Open mike 30/09/2024
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6:00 am, September 30th, 2024 - 33 comments
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- Real Kiwis Say Welcome
One day there will come a timeWhen the person you are named after diesAnd all of a sudden, you're the only one leftSong: The Smith Street BandThis headline jumped out at me yesterday: Racism fallout at North Shore Hospital after patient request to avoid Asian staff.The article is sparse in ...3 hours ago - A better way of living
Nicola Willis and her boss have been peddling a fake short history of the previous government that runs as follows:They spent and spent, they had nothing to show for it and that is not how you grow the economy, because You can't tax yourself to prosperity.There is a sort of ...8 hours ago - The End of the Beginning of a Curate’s Egg: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power, Episode 8...
There’s a bad taste in my mouth. And it has nothing to do with dinner. The Rings of Power season two – undoubtedly a massive improvement on season one – has concluded on a mixed note. It’s not season one bitterness, in that parts of this episode were indeed excellent, ...12 hours ago - Join the Protest 23-October
This is a live page and will be updated with updates and resources.Facebook page: No to Privatisation by StealthSigns ...18 hours ago - If the Rain Comes
If the rain comes they run and hide their heads.They might as well be dead,If the rain comes, if the rain comes…Can you hear me that when it rains and shines,It's just a state of mind,Can you hear me, can you hear me?Song: Lennon-McCartneyIt’s been quite a week for Dunedin ...1 day ago - Up and down
1 day ago - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head: Dunedin Flooding
I noted a few days ago that the Hospital protest happened to coincide with favourable weather. Well, it was a very happy coincidence, because the past twenty-four hours have been rather wet in this part of the world. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/weather-pictures-dunedin-flooded-as-state-of-local-emergency-declared/HNOB5YIEWFCUXNWXYIWGICZ6ZU/ In terms of sheer amount of rain, it’s one of those ...2 days ago - Is the New Zealand’s Retirement Strategy Sustainable?
Today’s mañana strategy will lead to a crisis for the oldest elderly.It is said that the only certainties are death and taxes, but a lack of each causes uncertainties. As longevity increases, the pressures on state spending increase. A reluctance to increase taxation means the pressures on the elderly increase.The ...2 days ago - Taking the piss
When cancer minister Casey Costello convinced Cabinet to give her mates at Philip Morris a $216 million tax cut, she did so in the face of departmental advice that there would be no benefits and that Philip Morris' "heated tobacco products" were more cancerous and toxic than cigarettes. But she ...2 days ago - National’s democratic suppression fails
Last week, National rammed its destructive offshore gas-drilling legislation through to select committee under urgency, and then gave submitters only four working days to have a say on it. The goal was clearly to stifle opposition, but it appears to have failed spectacularly: Despite being given only 3½ working ...2 days ago
- Deep-dive: What does an ageing population mean for Aotearoa?
Long story short: Treasury has warned again public debt will rise exponentially in the decades to come because of the rising costs of our ageing population, unless we change one or more of our New Zealand Superannuation promises, publicly-funded healthcare or tax settings. The current Government isn’t planning any changes, ...2 days ago - Extreme weather events coming for us all
Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:“Why does everywhere seem to be flooding right now, Vox asks, as a new study predicts that 70% of ...2 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 4-October-2024
Welcome to the first week of October, which brings longer days and (we hope) lighter spirits. Despite the state of things, there are still abundant reasons to feel encouraged. On we roll! This roundup is brought to you by our largely volunteer crew. If you’d like to support our work ...2 days ago - One Heartbeat or Two?
