The dairy industry is out of control and needs to be managed a lot better.
Photos reveal unacceptable conditions for calving.
SAFE said the photos revealed more cruel treatment of cattle over winter, following on from scenes of cattle standing in mud on a large feedlot in mid-Canterbury last week.
SAFE head of campaigns Marianne Macdonald said forcing cows to give birth onto fields of mud puts both mother and calf at risk.
“There is risk of infection because they are not just in mud, unfortunately their own excrement,” Ms Macdonald said.
It was a totally unacceptable way to treat animals, she said.
“Those vulnerable little calves are at risk of hypothermia in the cold, wet conditions.”
Calving in mud was not unique to Southland as it happened in most dairying areas, Ms Macdonald said.
“It seems to come as a surprise to some farmers that these conditions keep happening but we know that weather happens.”
The cows and calves needed to be protected from appalling conditions, she said
Damien O’Connor is not up to the job of dealing with rogue famrers.
As Rachel Stewart says…
Just so y’all know how Labour’s Ag minister thinks. Just like National’s Ag minister. Peas in a very thick pod.
and……
If anyone truly believes we can keep the same number of cows, cut emissions, and increase profits they’re mad. As in insane. Our Ag minister is insane.
Shane Jones is the perfect example of a politician who fully understands that corporates run the world, and he wants to take the power back. Not many, if any, pollies like that around. Sadly.
Mr Jones told Morning Report that the following about Australian banks.
“Their profits over the last 10 years have grown by 75 percent. I do believe with that level of profit they have an obligation to maintain an extensive level of service.”
The minister said he planned to speak to Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr to “establish the facts” about the requirements of banking licences and will then consider policy options.
‘The Regional Economic Development Minister says the banks are putting profits ahead of their responsibility to rural areas, as unions raise concerns over branch closures.
The banking sector is certainly not the first group to attract the ire of Shane Jones – he’s previously taken issue with supermarkets, power companies, Fonterra and Air New Zealand.’
To provide some context. That interview took place in April, during the aftermath of allegations there had been a chemical attack in Douma but before missiles had been launched into Syria..
To my mind, Jeffrey Sachs (and that’s a link to his wiki page for those interested) just goes to show that some good people do manage to survive in fairly toxic environments.
For those who either don’t like Dore’s style of presentation, or who (understandably) won’t watch 18 min vids, here’s a basic transcript of what Sachs said.
…I think we need to step back, and not put this in partisan terms. This is a US mistake that started seven years ago, and I remember the day on your show when President Obama said that Asad must go.
And I looked at you and Joe and I said “Huh? How’s he going to do do that? Where’s the policy for that?”
And we know they sent in the CIA to overthrow Assad – the CIA and Saudi Arabia, together in covert operations tried to overthrow Assad. It was a disaster. Eventually it brought in both ISIS as a splinter group to the Jihadists that went in [and] it also brought in Russia.
So we have been digging deeper and deeper. What we should do now, is get out, and not continue to throw missiles, and not have a confrontation with Russia.
Seven years has been a disaster, beginning under Obama and continuing under Trump. This is what I’d call the permanent state. This is the CIA, this is the Pentagon wanting to [missing audio] no way to do that. So we have made a proxy war in Syria. It has killed 500 000 people, displaced 10 million – and I’ll say “predictably so” because I predicted seven years ago that there was no way to do this and it would make for complete chaos.
So what I would plea to President Trump is “Get out” Like his instinct told him by the way – that was his instinct. But then all the establishment, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Pentagon…everyone said “No, no – that’s irresponsible.” But his instinct is right. Get out. We’ve done enough damage in seven years and now we really risk a confrontation with Russia that is extraordinarily dangerous – reckless.
[Interview with an admiral “chemicals chemicals, repercussions, hold to account etc]
I don’t think it’s attractive, but I think we have to understand how this happened. This happened because of us. These 600 000 are not just incidental. We started a war to overthrow a regime. It was covert. It was Timber Sycamore. People can look it up – the CIA operation, together with Saudi Arabia. It’s still shrouded in secrecy, which is part of the problem in our country. A major war effort, shrouded in secrecy, never debated by Congress, never explained to the american people, signed by President Obama. Never explained. And this created chaos. And so, just throwing more missiles in right now, is not a response.
We need, not to walk away, to go to the UN Security Council, as the Admiral says, to agree with Russia on a strategy for ending the fight. But ending the fight means that we stop trying to overthrow a government; that we stop trying to support rebels who are committed to overthrowing a government – that is where this war continues. Because we, to this day, back rebels who are trying to overthrow a government, contrary to international law; contrary to the UN charter; contrary to common sense; contrary to a practical path. We can’t do it, and it’s just creating ongoing crisis to the extent of facing an imminent confrontation with Russia
Jeffrey Sachs, can hardly be said to be speaking truth to power, appearing a little less unhinged, but in essence little different to Infowars Alex Jones. Both push the same pro-fascist, pro-genocide script.
….The “the entire world” – all the major imperialist and regional reactionary powers – has been against the revolution since its outbreak in March 2011. Their differences have been entirely tactical.
The crushing of heroic Daraa involved an unwritten agreement between the Assad regime, Russia, the US and Israel. Four ‘heroes’ of today’s global ‘alt-right’ – Assad, Netanyahu, Trump and Putin – have emerged triumphant over the corpse of the Syrian revolution.
To which I would add:
Even global imperial wars between each other, are not feared as much by the rival global elites who run our world, as much as they fear popular revolt from below.*
In 1917 in the war of intervention the Western Allies and the Entent powers both invaded Russia to overturn the results of the revolution.
Even rival empires, England and Germany who were still fighting each other on the Western Front, took part in the war of intervention.
The war of intervention lasted until 1921 and cost 1.2 million lives. The imperial powers, (though probably not realising it at the time), achieved their purpose of defeating the revolution.
– the best of the popular revolutionaries of 1917 who fell in the war of intervention, were replaced by the murderous Stalinist bureaucracy that grew to fill the vacuum. Just as the murderous Isis was a product of the Assadist genocide against the popular opposition to the dictator.
“If our white brothers dismiss as ‘rabble rousers’ and ‘outside agitators’ those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies — a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare,”
* Imperialist wars are fought between soldiers and working people on behalf of the rulers, they are not wars fought by soldiers and working people, against the rulers, and it is the civilians and soldiers who bear the burden of the suffering and death. In imperialist war between rival imperialist oppressors, it is hardly ever the elites who suffer, (even if they find themselves on the losing side.)
An echo chamber, also known as an ideological echo chamber[2] or the more longwinded closed ideology echo chamber,[3] is a group situation where information, ideas, and beliefs are uncritically bounced from insider to insider and amplified, while dissenting views are censored and/or ignored.
Dore has entertained numerous conspiracies relating to the Syrian Civil War.[note 1] According to Dore:
“Everything you’re being told about Syria is a lie. Everything. Fucking everything. The White Helmets are fucking liars. It’s all a lie.”[21]
Since he does not trust the mainstream media, Dore uses numerous unreliable sources of information about Syria. For example, he described RT contributor[22][23][24] and conspiracy theorist[25][note 2] Eva Bartlett as an “independent Canadian journalist”[5][26] even though she openly says she is biased in favor of the Syrian regime.[24] Dore says Bartlett is a “real journalist” who is “willing to tell the truth” and is “reporting facts” about Syria.[26][5][27] He has interviewed Bartlett on The Jimmy Dore Show twice.[27][28]
Bartlett’s conspiratorial claims about Syria include that footage from the White HelmetsWikipedia’s W.svg (a volunteer search and rescue group) contains children who have been recycled in different reports,[29] and that the media manufactured a story about a hospital being bombed that she claims never happened.[30] Bartlett also claims that the “corporate media”,[31] United Nations,[32] and human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Médecins Sans FrontièresWikipedia’s W.svg[33][34][35][36][5] are all conveniently lying about what is happening in Syria. Bartlett’s claims have been widely discredited and debunked.[24][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]
Bartlett and Dore have helped a Russia-backed disinformation campaign targeting the White Helmets[48] that positions them as a terrorist organisation.[49][50]
Dore: The White Helmets aren’t what they appear to be either. I know they got an Academy Award but there’s lots of reporting that the White Helmets are on the side of the terrorists trying to overthrow Assad, that they’re not neutral actors. There’s lots of reporting that says that about the White Helmets. Eva Bartlett from Canada, who we’ve showed on this show, she went to Syria. She had the same reporting about the White Helmets, that they’re in collusion with the jihadist rebels meaning ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.[51][note 3]
Bartlett is not the only unreliable source Dore has cited. He has used fellow conspiracy theorist SyrianGirlPartisan as a source.[52] He has cited the conspiratorial, Russian propaganda outlet RT[53][54] (and has defended them as a reliable source[55]). He repeated the conspiracy theory that the war is actually about a pipeline.[56][57][58][5] His source for this claim was the conspiracy-pseudoscience website Ecowatch.[59][60]
Dore believes that there have been multiple false flag attacks during the Syrian Civil War, including the Khan Shaykhun chemical attackWikipedia’s W.svg in April 2017.[8]
It’s the Al Qaeda who did this. They did it before, they’re probably doing it again. It doesn’t make sense that Syria would do this.[61]
[…]
This screams false flag.[62]
They’re doing it again. They’re trying to do a false flag gas attack so the United States bombs, which we’re doing.[63]
There was also gas attacks. So there was two big gas attacks. The first one Barack Obama threatened to bomb Syria. Remember, they stopped because there was an agreement between Russia, Syria and the United States to get rid of all of Assad’s chemical weapons. That was their agreement. John Kerry kind of got hoodwinked into that agreement. So they did that. They got rid of all his chemical weapons, even though it was a false flag. The second one, they did another false flag where they said “oh, it was Assad gassing his own people” which he wasn’t because he was winning the war. ISIS was just hanging on barely and their only hope was to draw the United States into the Syrian conflict so they did another false flag gas attack.[64]
He believes the attacks have been proven to be false flags:
Dore: By the way, the Syrian war is complete bullshit. Those gas attacks now have been completely debunked. I didn’t believe them the first time.
Joe Rogan: So what happened during those gas attacks?
Dore: So, that’s called a false flag. So what happens is they wanted the United States to come in on their side to bomb Assad, to overthrow him. And so what they would do is they would do a gas attack on their own people and then blame it on Assad and then…
Rogan: This has been proven?
Dore: Yes.
Rogan: That they did it?
Dore: Yes.[65]
Unsurprisingly, Dore has been proven wrong. In October 2017, investigations from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria found that Syrian government forces were responsible for the April 2017 chemical attack.[66][67] After the UN’s investigation, Dore doubled down, blaming the CIA for “false flag attacks” in Syria:
So you don’t think that the CIA is still doing this exact same stuff today? You don’t think that’s what they’re doing in Syria? Remember when they did those false flags in Syria? The chemical attacks, those were false flag attacks. Assad did not do those attacks.[68]
In February 2018, Dore alleged that U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim MattisWikipedia’s W.svg admitted there was no evidence Assad used poison gas on his people, citing an article from Newsweek.[69]
In 2013, Barack Obama wanted to bomb Syria because they said Assad gassed his own people […] and they were sure of it by the way. Again, and this is the last one too. And then there was another one, that’s when Trump bombed Syria. They said there was another gas attack by Assad. Neither of them was by Assad. […] And so now, this is from February 8th. Newsweek: “Mattis admits there was no evidence Assad used poison gas on his people”.[70]
However, Mattis was not claiming there was no evidence that Assad was responsible for the Khan Shaykhun attack. Mattis was actually referring to recent allegations of Sarin use after the Khan Shaykhun attack.[71][72][73][74] Mattis’ actual view about the Khan Shaykhun attack is that “there is no doubt the Syrian regime is responsible for the decision to attack and for the attack itself.”[75]
After the Douma chemical attackWikipedia’s W.svg in April 2018, Dore said it was a false flag attack and he is the “best journalist in the country” because MSNBC and CNN won’t say that it was a false flag:
I’m already the best journalist in the country right now because turn on MSNBC and CNN and see if they’re telling you what’s really happening in Syria and that this is a false flag attack. Again, they won’t even mention the last one was. Do you think they’re gonna mention that frickin’ Mattis said there was no evidence of the last one?[76]
Fascinating! I’ve always been very impressed by Derek Handley whenever he’s spoken on tv. I would’ve thought he’s ideal for the job. That groundswell of tech opponents seems a significant consensus though, so their views will need careful consideration.
