national for 10 articles but he runs with nationals counter attack on Little, as though he thought it all up himself!
A few months ago, there was a discussion over whether there would be a jump in the number of Dairy Farm sales. I have lived and worked on a farm all my life (actually my father’s family have only ever farmed, right back to the Scottish Crofts) and I said that in my experience farm sales would fall, people just hunker down and Banks have a vested interest in not pushing wholesale forced sales. Most people were sceptical on my take and the Labour party leaders were certain that sales would sky rocket.
The figures are out, farm sales are half what they were last year. It is important to also note, that this is the only practical time to sell a Dairy farm. Why did the media and Labour get it so wrong; they simply didn’t listen or maybe even take the time to talk to people who live and work in the rural sector.
I also suggested the next big thing in agriculture was going to be Bees and sure enough the demand for land for hives is the hot item!
Not a dairy farmer, but can imagine I’d try to ride a trough out. And if I was interested in being a dairy farmer I certainly wouldn’t be buying in at the moment. But next year, or maybe even the year after, if prices keep bumbling along, then I might be forced to bail. And on the other side, I still wouldn’t be buying.
The buyers will be companies, not individuals, and they’ll be getting land and operations at bargain basement prices – economy’s of scale might mean they won’t need the same powder prices to be viable.
Well the sales around here have all been to individuals, the so called big companies are not buying much as their shareholders aren’t too keen! Prices are not bargain basement, due to the low number on offer…..supply and demand fix the price.
Our old family farm inland from Whangarei Harbour has reverted to Ti Tree and the apiarists and exporters can’t get enough. But still run some drystock.
“We only want a moment of prosperity again and you’d find that houses were in absolute, critical short supply. Yes, anyhow, what more healthy employment than building good homes? What spreads money better down the main street? We’re finding a lot of work for people today, or alleged work – they’d be a damn sight better building homes.”
police dog handler was attacked during what police say was a routine stop of a car in South Auckland.
The officer stopped the vehicle on Bairds Road, Otahuhu, about 4am.
As he spoke to the driver, two men got out of the car and assaulted him, knocking him unconscious.
Police said a truck driver scared off the attackers, and a passing ambulance crew treated the officer and took him to hospital. His condition is described as moderate.
Heard on the radio this morning.
Naive question. Why was there a routine stop of a car in South Auckland at 4 a.m.?
Was there an operation to catch an important criminal? Or to stop a known planned crime from occurring?
Or was this some police interference in the doings of citizens. Part of the in your face attitude that we see so much of with police waiting outside premises where alcohol is being served so they can catch someone over limit? It results in dislike, even hate of the police. I certainly dislike being stopped and breathlysed as I drive my car carrying out my normal life.
he campaigns to catch those over the limit are preventative and supposed to scare people into better drinking habits. They must also be very expensive and cost gold while they search for their gold of illegal levels amongst the mass of citizens they stop and demand tests from.
I would like policing to go back to reacting to crime, keeping an eye out for likely acts of crime with a view to preventing them, but not spending money on trying to prevent crime which often results in real events ending in disaster. It is likely these would never have happened if the police had not set up traps and interference with freedom of movement by the public. Their behaviour is ineffective and harrasses people.
I would like to see police have a goal base of working with disadvantaged youth and helping community groups provide guidance and personal control, skills of any kind to promote attitudes of self-worth with young people. This would be better than to spend taxpayer funds running expensive campaigns of surveillance that result in less funds being available for other policing, not involving roads and policing private vehicles.
I thought the police were still doing night patrols with 2 officers in a car. In 1977, a traffic officer, Barry Gibson, was beaten to death in New Plymouth while doing a stop in the middle of the night. The police union strongly pushed for, and were successful in making it mandatory for all patrols at night to be two officers a car. When did this rule become relaxed?
Mr Scooter
When did this rule become relaxed? When the Nats and their funders decided that being relaxed was the most effective way of running the country, and instructed their Jester to be shown being relaxed in every photo op.
“Stand up all victims of oppression
For the tyrants fear your might
Don’t cling so hard to your possessions
For you have nothing if you have no rights
Let racist ignorance be ended
For respect makes the empires fall
Freedom is merely privilege extended
Unless enjoyed by one and all”
Great edition of Waatea 5th Estate last night, Martyn wraps the Political Week with:
Leader of the Opposition – Andrew Little
Actor + Columnist – Oscar Kightley
Human Rights Activist – Helen Kelly
Documentary Maker – Bryan Bruce
discussing:
housing crisis, homelessness, benes forced into debt/paid to leave Auckland, the budget, and Bryan’s latest doco
a teutonic friend of mine said this about the keyster and his mates:
Well you vote for a serial gambler (that’s what playing with other peoples money on the financial markets really is, however well you try to hide this fact) you get a serial gambler. Throw in outdated neoliberal thinking and the idea that nations are nothing else than corporates. Voila. No brain. No common sense. We will wake up to a country where ripping each other off is a virtue not a disease.
Sabine
Sounds about right. For an objective analysis, what do we have going for us that draws ordinary people to come and live here I wonder? Is it that we are cute hobbits? Is it that we were one of the last countries on earth to be inhabited by man and it’s interesting to be part of a sort of TV plot in between Planet of the Apes and Lost and The Truman Show?
for the Chinese migrants that are part of my family, the green the space the good air.
for the Europeans that are part of my family, they met their partners on their big o.e.
for many others it was a travel here, and they liked the lifestyle, the jandal wearing laidbackness etc.
for some it is work, like my Malay Chinese mother in law and her US born husband
but for many it is now just an investment market. And frankly, most NZ’lers, even those who consider themselves rich, are not rich enough to beat the really rich of this planet.
So while we may be the first ones to suffer, the shit will hit them too once the fan gets started.
What goes around comes around. As for ripping each other off, i think that has been part of the NZ psyche for a while now. But always in an underhanded, slightly camouflaged way. Now however, after a few years of the Greed Gospel its ok to screw your neighbour, your country, your partners and even your kids, if it gets you ahead.
As one Lady customers of mine said, I want a lifestyle when i am old. My question to her, does it not bother you that your child will not be able to afford a house in NZ soon. That was the last election. No she is not bothered, she wants a lifestyle for when she is 80.
First the settlors and the Settlor Governments stripped the Maori of their lands, despite the TOW being signed in good faith by both parties, then we had the neoliberals stripping of our State Assets and the Merchant Bankers stripping NZ Companies, now we are having our housing stocks and land holdings being stripped by foreign investors. What we need to realise is, these actions are not reversible hence if something is to be done to stop this it needs to be done now sooner rather than later!!!
Eddie Izzard talks sense compared to what we get from Nat politicians. At about 3 minutes he discusses flags in a very sensible way. Then he talks about the advantages of WW2,not, and how the Japanese and Germans should be used a peacemakers. Just parachute them in and have them tell everyone that they’ve been there done that, and it didn’t work.
” A group of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts trapped in snow on a Central Otago high-country road last week planned on retrieving their vehicles with a bulldozer until authorities scuppered the scheme.” From the NZ Herald this today.
These are the people who went joy-riding in wild weather in their 4WDs and got stuck in the snow, and an enormous rescue attempt finally got them out – with the help of many volunteers. No brain. No common sense. Just like Sabine said above at 12.1 Silly, very silly, rich idiots. Mates of ShonKey no doubt.
And I doubt they’ll be charged for any of the massive costs of the rescue.
I don’t know Jenny, I don’t think snow was forecasted when they originally got stuck. I don’t think they should be charged not least because we want people to call for help asap, not put that off out of fear of big bills.
Their rescue plan for the vehicles does sound dangerous but there appears to be a lot of miscommunication going on between agencies and nothing reported from the group so who knows. I’m guessing it will be a while before the snow is gone.
My take on last Sunday’s forecast for the Otago hills was definitely not the day to be going over there. I go into Nevis a lot and wouldn’t have gone last Sunday just from the look of weather. I couldn’t believe it when I saw there was group, and of that size, stuck up there.
I agree what the big group did was unwise, and it should be a lesson for others to take notice of what the locals say (I’m guessing that if you didn’t know the area the forecast didn’t look so bad). It does look more like an accident based on thoughtlessness rather than out and out negligent stupidity.
