The notion that New Zealanders don’t give a fuck about the environment or say, child poverty, while it suits the National Party’s owners, and certainly applies to the sociopath wing of the party, simply has no foundation in reality.
That’s because “most people” have a thing called “empathy”.
“Another day and most people get on with their lives quite happily.”
Now try this one … another day and far too many Kiwi families struggle in silence, in absolute misery, attempting to get on with their lives trying hard to survive … living in the back of a car, a garage, shed, tent, hovel etc!! Or they can rent a motel room and be in debt to WINZ for the rest of their wretched lives!
But then I guess if you are comfortable, well fed, warm, surviving on a very good income and happy with your lot, why give a big rat’s backside about the suffering of others?
You make this, or a similar comment every day. While I accept that there are things that could be done better, and that there are social problems to be solved, surely you are rather overstating it.
Most people in New Zealand do not think they are living in a nightmare. The right direction/wrong direction polls consistently show that a substantial majority think NZ is going in the right direction, which for instance is unlike the US.
By most OECD measures New Zealand is doing pretty well. Among the higher levels of economic growth, and among the highest levels of employment and one of the lowest levels on unemployment. Welfare rolls generally shrinking. The fact that we have such a high level of inwards migration, much of it being returning kiwis, shows that for many people they see good opportunities here.
In the Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay for instance they are struggling to increase cool store capacity because of the good prices for kiwifruit, apples and other horticulture.
In short, overstating the severity of the issues facing the country will have people thinking that you are crying wolf a bit too often.
“Welfare rolls generally shrinking” – yes, because people are being kicked off welfare into destitution.
Meanwhile, the country is what, $120 bn in debt now? Hospitals are being steadily underfunded, with massive waits for ‘elective’ surgeries. Schools rely on donations just to keep afloat. Funding across many areas of government isn’t keeping up with inflation and population increases. Benefits don’t keep up with inflation. Numbers of homeless are burgeoning. Many people can’t even afford to rent a garage in Auckland. People are being forced into debt as they get shoved into motels as emergency accommodation because there aren’t enough houses for people in need, because the government is utterly failing to provide any solutions in this area.
So while things seem rosy to you, that’s only because you’ve ignored all the serious issues facing this country.
All you guys bitching and moaning about 120bn of debt: what do you want the alternative to be? slash and burn? because that’s what a traditional nat govt would have done, and what many other countries have done.
Increase taxes I hear you say? Well nope. Business were already doing it tough. This would have just made it even tougher.
Yeah, I’d have increased taxes to be more inline with western European social democracies. Businesses would have been just fine, particularly since I wouldn’t have raised GST (and indeed would move toward getting rid of GST).
I seriously doubt Wayne, that you have much to do with ‘most people’. Which explains part of the disconnect that lets you shrug off the manifest dishonesty and non-performance of this disgraceful kleptocracy. The other part must be attributed to that want of character by which lawyers have made themselves notorious.
Ha ! The plump Wayne. “Most people in New Zealand…….”
Tell that to the kids in cars Wayne……as you scan your financial affairs indicating (educated guess) the best part of half a million dollars gross coming into your small household annually.
Gets on my wick that a life long gravy trainer like you should invoke his plumpness to say “…….all’s OK, you know, by and large, at the end of the day, and here are some figures and gosh, we must mind our manners etc etc etc. Let’s just be gloriously plump and plompous !”
Highlighting the homelessness issue in New Zealand is not crying wolf.
I guess you can’t see from your leafy suburb and through the tinted windows of your SUV.
And the ‘most people’ argument does not wash.
Jimmy Carter, the last president of the US before the cult of neo-liberalism ( to which you subscribe) took over said.
“The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens.
I am not sorry this upsets you; you need to pay attention. I do not plan to stop.
And the NACTS make similar comments every day too. nothing wrong, nothing to see here, everything is going well yada yada.
But I’m delighted to hear that some of you are doing really well, you’ll be able to pay that $120B debt off for the rest of us? Nope??
That 70% tax rate on personal incomes over $250k , on all trust income (offshore or onshore trusts ) looks like a more attractive option every day.
I’d even suggest bringing it in straight away, like tobacco tax hikes, so ther was no time to hide the dosh.
Stephanie’s on fire at the moment. People stepping up to help with the housing crisis,
And because New Zealanders are caring, compassionate people, we step up. We open our doors and put our hands in our pockets
Imagine if we could pool all those resources across the country and had a single organisation with the knowledge and leverage to ensure every kid gets breakfast and every family has a home. An organisation motivated by providing good lives for people, not payouts for shareholders.
We could call the organisation, “government”. We could call those resources we all chip in, “tax”. We used to know what those things meant, before we got to where we are now. Together, we can decide to go somewhere else.
Actually lets not have the tax be mandatory, but be a true donation but it must be declared publicly – i.e. “Hi my name is John Key and I only care for the country to the tune of 5c”
With John Key’s ultimatum last week over housing in Auckland; Is there anything stopping the Auckland Council finally zoning all inner suburbs as ultra-high density so we the Natophiles can get on and build nice big apartment buildings nice and close to the city? Save most of the infrastructure costs. Sure the people of Remmers, Ponsnobby and Parnell will have to move, but hey just zone some of that outer fringe land to low density residential so they can have mcmansions on their land-banked land and nice large green areas.
Would be much cheaper than the opposite way round, and the sooner we got on with becoming a real city the better…
AND
the 17Billion for the infrastructure upgrade for the green fields development will cost the average rate payer in Auckland about an extra $2000 per year for 20 years.
so?
the only ones that could not pay for that would be those on a fixed income, and i am sure that Paula Bennett and Blinglish will have no issues giving our retired people in akl some cash to move the fuck outta town and leave their homes to some more deserving people.
economical warfare is the game.
economical cleansing is the final desired solution
The cities of NZ, gated communities with swipe cards for the maids, chefs, baristas and gardeners.
Reactions ranging from outrage at the “ferals” ruining freedom camping for those with self contained vehicles to mild concern and ‘what are we going to do about it?’ from forumites living locally.
What most failed to read in the Stuff article was..
“Taupo’s Emergency Accommodation Facebook page manager Renee Grey said many of the people she has helped have used Reid’s Farm when times go desperate.
“I think it would be devastating as Taupo has no emergency accommodation shelter and thats where most homeless in Taupo use it temporarily,” she said. ”
and the forumites also neglected to read the other articles about the impending accommodation crisis in tourism hotspot Taupo.
This is a repetition of what has happened in Queenstown.
Rich buy up property, many don’t reside year round, property prices rise and rise and the low wage workers on whom the tourism industry depend cannot afford to live in town.
Towns people and privileged indigenous travelers refer to the homeless as ‘ferals’.
I commented in the distaff…but methinks the mods will remove the comment or perhaps ban me from the site.
That Stuff article doesn’t tell us 2 critical things. How much is this an issue of tourism, and what are the complaints being made? Pretty hard to understand the issue or what could be done without knowing those things.