Duncan Grieve’s report covers the implications well and I agree it all hinges on the job description, and how accurately that depicts the liaison and coordination functions required to interface our vitally-important emerging tech industry with government.
Agree with you (both paragraphs).
I’m interested in Lprent’s take because he’s been in the industry for quite some time and has seen the good and the bad. He appears to be motivated by creation of coding that is at it’s most efficient (probably to the point of obsession – not just stuff that works), and he seems to be as intolerant of some of the muppetry we’ve seen ( I could start a rave on government IT projects for example)
I might be a little cynical (I know), but over 40 plus years, I’ve also seen the bullshit artists, the promotion of various processes and schemes – often re-inventions of past practices with new names:
Project Management Schema
Bizzniss Management ‘best practices’ earning their ticket clipping creators vast sums, self-improvement books and best practice management schemes.
(Kaizen, SDLC’s , Martin Marrieta’s and whoever else is now in vogue, etc., etc. and other wheel reinventions)
I’m trying to keep an open mind. (It’s bloody hard when you walk down the streets of Wellington following some ‘IT professionals’ exercising their egos as well as their limbs discussing the projects they’re working on, knowing they’re trying to recreate a wheel). I’m also well-pleased to be out of it al.
I’m Oh so very PASSIONATE about it don’tcha know. I’m passionate about being entrepreneurial going forwardl
Operating in the traditional context of capitalism is understandable (when in Rome..) but it’s been obvious to me for that entire 40 year time that we need a better way forward. I’ve put stuff online about that before but for Aotearoa’s tech industry the key point is incentivising entrepreneurs in team contexts (self-interest limited by a collaborative common-interest context – stakeholder integral design).
Corporates using teams the past 30 years have mostly just been sloganeering. Has to be authentic. Employee profit-sharing, but also risk-sharing via participation in management. Ricardo Semler made it work in the eighties and Mondragon much earlier, so ain’t like the design is unproven.
The more kiwis support a local enterprise culture, the more they will wean themselves off dependency on capitalists. Never underestimate the empowering effect of agency in the psyche! We need like-mindedness on this to become contagious. Great to see sustainable business trending big nowadays but has to be more authenticity in it – a real green business is a genuine hybrid of capitalism and socialism, both in design and in how it operates.
Ae.
Need a nanna nap right now (energy levels have collapsed) but hopefully we can continue this discussion, and also Lyn might get a glimpse.
I’m hoping that ‘old school’ Jessie Mulligan will be able to put me into a deep sleep before he has to don his lycra and bile up the hill to RNZ for the Project.
Winston was 100% correct in october 2017 as he warned us all that the economy was at the top of the cliff on the night he chose to partner labour in October 2017.
Winsrton warned that this correction would happen in his election speak as he announced that he will join NZ First coalition with Labour.
“In his explanation of why New Zealand First went with Labour over National, Winston Peters said the agreement reached in talks was a summation of policies that survived negotiations.
He went on: “As the song says, You can’t always get what you want.”
“Our negotiations have taken place against a backdrop of changing international and internal economic circumstances which we cannot ignore.”
Those in New Zealand First believed that an economic correction, or a slowdown, was looming, and that the first signs were already apparent, he said.
“There’s no denying that a enormous correction is looming and pretending low business confidence is just all spite misses the much more dangerous signals”.
We see today that the Government is in trouble with “Ministerial staffing issues” again as I seemed to be at Phil Twyford’s Ministerial office in Wellington as when I was trying to get clarity out of Twyford’s staff member ‘she slamed the phone down and cut me off before the discussion ended, and now we want an enquiry into why this ‘Ministerial staffer felt it was appropproate that she can terminate a phone call before answering questions from a constituent public member.
Just as a Labour Minister is allegedgly charged with puishing a staffing member out of an office in Parlaiment perhaps we need to review the actions and performance of the “ministerial staff” and have the Minister of Internal affairs to open an enquiry into “Ministerial services” also now??????.
She probably slammed the phone down because you were rambling and making no sense. Happens all the time when you’ve got the opportunity to type and review what you are writing. I can only imagine how incoherent you’ll be talking
The GCSB’s current motto on its website is “If New Zealand has secrets worth stealing, then they’re worth protecting”. Now, the GCSB and their Five Eyes masters wants to make it radically easier for people to steal those very secrets they claim to exist to protect. How? By backdooring the encryption which protects our networks, our filesystems, our financial transactions, everything:
According to this RNZ press release;- the leaker was not actually named by RNZ!!!
So I suspect this was National party leaking again, as bad as the last one was that Simple Simon Bridges spending also was exposed, and now found to be him falsely leaking his spending for press cover.
So it looks as though I am right sadly that the “Ministerial services staff” are behind all the leaking of information for “political reasons” probably by National Party cling-ons trying to destablise the labour lead government again and this is inside collussion going on here both inside the Government Ministerial services and the publically owned media network RNZ as they are recieving illegal leaked information from the Government employees conducting ‘poitical actions against their employer.
Sources have told RNZ Ms Whaitiri was difficult to work with and point to a high staff turnover in her office. The press secretary role had been vacant for months.
RNZ has chosen not to identify the press secretary. She has not responded to requests for comment.
Both Ms Whaitiri and Ms Ardern are refusing to answer questions on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Ms Ardern had alerted him to the reasons behind the inquiry but he would not elaborate on them.
He would wait until the investigation was over and “see where the cards fall” before commenting, he said.
“Allegations are not fact. They’re allegations. Let’s see whether they’re meritorious or not.”
This looks like closet-stalinism. Eugenie asked for advice from the ecologist. A public servant intercepted that advice, then censored it before passing it on to her.
I can’t see how any public servant could justify such misbehaviour. Does anyone here feel up to defending such closet-stalinists in our public service??
“Asked why the passages were deleted, Severinsen says: “The content formed a part of a larger piece of work under consideration by the department and it was not appropriate to include that subset of information until the other task was completed.”
So that is the bullshit and hows its done.. unbelievable in their audacity…time for heads to roll.
Yes Dennis I now see that when I had the phone slammed down on my conversation with Phil Twyfords staffer I felt that same “censoring’ controlling ‘stalinist’ Fed-up’ interference of my human rights to get questions answered by a ministers staffer as an employee of my government and that she also is a public servant.
She was a person I describe as without any civility or reasonable patience or bedside manner and lacked all resonable ability to offer help to any public enquiries so I would ask Government to restore “civility” to public serive employees.
To cut off during a convewrsation a enquiry from the public is unreasonable service and a stark lack of respect & humanity.
Dennis you asked; ‘Am I feed up with low public service employees’?
Yes some only, (as some are very good) – and in this case when I called Phil Twyfords office in Wellington, my human rights were clearly violated by this Ministerial staffer and Phil twyford should sack her and appologise to me for her lack of reasonable conduct, as he and his office have a recording of the conversation already and can easily review her disconduct..
I share your concern and it seems clear that you have a valid grievance. Twyford’s gate-keeper could be operating in bulldog mode. Do such people get hired on the basis of Labour Party membership or are they supposedly neutral?
If the latter, you could have a case for a formal complaint & it may be a good idea to learn how to proceed with one.
I keep reminding cleangreen that the Minister is totally the wrong person to help for the local issue.- the noise from heavy vehicles on the Kennedy Rd Overpass.
its the Regional land Transport Committee who deal with local projects at this scale.
The person in the Ministers office should have been able to assist you with their contact details
My understanding is that cleangreen has been involved in all issues transport in the Gisborne and Hawkes Bay areas for many years and is well known to all people, organisations (eg District and Regional Councils including probably the local regional transport committees) in that area. He has also appeared before Select Committees etc including just a few months ago (I watched him/his group present a submission online). I suspect he is in contact with all local and regional councils and committees as well as Ministers’ offices regularly …
Will do after Tuesday possible outcome, as we called our labour MP Napier office this morning and Stuart Nash’s local PA said she would have her staffer on the case Monday to get to the bottom of this intentional devisive blocking of communication beteen our NGO and Phil Twyford.
Hope we finally get to discuss/solutions to Napiers truck gridlock noise and air polution public health problems facing our 12000 folks living alongside the truck route road HB Expressway to the port of napier, as people are badly affected by this now and are facing pysical damage to their health..
I am holdiing a letter written by Helen Cl;ark as Prime minister of NZ dated 26th October 2003 to me as seretary of Pirimai residents association advising me that she has engaged both Mark gosche and michael Cullen to meet me and our committee at the HB Expressway with Transit NZ (now NZTA) CEO Robin Dun;op to help solve our issues.
Then after several other meetings we got Michael Cullen to finally buy back our rail system to get freight back on rail and off the roads and place a smooth road along residential areas so we got help with the last labour lot.
This last nine years NZTA took the smooth road away and trebbled the truck mfreight through our residential areas so we lost alot but now labour need to come back and fix all our problems national left us with.
Yet another reason a review of our public service, and senior public servants is way past time.
Hopefully, Skippy might remember this as one example, alongside others that encompass Health, Education, Economic Development,, Social Welfare, Employment, Standards, standards that include infrastructure and environmental risk, Local gubbamint, ……… not just the bugger’s muddle of processes and multiple organisational bureaucracy involved in child birth.
Ian Lees-Galloway might even realise that there are some very simple edicts that can be issued regarding Ummiigration that could seriously impact, if not stop much of the exploitation of workers. (The solution isn’t going to be found by soley consulting with his ‘officials’)
Right now though, we appear to be hung up on what’s best for the horse and its ability to race and support a betting industry than we are about the competencies relating to social policy and the citizenry of Aoteraroa/NuZull
Being an old codger (early 60s), I had to look up the urban dik to see what mushrooming meant – I’d asked my late 30s son first.
Oh how the response reminded me of the last time I worked in the PS. and how different it was from the first time as a clerk in the Supreme Court after leaving college.
Unbelievably apt
“The solid twatting of a ho’s face by the bulbous bell-end belonging to an erect nob. It is either an act of intense passion and loving for the mushroomed one, or an act of anger at the dislike of an unagreeable technique used during oral sex. If the face is struck hard enough with the familiar mushroom shape of said bell-end, then a bruise will be left”
In our corporatised ps, there are a number of CEOs whose job descriptions could probably reflect their position of being that ‘erect nob’
While I don’t really wish to paint over that startling but apt mental picture, I suspect NRT’s use of “mushrooming” was probably intended to evoke the idea of being kept in the dark and fed bullshit.
It was interesting that 27% of BBC staff self-identify as working class whereas only 9% at the corporate do. His advocacy for a renewal of class-consciousness will appeal to nostalgia freaks all over the UK but you don’t see many cloth-cap-wearers in the wide camera pics of British news reports so they may be all dead.