Where this lot got stuck is just under 1400m and it’s not a formed road, rather a series of ruts and mud holes across about 10km of alpine swamp, and it’s as exposed as you can get. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s difficult 4WD stuff on a nice day in summer. The top of Crown Range is 1100m and a sealed road, and with a snow plough going past every 5 minutes last Sunday. Totally different situation.
Sorry, I put the 4WD group in the negligent stupidity category, especially taking children into that environment. There was a Snow Otago warning on Met Service website.
There’s a decision making process to leading trips like that which appears to be lacking.
Yes, Crown Range was closed last Sunday afternoon. Cars that were abandoned didn’t have chains. More muppetry, but normal for start of winter. The day before winter being shorts and tee shirts again this year, as normal, sucked a lot in, as it usually does.
weka
These people are likely to be those most likely to sneer at Nana State that makes an attempt to save people from danger by stopping things, putting up fences at dangerous places that they step over etc. and just care for its citizens using its greater information and resources than citizens do.
Then you sympathise with them for not using their own judgment and behaving as free-thinking individuals in a sensible self-protective and self-limiting.
And about paying, if they are not willing to pay their own way, using user pays in the neo lib world they aspire to, to the extent they won’t themselves pay to save their own lives then let them suffer the dire consequences that people who truly don’t have the payment for user pays. Money is what they treasure, more than their six and eight year old children.
They are part of a society stripping others of whatever is of value, in this case the spare or working time of rescue volunteers and their gear and vehicles, all of which need money to keep them operating. Others pay, but they who can afford their vehicles and travel, are given the services they require free as of right?
NZ neo lib society is into using other people’s goodwill or in a position of necessity and can be dragooned, to get them to give their time and stuff for free, for others benefit whose living slogan is “What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is my own”.
Thank you for saying that Grey. Unfortunately this incident, which could easily have become a tragedy, really illustrates the me me me attitude that’s taken over New Zealand. Reading between the lines of the Herald /ODT article http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11646650 it looks like it was a pretty blunt conversation between Police and the group, ending with “it’s a public road, we’ll do what we like”
I did a bit of reading to see what they could be charged with, and surprisingly it’s not much, maybe criminal nuisance, and that might only relate to them going back up there and getting into trouble again. I found this paper about the state of our law regarding responsibility for adventure activities http://www.otago.ac.nz/law/research/journals/otago036307.pdf Lengthy, but interesting read, particularly the recommendation for a new offence endangerment (p38-40)
It appears that the escapade was organised as a group of independent private individuals, to bypass H&S requirements. So there’s no organiser. Hopefully the ‘elf from Worksafe will be having a poke around their workplace, could be productive with the attitudes they are publicly displaying. Could be some interactions with IRD about FBT too.
its winter, and the Ski Season starts officially at Queens Birthday weekend.
Now they knew that snow was an option, but could not give a fuck.
Why?
The same state that they would not want to pay taxes too, would come and rescue them.
Many of the rescuers are voluntaries and as a consequence their families missed out on Dad or Mum, cause some dumbass could not be fucked to be sensible.
They should be charged full cost, so that next time someone thinks that driving a car without appropriate gear up a mountain in winter thinks twice.
And then they should be forced to pay dinner for two to each and any of the voluntaries that came to dig their sorry asses out of the snow.
But frankly any idiot that goes up a mountain in winter at the end of the day deserves to pay for their rescue.
These guys may have money, but they have shits for brains and no self preservation instinct.
disclaimer, i grew up in the bavarian alps and lived in the french alps for a while.
Mountains kill. Usually within the first night when people get lost without good gear and knowledge. These guys had nothing but attitude. And attitude also kills.
No, let them pay for the resources that they wasted, let their partners scream and yell at them for a while, and maybe that will then teach them.
Cause they obviously had not yet learned if there were trying to get the vehile/s back. Fuckwits.
And there’s plenty of graves along the Otago tops from the pioneer mining days. And plenty of more recent examples, some of them in the middle of summer. It’s a very beautiful place on the Otago tops, but quite high and viciously exposed. I carry the same gear in summer as winter, and have needed it.
Looks like the plods explained that they were going to be charged if they tried to recover the vehicles. Hopefully it penetrated.
And I doubt they’ll be charged for any of the massive costs of the rescue.
Not unless we got a libertarian government while I wasn’t looking. Fine with me – I’m in no rush to see user pays applied to search and rescue or the emergency services.
Me too. I don’t see it as being too different from someone playing rugby and breaking their back. The State pays for recreational accidents. We really don’t want to be messing with that.
the difference with a guy playing rugby needing medical aid, and a few guys needing rescues in high mountainous areas at night time are not the same.
Secondly, the rescuers essentially risk their lifes trying to safe the life of others. Maybe that should be looked for a moment, and again, i would like to stress that the rescuers are volonteers for the most part.
The one thing the state does not pay for is enough full time paid rescue and first emergency services.
So frankly, i think someone playing rugby on a field with medical personal at bay is not quite the thing that you want a high mountain rescue compare too. And yes, the high mountain rescue would have cost a fair coin.
and always to remember, the state is us, we pay for that.
A rugby player who needs care for the rest of his life will cost the State a lot of money too.
I get that the situations are different, that’s why I chose the comparison. I could have chosen a climber being rescued off a mountain, or a tourist being rescued off the Routeburn track. But I wanted to compare it to something every day and mundane and in completely different context, which we have no problem paying for. Milt’s comment was about user pays and libertarianism. Should rugby players who do something stupid on the field and ends up with a disability have to pay for that themselves, or should the state still pay?
as an aside, I’m really happy for rescuers to not volunteer if that’s a problem for them. Unlike with rugby, if people go into the outdoors, there is always a risk of death, that’s just part of the deal (I don’t mean the rescuers, I mean the people recreating), and while I think there is a reasonable expectation of rescue, I don’t think that that means that it’s guaranteed. I feel very comfortable with rescuers deciding where the limit is. The other side of that is there will always be people who make mistakes and poor judgements and if we start punishing people for that we make the culture meaner and less honest. I’d prefer we pushed the culture back to being wiser about risk assessment.
I do think that people aren’t as aware now, and I think cell phones have a lot to do with people taking more risks including with other people’s safety and resources, because in the back of their minds they know they can get someone to rescue them.
weka
The attitude that these 4WD display is that they have a right to do what they want with no interference. Who gives them the right to use roads and land to heave their motorised sheds over – the country, the government, the taxpayer? Thee people believe in individual responsibility when they are asked to pay tax to run the country’s services for both them and others. But when they need help personallty, oh then they aren’t going to take individual responsibility for the emergency costs and time required.
And it takes a RW person at heart to argue that government should expect volunteers to help spoiled or ‘egocentric-regressed’ well-off, and refuse to help poor people who can hardly manage to live from day to day. And to quote rugby is odd. The reason for so many injuries in that game is because of players having a similar self-centred uncaring attitude to others playing the game, amongst parents and supporters involved, perhaps attacking the refugee (sorry typo for referee, but not unconnected with the first word used.)
I make the point again that our guideline for the future must be to combine kindness and practicality in personal and nation-wide behaviour. It is not practical not to charge people living and wallowing in the market economy. Not charging them does not send the right market signals, and from the Courts comes the attitude of giving extra punishment in judgments – so as to discourage the others who might follow similar practices. The kindness is shown in going out into wild conditions to look for the lost sheeple. And the practical bottom line is that we are basically a poor country, we are struggling to raise the median wage, to do enough local business to provide living wages that enable people to have a life worth living.
the difference with a guy playing rugby needing medical aid, and a few guys needing rescues in high mountainous areas at night time are not the same.
