Open mike 31/08/2024

26 comments on “Open mike 31/08/2024 ”

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1. Incognito 1

   31 August 2024 at 10:09 am

   Apologies, I had scheduled OM for 6 pm instead of am.
2. Dennis Frank 2

   31 August 2024 at 10:26 am

   Sloppy journalism here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/526638/the-week-in-politics-no-quick-fix-for-the-energy-crisis

   The Greens were appalled co-leader Chloe Swarbrick wrote an article published by the Herald. In it she accused the government of "gaslighting the country" and "weaponising the current crisis" to justify perpetuating the use of fossil fuels. "An energy system that runs on fossil fuels is wonderful for company profits and shareholder dividends," she said.

   "There are currently 33 wind and solar projects already consented, waiting to be built. They aren't being built because the sky-high shareholder profits aren't in resilient renewables and lower energy bills for regular people."

   Like Hipkins, Swarbrick said National created the crisis by privatising Contact Energy and then partially privatising Genesis, Mercury and Meridian. "In the following 10 years those energy gentailers have paid out $11 billion in shareholder dividends, 2.5 times the amount they've spent on energy generation, infrastructure, maintenance and upgrades," she said.

   Media focused on the plan to import LNG, because it's actually going to happen and Brown said the port facilities needed to bring it in would be ready before the winter of 2026. It's much better than coal and creates less emissions, according to the ministers.

   I see nothing appalling about all this, and the journo offers no basis to substantiate their claim that the Greens were actually appalled. Maybe by this bit…

   We don’t live in a game of Monopoly.

   Could be they were appalled that she doesn't realise the game was created as a model of real life, and we do live in the game of capitalism. Could be she went to a school where capitalism wasn't part of the syllabus or curriculum due to the teachers being youngsters emergent from a generation that avoids such long esoteric words.

   Greens being appalled is fairly normal, you could argue. Western civilisation, in which they remain embedded, is usually appalling in various directions simultaneously, so no real problem. Perhaps the writer got over-excited.
   • Muttonbird 2.1

     31 August 2024 at 11:57 am

     There's been two major attacks on a once robust energy sector run by the state for the people; Bradford 1998 and Key 2014.

     And now here we are.

     I read/heard somewhere 85% of New Zealand's generation capacity was built pre-Bradford. The population of NZ was then 3.8 million, and today 5.3 million. That's a generation capacity increase of just 17% while the population has grown by nearly 40%.

     While there might be several factors at play you can't escape that overall, the free market and private sector simply are not capable of delivering important infrastructure. The profit motive is a basic flaw in those systems.
     • joe90 2.1.1

       31 August 2024 at 12:10 pm

       That's generation capacity increase of just 17% while the population has grown by nearly 40%

       And little, if any, since.

       @CLRenney

       MBIE electricity generation shows this best. In 2023 NZ generated 43,000 GWH of electricity – the same as in 2010. Our population increased by 888,000 during this time and Nominal GDP doubled. Yet no new electricity. The market has failed year after year.

       

       https://x.com/CLRenney/status/1825659043064717473
       • Muttonbird 2.1.1.1

         31 August 2024 at 12:23 pm

         It's staggering to watch the self-described champion of the regions, that buffoon Shane Jones, impotent in the face of broken market realities.

         He and other government actors seem genuinely baffled why their beloved market theory does not work in practice.

         Same with the banking sector, how on earth is selling Kiwibank in order to create a market disruptor for the other four profiteering banks going to do anything other than create five profiteering banks?
         • tc 2.1.1.1.1

           31 August 2024 at 12:40 pm

           A buffoon who never gets challenged on his BS spin as we've become used to now.

           Brown also seems to be able to spin anything he likes.

           MSM are enabling the plunder. That piece from ACT founder Prebble on flogging kiwi bank being another case in point.
           • Obtrectator 2.1.1.1.1.1

             31 August 2024 at 1:14 pm

             A buffoon who never gets challenged on his BS spin as we've become used to now.

             Maybe he does get challenged, but our supine MSM never bothers to report it – too busy sniffing out fresh scandals among the LW parties.
         • AB 2.1.1.1.2

           31 August 2024 at 1:27 pm

           If Kiwibank is sold there's likely to be an initial burst of increased competition as the big four banks attempt to kill it off. If that fails, they will eventually welcome it into their cartel and it will be back to BAU – but with 5 players as you say.
           • Muttonbird 2.1.1.1.2.1

             31 August 2024 at 3:03 pm

             The only bit which might hold true is that if Kiwibank had more customers, the other banks would have fewer by the same number.

             That's the only (and not very) disruptive part about this because, I believe, disruptive means providing a service at a reduced price to gain market share. For that to happened the recapitalised Kiwibank would have to have in its mandate to be disruptive, ie cheaper than the others in order to drive competition and lower cost to the consumer.

             And for the government to imagine this goal would stick it would have to be mandated forever. Who is going to invest in that?
         • Ngungukai 2.1.1.1.3

           31 August 2024 at 7:46 pm

           Shane Jones should stick to teaching the Maaori Language and rehearsing Shakespeare at Secondary Schools preferably not Co-Educational Schools with his track record ???
   • Mikey 2.2

     31 August 2024 at 12:46 pm

     It could be that 'and' should follow 'appalled'.
3. newsense 3

   31 August 2024 at 10:37 am

   Richard Corney, founder of Flight Coffee and The Hangar cafe, said most hospitality business owners would agree things were tougher now than during the Covid years.

   National: worse for the economy than COVID. -prominent businessman.