We learned yesterday that the firm that owns Burger King in New Zealand has been banned from using migrant labour (ie people on work visas, not resident non-citizens) for a year.
In light of the shortage of affordable houses, and the routing of employers to get migrants for questionable low paid occupations – and reports of employee’s paying for their questionable job, and the fact that all the new people on these low wages probably will qualify for Kiwibuild and also be competing on low cost rentals, and the amount of Maori in jail who could probably get a job flipping burgers instead of the migrants, perhaps time to rethink these bizarre immigration “skilled” skills?
30 years ago it cost around $10,000 to sponsor in a worker and therefore was only used for real high value skills. Time to put that amount with inflation (around $20,000 as least) back on the table to get rid of all the routs.
Main occupations for Skilled Migrant Category principal applicants, 2016/17
Occupation 2016/17
Number %
Chef 684 5.7%
Registered Nurse (Aged Care) 559 4.6%
Retail Manager (General) 503 4.2%
Cafe or Restaurant Manager 452 3.7%
Number of people granted Essential Skills work visas by main occupations, 2016/17
Occupation Number %
Chef 2,178 6.6%
Dairy Cattle Farm Worker 1,617 4.9%
Carpenter 1,478 4.5%
Retail Supervisor 961 2.9%
Cafe or Restaurant Manager 942 2.9%
Retail Manager (General) 767 2.3%
Aged or Disabled Carer 748 2.3%
That would be right. There is now ‘work visa specialist firms’ which travel around from shop to shop or farms telling them of the ‘cheap deal’ they can do to replace their local workers with ‘imports’ I was at the Chemist shop and such a business branded vehicle pulled up outside the dairy next door.
Hilarious, the migrants get paid correctly and the Kiwis are under paid! Maybe they were trying to get rid of the Kiwi, by underpaying them. If they can’t pay minimum wages correctly they should not be importing in workers, let alone importing in workers for that skill set!
Perhaps they need to look at who is taking the affordable houses – and do something about lazy immigration above because they already put in a fuel tax to help the lazy planners and now the government is pushing in, to screw up congestion and pollution further with being in charge of more houses!
We really need (sarcasm) 20 liquor stores and burger Kings on every corner and the people who actually do real work in the city can’t get into work with all the congestion from low paid precariat workers driving around all day going from job to job, breaking down in their trucks as they deliver food and goods around to dodgy small businesses or the truck and trailers of dirt and concrete going across the city.
God help us, even the pathetic low level IT workers are dropping off the skills list. What is that telling us as we “move” towards the digital economy? How many of those skill are growing the economy, in high tech or manufacturing for example?
The government is writing cheques for infrastructure all over the country for new houses, because the councils are so weak and pathetic that they have not provided either the infrastructure or the houses for New Zealand society for decades.
Good fucking job for the Minister kicking Councils all over the park.
Nope they are writing cheques to construction firms many of whom are overseas based and employ foreign workers with Kiwis taxes that should be paying for teachers and hospitals.
Nobody has even seen this mythical thousands upon thousands of affordable houses. Construction firms are build spec houses for foreigners who bring money in to buy the house and then have no or small incomes so qualify for welfare.
Government are complicit in allowing foreign buyers of apartments and foreign buyers for new builds and foreign buyers of land and employers to bring in thousands of questionable migrant workers like at Burger King.
The government are actually increasing the cost of living and congestion for the aforementioned kiwis are they supposedly helping by their pathetic policies that they have not stopped since the Natz got out.
In fact the immigration skills look even worse last year than the year before with the Natz in charge as at least that had IT on it even if it was at a numbingly low level.
Not only that, the skills is on about a third of how people get into NZ residency, the rest are relatives off the aforementioned people and marriages…
Actually the “cheques” are from the Housing Infrastructure Fund that was set up by the previous government . They are drawn down by local councils, regional councils, and NZTA. They are drawn for the purposes of building infrastructure including wastewater mains, pump stations, water supply reservoirs, and roads.
They are not drawn by developers.
And of course, this fund is entirely separate to the funds from general taxation for the salaries of teachers.
A typical example is the $24 million loan announced by Phil Twyford yesterday for the new housing development in Queenstown.
The housing being built is only mythical if you are ignorant and don’t follow the news,
The quote at the end of the article is telling: “We have to do this, because if we don’t our kids will never be able to afford to live in this town,” he told NZME.”
This is why the most effective means of getting NZer’s housed in affordable, healthy homes is not going to happen. Because the focus is firmly on maintaining a high sales prices – while simultaneously ensuring those that traditionally have had the ability to purchase – are supported while doing so.
1. No mention about how providing affordable homes in secure tenancies (ie. state housing) improves health, community and crime outcomes.
2. No mention about the number of working families reduced to living out of vehicles.
3. No mention of the long-term trajectory of house prices and creation of bad living conditions when landlords are in the game only for the financial return,
4. No suggestion of making policy, tax and other changes to reduce the attractiveness and effectiveness of putting money into residential properties to generate personal financial gain.
Just stated worries about “children” not being able to live in the city. Inference “my” children. There have been children suffering from the housing crisis for years.
No, I would like those working on housing to understand that one of the most effective ways to address all the issues regarding “our children” not being able to afford housing is for the state to embark on a massive building programme. Not in conjunction with private developers, not with financial assistance for some to purchase, but in order to house our people.
Whenever, I hear or read housing policy, these points are lightly touched on and not given the weight or priority that is required.
As I wanted to see if the housing policy has changed substantially since the last time I checked I had a look at Labour’s Housing Policy.
State Houses: People over Profit
Pretty lightweight. No mention of the security of housing for all, and the multiple benefits that come from reducing increase in transitional housing. Nothing about recreating the egalatarian approach to housing that existed and paved the way for connected communities. The “need” is the part that rankles with me. The expectation that state housing is always to be transitional despite the community benefits of having secure and long-term tenants. Also, no mention of how they determine where those communities are built – ie. are they close to all services and recreational areas. Otherwise, you have tenants who are transport poor as well as otherwise.
Kiwibuild
Pretty much what the main focus is on – particular “children” being able to enter the property market.
Investing in warm dry homes
A bit of a hotchpotch page to be honest. There have been studies showing that the installation of thermal curtains and pelmets are very effective in reduction of heat loss through single glazing. An much more affordable solution than replacing all windows with double glazing.
And the final note on that page:
This is just one of Labour’s fresh ideas to tackle the housing crisis. Labour’s comprehensive housing package includes:
– building homes people can afford to buy, and restoring the Kiwi dream of owning your own place through our KiwiBuild programme and the Affordable House Authority.
– a three point plan to crack down on speculators by banning o shore speculators from buying houses, taxing speculators who flip a house within five years, and ending the speculators’ tax loophole.
– ensuring homes are healthy to live in and building state houses for families in need.
Which is in line with how I understood the current policy focus to be. Not really sure that it has changed at all.
Is there a reason that you are going to the Labour site rather than to the site of the actual government that forms and executes actual policy as a government?
Lazily, because when I googled housing policy NZ govt the Labour policy was second on the list. The beehive link for The Future of Housing was further down and I hadn’t scrolled that far.
Once again, Ad. No concrete suggestions for the items I have mentioned. The only semi-fleshed out policy is Kiwibuild.
I firmly believe that will not solve the issues regarding housing if it remains the priority, which it seems to be.
(Also, the Labour party housing policy and the beehive link seem to be much of a muchness. Are we discussing content here?)
Protectionism. Don’t want to let any foreign criminals in because they feel the need to protect their domestic criminals. Also why they’ve started exporting kiwi crims back to here. Remember those headlines about the mafia taking over the Oz casinos in the seventies?
Australia has not yet denied Manning entry despite many media headlines (and the one here on the post re this) stating that Australia has banned her.
What Australia has done was on Wednesday they issued a Notice of Intention to deny a visa, which allows Manning to put her case why she should be granted a visa despite her convictions etc. (ie the Good Character Test). Presumably she and her sponsors etc have done this and are now awaiting a final decision.
I suspect that Australia may take a harder line than NZ, but I am really pleased that NZ has gone ahead and now allowed her to apply for a special exemption to the conviction provisions that would normally prevent her getting a visa (according the RNZ because she has not offended anywhere that she has gone to on similar speaking tours).
This means that NZ has taken a different approach to Australia which appears to be maintaining their hard line immigration approach that Dutton introduced (apart from a certain au pair…). It will be interesting to see what the Australian reaction will be to NZ’s position. LOL.
Don’t know the exact differences between NZ and Australian immigration rules, but of interest is that Canada after refusing Manning a visa last year, granted her one in May this year to do a speaking event in Montreal (or Ottawa?) albeit on very restrictive conditions re time there etc. So there is precedent for her to be granted a “special direction” allowing a visa for entry to NZ to be issued on similar conditions.
In terms of practicalities, Manning is due to speak in Sydney this Sunday so time is tight, then Melbourne next Friday before coming to NZ for Auckland Sat 8 Sept and Wellington 9 Sept, then back to Australia for Brisbane on 11 Sept.
If Australia refuses a visa it is still probably feasible that she could still come to NZ since it is for two events.
My reply above was thrown together in a hurry, but now see that my wording in para 3 could be misleading. So here is a better version with the changes in italics.
Revised para 3
I suspect that Australia may take a harder line than NZ, but I am really pleased that NZ has gone ahead and granted a special exemption to apply for a visa despite her convictions which would normally prevent her getting a visa (according the RNZ because she has not offended anywhere that she has gone to on similar speaking tours).
Here are the main points as The Australian articles usually quickly end up behind a paywall.
However, Immigration New Zealand confirmed on Friday morning it had given Manning special dispensation to apply for a visa.
“While Ms Manning was convicted of a serious offence and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, it was noted that her sentence was commuted by President Obama in January 2017,” INZ general manager Steve Stuart said.
“The likelihood of her offending while in New Zealand is considered low … (we) could see no reason to believe Ms Manning would not comply with the terms and conditions of any visa.”
… The NZ government’s decision comes after Manning’s tour organiser, Think Inc, said this week it had received a notice of intention to deny the former soldier entry into Australia under section 501 of the Migration Act.
She was banned from entering Canada last year due to her criminal convictions in the US but was allowed to speak in Montreal in May.
Think Inc has called on the transgender activist’s supporters to lobby Australia’s new immigration minister, David Coleman, to allow her into Australia.
This may bring up an interesting situation actually
If Aussie end up barring her, I wonder if she will bother paying all the cash just to come here
Given some people on here proclaiming the difference between Manning and the Canadians is the Canadians are only it for the money, while Manning is in it to spread the word, I wonder what they say if she were to cancel
Three events in Austalia; two in NZ. Therefore more likely that she would come here even if Australia bans here than say, the Canadians where they had five in Australia and only one in NZ.
The best thing, politically speaking (as evinced by Molyneux and Southern) would have been for Manning to be denied and her message carried on the inevitable wave of outrage crashing around tha net.
All credit to Michael Woodhouse though. He tried his best. 👿
edit – won’t someone design a ‘dripping sarcasm’ tag?
If I was smarter I’d be able to come up with a witty and perhaps acerbic comment involving shovels (“The Shovel” being the source for that commentary).
Yes, after I posted it I realised that it came from The Shovel and the link was in the Gein link. I had forgotten about the Shovel so must do see what else is there recently.
Australia is alive with the sound of – not music, but calls for the Australian Govt to rethink their propose ban on Chelsea Manning being given a visa.
In less than 24 hours a Change.org petition to allow her to enter Australia has already got 15,000 signatures and counting.