Morning all, this is just a quick note from me this morning: I’m off for a scan shortly. I’m sure you know the drill, especially if you’re a mum: a squeeze of surprisingly cold gel straight on your front, which the radiologist then uses the ultrasound machine to try and ...2 days ago - The Hoon around the week to October 4
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including another extreme climate event in the United States; on the escalating conflict between Israel, Iran ...2 days ago
- Govt to underwrite new private house-building
With housing construction stalled, the Government has come up with a plan to underwrite new developments. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, October 4:The Government is set to ...2 days ago - “We Have The Money For Health”
Yesterday, there was an excellent interview on 1News Breakfast with Former Health NZ Chair Rob Campbell. He was being interviewed in response to the government signalling to privatising our hospitals.Campbell confirmed what this publication and its readers have long talked about. One: We have the money for Health. Two: The ...2 days ago
- The new winning face of the Government
Yesterday’s NZME “Mood of the Boardroom” survey should be a wake-up call for the Government. This annual survey polls a wide range of private and public sector business leaders. Respondents to the survey rated their confidence in the New Zealand economy at 3.23 out of five, the highest score for optimism ...2 days ago
- The Farcical Casey Costello Saga
Do you want to hear a joke?One day a government Minister fought very hard to help out mates with tax cuts She scored them - a massive NZ $106 billion multinational tobacco company with shares trading at $192 each - $216 million worth of tax cuts on their star product ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #40 2024
Open access notables Sloth metabolism may make survival untenable under climate change scenarios, Cliffe et al., PeerJ: Sloths are limited by the rate at which they can acquire energy and are unable to regulate core body temperature (Tb) to the extent seen in most mammals. Therefore, the metabolic impacts of climate change ...3 days ago - cancer 🙁
I have been outside this week, replacing spouting. Although this involves ladders and sharp tools, I am pleased to say there have been no cuts, no falls, no disasters. I mention this because from some of the comments some of you have made, I'm getting the feeling I may have ...3 days ago - Breakfast with Nicola and Barbara
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It’s very exciting to be getting a new medical school. It would be more exciting if the hospitals needed to train them weren’t on the verge of losing their licenses due to understaffing issues, and if the cost of such a school wasn’t coming at the expense of the health ...3 days ago - The unsung heroes of India’s extreme weather disasters
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sanket Jain Noushadbi Mujawar has created a community health model that helps people in India build resilience amid the rising climate disasters. (Photo credit: Sanket Jain) Community health care worker Noushadbi Mujawar safely evacuated everyone from Rajapur, an isolated ...3 days ago
- Throwback Thursday: a Low Traffic Neighbourhood by any other name…
This time three years ago – as described in this Thursday throwback post by Jolisa – Auckland was deep into experiencing another prolonged shift in perspective around how a city can look and feel. . A lot has changed since then; and a lot hasn’t. As a recent guest ...3 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on the perils of Israel’s war fever
Israel seems on the brink of achieving the war with Iran that Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying all year to provoke. Until now, Iran had not taken the bait. It had not replied in kind to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its bombing of Iran’s consulate in Damascus, and its assassinations ...4 days ago
- A Glitch in the Matrix: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power, Episode 7 (Season 2)
This is the tardiest review I have yet done for The Rings of Power – but, alas, real-life gets in the way sometimes. It has been a busy few days, and it became a matter of finding the time to sit down and express my thoughts. Also, it took a ...4 days ago - Welcome to the end of neoliberalism: privatisation
4 days ago - A private matter
Boy oh boy, are you as excited as I am for a fresh wave of privatisation? You only need to reflect for a moment on how much better off privatisation has made us these past few decades to see that more of that would be a very good thing.The paragraph ...4 days ago - National wants to loot the health system
Hot on the heels of their cancellation of Dunedin hospital (meaning a cut to health services in half the south Island), National has revealed the next part of their agenda: the outright privatisation of the health system: The health agency is suggesting the Government to consider allowing private companies ...4 days ago
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I've had enough of scheming and messing around with jerksMy car is parked outside, I'm afraid it doesn't workI'm looking for a partner, someone who gets things fixedAsk yourself this question, do you want to be rich?I've got the brains, you've got the looksLet's make lots of moneyYou've got the ...4 days ago - How will Auckland Council address the cycling budget shortfall?
This is a very timely post from Bike Auckland, re-published here with kind permission. See also yesterday’s post by Patrick on the abundantly clear case for funding cycling as the powerful “stealth mode” for easy access to and around our city. The short version The central Government’s transport ...4 days ago
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Neoliberalism will defend itself. It must, because it has amassed power and wealth in those who are most invested in it.Take John Key, for instance, who has taken the unusual and controversial move of quietly endorsing Donald Trump as a former NZ PM, claiming that not only is Trump likely ...4 days ago - Luxon escapes having to pay $70,000 in ‘brightline’ capital gains taxes
The timing was fortuitous for Luxon, saving him over $70,000. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, October 2:PM Christopher Luxon was able to escape having to pay ‘brightline’ ...4 days ago - A Podcast Direct From Hell
Hi,I will explain the horrifying painting of New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon shortly.But first, I got a text from my friend Aaron over the weekend:In short, Aaron had loaded about a year’s worth of our text history into Google’s AI (privacy, what privacy?) — and instructed the AI to ...4 days ago - Where is National’s care and concern for the South Island? Probably off having dinner with the CCP...
