Open mike 29/06/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 29th, 2021 - 76 comments
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76 comments on “Open mike 29/06/2021 ”

  1. KSaysHi 1

    Anyone know what the cheapest phone that is compatible with the app? Thinking I might just buy one of those customised stamps. Getting old.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125588280/covid19-scanning-masks-to-become-embedded-in-daily-life-as-government-looks-to-mandate-use–experts

    • Graeme 1.1

      There's also Rippl which will run on Android 5.0 or later, that takes in a lot of cheaper and older phones.

      It works a bit differently to the offical app, you need to scan out as well, but is integrated with the MOH system.

      • KSaysHi 1.1.1

        THANKS!! I replaced my previous phone because it wasn't compatible, only to find out the new one has the same issue.

    • gsays 1.2

      FWIW about a year ago I went to an Oppo fone. It was around $80.

      I am on prepay with 2 Degrees.

      Good camera, storage for music etc.

      • Rosemary McDonald 1.2.1

        Our back up phone when living in the Bus and the Spark didn't work was one of these… Doro.

        Designed for older folks by the Scandinavians and ridiculously easy to use. Clamshell type so you're not risking pocket calls. The newer ones might be a bit more expensive. A smartphone averse relative now has our because it is so delightfully stupid.

    • weka 1.3

      MoH have a list of compatible phones somewhere.

  2. Adrian Thornton 2

    Western media completely ignores new revelation that a primary witness in the US case against Assange has admitted to lying and inventing his evidence against Assange in return for immunity….including our own media and specifically RNZ, whom it seems don't have access to the in internet, so can only report world events that are faxed to them by Reuters.

    "By August 2011, the game was up, and Thordarson was being pursued by WikiLeaks members, along with $50,000 in merchandise sales he had diverted into his bank account by impersonating Assange. It was then that Thordarson, apparently, emailed the FBI and offered to provide them with information."

    https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/06/28/assa-j28.html

    • Byd0nz 2.1

      This shows how free the Press is, or, is not. Selective News only to appease the Western Masters. So much for Journalists supporting each other.

      • gsays 2.1.1

        Yep, just don't call it fake news, no matter how well it fits into that category.

    • weston 2.2

      Just watched democracy now report on this story and amy cops quite a bit of flak in the comments for her non reportage of JA up to this point i guess either shes a hillary fan or an establishment tool or both which might partly explain why a supposedly progressive media outlet like hers would take so long to make a sound about him ?.She also said "many people believe "assange exposed war crimes…?? anyway she at least interviewed his lawyer .

  3. Jenny how to get there 3

    housing affordability

    Ethan Te Ora Stuff.co.nz, Jun 29 2021

    "….empty houses are actually an important part of a healthy housing market."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/125487409/the-most-expensive–and-the-most-unoccupied-seaside-wellington-suburb-at-the-centre-of-empty-houses-debate

    'Actually', empty houses are an important part of a 'healthy' housing market, if you are a speculator.

    And if by 'healthy' you ‘actually’ mean very sick.

    Very soon now, as happened overseas, when the Ghost House market grows to big, we are approaching a time when brand new unsold and empty houses, and sometimes even whole new housing developments, are bulldozed, in an effort ot keep house prices up.

    To prevent this atrocity occurring in this country…We need to have legislation in place right now to make it illegal to demolish new unsold houses.

    • Pat 3.1

      Empty housing must be 'explained away' as if it wasn't the claim that time and space to construct more housing to alleviate homelessless and affordability loses its credence.

      • KSaysHi 3.1.1

        It's zoned residential, not capital gains!! Some explaining is in order.

        • Pat 3.1.1.1

          The explanations will be spurious…..those who have real time data (the private sector RE and banks) hold that data closely for this very purpose….ambiguity.

          The housing ratio now is significantly better than it was in the 1990s when there was no hint of a housing shortage but since then we have seen the growth of holiday homes, Air BnB and capital growth at rates that facilitate holding property empty….and then theres money laundering.

          Given the number of properties in NZ it is apparent the problem is one of misallocation rather than quantity but changing that allocation requires politically difficult decisions and so we have various false narratives applied….shortage being the main one.

    • KSaysHi 3.2

      2018 Census data. 16% of that area could have been out of the country on business. What is needed is data from water use which of course Wellington can't get because there are no water meters (thankfully).

      WCC could door knock and see if they are empty, or use their database to find the property owners and enquire what they are doing with their property

      With the upcoming 17% rates increase, and hellicious jumps in insurance premiums for Wellington these are incredibly expensive properties to let sit idol.