They’re exactly the same, in the sense that they are people who need us, their fellow humans, to come to their assistance. What’s the alternative to a no-fault approach to this? I’m seeing one in which we effectively demand a credit card number or a cash deposit before rescuing people, or another in which search and rescue teams effectively decide who’s a dumb cunt that doesn’t deserve rescuing. Neither of those alternatives has any appeal whatsoever. Second-guessing the decisions of people who end up needing rescue services might make us feel better but it doesn’t offer any path to improvements in the service.
a guy going for his regular rugby game with his mates breaking a leg is one thing.
a group of people ignoring all advise to the contrary, even signs that say don’t pass beyond here unless…needing to be rescued at night time cause they got themselves stuck is not the same thing.
and yes, the rescue services can charge you, and sometimes they should.
and there is the magic word, sometimes. I never said that rescue services should be paid for by the person that is rescued. I said these guys should be charged.
So, another alternative approach is for some as-yet-unidentified official body to determine who “legitimately” needed rescuing and who’s a dumb cunt who should have to pay for his rescue. First up, this body would probably cost more than it recovered. Also, as Weka points out below, a fairly obvious consequence of this is people who know they’ve done something stupid thinking twice about letting someone know they’re in trouble. Another obvious consequence is litigation – opinions about whether a particular decision was stupid or not are just that: opinions. Opinions that involve money get disputed by lawyers. Is that a productive use of the nation’s cash?
There’s a reason why we’ve gone for no-fault approaches to divorce, accident compensation and search/rescue – it’s because the alternatives are worse.
Pat
Like the officials did at Pike River and after the Christchurch earthquakes when various paid services were needed, but not willing to extend themselves.
Pat
It seems clear to me. Volunteer rescuers need paid services to assist, funds for vehicles, equipment. At big disasters like Pike River and after the Christchurch earthquake, paid services were needed, there were volunteers for various tasks, but officialdom prevented rather than facilitated and assisted efforts. Another reason why volunteers might feel they are pushing uphill.
At Pike River the miners wanted to go in while there was a window of opportunity and check for conditions and possible survivors. The police vetoed that but wouldn’t go in themselves, and didn’t call for volunteers from the public or the Force. Officialdom unwilling to extend themselves, but imposing a blockade on civilian organisation and control.
And after the Christchurch earthquake businesses were prevented from going into the CBD though they could have been filtered in and out with 10 minute time limits to recover items of trade and office records. They werent allowed, the police wouldn’t do it. But salvage people could and expensive stock items were taken from premises and sent to Auckland to be sold.
It is different from saving people in snowstorms, but those above that came to mind make me think that the civil rescue systems in NZ have to be revamped. They are skewed towards rescuing the foolhardy and stupid. Also they shouldn’t be under the control of the police IMO.
i doubt Weka. When you need help you need help.
Fact is that already the services can charge for prank calls or someone lighting a fire that escalates as example. This can already be done.
But in saying that, i want you to realise that every time someone calls the services, fire, ambulance, mountain rescue etc, over half of the staff that will attend are voluntaries. Secondly, many times the services are funded by bakesales and the likes, and yes, thats what it amounts to.
So these guys being smart asses that count themselves better then those that are good at 4 wheeling in the mountains are wasting resources. Resources that they most likely don’t fund, or give a donation too.
Question Weka, when have you last given a donation to St. Johns, Wespac Rescue Helicopter or the Cost and Fire services. Because you know, many of us don’t actually think about how these services are funded.
And realise also that in times of global warming and weather weirding these same resources will be streched more and more. Storms, Floods, high winds, etc etc all cause damage and and everytime it happens resources are used.
No i don’t think that people will stop calling the rescue services, but i hope that some dumb fucks might be deterred if they know that if they got themselves in a pickle by refusing to head advise, warning signs, weather report, time of the day, and signs posted, that they might be charged for the use of the helicopter, the cops involved, the gasoline used, the re-reinforcements called in to keep the office and station manned while the day to day crew is out bringing them back home.
Mate, no one quite assumes as much as you do. And fact is that you have not addressed any of the other points i have raised. Why is that.
You only talk about providing a free service, and i don’t disagree with you there. You however do not speak about how that same services is a. manned and b. paid for. You just want the service to be available.
In regards to climat change how do you think that is gonna happen, and how would it affect you if we don’t have enough machinery and man power?
and you know what, at night when the beeper goes off, or on the weekends, or on the holiday periods, and the fire burn, or the earth shatters, and the wind rip of the roofs, i know fucking better as i live rescue service. its twenty four hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and this is another instance in which middle NZ has not got an inkling just how much they depend on someone doing something for nothing, and sometimes risking their own lifes, like picking some dumbfucks of a mountain at night time.
And this month our in house voluntary was on call 15 nights. That is only the nights, cause you know what, THERE.ARE.NOT.ENOUGH.VOLUNTEERS!!!! Nor full-time paid rescue personnel. it does not include weekly training nights, weekend and other duties.
btw. Weka, the fire fighters of this country, many of them volunteers today did the step challenge climbing the Sky Tower in full gear and breathing apparatus. They, their families and their supporters managed to raise a fair bit of money for research. That too is something we do.
so yes please tell me something i don’t know. cheers.
weka
Recreational accidents. I think that there was talk of a payment to ACC for sports so that they do make a little contribution to their extreme cost for people who are totally paralysed or brain-damaged. I presume that there is some payment made per player by clubs. Perhaps someone who knows if they pay ACC could inform.
Frankly, I thought they (the 4WD roaders) were fool-hardy. And them trying to get their vehicles out now just highlights that. The weather down south has been wild at times lately, and changes rapidly.
This is from another Herald story about the matter .
“Authorities and residents have previously raised concerns about four-wheel-drive expeditions on Waikaia Bush Rd. Deeply rutted and swampy at the Piano Flat end, it is understood six vehicles were towed out of the area last month. The road would be closed at Queen’s Birthday weekend for the winter.
Southland District Council roading engineer Bruce Miller last month said drivers usually got into trouble beyond a gate at Whitecombe. A sign warns drivers of the dangers. “Inexperienced people, Queen St drivers we call them, go up there and think they can drive it and they can’t,” he said……
Senior Constable Adam Roberts, of Riversdale, has been involved in several search and rescue operations involving lost or stuck drivers. (He) would not drive past the gates in his four-wheel-drive vehicle because it was “too dangerous”.
Otago Recreational 4WD Group president Graeme Thompson said the challenging track was not built for ordinary four-wheel-drive vehicles.”
They are the perfect analogy for NZ today. Going into a rough place towards the end of the day with the weather closing in, and being under prepared. But thinking they know enough and have the resources to get through.
Which of the following situations does this apply to:
1. Housing
2. CC
3. Health system
Erosion is eating away at New Zealand’s coastline, with satellite images showing the dramatic impact of its appetite on small communities the length of the country.
It has forced people from their homes, and caused councils to relocate public infrastructure away from the encroaching sea.
But the issue is a contentious one, as shown on Thursday, when the Christchurch City Council announced the team of five experts comprising the second peer review panel to assess Tonkin and Taylor’s Coastal Hazard Assessment Report. The move came after skepticism of the science behind the report, which identified 6000 properties that could be susceptible to erosion and nearly 18,000 at risk of coastal inundation over the next 50 to 100 years.
Thanks Pat – I had a look at a few pdf’s and it seemed that the complaints were that they had miscalculated on the high side not low side. Your link sorts that out ta.
Coming up this Sunday on #TheHui.. The story that’s dividing Aotearoa..
We have an exclusive interview with convicted trout poacher Thomas Tawha and the sister of his co-offender Dave Pake Leef.
Back in 1981 i was doing cash jobs for one of Christchurch’s many scarily right-wing Dutch immigrants. One time while a bunch of us were eating lunch he posited there were hardly any people opposed to the Springbok tour and the media was bullshitting us about it, because he didn’t know a single person who was against it. I refrained from mentioning that he knew me and I was against it (on the basis that I wanted paying at the end of the day), or from mentioning that all his friends were most likely racist wingnuts like him so of course he didn’t know anyone who opposed the tour (ditto). It’s a phenomenon that crops up often on Kiwiblog, but I hadn’t expected to see it here.
This is designed for Māori land owners to assist in land management, but the map covers all of NZ. You can set it to look at historic vegetation and see what the area you live in used to look like before we cut down so many trees and drained so many wetlands.
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
‘Sallies helping people pay for rental bonds
The Salvation Army has dipped into its reserves to help people who were turned down by Work and Income pay for rental housing bonds.