National has a representation issue. Not in terms of gender, or race, or disability, or socio-economic background (though they do also have a lack of all of those), but with its representation for the South Island. Is it any surprise we’re the ones getting shafted when there’s only a single ...4 days ago - Government Moves To Privatise Health
Often when folks ask me what we can do about this government’s short sighted and often dubious policies1, I frequently veer to a similar answer:Share information, stay aware, act locally where you can, stay positive, and wait.Wait - for what?Well tonight it became clear.On 1News tonight, it was revealed Health ...5 days ago - Luxon just became a poster boy for taxing the rich
Whenever our politicians are caught with their hand in the till, they loudly proclaim that their theft from the public was "within the rules". The problem is that they are the ones writing the rules, and there's a certain suspicion that they write them to suit themselves. And so their ...5 days ago
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One of the arguments against National's gas fantasy is that it breaches our environmental commitments under various free trade agreements, including the NZ-EU FTA, which requires us to meet our Paris commitments and not weaken our environmental protections. And it turns out that MFAT agrees: Legal advice from the ...5 days ago
- ‘I don’t know what the point of the questioning is.’
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, October 1:PM Christopher Luxon has made $460,000 in tax-free income this year from capital gains on the sale of two of his rental properties, almost as much ...5 days ago - In the Waiting Line
Do you believeIn what you seeMotionless wheelNothing is realWasting my timeIn the waiting lineDo you believe inWhat you seeSongwriters: Henry Binns, Sam Hardaker, Sophie Alexandra Jessica BarkerOctober already. This year feels like it’s going quickly, provided you don’t count it out in WTF moments from the coalition. Before we know ...5 days ago - Land of The Bullies
Kāinga Ora When Chris Bishop asked Bill English to help him do an “independent review” of Kāinga Ora last year, who here could guess that English’s report said exactly what Bishop already indicated?A reminder of how it went down:For the modest payday of $500,000, Bill English was paid from the ...5 days ago - Stealth mode: the surprisingly powerful city centre access hack
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel and a candidate in this months Entrust election It might surprise you to learn that in Auckland, our harbour city, wrapped around the shores of the beautiful Waitemata, bikes bring as many people to the city centre in the ...5 days ago
- How many people did the Beryl blackout kill?
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler link You should probably learn the term compound climate event. It refers to the occurrence of multiple weather- or climate-related hazards happening simultaneously or in close succession, leading to amplified impacts. One of the most feared compound events is ...5 days ago
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We must have sympathy for the right.After all, it’s difficult being a conservative these days. Progressive politics are proceeding at a rapid pace. World leaders preaching kindness and compassion are lavished with praise and acclamations. You can’t hit your kids anymore, you can’t hit your dog, you can’t hit your ...5 days ago - The Dunedin hospital crisis may be about more than just a hospital
The news that the University of Waikato med school proposal has passed its cost-benefit analysis just two days after the Dunedin Hospital funding crisis announcement may not be linked, but one certainly impacts the other. POLITIK understands that ACT opposes the Waikato proposal and NZ First is lukewarm, but somehow, ...5 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on the Dunedin hospital fiasco
The word “blow-out” is such a politically loaded term. It carries a strong whiff of extravagance and incompetence. In fact, and with public health budgets in particular, going “over budget” is a sign that reality has finally caught up with what – from the outset – was always a budget ...6 days ago
- 2024 Reading Summary: September (+ Writing Update)
Completed reads for September: Old English Genesis A & B (poetry), by Anonymous Old English Exodus (poetry), by Anonymous The Life of St Guthlac of Crowland (poetry), by Anonymous The Death of St Guthlac (poetry), by Anonymous Maxims I [The Exeter Book Maxims] (poetry), by Anonymous Maxims II [The ...6 days ago - Hayden Donnell raises my ‘grim’ Hamish to ‘furious’ Hamish
Delightful piece from Hayden Donnell at The Spinoff (how did I miss it?) — Huge opportunity: Could you be the guy standing behind the PM looking furious? OK, so I thought ‘grim’, right? But Hayden has brought receipts, as the saying goes… and his view is ‘absolutely ropeable’. Lol. “Usually ...6 days ago - The problem, and the solution
Reader Pete Hodgson was in touch after Saturday’s edition to offer his speech notes from the Dunedin rally. They are excellent, they deserve the widest audience. My name is Pete Hodgson, and I chaired or served on the governance group of the new hospital for 6 years until last Xmas. ...6 days ago - Climate Change: The end of coal in the UK
It's official: coal has been eliminated from the UK's electricity system: Britain’s only remaining coal power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire will generate electricity for the last time on Monday after powering the UK for 57 years. The power plant will come to the end of its life in ...6 days ago
- The Bewildering World of Chris Luxon – Broken Promises, An Angry Country, and a Govt on Life S...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.National Party leader (current), Christopher Luxon, speaking at a public meeting in Gore, in January last year:“Now lets be clear, Dunedin Hospital, started under a National Government, mucked around under a Labour Government for ...6 days ago - A tipping point?