Here is a link to the Guardian article that is only a few minutes’ old saying that the Australian Government is considering lots of submissions calling for Manning to be allowed entry but time is now critical and if a favourable decisions is not imminent then she is unlikely to make Sydney for the Sunday event. (As an aside, Judith Collins gets a mention calling Manning a traitor).
The Australian is apparently reporting that Di Natole, the Aussie Green Leader, is supporting allowing Manning to enter Australia, but cannot put up link as I have used my free quota of their articles.
I had never heard her speak and was neither for or against but also totally defend her right to speak.
Then Kim Hill interviewed her two weeks ago and I was very, very surprised. So much so that I would now like to go to her Wellington event but cannot afford it at present – and am also recovering from day surgery so probably too soon.
As I said elsewhere here, it was one of Hill’s better interviews and she also seemed impressed with Manning.
Re your post, I was not doxxing (I never do that as my anonymity and privacy are all important to me) and will reply later but off out now. You may be interested in my reply to Darien Fenton for a little of my experience.
Its your over-generalisation without any supporting evidence etc that gets up my nose (grrrrrr, as you also did yesterday) – and the lemmings just fall in behind when some of them probably haven’t even been in the door of the Beehive! LOL.
It there is a delay caused by process, then why not, to save us $millions of extra interest costs then transfer the debt at a later date ? If not, then how can this govt cry poor when govt workers seek fair wage increases?
Perhaps this as you commented on is the reason “The debt does exist. Just NOT under core crown debt.”
Was Shaw there? He has picked up her Associate Minister of Transport portfolio for the next six weeks, but I thought he was currently overseas. So bad luck …
PS – I just put up an update at 12.4 re Australia and Manning’s visa to enter there.
Makes me wonder about the residual powers of the Crown. Does sovereignty still enable it to hold barons accountable for misbehaviour? When captains of industry whine & moan that they’re losing confidence & the govt is to blame, would a few lashes of the legislative whip be a useful antidote? For instance, the govt could pass a law requiring all such barons to resign after issuing any such public complaint that they can no longer cope with the demands of their job.
“Mangawhai Activity Zone trustee chairman Colin Gallagher says the committee voted to close Redfern-Hardisty’s operation because of the complaints from people wanting a “normal” coffee at the park.
He wouldn’t say what the vote numbers were, but said it wasn’t close.
“We have been extremely supportive of this guy. We own the container, we don’t charge him any rent, we don’t charge him for power, we don’t charge him for water.
“But he has denied our customers choice. That’s where it is. Any customer should have a choice of whether there is plant-based or dairy-based milk in their coffee.”
Take choice away from the customers and the free market reacts…quite simple really.
That’s still not the free market speaking . If the market had spoken the vendor would have gone broke ,which he hasn’t,he s been put out of business by whingeing tossers with a little power .
The bombshell comes now for our PM Jacinda and the greens.
Maybe this may be PM Jacinda Ardern’s chance to shine again (as her generations nuclear moment) and offer the Greens something?
Another thing Jacinda has missed is our loss of oxgen in our air that sustains us all is depleting now, as the new elephant in the room and this changes everything now.
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/O2DroppingFasterThanCO2Rising.php
Quote;
O2 Dropping Faster than CO2 Rising
Implications for Climate Change Policies
New research shows oxygen depletion in the atmosphere accelerating since 2003, coinciding with the biofuels boom; climate policies that focus exclusively on carbon sequestration could be disastrous for all oxygen-breathing organisms including humans Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Threat of oxygen depletion
Mention climate change and everyone thinks of CO2 increasing in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect heating the earth, glaciers melting, rising sea levels, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and a host of other environmental catastrophes. Climate mitigating policies are almost all aimed at reducing CO2, by whatever means.
Within the past several years, however, scientists have found that oxygen (O2) in the atmosphere has been dropping, and at higher rates than just the amount that goes into the increase of CO2 from burning fossil fuels, some 2 to 4-times as much, and accelerating since 2002-2003 [1-3]. Simultaneously, oxygen levels in the world’s oceans have also been falling [4] (see Warming Oceans Starved of Oxygen, SiS 44).
It is becoming clear that getting rid of CO2 is not enough; oxygen has its own dynamic and the rapid decline in atmospheric O2 must also be addressed.
We are still letting people sell us lies we can see that has happened many time’s in the past because of people like trump choosing to ignore the Green house effect’s of Human caused Global Warming why because he can milk it he will be getting billion’s through the back door .Wealthy or power full people have set Humanity advances back 100 years by burning books and suppression new technology that will cause these people to lose power and control the carbon( baron that back trump) . If he could make money out of it he would put LEAD back in Petrol .We new lead was poisonous and it took 50 years to rip it out of the capitalist hand’s and put it’s fact’s of a bad mistake in our history books .
We have to stand up and stop these people who are lieing to the whole Papatunuku
JUST to make MONEY enough said I have 2 links below KIA KAHA Green tangata
Ka kite ano P.S Watch Cosmos A Space Time Odssey season 1 episode 7 I will get my mokopunas to all watch all of this awesome programs
Newshub Nation The living wage or $20 a hour will not cause a loss of 30 k of jobs thats just the Capitals spin as always.
The worker’s deserve respect like all people is that not In the Law it would be much better for the many if we found solution’s for our low paid seasonal workers shortage I.E a way to make it more worth the effort to go to work I.E the employers need to pay more full stop.
New Zealand have no privacy we are hooked up with the who and we no they are spying on the whole Papatuanuku enough said.
Many thanks Nation for running the story on Myanmar this show’s the Papatuanuku
need to know what’s going on in all these human made greed desasters that are growing at a alarming rate . ka kite ano P.S Tod Barclay enough said boys
Some Eco Maori music M&M has just release his latest album I think we have some of the same views on our reality Ka pai E-Hoa link is below ka kite ano.
Good evening Newshub That’s going to be a Papatuanuku class Americas Cup yacht race held in Auckland Tamaki-makau-rau one will be able to watch the race from the shore .
With Napier’s problems one Great British Actor Michael Cain has made a statement that poverty is what creates crime and that’s a fact .In Napier there were heaps of jobs not now after the last nine years of money transfer policy’s ‘.
There you go Technology at its best Many thanks Alibaba enough said.
China plastic Surgery growth of 40% you know the mokopuna’s they are easily lead it’s the people of my generation that one can see that when they get longer in the tooth that they end up looking bad if they over do it ie heaps of operations .
Kate I’v been wacthing Cosmos Spacetime Odyessey narrated by Neil Degrasse all tangata should watch this series. Ka kite ano P.S I can see how fast the music of my Koauau travels around Papatuanuku
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High Court of Australia Judge, Justice Stephen Gageler, will address recent criticism of court judgment delays in Australia, at the University of Canterbury (UC) on 23 July at 6.15pm. ...
This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Inquiry’s proceedings but does not constitute the official record. The full Minute is available at the link below. ...
The Tertiary Education Commission is laying charges under section 292A of the Education Act 1989 against three individuals for making a false representation for the purpose of receiving, or continuing to receive, free tertiary education from a tertiary education ...
New Zealand food businesses today welcomed a trio of new food safety tools, designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable to follow the rules and keep consumers safe. ...
AUT research shows that Māori children are almost four times more likely than those of European descent to be placed out of home by child protection services ...
The Government announced today that grants of up to $2,500 for energy efficient heaters are now available as part of the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
Orchestral music performance is an art form, but how do you engage with something you’ve never experienced before? Samiyah Alghamdi and Anna Knox attend NYO Celebrates in Wellington and unpack what they hear.The National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth ...
Tara Ward reviews Funny As, a series that documents the history of New Zealand comedy, and manages to be a key part of that history in its own right.Kiwi comedy has come a long way since Fred Dagg first fell out ...
Cave à Vin founder Zane Kelsall says he has been in ‘intense therapy’ following sexual misconduct claims in Halifax.Last week, The Spinoff published a story about Cave à Vin, a new wine bar on Auckland’s North Shore. The story hailed ...
Hundreds of artefacts connected with the lesbian community in New Zealand are displayed in a small volunteer-run museum in West Auckland.Charmaine always had crushes on girls. When she was head girl of Auckland Girls’ Grammar, she fell in love with ...
From a school for budding beekeepers to a street-side garden growing produce for locals, Auckland’s abuzz with projects making the city safer for pollinators.Auckland’s a hive of activity aimed at helping our pollinators and it’s all a part of For ...
After watching a mind-bending film about a dying magician that reminded him of Tickled, David Farrier interviewed the director, only to have his interview disappear.This has never happened before. I’ve never lost audio from an interview, and it’s the most ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk New Zealand’s unprecedented “internet-native mass shooting” attack on two mosques, the New Caledonia independence referendum, Fiji’s general election and news media responses are featured in the latest Pacific Journalism Review being published next week. Analysis ...
Aldous Harding is coming back to New Zealand. In the lead-up to her shows, she spoke to The Spinoff about live TV, maturity, and the weirder interpretations of her songs.Aldous Harding is calling from her home in Wales. Only a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of Technology This weekend marks 50 years exactly since humans first walked on the Moon. It also marks Australia’s small but significant role in enabling NASA ...
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Aaron Jones, founder of Christchurch-based reusable bag company Zerobag.First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Zerobag.Zerobag is a New Zealand-owned ...
Aaron Kreisler looks beyond the gags in this survey of an artist and his dogsat the Christchurch Art Gallery.“The dog really must love him, it’s so incredibly patient…”, a woman says to her daughter, punctuating a screening of Coin ...
‘He wants to sleep with you,’ a close friend had said. ‘Then you’ll be able to tell if it is going to lead anywhere’: a short story by New Plymouth author Elizabeth Smither. Photography by Peter Black. ...
Opinion - The leadership visits are more interesting in that they serve as a spotlight on the two countries - politically, and on policy issues, writes Brigette Morten. ...
Created by future ACT Party leader Richard Prebble after an epic reform bender in the 80s, NZ on Air has just marked its third decade. Duncan Greive relates its history and asks: is the funder still fit for purpose?It’s a ...
It helps that he played in the New Zealand cricket team when they lost the 1992 semi-final and went on to coach India, writes Georgie Wright, daughter of JohnMy dad has taught me a fair few things over my 25 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and ...
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher: Children and Technology, Western Sydney University Instagram is running a social media experiment in Australia and elsewhere to see what happens when it hides the number of likes on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve probably heard that this week marks 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon – a feat that still boggles the mind given ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...
A poem by Miramar poet Geoff Cochrane.Channel HoppingStupa or Stuka?Weet-Bix or Welsh rabbit?Galactic aerodrome or Matchbox truck?*I’m young in my dreams, still young.*Beautiful Keanu’s wearing shades—antique shades with iodine-coloured lenses.*I’m young in my dreams, still young,and I still have some ...
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Bloomsbury, $35)Fucking ...
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Griebsch, Specialist and Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine, University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Sydney, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney Recently reported cases of the often fatal bacterial infection ...
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...
Finance companies say they shouldn’t have to be ‘fit and proper’ even though in some cases they charge more than the planned clampdown on high cost lending. A group of finance companies that charges well over the government’s proposed cap on ...
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign Affairs and trade Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The new, ...
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIRO The role Australia played in relaying the first television images of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the Moon 50 years ago this July features in the ...