Probably pay to read all three articles to get the picture weka, then maybe trawl the archives for articles along a similar vein that came out of Queenstown about three years ago.
“Indigenous travelers”….those of us who own our own self contained motorhomes. The ‘privileged’ part comes in when some…maybe most….demand the ‘right’ to freedom camp wherever and whenever based on the theory that spending a few dollars in that region affords them entitlement. Any real or perceived threat to freedom camping results in (yet another) venting of outrage at the ‘ferals’ in non self contained camping vehicles spoiling it for us.
Few ever engage with the ‘others’, seldom learn the whys and wherefores of their individual circumstances.
“A delegation of Queenstown community leaders received a shocking warning of what their resort town could become.
Queenstown/Aspen Queenstown/Aspen Photo: Wiki commons
The Chamber of Commerce delegation visited the Colorado ski resort of Aspen last month.
It’s geographically similar to Queenstown, and both are suffering serious housing affordability issues, with those working in the service industries having to live further and further out of town.”
Tourism…the raison d’etre of Queenstown , is losing ground to the now greater industry of real estate investment.
The lack of public facilities in NZ is astounding. You can literally drive form AKL to Wellington without seeing one Highway Rest Ground with appropriate Facilities.
When people need to go they need to go. And now you have about 4 million more that need to go. Add an extra million people over summer, and they all flush at least thrice a day.
Public facilities need to be upgraded and more numerous that is for sure, however i don’t hold my breath.
As for the spreading of the disease. The disease is Growth, this is our current Growth, selling the country to the highest bidder quarter acre by quarter acre, – us in Akl can tell you, that we told you so. Its time that NZ wake up. As elsewhere Paula Bennett will have no issue offering those with houses in high impact – err, high value areas. Here have 5 grand, now fuck off.
“The lack of public facilities in NZ is astounding. You can literally drive form AKL to Wellington without seeing one Highway Rest Ground with appropriate Facilities.”
Not quite…but the public facilities are often not obvious.
In Taupo, after 7pm, it appears you have to use the ones in a local fast food joint…after making the appropriate purchase of course. ;-( .
thats what i mean. there should be appropriatly marked rest places that offer public facilities. Not fast food joints or dairies where on has to buy something.
Interesting website. It does kinda confirm that you can drive a long way on SH1 without finding one. And how obvious the toilets are is another question.
Libraries, Petrol stations, and shopping centres are not at beaches or scenic sites or National Parks. Most of the public toilets are listed in towns anyway. The concern if you don’t already understand – is not that there are no toilet facilities in towns – the concern is that places of beauty are being spoiled by people defaecating on roadsides and reserves etc because there are little or no facilities. For instance in the Coromandel the permanent population of 30,000 are required to provided toilet facilities for up to 130,000 transient people (many of whom are tourists). The total number of toilet pans outside of the towns is about 3 dozen (including 2 at the top to “The Pinnacles”).
I thought you as a neo-lib junkie were all for user pays? Why should rate payers subsidize the tourist industry?
With rents or the new term, ‘social housing’, the current ‘mums and dads’ landlords will be gone, and in it’s place unwieldy companies and corporations with big rental portfolios who can price fix, decide not to rent at all or whatever. We can see it coming with the Chinese and Australian interest. Then NZ rentals or ‘social bonds’ will be put into shares by banks and money traders and traded by the wealthy. All the this is Bill English and Keys wet dream for NZ like the financial hub (aka tax havens).
For those that seem to think more houses and zoning changes will mean “for the poor’ – at current rates – very unlikely. We may get more of Paula Bennett’s famously vacant facts and figures, the increase in emergency housing which under scrutiny does not even make sense, like $5000 to leave Auckland or $3000 to come back.
The more the government and council loosen up planning rules the less affordable the houses in Auckland are becoming as people use the rules to make houses bigger and less affordable.
NZ has to lose the neoliberal rubbish and go back to what worked previously, state house being built and retained by the government and wages in line with the price to build a house to get back to our previously 74% home ownership figures.
The irony of all this, is that under neoliberalism the super rich are not even expected to pay tax (hence Key’s tax havens) and now the poorest are expected to keep the coffers going in our taxes increasingly spent on corporate welfare, with cigarette tax and beneficiary ‘fraud’ (i.e. over payments or being deemed to be a relationship) as assets in the latest budget!
With the super rich and corporations quasi legally not paying and seemingly out of the equation to get more taxes out of, it is up to the declining middle class to both pay for the corporate welfare and the social system. No wonder middle class are between a rock and a hard place vote wise if their choice is framed between more taxes vs less taxes from political parties.
Should we make the super rich poorer? An inheritance tax, a wealth tax, a land/property tax, and high income tax can all be designed to do just that.
But that’s a separate aim from funding the government. Government can fund itself by borrowing NZD, or by issuing NZD or by a combination of all these methods including taxation.
The problem is, under globalism many of these super rich people not only avoid the rules they have armies of lobbyist putting loop holes into legislation so that they don’t pay. If you are rich enough you can just tie the whole thing up in legal wranglings (like TPPA) so that those with least money pay i.e. middle class (and therefore become poorer hence middle class decline in the West) while the super rich using alias, corporations, trusts, tax havens and what have you become richer and less catchable.
Taxation needs to come into the 21st century, When the current tax laws were made people did not have multiple passports, private air and boat travel and ability to lobby to create the laws, media and government in their favour.
That is why I favour micro taxes at source, like stamp duty and transaction taxes. Both do not care about how much money you have or where you live, if you make the transaction – you must pay a set amount. So a person buying a $10 million house vs a person buying a $300k house will pay different amount of taxes each time they buy. Likewise if you are a currency trader and trading million of trades per day, you pay each time you trade vs someone who has a kiwi bank saver is hit only once unless they are buying and selling constantly.
It is interesting that the biggest group using the Panama tax haven through Mossack were politicians (followed by Hollywood). They make the rules so that they have given themselves exemption from paying tax!
In my view the opposition which has been obsessed with income figures with taxation instead decides, how do you stop someone wealthy who does not want to pay tax and may not even reside in this country to pay their fair share? Anything to do with income is a waste of time these days as the rich seem to live on nothing and aka Sky City casino there are plenty of places to money launder here for those people who pay in cash! As for capital taxes they will not work for Kiwis on a fixed income and again completely avoidable by the rich shuffling global money around.
Tax those that are buying up and moving money around each time they do it. Surprisingly we might have a bit more stability if those speculating were taxed each time! And if tax were unavoidable, we would have funds to pay for state houses again!
And I would like to see a gambling tax put on Sky City and they become legally liable if they contribute to money laundering.
“With John Key’s ultimatum last week over housing in Auckland…”
This morning Key muddied the waters over the Auckland Council threat. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201802550
The prime Minister was saying nothing, attempting to sound authoritative, sincere and convincing.
