Open mike 30/05/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 30th, 2020 - 51 comments
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51 comments on “Open mike 30/05/2020 ”

  1. Dennis Frank 1

    "Three women were killed in the fortnight following lockdown. Overseas, such deaths are called "Coronavirus murders". https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12335695

    "Ang Jury, chief executive of Women's Refuge, said …"These are three ugly incidents of very vulnerable people being hurt by vulnerable people," she said. "And that's stuff that's always been in the too-hard basket, too expensive. What do we do with people who won't accept help or can't? We talk about choice but choice is relative. If every choice in front of you is bad it's hard to work out which one to make." But she doubted the stories of Angela, and Tania, and Shirley would be remembered, sad as they were."

    "Domestic assault has ballooned worldwide during the pandemic, including in New Zealand, where police reported an initial 20 per cent increase in calls."

    "The most recent Family Violence Death Review Committee report, which looked at the lives of 97 violent men, found the most common feature of those who went on to kill was a violent childhood. Trauma also had an impact on girls, who grew up believing that women were to blame for the violence experienced, and so the pattern continued."

    Increased funding for mental health professionals seems part of the solution, but we continue to not get stats on rehabilitation. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Male offenders often feel remorse, but if therapy fails to reprogram them, there's a likelihood of re-offending. Therapy has to go deep within to transform someone effectively. Then the person can heal via adopting a new attitude & lifestyle.

    • Sacha 1.1

      Intimate partner violence is a social problem that we can not solve with 'therapy' for individuals.

      • Dennis Frank 1.1.1

        Yes, I do agree that social problems require social solutions. In respect of recidivist male violence, therapy is only a (possible) solution for individuals.

        In respect of factors amplifying violence in young families, the prospect of nipping the cycle in the bud hasn't yet been translated into effective policy as far as I can tell. Until it is, rehabilitation seems to be the default position of govt.

        • Sacha 1.1.1.1

          So how was the way you chose to frame that story helpful to discussion here?

          • Dennis Frank 1.1.1.1.1

            Societal comprehension of the relation between rehabilitation as put into practice by the system and outcomes is the requisite focus from the perspective of victims, right? Released recidivist offenders who proceed to do it again tend to be a threat to the next victim. Better if the system works as intended…

            • weka 1.1.1.1.1.1

              I suspect you aren't listening to what victims say about their perspectives.

              The govt should throw a shitload of money towards Māori communities. Providers, and actual societal solutions (poverty reduction, housing etc). Māori already have the models for managing wellbeing within holistic frames of individual, whānau, community, as well as physical/mental/social/spiritual. And they've been developing expertise in anti-violence and beyond violence strategies.

              Therapy and measuring efficacy vs recidivism is part of that, but not the major focus imo.

              • Dennis Frank

                I was listening to the victim's advocate quoted: "What do we do with people who won't accept help or can't? We talk about choice but choice is relative. If every choice in front of you is bad it's hard to work out which one to make."

                You think the CEO of Refuge isn't commenting on the offenders? Seems to me she is. The policies you mention are part of the solution – I'm more interested in whether they work when applied.

                • weka

                  She said,

                  "These are three ugly incidents of very vulnerable people being hurt by vulnerable people," she said. "And that's stuff that's always been in the too-hard basket, too expensive. What do we do with people who won't accept help or can't? We talk about choice but choice is relative. If every choice in front of you is bad it's hard to work out which one to make."

                  I took that to mean that,

                  1. that offenders are people who have also been damaged, and this is key to solving violence
                  2. we're not putting funding into the things that work in *that context because it will cost more money
                  3. for people locked into violence there are often no good choices (subtext: you can't 'rehabilitate' individuals without rehabilitating society ie create better options that people can then choose).
            • Sacha 1.1.1.1.1.2

              Why link to a story about this societal problem then only talk about rehabilitation of individuals after offending has already happened? Why focus on recidivism?

              Who does that serve?

              • Dennis Frank

                As I explained to Weka, the focus ought to be on whether policies work when applied – and if not, why not? Societal learning ought to focus on this because we've had 30 years go by since I wrote the rehabilitation clause into Greens justice policy and I'm not getting persuasive evidence that it is effective as applied. The principle seems valid – if enough offenders get cured. But often these news stories mention that the murderer was released after a similar murder years before.

                • Sacha

                  Us men owe the discussion better than individualising a collective problem. What are we avoiding?