The National Party has been promising Dunedin - and the lower South Island - a new hospital since 2008. Despite those promises, the Key government did nothing during its nine years in office, and it was left to Labour to actually start the process in 2017. National promptly criticised them ...6 days ago
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Cartoon: Guy BodySam Sharpe Studio brought “Wrecking Ball Luxon” to the marchPlease consider supporting my work and subscribing. Thanks, Tui.Oliver Mould provided an exciting statistic yesterday.He wrote in the comments:Source: Why Civil Resistance Works The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent ConflictAnd I paused…It was exciting to read that. Thanks, OM. A ...6 days ago - Is this our least worldly Minister of Transport?
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- One in four march against Govt in Dunedin
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, September 30:Over 35,000 people marched in Dunedin on Saturday to protest against the Government’s plans to downgrade the new hospital being built there.In the scoop of the ...6 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39
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But what a fool believes, he seesNo wise man has the power to reason awayWhat seems to beIs always better than nothingThan nothing at allSongwriters: Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonaldWe begin.“Welcome to Q&A, I’m Jack Tame. Today, for a government that says it’s fixated on waste, what’s the point in a ...7 days ago - Kiwi Power !
35,000 strong march in Dunedin to protest Government hospital cuts - showing us how it’s done. Thank you Dunedin!IN PICTURES Photo Credits : RNZ, ODT, Debunking Conspiracies Aotearoa, BHN, NZH, Stuff Related Reading:Bye Bye Health Verrall to Levy: "Health NZ NDAs are North Korean - Get rid of it."Lester Levy ...1 week ago - Stranded in paradise
Oh, you should have seen Reefton in 1888. It glowed. It was illuminated by the future.In August of that year — and I am confident I have my facts right because I am quoting directly from the town's own website — Reefton became the first place in New Zealand and ...1 week ago - Dunedin Protests Against Hospital Cuts
Dunedin is not a happy city at the moment. We are used to being ignored in the nationwide New Zealand media – wrong end of the country and all – but the Government’s recent announcement on the Dunedin Hospital rebuild has got people motivated. How motivated? Well, I couldn’t make ...1 week ago - The One Who Saw Too Much: accepted
A nice bit of news. I can report that I have had a short story success – my 3,600 word gothic horror piece, The One Who Saw Too Much, has been accepted ... 1 week ago - Broken Stone
And another pitch shattersAnother little bit gets lostTell me what else really mattersOh, such a costLike pebbles on a beachKicked around, displaced by feetOh, like broken stonesThey're all trying to get homeSong by Paul WellerDoes it feel as though your country has been hijacked? That terrible people have taken the ...1 week ago - I’m Glad The Right Wing Coalition Won
Dame Jacinda Adern would not accept “acceptable death rates” during Covid. But in the UK the Tory government said “Let them die”.Additions belowYesterday, when I saw the news that a Timaru factory with hundreds of jobs on the line was going to close, I couldn't help but think:"I'm so glad ...1 week ago - We will never give you up, let you down, or Rickroll you
1. What did the National party promise Dunedin last election?a. We will build the hospital you needb. We will never give you up, let you down, or Rickroll you c. We will bring back John Keyd. Pandas2. What is the National party promising Dunedin now?a. A sawn-off half-pint watery version of ...1 week ago - The 48 Hours Leading Up To An Execution
Note: This is obviously a very heavy topic — it took me three days to manage to write it — so please read with care. In saying that, in amongst the awfulness I think this piece also contains some hope, and plenty of humanity. Thanks to those of you who ...1 week ago - Remembering our friend John Mason
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- How has the New Zealand economy been doing?