He has replaced ‘ at the end of the day’ with his latest buzz word, ‘fundamentally’ which is a bit like Brash’s, ‘basically’ and ‘frankly’..
Jane Bowron in the Press (Monday) sums it up well…in her column referring among other stupidities, to the Govt’s smugness “…..the prime minister sets out to grab the sound bite and appear the action man tough guy…”… ..convincing to some I guess.
In a huge blow to Israel, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders announced Thursday that calls to boycott the Jewish state fall within the limits of free speech, undermining intensive Israeli diplomatic efforts to sway European capitals to outlaw the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment Movement.
“Statements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, as enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights,” Koenders said Thursday during a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the Dutch parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in The Hague.”
Some think that the crimes by Israeli Government against their enemies are similar to the crimes against Jews committed by Germany. How does that happen?
On 21 June 1933, the Zionist Federation of Germany sent a memorandum to the Nazi Party that contains the following insight into Zionist psychology:
“On the foundation of the new [Nazi German] state, which has established the principle of race, we wish so to fit our community into the total structure so that for us too, in the sphere assigned to us, fruitful activity for the Fatherland is possible… Our acknowledgment of Jewish nationality provides for a clear and sincere relationship to the German people and its national and racial realities. Precisely because we do not wish to falsify these fundamentals, because we, too, are against mixed marriage and are for maintaining the purity of the Jewish group…” (Lucy Dawidowicz (ed.), A Holocaust Reader, pp. 150-155.)
A different approach to affordability in Auckland, that is sustainable. I would not be against density if it was low rise and stylish and sustainable. It costs the same in the most part to have something beautiful than something that is an eyesore which is a lot of Auckland housing!
How about set designs like tiny houses from Architects that require no building consents under certain conditions and approved designs? A bit like State houses, designed for living in and built quickly and affordably.
Evidently Hooton was misleading Nine to Noon listeners (again) this morning in order to criticise the Auckland Council. He claimed the council hadn’t included the cost of the City Rail Link but actually they have. It is the Nact govt. who haven’t. If they had there would have been no surplus.
Patrick Reynolds
@pv_reynolds
@MatthewHootonNZ completely wrong on #CRL: Council share IS budgeted for gov share is in no budget @ninetonoon Council/AT are funding it now
It looks as though the Clinton’s may be indicted on charges relating to money laundering, bribery ,etc. These charges arise from investigations by the FBI of Hilary’s deleted emails, which now been recovered.
See entry in http://www.globalresearch.ca
I am aware the Huffington Post article has been removed. However the Global Research article seems sure of its facts. I suspect that the HuffPost has been leaned on while the Global Research, being Canadian, may well be beyond the reach of the Clintons.
Linked to the article so everyone knows what we’re talking about.
Well, I for one would like to know where the author got the information that James Comey and The FBI will present a recommendation to Loretta Lynch from. Which is probably the bit that got it cut. I doubt if the FBI is going to tell anyone about such a recommendation before it’s actually presented.
“Well, I for one would like to know where the author got the information”
I guess we all would, and also whether in fact the FBI has actually recovered those emails. And unless the content of the emails, if they exist, is compelling enough to oblige Ms Lynch to put aside her friendship with the Clinton’s and bring an indictment, nothing is likely to come of the matter. There is though the matter of conducting state business through a private email address and later destroying the emails, which I think is illegal.
However, even if Hillary is forced to fall on her sword over this, it does not guarantee that Bernie will get the nomination it seems.
The latest posting on global research (on this topic) would seem to indicate that the FBI are going to recommend the Clinton Foundation should be prosecuted for money laundering etc.
“Hit the streets Aucklanders! Tell Pm John Key to back off and butt out!”
___________________________________________________________________________
“Today, I ‘locked in’ with Auckland Central Police, the date, time and route of a march of potentially thousands of Aucklanders, to tell PM John Key to ‘back off and butt out’,” said Auckland Mayoral candidate, Penny Bright.
___________________________________________________________________________
MARCH! Queen Street – Britomart to the Auckland Town Hall.
WHEN: Saturday 11 June 2016.
TIME: 12 noon till 2pm.
ASSEMBLE: 12 noon outside Britomart.
___________________________________________________________________________
“The reason for this march, is the veiled threat from PM John Key to appoint unelected Commissioners to run Auckland, if ‘Auckland’ doesn’t do what ‘Wellington’ says, (effectively on behalf of developers), regarding housing in Auckland.”
“Prime Minister John Key has given a strong hint that the Government could go as far as appointing commissioners to run Auckland if the council refuses to free up more land for housing.
“Mark my words,” he told reporters today after being asked about the possibilities for dealing with an uncooperative council.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
“For the Prime Minister to even hint at the threat of appointing Commissioners to run Auckland, four months out from the Auckland local body elections – is simply obscene.”
“In my view, every time ‘Wellington’ (central government) interferes with ‘Auckland’ (local government) – it makes things worse for thousands of ordinary Auckland ratepayers and citizens.”
“It was the John Key led National Government that forced this Auckland ‘Supercity’ (for the 1%) upon us in 2009, by railroading legislation under urgency through Parliament.”
“Pivotal to this Auckland ‘Supercity’ was the ‘One Plan’ for Auckland, which, in my view, has been delightful if you are a property developer, speculator, overseas investor, bank, land banker and/or money-launderer, but disastrous for thousands of Aucklanders.”
“Why does all this ‘growth’ have to come to Auckland?”
“Where is the national population growth, migration and regional development and employment strategy?”
“What is ‘local’ now about ‘local government’ in Auckland?”
“While PM John Key promotes ‘democracy for developers’, and his Government ‘land banks’ empty State houses, decent New Zealanders are appalled at the plight of vulnerable fellow citizens trying to sleep on cardboard in Queen Street, and little kids and their families ‘living’ crammed into cars, garages, caravans and already over-crowded houses.”
“As someone who helped organise the thousands on to the streets, opposing the TPPA investor and corporate control, I call upon those people, and more, to oppose investor and corporate /developer control of Auckland.”
“Stand up and be counted Aucklanders, and give PM John Key the message that can’t be ignored!”
I nearly threw more than a few well-chosen words of advice at Mr Hooton as he continually spoke over both other speakers. He has a habit of speaking over the others to interrupt or take over. The result is that the thread and the listener’s comprehension are disrupted. He’s ekshully quite good at it.
Williams is too well mannered, and Ryan has learnt to keep on going but Hooton’s interruptions are very unhelpful to good debate and listening.
Williams doesn’t have it any more. He should step down and let someone younger take it on. Several times this morning he let Hooton get away with blatant twists and outright lies and all he could do was giggle. Hooton’s attempt to shout both Williams and Ryan down was particularly bad this morning. Ryan doesn’t let him get away with it but Williams is useless. It’s almost as though he’s too scared to stand up to Hooton.
