The Herald front page screams ‘Russian serial killer.’
Any excuse to recreate the fear and hatred of the Cold War.
Shameful.
Just another reminder that a real people’s government should seize control of the narrative from the plutocrats.
This tinkering crew will do too little for fear of offending the capitalists.
And no, I did not buy it and did not click on it.
Saw the headline on a paper lyiing ona table in a cafe.
Russian authorities hunting a serial killer asked New Zealand police to search their DNA database in a bid to catch the dangerous and wanted murderer.
Y’know, yes, there’s a whole lot of simplistic “black and white”, and “with us or agin us” bullshit going on in the world today.
But jumping up on a chair and getting all arm wavy on the flimsiest of contexts or (in this case) a completely bogus context is just …why fcking do that?
That the NZH wants to recreate the fear and hatred of the Cold War? Nope, I think that’s just more addled gobshite. That the NZLP won’t do the things he wants? Maybe so, but since the things he wants are motivated by addled gobshite, that’s hardly surprising.
If you think my views on inequality, taxes, obesity, housing, transport, health and education are ‘gobshite’, or ‘steaming drivel’, then you clearly are not left wing.
When a Blairite insults me, I wear it as a badge of honour.
Probably most relevant Russian story today is not Ed’s little piece but that another anti Putin journalist and former Russian parliamentary candidate Oles Bunyan has been murdered in Kiev Probably nothing to do with russua though, suggest it was the British ( sarc)
While the meth cirus reigns on TV today; – look what the Government is pushing forward at the same time as they threw the ‘distraction’ of meth at us!!!!
Did they think we would not see them shifting to ‘a thumbs up to CPTPP???????
We are being played big time now folks sadly.
Our verbal submission was 10 minutes last week and we are bitterly disapointed they did not even add any protectins we advocated for.
When will Labour/National /NZF appologise to NZ, after the new cases of other disease comes here after their final rush to pass the final report to Parliament simnce the phoney “select Committee to review the TPTPP” was hoisted on us all as a “diversion” while their intent was to pass this toxic trade agreement as it already was???
Chair Simon O’Connor (National MP) said he believed the CPTPP is o/k; – as is????
Even though us and a lot of other submitters warned him and his committee that they will be setting us up for more “micro-plasma bovis” events.
The submitters said they should include a clause be added to the ISDS agreement to allow in all cases Government contracts or with other parties allowing local/state governments and other parties to encourage Government to pass regulations to protect NZ citizens and the environment against foreign activities in NZ that may damage their future economic, environmental, health, and well-being after the trade agreement will be enacted in 2019.
‘Editored’ section involving environmental protection and no change from draft report originally proposed in march 2018.
(Chair Simon O’Connor said he believed the CPTPP is o/k; – as is????)
COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE AGREEMENT FOR TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP)
Page; 5
Summary of issues discussed with submitters
Many submitters, notably those opposed to the CPTPP, believe that the changes from the
TPP do not substantively address their concerns. They consider that the CPTPP is
effectively the same as the TPP.
Investor-State dispute settlement and sovereignty
We discussed some submitters’ concerns about the effect the CPTPP would have on the
sovereign rights of New Zealanders to determine their own future through an elected
Parliament. In particular, these submitters consider that the ISDS provisions unnecessarily
empower and protect international investors.
Some submitters believe that the threat of substantial awards against governments is a
strong disincentive for the New Zealand Government to act in the interests of New
Zealanders when those interests conflict with those of CPTPP investors. Submitters consider
that this could have a chilling effect on the Government’s ability to make policy and regulate
in areas including labour law and the mitigation of climate change.
We also discussed the CPTPP’s relationship with New Zealand’s many international
obligations, including the Paris Agreement to address climate change, and the United
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. We understand that this is problematic because
many of these obligations are not enforceable, but the CPTPP contains enforcement
mechanisms.
Two dispute settlement mechanisms in CPTPP
We understand that the CPTPP provides for two dispute settlement mechanisms: a
government-to-government system to resolve disputes in the agreement, and ISDS. The
ISDS mechanism provides for the settlement of disputes between foreign investors and the
Government of the country in which the investment is made.
Application of ISDS in CPTPP
In the CPTPP, ISDS only applies to the Investment chapter and limited investment-related
elements of the Financial Services chapter. The scope of the ISDS mechanism is narrower
that it was in the TPP. Claims are no longer permitted in relation to investment contracts and
COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE AGREEMENT FOR TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP)
6
approval. This means that private companies which enter into an investment contract with
the Government would not be able to use ISDS if there were a dispute about that contract.
Decisions made under the Overseas Investment Act 2005 are also not subject to ISDS.
Suspensions around the minimum standard of treatment concerning financial services
further reduce the risk of successful claims under the CPTPP being taken against New
Zealand. The minimum standard of treatment is an obligation that forms part of the body of
customary international law, to accord fair and equitable treatment to covered investments,
and not to deny justice.
Once a treaty is entered into, it cannot be changed by any one state. So any submission to the New Zealand Parliament asking for that will necessarily fail.
It is basically an up and down vote. And there is zero chance (given the make up of the committee) that the select committee would recommend a down vote.
But I presume you knew all of this already, and your submission was merely another way of showing your opposition, rather than an expectation it would have actual effect.
However, presumably the Greens will put in a minority report covering your points.
“Once a treaty is entered into, it cannot be changed by any one state. So any submission to the New Zealand Parliament asking for that will necessarily fail.”
Different situation as the US, Canada and Mexico are in the middle of formal negotiations called to renegotiate NAFTA; whereas the CP TPP is now post the end of formal negotiations and sign off by all parties (countries) to the agreement and in the ratification stage where individual states are processing the agreement through their national legislative requirements for ratification.
Therefore, are we about to make the same costly mistake all over again?
As for the initial mistake (the low level adopted) should and will there be compensation for homeowners and others affected? Moreover, will heads roll?
“I lose count of the number of times that I questioned [Housing New Zealand] about it. To the point that I was told as a minister that I was on the edge of getting involved of day to day running of the technical issues of a crown entity,” Bennett said.
Seems Bennett is pointing the finger at HNZ, Robert.
In response to the recommendations, Housing Minister Phil Twyford has announced new standards and less stringent standards will be set for houses within the next year – with Housing NZ immediately changing its policy.
It appears ms Bennett wasn’t smart enough to translate her concerns into action as mr Twyford did. Mr Twyford needs to be congratulated on such a positive result.
Could be. Or it could be she lacked compelling evidence to back action being taken. Then again, she may of had the evidence and failed to act, therefore she would also be culpable.
Chairman, I also think you are a fake leftie, and it is your normal haughty, super-correct tone that prompts me to write this.
‘may of had’????
If Maori have the right to protect and promote their language ( as I believe they have) then you should try to avoid barbaric solecisms, and those who value our language should help you.
You may write either “may have” or “may’ve’ – but “may of” simply reflects badly upon all else that you write.
If you consistently strike a haughty, super-correct tone, please live up to it in your use of English.
However, in several news stories at the time Bennett and English said they approved of the Housing NZ regime.
English said the agency was “rightly taking a firm stance on the health risks posed by meth, and will continue to do so for as long as it is detected in its properties” in 2016.
And Bennett told Newshub in 2016 there was “no evidence” Housing NZ had evicted tenants unfairly.
Bennett, Chairman, was unable to effect the necessary change to an unjust situation affecting many New Zealanders? What was she there for???
Labour’s only been in a short while, yet the job is done! Tells the story…
Full kudos to them for commissioning this report and acting to make improvements.
However, the concern here is the rather conservative level HNZ has now adopted. We now risk repeating the same mistake again, unless the Government swiftly acts to correct this.
Additionally, a decent Government would see the injustice caused, therefore would willingly offer compensation to all those unfairly impacted. We are not seeing this from this Government.
Never satisfied, you. “Full kudos to them”, you say, then go on to qualify your praise, as you inevitably do, “good job, but …
Compensating for National’s fubar? Galling. Let’s wait till they own their actions then talk of compensation.
Satisfied risking repeating the same mistake all over again? Of course I’m not and nor should you be.
National aren’t going to own this, evident by their pointing the finger at HNZ.
We now have compelling evidence, therefore we know people have been unfairly treated. Hence, the current Government should be acknowledging this and offering compensation. At the least, announcing they are looking into it.
They are, of course, “looking into it”. Your attempts to read between the lines in order to find failure is … tiresome and your glossing-over/dismissal of National’s culpability is … expected.
paula bennet is so full of it and just covering her arse.
“However, in several news stories at the time Bennett and English said they approved of the Housing NZ regime.
English said the agency was “rightly taking a firm stance on the health risks posed by meth, and will continue to do so for as long as it is detected in its properties” in 2016.
And Bennett told Newshub in 2016 there was “no evidence” Housing NZ had evicted tenants unfairly.”
Bennett was on RNZ tonight saying she had real concerns about the meth testing and eviction of state house tenants,but even though she expressed concern to HNZ and other agencies,she was powerless to act.
From what I’ve seen it’s all about liability, we’re paying for the steady erosion of the ‘no fault’ ethos behind ACC.
The bureacrats and interested parties really don’t have a lot of choice in these matters. If something is said to be a risk then ignoring the risk leaves people open to future claims for damages. That looming liability threat pushes people to take extremely conservative measures. No-one goes to work to be sued or face criminal charges so people do everything they can to eliminate the risk of that happening.