Stagnation and ContractionIn this column I use the less familiar measure of GDP per capita instead of the GDP measure favoured by the commentariat. I became familiar with it when I began doing international comparisons because of the population differences between countries, while I depended upon the measure while working ...1 week ago - Luxon taking his cues from Amazon
This is embarrassing: I just had to google who Andrew Jassy is.I come to substack to learn terrible thingsIn my defence, they promoted him during the pandemic and I had other things on my mind. Also watching Amazon injure their workers at a rate of over four times the US ...1 week ago - The Hoon around the week to Sept 27
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including research suggesting a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could trigger 8° of warming ...1 week ago
- Could a doubling of Co2 trigger 8° of warming?
Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:A seventh planetary boundary, for ocean acidification will soon be breached, and may have already done so, according to ...1 week ago
- Release: The question remains… will schools get their classrooms?
Education Minister Erica Stanford still can’t confirm when the Government will deliver the $2 billion worth school upgrades she cut earlier this year. ...2 days ago - Release: Govt failing NZ’s manufacturing sector
Labour acknowledges the hundreds of workers today losing their jobs as the Winstone Pulp mill closes and what it will mean for their families and community. ...3 days ago
- Tell National what their $216m tobacco tax cut could have funded instead
In Budget '24, the National Government put aside $216 million to pay for a tax cut which mainly benefitted one company: global tobacco giant Philip Morris. Instead of giving hundreds of millions to big tobacco, National could have spent the money sensibly, on New Zealand. ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt has made up a cost crisis to justify cuts
Te Whatu Ora’s financials from the last year show the Government has manufactured a financial crisis to justify making cuts that are already affecting patient care. ...3 days ago
- Speech: Why Kiwi businesses are the best in the world
The New Zealand business community is unique. It has always punched well above its weight on the world stage. ...3 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori Statement on Israel & Iran
Over 41,000 Palestinian’s have been murdered by Israel in the last 12 months. At the same time, Israel have launched attacks against at least four other countries in the Middle East including Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran. “You cannot play the aggressor and the victim at the same time,” said ...4 days ago
- Release: Costello makes a fool of the PM
Associate health minister Casey Costello has made a fool of the Prime Minister, because the product she’s been fighting to get a tax cut for and he’s been backing her on is now illegal – and he doesn’t seem to know it. ...4 days ago
- Work to do on climate adaptation
The Finance and Expenditure Committee’s inquiry into climate adaptation is something that must be built on for an enduring framework to manage climate risk. ...5 days ago - End of free RAT tests means more exposure to virus
The end of free Rapid Antigen Tests today is another sign the Government is giving up on the challenge of protecting the community from Covid-19. ...6 days ago
- Release: Government breaks promise on ferry plan
Time has run out for Nicola Willis who has failed to keep her promise to deliver a solution to replace the Interislander ferries by today. ...6 days ago
- Release: Labour supports marches for better health
Labour supports Buller and Dunedin communities who are marching today and calling on the Government to act urgently to fix the health crisis. ...6 days ago
- Raising speed limits will cost our communities
The Government’s move to disregard all evidence and increase speed limits will result in serious harm. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Buller community
The Green Party stands in solidarity with the Buller community in its silent protest for better healthcare. ...1 week ago
- Release: Proposed job losses devastating for Timaru
News that the Smithfield meatworks could close is devastating for the hundreds of people who work there, Timaru and the wider region. ...1 week ago
- Release: Question mark over financial sustainability of Polytechs
The Government is taking tertiary education down a worrying path with new reporting finding that fourteen of the country’s sixteen polytechnics couldn’t survive on their own,” Labour’s tertiary education spokesperson Dr Deborah Russell says. ...1 week ago
- TPM issues warning to Govt: Back down or prepare for the wrath of the million Māori
Today the government announced a $30m cut to Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori- a programme that develops te reo Māori among our kaiako. “This announcement is just the latest in an onslaught of attacks on te iwi Māori,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi. ...1 week ago
- Govt set to break promise on Dunedin Hospital
The Green Party is calling on the Government to honour its promise to Dunedin and build its new hospital to full capacity. ...1 week ago
- Release: Dunedin Hospital d-listed by Government
The non-announcement in Dunedin today had Ministers leaving broken promises and a likely severely diluted hospital build in their wake. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour welcomes UAE trade deal
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed today with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). ...1 week ago
- Release: Hundreds more jobs cuts on housing frontline
The Government has shown its true intentions for the public service and economy – it’s not to get more public servants back to the office, it’s more job losses. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt not addressing health workforce crisis
The National Government is hiding the gaps in the health workforce from New Zealanders, by not producing a full workforce plan nearly a year into their tenure. ...1 week ago
- Release: Government cuts fair pay for bus drivers
The Government has cut funding for bus drivers to get paid fairly for the work they do, Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...1 week ago
- Crown Minerals Bill Advances Colonisation