Salvation Army policy analyst Alan Johnson said the people were all referred by Work and Income offices.
“Effectively they’ve just turned up and said Work and Income told us to come down here.”
“These are people who are on a welfare benefit, who would normally have received that sort of assistance from Work and Income.”‘
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/305014/sallies-helping-people-pay-for-rental-bonds
You and your Neo liberal nightmare Paul, your posting are getting quite delusional and repetitive, can I suggest you type happy news into google it may change your perception and quality of your links (that is if you. must satisfy your link addiction) I drove across akl today (football) and talked to a cross section of people, no one interestingly brought up the Neo liberal nightmare, nor did I see any evidence of such, strange that as based on your ramblings it is so pervasive Possibly it’s just in your head and on the Internet, so a virtual neoliberal nightmare, thus easily solved, wake up and set your google default search to happy news😀
and if you get sick, and/or old, or god forbid find yourself without savings, and spare cash…….some of these things money will not prevent anyway, so think on mate
Oh for chrissake! You really should be called blue delusion or better still brown delusion from all that nose-diving.
Either you are just pushing hard because you hate the pinkos, or you are completely out of touch with the reality of many of our citizens today.
The right of centre movement IS predicated on support for the business community in the wonky belief that trickle down will happen. It won’t, it doesn’t, it never has and it never will. That is neo-liberalism. It’s there, it’s happening, it’s a reality and it prevents those who can from doing the right thing for the less fortunate among us.
If you can do no better than latch on to someone’s comment and squirt back a muddled, slightly cheeky piece trying to sound as if you know better than anyone, then . . . . . . It’s this lofty condescending attitude about natzi supporters that shits me right off.
you didn’t see anyone with problems as you sailed past in your SUV? just like John Key rubbing shoulders with average Kiwis in the Koru Club…
turning a blind eye to the suffering of your neighbours, good for you mate
*slow clap*
Eyes closed shut.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxFLanNCIAALuMe.jpg:large
yep … Auckland’s shame is known to the world, but ignored by the people who live here.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/new-zealand-housing-crisis-forces-hundreds-to-live-in-garages-tents-and-cars
If those things happen I hope I would take a stoic and epicurean view towards what are the vaguiries of life. I would also do as much as I can to avoid such mishaps by educating myself, work hard, drink in moderation, don’t have kids I can’t afford, move if I have to, don’t smoke, exercise, try to avoid divorce, have appropriate insurance, and try not to be a burden on others all let other be a burden on me, but if all else fails be pretty glad I live in nz, a country where nearly 60 billion is spent on education, health, pensions etc and nearly 5 month of your income in wages and salaries is paid to the state to fund as such
Oh one other avoid well meaning but deluded socialist who want to make you a victim and are only interested in you as a class not as an individual
Oh hark at ye Red. I’m in total awe of you. You’re just the cat’s whisker.
Is there a fast track route I can take to become just like you?
I hear the first step is to take your moral compass and smash it into a hundred pieces with a claw hammer. Everything just falls into place after that.
RD – I see that your excellent education ran to such important skills as language structure and spelling. Well done. Forever sounding aloof and superior to all around you.
Reddelusion
I don’t know what individual you are using as your example? It can’t be you that people are not interested in. TS anyway, can’t leave you alone and individuals here always respond to your cries for individual attention and your jibes, and other malfunctions resulting from your depressed and tortured mind.
And under Labour that would do the trick, currently people are playing a game of monopoly, except that one or two start with $1000,000 and rush around putting hotels on all the streets, whilst the other players start with a hundred and don’t have a shitshow chance of all the things you so “proudly” hope you would do…get it?
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
‘Dunedin’s housing crisis: Sex for a place to sleep
Dunedin’s “dire” housing situation is forcing some at-risk youth to engage in prostitution to get a place to sleep, or to sleep rough in cars, a Methodist Mission survey has revealed.
Eleven of the 300 at-risk youth (aged between 16 and 20) who responded to the survey said they had engaged in prostitution for the “primary purpose of accommodation”.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11646649
this has happened in AKL for sometimes.
Survival Sex. Very common among the homeless youth, and done by both genders.
Two people, they warm each other up. More efficient.
Refusing rental housing bonds all helps to limit expenditure on the people forced to the fringes, and accumulates so that the papers can say in BIG letters that there is a surplus. No-one but a sourpuss would want to downplay Gnats’ surplus.
What a lovely surplus you have Mr Key. Yes it is and I am very comfortable with that. It shows what excellent managers we Nats are. And of course we still have our welfare state not like other western countries. It is just leaner and more efficient now than under Labour. People sleeping in cars? More efficient. If they can afford cars I am sure they have an income that they have whittled away on foolish spending.
English on The Nation……..for those not up with the play……..the 8 years long National Party government has no responsibility, none at all, for the housing crisis. Indeed, still, is there a crisis at all ?
Would you bring up your kids with ‘responsibility’ models like English ? Or Mr ‘Selfie’ Key ?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11646212
we may not wish to, but charter schools will soon sort that out!
This kinda makes it real, WINZ emergency housing at $1330 a week.
https://youtu.be/vxTATpTGaVU
More proof we have an Incompatant government .
$190/night ??? Presumably WINZ didn’t engage a minute trying to hack out a decent deal ?
Apparently it’s to protect the reputation of the motel, like the woman in charge of running the Otago Hospital gets an extra payment to protect her reputation, so they get extra payment.
So the owner of the motel units that look like they’re worth $90/night tops would say no to long term occupation at $120/night ? ‘Reputation’ be damned.
Another explanation is that WINZ are “clipping the ticket” or charging through the costs of facilitating the accomodation, and doing it by way of a loan to the “client”. One way of extending the budget.
I’d love to see the statement / invoice that covers the services provided for the loan. I know it’s cynical to think like this, but when WINZ are behaving like loan sharks by making emergency housing a loan you start to expect that the rest of the deal follows a similar moral definition.
Graeme
I bet you are right on that. WINZ order. Punish the bannies (short form of portmanteau of bennies and bastards.) Also indicates trend direction.
I sort of wish I hadn’t thought that now. I’ve spent the last two hours thinking we’ll see Payday Loans and the like called Social Service Providers, and lined up for a “Service Delivery Contract” by some fool nat in the near future.
Fortunately it’s already a cold grey day.
“Apparently it’s to protect the reputation of the motel, like the woman in charge of running the Otago Hospital gets an extra payment to protect her reputation, so they get extra payment.”
What do you mean?
I heard it on the radio a few weeks back, RNZ, will try & search later, but Motels apparently worried about housing the ‘unhousable’ & people not wanting to stay at their motels because of that. SO scaring their customers with all the beneficiaries staying there.
While searching found this from Feb http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/373434/homeless-motels-extra-money-not-spent
“The paper identified weaknesses within the current funding arrangements, including a lack of accountability for providers and no clear standards, insufficient funding, gaps in provision, and a growing need for services to address homelessness. “
& this is interesting too https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/16/number-homeless-families-state-funded-motels-drops-under-baker/Tt9JaInTwwHhqa5HsjubxO/story.html
“The number of homeless families living in hotels and motels at state expense — the last resort for Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents — has dropped dramatically since Governor Charlie Baker took office promising to end the practice. “
So it’s been going on all year :-/
I’m wondering if the govt could buy houses on the market, rent them to families in a rent to buy scheme. They’re going to be paying accommodation supplement to private landlords anyway, why not to banks instead and get people set up for life?
“why not to banks instead and get people set up for life?”
So you’re suggesting a class of people for whom the government will step in and subsidize a house for, and people who don’t fall into this class will have to pay for their own house entirely out of their own pockets?
Yeah, don’t see that going down well with ‘middle New Zealand’.
As opposed to a class of people who are forced to live in cars? Sure, I can see why middle NZ would prefer that over those people being helped. Because we’re now a selfish fuck country.
But actually what I am suggesting isn’t going to hurt middle NZ, it would help. Like I said, they’re already going to be paying accommodation supplement to landlords, why not the banks instead? Or would middle NZ prefer to support landlords rather than young families?