As it transpired the meth threat was a bust but no-one was to know that for sure until it did transpire. People acted on the information available at the time and who can blame them for that. Sure, common sense said it was a gross overreaction but the law doesn’t give a rats arse about common sense does it.
To my mind the only culpable party is the Government of the day and, sadly, they can’t be sued or charged for their refusal to establish reasonable and proper meth testing standards.
The potential liability threat of taking an extremely conservative approach should have also been given far more consideration considering the massive costs and unnecessary stress it has caused.
Therefore, risk should be correctly established before levels are set and lives are thrown into disarray.
And while the Government of the day could well be culpable, just because they can’t be sued or charged doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get to the bottom of this.
Surely we’ll want to prevent similar from occurring again, thus we need to establish who was culpable and what went wrong.
You missed the point by some margin there. The risk to landlords was being sued or charged for any harm that might befall their tenants.
You can’t contract out of the law so creating your own testing standards would have been a foolish move, there’s no guarantees ‘the law’ would accept it. It was always for the Govt to set the standards. This Govt has shown how easy it was and one is left to wonder at the motives of the last Govt in refusing to do so.
What about the tenants who were evicted and more than likely incorrectly labelled by their communities or neighbours as P addicts? Don’t know about you, but if that happened to me I’d be devastated for myself and my children especially if one lived in a small community.
How many children have suffered as a result, did one parent find out that another parent had been evicted and then try and take their kids away from them as a result? That’s a very likely scenario.
Indeed, others were also impacted. As I have mentioned further up. And at this stage the Government hasn’t ruled out compensating them. But there has been no mention that I’ve heard of in regards to compensating homeowners that were also impacted.
I’m thinking we may now see class action suits similar to the leaky homes debacle.
Just as well there are some NZs now keeping an eye on housing and the government. Everyone in Britain in the Great Depression got worn out by the amount of deprivation. And it would be echoed here if we aren’t careful as we have brought the British callousness over with us as colonials and it has persisted over nearly two centuries.
This is a bit from George Orwell’s look at the homeless in Britain as in his book The Road to Wigan Pier from 1937.
[The wagon/caravan will contain] such furniture as can be crammed in – sometimes two beds, more usually one, into which the whole family have to huddle as best they can. It is almost impossible to sleep on the floor, because the damp soaks up from below. I was shown mattresses which were still wringing wet at eleven in the morning. In winter it is so cold that the kitcheners have to be kept burning day and night, and the windows, needless to say, are never opened.
Water is got from a hydrant common to the whole colony, some of the caravan-dwellers having to walk 150 or 200 yards for every bucket of water. There are no sanitary arrangements at all. Most of the people construct a little hut to serve as a lavatory on the tiny patch of ground….All the people I saw…especially the children, were unspeakably dirty…The thought that haunted me….was, What can happen in those cramped interiors when anybody dies? But that, of course, is the kind of question you hardly care to ask.
Some of the people have been in their caravans for many years. Theoretically the Corporation are…getting the inhabitants out into houses; but as the houses don’t get built, the caravans remain standing….one woman with a worn skull-like face… struggling to keep her large brood of children clean,…[must have felt as if] coated all over with dung.
One must remember that these people are not gypsies; they are decent English people who have all,,,had homes in their day.,,their caravans are,,,inferior to those of gypsies and they have not the…advantage of being on the move.
“On the contrary. They have shown that despite the info that has come to light, it’s still going to take the Government up to a year to set new levels.”
Be realistic. It’s a bit like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder.
I believe the relevant Standard that HNZ and others have used as a reference is NZS 8510:2017. I’m not going to buy a copy just to have a look at it so I can’t comment on its content.
IIRC Standards are not of themselves statutory laws but one would be rather foolish to ignore them in pursuant of your own standards.
Those standards are developed with input from different parties, some with their own self-interests. I believe the science-oriented input to NZS 8510:2017 was somewhate looser than the end result.
Gosman, WTF has the politics of the reporter, as you imagine them, got to do with the demolition job that reporter did on the daft ideas of the ACT candidate?
Except of course, to deflect from the actual arguments raised by the reporter.
And to deflect from the daffiness of the ACT candidates ideas.
Play the ball, Gosman, not the man.
I note that NZ First had the wisdom to let go the candidate who was 38th on their list and who is now standing in Northcote for a Right-Wing Hansen style party. By-elections certainly bring out the dillies, the daffies and the daft.
There was no demolition job here. This is merely an opinion piece by a well known left leaning journalist. As such his political leanings are entirely valid when determining if his piece has any validity. It does not.
Gosman, if your sole or main determinant as to whether argument is correct is the political views of the writer, then what are you doing here on a left-wing blog?
I say there is a demolition job. I read the article.
The proposals of the ACT candidate in resurrecting 1972 proposals to advocate for a 6 lane highway through the myriad green spaces in Auckland were rightly ridiculed.
At the end, the writer said that a vote for this candidate is similar to voting for the anti-fluoride homeopathic candidate whose name appears next to the ACT candidate’s.
I note that the writer’s left wing views are the sole determinant for your dismissal of his arguments. You have not attempted to justify your belief that his views have no validity, have you?
If you want to have arguments why his opinion has no validity beyond his political bias (as well as showing why he has political bias) then look no further than his argument that the proposal is an old one. So what? Transmission Gully was first proposed back in the 1940’s or even earlier. It was still a good idea and one that the last National government took up in the past 5 years. The Rail loop in Auckland is also an old idea which seems to have merit. Trying to dismiss ideas because they are not original highlights the fact the author is scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of objections.
It looks like it goes directly through the Birkenhead Shopping Centre. That’s it folks. Your shops and mall will be gone. Never mind, you can drive to Glenfield or even Albany for your daily shopping commutes. 😡
And where are the shops and the mall going to go while it is being built? Whenever a tunnel is being built the topical landscape gets smashed to pieces and a small fortune is spent on rebuilding it at a much later date.
What Gluckman said was that there was no danger from houses where there has only been smoking/taking P. But Labs can leave far more dangerous chemicals. So what they have done is raise the level to where smoking/taking P will be eliminated. Only a lab is likely to leave more than the new limit. And in that case there could be more dangerous chemicals there.
My source, before you ask, Chairman, is my own fertile imagination working in conjunction with my amazing alcohol-enhanced powers of logic.
And if I turn out to be right, you will have wasted considerable time once again trying to sow doubt and dissension, won’t you, Chairman?
The report clearly states the most commonly used methods no longer use solvents. Therefore, the primary contaminant associated with manufacturing is methamphetamine itself.
So testing for methamphetamine alone would give no indication that other potentially harmful chemicals are present. Therefore, we risk creating unnecessary costs and harm all over again, albeit with a higher but still conservative standard.
Recently the Italian president vetoed the formation of an Italian government. This was because the proposed finance minister had previously looked at a proposal to exit the Euro, if needed. Its not the first time that the needs of the currency have overruled a democratic decision.
Now we need to look into the earthquake standards.
I’m not too sure about anyone else, but I’m not too comfortable with the idea of emptying buildings and letting them stand empty for years on end, and this practice needs looking into.
If our old state housing stock was largely multi-storey apartments built on reclaimed land, with unreinforced masonry and dodgy steel connections holding up heavy floors you might have a point. However I very much doubt it.
To clarify, the USA is happy to smash any country that doesn’t bow to the demands of its corporations, or attempts to defy the stranglehold of the petrodollar.
I am interested to see if your views on Venezuela gather much support amongst lefties here. I suspect not as Venezuela is now becoming a pariah nation and one to avoid mention at all costs for most mainstream leftists. It is only hard core ones like you that will be banging this particular drum.
Speak for yourself I always thought Venezuela was an economic nutcase country sustained largely by resource extraction.
I also could never quite understand the nutcase right wing droning on and on about it as being the epitome of what the ‘left’ thought as their fandom economy. My opinion was that was largely the right nutbars grabbing their crotch with excitement to build a meme about how the left ‘thinks’. Which appears to be what you are doing?
As you are aware, there is no monolithic left and never has been.
BTW: exactly the same economic issue or over indulgence in resource extraction is what I think is the same fundamental weakness in the NZ (and the aussie) economies as well as Venezuela .
However here the idiotic economic numb skulls who indulge in it appear to be largely from the right. They mine the soils, water and and different mineral resource rather than oil and put the benefits to their beneficiaries among the affluent rather than the poor. But it is exactly the same thing. Unsustainable stupidity indulged in for political reasons to benefit a group voting for selfish reasons. In our case by the National party.
Interesting view that I suspect will not be shared by the more extreme leftist on this site. As already evidenced by some the cause of the problems in Venezuela is not the narrow resource based extractive nature of it’s economy but the actions of the US taken against the Socialist government.
The opposition candidate Falcon issued a statement calling for a new election citing a low voter turnout as the reason. Only 48% of those eligible cast their vote but he forgot to mention that the opposition had called its supporters to boycott the elections and not to vote.
I haven’t seen anything of socialism in either Russia or China.
Venezuela was definitely getting worse under capitalism and the people now keep voting for socialism despite the capitalist attacks upon it from other countries so things must be better than before.
Russia was a socialist state. The author of this piece refers to communism, but try not to be confused:
“Gorbachev understood that the shabby socialist economy was incapable of sustaining a world power. Perestroika was introduced, and with it glasnost, a limited opening up of channels of criticism. Glasnost proved suicidal. The surrealism of Soviet society could not survive the light of criticism. Inevitably, the ideological house of cards erected by the Party propagandists and disseminated by foreign fellow-travelers over seven decades collapsed.” https://fee.org/articles/the-soviet-tragedy-a-history-of-socialism-in-russia-1917-1991-and-russia-under-the-bolshevik-regime/
“Venezuela was definitely getting worse under capitalism…”
I think not. But it can’t possibly have been any worse than it is now.