Today, the Crown Mineral Amendment Bill was read for the first time, reversing the ban on oil exploration off the coast of Taranaki. It was no accident that this proposed law change was read directly after the Government started to unravel the ability of iwi and hapū Māori to have ...2 weeks ago
- Landlord govt finds new way to undermine public housing
Proposed cuts to Kāinga Ora reflect a failure to fully commit to fixing the housing crisis. ...2 weeks ago
- Crown should prove their rights to Foreshore & Seabed – Te Pāti Māori
Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Justice, Tākuta Ferris, has hit out at the Government, demanding the Crown prove its rights to the foreshore, following the Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill, passing its first reading. "Māori rights to the foreshore pre-exist the Declaration of Independence, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and ...2 weeks ago
- NZ must urgently help whanau in Lebanon
The Government must immediately help evacuate New Zealanders and Lebanese whanau caught up in the current conflict unfolding across south Lebanon. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Government will revoke oil and gas permits
The Green Party vows to reinstate the oil and gas ban and revoke permits when it returns to government following the coalition’s introduction of legislation to reopen offshore oil and gas exploration this afternoon. ...2 weeks ago
- Government introduces controversial MACA legislation
The Government’s introduction of its interventions in the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act threatens to throw relations between Māori and Crown into deeper disharmony. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Gun lobby bill removes regulation at ranges
Gun lobbyist Nicole McKee and her conflict of interest has struck again, this time removing safety regulations from shooting clubs and ranges in New Zealand. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt forgetting the 6000 jobs they’ve cut
The real problem in the public sector is ongoing job losses and cuts to the front line. ...2 weeks ago
- Government undermines public service with WFH crackdown
The Green Party says the Government’s retrograde move to tighten up on Work from Home arrangements is the latest in a series of blows to the Public Service. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Ministers oblivious to cuts’ effect on families
The National Government is oblivious to the impact cuts to services will have on New Zealanders who are doing the hard yards caring for mentally ill family members. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Public service set up to fail under National
Nicola Willis has set up the public service to fail to pay for reckless tax cuts for landlords and the tobacco industry. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Coalition cooking up costly RMA replacement
National continues to dismantle environmental protections in the interests of rushing through unsustainable development that will ultimately cost communities. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National red-faced as benefit numbers skyrocket
The economy has stagnated and the National Government is having to face the consequences of its atrocious lawmaking, as beneficiary numbers skyrocket past even Treasury’s predictions. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National allocating police officers not hired yet
There are 104 fewer police officers now than there were when National came into Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Economic decline further cause for tax transformation
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The National Government’s decisions have hindered, not helped the economy. ...2 weeks ago
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Leaky homes.
Part 2.
Building consent reforms are 'new era' for construction industry – Property Council (msn.com)
Great so long as it works, however NZ Building Industry does not have a very good track record of doing anything properly.
Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?
One thing you can rely on with National. If it didn't work last time. "Lets try again"!
Unfortunately we the Ratepayers & the Taxpayers always pick up the tab for these stupid decisions by Politicians and Councilors.
Maybe not.
One of the factors in Part 1 (it's not actually the first cladding product failure here either) was that council building departments just weren't up to the task of certifying new products and methods, and still aren't. From your link the focus seems to be
An amalgamation of consenting authorities, or better moving to a single stand alone, preferably state owned, entity can only be a good thing to get some consistency, and taking the process out of Local Government would get ratepayers off the hook if things go wrong.
In QLDC land we are paying $300 / ratepayer for the next 30 years to cover one fuckup, and there's more as well, and with the same developer, who went tits up, so we're paying for it.
"contracted out to existing BCAs or private consenting providers, "creating competition and encouraging specialisation"
Exactly what caused the problems in leaky homes, part 1.
I was building during that era.
Fortunately we kept to our own standards, not that of the dodgy privatised inspectors, BRANZ and cladding specifiers.
Having seen one part of my extended family forced into near-destitution by a leaky home, I have enough reason to loathe the Nats, even without them enabling a repeat of the whole shameful business.
Again, this reposted article from an original RNZ release which was anonymously written. There was no writer of this article, or at least no writer willing or able to put their name to it, yet it has been promoted as gospel…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/529474/forestry-not-to-blame-for-smithfield-meatworks-closure-industry-says
Here's another government press release today from RNZ with no journalist attribution. It's an article, but apparently no living being wrote it:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/529456/watch-pm-christopher-luxon-targets-infrastructure-in-latest-quarterly-plan-for-government
The thing is that noone will buy buildings in the next period if the National bill goes through. Construction will grind to a halt because demand for new builds will plummet. People won't want to risk their money on things that will have no resale value.