The issue is what Matthew has to say is interesting and thought provoking, the left comment normally whinging and nonsense, thus Matthew gets more air time
Oh, craven bullshit. 😀 Matthew shouts over everybody else that’s why he gets more air time. RNZ should be shot of him because he doesn’t even tell the truth most of the time.
“what Matthew has to say is interesting and thought provoking”
🙄
Yeah the thought that runs through my mind whenever I am unfortunate enough to hear him is “what shit are you on Matthew? and how come you’re not sea sick with all that spinning?”
He gets more air time because he is an empty vessel and they are the ones that make the most noise.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11639758
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Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
Hi,Before we get to Hayden’s column — RIP to Millennials Killing Everything — a quick observation.There was a day last week where it had suddenly reached 10pm and I hadn’t eaten all day. Hunger had suddenly gripped me with a panicky all-consuming force, so I jumped onto Uber Eats and ...
We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
So the teachers are on strike, marching across Aotearoa today to press their demands for better pay and working conditions.Children remained in bed this brisk morning, many no doubt quite pleased about a day off school. Parents perhaps taking the day off to look after the kids, or working from ...
After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
Ouch: Hipkins’ policy bonfire has resulted in an expensive self-administered removal of a Budgetary foot with an explosive device. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Bonfires can be dangerous things when they get out of control. They also create a lot of smoke and heat and burn the grass. ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
Ironically, a repurposed Auckland Ratepayers Alliance placard (with a demand for climate action on the front) featured at the recent climate march. Voting ratepayers don’t want ‘bureaucrats in cushy council jobs’ borrowing or increasing rates, even when the need for investment is becoming increasingly obvious. So is council cost-cutting a ...
The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Buzz from the Beehive Exempting bikes, electric bikes and scooters from fringe benefit tax looked like something of a sop for a Green Party that had good grounds to grumble after a bunch of climate change measures was tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire. The combustibles included the clean car ...
Today is a Member's Day, the first of the year. Unfortunately it also looks to be a boring one. First, there's a two hour debate on the budget policy statement (somehow inexplicably "member's business", despite it being fundamentally a government thing). Then there's a couple of "private bills" - people ...
Most days, Chris Hipkins and James Shaw seem a bit like the Seals and Crofts of the centre-left: Earnest, inoffensive, and capable of quite nice harmonies at times. They blow gently through the jasmine in your mind, but you know they’re never going to rock your world. Back in 2020, ...
The reflection gazed back at him. Pale and a little paunchy, he wasn’t a well man.He had a toga made from a fitted sheet and it kept bunching up under his armpits.His Laurel wreath was made from some Christmas tree branches he’d found in the shed, not a real pine ...
Yesterday we covered the government’s latest policy/delivery changes with a focus on light rail. But there was another important transport part of the announcement: The government will also intends to scale back its road safety plans. The programmes that are being reprioritised include: Significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to ...
Unbridled Consumption: This civilisation we have built (we being the whole human species) is the most astonishingly wonderful thing homo sapiens has ever seen. We love it. We cannot imagine how awful life would be without it. And, we most certainly are not going to co-operate with anyone who advises ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Let’s start with the absolute truisms.Politics is the art of the possibleHalf of something is better than all of nothingLet us now consider these with reference to the Under New Management government.What is a supporter of progressive politics to make of the abandonment of various policies, as announced in recent post-cabinet ...
Chris Hipkins has surprised even some of his closest friends and backers with the bounce he has secured for Labour in public polls since he became Prime Minister. He has been put to the test since he took over from Jacinda Ardern in the top job, and has shown a ...
Buzz from the Beehive It was a big day for the stopping or slowing of a second tranche of government programmes, an exercise which Beehive publicists are pitching as measures to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on “the bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders. ...
Last night there was a One News political poll which was welcomed by the left and will cause some concern in the opposition camp. A poll that showed no path to victory for ACT and National and which would likely result in another Labour/Greens government, possibly with the inclusion, or ...
Our young renters can vote Labour or Green as often as they like, but will end up paying the price of more and bigger climate emergencies, while also paying most of their after-tax income on rent with little hope of owning their own homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR:PM ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at ...
Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at the working class politics of places like West Auckland ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Chris Baraniuk It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, the thermal engineer suddenly had all ...
Hi,I just wanted to say hello as this week really gets going, and check in about a few things. They’re a series of fractured random thoughts, so bear with me! First up — I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages and I’m really glad I watched yesterday. It felt like ...
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention. “I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages. “Reducing transport ...
The Hipkins Government revealed its true colours yesterday as it chopped a whole series of “nice to have” policies — many of them promoted by the Greens — and instead diverted the savings to relieve the impact of inflation. His approach is all about taking action; no more excuses, ...
Saving The People From ... The People: The strangest aspect of the mass Israeli protests, from a New Zealand perspective, is that the judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would only confer upon Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, powers which the New Zealand House of Representatives has not only exercised ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region. Establishing a regime to pave ...
Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
$15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University IISD/ENB The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation. The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva The installation of the Turaga Bale na Vunivalu Na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, clearly indicates that Fiji’s traditional chiefly system still has a strong footing and chiefs still command respect among the country’s citizens. This is the view of Dr Paul Geraghty, the University ...
ANALYSIS:By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in ...
By Antoine Samoyeau in Pape’ete About 3000 activists of French Polynesia’s pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party met for six hours at the weekend with the executives insisting that they were “united’ after a recent upheaval over leadership. The party also presented a “renewed” slate of 73 candidates for next month’s territorial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The first arrest has been made following the Brereton inquiry into allegations that Australians committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, 41, has been remanded in custody after his arrest by ...
We have our 2023 finalists after a big Sunday double-header at North Shore Stadium. Alice Soper reviews.Matatū vs BluesMatatū have scored the first try in every match they have played this season. It looked like this streak was going to be broken as the Blues finally found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Park, Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock Some 70% of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island has been closed to non-essential visitors in response to a recurrence of the plant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suranga Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer – Security, University of Sydney Shutterstock Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor, The Conversation Thanks in no small part to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today few people would be foolish enough to dispute the scientific consensus on the climate crisis. But as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Windholz, Senior Lecturer and Associate, Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Monash University Inadequate, inequitable, and in some cases possibly in breach of workers’ compensation laws. That’s how bad the current insurance arrangements are for Australia’s professional sports people, ...
The newly-minted Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, has been called on by the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) to investigate how the previous Minister allowed Police to propose extraordinary fee increases for licensed firearm owners without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Kingsford, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Bill Ormonde, Author provided Millions of dead fish float on the surface of the river. Native bony herring and introduced young carp, as well as a few mature ...
Things make more sense when people are speaking your language! This CAB Awareness Week (20-26 March), we are celebrating diversity and multiculturalism within our service. At the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are committed to making sure our service ...
The second week of the Auckland Arts Festivals showed the versatility of the city’s spaces, even when not matched entirely correctly with shows. Sam Brooks reviews (with assistance from Shanti Mathias).I often dismay at the lack of performance spaces we have in Auckland, and it takes something like the ...