“adoption of an economic system that fails everywhere it is tried. It’s called socialism.”
Yeah, But I think the beneficiary Dairy Farmers including that dick who had the notice about Ardern are thankful at the “adoption” of a good old bit of Socialism
at the moment.
Interesting, So I take it then that as they were so grateful and are so “internationally competitive.” they will not take or need the generous benefit these pack of beneficiaries are getting from the government.
“They will be more thankful to the economic reforms of the 80’s and 90’s that made them internationally competitive.”
Also, that is bullshit as if I remember correctly there was nothing but winging how were they going to survive now all the export incentives were being stopped and the suspensory loans and tax avoidance schemes like having a swimming pool c/w Barbecue area “just in case of fire”
“So I take it then that as they were so grateful and are so “internationally competitive.” they will not take or need the generous benefit these pack of beneficiaries are getting from the government.”
That’s up to them. They have been the victims of a natural disaster beyond their control, a bit like the citizens of Christchurch. But then many businesses experience that and don’t get government aid.
“…as if I remember correctly there was nothing but winging how were they going to survive now all the export incentives were being stopped…”
Absolutely there was, and yet 35 years later we lead the world, and are selling our expertise to the world. Isn’t the market a wonderful thing.
Since the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis, the authorities have repeatedly told us there is no risk to human health from eating meat or milk from infected animals. They would say that wouldn’t they – got to keep the ‘confidence of the market’.
Now, a Massey University professor of food safety describes the disease as a *low* risk to humans. In time, I expect the risk deniers will obfuscate as scientific evidence mounts, in much the same way as the concerns over the A1/A2 milk proteins.
“Amateurs Talk Strategy, Professionals Talk Logistics”
Perhaps it is time for the government to evolve their policies with a mind open to the above quote.
Good morning The AM Show there is a good reasoning for ECO MAORI pushing for equality for the ladies it’s the fair thing to do ladies are more intelligent than men and humane it’s good to have Amanda on the show this raises the humanity and intelligence of the show.
You cannot see the flaws in locking people up for years 5000 Maori young men most who just need a bit of guidance who come from broken family created by this system no father to gide them set boundaries for them wake up you know they wanted to privatise Hospitals Prison school so what did national do the ran these to the ground and say the system in not working let’s privatise every thing like America . Duncan its is the justice system that failed to do there job of keeping the people who killed while on bail not the 5000 Maori men it’s not hard to observe people look at there history and identify the risky people and keep them in jail 1 persent of the 5000 50 mistake the justice system has made that’s a fact that’s what these civil servents get paid to do this is a logical way of thinking about this problem
Its is best to try the eradication route for this bovine virus this virus will effect beef farmers as well as dairy farmers. Culling of these cows should have started on the 1/1/2017 No then it would not have blown out to what we have now Ana to kai Ka kite ano
The AM Show there you go Simon Bridge using crime and scare tactics to try and raise his polling rates the same phenomenon that made the bovine virus blow out to this mess. If he really cared about Aotearoa he would work with labour greens to come to a intelligent humane solutions to OUR Prison population look at our scandernavion cousins empty prison.
Ka kite ano
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The East is Rent: The consequences of unleashing the young against the old; of elevating ideological rigor above reasoned debate; and of setting the present against the past; was a decade of unprecedented social stress and tension, interspersed with explosions of murderous mob violence and tragic material destruction. More than ...
The Green Party of Aotearoa-New Zealand could go from helping Jacinda Ardern run the country, to being turfed out of Parliament altogether in ten weeks. And that could see the end of Labour in government. Without them, Labour would likely have to do what no party has done since the ...
Remember the government's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill? Remember how it was rammed through Parliament, with a four-day submission period and a select committee process that was a democratic fraud? At the time, the government gave the impression that there was an urgent need for this legislation, that a ...
Attack journalist - Tova O'BrienWe all know that much of the mainstream media in New Zealand is terribly biased. They are in effect another branch of the National Party, and can often be even more prejudiced than their right wing bosses.In fact many right wing politicians moonlight as journalists and ...
Former National Party President - Michelle BoagAfter the complete botch job Hamish Walker made of leaking the private details of COVID-19 patients to the mainstream media last week, the best-case scenario for Todd Muller and the National Party would be if the news cycle went quiet about their involvement.But unfortunately ...
One of the challenges of working on illegal wildlife markets, is you don’t really have scope to talk about your research into illegal wildlife markets. There is some stuff though that willbe coming out on Asiatic black bears in China, and before Covid19, I was delving more into rhinos. Which ...
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...
Michelle Boag - Former National Party PresidentWhen Todd Muller decided not to discipline Hamish Walker for his horribly racist press release last week, you had to wonder if his lack of proper leadership had something to do with a shared belief system? After all, the whiteness of the blue “team” ...
On Twitter today, lawyer Felix Geiringer asked a good question: why are MP's exempt from the Privacy Act? The Act imposes its obligations on "agencies", and s8 of the 2020 Act states that this term does not include... a member of Parliament in their official capacity The 1993 Act, ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhat was the climate and sea level like at times ...
So now we know, beyond all doubt. The National party has no interest in joining the “team of five million” in our fight against the pandemic but its priority is to take every opportunity it can to damage the government. The cynicism is breathtaking. It was prepared to leak the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters The massive dust storm that formed over the Sahara Desert in mid-June invaded the southeastern U.S. June 25-28, bringing dangerous levels of air pollution, low visibility, and colorful sunsets. The air pollution event over parts of Texas and the Gulf ...
In 1987, as a British Labour MP, I was elected to the Shadow Cabinet by my colleagues and was asked by the party leader to direct Labour’s campaign in the general election of that year. The election was to take place at the height of Mrs Thatcher’s dominance and we ...
National MP Nicola WillisHousing, which I would argue is a fundamental human right, has long been a problem in New Zealand. Not only do we have some of the most overpriced houses in the entire world, much of the housing stock is substandard and therefore affects not just people’s health ...
If the government has not lined up behind a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum the way some reformers would have liked, one entirely laudable thing it did do was commission some science around the public's choice.That science landed today, in the form of the report from an expert ...
Associate Professor Sara WaltonAt the heart of the discussion on opening up our borders is the dichotomy of health and the economy – both of which are actually intertwined, like many things with our economy, as this epidemic has shown.If we think about our country as a system, ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss This year will see the largest ever drop globally in both investment and consumer spending on energy as the coronavirus pandemic hits every major sector, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The crisis is accelerating the shutdown of older fossil-fuelled ...
A short opinion piece – Friday 26th June 2020 Whilst our Government has treated many financial victims of the current Covid-19 virus with appropriate generosity, the same cannot be said for those of the two earlier “epidemics” in NZ. The “Covid-84” virus (also called “Rogernomics”) spread systemic greed, with the ...
Everyone deserves a a decent life. We know this is possible with a fairer approach to income support and tax Read the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poverty Action Plan here ...
After a long break, the government is back inserting secrecy clauses in legislation. This time its the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3), which in its clause allowing Ministers to exempt purchasers of farm land from the usual rules also allows them to exempt an exemption from the publication requirement: ...
Over the past two years the government has repeatedly delayed a scheme to put cameras on boats to monitor Mew Zealand's pervasively criminal fishing industry. But it turns out that the industry actually wants cameras: Three of the country's biggest seafood companies have broken ranks with the rest of the ...
Louise Delany (public health lawyer)Health and emergency laws have played a critical role in this country’s successful elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. This blog details key aspects of the legislation and comments on issues around testing, payments by incoming travellers for quarantine costs, and mask use. ...
I like Andrew Curry’s succinct and insightful futures blog The Next Wave. His most recent post is about social change. In particular, the decadal-long periods usually required for changes in values. He highlights a 2016 paper by Inglehart and Norris, who examined whether economic insecurity or a “cultural backlash” ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Stop making sense: why it's time to get emotional about climate changeThe science has been settled to the highest degree, so now ...
MONDAY JULY 6Washington (History, Sky 073, 7.30pm). The brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin is the executive producer of this six-part series about America's first president. It combines interviews with live action and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. It's engaging, said Salon.TUESDAY JULY 7The ABC Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Sarah Phelps has done incredible things with ...
I think we can all agree that the mainstream media in New Zealand has a very different set of rules for the right wing compared to the left. While Labour and Green Party politicians don’t seem to be able to fart without it becoming a sackable offence, National and Act ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 28 through Sat, July 4, 2020Editor's Choice'2040': A funny, entertaining, upbeat climate documentaryA timely Australian documentary takes a 'solutions' approach, with the filmmaker inspired by visions of ...
Racist National MP Hamish WalkerEven before Todd Muller's coup ousted Simon Bridges by a single vote, it was patently obvious that the National Party promotes and stands for white privilege. In fact they’ve always worked to ensure the discriminatory status quo in New Zealand doesn’t change.So it’s no surprise that ...
Dave HeatleyZero community transmission. Just a handful of active cases, all in quarantine. New Zealand is in an attractive situation, at least compared to much of the world. The situation could be robust and enduring – or it might be fragile, just one border incursion away from a “second ...
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...