      • Pat 3.2.1

        I have often thought there could be a citizens science approach taken to this whereby members of the public do local surveys to ascertain how many local properties are vacant over a period of time and that data is collated and made public….if it presents as expected it could be used to apply pressure to the politicians

  4. Matiri 4

    From the Sydney Morning Herald live blog this morning

    • Hundreds of Victorian police have descended on the border with NSW to stop unauthorised people entering the southern state. Police are warning they have a helicopter that can scan number plates from hundreds of metres away.
    • Jenny how to get there 4.1

      Maybe the Australian authorities will be detaining these illegal cross border immigrants on Christmas Island.

  5. alwyn 5

    I have two nominees for Darwin awards. How stupid do you have to be to go out on Wellington Harbour this morning in a kayak?

    I feel sorry for the helicopter pilot who had to fly in this weather and look for them.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300344346/severe-weather-kayakers-found-after-battling-southerly-swells-in-wellington-harbour

    • AB 5.1

      Heh. Given the windage of kayaks there wouldn't have been much 'battling' going on. Simply trying not to broach and roll over as they rode the swell and chop all the way to Petone.

      • GreenBus 5.1.1

        Would have been revelling in the moment, with all that excess testosterone. Until he gets the bill for the chopper.

        • Cricklewood 5.1.1.1

          Doubt they will, experienced kayakers with appropriate equipment for the journey… prob should have lodged a trip report given the conditions but not a legal requirement…

        • gsays 5.1.1.2

          Perhaps the bill is split with whomever contacted the chopper?

  6. Adrian 6

    Has anyone read the story in the pay-walled Herald about the popularity of Jacinda Arderns trip to the Fieldays, if true it really is trouble for the Nats? Still couldn’t bring myself to pay for it even if it is good news.

    • Robert Guyton 6.1

      Beloved by the Federation, our pretty communist!

    • Rosemary McDonald 6.2

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/jamie-mackay-jacinda-arderns-fieldays-popularity-a-problem-for-national/QJ75QB7OMB62TUKMM5S52A4VJA/

      Written by 'Tory bastard' Jamie MacKay, and most of it is a wander down memory lane to 2012, or 13, when a fog bound hamilton Airport had himself and co sharing their rental car from Auckland with David Shearer.

      In a somewhat sanctimonious gesture straight from the Green Party playbook, David declared he was going to selflessly take a bus. We were having none of that and invited him to take the last remaining seat in our newly-acquired rental vehicle.

      He obliged, and what followed for us was two hours in the company of a well-travelled, well-storied, charming and charismatic man.

      The Nats owned Mystery Creek. It was their Tūrangawaewae.

      Which makes Ardern's Fieldays popularity all the more perplexing. Farmers don't love Labour. And there's plenty of reasons for farmers to not feel the love from Jacinda's lot. Not the least, the latest slap in the face in the form of tone-deaf Ute Tax.

      Then there's the prospect of overly-penal reforms around zero-carbon, freshwater, winter grazing and livestock numbers. Farming, which is doing all the heavy lifting in the economy, is fast becoming the sacrificial lamb on the altar of climate change.

      And therein lies the problem for Judith Collins and the Nats. With all the political fodder they have to feast on, they should be having a field day. Fieldays proved otherwise. The only thing they're feasting on is themselves. It's called cannibalisation.

      Actually a fairly civilised and interesting read. Considering. Would never have read it had you not asked about it. Thanks.

      • AB 6.2.1

        "tone-deaf Ute Tax" "overly-penal reforms" "political fodder they have to feast on"

        MacKay is most likely talking through his hat. Farmers are not monolithically of one mind and plenty of them know that change is needed. Maybe they are grateful it's coming piecemeal and gradually from someone who shows signs of caring about them as citizens and human beings? From someone who's actually not a socialist at all and will leave their business models mostly intact? And their periodic whining is just a negotiating position, not a rejection of the direction of travel?

        • Cricklewood 6.2.1.1

          Sadly there is a tendency to lump all farmers in together when in reality there is a big difference between industrialized dairy and your avg hill country farmer who typically cares deeply about both the land and their animals…

          • weka 6.2.1.1.1

            Yep

          • Jenny how to get there 6.2.1.1.2

            As environmentalism and especially climate change, becomes more mainstream farmers can not remain aloof.

            The devastation wreaked by the recent Southland floods would have been pretty shocking to most farmers.