                • weka

                  I think it depends on what you mean by rehabilitation. If you are focused on the individual, then it's kind of a moot point about efficacy of policy. I think we're well passed the point that this is about individuals. If we keep focusing on individual recidivism, we miss the bigger and important picture.

                  • weka

                    if you are talking about what happens to men's violence when holistic approaches are used, that's a different story.

  2. Dennis Frank 3

    "It isn’t economic growth that drives environmental destruction and inequality. It is the driver that lies behind economic growth: capital accumulation and the profit motive. This does mean, then, transitioning away from capitalism to postcapitalist societies." https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-05-27/how-to-fix-the-world/

    There's the intellectual project for radicals. The Greens have been brainstorming this transition since the '80s. Now if we could just get the leftists on board, weaned off their addiction to capitalism…

    • Andre 3.1

      It is a fundamental misdiagnosis of the problem. As shown by the way non-capitalist societies can be just as enthusiastic about environmental destruction and inequality.

      The problem lies much more in the area of unpriced externalities and underpricing value extracted from the commons. Unpriced externalities are vividly exemplified by the ongoing dumping of hazardous waste into the atmosphere and waterways at zero or negligible cost. Underpriced value extracted from the commons is shown by the pitiful or zero royalties paid by mining and water bottling companies. Many other examples of both can be easily found.

      • Dennis Frank 3.1.1

        Oh, indeed, I've made that point here in the past. We adopted the principle of true-cost accounting 30 years ago. Still in GP policy last time I looked (around 2015).

        The task now is to actually embark on the new trajectory. The planning/design stage has gone on long enough. Post-neoliberalism has to become the primary focus.

        • roblogic 3.1.1.1

          The libertarian argument is that all resources should be privately held so they are better managed. It has merit, because govt regulation fails so often, or enforcement is lax, allowing thieves and pirates to plunder the commons.

          • Dennis Frank 3.1.1.1.1

            Simplistic, eh? Nature is a commons, traditionally. I wouldn't extend the principle to Gaia (in the sense of the super-system as organiser of organisms).

            Now if you operated society on the basis of the stewardship ethic, you could authorise private entities as operational stewards on a conditional basis. In the contract or charter used, accountability to the public interest would have to be principle #1.

            Just write that as a principle, with the operational method of enforcement to be specified in an appendix. If you're a gambler, you'd leave the outcome of enforcement to the courts. I'd write in a public advocate's office as well.

  3. Sanctuary 4

    A major emerging economic risk in the COVID-19 recovery is councils, which are adopting a simple minded, neoliberal austerity response with budget cutting that will be counter-productive.

    Auckland's emergency budget has Goff's fingerprints all over it – managerialist, utterly unimaginative across the board cost cutting driven by an austerity philosophy that will wreck the city for a decade.

    Lakes District – a council characterised by nepotism and patronage and run by and for a self-interested cronyist collective of land speculators – has also adopted simple minded, debt driven cost cutting – https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/58325/queenstown-council-to-vote-on-cost-cutting-measures

    Napier City Council is another local body largely run by and for the local landlord class and it prides itself on low debt and cost cutting in the perennial persuit of lower rates and it is also – quelle surprise! – cost cutting. The potential link between the regions steady slide backwards into economic irrelevance and the quasi-feudal corruption and narrow minded 19th century economics of it's local government is neither recognised or discussed there – especially as the extinction of local media means no one examines or holds to account the local elites anymore.

    Central government needs to ensure the often corrupt and incompetent and usually nepotistic local government in provincial NZ, and the governance of our largest city which is an order of magnitude more competent but still governed with a morbid fear of a narrow band of Remuera ratepayers, does not endanger our economic recovery.

    Also, on another topic – Fran O’Sullivan would be a lot more credible in her demands (who does she think she is? She is an aging boomer writing behind a paywall of a failing newspaper well past it’s best) if she hadn’t spent the entire last ten weeks quibbling, shroud waving and generally representing her constituency (anti-lockdown, anti-Labour right wing Auckland big business) on the government response to COVID-19 in everything she has written or tweeted.

    • logie97 4.1

      Thanks Sanctuary.