I wrote earlier in the week about the Scientology front organisations Drug Free World and Drug Free Ambassadors and their quite prominent role in anti-cannabis reform "coalition" assembled by Family First and a newloca branch of the American prohibitionist organisation SAM.It turns out Family First aren't the only ones helping ...
Nik GreenMuch of the public debate about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on the extent to which government regulations have restricted personal and business activity.Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government Here in New Zealand, the question of when to change Alert Levels dominated the ...
James Higham, University of OtagoUnprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the sector to external shocks and the tenuous nature of tourism employment have been exposed. While New Zealand’s handling of the pandemic ...
Raising The Bar: Would that the Prime Minister and her colleagues would listen as intently to what the people – as opposed to the power elites – are saying as the Greens. Were they so disposed, the popular clamour for a transformational post-Covid reset would be loud in their ears. ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzDo you think the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown will slow or ...
A bit like a letter home. I have now been full-time at the University of Melbourne since 2019. Before that, I was 20 years at the University of Otago, Wellington. Indeed, I set up this very Public Health Expert Blog with Nick Wilson ten years ago. Now I am your ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections House Democrats have released a comprehensive report showing how – if they control the White House and both the Senate and the House of Representatives – they might move forward on climate change. Their “Climate Crisis Action Plan,” released June 30 by the ...
A ballot for three Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Electoral (Integrity Repeal) Amendment Bill (David Carter) Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate Visual Recording) Amendment Bill (Louisa wall) Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Bill (Judith ...
Not Ready: Todd Muller’s lack-lustre and self-contradictory performances offer conclusive proof that a political leader cannot be managed into competence. National’s new boss has Janet Wilson handling his media and Matthew Hooton writing his speeches. Both are highly professional political and public relations specialists, and Muller is lucky to have ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund is providing up to $19.5 million to boost innovative primary sector businesses and create training and job opportunities for Northland locals through the construction of an innovation and enterprise park at Ngawha, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones ...
The Green Party is today unveiling part one of its plan for a fossil-fuel free Aotearoa, including an immediate ban on new industrial coal boilers. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today scoffed at suggestions that a team of six political operatives have been dispatched to New Zealand to assist his campaign. ‘As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘there they go again.’ ‘The clickbait journos can’t ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
The Crown will provide a loan to Hawke’s Bay Airport to ensure it can trade through COVID-19 economic impacts, support the region’s recovery and protect up to 200 jobs. The Crown has a 50 percent shareholding in Hawke’s Bay Airport Limited (HBAL), with Napier City Council holding 26 percent and ...
Four celebrated Māori and Pasifika events will receive up to $100,000 each in funding from the new Creative and Cultural Events Incubator fund, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. The four events that were successful in the inaugural funding round are: Kia Mau Festival, Wellington Māoriland Film Festival, Otaki ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...
Wildlife institutions affected by a loss of visitor revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to receive government support with nearly $15 million of funding available announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Eco-sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and wildlife rescue, hospital and rehabilitation facilities provide crucial support for the recovery ...
The Government is expanding and accelerating frontline mental health and wellbeing services at tertiary education institutes (TEI) to help students manage ongoing stresses related to COVID-19. “The lockdown has been hugely disruptive for students. Many of them have had to relocate and move to online learning, isolating them from their ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
Latest from the Beehive – One of the less challenging jobs for a Minister of the Crown is dipping into a trough within his ministerial gift and hoping for favourable headlines by dishing out grants. Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford – who has fallen short of counting Kiwbuild and Auckland ...
People from immigrant backgrounds often struggle to find work in New Zealand, despite their qualifications. So why is the Office of Ethnic Communities looking for people to do its work for free, asks former race relations commissioner Joris de Bres.Last week, the Office of Ethnic Communities announced on Facebook that ...
New Zealanders can’t get enough of The Chase, so why can’t we have our own version? And what would a homegrown version of the quiz show look like anyway? If The Chase were a pandemic, we’d all have herd immunity by now. The British TV quiz show has never been ...
In less than a week, Auckland Council will vote on an emergency budget that looks set to deliver severe cuts to facilities and services across the city. And still pleas for a commitment on shovel ready projects go unheeded by government, writes councillor Desley Simpson.As a country we can feel ...
The gunman of the Christchurch mosque attacks has chosen to represent himself at his sentencing next month. In March, Brenton Tarrant made a late guilty plea to 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one under the Terrorism Suppression Act. He is due to be sentenced on 24 ...
A road freight industry representative says a new announcement that negotiations will be extended - again - is further confirmation that something is not right with the project An announcement that a new cash payout will extend negotiations and 'winter works' even further than first thought is being heralded as a sign ...
By Hamish Cardwell, RNZ News Grey Power is enraged by what it says is the “stupid and dangerous” behaviour of people fleeing managed isolation facilities, and says they need the book thrown at them. A person broke a window and absconded from an Auckland hotel on Friday, the fourth such ...
Crowd entertainment at sports games is a hard task, but please let’s stick to T-shirt cannons and on-field japes instead of watching strangers smooch, eh?Funny kiss cam footage is a key element of any viral fail video compilation. A “she’s my sister” sign pulled out of a pocket as the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Clarke, Director, Monash Drone Discovery Platform, and Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Monash University This article is part of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a special project by The Conversation that launched this week. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jess Marsh, Research fellow at the Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University This article is part of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a special project by The Conversation that launched this week. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Lintermans, Associate professor, University of Canberra This article is part of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a special project by The Conversation that launched this week. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last summer’s bushfire tragedy. Explore ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum This article is part of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a special project by The Conversation that launched this week. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last summer’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Matisoo-Smith, Professor of Biological Anthropology, University of Otago How did the Polynesian peoples come to live on the far-flung islands of the Pacific? The question has intrigued researchers for centuries. Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl brought the topic to public attention when ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Phillips, Associate Professor, Centre for Social Research and Methods, Director, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Australian National University New research on disadvantage in Australia has found the gap between rich and poor is very wide in Sydney, while much of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Peters, Associate Professor of Wildlife Health and Pathology, Charles Sturt University This article is part of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a special project by The Conversation that launched this week. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wee Tiong Seah, Associate Professor in Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne On Sunday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced government school students in prep to Year 10 in metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire will learn from home for term three. The remote ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phillippa Carnemolla, Senior Research Fellow, School of the Built Environment, University of Technology Sydney The stated purpose of the Morrison government’s HomeBuilder program is to stimulate the economy and create construction jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research shows home improvements could ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland From the 11th century onwards, the Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat enjoyed a popularity in the medieval West attained perhaps by no other legend. It was available ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Investors still betting massive money-printing, despite growing fears of second wave lock-downs in America, India and Brazil, and as Australian cases spike ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Self-inflicted story puts National on the defensive, another escape attempt from managed isolation, and a series of party events ahead of election.There’s a convention in journalism called Betteridge’s law of headlines. Basically what it means is that headlines that end in ...
How authoritarian rule is applied to Hong Kong may make New Zealanders question whether closer interactions with China are necessarily desirable, writes Catherine Churchman Get ready for some in-your-face political repression, New Zealand. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has just extended its draconian rules on free speech and freedom ...
Using technology remotely to care for patients can go way beyond Zoom calls or basic telehealth measures. Professor Simon Malpas explains how tech can start to even out inequity in healthcare. Imagine you live in Ahipara, Northland. You also have early stage heart failure. It’s a 90-minute drive to your ...
Stephen Hoadley on how Donald Trump has moved the US from its decades-old role of international leadership, and why it might not be easy for a President Biden to restore that mantle. US elections and the resulting presidencies can be geopolitical turning points, whether reflecting them or causing them. Successive ...
The ACT party held its campaign launch in Auckland on Sunday and unveiled new policies, with a new team it hopes will bring a return to the days when it was more than a one man band. Mark Jennings reports. If the number of people paying to attend a political ...
Nicky Pellegrino and Stacy Gregg continue their podcast interview series with popular New Zealand writers. This week: Amy McDaid, the author of Fake Baby. Auckland’s Amy McDaid is an exciting new talent on our literary scene. Her debut novel, Fake Baby, strikes an elegant balance between dark comedy and compassion. ...
Is it finally time for Pacific rugby to come in from the cold in a new Super Rugby competition? Jim Kayes says it's time to believe. In Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, the two lead characters wait on a country road, by a tree, for Godot’s arrival. He never ...
A broken foot threatened to derail sailor Alex Maloney's second Olympic campaign. But she's back on track, with a little help from her brother and his America's Cup team-mates. From now on, Alex Maloney will always seek a second opinion. Without it, the Rio Olympics sailing silver medallist saw her ...
With an election now less than 10 weeks away, the National Party is confronting the very real prospect of a crushing defeat, writes Pattrick Smellie for BusinessDesk.Only two things can now save Todd Muller and the National Party from the growing likelihood of a crushing defeat at the September 19 ...
It’s long past time we officially recognised the Māori new year on Māori land, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira.In May, Jacinda Ardern said more public holidays for Kiwis to experience Aotearoa New Zealand is among a number of things the government is “actively considering” to encourage domestic tourism.With many small businesses ...
The Kiwi nurse working in conflict zones, helping war-wounded, and improving hospital systems was forced to do a major pivot when Covid-19 hit Afghanistan. Gail Corbett tells Laura Walters about living her life in some of the world’s most dangerous places, and what keeps her going back. Gail Corbett was ...