The free and easy SMS two factor authentication (2FA) to log into your Twitter account ends today. That concerns Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster because it takes away one of the most common ways to verify who users are on their free accounts, which ...
New Zealand’s new minister of police will be one of the freshest faces around the cabinet table. Ginny Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, has been named as the new minister taking over from Stuart Nash. Andersen first became an MP in 2017 and only became a minister for the ...
The government has announced further roading reconnections, several weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this morning it was confirmed the link between Napier and Taupō had been reestablished. And now, transport minister Michael Wood said another six bailey bridges would be constructed. “Our immediate priority has been to reopen lifeline ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this morning. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras 2023 were a huge success. Sydney was activated in a way rarely seen – block and street parties, cultural festivals and dance parties for ...
For the first time since 2019, a New Zealand minister will head to China this week. Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta will meet with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing. “I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues. I will ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has completed his investigation into complaints about Auckland Council’s role in the National Erebus Memorial project. The complaints relate to the council’s approval and consents process for the memorial site in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Pandemic-generated pressures have left our rental housing market reeling. Australia-wide, vacancy rates are at rock-bottom levels. Rents are soaring at record rates. Queensland has ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the formula has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt Shihad frontman ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the long-running Wellington festival has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt ...
The anti-transgender activist that provoked aggressive protests in Australia over the weekend may not be able to enter New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner, is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. But according to a new statement from Immigration NZ, her ability to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is pleased to hear that the Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, has invited concerned mayors to the Beehive to discuss the Three Waters reforms but believe he should meet with the country’s largest ...
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
DoC funding cut by $40m – independent expert
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/305139/doc-funding-cut-by-$40m-independent-expert
Another day and most people get on with their lives quite happily.
…most people…
The notion that New Zealanders don’t give a fuck about the environment or say, child poverty, while it suits the National Party’s owners, and certainly applies to the sociopath wing of the party, simply has no foundation in reality.
That’s because “most people” have a thing called “empathy”.
Except when it effects their house values or share portfolio it seems.
That says a lot about you.
Empathy.
Google it.
Ignorance is bliss stunned mullet. You must be exceptionally happy.
@ Stunned mullet (1.1)
“Another day and most people get on with their lives quite happily.”
Now try this one … another day and far too many Kiwi families struggle in silence, in absolute misery, attempting to get on with their lives trying hard to survive … living in the back of a car, a garage, shed, tent, hovel etc!! Or they can rent a motel room and be in debt to WINZ for the rest of their wretched lives!
But then I guess if you are comfortable, well fed, warm, surviving on a very good income and happy with your lot, why give a big rat’s backside about the suffering of others?
+111
Another day and another moronic posting by Paul
Paul,
You make this, or a similar comment every day. While I accept that there are things that could be done better, and that there are social problems to be solved, surely you are rather overstating it.
Most people in New Zealand do not think they are living in a nightmare. The right direction/wrong direction polls consistently show that a substantial majority think NZ is going in the right direction, which for instance is unlike the US.
By most OECD measures New Zealand is doing pretty well. Among the higher levels of economic growth, and among the highest levels of employment and one of the lowest levels on unemployment. Welfare rolls generally shrinking. The fact that we have such a high level of inwards migration, much of it being returning kiwis, shows that for many people they see good opportunities here.
In the Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay for instance they are struggling to increase cool store capacity because of the good prices for kiwifruit, apples and other horticulture.
In short, overstating the severity of the issues facing the country will have people thinking that you are crying wolf a bit too often.
“Welfare rolls generally shrinking” – yes, because people are being kicked off welfare into destitution.
Meanwhile, the country is what, $120 bn in debt now? Hospitals are being steadily underfunded, with massive waits for ‘elective’ surgeries. Schools rely on donations just to keep afloat. Funding across many areas of government isn’t keeping up with inflation and population increases. Benefits don’t keep up with inflation. Numbers of homeless are burgeoning. Many people can’t even afford to rent a garage in Auckland. People are being forced into debt as they get shoved into motels as emergency accommodation because there aren’t enough houses for people in need, because the government is utterly failing to provide any solutions in this area.
So while things seem rosy to you, that’s only because you’ve ignored all the serious issues facing this country.
All you guys bitching and moaning about 120bn of debt: what do you want the alternative to be? slash and burn? because that’s what a traditional nat govt would have done, and what many other countries have done.
Increase taxes I hear you say? Well nope. Business were already doing it tough. This would have just made it even tougher.
I think many of you need a reality check.
Not have implemented the unaffordable “tax switch”.
Labour’s tax cuts were already pretty generous, and more than we could really afford.
Yeah, I’d have increased taxes to be more inline with western European social democracies. Businesses would have been just fine, particularly since I wouldn’t have raised GST (and indeed would move toward getting rid of GST).
I seriously doubt Wayne, that you have much to do with ‘most people’. Which explains part of the disconnect that lets you shrug off the manifest dishonesty and non-performance of this disgraceful kleptocracy. The other part must be attributed to that want of character by which lawyers have made themselves notorious.
Wayne, it’s fully possible for “most people” to think we’re going in the right direction, without that being what is actually best for New Zealand.
But that doesn’t make any judgement about how fast we’re going there.
It might be under this current government we’re crawling along in ‘the right direction’, but under a different government we’d be zooming away.
Wayne Mapp should probably be in jail …………. http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/judith-collins-brazen-cronyism.html
Nominated yourself for anything else to Judith lately wayne ker ?????
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Cronyism
Ha ! The plump Wayne. “Most people in New Zealand…….”
Tell that to the kids in cars Wayne……as you scan your financial affairs indicating (educated guess) the best part of half a million dollars gross coming into your small household annually.
Gets on my wick that a life long gravy trainer like you should invoke his plumpness to say “…….all’s OK, you know, by and large, at the end of the day, and here are some figures and gosh, we must mind our manners etc etc etc. Let’s just be gloriously plump and plompous !”
Highlighting the homelessness issue in New Zealand is not crying wolf.
I guess you can’t see from your leafy suburb and through the tinted windows of your SUV.
And the ‘most people’ argument does not wash.
Jimmy Carter, the last president of the US before the cult of neo-liberalism ( to which you subscribe) took over said.
“The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens.
I am not sorry this upsets you; you need to pay attention. I do not plan to stop.
This sums up your world view, Wayne.
“I’d love to help, but there’s no moral obligation to do so.”
Neo-liberalism has rotted your soul.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cjk_CaMVEAAqbNo.jpg:large
And the NACTS make similar comments every day too. nothing wrong, nothing to see here, everything is going well yada yada.
But I’m delighted to hear that some of you are doing really well, you’ll be able to pay that $120B debt off for the rest of us? Nope??
That 70% tax rate on personal incomes over $250k , on all trust income (offshore or onshore trusts ) looks like a more attractive option every day.