   Unnecessary cuts just heightening pain in the capital.

   https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350398632/wellington-cafe-suffers-worst-sales-day-ever-public-sector-job-cuts-bite
   • Muttonbird 3.1

     31 August 2024 at 11:01 am

     I'm not sure when journalists are going to begin asking business commentators, economists and politicians what role the National party led government policy has had in an economic downturn worse than the GFC and worse than Covid.

     So far everyone seems to be avoiding that question.

     They sacked a lot of people and have run a campaign of fear and division. These things permeate society and economy. So much for getting our mojo back on track. Everything has got a lot worse for most people.
     • PsyclingLeft.Always 3.1.1

       31 August 2024 at 11:18 am

       Everything has got a lot worse for most people.

       The NACT1 Economic Plan is working well…for the few. The deluded who voted for a tax cut…..or icecream and movies are now finding out as Reality bites..hard.

       Oh, on the RNZ Business page..amongst the other downward spiral, there was this….

       TVNZ posts $85 million loss and a $39m drop in revenue

       TVNZ has posted a large full-year loss as advertising revenue fell and it wrote down the value of assets while signalling more cost cutting.

       The state owned broadcaster reported a loss of $85 million against a $1.7m profit the year before, driven by a $62m write down in asset values, which were not specified, and a $39m drop in revenue.

       https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/526607/tvnz-posts-85-million-loss-and-a-39m-drop-in-revenue

       I dont watch too much of TVNZ..but will the For Sale sign be out soon?
     • Tiger Mountain 3.1.2

       31 August 2024 at 11:29 am

       Yep, CoC is getting an easy run so far. Baldrick and pals are getting the sirkey hot towel treatment.

       Māori and their allies coming fightback will likely be the main challenge to the “Blitzkrieg” attack on virtually all things Māori as Hone Harawira and veteran activists have termed it. It got to the petty level of Minister Goldsmith deleting Māori terms from correspondence to the Australian Govt.–the situation? a Matariki invite–good grief!

       Of course working class people are copping it one way or another–virtually a re-run of 1984–1991.

       Food banks and local Pātaka Kai–free small community pantries–are everywhere in our “land of plenty”. Kids school lunches have been downgraded to dried out sandwiches from nutritious hot meals thanks to “Incel Dave”, and people are definitely suffering food insecurity aka hunger and or low grade foods.

       With this Govt. attacking and defunding disabled, mentally ill, unions (they want a law stopping contractors who are workers even going to Court to be heard!), and beneficiaries, more of you can expect to be burgled, menaced, and encounter aggressive begging by desperate people. Social media is full of scrounging and selling $10 and $20 items, hungry dogs are roaming–they have food insecurity too.

       Two years of this is not going to be fun for hundreds of thousands of NZers.
     • Ngungukai 3.1.3

       31 August 2024 at 9:18 pm

       National are full of bravado and BS, time will tell how really good they are ???
   • Ngungukai 3.2

     31 August 2024 at 7:47 pm

     $2.9 Billion Tax Cuts for Landlords – I don't get it ???
4. Dennis Frank 4

   31 August 2024 at 11:11 am

   Pundit economist surveys those elusive principles: https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-principles-of-the-treaty

   I’ve discussed the issue of co-governance here. Even as Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins said he did not understand what it means. Public discussion has muddled self-government, partnership, co-management and co-governance. The three earlier notions are integral to the running of a liberal democracy.

   Did Hipkins really say that?? I see immediately why it never hit the headlines: state agents would have fanned out in all directions to deny that it happened. His controller would have apologised to the Deep State, positing a programming glitch.

   Hipkins could have dodged it by pointing to the murk factor, which usually kicks in somewhere between principle & policy. "This issue is due to the Labour tradition of murk. Its a paragon of normalcy so no need to get excited. We believe in crowd-sourcing wisdom. The view of the crowd will inform our stance in due course."

   [Please provide a source-link for your last sentence in quote marks, as it didn’t come from Brian Easton’s piece on Pundit – Incognito]
   • Incognito 4.1

     31 August 2024 at 11:34 am

     Mod note
     • Dennis Frank 4.1.1

       31 August 2024 at 2:39 pm

       I didn't intend to imply Easton wrote that – I was suggesting how Hipkins could have helpfully framed Labour's use of crowd-sourcing. I assume they got co-governance from focus groups, since he was PM at the time he apparently didn't understand it…
   • Drowsy M. Kram 4.2

     31 August 2024 at 11:59 am

     Labour's not the only paragon with a tradition of murk
5. joe90 5

   31 August 2024 at 12:22 pm

   Free yourself from state interference or manipulation, they said.

   /
   One of the largest cryptocurrency exchange companies is facing backlash for allegedly seizing crypto from Palestinians at the request of the Israeli army.

   Ray Youssef, co-founder of Paxful, a peer-to-peer crypto platform and CEO at Noones, said on X that Binance had seized all funds from all Palestinians.

   https://www.newarab.com/news/binance-slammed-seizing-palestinian-crypto-israel
6. Joe90 6

   31 August 2024 at 6:41 pm

   Promises promises…..

   Elephant in the room

   @LuxonNotMyGovt

   Remember Luxon and Willis lied most taxpayers would get a $250 per fortnight tax cut bribe said they were self funded did not require borrowing debt or cuts to frontline services and MSM allowed them to get away with their big lie con job to steal the 2023 Election

   

   https://x.com/LuxonNotMyGovt/status/1829244891471511645
   • Ngungukai 6.1

     31 August 2024 at 7:50 pm

     Really I get an extra $15.00 per week, enough for 2.5 x Flat Whites, or 2 x Macdonalds Hamburgers.
     • Grey Area 6.1.1

       31 August 2024 at 9:21 pm

       You're lucky. I get $2.15.
7. Grey Area 7

   31 August 2024 at 9:23 pm

   You're lucky. I get $2.15.

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