This is a story about a Chinese shipwreck, the Māori guardians of the bones, and the documentary maker who' has upset two cultures with his efforts to tell the tale. Is a shipwreck with the bones of 499 Chinese miners a sacred gravesite or a part of history that should be ...
From RNZ Mediawatch New Zealand children use a lot less Kiwi media than they used to. New research shows its Netflix, YouTube and TikTok engaging their eyeballs big time these days. If our kids screen out our local media, what does the future hold for them? The news media seized ...
The Tahr Foundation has released a short video that shows just what Himalayan tahr mean to Kiwis and why so many people are fighting so hard to maintain them in New Zealand. The video is a powerful reminder of the extent that tahr are now woven into ...
Introduction Thank you very much. Elections in New Zealand – like everywhere - are a very special tradition, because they are driven by you. They’re an opportunity to change your future. If you think about it, the Government doesn’t do much. It ...
“This election and Covid-19 present New Zealanders with an opportunity to change their future and create a fair, modern employment insurance scheme,” says ACT’s Employment Spokesperson, and third-ranked candidate, Nicole McKee. “Covid-19 has ...
“A new approach to mental health and addiction will reduce bureaucracy, improve patient choice, and empower New Zealanders,” says ACT’s Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson Brooke van Velden. “Each year, the government spends about $2 billion ...
"Working people have signaled their commitment to do more to address the most pressing issue of our time; climate change. The energy policies that the Green Party have launched today provide a meaningful contribution to addressing climate change," ...
Climate justice organisation 350 Aotearoa welcomes the Greens' plan to transform Aotearoa’s energy system and set Aotearoa on course towards a fossil-fuel free future in which workers are supported into new jobs, and communities have the power ...
The Old Guard, new to Netflix, is a resounding success because it doesn’t focus on what makes these heroes great, it focuses on what makes them human, writes Sam Brooks.The climax of Netflix’s new movie The Old Guard shouldn’t be anything new, but it feels exhilarating. The titular old guard, ...
A new Green Party announcement heralds a fast-exit out of fossil fuels through a massive state housing solar panel installation programme, a ban on new coal boilers, and the shifting of a target for renewable energy Solar panels and batteries would be installed in 30,000 State homes to create a "virtual power plant" if ...
As yet more male-led festival lineups are announced, Shaquille Wasasala, aka halfqueen, writes an open letter to the industry.To those whose career it is booking talent for music festivals, punters, and people who listen to music.As a DJ and artist who exists at many intersections that directly inform my lens ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Dunedin writer Victor Billot pens topical verse every Sunday. This week: disgraced MP Hamish Walker.Showing promise The MP for Clutha-Southland did, it is true, post on Facebook that he had been door knocking in Mataura when he hadn’t. He lied. The MP for Clutha-Southland did, it is ...
It’s one of the most commonly used weedkillers in the world, but pressure to phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate could force us to come up with alternatives quickly. Listen to the full episode of Two Cents Worth below. Subscribe to Two Cents' Worth for free on Apple ...
The Covid-19 crisis has exposed gaps in the funding of early education that we should be bold in responding to, writes Sue Cherrington of Victoria University of Wellington Early childhood education has been in the media a great deal over recent weeks, initially with positive but increasingly with negative news reports. ...
It’s an economic theory that advocates tout as a solution to governments’ debt crises, but critics warn is a recipe for hyperinflation. Either way, modern monetary theory is getting a lot more attention in the era of Covid-19.Two big economic ideas have captured the popular imagination during the Covid-19 pandemic: ...
For one hour a week the supermarket lights are dimmed and the music stops. And it’s a kind of triumph, writes Michelle Langstone.I thought there’d been a power cut. The lights were out at the entrance, so you arrived into a kind of gloom. There was no music, and no ...
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In the second in the Spnioff’s Last on the list series, Dave King explains what inspired him to stand for the Act Party in Manurewa. At 20th spot on the list, if David Seymour’s party can win around 16% of the party vote, King is parliament bound.It wasn’t that long ...
Basketball is growing massively in popularity around the country, led by thousands of youngsters picking up the game every day. To The Line looks at what it’s like for New Zealand high school kids with hoop dreams.If there’s been a narrative rumbling away in the sports pages, it’s that of ...
Unbelievable. A first-rank world leader picks a needless fight with blameless allies, thus imperiling their unity. But that’s General de Gaulle for you.Impressive work, even by his standards. In 1967, Canada was to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (their Gallipoli – except that they ...
From RNZ Saturday Morning Described by a Guardian reviewer as “superb hate-reading”, writer and columnist Anand Giridharadas‘s latest book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World investigates the hypocrisy of billionaire “do-gooders”. He questions how and why we have become reliant on the philanthropy of the super-rich ...
The Professional Hunting Guides Association is welcoming the High Court decision on DoC’s controversial tahr campaign. The High Court in Wellington was asked on Wednesday by the Tahr Foundation for a judicial review of DoC’s plan to kill thousands ...
With the 2020 general election nearly three months away, a new campaign is asking voters to vote in line with the future. Vote Climate 2020 aims to highlight the opportunity to build momentum behind climate change, ensuring climate justice is a key election ...
“ACT will target the gangs by hitting them where it hurts – their pockets,” according to ACT Leader David Seymour and Firearms Spokesperson Nicole McKee. “New Zealanders deserve to be safe and secure, but violent gangs are a scourge on our ...
Open Mike 30/05/2018 
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The Herald front page screams ‘Russian serial killer.’
Any excuse to recreate the fear and hatred of the Cold War.
Shameful.
Just another reminder that a real people’s government should seize control of the narrative from the plutocrats.
This tinkering crew will do too little for fear of offending the capitalists.
And no, I did not buy it and did not click on it.
Saw the headline on a paper lyiing ona table in a cafe.
Ed? pfft.
Y’know, yes, there’s a whole lot of simplistic “black and white”, and “with us or agin us” bullshit going on in the world today.
But jumping up on a chair and getting all arm wavy on the flimsiest of contexts or (in this case) a completely bogus context is just …why fcking do that?
Didn’t read the story. Has no idea what the story says. Indulges monomania anyway 🙄
He’s still got a point, though.
Has he? I think he writes a load of steaming drivel on almost any subject you care to name.
Granted. He’s still got a point here, though.
That the NZH wants to recreate the fear and hatred of the Cold War? Nope, I think that’s just more addled gobshite. That the NZLP won’t do the things he wants? Maybe so, but since the things he wants are motivated by addled gobshite, that’s hardly surprising.
If you think my views on inequality, taxes, obesity, housing, transport, health and education are ‘gobshite’, or ‘steaming drivel’, then you clearly are not left wing.
When a Blairite insults me, I wear it as a badge of honour.
However, when someone who isn’t a Blairite calls out your drivel, you attack the messenger because you can’t handle the criticism.
“Real left wing thinking” ≠ regurgitating kleptocrat propaganda whilst seeing conspiracies everywhere.
Plus what Bill said.
Many on this site are sick of your bully boy tactics.
Just because you don’t agree with my views does not give you the right in verbal abuse.
My views are left of the NZ Labour Party.
Conspiracies everywhere?
No.
Do they exist?
Yes
Skripal
Yes – a conspiracy.
Syrian chemical attack
Yes – a conspiracy
The plan to attack Iraq in 2003.
Yes – a conspiracy.
The plan to attack the U.S in 2001
Yes – a conspiracy.
😆
Calls me a Blairite, bleats about verbal abuse.
Nice riposte Ed, you are part of the true left imo. Thanks for trying to mend the bridge with armed offenders bloke.
Probably most relevant Russian story today is not Ed’s little piece but that another anti Putin journalist and former Russian parliamentary candidate Oles Bunyan has been murdered in Kiev Probably nothing to do with russua though, suggest it was the British ( sarc)
OAB
Don’t be so quick to diss Ed. A bowl of steaming drivel might be all a poor person has on a winter morning to keep them going!
I would argue most real left wing thinking is closely aligned to what I say on this site.
Like a “True Scotsman”, I suspect the definition of “real left wing thinking” is in the eye of the proclaimer.
scroll past.
While the meth cirus reigns on TV today; – look what the Government is pushing forward at the same time as they threw the ‘distraction’ of meth at us!!!!
Did they think we would not see them shifting to ‘a thumbs up to CPTPP???????
We are being played big time now folks sadly.
Our verbal submission was 10 minutes last week and we are bitterly disapointed they did not even add any protectins we advocated for.
When will Labour/National /NZF appologise to NZ, after the new cases of other disease comes here after their final rush to pass the final report to Parliament simnce the phoney “select Committee to review the TPTPP” was hoisted on us all as a “diversion” while their intent was to pass this toxic trade agreement as it already was???
Chair Simon O’Connor (National MP) said he believed the CPTPP is o/k; – as is????
Even though us and a lot of other submitters warned him and his committee that they will be setting us up for more “micro-plasma bovis” events.
The submitters said they should include a clause be added to the ISDS agreement to allow in all cases Government contracts or with other parties allowing local/state governments and other parties to encourage Government to pass regulations to protect NZ citizens and the environment against foreign activities in NZ that may damage their future economic, environmental, health, and well-being after the trade agreement will be enacted in 2019.
‘Editored’ section involving environmental protection and no change from draft report originally proposed in march 2018.
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/SCR_78363/a1acbf19b29fdfcfb0f773ee52bffd2dfd522be3
(Chair Simon O’Connor said he believed the CPTPP is o/k; – as is????)
COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE AGREEMENT FOR TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP)
Page; 5
Summary of issues discussed with submitters
Many submitters, notably those opposed to the CPTPP, believe that the changes from the
TPP do not substantively address their concerns. They consider that the CPTPP is
effectively the same as the TPP.
Investor-State dispute settlement and sovereignty
We discussed some submitters’ concerns about the effect the CPTPP would have on the
sovereign rights of New Zealanders to determine their own future through an elected
Parliament. In particular, these submitters consider that the ISDS provisions unnecessarily
empower and protect international investors.
Some submitters believe that the threat of substantial awards against governments is a
strong disincentive for the New Zealand Government to act in the interests of New
Zealanders when those interests conflict with those of CPTPP investors. Submitters consider
that this could have a chilling effect on the Government’s ability to make policy and regulate
in areas including labour law and the mitigation of climate change.
We also discussed the CPTPP’s relationship with New Zealand’s many international
obligations, including the Paris Agreement to address climate change, and the United
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. We understand that this is problematic because
many of these obligations are not enforceable, but the CPTPP contains enforcement
mechanisms.
Two dispute settlement mechanisms in CPTPP
We understand that the CPTPP provides for two dispute settlement mechanisms: a
government-to-government system to resolve disputes in the agreement, and ISDS. The
ISDS mechanism provides for the settlement of disputes between foreign investors and the
Government of the country in which the investment is made.
Application of ISDS in CPTPP
In the CPTPP, ISDS only applies to the Investment chapter and limited investment-related
elements of the Financial Services chapter. The scope of the ISDS mechanism is narrower
that it was in the TPP. Claims are no longer permitted in relation to investment contracts and
COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE AGREEMENT FOR TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP)
6
approval. This means that private companies which enter into an investment contract with
the Government would not be able to use ISDS if there were a dispute about that contract.
Decisions made under the Overseas Investment Act 2005 are also not subject to ISDS.
Suspensions around the minimum standard of treatment concerning financial services
further reduce the risk of successful claims under the CPTPP being taken against New
Zealand. The minimum standard of treatment is an obligation that forms part of the body of
customary international law, to accord fair and equitable treatment to covered investments,
and not to deny justice.
Once a treaty is entered into, it cannot be changed by any one state. So any submission to the New Zealand Parliament asking for that will necessarily fail.
It is basically an up and down vote. And there is zero chance (given the make up of the committee) that the select committee would recommend a down vote.
But I presume you knew all of this already, and your submission was merely another way of showing your opposition, rather than an expectation it would have actual effect.
However, presumably the Greens will put in a minority report covering your points.
“Once a treaty is entered into, it cannot be changed by any one state. So any submission to the New Zealand Parliament asking for that will necessarily fail.”
What wayne means is BOKYAG.
Cant be changed ?
tell that to Trump as hes doing just that with NAFTA
Different situation as the US, Canada and Mexico are in the middle of formal negotiations called to renegotiate NAFTA; whereas the CP TPP is now post the end of formal negotiations and sign off by all parties (countries) to the agreement and in the ratification stage where individual states are processing the agreement through their national legislative requirements for ratification.
Trump is an example no sane politician would wish to follow.
With the Chief Science Advisor to the Government, Peter Gluckman, stating he wouldn’t be worried about “toddlers crawling around on the floor” until the meth residue reached the level of several hundred micrograms per 100cm2, why is the new testing standard level (at 15mcg per 100cm2) recommended so low?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104287037/the-meth-house-is-a-myth-theres-no-risk-from-drug-smoking-residue-govt-report-finds
In fact, the country’s top scientists are recommending people not test their homes unless the police specifically indicate it was a meth lab.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/358454/meth-house-contamination-debunked-by-pm-s-science-advisor
Therefore, are we about to make the same costly mistake all over again?
As for the initial mistake (the low level adopted) should and will there be compensation for homeowners and others affected? Moreover, will heads roll?
The head’s of Key, English et al, rolling…
“I lose count of the number of times that I questioned [Housing New Zealand] about it. To the point that I was told as a minister that I was on the edge of getting involved of day to day running of the technical issues of a crown entity,” Bennett said.
Seems Bennett is pointing the finger at HNZ, Robert.
You often ask for evidence of you being a fake leftie. Defending Bennett’s I-know-nothing approach and the blaming of officials is one example.
Highlighting what has been reported isn’t defending Bennett.
Nevertheless, are you prepared to let your dislike for Bennett get in the way of getting to the truth?
She could actually be telling the truth, do you have any evidence to the contrary?
And yet Twyford reversed the Meth test policy on becoming Govt.
So twas possible.
Twyford?
Wasn’t that done on their (HNZ) own initiative? Rather than it being a Government directive?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104287037/the-meth-house-is-a-myth-theres-no-risk-from-drug-smoking-residue-govt-report-finds
“Less stringent standards will be set for houses within the next year”
So despite what has come to light, seems it will still take Twyford sometime before he can set new standards.
If Bennett had info that she could have used to push through changes, but failed too, then she could also be held to account.
In the meantime, HNZ has announced it’s own changes. So they can call their own shots, therefore can also be held to account on their decisions taken.
It appears ms Bennett wasn’t smart enough to translate her concerns into action as mr Twyford did. Mr Twyford needs to be congratulated on such a positive result.
Could be. Or it could be she lacked compelling evidence to back action being taken. Then again, she may of had the evidence and failed to act, therefore she would also be culpable.
Chairman, I also think you are a fake leftie, and it is your normal haughty, super-correct tone that prompts me to write this.
‘may of had’????
If Maori have the right to protect and promote their language ( as I believe they have) then you should try to avoid barbaric solecisms, and those who value our language should help you.
You may write either “may have” or “may’ve’ – but “may of” simply reflects badly upon all else that you write.
If you consistently strike a haughty, super-correct tone, please live up to it in your use of English.
Yeah, he is.
Indications are that Bennett is lying:
Bennett, Chairman, was unable to effect the necessary change to an unjust situation affecting many New Zealanders? What was she there for???
Labour’s only been in a short while, yet the job is done! Tells the story…
Labour haven’t got the job done yet, Robert. See my post above.
Okay, “being done”. Good enough for me. Better than “not being done”(National).
Full kudos to them for commissioning this report and acting to make improvements.
However, the concern here is the rather conservative level HNZ has now adopted. We now risk repeating the same mistake again, unless the Government swiftly acts to correct this.
Additionally, a decent Government would see the injustice caused, therefore would willingly offer compensation to all those unfairly impacted. We are not seeing this from this Government.
Does that sit right with you, Robert?
Never satisfied, you. “Full kudos to them”, you say, then go on to qualify your praise, as you inevitably do, “good job, but …
Compensating for National’s fubar? Galling. Let’s wait till they own their actions then talk of compensation.
Satisfied risking repeating the same mistake all over again? Of course I’m not and nor should you be.
National aren’t going to own this, evident by their pointing the finger at HNZ.
We now have compelling evidence, therefore we know people have been unfairly treated. Hence, the current Government should be acknowledging this and offering compensation. At the least, announcing they are looking into it.
They are, of course, “looking into it”. Your attempts to read between the lines in order to find failure is … tiresome and your glossing-over/dismissal of National’s culpability is … expected.
“They are, of course, ‘looking into it’”.
More rubbish from you as usual, Robert.
“I haven’t given any thought to compensation and I don’t intend to.” – Phil Twyford.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/05/landlords-won-t-get-compensation-for-following-incorrect-meth-standards.html
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018647263/no-compensation-for-meth-evictions-housing-nz
paula bennet is so full of it and just covering her arse.
“However, in several news stories at the time Bennett and English said they approved of the Housing NZ regime.
English said the agency was “rightly taking a firm stance on the health risks posed by meth, and will continue to do so for as long as it is detected in its properties” in 2016.
And Bennett told Newshub in 2016 there was “no evidence” Housing NZ had evicted tenants unfairly.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104287037/the-meth-house-is-a-myth-theres-no-risk-from-drug-smoking-residue-govt-report-finds
“And Bennett told Newshub in 2016 there was ‘no evidence’ Housing NZ had evicted tenants unfairly.”
Yes, I know. Do you have the evidence to prove otherwise – i.e. that Bennett had the evidence?
TC, am on a quest to find out and when I do, you’ll be the first to know.
Off hand, there was questioning by some in the scientific community in regards to the low level set. So there may be something to find.
The chairman ms Bennett never got off her back side to find the information unlike mr Twyford
You could well be right, Ankerrawshark. Off hand, around 2000 scientist made submissions in 2017 with many of them stating testing was unnecessary.
Moreover, as Draco highlighted below, there was concern raised by the Ministry of Health in 2016 (hat tip to mickysavage).
Bennett was on RNZ tonight saying she had real concerns about the meth testing and eviction of state house tenants,but even though she expressed concern to HNZ and other agencies,she was powerless to act.
From what I’ve seen it’s all about liability, we’re paying for the steady erosion of the ‘no fault’ ethos behind ACC.
The bureacrats and interested parties really don’t have a lot of choice in these matters. If something is said to be a risk then ignoring the risk leaves people open to future claims for damages. That looming liability threat pushes people to take extremely conservative measures. No-one goes to work to be sued or face criminal charges so people do everything they can to eliminate the risk of that happening.
As it transpired the meth threat was a bust but no-one was to know that for sure until it did transpire. People acted on the information available at the time and who can blame them for that. Sure, common sense said it was a gross overreaction but the law doesn’t give a rats arse about common sense does it.