I’d even suggest bringing it in straight away, like tobacco tax hikes, so ther was no time to hide the dosh.
..whereas France stands up to transnational corporations.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/305137/france-targets-multinationals-with-tax-cases
France is going to sign TTIP like everone else.
Stephanie’s on fire at the moment. People stepping up to help with the housing crisis,
And because New Zealanders are caring, compassionate people, we step up. We open our doors and put our hands in our pockets
Imagine if we could pool all those resources across the country and had a single organisation with the knowledge and leverage to ensure every kid gets breakfast and every family has a home. An organisation motivated by providing good lives for people, not payouts for shareholders.
We could call the organisation, “government”. We could call those resources we all chip in, “tax”. We used to know what those things meant, before we got to where we are now. Together, we can decide to go somewhere else.
https://bootstheory.wordpress.com/2016/05/29/how-we-got-here/
Actually lets not have the tax be mandatory, but be a true donation but it must be declared publicly – i.e. “Hi my name is John Key and I only care for the country to the tune of 5c”
With John Key’s ultimatum last week over housing in Auckland; Is there anything stopping the Auckland Council finally zoning all inner suburbs as ultra-high density so we the Natophiles can get on and build nice big apartment buildings nice and close to the city? Save most of the infrastructure costs. Sure the people of Remmers, Ponsnobby and Parnell will have to move, but hey just zone some of that outer fringe land to low density residential so they can have mcmansions on their land-banked land and nice large green areas.
Would be much cheaper than the opposite way round, and the sooner we got on with becoming a real city the better…
AND
the 17Billion for the infrastructure upgrade for the green fields development will cost the average rate payer in Auckland about an extra $2000 per year for 20 years.
so?
the only ones that could not pay for that would be those on a fixed income, and i am sure that Paula Bennett and Blinglish will have no issues giving our retired people in akl some cash to move the fuck outta town and leave their homes to some more deserving people.
economical warfare is the game.
economical cleansing is the final desired solution
The cities of NZ, gated communities with swipe cards for the maids, chefs, baristas and gardeners.
And I can’t imagine the aucklanders being pleased about a 50% rate increase. They get exercised about a 5% incase
the teachers working for private schools and living in provided accomodation.
nothing says freedom more then owing once soul to the company store
read up on Paul Robertson, he lived in interesting times and lived an accordingly interesting life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson
This http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/80391585/reids-farm-could-close-due-to-complaints.html popped up on a forum for motorhomers the other day.
Reactions ranging from outrage at the “ferals” ruining freedom camping for those with self contained vehicles to mild concern and ‘what are we going to do about it?’ from forumites living locally.
What most failed to read in the Stuff article was..
“Taupo’s Emergency Accommodation Facebook page manager Renee Grey said many of the people she has helped have used Reid’s Farm when times go desperate.
“I think it would be devastating as Taupo has no emergency accommodation shelter and thats where most homeless in Taupo use it temporarily,” she said. ”
and the forumites also neglected to read the other articles about the impending accommodation crisis in tourism hotspot Taupo.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/77452043/The-rental-crisis-creating-Taupos-homeless-community
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/75936619/competitive-taupo-housing-market-forcing-one-family-towards-homelessness
This is a repetition of what has happened in Queenstown.
Rich buy up property, many don’t reside year round, property prices rise and rise and the low wage workers on whom the tourism industry depend cannot afford to live in town.
Towns people and privileged indigenous travelers refer to the homeless as ‘ferals’.
I commented in the distaff…but methinks the mods will remove the comment or perhaps ban me from the site.
Reality.
That Stuff article doesn’t tell us 2 critical things. How much is this an issue of tourism, and what are the complaints being made? Pretty hard to understand the issue or what could be done without knowing those things.
“privileged indigenous travelers”
Who do you mean?
Probably pay to read all three articles to get the picture weka, then maybe trawl the archives for articles along a similar vein that came out of Queenstown about three years ago.
“Indigenous travelers”….those of us who own our own self contained motorhomes. The ‘privileged’ part comes in when some…maybe most….demand the ‘right’ to freedom camp wherever and whenever based on the theory that spending a few dollars in that region affords them entitlement. Any real or perceived threat to freedom camping results in (yet another) venting of outrage at the ‘ferals’ in non self contained camping vehicles spoiling it for us.
Few ever engage with the ‘others’, seldom learn the whys and wherefores of their individual circumstances.
Natrad has done some good work on trying to highlight the issue….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/201801465/queenstown-warned-it-could-become-like-exclusive-aspen
“A delegation of Queenstown community leaders received a shocking warning of what their resort town could become.
Queenstown/Aspen Queenstown/Aspen Photo: Wiki commons
The Chamber of Commerce delegation visited the Colorado ski resort of Aspen last month.
It’s geographically similar to Queenstown, and both are suffering serious housing affordability issues, with those working in the service industries having to live further and further out of town.”
Tourism…the raison d’etre of Queenstown , is losing ground to the now greater industry of real estate investment.
Taupo is going down the same road.
The lack of public facilities in NZ is astounding. You can literally drive form AKL to Wellington without seeing one Highway Rest Ground with appropriate Facilities.
When people need to go they need to go. And now you have about 4 million more that need to go. Add an extra million people over summer, and they all flush at least thrice a day.
Public facilities need to be upgraded and more numerous that is for sure, however i don’t hold my breath.
As for the spreading of the disease. The disease is Growth, this is our current Growth, selling the country to the highest bidder quarter acre by quarter acre, – us in Akl can tell you, that we told you so. Its time that NZ wake up. As elsewhere Paula Bennett will have no issue offering those with houses in high impact – err, high value areas. Here have 5 grand, now fuck off.
“The lack of public facilities in NZ is astounding. You can literally drive form AKL to Wellington without seeing one Highway Rest Ground with appropriate Facilities.”
Not quite…but the public facilities are often not obvious.
In Taupo, after 7pm, it appears you have to use the ones in a local fast food joint…after making the appropriate purchase of course. ;-( .
thats what i mean. there should be appropriatly marked rest places that offer public facilities. Not fast food joints or dairies where on has to buy something.
thats a private facility 🙂
There’s a heap of public toilets.
http://www.toiletmap.co.nz
Interesting website. It does kinda confirm that you can drive a long way on SH1 without finding one. And how obvious the toilets are is another question.
7553 individual public toilet pans spread over the whole of NZ does not equal “there are heaps” and many of them are a heap of shit!
Add every petrol station,library and shopping center to that number.
Libraries, Petrol stations, and shopping centres are not at beaches or scenic sites or National Parks. Most of the public toilets are listed in towns anyway. The concern if you don’t already understand – is not that there are no toilet facilities in towns – the concern is that places of beauty are being spoiled by people defaecating on roadsides and reserves etc because there are little or no facilities. For instance in the Coromandel the permanent population of 30,000 are required to provided toilet facilities for up to 130,000 transient people (many of whom are tourists). The total number of toilet pans outside of the towns is about 3 dozen (including 2 at the top to “The Pinnacles”).