NZ Fist MP/NACT1 Minister, Casey Costello knew. She was told. But still she pushed on. Yet she stiil carries on with more denial, BS and outright lies.
Never mind our NZ Hospitals and Health system, give the harm agents a tax cut !
As Costello continues…..
The obvious depth of feeling shown by the protests…needs to be ramped up.
Yep, 35,000 in Dunedin surely could not have all been Labour voters or even voters necessarily…everyone needs public health care at some stage including tories. Within months of the CoC Govt., Pharmacists noted a drop off again of people picking up their prescriptions due to the reinstatement of charges, and they have had to can some of the extra services they were offering.
A Southern Cross rep stated casually on RNZ this am that his group does not cover Emergency Department or “tricky” work related to individual circumstances, they do insurance for essentially job lots of hips and knees.
Costello certainly has the arrogance of an egotistical ex detective, similar to Mike Sabin. She will be down the road eventually for gifting the Tobacco industry several hundred million dollars–as you say the harm agents get a leg up while public health gets cuts.
Like +100%
Absolutely. As I replied to Mike the Lefty here..and I'm sure the People are becoming activated !
And yea Costello's…..outright arrogance. She must think she's one of the untouchables? Sad thing, even if she loses MP/Minister status….she will have a job for life with Big Tobacco/Atlas network/Taxpayers union..or any of the similar scumbags….she has earned her future. Selling NZ’s Health down the river
We the People…must continue the fight.
Cathy Costello is a former ACT Member and Spokesperson for Hobson's Pledge right up Winston's and NZF's alley.
She's got her dodgy mitts in all the pies.
Clutha mayor sounds off about $14 billion in tax cuts = no new hospitals!
The CoC have lost almost the entire South Island with their Dunedin/Nelson hospitals/West Coast GP shortages and the ferry debacle!
A one term government!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018957761/clutha-mayor-speaks-on-dunedin-hospital-u-turn
No mention of the Dunedin Hospital Situation and the Protest's with 35k people in Dunedin in the NZ Herald.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dunedin-mayor-backs-thousands-marching-against-hospital-project-cuts/YY3GMHBLTVFDXNKPEP2EJI3TQQ/
It was there but you have to search for it. Ditto Casey Costello corruption articles.
NZME is a clear corporate mouthpiece and it shows at every step.
The granny is a war mongering, hate rag, of the lowest order. It was the tool which helped Grey in his misadventures, and is the tool of successive hard right misadventures.
Exactly MT-I just scrolled through at least two pages of the Herald website with no mention of the Dunedin hospital issue at all.
But for me this is ok. If the Herald has no idea how big this issue has become then neither has National (for the Herald and National are one and the same) and so they will suffer at the next election.
Yep – presence and prominence are different things. It pays to bear this in mind when analysing NZ Herald bias. Presence allows them to argue that the NZH is balanced, prominence tells you what they want to be seen.
Good summary of the present mood with the climate change situation, in this article from today's Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/30/our-leaders-are-collaborators-with-fossil-fuel-colonialists-this-is-the-source-of-our-communal-dread
It's full of apposite quotes; here's three samples:
We, the richest and most mobile cohort in history, are pitifully poor in spirit, suffering pains and terrors we cannot express. We act like colonial subjects. Because, in effect, that’s what we are. (my bold)
The entities that enclose and occupy our lands and waters, exploit our fossil fuel resources and distort our polities, are largely foreign. Most of the resources they exploit are the common property of sovereign peoples. The resultant products are exported, the profits siphoned offshore. Like the imperial powers of old, these corporations cultivate vassal governments and rely on local functionaries to maintain control. They have a massively disproportionate influence on public policy. No group of citizens, however large, wields such power over their own government.
***
But it’s naive to imagine the defeat of fossil capital will come gently. It is likely to be prolonged, brutal and chaotic. Securing a just and sustainable future will require many things to be smashed and cleared away. Not reformed incrementally but removed entirely. The opportunity for ameliorative tinkering has already been squandered. (my bold)
***
Meanwhile, politicians are drafting laws to constrain peaceful protest, limit legal recourse and smooth the way for many new fossil fuel developments, despite the science.
Any of this sound familiar?