Open Mike 31/08/2018 
I have been unimpressed with Western corporate media coverage of the tensions involving Iran in the Straits of Hormuz. They repeat the line that Iran is the source of current tensions, that it is a major sponsor of terrorism, that ...15 hours ago
17 hours ago
18 hours ago
Much like Tuvalu, the manmade climate change Cult love to tell people the Maldives is almost totally underwater. In fact the dishonest Maldives Govt d on the same bandwagon, believing they would receive billions of dollars aid from other Countries ...1 day ago
As the entry on Wikipedia shows (and no, one doesn’t necessarily have to regard Wikipedia as the be-all and end-all of truth, because it isn’t on a great many things, to agree with the following): “…a fallacious argument that concludes ...1 day ago
by Daphna Whitmore The story of how the world awoke to a big injustice is starting to be told. The Pacific Games held this month in Samoa is another chapter. On the podium was Laurel Hubbard, the giant transgender weightlifter, ...2 days ago
Our conversations and push against specific supremacist and ultra-Nationalist groups, and the pseudo-intellectual underpinnings of them, need to mature at all levels. But in doing so, it’s going to have to include a more thorough and brutally honest self-examination ...2 days ago
This week, in the wake of National's opposition to even talking about reducing agricultural emissions and Simon Bridges' refusal to recognise that there is a climate emergency, I've been saying that National is unfit to govern. And it looks like ...3 days ago
Something I missed: not only did Youth MPs declare a climate emergency; they also launched a campaign to lower the voting age to 16:Youth Parliament week in Parliament has seen the establishment of Make it 16, a campaign to ...3 days ago
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...4 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...4 days ago
5 days ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...6 days ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...6 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...3 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...3 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...3 weeks ago
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...6 days ago
Social Credit Party leader Chris Leitch is calling on the sale of Westland Milk to Chinese company Yili to be put on hold pending an approach to the Government by Westland Milk for funding assistance. ...8 hours ago
Orchestral music performance is an art form, but how do you engage with something you’ve never experienced before? Samiyah Alghamdi and Anna Knox attend NYO Celebrates in Wellington and unpack what they hear.The National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth ...10 hours ago
The National Party is criticising the Government's uptake of electric vehicles into its fleet, saying it's taking too long. ...10 hours ago
Tara Ward reviews Funny As, a series that documents the history of New Zealand comedy, and manages to be a key part of that history in its own right.Kiwi comedy has come a long way since Fred Dagg first fell out ...16 hours ago
Cave à Vin founder Zane Kelsall says he has been in ‘intense therapy’ following sexual misconduct claims in Halifax.Last week, The Spinoff published a story about Cave à Vin, a new wine bar on Auckland’s North Shore. The story hailed ...19 hours ago
Hundreds of artefacts connected with the lesbian community in New Zealand are displayed in a small volunteer-run museum in West Auckland.Charmaine always had crushes on girls. When she was head girl of Auckland Girls’ Grammar, she fell in love with ...20 hours ago
From a school for budding beekeepers to a street-side garden growing produce for locals, Auckland’s abuzz with projects making the city safer for pollinators.Auckland’s a hive of activity aimed at helping our pollinators and it’s all a part of For ...20 hours ago
After watching a mind-bending film about a dying magician that reminded him of Tickled, David Farrier interviewed the director, only to have his interview disappear.This has never happened before. I’ve never lost audio from an interview, and it’s the most ...21 hours ago
The Government is ramping up policy and research work in the countdown to next year’s referendum on cannabis legalisation. ...1 day ago
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk New Zealand’s unprecedented “internet-native mass shooting” attack on two mosques, the New Caledonia independence referendum, Fiji’s general election and news media responses are featured in the latest Pacific Journalism Review being published next week. Analysis ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of Technology This weekend marks 50 years exactly since humans first walked on the Moon. It also marks Australia’s small but significant role in enabling NASA ...2 days ago
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Aaron Jones, founder of Christchurch-based reusable bag company Zerobag.First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Zerobag.Zerobag is a New Zealand-owned ...2 days ago
Aaron Kreisler looks beyond the gags in this survey of an artist and his dogs at the Christchurch Art Gallery.“The dog really must love him, it’s so incredibly patient…”, a woman says to her daughter, punctuating a screening of Coin ...2 days ago
‘He wants to sleep with you,’ a close friend had said. ‘Then you’ll be able to tell if it is going to lead anywhere’: a short story by New Plymouth author Elizabeth Smither. Photography by Peter Black. ...2 days ago
Created by future ACT Party leader Richard Prebble after an epic reform bender in the 80s, NZ on Air has just marked its third decade. Duncan Greive relates its history and asks: is the funder still fit for purpose?It’s a ...2 days ago
It helps that he played in the New Zealand cricket team when they lost the 1992 semi-final and went on to coach India, writes Georgie Wright, daughter of JohnMy dad has taught me a fair few things over my 25 ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan – one with a reduced pace, despite the 24 ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cherie Hugo, Teaching Fellow, Nutrition & Dietetics, Bond University The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety this week turned its attention to food and nutrition. The testimony of maggots in ...2 days ago
Jacinda Ardern’s Melbourne trip wrapped up with nothing to show on longstanding trans-Tasman concerns, but was a potent reminder of her international appeal. ...2 days ago
Pricing agricultural emissions first at the processor level - such as Fonterra - rather than right down at farm level stacks up as a gap measure says Catherine Leining. ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Cross, Research Fellow, Curtin University Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. Billabongs in the northern Kimberley are welcome ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Gentilin, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University As strange as it might sound, whistleblowers in Australia have reason to rejoice – so long as they are in the private sector. Thanks to new ...3 days ago
The fourth season of Queer Eye drops today on Netflix. Sam Brooks reflects on his difficult relationship with the show, and where it sits in mainstream culture.For depressingly many people, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was an introduction not just to ...3 days ago
The collapse of a multi-billion dollar deal to sell AMP's life insurance division to a British company for $3.6 billion is the fault of the companies, according to the Reserve Bank. ...3 days ago
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two.Read week one here.I’ll be honest, week two ...3 days ago
By Royson Willie in Port Vila Two Vanuatu Daily Post journalists were literally given a pat-down by the police criminal investigation unit yesterday over a story they had written about the vehicle of the Chairman of the Public Service ...3 days ago
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape will visit Australia this weekend for a week-long state visit and the Bougainville independence referendum in less than three months is expected to be high on ...3 days ago
Tougher laws governing the movement of animals and harsher penalties for non-compliance are on the table under an overhaul of two key pieces of legislation. ...3 days ago
Wtf did we just watch?That sound you heard was a million furries screaming in ecstasy as their fantasy and everyone else’s nightmare came to life in the form of the first trailer for the live action version of Cats.Is it ...3 days ago
As we mark the fiftieth anniversary the July 20th Moon landing Dr Nick Long reflects on what that's meant for New Zealand and considers the space 'gold rush' ahead. ...3 days ago
My selection of the eight best morning news links from here and overseas, along with eight lunchtime lean-back long reads. Also, the full list of links, including Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia, the big emissions report, Fonterra's coal move and a new ...3 days ago
John Banks' former lives, vegetable-based insults in Auckland's mayoral race and metaphorical cabbage - James Elliott has it all. ...3 days ago
Heaven is a place on earth, and June is saving the world one ’80s pop hit at a time. Tara Ward recaps season 4, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale. Praise be, for there was a tiny bit of good news ...3 days ago
An ANZ shareholder is demanding the bank disclose more information about the sale of an Auckland residential property to its former chief executive and his family. ...3 days ago
Tara Ward sets out on a valiant quest to find the best apple in Aotearoa. The idea that every apple is a good apple is fake news. We’ve all got stories about shit experiences with apples, when it looked good on ...3 days ago
The dairy industry is out of control and needs to be managed a lot better.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/365324/photos-reveal-unacceptable-conditions-for-calving-safe-says
Damien O’Connor is not up to the job of dealing with rogue famrers.
As Rachel Stewart says…
and……
.
Rachel Stewart speaks truth to power.
Mr Jones told Morning Report that the following about Australian banks.
The minister said he planned to speak to Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr to “establish the facts” about the requirements of banking licences and will then consider policy options.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/365265/aus-banks-take-skinflint-approach-to-nz-shane-jones
‘The Regional Economic Development Minister says the banks are putting profits ahead of their responsibility to rural areas, as unions raise concerns over branch closures.
The banking sector is certainly not the first group to attract the ire of Shane Jones – he’s previously taken issue with supermarkets, power companies, Fonterra and Air New Zealand.’
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/365333/champion-of-regions-jones-holds-true-to-title
We used to have regional community owned banks exactly for that purpose.
TSB is the only one left.
Yes we do agree with more community banks now for sure, -and we have switched to TSB 12 yrs ago and recommend TSB as HB/Gisborne based residents..
Third talking point.
When Jeffrey Sachs speaks truth to power about Syria.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ending-disastrous-american-role-in-syria-by-jeffrey-d-sachs-2018-02?barrier=accesspaylog
To provide some context. That interview took place in April, during the aftermath of allegations there had been a chemical attack in Douma but before missiles had been launched into Syria..
To my mind, Jeffrey Sachs (and that’s a link to his wiki page for those interested) just goes to show that some good people do manage to survive in fairly toxic environments.
For those who either don’t like Dore’s style of presentation, or who (understandably) won’t watch 18 min vids, here’s a basic transcript of what Sachs said.
Jeffrey Sachs, can hardly be said to be speaking truth to power, appearing a little less unhinged, but in essence little different to Infowars Alex Jones. Both push the same pro-fascist, pro-genocide script.
‘
The Geo-politics of Counter-revolution
Michael Karadjis – August 23, 2018
To which I would add:
Even global imperial wars between each other, are not feared as much by the rival global elites who run our world, as much as they fear popular revolt from below.*
In 1917 in the war of intervention the Western Allies and the Entent powers both invaded Russia to overturn the results of the revolution.
Even rival empires, England and Germany who were still fighting each other on the Western Front, took part in the war of intervention.
In an echo of Assad, Churchill used gas weapons in an effort to exterminate the revolutionaries.
The war of intervention lasted until 1921 and cost 1.2 million lives. The imperial powers, (though probably not realising it at the time), achieved their purpose of defeating the revolution.
– the best of the popular revolutionaries of 1917 who fell in the war of intervention, were replaced by the murderous Stalinist bureaucracy that grew to fill the vacuum. Just as the murderous Isis was a product of the Assadist genocide against the popular opposition to the dictator.
Martin Luther King explained this process:
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – April 16, 1963
* Imperialist wars are fought between soldiers and working people on behalf of the rulers, they are not wars fought by soldiers and working people, against the rulers, and it is the civilians and soldiers who bear the burden of the suffering and death. In imperialist war between rival imperialist oppressors, it is hardly ever the elites who suffer, (even if they find themselves on the losing side.)
Unlike a war between oppressors. The same cannot be said for a war against the oppressors.
The Geo-politics of Counter-revoluion
Tea Partier Ron Paul’s Liberty Report.
RT.
Eva Bartlett
Vanessa Beeley
And now the Jimmy Dore Show?
Tea Partiers, RT propagandists, Conspiracy Theorists?
Really Bill?
Are these the sources of your information on Syria?
Talk about an echo chamber.
Rational Wiki:
Jimmy Dore
Rational Wiki
I’d be interested in hearing/seeing Lprent’s take:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/29-08-2018/nz-tech-is-losing-it-over-the-idea-of-derek-handley-as-cto-of-new-zealand/
…… and others
I’d be interested in hearing/seeing Lprent’s take:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/29-08-2018/nz-tech-is-losing-it-over-the-idea-of-derek-handley-as-cto-of-new-zealand/
…… and others
Fascinating! I’ve always been very impressed by Derek Handley whenever he’s spoken on tv. I would’ve thought he’s ideal for the job. That groundswell of tech opponents seems a significant consensus though, so their views will need careful consideration.