To my mind the only culpable party is the Government of the day and, sadly, they can’t be sued or charged for their refusal to establish reasonable and proper meth testing standards.
The potential liability threat of taking an extremely conservative approach should have also been given far more consideration considering the massive costs and unnecessary stress it has caused.
Therefore, risk should be correctly established before levels are set and lives are thrown into disarray.
And while the Government of the day could well be culpable, just because they can’t be sued or charged doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get to the bottom of this.
Surely we’ll want to prevent similar from occurring again, thus we need to establish who was culpable and what went wrong.
You missed the point by some margin there. The risk to landlords was being sued or charged for any harm that might befall their tenants.
You can’t contract out of the law so creating your own testing standards would have been a foolish move, there’s no guarantees ‘the law’ would accept it. It was always for the Govt to set the standards. This Govt has shown how easy it was and one is left to wonder at the motives of the last Govt in refusing to do so.
“This Govt has shown how easy it was”
On the contrary. They have shown that despite the info that has come to light, it’s still going to take the Government up to a year to set new levels.
The risk to landlords being sued wasn’t the only risk. What about homeowners that were impacted, they may now look at suing the Government.
What about the tenants who were evicted and more than likely incorrectly labelled by their communities or neighbours as P addicts? Don’t know about you, but if that happened to me I’d be devastated for myself and my children especially if one lived in a small community.
How many children have suffered as a result, did one parent find out that another parent had been evicted and then try and take their kids away from them as a result? That’s a very likely scenario.
Indeed, others were also impacted. As I have mentioned further up. And at this stage the Government hasn’t ruled out compensating them. But there has been no mention that I’ve heard of in regards to compensating homeowners that were also impacted.
I’m thinking we may now see class action suits similar to the leaky homes debacle.
Just as well there are some NZs now keeping an eye on housing and the government. Everyone in Britain in the Great Depression got worn out by the amount of deprivation. And it would be echoed here if we aren’t careful as we have brought the British callousness over with us as colonials and it has persisted over nearly two centuries.
This is a bit from George Orwell’s look at the homeless in Britain as in his book The Road to Wigan Pier from 1937.
[The wagon/caravan will contain] such furniture as can be crammed in – sometimes two beds, more usually one, into which the whole family have to huddle as best they can. It is almost impossible to sleep on the floor, because the damp soaks up from below. I was shown mattresses which were still wringing wet at eleven in the morning. In winter it is so cold that the kitcheners have to be kept burning day and night, and the windows, needless to say, are never opened.
Water is got from a hydrant common to the whole colony, some of the caravan-dwellers having to walk 150 or 200 yards for every bucket of water. There are no sanitary arrangements at all. Most of the people construct a little hut to serve as a lavatory on the tiny patch of ground….All the people I saw…especially the children, were unspeakably dirty…The thought that haunted me….was, What can happen in those cramped interiors when anybody dies? But that, of course, is the kind of question you hardly care to ask.
Some of the people have been in their caravans for many years. Theoretically the Corporation are…getting the inhabitants out into houses; but as the houses don’t get built, the caravans remain standing….one woman with a worn skull-like face… struggling to keep her large brood of children clean,…[must have felt as if] coated all over with dung.
One must remember that these people are not gypsies; they are decent English people who have all,,,had homes in their day.,,their caravans are,,,inferior to those of gypsies and they have not the…advantage of being on the move.
Recapping The Road to Wigan Pier in the 2000s.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/20/orwell-wigan-pier-75-years
“On the contrary. They have shown that despite the info that has come to light, it’s still going to take the Government up to a year to set new levels.”
Huh? How long was National in power for?
When did compelling info to the contrary first come to light is what you need to ask.
Compelling to whom?
To everyone concerned to force through change.
Be realistic. It’s a bit like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder.
I believe the relevant Standard that HNZ and others have used as a reference is NZS 8510:2017. I’m not going to buy a copy just to have a look at it so I can’t comment on its content.
IIRC Standards are not of themselves statutory laws but one would be rather foolish to ignore them in pursuant of your own standards.
Those standards are developed with input from different parties, some with their own self-interests. I believe the science-oriented input to NZS 8510:2017 was somewhate looser than the end result.
I believe it can be downloaded for free here:
https://www.standards.govt.nz/sponsored-standards/testing-and-decontamination-of-methamphetamine-contaminated-properties/
Thanks, wonders will never cease I haven’t come across a free AUS/NZS Standard before.
It looks to pretty much explain how this all came about, except perhaps for an explanation as to how meth use became conflated with meth labs.
“Be realistic. It’s a bit like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder.”
The reality is we now have compelling evidence, thus change is being made.
The standard that HNZ and others have used was flawed and the Government of the day seem to have failed in their oversight of that.
Longer than two years ago.
Headline of the week:
Act candidate Stephen Barry has a dream for the North Shore . It’s very stupid .
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104310522/act-candidate-north-shore-motorway-is-breathtakingly-stupid
Headline:
‘Shocker ! – Left wing reporter disagrees with plan of right wing candidate’
You are in favour of a plan to destroy public green spaces with a road which duplicates the Northern motorway?
You can’t be serious.
I am neither in favour or not in favour. I leave that up to the good citizens of Auckland to decide.
I was in favour of Transmission Gully which many here disagreed with but which thankfully the last Government fast tracked.
Stephen Berry, no relation to Maggie. Nepotism is not yet rife.
Gosman, WTF has the politics of the reporter, as you imagine them, got to do with the demolition job that reporter did on the daft ideas of the ACT candidate?
Except of course, to deflect from the actual arguments raised by the reporter.
And to deflect from the daffiness of the ACT candidates ideas.
Play the ball, Gosman, not the man.
I note that NZ First had the wisdom to let go the candidate who was 38th on their list and who is now standing in Northcote for a Right-Wing Hansen style party. By-elections certainly bring out the dillies, the daffies and the daft.
There was no demolition job here. This is merely an opinion piece by a well known left leaning journalist. As such his political leanings are entirely valid when determining if his piece has any validity. It does not.
Gosman, if your sole or main determinant as to whether argument is correct is the political views of the writer, then what are you doing here on a left-wing blog?
I say there is a demolition job. I read the article.
The proposals of the ACT candidate in resurrecting 1972 proposals to advocate for a 6 lane highway through the myriad green spaces in Auckland were rightly ridiculed.
At the end, the writer said that a vote for this candidate is similar to voting for the anti-fluoride homeopathic candidate whose name appears next to the ACT candidate’s.
I note that the writer’s left wing views are the sole determinant for your dismissal of his arguments. You have not attempted to justify your belief that his views have no validity, have you?
If you want to have arguments why his opinion has no validity beyond his political bias (as well as showing why he has political bias) then look no further than his argument that the proposal is an old one. So what? Transmission Gully was first proposed back in the 1940’s or even earlier. It was still a good idea and one that the last National government took up in the past 5 years. The Rail loop in Auckland is also an old idea which seems to have merit. Trying to dismiss ideas because they are not original highlights the fact the author is scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of objections.
You’ve changed again Gosman…
Gosman, I suggest you look further.
There is more out there.
Out beyond the familiar, the known, the safe………
Other argument, other views, other perceptions.
Welcome to the Left Wing!
That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?
It looks like it goes directly through the Birkenhead Shopping Centre. That’s it folks. Your shops and mall will be gone. Never mind, you can drive to Glenfield or even Albany for your daily shopping commutes. 😡
I believe the plan involves tunnels.
And where are the shops and the mall going to go while it is being built? Whenever a tunnel is being built the topical landscape gets smashed to pieces and a small fortune is spent on rebuilding it at a much later date.
I like your new handle, Go smell.
As i understand it the 15mcg level(previously 5) is the level to which a known lab should be cleaned before further use.
Its set very low because there are other harmful by products produced during meth manufacture which are difficult to detect or verify cleanup of.
15 is higher and should have fewer false positives but its still use of a cleaning standard for a detection standard.
“As i understand it the 15mcg level (previously 5) is the level to which a known lab should be cleaned before further use.”
It’s still miles away from the several hundred micrograms Peter Gluckman is concerned about.
And while 15mcg is higher, is it really high enough to be concerned about? According to Gluckman it’s not.
Therefore, it potentially leads to us repeating the same mistake. Only this time, with a slightly higher but still conservative level being set.
I’m wondering if Gluckman is confusing 100cm2 to 1m2. Hundreds per 1m2 would be fine I suspect but not hundreds per 100cm2.
I don’t believe so as it aligns with other info I’ve heard.
What Gluckman said was that there was no danger from houses where there has only been smoking/taking P. But Labs can leave far more dangerous chemicals. So what they have done is raise the level to where smoking/taking P will be eliminated. Only a lab is likely to leave more than the new limit. And in that case there could be more dangerous chemicals there.
My source, before you ask, Chairman, is my own fertile imagination working in conjunction with my amazing alcohol-enhanced powers of logic.
And if I turn out to be right, you will have wasted considerable time once again trying to sow doubt and dissension, won’t you, Chairman?
The report clearly states the most commonly used methods no longer use solvents. Therefore, the primary contaminant associated with manufacturing is methamphetamine itself.
So testing for methamphetamine alone would give no indication that other potentially harmful chemicals are present. Therefore, we risk creating unnecessary costs and harm all over again, albeit with a higher but still conservative standard.
“my own fertile imagination working in conjunction with my amazing alcohol-enhanced powers of logic”
Thinking at it’s best! In vino veritas!