            An administration and a leader prepared to take the science of climate change seriously is guaranteed to get a hearing amongst farmers.

            Weather: What caused the Canterbury flood? Three questions answered

            1 Jun, 2021 NZ Herald

            Was it a one-in-100 year event?

            Such was the storm's intensity that some labelled it a "once in a century" downpour….
            Just because there is a big flood now it doesn't mean there won't be another one in the near future. They still might on average only happen once in a 100 years"
            “One of the big assumptions in this method is that the climate is not changing – of course we know that this is not the case at the moment,"
            Dr Emily Lane, a hydrodynamics scientist at Niwa.

            "We now face the ongoing influence of climate change on weather-related events that no longer fits with the assumption of no underlying change in our weather systems, climate or sea level."
            ‘The past measurements are no longer a reliable guide to future events – both the size and how often they will occur,"
            Dr Rob Bell, a scientist specialising in coastal hazards

            Did climate change play a part?

            "As the climate warms, there is more moisture in the air on average, so when it rains it is likely to rain harder than it used to,"
            Victoria University climate scientist Professor James Renwick

            "Unfortunately, the terrible damage we've seen done in Canterbury over the past couple of days is something we are likely to see more often in future."

            Victoria University climate scientist Professor James Renwick

            "Canterbury was in the grips of a drought recently and lack of water was a far bigger problem…."

            "Then suddenly when the water came, it came all at once. These sorts of extremes are expected to occur more frequently under climate change.

            …The expected increase in these types of drought-flood cycles needs to be incorporated into future planning."
            Dr Emily Lane, a hydrodynamics scientist at Niwa

            Are "atmospheric rivers" new features?

            Atmospheric rivers aren't anything new – but scientists are learning more about them all the time.

            Earlier this year, an Otago University study provided the first detailed analysis of their effects on local weather events.

            "In very basic terms, one of the results of a warmer climate is a wetter atmosphere," said the study's lead author, Hamish Prince.
            "With more moisture in the atmosphere the frequency and magnitude of atmospheric rivers making landfall in New Zealand is expected to increase.

            https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/weather-what-caused-the-canterbury-flood-three-questions-answered/BY2TK23FSO4LON5ZCMBJFSRKFQ/

        • weka 6.2.1.2

          Good points.

          Hazarding a guess that fielddays farmers and what we see in the MSM esp Fed Farmers don’t have as big an overlap as FF and MSM would have us believe.

        • Pete 6.2.1.3

          Monolithically one mind MacKay.

      • Adrian 6.2.2

        Thanks Rosemary

    • Patricia Bremner 6.3

      Adrian, same !! Lol.devil

      • Rosemary McDonald 6.3.1

        Hey, anyone who so clearly respects David Shearer is well worth a read.wink

  7. Rosemary McDonald 7

    This is causing a bit of a stir… The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy

    The statistics experts can take a critical deep dive, but the researchers conclude that…

    Result: The NNTV is between 200–700 to prevent one case of COVID-19 for the mRNA vaccine marketed by Pfizer, while the NNTV to prevent one death is between 9000 and 50,000 (95% confidence interval), with 16,000 as a point estimate. The number of cases experiencing adverse reactions has been reported to be 700 per 100,000 vaccinations. Currently, we see 16 serious side effects per 100,000 vaccinations, and the number of fatal side effects is at 4.11/100,000 vaccinations. For three deaths prevented by vaccination we have to accept two inflicted by vaccination. Conclusions: This lack of clear benefit should cause governments to rethink their vaccination policy.

    Unsurprisingly, there is a big yellow warning notifying readers of Concern about this peer reviewed paper.

    The authors also strongly advise against vaccinating children.

    • Adrian 7.1

      Interesting, but surely those who have the strongest reactions may well be those likeliest to suffer higher mortality rates if they contract Covid. Or is my cod-epidemiology all bullshit. I didn't get the sore arm but 2 days later I was uncharacteristicly grumpy ( my dear wife claims she couldn't tell any difference, as far as she is concerned I'm always grumpy ). Talking to others it appears that this is very common and no surprises there, it is just the dose doing its job. So is this considered an adverse reaction ?.

    • weka 7.2

      Would like to see some critical analysis of that and haven’t read the full article but first thoughts are that the issue isn’t just deaths, but deaths, disability, health system overload (and flow on effects), psychological trauma and societal impact. Looking at all of those on both sides.