Duncan Grieve’s report covers the implications well and I agree it all hinges on the job description, and how accurately that depicts the liaison and coordination functions required to interface our vitally-important emerging tech industry with government.
Agree with you (both paragraphs).
I’m interested in Lprent’s take because he’s been in the industry for quite some time and has seen the good and the bad. He appears to be motivated by creation of coding that is at it’s most efficient (probably to the point of obsession – not just stuff that works), and he seems to be as intolerant of some of the muppetry we’ve seen ( I could start a rave on government IT projects for example)
I might be a little cynical (I know), but over 40 plus years, I’ve also seen the bullshit artists, the promotion of various processes and schemes – often re-inventions of past practices with new names:
Project Management Schema
Bizzniss Management ‘best practices’ earning their ticket clipping creators vast sums, self-improvement books and best practice management schemes.
(Kaizen, SDLC’s , Martin Marrieta’s and whoever else is now in vogue, etc., etc. and other wheel reinventions)
I’m trying to keep an open mind. (It’s bloody hard when you walk down the streets of Wellington following some ‘IT professionals’ exercising their egos as well as their limbs discussing the projects they’re working on, knowing they’re trying to recreate a wheel). I’m also well-pleased to be out of it al.
I’m Oh so very PASSIONATE about it don’tcha know. I’m passionate about being entrepreneurial going forwardl
Operating in the traditional context of capitalism is understandable (when in Rome..) but it’s been obvious to me for that entire 40 year time that we need a better way forward. I’ve put stuff online about that before but for Aotearoa’s tech industry the key point is incentivising entrepreneurs in team contexts (self-interest limited by a collaborative common-interest context – stakeholder integral design).
Corporates using teams the past 30 years have mostly just been sloganeering. Has to be authentic. Employee profit-sharing, but also risk-sharing via participation in management. Ricardo Semler made it work in the eighties and Mondragon much earlier, so ain’t like the design is unproven.
The more kiwis support a local enterprise culture, the more they will wean themselves off dependency on capitalists. Never underestimate the empowering effect of agency in the psyche! We need like-mindedness on this to become contagious. Great to see sustainable business trending big nowadays but has to be more authenticity in it – a real green business is a genuine hybrid of capitalism and socialism, both in design and in how it operates.
Ae.
Need a nanna nap right now (energy levels have collapsed) but hopefully we can continue this discussion, and also Lyn might get a glimpse.
I’m hoping that ‘old school’ Jessie Mulligan will be able to put me into a deep sleep before he has to don his lycra and bile up the hill to RNZ for the Project.
Winston was 100% correct in october 2017 as he warned us all that the economy was at the top of the cliff on the night he chose to partner labour in October 2017.
Winsrton warned that this correction would happen in his election speak as he announced that he will join NZ First coalition with Labour.
Time to refresh our memories here.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11934973
QUOTE;
“In his explanation of why New Zealand First went with Labour over National, Winston Peters said the agreement reached in talks was a summation of policies that survived negotiations.
He went on: “As the song says, You can’t always get what you want.”
“Our negotiations have taken place against a backdrop of changing international and internal economic circumstances which we cannot ignore.”
Those in New Zealand First believed that an economic correction, or a slowdown, was looming, and that the first signs were already apparent, he said.
“There’s no denying that a enormous correction is looming and pretending low business confidence is just all spite misses the much more dangerous signals”.
This is the latest current issue with ‘Ministerial services’ botch-up again;
Who are Ministerial services overseen by?
Could the ‘Ministerial Services’ be operated by several National Party ‘cling-ons trying to destabilise the labour lead Government’????
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/365337/labour-mp-accused-of-manhandling-press-secretary
We see today that the Government is in trouble with “Ministerial staffing issues” again as I seemed to be at Phil Twyford’s Ministerial office in Wellington as when I was trying to get clarity out of Twyford’s staff member ‘she slamed the phone down and cut me off before the discussion ended, and now we want an enquiry into why this ‘Ministerial staffer felt it was appropproate that she can terminate a phone call before answering questions from a constituent public member.
Just as a Labour Minister is allegedgly charged with puishing a staffing member out of an office in Parlaiment perhaps we need to review the actions and performance of the “ministerial staff” and have the Minister of Internal affairs to open an enquiry into “Ministerial services” also now??????.
Press secretaries are employed more or less directly by their minister. Ministerial services just pays the salary
She probably slammed the phone down because you were rambling and making no sense. Happens all the time when you’ve got the opportunity to type and review what you are writing. I can only imagine how incoherent you’ll be talking
The opposite of security
The GCSB’s current motto on its website is “If New Zealand has secrets worth stealing, then they’re worth protecting”. Now, the GCSB and their Five Eyes masters wants to make it radically easier for people to steal those very secrets they claim to exist to protect. How? By backdooring the encryption which protects our networks, our filesystems, our financial transactions, everything:
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-opposite-of-security.html
According to this RNZ press release;- the leaker was not actually named by RNZ!!!
So I suspect this was National party leaking again, as bad as the last one was that Simple Simon Bridges spending also was exposed, and now found to be him falsely leaking his spending for press cover.
So it looks as though I am right sadly that the “Ministerial services staff” are behind all the leaking of information for “political reasons” probably by National Party cling-ons trying to destablise the labour lead government again and this is inside collussion going on here both inside the Government Ministerial services and the publically owned media network RNZ as they are recieving illegal leaked information from the Government employees conducting ‘poitical actions against their employer.
National “dirty politics part two”???.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/365337/labour-mp-accused-of-manhandling-press-secretary
Sources have told RNZ Ms Whaitiri was difficult to work with and point to a high staff turnover in her office. The press secretary role had been vacant for months.
RNZ has chosen not to identify the press secretary. She has not responded to requests for comment.
Both Ms Whaitiri and Ms Ardern are refusing to answer questions on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Ms Ardern had alerted him to the reasons behind the inquiry but he would not elaborate on them.
He would wait until the investigation was over and “see where the cards fall” before commenting, he said.
“Allegations are not fact. They’re allegations. Let’s see whether they’re meritorious or not.”
Low level corruption with high level impact……how to undo a 9 year legacy?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/08/30/216721/ministerial-advice-doctored
This looks like closet-stalinism. Eugenie asked for advice from the ecologist. A public servant intercepted that advice, then censored it before passing it on to her.
I can’t see how any public servant could justify such misbehaviour. Does anyone here feel up to defending such closet-stalinists in our public service??
“Asked why the passages were deleted, Severinsen says: “The content formed a part of a larger piece of work under consideration by the department and it was not appropriate to include that subset of information until the other task was completed.”
So that is the bullshit and hows its done.. unbelievable in their audacity…time for heads to roll.
Yes Dennis I now see that when I had the phone slammed down on my conversation with Phil Twyfords staffer I felt that same “censoring’ controlling ‘stalinist’ Fed-up’ interference of my human rights to get questions answered by a ministers staffer as an employee of my government and that she also is a public servant.
She was a person I describe as without any civility or reasonable patience or bedside manner and lacked all resonable ability to offer help to any public enquiries so I would ask Government to restore “civility” to public serive employees.
To cut off during a convewrsation a enquiry from the public is unreasonable service and a stark lack of respect & humanity.
Dennis you asked; ‘Am I feed up with low public service employees’?
Yes some only, (as some are very good) – and in this case when I called Phil Twyfords office in Wellington, my human rights were clearly violated by this Ministerial staffer and Phil twyford should sack her and appologise to me for her lack of reasonable conduct, as he and his office have a recording of the conversation already and can easily review her disconduct..
I share your concern and it seems clear that you have a valid grievance. Twyford’s gate-keeper could be operating in bulldog mode. Do such people get hired on the basis of Labour Party membership or are they supposedly neutral?
If the latter, you could have a case for a formal complaint & it may be a good idea to learn how to proceed with one.
I keep reminding cleangreen that the Minister is totally the wrong person to help for the local issue.- the noise from heavy vehicles on the Kennedy Rd Overpass.
its the Regional land Transport Committee who deal with local projects at this scale.
The person in the Ministers office should have been able to assist you with their contact details
My understanding is that cleangreen has been involved in all issues transport in the Gisborne and Hawkes Bay areas for many years and is well known to all people, organisations (eg District and Regional Councils including probably the local regional transport committees) in that area. He has also appeared before Select Committees etc including just a few months ago (I watched him/his group present a submission online). I suspect he is in contact with all local and regional councils and committees as well as Ministers’ offices regularly …
Thanks again Dennis,
Will do after Tuesday possible outcome, as we called our labour MP Napier office this morning and Stuart Nash’s local PA said she would have her staffer on the case Monday to get to the bottom of this intentional devisive blocking of communication beteen our NGO and Phil Twyford.
Hope we finally get to discuss/solutions to Napiers truck gridlock noise and air polution public health problems facing our 12000 folks living alongside the truck route road HB Expressway to the port of napier, as people are badly affected by this now and are facing pysical damage to their health..
I am holdiing a letter written by Helen Cl;ark as Prime minister of NZ dated 26th October 2003 to me as seretary of Pirimai residents association advising me that she has engaged both Mark gosche and michael Cullen to meet me and our committee at the HB Expressway with Transit NZ (now NZTA) CEO Robin Dun;op to help solve our issues.
Then after several other meetings we got Michael Cullen to finally buy back our rail system to get freight back on rail and off the roads and place a smooth road along residential areas so we got help with the last labour lot.
This last nine years NZTA took the smooth road away and trebbled the truck mfreight through our residential areas so we lost alot but now labour need to come back and fix all our problems national left us with.
Interestingly the PCE report from their year long study of the HB Expressway advised Government to fix alll thse things and work with our residential groups also and we expect labour to comiit to this again. see page 22 ‘conclussions’.
https://www.pce.parliament.nz/media/pdfs/Hawkes-Bay-Expressway-Noise-and-air-quality-issues-June-2005.pdf
Yet another reason a review of our public service, and senior public servants is way past time.
Hopefully, Skippy might remember this as one example, alongside others that encompass Health, Education, Economic Development,, Social Welfare, Employment, Standards, standards that include infrastructure and environmental risk, Local gubbamint, ……… not just the bugger’s muddle of processes and multiple organisational bureaucracy involved in child birth.
Ian Lees-Galloway might even realise that there are some very simple edicts that can be issued regarding Ummiigration that could seriously impact, if not stop much of the exploitation of workers. (The solution isn’t going to be found by soley consulting with his ‘officials’)
Right now though, we appear to be hung up on what’s best for the horse and its ability to race and support a betting industry than we are about the competencies relating to social policy and the citizenry of Aoteraroa/NuZull
I just happened on NORightTurn’s http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/08/mushrooming-minister.html.
Being an old codger (early 60s), I had to look up the urban dik to see what mushrooming meant – I’d asked my late 30s son first.
Oh how the response reminded me of the last time I worked in the PS. and how different it was from the first time as a clerk in the Supreme Court after leaving college.
Unbelievably apt
“The solid twatting of a ho’s face by the bulbous bell-end belonging to an erect nob. It is either an act of intense passion and loving for the mushroomed one, or an act of anger at the dislike of an unagreeable technique used during oral sex. If the face is struck hard enough with the familiar mushroom shape of said bell-end, then a bruise will be left”
In our corporatised ps, there are a number of CEOs whose job descriptions could probably reflect their position of being that ‘erect nob’
While I don’t really wish to paint over that startling but apt mental picture, I suspect NRT’s use of “mushrooming” was probably intended to evoke the idea of being kept in the dark and fed bullshit.