I thought you as a neo-lib junkie were all for user pays? Why should rate payers subsidize the tourist industry?
And just like the UK experience (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/25/sadiq-khan-condemns-foreign-investors-london-homes-gold-bricks-housing-policy) – it will produce houses for the wealthy many of whom do not live in NZ while the locals running Auckland will be commuting for hours, paying more rates and unable to buy a house or spending more to own a home.
With rents or the new term, ‘social housing’, the current ‘mums and dads’ landlords will be gone, and in it’s place unwieldy companies and corporations with big rental portfolios who can price fix, decide not to rent at all or whatever. We can see it coming with the Chinese and Australian interest. Then NZ rentals or ‘social bonds’ will be put into shares by banks and money traders and traded by the wealthy. All the this is Bill English and Keys wet dream for NZ like the financial hub (aka tax havens).
For those that seem to think more houses and zoning changes will mean “for the poor’ – at current rates – very unlikely. We may get more of Paula Bennett’s famously vacant facts and figures, the increase in emergency housing which under scrutiny does not even make sense, like $5000 to leave Auckland or $3000 to come back.
The more the government and council loosen up planning rules the less affordable the houses in Auckland are becoming as people use the rules to make houses bigger and less affordable.
NZ has to lose the neoliberal rubbish and go back to what worked previously, state house being built and retained by the government and wages in line with the price to build a house to get back to our previously 74% home ownership figures.
The irony of all this, is that under neoliberalism the super rich are not even expected to pay tax (hence Key’s tax havens) and now the poorest are expected to keep the coffers going in our taxes increasingly spent on corporate welfare, with cigarette tax and beneficiary ‘fraud’ (i.e. over payments or being deemed to be a relationship) as assets in the latest budget!
With the super rich and corporations quasi legally not paying and seemingly out of the equation to get more taxes out of, it is up to the declining middle class to both pay for the corporate welfare and the social system. No wonder middle class are between a rock and a hard place vote wise if their choice is framed between more taxes vs less taxes from political parties.
We really are at the bottom of the barrel!
Should we make the super rich poorer? An inheritance tax, a wealth tax, a land/property tax, and high income tax can all be designed to do just that.
But that’s a separate aim from funding the government. Government can fund itself by borrowing NZD, or by issuing NZD or by a combination of all these methods including taxation.
The problem is, under globalism many of these super rich people not only avoid the rules they have armies of lobbyist putting loop holes into legislation so that they don’t pay. If you are rich enough you can just tie the whole thing up in legal wranglings (like TPPA) so that those with least money pay i.e. middle class (and therefore become poorer hence middle class decline in the West) while the super rich using alias, corporations, trusts, tax havens and what have you become richer and less catchable.
Taxation needs to come into the 21st century, When the current tax laws were made people did not have multiple passports, private air and boat travel and ability to lobby to create the laws, media and government in their favour.
That is why I favour micro taxes at source, like stamp duty and transaction taxes. Both do not care about how much money you have or where you live, if you make the transaction – you must pay a set amount. So a person buying a $10 million house vs a person buying a $300k house will pay different amount of taxes each time they buy. Likewise if you are a currency trader and trading million of trades per day, you pay each time you trade vs someone who has a kiwi bank saver is hit only once unless they are buying and selling constantly.
FTT type taxes are important
Notice how the financial services industry in NZ got itself exempted from GST
It is interesting that the biggest group using the Panama tax haven through Mossack were politicians (followed by Hollywood). They make the rules so that they have given themselves exemption from paying tax!
In my view the opposition which has been obsessed with income figures with taxation instead decides, how do you stop someone wealthy who does not want to pay tax and may not even reside in this country to pay their fair share? Anything to do with income is a waste of time these days as the rich seem to live on nothing and aka Sky City casino there are plenty of places to money launder here for those people who pay in cash! As for capital taxes they will not work for Kiwis on a fixed income and again completely avoidable by the rich shuffling global money around.
Tax those that are buying up and moving money around each time they do it. Surprisingly we might have a bit more stability if those speculating were taxed each time! And if tax were unavoidable, we would have funds to pay for state houses again!
And I would like to see a gambling tax put on Sky City and they become legally liable if they contribute to money laundering.
CV,
In practice it is borrowers who get the majority of this advantage.
Hi Wayne. I’m sure that Auckland housing speculators with multiple sets of mortgage approvals and fees are very thankful.
The lending of money is presumably not considered a service. It is therefore difficult to see why interest should be charged.
“With John Key’s ultimatum last week over housing in Auckland…”
This morning Key muddied the waters over the Auckland Council threat. I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201802550
– Don’t worry ianmac- you are not alone.
The prime Minister was saying nothing, attempting to sound authoritative, sincere and convincing.
He has replaced ‘ at the end of the day’ with his latest buzz word, ‘fundamentally’ which is a bit like Brash’s, ‘basically’ and ‘frankly’..
Jane Bowron in the Press (Monday) sums it up well…in her column referring among other stupidities, to the Govt’s smugness “…..the prime minister sets out to grab the sound bite and appear the action man tough guy…”… ..convincing to some I guess.
The Dutch resist efforts to criminalise dissent.
In a huge blow to Israel, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders announced Thursday that calls to boycott the Jewish state fall within the limits of free speech, undermining intensive Israeli diplomatic efforts to sway European capitals to outlaw the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment Movement.
“Statements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, as enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights,” Koenders said Thursday during a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the Dutch parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in The Hague.”
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/In-huge-blow-to-Israel-Netherlands-declares-BDS-free-speech-455162
Some think that the crimes by Israeli Government against their enemies are similar to the crimes against Jews committed by Germany. How does that happen?
Same way as a beaten child will go on to beat his children.
Nope:
A different approach to affordability in Auckland, that is sustainable. I would not be against density if it was low rise and stylish and sustainable. It costs the same in the most part to have something beautiful than something that is an eyesore which is a lot of Auckland housing!
http://www.treehugger.com/tiny-houses/jutland-denmark-cabin-simon-steffensen.html
How about set designs like tiny houses from Architects that require no building consents under certain conditions and approved designs? A bit like State houses, designed for living in and built quickly and affordably.
Evidently Hooton was misleading Nine to Noon listeners (again) this morning in order to criticise the Auckland Council. He claimed the council hadn’t included the cost of the City Rail Link but actually they have. It is the Nact govt. who haven’t. If they had there would have been no surplus.
Patrick Reynolds
@pv_reynolds
@MatthewHootonNZ completely wrong on #CRL: Council share IS budgeted for gov share is in no budget @ninetonoon Council/AT are funding it now
It looks as though the Clinton’s may be indicted on charges relating to money laundering, bribery ,etc. These charges arise from investigations by the FBI of Hilary’s deleted emails, which now been recovered.