    • Editractor 7.3

      It seems unusual that a journal's editorial office would issue an expression of concern about an article that they themselves accepted for publication. I'm guessing that the review process was not up to scratch.
      The only analysis I could find so far is a reddit thread. One of the main concerns is that the authors of the study have taken data on deaths AFTER vaccination (could be from other pre-existing conditions, especially in a frail population) and considered them deaths DUE to vaccination.
      https://www.reddit.com/r/COVID19/comments/o7l5sr/the_safety_of_covid19_vaccinations_we_should/

      • Cricklewood 7.3.1

        In so far as medical journals ie Lancet some of the published stuff re Covid has been absolute garbage some based on made up data. These have then been quietly withdrawn. Sadly made up info from the withdrawn studies is still being referenced and published as fact in new papers.

        Good read below…

        https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/many-scientists-citing-two-scandalous-covid-19-papers-ignore-their-retractions

        Given the money (profit) involved for big pharma and the horrendous track record of deciet etc I'ts very likely they are actively attacking any negative info re the vaccines or alternate existing treatments…

        They're no different to oil and tobacco in the way they behave.

        • Rosemary McDonald 7.3.1.1

          Given the money (profit) involved for big pharma and the horrendous track record of deceit etc

          A source of great mirth in some circles. It is not the antisocialantivaxxerarseholes that are causing all the vaccine hesitancy…Big Pharma's track record stands on it's own merits. They are most definitely their own worst enemy.

    • Siobhan 7.4

      So, with 1.02M NZ's having received the Covid vaccination do we have these sorts of numbers of adverse reactions?

      • Cricklewood 7.4.1

        1.02million doses given not a million people… anecdotally my partner does emergency relief in the healthcare sector. The employer arranged a mass vaccination onsite they had enough adverse reactions that they had to pull in all available relief staff the next day and were still short.

        No serious harm done but obviously made more than a few unwell not sure how or if this was recorded.

        • Siobhan 7.4.1.1

          Disclaimer ..just realised in my rush I may sound a bit confrontational (the perils of asking questions while "working"….these are just genuine questions…

          So 'adverse reactions' ..does that mean something medically notable and recordable ..or does it include someone feeling a bit "off" ..which may or may not be psychosomatic? And or..if the reaction is so mild as to not be recorded should it even be used in the debate on whether to vacinate or not?

          • McFlock 7.4.1.1.1

            Really, anyone in the health sector getting a reaction bad enough to stop them working the next day should be reporting it. (edit: everyone should report it, but healthcare workers should have the means and motivation to do so more than others)

            There's a lag in the covid vax adverse event publication (currently only to 22 May / half a million doses), but the reactions they're getting are :

            Of the 3,707 total reports, the top 10 reported adverse events were:

            • Headache: 1,389 reports
            • Dizziness: 1,088 reports
            • Pain at the injection site: 994 reports
            • Nausea: 905 reports
            • Lethargy: 849 reports
            • Flu-like illness: 600 reports
            • Fever: 520 reports
            • Musculoskeletal pain: 427 reports
            • Feeling hot and cold: 352 reports
            • Numbness: 236 reports

            These are all things that happened around the same time as the vaccination. Many might not have anything to do with it at all, or be psychosomatic. But it's fair enough to be oversensitive on this count, especially if even by that measure it saves lives.

      • McFlock 7.4.2

        Total adverse events seem to be in the ballpark.

        Deaths appear much lower than the study suggests (0.8/100k rather than 4/100k), and are reportedly lower than the expected death numbers w/o vax or covid anyway.

    • Matiri 7.5

      Has this paper been peer reviewed? Peer review exists to validate the conclusions and assess the quality of the research presented.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 7.6

      I call "bullshit".

      For example, they claim you need to vaccinate 16,000 people to prevent one Covid death. Which means vaccinating 100% of the USA (with vaccines that are proven >90% effective at preventing death) would, by their calculations, only prevent 20,000 deaths! But the USA has already seen over 600,000 deaths so far.

      One problem in the article is they don't seem to be taking into account the infection pressure – you will see few deaths prevented by vaccination if you only study places that already have low rates of Covid infection (they mostly looked at Israel).

      Disgracefully – they attribute all deaths following a vaccination as being caused by the vaccination!! And of course a lot of elderly are being vaccinated. To quote their paper

      " approximately four people will die from the consequences of being vaccinated per 100,000 vaccinations
      "

      To quote the source of their mortality data (Dutch, translated) – this is written directly above the table the authors took their data from:

      "Death after vaccination does not mean that a side effect of the vaccine is the cause of death."