Jeremy Corbyn proposes new media model in the UK…bit of fight back from JC.
And the bit I really like…Jeremy Corbyn calls on the BBC to declare staff ‘social class’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/08/22/jeremy-corbyn-call-bbc-declare-social-class-presenters-journalists/
…I would love to see the ‘social class’ breakdown at The Guardian…wouldn’t be to many surprises there I bet.
It was interesting that 27% of BBC staff self-identify as working class whereas only 9% at the corporate do. His advocacy for a renewal of class-consciousness will appeal to nostalgia freaks all over the UK but you don’t see many cloth-cap-wearers in the wide camera pics of British news reports so they may be all dead.
Not much substance in those two links Adrian (due to usual tv focus on froth), but this report goes through his specific proposals in some detail: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2018/08/jeremy-corbyn-proposal-media-speech-edinburgh
We learned yesterday that the firm that owns Burger King in New Zealand has been banned from using migrant labour (ie people on work visas, not resident non-citizens) for a year.
In light of the shortage of affordable houses, and the routing of employers to get migrants for questionable low paid occupations – and reports of employee’s paying for their questionable job, and the fact that all the new people on these low wages probably will qualify for Kiwibuild and also be competing on low cost rentals, and the amount of Maori in jail who could probably get a job flipping burgers instead of the migrants, perhaps time to rethink these bizarre immigration “skilled” skills?
30 years ago it cost around $10,000 to sponsor in a worker and therefore was only used for real high value skills. Time to put that amount with inflation (around $20,000 as least) back on the table to get rid of all the routs.
Main occupations for Skilled Migrant Category principal applicants, 2016/17
Occupation 2016/17
Number %
Chef 684 5.7%
Registered Nurse (Aged Care) 559 4.6%
Retail Manager (General) 503 4.2%
Cafe or Restaurant Manager 452 3.7%
Number of people granted Essential Skills work visas by main occupations, 2016/17
Occupation Number %
Chef 2,178 6.6%
Dairy Cattle Farm Worker 1,617 4.9%
Carpenter 1,478 4.5%
Retail Supervisor 961 2.9%
Cafe or Restaurant Manager 942 2.9%
Retail Manager (General) 767 2.3%
Aged or Disabled Carer 748 2.3%
https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/08/30/work-visas-for-shop-managers/
That would be right. There is now ‘work visa specialist firms’ which travel around from shop to shop or farms telling them of the ‘cheap deal’ they can do to replace their local workers with ‘imports’ I was at the Chemist shop and such a business branded vehicle pulled up outside the dairy next door.
Betcha that firm makes the migrants pay a hefty fee to them too. Sad NZ has turned into scam city for jobs.
Yes. Thats how it works too.
Wasn’t flipping burgers. It was the manager
Was interesting that story
I heard about it a couple of days ago
It was actually a kiwi worker that they were under paying
A manager they were paying less than minimum wage to, but the punishment is not being able to get foreigners
All good with the punishment, but the law must be written quite weird.
It must kind of assume it would be a foreigner being under paid or something
Hilarious, the migrants get paid correctly and the Kiwis are under paid! Maybe they were trying to get rid of the Kiwi, by underpaying them. If they can’t pay minimum wages correctly they should not be importing in workers, let alone importing in workers for that skill set!
I hope the government is writing the cheque for the infrastructure for the aforementioned houses… not expecting the rate payers to pay for it…
Government to strip Auckland Council of powers over major housing developments
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/08/government-to-strip-auckland-council-of-powers-over-major-housing-developments.html
Perhaps they need to look at who is taking the affordable houses – and do something about lazy immigration above because they already put in a fuel tax to help the lazy planners and now the government is pushing in, to screw up congestion and pollution further with being in charge of more houses!
We really need (sarcasm) 20 liquor stores and burger Kings on every corner and the people who actually do real work in the city can’t get into work with all the congestion from low paid precariat workers driving around all day going from job to job, breaking down in their trucks as they deliver food and goods around to dodgy small businesses or the truck and trailers of dirt and concrete going across the city.
God help us, even the pathetic low level IT workers are dropping off the skills list. What is that telling us as we “move” towards the digital economy? How many of those skill are growing the economy, in high tech or manufacturing for example?
The government is writing cheques for infrastructure all over the country for new houses, because the councils are so weak and pathetic that they have not provided either the infrastructure or the houses for New Zealand society for decades.
Good fucking job for the Minister kicking Councils all over the park.
Nope they are writing cheques to construction firms many of whom are overseas based and employ foreign workers with Kiwis taxes that should be paying for teachers and hospitals.
Nobody has even seen this mythical thousands upon thousands of affordable houses. Construction firms are build spec houses for foreigners who bring money in to buy the house and then have no or small incomes so qualify for welfare.
Government are complicit in allowing foreign buyers of apartments and foreign buyers for new builds and foreign buyers of land and employers to bring in thousands of questionable migrant workers like at Burger King.
The government are actually increasing the cost of living and congestion for the aforementioned kiwis are they supposedly helping by their pathetic policies that they have not stopped since the Natz got out.
In fact the immigration skills look even worse last year than the year before with the Natz in charge as at least that had IT on it even if it was at a numbingly low level.
Not only that, the skills is on about a third of how people get into NZ residency, the rest are relatives off the aforementioned people and marriages…
Actually the “cheques” are from the Housing Infrastructure Fund that was set up by the previous government . They are drawn down by local councils, regional councils, and NZTA. They are drawn for the purposes of building infrastructure including wastewater mains, pump stations, water supply reservoirs, and roads.
They are not drawn by developers.
And of course, this fund is entirely separate to the funds from general taxation for the salaries of teachers.
A typical example is the $24 million loan announced by Phil Twyford yesterday for the new housing development in Queenstown.
The housing being built is only mythical if you are ignorant and don’t follow the news,
The quote at the end of the article is telling: “We have to do this, because if we don’t our kids will never be able to afford to live in this town,” he told NZME.”
This is why the most effective means of getting NZer’s housed in affordable, healthy homes is not going to happen. Because the focus is firmly on maintaining a high sales prices – while simultaneously ensuring those that traditionally have had the ability to purchase – are supported while doing so.
1. No mention about how providing affordable homes in secure tenancies (ie. state housing) improves health, community and crime outcomes.
2. No mention about the number of working families reduced to living out of vehicles.
3. No mention of the long-term trajectory of house prices and creation of bad living conditions when landlords are in the game only for the financial return,
4. No suggestion of making policy, tax and other changes to reduce the attractiveness and effectiveness of putting money into residential properties to generate personal financial gain.
Just stated worries about “children” not being able to live in the city. Inference “my” children. There have been children suffering from the housing crisis for years.
Would you like him to summarise his entire housing and tenancy policies to make you feel better?
There are active policies and reviews instigated by this Miniser to respond to all of those points.
No, I would like those working on housing to understand that one of the most effective ways to address all the issues regarding “our children” not being able to afford housing is for the state to embark on a massive building programme. Not in conjunction with private developers, not with financial assistance for some to purchase, but in order to house our people.
Whenever, I hear or read housing policy, these points are lightly touched on and not given the weight or priority that is required.
As I wanted to see if the housing policy has changed substantially since the last time I checked I had a look at Labour’s Housing Policy.
State Houses: People over Profit
Pretty lightweight. No mention of the security of housing for all, and the multiple benefits that come from reducing increase in transitional housing. Nothing about recreating the egalatarian approach to housing that existed and paved the way for connected communities. The “need” is the part that rankles with me. The expectation that state housing is always to be transitional despite the community benefits of having secure and long-term tenants. Also, no mention of how they determine where those communities are built – ie. are they close to all services and recreational areas. Otherwise, you have tenants who are transport poor as well as otherwise.
Kiwibuild
Pretty much what the main focus is on – particular “children” being able to enter the property market.
Investing in warm dry homes
A bit of a hotchpotch page to be honest. There have been studies showing that the installation of thermal curtains and pelmets are very effective in reduction of heat loss through single glazing. An much more affordable solution than replacing all windows with double glazing.
And the final note on that page:
Which is in line with how I understood the current policy focus to be. Not really sure that it has changed at all.
Is there a reason that you are going to the Labour site rather than to the site of the actual government that forms and executes actual policy as a government?
http://www.thebeehive.govt.nz is where you will find actual government policy on housing.
Lazily, because when I googled housing policy NZ govt the Labour policy was second on the list. The beehive link for The Future of Housing was further down and I hadn’t scrolled that far.
Once again, Ad. No concrete suggestions for the items I have mentioned. The only semi-fleshed out policy is Kiwibuild.
I firmly believe that will not solve the issues regarding housing if it remains the priority, which it seems to be.
(Also, the Labour party housing policy and the beehive link seem to be much of a muchness. Are we discussing content here?)
RNZ says Chelsea Manning has been cleared by Immigration NZ to apply for work visa for 2 speaking gigs.
Also Stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/106718206/chelsea-manning-granted-special-direction-to-apply-for-visa
I’m interested in the policy differences between our Immigration Service clearing Chelsea for entry here, but Australia denying entry.
Any view on the policy or operational or regulatory differences for the different result?
I haven’t seen one. RNZ says NZ Immigration used a category “special direction”. Aussie authorities say Manning has failed a “good character test”.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/365358/chelsea-manning-cleared-to-enter-nz-for-speaking-tour
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-29/chelsea-manning-australian-government-may-ban-entry/10180236
Protectionism. Don’t want to let any foreign criminals in because they feel the need to protect their domestic criminals. Also why they’ve started exporting kiwi crims back to here. Remember those headlines about the mafia taking over the Oz casinos in the seventies?
Australia has not yet denied Manning entry despite many media headlines (and the one here on the post re this) stating that Australia has banned her.
What Australia has done was on Wednesday they issued a Notice of Intention to deny a visa, which allows Manning to put her case why she should be granted a visa despite her convictions etc. (ie the Good Character Test). Presumably she and her sponsors etc have done this and are now awaiting a final decision.
I suspect that Australia may take a harder line than NZ, but I am really pleased that NZ has gone ahead and now allowed her to apply for a special exemption to the conviction provisions that would normally prevent her getting a visa (according the RNZ because she has not offended anywhere that she has gone to on similar speaking tours).
This means that NZ has taken a different approach to Australia which appears to be maintaining their hard line immigration approach that Dutton introduced (apart from a certain au pair…). It will be interesting to see what the Australian reaction will be to NZ’s position. LOL.
Don’t know the exact differences between NZ and Australian immigration rules, but of interest is that Canada after refusing Manning a visa last year, granted her one in May this year to do a speaking event in Montreal (or Ottawa?) albeit on very restrictive conditions re time there etc. So there is precedent for her to be granted a “special direction” allowing a visa for entry to NZ to be issued on similar conditions.
In terms of practicalities, Manning is due to speak in Sydney this Sunday so time is tight, then Melbourne next Friday before coming to NZ for Auckland Sat 8 Sept and Wellington 9 Sept, then back to Australia for Brisbane on 11 Sept.
If Australia refuses a visa it is still probably feasible that she could still come to NZ since it is for two events.
My reply above was thrown together in a hurry, but now see that my wording in para 3 could be misleading. So here is a better version with the changes in italics.
Revised para 3
I suspect that Australia may take a harder line than NZ, but I am really pleased that NZ has gone ahead and granted a special exemption to apply for a visa despite her convictions which would normally prevent her getting a visa (according the RNZ because she has not offended anywhere that she has gone to on similar speaking tours).