The govt could front up with the deposit, remain the legal owner until such time as the resident can take over, and then get the deposit back if they ever sell. I’m just thinking out loud, I don’t know if the logistics work, but I can’t see the moral problem with it.
Sure, sounds fine, if the government give this same opportunity to anyone who wants it. But they won’t be able to, because that will cost too much.
But we give opportunities to some people and not others all the time.
Fuck. So the motel owners extorted a higher rate from WINZ.
“Presumably WINZ didn’t engage a minute trying to hack out a decent deal ?”
Or even bothered to look.
http://tinyurl.com/jgpm638
I agree it should be possible to find better accommodation for less money, but have a look at the reviews on that site. I’m not sure how many are appropriate for a family with kids.
A number are far better and cheaper than that dive Campbell highlighted.
I’m sure there are. But did you look at the reviews and see which ones were suitable for families with babies and children?
as an ex homeless person i can state that anything is better then the street.
reviews are also quite depended on the experience a person had at an establishment.
I am not saying that WINZ should put women and children up in a hotel that rents rooms by the 30 minutes, but that most hotels/motels/hostels in Akl and elsewhere would be quite appropriate for housing homeless people under the banner ‘ of emergency housing’.
What gets me is that obviously $ 190 is a rate that WINZ would have ‘negotiated’ with private providers. Is that the best that they could have negotiated, or was that the maximum these providers can tax WINZ for a night?
I’m wondering if there is a rort going on with that rate.
The comparison wasn’t with being on the street, it was was with being in the $190 unit. I thought the comments were useful. Single room with only a bed, nothing else. Very noisy. Suitable for a young drunk man. Not great for kids. Those were the comments. I find it hard to believe that Winz can’t find cheaper emergency accommodation than that unit but a quick tourist search isn’t a solution either. Auckland people might be able to comment on whether finding something for the families in that video for less than $190 is realistic.
I was thinking things like Book a Bach would be cheaper if they can negotiate a weekly rate but Airbnb has probably pushed the rates up, and all that phoning round and negotiating would be too much work for Winz, hence they’ve gone for the option that’s easiest for them, it’s not costing them after all.
book a batch are mostly private and fully furnished.
i think with emergency housing it is actually easier if they are sparsly furnished as that would reduce the risk to the person staying the night in ‘breaking’ some old piece of crap that they then have to re-fund for full price and some.
But even then, a simple motel accomodation with a TV, shower, etc would be good for emergency accom.
Longer term might need to be better organised, i agree, but 190$ to get a person of the street per night when that person has no money is ludicrous. I guess even the housed person would say that.
And those room/trailer things with no insulation/water etc should not cost more then 50 a night as all you can do in them is sleep.
Upthread, it sounds like the rate had been hiked because it was beneficiaries staying and scaring away other customers 🙄
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28052016/#comment-1180231
I also get the impression that we’re talking about weeks, not just a night or two, so the accommodation really needs to have cooking facilities and a decent bathroom and living for a family, esp at this time of year.
should have cooking facilities, but that article about the young women in the South Island, was simply a cabin on camp grounds, no water, no toilet facilities. Just one of these ‘rent a room’ things. She owes now 2 grand + for a two week stay.
Yeah that’s really bad. WINZ and HNZ are fucking up really badly here.
Are you implying the one highlighted by Campbell was suitable?
As stated above, a number are far better and cheaper than that dive Campbell highlighted.
As the money is expected to be repaid, WINZ should be doing their best to ensure their clients aren’t laden with unnecessary debt.
Placing them in such an overpriced dive is unacceptable.
No, I’m not implying that.
Can you please link me to 2 or 3 that you think are suitable for the families in the Campbell piece? I’m not sure what you are referring to.
http://www.crownoncintra.co.nz/
https://vrhotels.co.nz/auckland-city-oaks/rooms/two-bedroom-family-saver/
http://www.poenamohotel.co.nz/rooms/family-spacious-room/
You are right mauī, it does make it real. I am ashamed to be a NZer. There is something very very wrong with that situation, and this country has let that happen.
North 3.2
Perhaps this is just another manifestation of corporate welfare – like the rent supplement.
Some things out of a spin doctors mouth- Alistair Campbell
“In his first meeting, he always gave the organisation’s top people a plain postcard, and asked them to write what their organisation’s objective was, and what strategy was being deployed to meet it.
“Nine times out of 10, I gather in a stack of different objectives, strategies which are tactics, or strategies which are objectives,” Campbell said.
“”I say to them, you don’t have a spin problem, you have a reality problem”
We have seen national all over the place this week, they should be all saying the same things or shutting up, but no it was talking over the top , denying things they had said.
Guess what Duncan Garner then comes out, as if on cue, labour has a Little problem. There is enough wreckage amoung national for 10 articles but he runs with nationals counter attack on Little, as though he thought it all up himself!
A few months ago, there was a discussion over whether there would be a jump in the number of Dairy Farm sales. I have lived and worked on a farm all my life (actually my father’s family have only ever farmed, right back to the Scottish Crofts) and I said that in my experience farm sales would fall, people just hunker down and Banks have a vested interest in not pushing wholesale forced sales. Most people were sceptical on my take and the Labour party leaders were certain that sales would sky rocket.
The figures are out, farm sales are half what they were last year. It is important to also note, that this is the only practical time to sell a Dairy farm. Why did the media and Labour get it so wrong; they simply didn’t listen or maybe even take the time to talk to people who live and work in the rural sector.
I also suggested the next big thing in agriculture was going to be Bees and sure enough the demand for land for hives is the hot item!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/80037566/increased-demand-in-land-for-honey-production-dairy-farm-sales-dry-up
Not a dairy farmer, but can imagine I’d try to ride a trough out. And if I was interested in being a dairy farmer I certainly wouldn’t be buying in at the moment. But next year, or maybe even the year after, if prices keep bumbling along, then I might be forced to bail. And on the other side, I still wouldn’t be buying.
The buyers will be companies, not individuals, and they’ll be getting land and operations at bargain basement prices – economy’s of scale might mean they won’t need the same powder prices to be viable.
That’s my call anyway.
Well the sales around here have all been to individuals, the so called big companies are not buying much as their shareholders aren’t too keen! Prices are not bargain basement, due to the low number on offer…..supply and demand fix the price.
Our old family farm inland from Whangarei Harbour has reverted to Ti Tree and the apiarists and exporters can’t get enough. But still run some drystock.
ahhhh
the free market work so well, and if we can’t sell our crap we break it on purpose and send it to the landfill. Cause clearly why not.
https://sixfootjournalism.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/kathmandu-destroys-stock-sends-to-landfill/
Shocking.
John A Lee on State houses 1978
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/sound/john-a-lee-state-house
“We only want a moment of prosperity again and you’d find that houses were in absolute, critical short supply. Yes, anyhow, what more healthy employment than building good homes? What spreads money better down the main street? We’re finding a lot of work for people today, or alleged work – they’d be a damn sight better building homes.”
police dog handler was attacked during what police say was a routine stop of a car in South Auckland.
The officer stopped the vehicle on Bairds Road, Otahuhu, about 4am.
As he spoke to the driver, two men got out of the car and assaulted him, knocking him unconscious.
Police said a truck driver scared off the attackers, and a passing ambulance crew treated the officer and took him to hospital. His condition is described as moderate.
Heard on the radio this morning.
Naive question. Why was there a routine stop of a car in South Auckland at 4 a.m.?
Was there an operation to catch an important criminal? Or to stop a known planned crime from occurring?
Or was this some police interference in the doings of citizens. Part of the in your face attitude that we see so much of with police waiting outside premises where alcohol is being served so they can catch someone over limit? It results in dislike, even hate of the police. I certainly dislike being stopped and breathlysed as I drive my car carrying out my normal life.
he campaigns to catch those over the limit are preventative and supposed to scare people into better drinking habits. They must also be very expensive and cost gold while they search for their gold of illegal levels amongst the mass of citizens they stop and demand tests from.
I would like policing to go back to reacting to crime, keeping an eye out for likely acts of crime with a view to preventing them, but not spending money on trying to prevent crime which often results in real events ending in disaster. It is likely these would never have happened if the police had not set up traps and interference with freedom of movement by the public. Their behaviour is ineffective and harrasses people.