      Since the Herald went behind the paywall, I have not read the newspaper. And thus the clickbait links to the bigotry of the likes of Hoskins et al have disappeared from my web browsing. And I had almost forgotten that O'Sullivan existed. Damn it – the image has just been refreshed…

      • roblogic 4.1.1

        The herald changed its paywall recently so my hacks don't work 😭

        Article text is still available from "view source" but it's a drag finding it amidst the ad heavy guff

        • Nic the NZer 4.1.1.1

          I have to wonder what the Herald thinks its protecting by a paywall system which has a work around built into literally every web-browser.

          I think the main purpose of the paywall is for the intimidation of the journalists and writers.

      • woodart 4.1.2

        yes ,heralds paywall has been an own goal. readership will have plummeted, advertisers wont be happy. think this has been behind their unsubtle attempts to join forces with, kill off etc stuff. heralds opinion writers are increasingly in an echo chamber.

    • Sacha 4.2

      It's not as if they are left with much choice under current arrangements.

      Central govt has long refused local bodies any ways to fund their activities other than user charges and rates and a limited amount of borrowing (already maxed out).

      Other nations fund local government better. It is an important layer of our response to this crisis, as you note.

      • weka 4.2.1

        Seems like putting shitloads of money into stadiums and such instead of resilience infrastructure wasn't such a good idea after all.

        • Sacha 4.2.1.1

          Stadiums, cruise ship moorings and yacht races are good for the economy doncha know. 🙂

        • Graeme 4.2.1.2

          Especially where the local body funds the stadium with funds derived in another local area.

          https://www.thewanakasun.co.nz/news/13122-auroras-price-hike-commercial-banditry-wnaka.html

          (QLDC Councillor Quinten) Smith said; “The DCC and in turn residents of the DCC had been financially benefiting from taking funds from the company while it failed to maintain the network in the outlying districts. Most clearly seen in the power pole scandal but also evident in its underlying struggles in our region. The massive catchup in infrastructure cost is now being sought to be loaded on the smaller communities while giving the DCC residents a lesser increase.

          “Residents of the Upper Clutha should be outraged that we are wearing an undue cost burden to the benefit of the DCC. Both the DCC and Aurora continue to act with contempt for their customers who do not sit within the DCC district.

      • pat 4.2.2

        "Other nations fund local government better."

        Any examples you wish to nominate?

    • Molly 4.3

      As a note: any Aucklanders wanting to comment on the Auckland Council Emergency Budget proposals can do so here, up until the 19th June.

      Be forewarned, as usual the "consultation" is designed to limit your answers to the best out of bad choices. Use the additional comments to really have your say.

  4. Stephen D 5

    http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2020/05/while-we-were-locked-down/

    An interesting read.

    Especially Pablo’s comment at 11.58 regarding the role of Judith Collins in the National Party. Is she really that Machiavellian?

    • McFlock 5.1

      She'd like to be.

      But if Muller gets nuked and she takes over, she'll tank. Maybe take some of Winston's vote, but that's about it. And by then the next corporate pretender is waiting in the wings.

    • "Is she really that Machiavellian?"

      Yes she is in a 'who Moi?" kind of way! Why Moi! MOI?, How very dare you!

      And while Paula doesn't realise it yet, she's a far better actress – even while Paula's spent a few years practicing her facial gymnastics during QT.

      I wouldn't mind watching them in one of those roller-blade derbies with Anne Tolley as adjudicator. Better than the current lot of reality TV programming

  5. joe90 7

    Lotsa looting going on. Someone should do something.

    https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1266083184145502213

    Since March 18th, over 40.7 million people have filed for unemployment according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This doesn’t include millions more who have applied for help as self-employed workers.

    Millions of these people have lost their health insurance that was linked to their jobs.

    Over the same 10 weeks, between March 18 and May 28, the wealth of U.S. billionaires has surged $485 billion, almost half a trillion dollars — an increase of 16.5 percent. There are also 16 more billionaires in the U.S. than there were ten weeks ago.

    Two billionaires, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, have seen their combined wealth increase over $63 billion since March 18th.

    The surge in billionaire wealth during a global pandemic underscores the grotesque nature of unequal sacrifice. While millions risk their lives and livelihoods as first responders and front line workers, these billionaires benefit from an economy and tax system that is wired to funnel wealth to the top.

    https://inequality.org/billionaire-bonanza-2020-updates/

  6. joe90 9

    When cruelty is your thing.