Here is what The Australian is saying re the NZ decision and where the Australian is at.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/chelsea-manning-allowed-into-new-zealand/news-story/22cd171161203c3f99c55139c1531ac9
Here are the main points as The Australian articles usually quickly end up behind a paywall.
However, Immigration New Zealand confirmed on Friday morning it had given Manning special dispensation to apply for a visa.
“While Ms Manning was convicted of a serious offence and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, it was noted that her sentence was commuted by President Obama in January 2017,” INZ general manager Steve Stuart said.
“The likelihood of her offending while in New Zealand is considered low … (we) could see no reason to believe Ms Manning would not comply with the terms and conditions of any visa.”
… The NZ government’s decision comes after Manning’s tour organiser, Think Inc, said this week it had received a notice of intention to deny the former soldier entry into Australia under section 501 of the Migration Act.
She was banned from entering Canada last year due to her criminal convictions in the US but was allowed to speak in Montreal in May.
Think Inc has called on the transgender activist’s supporters to lobby Australia’s new immigration minister, David Coleman, to allow her into Australia.
Good on her
This may bring up an interesting situation actually
If Aussie end up barring her, I wonder if she will bother paying all the cash just to come here
Given some people on here proclaiming the difference between Manning and the Canadians is the Canadians are only it for the money, while Manning is in it to spread the word, I wonder what they say if she were to cancel
Three events in Austalia; two in NZ. Therefore more likely that she would come here even if Australia bans here than say, the Canadians where they had five in Australia and only one in NZ.
Good point
Never checked the difference in itinerary
The best thing, politically speaking (as evinced by Molyneux and Southern) would have been for Manning to be denied and her message carried on the inevitable wave of outrage crashing around tha net.
All credit to Michael Woodhouse though. He tried his best. 👿
edit – won’t someone design a ‘dripping sarcasm’ tag?
Just for you Bill.
http://www.geinzooi.nl/funny-fake-news/chelsea-manning-successfully-enters-australia-disguised-as-an-au-pair/
That’s quite amusing.
If I was smarter I’d be able to come up with a witty and perhaps acerbic comment involving shovels (“The Shovel” being the source for that commentary).
But I’m not. So I can’t. 🙂
Yes, after I posted it I realised that it came from The Shovel and the link was in the Gein link. I had forgotten about the Shovel so must do see what else is there recently.
Will woodhouse paint a sign and organise a protest? Imagine….. hehehehe
UPDATE TIME
Australia is alive with the sound of – not music, but calls for the Australian Govt to rethink their propose ban on Chelsea Manning being given a visa.
In less than 24 hours a Change.org petition to allow her to enter Australia has already got 15,000 signatures and counting.
http://junkee.com/chelsea-manning-visa-petition/173779
Here is a link to the Guardian article that is only a few minutes’ old saying that the Australian Government is considering lots of submissions calling for Manning to be allowed entry but time is now critical and if a favourable decisions is not imminent then she is unlikely to make Sydney for the Sunday event. (As an aside, Judith Collins gets a mention calling Manning a traitor).
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/31/chelsea-manning-cleared-new-zealand-speaking-tour-visa
The Australian is apparently reporting that Di Natole, the Aussie Green Leader, is supporting allowing Manning to enter Australia, but cannot put up link as I have used my free quota of their articles.
So time will tell. Good move NZ.
I irrationally don’t like Chelsea Manning but will totally defend her ability to annoy me by speaking here. 🙂
I had never heard her speak and was neither for or against but also totally defend her right to speak.
Then Kim Hill interviewed her two weeks ago and I was very, very surprised. So much so that I would now like to go to her Wellington event but cannot afford it at present – and am also recovering from day surgery so probably too soon.
As I said elsewhere here, it was one of Hill’s better interviews and she also seemed impressed with Manning.
Here is a link if you want to try it.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
Re your post, I was not doxxing (I never do that as my anonymity and privacy are all important to me) and will reply later but off out now. You may be interested in my reply to Darien Fenton for a little of my experience.
Its your over-generalisation without any supporting evidence etc that gets up my nose (grrrrrr, as you also did yesterday) – and the lemmings just fall in behind when some of them probably haven’t even been in the door of the Beehive! LOL.
For those who process information visually
Fuck.
That’s a wicked as link, thanks Pat.
!!!!!!!!!
!
Come clean Labour.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106698295/how-helen-clark-would-have-handled-the-youth-camp-sex-assaults
Maybe the malefactor has mental health issues indy.
Its ok, this will be the most transparent government ever
Fake news: “Helen Clark might not have meant to fire a “missile” at Jacinda Ardern” according to a political scientist. No missile was fired.
The Government is looking at new and novel ways of financing infrastructure without breaking its strict budget responsibility rules.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/106704499/billions-borrowed-for-new-state-homes-against-treasury-advice
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/04/22/105712/twyford-bends-budget-rules
“A later analysis estimated an additional $3m-$6m in annual interest costs for every $1b borrowed by Housing New Zealand. ” So to ensure that we are within “Budget Responsibility Rules” it costs us more, yet in the financial records this debt doesn’t “really” exist !!!
This appears to me to be a National MO, not an upfront Labour led govt
The annual budget process costs in delays and treasury rigamarole for something like Housing NZ.
The debt does exist. Just not under core crown debt.
It there is a delay caused by process, then why not, to save us $millions of extra interest costs then transfer the debt at a later date ? If not, then how can this govt cry poor when govt workers seek fair wage increases?
Perhaps this as you commented on is the reason “The debt does exist. Just NOT under core crown debt.”
The ockoes have a policy of giving the Immigration portfolio to arseholes addy.
Tough break for the Greens and for Minister Genter that she’s still off while the government announces $4 billion to boost road safety.
Otherwise it would have been the best-ever Greens policy win by $$.
Was Shaw there? He has picked up her Associate Minister of Transport portfolio for the next six weeks, but I thought he was currently overseas. So bad luck …
PS – I just put up an update at 12.4 re Australia and Manning’s visa to enter there.
No it was Twyford and CE of NZTA at the media scrum.
Labour needs to throw the greens a few bones . If the greens die labour more than likely lose the next election.
Trotter allows his sense of humour out for a run around the park: http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2018/08/compassing-economys-death.html
Makes me wonder about the residual powers of the Crown. Does sovereignty still enable it to hold barons accountable for misbehaviour? When captains of industry whine & moan that they’re losing confidence & the govt is to blame, would a few lashes of the legislative whip be a useful antidote? For instance, the govt could pass a law requiring all such barons to resign after issuing any such public complaint that they can no longer cope with the demands of their job.
I love how free markets operate.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/food-news/106717422/cafe-operator-closed-down-for-going-dairyfree
Did you read it ??
What’s free market got to do with it being forced to close by a bunch of dick heads . ??
“Mangawhai Activity Zone trustee chairman Colin Gallagher says the committee voted to close Redfern-Hardisty’s operation because of the complaints from people wanting a “normal” coffee at the park.
He wouldn’t say what the vote numbers were, but said it wasn’t close.
“We have been extremely supportive of this guy. We own the container, we don’t charge him any rent, we don’t charge him for power, we don’t charge him for water.
“But he has denied our customers choice. That’s where it is. Any customer should have a choice of whether there is plant-based or dairy-based milk in their coffee.”
Take choice away from the customers and the free market reacts…quite simple really.
That’s still not the free market speaking . If the market had spoken the vendor would have gone broke ,which he hasn’t,he s been put out of business by whingeing tossers with a little power .
The bombshell comes now for our PM Jacinda and the greens.
Maybe this may be PM Jacinda Ardern’s chance to shine again (as her generations nuclear moment) and offer the Greens something?
Another thing Jacinda has missed is our loss of oxgen in our air that sustains us all is depleting now, as the new elephant in the room and this changes everything now.
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/O2DroppingFasterThanCO2Rising.php
Quote;
O2 Dropping Faster than CO2 Rising
Implications for Climate Change Policies
New research shows oxygen depletion in the atmosphere accelerating since 2003, coinciding with the biofuels boom; climate policies that focus exclusively on carbon sequestration could be disastrous for all oxygen-breathing organisms including humans Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Threat of oxygen depletion
Mention climate change and everyone thinks of CO2 increasing in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect heating the earth, glaciers melting, rising sea levels, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and a host of other environmental catastrophes. Climate mitigating policies are almost all aimed at reducing CO2, by whatever means.
Within the past several years, however, scientists have found that oxygen (O2) in the atmosphere has been dropping, and at higher rates than just the amount that goes into the increase of CO2 from burning fossil fuels, some 2 to 4-times as much, and accelerating since 2002-2003 [1-3]. Simultaneously, oxygen levels in the world’s oceans have also been falling [4] (see Warming Oceans Starved of Oxygen, SiS 44).
It is becoming clear that getting rid of CO2 is not enough; oxygen has its own dynamic and the rapid decline in atmospheric O2 must also be addressed.
On the upside about 50-85% of oxygen comes from phytoplankton (ocean plants)
It happens with their photosynthesis so yay global warming and sun shine!!
The is a joke!!! (before I get lynched)
Chris
Breathe deep while you can sunshine.
(get an oxygen supply for the day you cant)
We are still letting people sell us lies we can see that has happened many time’s in the past because of people like trump choosing to ignore the Green house effect’s of Human caused Global Warming why because he can milk it he will be getting billion’s through the back door .Wealthy or power full people have set Humanity advances back 100 years by burning books and suppression new technology that will cause these people to lose power and control the carbon( baron that back trump) . If he could make money out of it he would put LEAD back in Petrol .We new lead was poisonous and it took 50 years to rip it out of the capitalist hand’s and put it’s fact’s of a bad mistake in our history books .
We have to stand up and stop these people who are lieing to the whole Papatunuku
JUST to make MONEY enough said I have 2 links below KIA KAHA Green tangata
Ka kite ano P.S Watch Cosmos A Space Time Odssey season 1 episode 7 I will get my mokopunas to all watch all of this awesome programs
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-03/29/c_136167676.htm
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40593353
Newshub Nation The living wage or $20 a hour will not cause a loss of 30 k of jobs thats just the Capitals spin as always.
The worker’s deserve respect like all people is that not In the Law it would be much better for the many if we found solution’s for our low paid seasonal workers shortage I.E a way to make it more worth the effort to go to work I.E the employers need to pay more full stop.
New Zealand have no privacy we are hooked up with the who and we no they are spying on the whole Papatuanuku enough said.
Many thanks Nation for running the story on Myanmar this show’s the Papatuanuku
need to know what’s going on in all these human made greed desasters that are growing at a alarming rate . ka kite ano P.S Tod Barclay enough said boys
Some Eco Maori music M&M has just release his latest album I think we have some of the same views on our reality Ka pai E-Hoa link is below ka kite ano.
Good evening Newshub That’s going to be a Papatuanuku class Americas Cup yacht race held in Auckland Tamaki-makau-rau one will be able to watch the race from the shore .
With Napier’s problems one Great British Actor Michael Cain has made a statement that poverty is what creates crime and that’s a fact .In Napier there were heaps of jobs not now after the last nine years of money transfer policy’s ‘.
There you go Technology at its best Many thanks Alibaba enough said.
China plastic Surgery growth of 40% you know the mokopuna’s they are easily lead it’s the people of my generation that one can see that when they get longer in the tooth that they end up looking bad if they over do it ie heaps of operations .
Kate I’v been wacthing Cosmos Spacetime Odyessey narrated by Neil Degrasse all tangata should watch this series. Ka kite ano P.S I can see how fast the music of my Koauau travels around Papatuanuku