I would like to see police have a goal base of working with disadvantaged youth and helping community groups provide guidance and personal control, skills of any kind to promote attitudes of self-worth with young people. This would be better than to spend taxpayer funds running expensive campaigns of surveillance that result in less funds being available for other policing, not involving roads and policing private vehicles.
Well it might be a matter of routine to stop erratically driven cars not showing all the required lights?
I thought the police were still doing night patrols with 2 officers in a car. In 1977, a traffic officer, Barry Gibson, was beaten to death in New Plymouth while doing a stop in the middle of the night. The police union strongly pushed for, and were successful in making it mandatory for all patrols at night to be two officers a car. When did this rule become relaxed?
Mr Scooter
When did this rule become relaxed? When the Nats and their funders decided that being relaxed was the most effective way of running the country, and instructed their Jester to be shown being relaxed in every photo op.
“Stand up all victims of oppression
For the tyrants fear your might
Don’t cling so hard to your possessions
For you have nothing if you have no rights
Let racist ignorance be ended
For respect makes the empires fall
Freedom is merely privilege extended
Unless enjoyed by one and all”
Everyone sing now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyI207FjT0E
1968
Concerning the Panama Papers and the Gnats jockeying for position. John Armstrong is interesting to read.
https://armstrongonpolitics.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/the-key-doctrine-confuse-in-order-to-defuse/
https://armstrongonpolitics.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/if-the-panama-hat-fits-youre-going-to-wear-it-2/
Great edition of Waatea 5th Estate last night, Martyn wraps the Political Week with:
Leader of the Opposition – Andrew Little
Actor + Columnist – Oscar Kightley
Human Rights Activist – Helen Kelly
Documentary Maker – Bryan Bruce
discussing:
housing crisis, homelessness, benes forced into debt/paid to leave Auckland, the budget, and Bryan’s latest doco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXxVI8KQC-o
I notice the comment of the TEU (Tertiary Education Union) came up with a catchy title for this budget:
TEU president Sandra Grey and NZUSA president Linsey Higgins analyse what the 2016 ‘Hunger Games’ Budget means for tertiary education in New Zealand.
a teutonic friend of mine said this about the keyster and his mates:
Well you vote for a serial gambler (that’s what playing with other peoples money on the financial markets really is, however well you try to hide this fact) you get a serial gambler. Throw in outdated neoliberal thinking and the idea that nations are nothing else than corporates. Voila. No brain. No common sense. We will wake up to a country where ripping each other off is a virtue not a disease.
Hunger Games indeed.
Sabine
Sounds about right. For an objective analysis, what do we have going for us that draws ordinary people to come and live here I wonder? Is it that we are cute hobbits? Is it that we were one of the last countries on earth to be inhabited by man and it’s interesting to be part of a sort of TV plot in between Planet of the Apes and Lost and The Truman Show?
for the Chinese migrants that are part of my family, the green the space the good air.
for the Europeans that are part of my family, they met their partners on their big o.e.
for many others it was a travel here, and they liked the lifestyle, the jandal wearing laidbackness etc.
for some it is work, like my Malay Chinese mother in law and her US born husband
but for many it is now just an investment market. And frankly, most NZ’lers, even those who consider themselves rich, are not rich enough to beat the really rich of this planet.
So while we may be the first ones to suffer, the shit will hit them too once the fan gets started.
What goes around comes around. As for ripping each other off, i think that has been part of the NZ psyche for a while now. But always in an underhanded, slightly camouflaged way. Now however, after a few years of the Greed Gospel its ok to screw your neighbour, your country, your partners and even your kids, if it gets you ahead.
As one Lady customers of mine said, I want a lifestyle when i am old. My question to her, does it not bother you that your child will not be able to afford a house in NZ soon. That was the last election. No she is not bothered, she wants a lifestyle for when she is 80.
First the settlors and the Settlor Governments stripped the Maori of their lands, despite the TOW being signed in good faith by both parties, then we had the neoliberals stripping of our State Assets and the Merchant Bankers stripping NZ Companies, now we are having our housing stocks and land holdings being stripped by foreign investors. What we need to realise is, these actions are not reversible hence if something is to be done to stop this it needs to be done now sooner rather than later!!!
Eddie Izzard talks sense compared to what we get from Nat politicians. At about 3 minutes he discusses flags in a very sensible way. Then he talks about the advantages of WW2,not, and how the Japanese and Germans should be used a peacemakers. Just parachute them in and have them tell everyone that they’ve been there done that, and it didn’t work.
Recommended for putting you off the serious track you may be on, and providing you with an almost real alternative track.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6omQ5JjjLsE
http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2016/05/26/055699.full.pdf
Another brick in the wall
” A group of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts trapped in snow on a Central Otago high-country road last week planned on retrieving their vehicles with a bulldozer until authorities scuppered the scheme.” From the NZ Herald this today.
These are the people who went joy-riding in wild weather in their 4WDs and got stuck in the snow, and an enormous rescue attempt finally got them out – with the help of many volunteers. No brain. No common sense. Just like Sabine said above at 12.1 Silly, very silly, rich idiots. Mates of ShonKey no doubt.
And I doubt they’ll be charged for any of the massive costs of the rescue.
I don’t know Jenny, I don’t think snow was forecasted when they originally got stuck. I don’t think they should be charged not least because we want people to call for help asap, not put that off out of fear of big bills.
Their rescue plan for the vehicles does sound dangerous but there appears to be a lot of miscommunication going on between agencies and nothing reported from the group so who knows. I’m guessing it will be a while before the snow is gone.
Weka-they had a guy on The Panel discussing the forecast and snow was in the forecast before the 4WD guys set off.
My take on last Sunday’s forecast for the Otago hills was definitely not the day to be going over there. I go into Nevis a lot and wouldn’t have gone last Sunday just from the look of weather. I couldn’t believe it when I saw there was group, and of that size, stuck up there.
No-one had bothered to close the Crown Range road that day and cars had to be abandoned there too. /shrug
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/80259250/Snow-traps-motorists-and-closes-road-as-winter-starts-to-bite-across-NZ
I agree what the big group did was unwise, and it should be a lesson for others to take notice of what the locals say (I’m guessing that if you didn’t know the area the forecast didn’t look so bad). It does look more like an accident based on thoughtlessness rather than out and out negligent stupidity.
Where this lot got stuck is just under 1400m and it’s not a formed road, rather a series of ruts and mud holes across about 10km of alpine swamp, and it’s as exposed as you can get. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s difficult 4WD stuff on a nice day in summer. The top of Crown Range is 1100m and a sealed road, and with a snow plough going past every 5 minutes last Sunday. Totally different situation.
Sorry, I put the 4WD group in the negligent stupidity category, especially taking children into that environment. There was a Snow Otago warning on Met Service website.
There’s a decision making process to leading trips like that which appears to be lacking.
Yes, I get the differences, I was meaning that the snow caught people by surprise. I hadn’t heard there was snow warning.
Yes, Crown Range was closed last Sunday afternoon. Cars that were abandoned didn’t have chains. More muppetry, but normal for start of winter. The day before winter being shorts and tee shirts again this year, as normal, sucked a lot in, as it usually does.
weka
These people are likely to be those most likely to sneer at Nana State that makes an attempt to save people from danger by stopping things, putting up fences at dangerous places that they step over etc. and just care for its citizens using its greater information and resources than citizens do.
Then you sympathise with them for not using their own judgment and behaving as free-thinking individuals in a sensible self-protective and self-limiting.
And about paying, if they are not willing to pay their own way, using user pays in the neo lib world they aspire to, to the extent they won’t themselves pay to save their own lives then let them suffer the dire consequences that people who truly don’t have the payment for user pays. Money is what they treasure, more than their six and eight year old children.
They are part of a society stripping others of whatever is of value, in this case the spare or working time of rescue volunteers and their gear and vehicles, all of which need money to keep them operating. Others pay, but they who can afford their vehicles and travel, are given the services they require free as of right?
NZ neo lib society is into using other people’s goodwill or in a position of necessity and can be dragooned, to get them to give their time and stuff for free, for others benefit whose living slogan is “What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is my own”.