I was left feeling quite worried/sickened when I read the story of the 5 recently sent to prison by judge Christopher Hehir ..(more on this creep later)
judge Hehir. Broken Britain ?
I drew some positive from him being called out..by the Solicitor General no less, for his previous quite bizarre rulings. I do hope that the 5 Protestors get an appeal on his draconian and IMO fascist sentencing.
6 Extinction Rebellion anti-coal activists in Dunedin are about to get a $60,000 bill for their protest last week:
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/anti-coal-activists-may-get-60000-bill
That's quite a local chill effect.
I think if they started a Give a Little much of this would be paid by donations.
The language in the news article makes it clear that it's likely they may well be discharged without conviction, and therefore without penalty.
Whoever wrote that hasn't noticed that the very fragility of capitalist economies constitutes their greatest protection against radical change. Market economies are not the stable, self-equilibrating systems beloved of neoclassical economics. Someone like Steve Keen would say that they are complex systems, with numerous self-reinforcing feedback loops and they tend towards chaos, dis-equilibrium and crisis. Even a small perturbation in one part of the system (e.g. supply-chain holdups due to Covid) causes nasty and hugely magnified effects elsewhere. And it's the weakest who suffer most.
Before anyone starts "smashing" anything they should bear that in mind. It sounds like a good way of engineering an economic collapse that hurts the poorest and sends them straight into the arms of the far right denialists. Thus engineering a sort of cross-class solidarity on the far right that is the left's worst nightmare.
Of course he's unworldly, he's fourteen.
/
Is this our least worldly Minister of Transport?
[…]
Over the weekend, the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown proudly announced his new speed-setting rule, a decision that will undoubtedly lead to greater harm on our roads. It’s a tragically predictable decision by a Minister who seems to be on only nodding acquaintance with both evidence and international norms.
Fueled by misinformation, gaslighting, and falsehoods, and disregard for the outcry from experts home and abroad, and ignoring well-founded pleas from local councils across the country, Brown has chosen to impose blanket speed limit increases, and short stretches of time-restricted safe speeds around schools – touting the latter as offering (the bare minimum of) protection for (only some of) the most vulnerable members of our communities (at specified times and only on weekdays).
The Minister describes his accomplishment as returning our local streets, arterial roads, and state highways to December 2019. Half a decade of progress undone in one fell swoop – described in the same news story by road safety experts as “irresponsible and extremely concerning.”
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2024/09/30/is-this-our-least-worldly-minister-of-transport/
He certainly is different, goes with his gut feeling rather the science.
But they are only experts….Simeon thinks he is doing God’s work.
Simeon Brown again demonstrates his puerile, perverse, callous mindset. He ploughs ahead with his ideological plans, despite expert evidence to the contrary, behaviour also exhibited repeatedly by Christopher Luxon, Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop, David Seymour, Nicole McKee, Louise Upston et al.
"…..Canterbury University professor Simon Kingham – a former chief science adviser to the Ministry of Transport – said the government was ignoring overwhelming evidence against higher speeds……
Kingham said previously, he had faith the government would take on board evidence showing higher speed limits caused more deaths and injuries.
"The minister hasn't shown any interest in the evidence or the science. He just seems to be blindly following some sort of ideological approach.
"So I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed."
Kingham said he expected local councils would try to stop the speed limit changes.
"Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch… the bigger cities have made it very clear they don't want this. So I'm sure they will be thinking… not how can we get round this, because they're not going to break the law – but what can we do to stop this happening?"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/529368/new-speed-limits-mean-more-people-will-die-transport-researcher
As is also typical of Brown's colleagues and other deniers of fact, he tells a little bit of the truth, but omits relevant, contextual information.
"by Fox Meyer 27/09/2024
Transport Minister Simeon Brown cited overseas countries with 50 km/h urban speed limits as evidence that his similar policy was reasonable, but omitted the fact that those countries allow municipalities to lower the limit as they see fit……
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/09/27/truckies-say-higher-speed-limits-wont-boost-freight-efficiency/
I was on the IRD's website this morning, looking for the answer to a another problem, when I chanced upon the report which came out a while back and said that the wealthy among us pay only 9% tax. I was interested to see in it that they distinguish between on the one hand "income" – wages, salaries, interest, dividends, etc., i.e. the sort of things that we normally think of as income – and on the other "economic income". But if an instance of gain is income why not include it with all those other incomes just mentioned; and, if not, how can it be "economic" income.
I think they are trying to bamboozle us with language,.