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.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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
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
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.