Thank you for saying that Grey. Unfortunately this incident, which could easily have become a tragedy, really illustrates the me me me attitude that’s taken over New Zealand. Reading between the lines of the Herald /ODT article http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11646650 it looks like it was a pretty blunt conversation between Police and the group, ending with “it’s a public road, we’ll do what we like”
I did a bit of reading to see what they could be charged with, and surprisingly it’s not much, maybe criminal nuisance, and that might only relate to them going back up there and getting into trouble again. I found this paper about the state of our law regarding responsibility for adventure activities http://www.otago.ac.nz/law/research/journals/otago036307.pdf Lengthy, but interesting read, particularly the recommendation for a new offence endangerment (p38-40)
It appears that the escapade was organised as a group of independent private individuals, to bypass H&S requirements. So there’s no organiser. Hopefully the ‘elf from Worksafe will be having a poke around their workplace, could be productive with the attitudes they are publicly displaying. Could be some interactions with IRD about FBT too.
its winter, and the Ski Season starts officially at Queens Birthday weekend.
Now they knew that snow was an option, but could not give a fuck.
Why?
The same state that they would not want to pay taxes too, would come and rescue them.
Many of the rescuers are voluntaries and as a consequence their families missed out on Dad or Mum, cause some dumbass could not be fucked to be sensible.
They should be charged full cost, so that next time someone thinks that driving a car without appropriate gear up a mountain in winter thinks twice.
And then they should be forced to pay dinner for two to each and any of the voluntaries that came to dig their sorry asses out of the snow.
Apparently they close the road at Queens Birthday.
its the official date. Has been for years.
But frankly any idiot that goes up a mountain in winter at the end of the day deserves to pay for their rescue.
These guys may have money, but they have shits for brains and no self preservation instinct.
disclaimer, i grew up in the bavarian alps and lived in the french alps for a while.
Mountains kill. Usually within the first night when people get lost without good gear and knowledge. These guys had nothing but attitude. And attitude also kills.
No, let them pay for the resources that they wasted, let their partners scream and yell at them for a while, and maybe that will then teach them.
Cause they obviously had not yet learned if there were trying to get the vehile/s back. Fuckwits.
And there’s plenty of graves along the Otago tops from the pioneer mining days. And plenty of more recent examples, some of them in the middle of summer. It’s a very beautiful place on the Otago tops, but quite high and viciously exposed. I carry the same gear in summer as winter, and have needed it.
Looks like the plods explained that they were going to be charged if they tried to recover the vehicles. Hopefully it penetrated.
Sabine
You said that so well and so clearly. Tops!
And I doubt they’ll be charged for any of the massive costs of the rescue.
Not unless we got a libertarian government while I wasn’t looking. Fine with me – I’m in no rush to see user pays applied to search and rescue or the emergency services.
Me too. I don’t see it as being too different from someone playing rugby and breaking their back. The State pays for recreational accidents. We really don’t want to be messing with that.
the difference with a guy playing rugby needing medical aid, and a few guys needing rescues in high mountainous areas at night time are not the same.
Secondly, the rescuers essentially risk their lifes trying to safe the life of others. Maybe that should be looked for a moment, and again, i would like to stress that the rescuers are volonteers for the most part.
The one thing the state does not pay for is enough full time paid rescue and first emergency services.
So frankly, i think someone playing rugby on a field with medical personal at bay is not quite the thing that you want a high mountain rescue compare too. And yes, the high mountain rescue would have cost a fair coin.
and always to remember, the state is us, we pay for that.
A rugby player who needs care for the rest of his life will cost the State a lot of money too.
I get that the situations are different, that’s why I chose the comparison. I could have chosen a climber being rescued off a mountain, or a tourist being rescued off the Routeburn track. But I wanted to compare it to something every day and mundane and in completely different context, which we have no problem paying for. Milt’s comment was about user pays and libertarianism. Should rugby players who do something stupid on the field and ends up with a disability have to pay for that themselves, or should the state still pay?
as an aside, I’m really happy for rescuers to not volunteer if that’s a problem for them. Unlike with rugby, if people go into the outdoors, there is always a risk of death, that’s just part of the deal (I don’t mean the rescuers, I mean the people recreating), and while I think there is a reasonable expectation of rescue, I don’t think that that means that it’s guaranteed. I feel very comfortable with rescuers deciding where the limit is. The other side of that is there will always be people who make mistakes and poor judgements and if we start punishing people for that we make the culture meaner and less honest. I’d prefer we pushed the culture back to being wiser about risk assessment.
I do think that people aren’t as aware now, and I think cell phones have a lot to do with people taking more risks including with other people’s safety and resources, because in the back of their minds they know they can get someone to rescue them.
weka
The attitude that these 4WD display is that they have a right to do what they want with no interference. Who gives them the right to use roads and land to heave their motorised sheds over – the country, the government, the taxpayer? Thee people believe in individual responsibility when they are asked to pay tax to run the country’s services for both them and others. But when they need help personallty, oh then they aren’t going to take individual responsibility for the emergency costs and time required.
And it takes a RW person at heart to argue that government should expect volunteers to help spoiled or ‘egocentric-regressed’ well-off, and refuse to help poor people who can hardly manage to live from day to day. And to quote rugby is odd. The reason for so many injuries in that game is because of players having a similar self-centred uncaring attitude to others playing the game, amongst parents and supporters involved, perhaps attacking the refugee (sorry typo for referee, but not unconnected with the first word used.)
I make the point again that our guideline for the future must be to combine kindness and practicality in personal and nation-wide behaviour. It is not practical not to charge people living and wallowing in the market economy. Not charging them does not send the right market signals, and from the Courts comes the attitude of giving extra punishment in judgments – so as to discourage the others who might follow similar practices. The kindness is shown in going out into wild conditions to look for the lost sheeple. And the practical bottom line is that we are basically a poor country, we are struggling to raise the median wage, to do enough local business to provide living wages that enable people to have a life worth living.
the difference with a guy playing rugby needing medical aid, and a few guys needing rescues in high mountainous areas at night time are not the same.
They’re exactly the same, in the sense that they are people who need us, their fellow humans, to come to their assistance. What’s the alternative to a no-fault approach to this? I’m seeing one in which we effectively demand a credit card number or a cash deposit before rescuing people, or another in which search and rescue teams effectively decide who’s a dumb cunt that doesn’t deserve rescuing. Neither of those alternatives has any appeal whatsoever. Second-guessing the decisions of people who end up needing rescue services might make us feel better but it doesn’t offer any path to improvements in the service.
a guy going for his regular rugby game with his mates breaking a leg is one thing.
a group of people ignoring all advise to the contrary, even signs that say don’t pass beyond here unless…needing to be rescued at night time cause they got themselves stuck is not the same thing.
and yes, the rescue services can charge you, and sometimes they should.
and there is the magic word, sometimes. I never said that rescue services should be paid for by the person that is rescued. I said these guys should be charged.
What if the rugby dude does something stupid that leads to his injury?
So, another alternative approach is for some as-yet-unidentified official body to determine who “legitimately” needed rescuing and who’s a dumb cunt who should have to pay for his rescue. First up, this body would probably cost more than it recovered. Also, as Weka points out below, a fairly obvious consequence of this is people who know they’ve done something stupid thinking twice about letting someone know they’re in trouble. Another obvious consequence is litigation – opinions about whether a particular decision was stupid or not are just that: opinions. Opinions that involve money get disputed by lawyers. Is that a productive use of the nation’s cash?
There’s a reason why we’ve gone for no-fault approaches to divorce, accident compensation and search/rescue – it’s because the alternatives are worse.
It’d probably lead to people lying to rescue services too, which creates more risk.
i guess the occasion may come when the volunteers decide they won’t put themselves at risk for certain types of events
Pat
Like the officials did at Pike River and after the Christchurch earthquakes when various paid services were needed, but not willing to extend themselves.
not sure I understand what you mean there greywarshark.