    The Trump administration is finalizing rules that will allow hunters in Alaska’s national preserves to shoot bears and wolves, and their cubs and pups, while they are in their dens.

    The National Park Service is reversing regulations written by the Barack Obama administration, which banned some of the much-criticized practices for hunting the predators, including luring bears with food like doughnuts.

    Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, called the rule change “amazingly cruel” and said it was “just the latest in a string of efforts to reduce protections for America’s wildlife at the behest of oil companies and trophy hunters”.

    The park service’s deputy director, David Vela, said the change would “more closely align hunting and trapping regulations with those established by the state of Alaska”.

    https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/05/new-amazingly-cruel-trump-public-land-rules-will-let-alaska-hunters-kill-bear-cubs-in-dens/

  7. joe90 10

    They claimed the cartoon infringed the MAGA trademark.

    https://twitter.com/CBLDF/status/1265389225744060416

  8. Incognito 11

    What on Earth is going on here? It feels like a set-up and manufactured dissent to polarise and divide.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/05/kiwi-lefties-pile-on-british-writer-who-praised-nz-and-jacinda-ardern.html

    Whose agenda is this or is it just lazy ‘journalism’ and click-bait? Hard to tell, nowadays 🙁

    Dan Satherley

    Dan is a senior digital producer for Newshub based in Auckland.

    None of the highlighted comments seem to match any of the 50 comments under the original article in Medium!? In fact, most of those were highly positive of and praising the OP.

    https://medium.com/p/4c9faa78f9b3/responses/show

    • lprent 11.1

      umair haque keeps coming up in my medium feed. Personally I tend to find him to be somewhat tedious and repetitive. Stopped reading his articles a while back.

      It is a bit like reading some of the commenters here. Relentlessly negative (which I can live with), never coming up with any good ideas about other ways of doing anything (which makes his articles relentlessly pointless).

      None of the highlighted comments seem to match any of the 50 comments under the original article in Medium!?

      But yeah, you’re right. That is bloody odd. I suspect that Dan S is all a twitter and was referring to comments there (ie a dimwit). Apart from anything else I can’t recall a place to put in a profile description…

      Ah, yes there is one a bio – just added it myself.
      https://medium.com/@lynn.prentice

    • weka 11.2

      the piece got heckled on twitter, where there is a thing now of how people overseas are commenting on NZ, Ardern and covid. There were lefties pointing out the problems with the piece, sometimes very bluntly in that kiwi left way. Hardly worth a Shub piece, but I guess anything that shows dissent is considered clickbait. I'd have no problem if the Shub piece had actually explored the issues.

  9. gsays 12

    "I don't think you wanted to do that."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/300024543/spacex-starship-prototype-explodes

    Last night I stumbled across this, a Rocket Factory tour with the CEO, Tory Bruno.Very imformative for the casual and full geek.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0fG_lnVhHw

  10. Morrissey 13

    Threatening, aggressive rhetoric by a dangerous politician is recast as a "stoush." Who do the TVNZ news producers imagine relates to this trivializing and juvenile language?

    TVNZ1 News, Saturday 30 May 2020, 6:25 p.m.

    As anyone who has watched CNN, Fox, MSNBC, the BBC, RT, Al Jazeera will appreciate, television news in every country is at a low ebb, probably as low as it has ever been. Unlike our stellar response to the coronavirus, New Zealand cannot claim that we are in any way superior to other countries. At 6:25 p.m. newsreader Melissa Stokes read out, robotically, that the United States is threatening to pull out of trade agreements with Hong Kong "as President Trump ramps up his stoush with China."

    More Melissa Stokes autocue struggles (for any masochists out there)….

    https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/former-south-korean-military-di-uh.html

  11. greywarshark 14

    Sounds sensible. Times and conditions change, and rules and regs need to be appropriate and timely. This from NZ Geographic weekender:

    Food for thought

    Yesterday, the not-for-profit organisation Legasea proposed ditching the Quota Management System that regulates New Zealand's commercial fishing industry. Instead, Legasea suggests a government buy-back of quota, followed by a licensing scheme which aims to achieve four things: taking pressure off the marine environment, more equitable distribution of benefits, a higher-value commercial sector and better compensation for Māori.

    From Business Scoop about Legasea's proposals:

    http://business.scoop.co.nz/2020/05/28/plan-released-to-restore-fish-stocks-and-revitalise-new-zealands-commercial-fishing-sector/

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    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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