    • Drowsy M. Kram 7.7

      Expression of Concern is worth reading, although it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

      Expression of Concern: Walach et al.
      The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy.
      Vaccines 2021, 9, 693
      Vaccines Editorial Office
      MDPI, St. Alban-Anlage 66, 4052 Basel, Switzerland; vaccines@mdpi.com

      The journal is issuing this expression of concern to alert readers to significant concerns regarding the paper cited above.

      Serious concerns have been raised about misinterpretation of the data and the conclusions.

      The major concern is the misrepresentation of the COVID-19 vaccination efforts and misrepresentation of the data, e.g., Abstract: “For three deaths prevented by vaccination we have to accept two inflicted by vaccination”. Stating that these deaths linked to vaccination efforts is incorrect and distorted.

      We will provide an update following the conclusion of our investigation. The authors have been notified about this Expression of Concern.

      Alas, the damage is done. Unsurprisingly, 5th columnists (Walach et al.) are acting to undermine the global public health vaccination program which aims to reduce COVID transmission, disability and death.

      Walach: "a researcher in complementary and alternative medicine"

      Conclusion: amongst all his previous nonsense, Walach’s new publication stands out, I feel, as the most stupid and the most dangerous. The mistakes seem too obvious to not be deliberate. Let’s hope the journal editor in chief (who failed miserably when publishing this idiocy) has the wisdom to retract it swiftly. One of its editors already tweeted:

      "I have resigned from the Editorial Board of @Vaccines_MDPI following the publication of this article. It is grossly negligent and I can’t believe it passed peer-review. I hope it will be retracted."

      And another ed-board member had this to say:
      "…how in the FUCK did this piece of shit get past the editorial staff? Without a single author being a virologist or vaccinologist?
      Post-vaccine death = vaccine-caused death?
      Seriously?

      It's being used in anti-vax propaganda."

      • Rosemary McDonald 7.7.1

        I'm no statistician but I suspected there was some over- simplification of available data going on. There's been a lot of that going around recently.

        There's precedent set already for doing this with respect to Te Virus, with many commentators expressing concern that some countries are including people who were already gasping their last as being deaths caused by Covid. Dying within 28 days of a positive PCR test…even if asymptomatic…will get you on the List. I don't understand why the WHO or the UN did not insist on a worldwide standard on what exactly constitutes a Death by Covid 18 months ago.

        Sadly, suggesting that a person was clearly dying of advanced old age or cancer or diabetes or COPD, and a positive PCR Covid test was irrelevant with relation to what ultimately caused them to shuffle off their mortal coil has been considered a heartless attitude. We can have none of that 'they were going to die anyway' rubbish.

        Yet its now OK to cite old age and pining for the fjords when it comes to death following vaccination. Confusing that.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 7.7.1.1

          Rosemary, enjoyed your “pining for the fjords” reference, although, while laugher is the best medicine, I prefer not to make light of the tragic COVID-19 death toll.

          Coronavirus Cases:: 182,478,493
          Deaths: 3,951,415
          https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

          Some analyses indicate that deaths due to COVID-19 infection have been under-estimated, quite significantly in various countries. "Fill your booties" wink

          Estimation of total mortality due to COVID-19 (from the IHME)

          https://www.who.int/data/stories/the-true-death-toll-of-covid-19-estimating-global-excess-mortality

          https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid

          Fun fact: Christopher Murray, current director of the IMHE [The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is an independent global health research center at the University of Washington], "was born to a New Zealand-born scientist father".

          • Rosemary McDonald 7.7.1.1.1

            “…deaths due to COVID-19 infection have been under-estimated, quite significantly… ”

            Yep, I've read that. But I've also read accounts that with more people being vaccinated…some communities now seeing more serious illness/deaths shortly after Covid the vaccination than they ever saw from Covid the Disease.

            Like here in NZ for instance. We know of two seventy year olds (one ridiculously fit and the other managing post heart bypass issues) who caught the Covid on the way back from South America. That was early when you went into self isolation. Both felt crooksh and tested positive. Both recovered within a couple of days after what they measured as a medium impact cold.

            OTOH we know of a couple in their fifties who broke land speed records to get Pfizer vaccinated, despite not being in Groups 1,2 or even 3. Both felt quite flu ridden for about a week…and the one who got their flu jab after two weeks is still sick as a dog more than a fortnight later.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 7.7.1.1.1.1

              Yep, I've read that. But I've also read accounts that with more people being vaccinated…some communities now seeing more serious illness/deaths shortly after Covid the vaccination than they ever saw from Covid the Disease.