Pat
It seems clear to me. Volunteer rescuers need paid services to assist, funds for vehicles, equipment. At big disasters like Pike River and after the Christchurch earthquake, paid services were needed, there were volunteers for various tasks, but officialdom prevented rather than facilitated and assisted efforts. Another reason why volunteers might feel they are pushing uphill.
At Pike River the miners wanted to go in while there was a window of opportunity and check for conditions and possible survivors. The police vetoed that but wouldn’t go in themselves, and didn’t call for volunteers from the public or the Force. Officialdom unwilling to extend themselves, but imposing a blockade on civilian organisation and control.
And after the Christchurch earthquake businesses were prevented from going into the CBD though they could have been filtered in and out with 10 minute time limits to recover items of trade and office records. They werent allowed, the police wouldn’t do it. But salvage people could and expensive stock items were taken from premises and sent to Auckland to be sold.
It is different from saving people in snowstorms, but those above that came to mind make me think that the civil rescue systems in NZ have to be revamped. They are skewed towards rescuing the foolhardy and stupid. Also they shouldn’t be under the control of the police IMO.
It will also lead to people putting off calling for help until either it’s too late or putting rescue teams are more risk.
i doubt Weka. When you need help you need help.
Fact is that already the services can charge for prank calls or someone lighting a fire that escalates as example. This can already be done.
But in saying that, i want you to realise that every time someone calls the services, fire, ambulance, mountain rescue etc, over half of the staff that will attend are voluntaries. Secondly, many times the services are funded by bakesales and the likes, and yes, thats what it amounts to.
So these guys being smart asses that count themselves better then those that are good at 4 wheeling in the mountains are wasting resources. Resources that they most likely don’t fund, or give a donation too.
Question Weka, when have you last given a donation to St. Johns, Wespac Rescue Helicopter or the Cost and Fire services. Because you know, many of us don’t actually think about how these services are funded.
And realise also that in times of global warming and weather weirding these same resources will be streched more and more. Storms, Floods, high winds, etc etc all cause damage and and everytime it happens resources are used.
No i don’t think that people will stop calling the rescue services, but i hope that some dumb fucks might be deterred if they know that if they got themselves in a pickle by refusing to head advise, warning signs, weather report, time of the day, and signs posted, that they might be charged for the use of the helicopter, the cops involved, the gasoline used, the re-reinforcements called in to keep the office and station manned while the day to day crew is out bringing them back home.
Think of it.
It would help if you stopped assuming that you are the only one that knows anything about this and no-one else does.
You’re also pretty much ignoring the points Milt and I have raised, so nt much point in talking really is there.
Mate, no one quite assumes as much as you do. And fact is that you have not addressed any of the other points i have raised. Why is that.
You only talk about providing a free service, and i don’t disagree with you there. You however do not speak about how that same services is a. manned and b. paid for. You just want the service to be available.
In regards to climat change how do you think that is gonna happen, and how would it affect you if we don’t have enough machinery and man power?
and you know what, at night when the beeper goes off, or on the weekends, or on the holiday periods, and the fire burn, or the earth shatters, and the wind rip of the roofs, i know fucking better as i live rescue service. its twenty four hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and this is another instance in which middle NZ has not got an inkling just how much they depend on someone doing something for nothing, and sometimes risking their own lifes, like picking some dumbfucks of a mountain at night time.
And this month our in house voluntary was on call 15 nights. That is only the nights, cause you know what, THERE.ARE.NOT.ENOUGH.VOLUNTEERS!!!! Nor full-time paid rescue personnel. it does not include weekly training nights, weekend and other duties.
btw. Weka, the fire fighters of this country, many of them volunteers today did the step challenge climbing the Sky Tower in full gear and breathing apparatus. They, their families and their supporters managed to raise a fair bit of money for research. That too is something we do.
so yes please tell me something i don’t know. cheers.
Appreciate your comments that have helped my own thinking about the issues, Sabine. Cheers!
weka
Recreational accidents. I think that there was talk of a payment to ACC for sports so that they do make a little contribution to their extreme cost for people who are totally paralysed or brain-damaged. I presume that there is some payment made per player by clubs. Perhaps someone who knows if they pay ACC could inform.
Frankly, I thought they (the 4WD roaders) were fool-hardy. And them trying to get their vehicles out now just highlights that. The weather down south has been wild at times lately, and changes rapidly.
This is from another Herald story about the matter .
“Authorities and residents have previously raised concerns about four-wheel-drive expeditions on Waikaia Bush Rd. Deeply rutted and swampy at the Piano Flat end, it is understood six vehicles were towed out of the area last month. The road would be closed at Queen’s Birthday weekend for the winter.
Southland District Council roading engineer Bruce Miller last month said drivers usually got into trouble beyond a gate at Whitecombe. A sign warns drivers of the dangers. “Inexperienced people, Queen St drivers we call them, go up there and think they can drive it and they can’t,” he said……
Senior Constable Adam Roberts, of Riversdale, has been involved in several search and rescue operations involving lost or stuck drivers. (He) would not drive past the gates in his four-wheel-drive vehicle because it was “too dangerous”.
Otago Recreational 4WD Group president Graeme Thompson said the challenging track was not built for ordinary four-wheel-drive vehicles.”
They are the perfect analogy for NZ today. Going into a rough place towards the end of the day with the weather closing in, and being under prepared. But thinking they know enough and have the resources to get through.
Which of the following situations does this apply to:
1. Housing
2. CC
3. Health system
Behold the promised Brighter Future!
“ONE News reports tonight that Ms Bennett conceded today that homelessness is a growing problem.
“Certainly what I’ve seen is it has been more acute in the last two years,” she said.”
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/relief-coming-homeless-borrow-govt-stay-in-motels-report
Let have them eat cake – she said and took another bite of the creamy delight in front of her….
Good article and photos… and a question
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/80441421/eating-the-shore-new-zealands-shrinking-coastline
Can someone direct me to or explain what “The move came after skepticism of the science behind the report” means – what was the problem?
http://www.rebuildchristchurch.co.nz/blog/2016/5/discrepancy-in-christchurch-city-council-flood-modelling-uncovered-by-empowered-christchurch
Thanks Pat – I had a look at a few pdf’s and it seemed that the complaints were that they had miscalculated on the high side not low side. Your link sorts that out ta.
This will be worth a watch I hope
Oh good. What time is that on?
Sun 9.25am TV3
A bit of a taster, when alternative media goes mainstream 🙂
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/trout-poaching-case-polarises-nzers-2016052817#axzz49w4fY5Gr
Yeah I saw that teaser on facebook – not sure what else they are going to say cos they just said it all!
Also this “divide across social media” stuff – is that true? I didn’t have any of my fbook friends disagree when I posted about it 🙂
Also this “divide across social media” stuff – is that true?
Well, this blog is social media and the story certainly prompted disagreement when mentioned here last week, so, yes.
only from you, bm, chuck and tim – so… sorry if I don’t take that very seriously
Back in 1981 i was doing cash jobs for one of Christchurch’s many scarily right-wing Dutch immigrants. One time while a bunch of us were eating lunch he posited there were hardly any people opposed to the Springbok tour and the media was bullshitting us about it, because he didn’t know a single person who was against it. I refrained from mentioning that he knew me and I was against it (on the basis that I wanted paying at the end of the day), or from mentioning that all his friends were most likely racist wingnuts like him so of course he didn’t know anyone who opposed the tour (ditto). It’s a phenomenon that crops up often on Kiwiblog, but I hadn’t expected to see it here.
try and get a sense of humour because a lack of it is rightwingy material mate
This is designed for Māori land owners to assist in land management, but the map covers all of NZ. You can set it to look at historic vegetation and see what the area you live in used to look like before we cut down so many trees and drained so many wetlands.
http://whenuaviz.landcareresearch.co.nz/
That is a cool site – thanks
pertinent….
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/28/plea-hilliary-clinton-democrat-critics-white-house-trump
and yes I know we have MMP here.
Interesting piece of journalism about a Kathmandu store shredding stock rather than giving it to charity.
https://sixfootjournalism.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/kathmandu-destroys-stock-sends-to-landfill/
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BDyFuDxA-I
Like Tom Lehrer? Here is one I haven’t heard before called Selling Out, very appropriate for now. Lyrics are included.