See entry in http://www.globalresearch.ca
Huffington Post Removes Article Claiming Hillary Clinton Will Be Indicted
I am aware the Huffington Post article has been removed. However the Global Research article seems sure of its facts. I suspect that the HuffPost has been leaned on while the Global Research, being Canadian, may well be beyond the reach of the Clintons.
Breaking: Hillary Clinton to be Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charges [?]
Linked to the article so everyone knows what we’re talking about.
Well, I for one would like to know where the author got the information that James Comey and The FBI will present a recommendation to Loretta Lynch from. Which is probably the bit that got it cut. I doubt if the FBI is going to tell anyone about such a recommendation before it’s actually presented.
Global Research though…would be waiting for some confirmation.
“Well, I for one would like to know where the author got the information”
I guess we all would, and also whether in fact the FBI has actually recovered those emails. And unless the content of the emails, if they exist, is compelling enough to oblige Ms Lynch to put aside her friendship with the Clinton’s and bring an indictment, nothing is likely to come of the matter. There is though the matter of conducting state business through a private email address and later destroying the emails, which I think is illegal.
However, even if Hillary is forced to fall on her sword over this, it does not guarantee that Bernie will get the nomination it seems.
The latest posting on global research (on this topic) would seem to indicate that the FBI are going to recommend the Clinton Foundation should be prosecuted for money laundering etc.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/hillary-accused-of-racketeering-by-the-fbi-will-she-be-indicted-will-she-be-dumped-from-the-presidential-race/5527862
Press Release Auckland Mayoral candidate Penny Bright.
“Hit the streets Aucklanders! Tell Pm John Key to back off and butt out!”
___________________________________________________________________________
“Today, I ‘locked in’ with Auckland Central Police, the date, time and route of a march of potentially thousands of Aucklanders, to tell PM John Key to ‘back off and butt out’,” said Auckland Mayoral candidate, Penny Bright.
___________________________________________________________________________
MARCH! Queen Street – Britomart to the Auckland Town Hall.
WHEN: Saturday 11 June 2016.
TIME: 12 noon till 2pm.
ASSEMBLE: 12 noon outside Britomart.
___________________________________________________________________________
“The reason for this march, is the veiled threat from PM John Key to appoint unelected Commissioners to run Auckland, if ‘Auckland’ doesn’t do what ‘Wellington’ says, (effectively on behalf of developers), regarding housing in Auckland.”
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11646100
“Prime Minister John Key has given a strong hint that the Government could go as far as appointing commissioners to run Auckland if the council refuses to free up more land for housing.
“Mark my words,” he told reporters today after being asked about the possibilities for dealing with an uncooperative council.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
“For the Prime Minister to even hint at the threat of appointing Commissioners to run Auckland, four months out from the Auckland local body elections – is simply obscene.”
“In my view, every time ‘Wellington’ (central government) interferes with ‘Auckland’ (local government) – it makes things worse for thousands of ordinary Auckland ratepayers and citizens.”
“It was the John Key led National Government that forced this Auckland ‘Supercity’ (for the 1%) upon us in 2009, by railroading legislation under urgency through Parliament.”
“Pivotal to this Auckland ‘Supercity’ was the ‘One Plan’ for Auckland, which, in my view, has been delightful if you are a property developer, speculator, overseas investor, bank, land banker and/or money-launderer, but disastrous for thousands of Aucklanders.”
“Why does all this ‘growth’ have to come to Auckland?”
“Where is the national population growth, migration and regional development and employment strategy?”
“What is ‘local’ now about ‘local government’ in Auckland?”
“While PM John Key promotes ‘democracy for developers’, and his Government ‘land banks’ empty State houses, decent New Zealanders are appalled at the plight of vulnerable fellow citizens trying to sleep on cardboard in Queen Street, and little kids and their families ‘living’ crammed into cars, garages, caravans and already over-crowded houses.”
“As someone who helped organise the thousands on to the streets, opposing the TPPA investor and corporate control, I call upon those people, and more, to oppose investor and corporate /developer control of Auckland.”
“Stand up and be counted Aucklanders, and give PM John Key the message that can’t be ignored!”
“ENOUGH!”
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
(Activists – get things done.)
Same day as the test match, might have to miss it, dam !
Wouldn’t it be perfectly timed to be a double header?
I would prefer to read a page of OABs drivel than attend your march.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/us-will-refuse-to-confirm-or-deny-if-nukes-on-ship-visiting-nz-2016053010#axzz4A6EtjlGz
I’d like to see how many people participated in this poll but its not a bad poll for those that are pro-American (yes that includes me)
Why are we not surprised. Only the extreme right are blind to America’s failings – you’d probably support Trump. Or Palin.
Could someone please explain how Mike Williams gets to be ‘the Voice of the Left’ on National Radio..sorry iHeartRadio.
I nearly threw more than a few well-chosen words of advice at Mr Hooton as he continually spoke over both other speakers. He has a habit of speaking over the others to interrupt or take over. The result is that the thread and the listener’s comprehension are disrupted. He’s ekshully quite good at it.
Williams is too well mannered, and Ryan has learnt to keep on going but Hooton’s interruptions are very unhelpful to good debate and listening.
Williams is too well mannered,
Williams doesn’t have it any more. He should step down and let someone younger take it on. Several times this morning he let Hooton get away with blatant twists and outright lies and all he could do was giggle. Hooton’s attempt to shout both Williams and Ryan down was particularly bad this morning. Ryan doesn’t let him get away with it but Williams is useless. It’s almost as though he’s too scared to stand up to Hooton.
Self respect…….. A man with self respect faces his fears and doesn’t live a lie.
The issue is what Matthew has to say is interesting and thought provoking, the left comment normally whinging and nonsense, thus Matthew gets more air time
Oh, craven bullshit. 😀 Matthew shouts over everybody else that’s why he gets more air time. RNZ should be shot of him because he doesn’t even tell the truth most of the time.
Debatable but irrespective he is entertaining, I doubt many would listen otherwise
“what Matthew has to say is interesting and thought provoking”
🙄
Yeah the thought that runs through my mind whenever I am unfortunate enough to hear him is “what shit are you on Matthew? and how come you’re not sea sick with all that spinning?”
He gets more air time because he is an empty vessel and they are the ones that make the most noise.
I think his problem is DMS as distinct from KDS.
Hootie blows extra hard when he’s fibbing. He sounded quite angry that he couldn’t blame Labour so he did anyway.
Medical Cannabis on One News tonight, thanks to HK for hooking the charity up with a Reporter.
Good stuff, the item came over well I thought, and that this is an urgent issue.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11639758
You would think with all these P users contaminating HNZ houses there would be a bunch of benes getting kicked off welfare for drug use, but yeah, doesn’t seem to be the case…”Last year, there were 31,791 referrals for drug testable positions nationwide and just 55 sanctions for failing a drug test, according to Ministry of Social Development (MSD) figures.”