Recently the Italian president vetoed the formation of an Italian government. This was because the proposed finance minister had previously looked at a proposal to exit the Euro, if needed. Its not the first time that the needs of the currency have overruled a democratic decision.
https://rwer.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/president-mattarella-of-italy-from-moral-drift-to-tactical-blunder/#more-32724
Its really a ‘soft coup’.
Its to be expected of course, and the new government is disposed of and a toady moves in.
Now we need to look into the earthquake standards.
I’m not too sure about anyone else, but I’m not too comfortable with the idea of emptying buildings and letting them stand empty for years on end, and this practice needs looking into.
Would you be comfortable if there was an earthquake and 00’s of people died if you were wrong ?
Building codes and regs are a little bit more evidenced based with global acceptance than meph standards Likewise established over many years
If our old state housing stock was largely multi-storey apartments built on reclaimed land, with unreinforced masonry and dodgy steel connections holding up heavy floors you might have a point. However I very much doubt it.
Nice story about Venezuelan democracy on TDB today.
Remember their economic problems are caused by capitalist thievery and the US led economic blockade
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/05/28/guest-blog-vinnie-molina-the-bolivarian-revolution-in-venezuela-shall-overcome/
“Remember their economic problems are caused by capitalist thievery and the US led economic blockade”
LOL!
I love how the failures of socialism is always blamed on other things and never on the stupid policies themselves.
Also how come the US has this amazing ability to collapse socialist economies but less power over other Capitalist ones?
Sounds like that’s where we should be importing builders from doesn’t it gosmerp.
> Also how come the US has this amazing ability to collapse socialist economies but less power over other Capitalist ones?
because corporate profits are at stake
How are corporate profits at stake in Venezuela? The main industry in the country is State controlled .
Which means less profits for the bludging capitalists.
To clarify, the USA is happy to smash any country that doesn’t bow to the demands of its corporations, or attempts to defy the stranglehold of the petrodollar.
Witness US smear jobs on NZ now that we have a slightly left leaning government
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2018/05/cherry-picking-chinese-influence/
The financial blockade isn’t a result of socialist policies but the result of capitalist ones.
How is this supposed financial blockade impacting Venezuela exactly?
It’s listed in the article. It’s one of the problems of ‘free-trade’.
The reason are not listed at all. It is merely posted as if it was a fact (which it is not).
So, you’re saying that the US sanctions are having no effect at all?
So, what would be the point of the US’s financial war upon Venezuela?
Loving not one piece of evidence of counter argument. Do we need to bring up Argentina again Gosman to prove how much of a plonker you are?
Any country / cult run on pure ideology no matter what is rooted It usually comes down it will be better this time because I will be in charge
I am interested to see if your views on Venezuela gather much support amongst lefties here. I suspect not as Venezuela is now becoming a pariah nation and one to avoid mention at all costs for most mainstream leftists. It is only hard core ones like you that will be banging this particular drum.
Speak for yourself I always thought Venezuela was an economic nutcase country sustained largely by resource extraction.
I also could never quite understand the nutcase right wing droning on and on about it as being the epitome of what the ‘left’ thought as their fandom economy. My opinion was that was largely the right nutbars grabbing their crotch with excitement to build a meme about how the left ‘thinks’. Which appears to be what you are doing?
As you are aware, there is no monolithic left and never has been.
BTW: exactly the same economic issue or over indulgence in resource extraction is what I think is the same fundamental weakness in the NZ (and the aussie) economies as well as Venezuela .
However here the idiotic economic numb skulls who indulge in it appear to be largely from the right. They mine the soils, water and and different mineral resource rather than oil and put the benefits to their beneficiaries among the affluent rather than the poor. But it is exactly the same thing. Unsustainable stupidity indulged in for political reasons to benefit a group voting for selfish reasons. In our case by the National party.
Interesting view that I suspect will not be shared by the more extreme leftist on this site. As already evidenced by some the cause of the problems in Venezuela is not the narrow resource based extractive nature of it’s economy but the actions of the US taken against the Socialist government.
What is an extreme leftist, as described by Gosman, whose politics lie to the right of Attila the Hun?
My politics are mainstream. People like Draco support policies that are fringe
To be consistent he must also be demanding new elections in the US where turnout isn’t much better.
No, Venezuela’s economic problems are caused by the adoption of an economic system that fails everywhere it is tried. It’s called socialism.
Bit like capitalism then?
Ah, no.
https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/12/19/its-not-capitalism-that-causes-poverty-its-the-lack-of-it/&refURL=https://www.bing.com/&referrer=https://www.bing.com/
Strange that, throughout history, it’s always been socialism that’;s saved capitalism. Without it capitalism destroys the society that it arises in.
That’s 5000 years of recorded history for you.
Proof that capitalism is a failure because of the greed of the rich.
Yeah like Socialism is saving capitalism in Venezuela. And Russia. And China.
I haven’t seen anything of socialism in either Russia or China.
Venezuela was definitely getting worse under capitalism and the people now keep voting for socialism despite the capitalist attacks upon it from other countries so things must be better than before.
The people who can be bothered to vote in a rigged political system keep voting for Socialism.
Fixed it for you Draco 😉
Russia was a socialist state. The author of this piece refers to communism, but try not to be confused:
“Gorbachev understood that the shabby socialist economy was incapable of sustaining a world power. Perestroika was introduced, and with it glasnost, a limited opening up of channels of criticism. Glasnost proved suicidal. The surrealism of Soviet society could not survive the light of criticism. Inevitably, the ideological house of cards erected by the Party propagandists and disseminated by foreign fellow-travelers over seven decades collapsed.”
https://fee.org/articles/the-soviet-tragedy-a-history-of-socialism-in-russia-1917-1991-and-russia-under-the-bolshevik-regime/
“Venezuela was definitely getting worse under capitalism…”
I think not. But it can’t possibly have been any worse than it is now.
“adoption of an economic system that fails everywhere it is tried. It’s called socialism.”
Yeah, But I think the beneficiary Dairy Farmers including that dick who had the notice about Ardern are thankful at the “adoption” of a good old bit of Socialism
at the moment.
They will be more thankful to the economic reforms of the 80’s and 90’s that made them internationally competitive.
Interesting, So I take it then that as they were so grateful and are so “internationally competitive.” they will not take or need the generous benefit these pack of beneficiaries are getting from the government.
“They will be more thankful to the economic reforms of the 80’s and 90’s that made them internationally competitive.”
Also, that is bullshit as if I remember correctly there was nothing but winging how were they going to survive now all the export incentives were being stopped and the suspensory loans and tax avoidance schemes like having a swimming pool c/w Barbecue area “just in case of fire”
“So I take it then that as they were so grateful and are so “internationally competitive.” they will not take or need the generous benefit these pack of beneficiaries are getting from the government.”
That’s up to them. They have been the victims of a natural disaster beyond their control, a bit like the citizens of Christchurch. But then many businesses experience that and don’t get government aid.
“…as if I remember correctly there was nothing but winging how were they going to survive now all the export incentives were being stopped…”
Absolutely there was, and yet 35 years later we lead the world, and are selling our expertise to the world. Isn’t the market a wonderful thing.
Since the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis, the authorities have repeatedly told us there is no risk to human health from eating meat or milk from infected animals. They would say that wouldn’t they – got to keep the ‘confidence of the market’.
Now, a Massey University professor of food safety describes the disease as a *low* risk to humans. In time, I expect the risk deniers will obfuscate as scientific evidence mounts, in much the same way as the concerns over the A1/A2 milk proteins.
“Amateurs Talk Strategy, Professionals Talk Logistics”
Perhaps it is time for the government to evolve their policies with a mind open to the above quote.
Don Franks on Jim Rose’s attempt to justify a racist judicial and prison system:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/a-response-to-jim-rose-on-maori-prison-population/
Norman Finkelstein on the “quite unimpressive” Alan Dershowitz.
Highly Recommended!
“I told him his book was a tissue of lies, a complete fabrication…”
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/05/28/10-the-book-you-claim-to-have-written/
Good morning The AM Show there is a good reasoning for ECO MAORI pushing for equality for the ladies it’s the fair thing to do ladies are more intelligent than men and humane it’s good to have Amanda on the show this raises the humanity and intelligence of the show.
You cannot see the flaws in locking people up for years 5000 Maori young men most who just need a bit of guidance who come from broken family created by this system no father to gide them set boundaries for them wake up you know they wanted to privatise Hospitals Prison school so what did national do the ran these to the ground and say the system in not working let’s privatise every thing like America . Duncan its is the justice system that failed to do there job of keeping the people who killed while on bail not the 5000 Maori men it’s not hard to observe people look at there history and identify the risky people and keep them in jail 1 persent of the 5000 50 mistake the justice system has made that’s a fact that’s what these civil servents get paid to do this is a logical way of thinking about this problem
Its is best to try the eradication route for this bovine virus this virus will effect beef farmers as well as dairy farmers. Culling of these cows should have started on the 1/1/2017 No then it would not have blown out to what we have now Ana to kai Ka kite ano
The AM Show there you go Simon Bridge using crime and scare tactics to try and raise his polling rates the same phenomenon that made the bovine virus blow out to this mess. If he really cared about Aotearoa he would work with labour greens to come to a intelligent humane solutions to OUR Prison population look at our scandernavion cousins empty prison.
Ka kite ano
Here’s someone crying in his coffee link below
Male, pale, but not stale
OPINION: I can’t help that I’m white and ageing. But it feels like society’s kicking me.
Ka kite ano