              We've been here before; maybe it comes down to who and/or what you choose to believe. I prefer to (continue to) put my trust in consensus expert opinion, often even when that opinion is at odds with my personal PoV, because (typically) that trust has been rewarded. Individual results may vary.

  8. Poission 8

    gentle Zephyr from the south,and energy demand surges.

    https://www.transpower.co.nz/power-system-live-data

    spot electricity pass $500mw during daylight.not good.

  9. Treetop 9

    What will the National caucus decide and when?

    Todd Muller seeing out term depends on National's caucus Judith Collins

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/445763/todd-muller-seeing-out-term-depends-on-national-s-caucus-judith-collins

    • Treetop 9.1

      Does the National caucus get any lower. Muller is on leave until the end of July to look after his partner who is having a significant medical procedure.

      • Jimmy 9.1.1

        Interesting comment from Nash this morning on One Zb. Apparently Muller voted against increasing sick leave and yet here he is taking time off again.

        • Treetop 9.1.1.1

          Muller probably needs the time off for himself as well.

          Muller will exit before the next election due to being the scape goat by the National caucus.

  10. Jenny how to get there 10

    '

    Lessons for NZ

    Covid: How Delta exposed Australia's pandemic weaknesses

    By Frances Mao
    BBC News, Sydney

    Published

    14 minutes ago

    ….Officials documented cases where travellers were catching the virus in quarantine, despite staying in separate rooms.

    Experts raised concerns about air recirculation and the lack of fresh air in city hotels.

    …..The other weak spot is workers at the border.

    ….When they step off their plane, returnees are greeted by an intimidating coterie of soldiers, police officers and nurses – masked-up and gloved to escort arrivals straight to quarantine.

    But the same rigour isn't applied to other workers – like drivers transporting arrivals.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57647413

    Let us learn from the mistakes of others.

  11. Treetop 11

    Reckless to have a trans Tasman bubble as the situation in Australia is still unfolding. Any announcement to resume travel from any state in Australia without a 14 day quarantine period is premature.

    MIQ has its risks, what the hell is the NZ government thinking?

    • Foreign Waka 11.1

      Are they thinking? First we were hailed as the "near perfect" example and that lead to a seemingly complacency to follow through. All the stories about vaccines, how the orders were made as one of the first etc… I don't believe a thing they say. Meanwhile, we are opening boarders to infected people because the industry is so blip blip greedy that they cannot contain themselves. I have no respect for the businesses or the current government. Lots of BS, no action in key areas but a lot of political correct blah blah and slowly eyebrows raise whether we are being told porkies all the way.

      • Incognito 11.1.1

        Aren’t you running a business?

        • Sabine 11.1.1.1

          You would not believe how many business owner want the bubble closed.

          In fact, you would maybe have a hard time believing how many business owner never wanted one open.

          But then the government can either support those businesses that truly depend on overseas tourism because they priced NZ'lers out or they can open a bubble, endanger everyone in NZ and get some much needed foreign currency coming in.

          But not all business owner in this country want a bubble or want to see Kiwis coming back from OZ going all 'well be right' and besides its MY RIGHT to travel.

          • Incognito 11.1.1.1.1

            There are good, bad, and ugly business owners. You wouldn’t believe it, but they are linked in what’s called society by some and economy by others. In fact, Government can only act in a binary way, i.e. for or against, black or white, damned or doomed, good or bad, et cetera.

            Simple as that.

            • Sabine 11.1.1.1.1.1

              who knew?

              So why then ask someone if he or she has a business? if it has nothing to do with anything?

              But yeah, just like anything in the world, our government, the labour party, the national party etc, they all have the good the bad and the ugly.

              Good to see you understand that, simple as. 🙂

              • Incognito

                It has a lot to do with it, but you don’t want to understand that, which I can fully understand, as you have the right to remain ignorant, which I fully respect, of course, as you can tell, you know.

                You don’t even know the function of contact tracing. Do you scan or does that have nothing to do with anything either?

                Bliss.

      • Treetop 11.1.2

        Are they thinking? No not how they need to think with keeping out more infectious strains and the management of outbreaks.

        Telling the difference between a cold and a Covid infection at this time of year is dependent on testing.

        A make it up as we go attitude simply will not do. The best defence against Covid's more infectious mutations is lock out and not lockdown.

        Lockout would avoid the health system being pressured with cluster outbreaks. The health system is already being pressured through contact tracing and testing.

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    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    3 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    4 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
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    1 day ago
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