Yeah, I love how all the right wing journalists keep trying to advise the Green Party that if only they were more like National they would be able to be a minor part of government and then maybe they could get the occasional environmental policy enacted. Nothing too green of course, nothing that would stop Nats’ mates continuing to wreck the environment. The Herald editorial has a similar flavour to O’Sullivan’s piece. Unbelievably patronising with absolutely no understanding of how the Green Party operates.
The problem with rightwingers is they can’t comprehend the concept of having principals and sticking to them. For them it seems power is all that counts.
That’s political class bilge if ever there was. Nixon “went to China” in order to drive a further wedge between the USSR and China. Don’t forget that at the time he went to China, Nixon was supervising the destruction of Indo-China.
As well as that, his backdoor emissary to the Chinese was Yahya Khan, the bloodsoaked leader of Pakistan. Because of Khan’s sterling work, the United
States refrained from speaking out against Pakistan’s murderous war on East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh.
The idea that the Democrats would somehow have lacked the credentials or political weight to undertake certain actions is as nonsensical as the notion that Obama is a great reformer who is held back by those ornery Republicans.
These long queues we are seeing for people trying to find a place to rent are only going to get bigger and bigger. So the political story will grow too.
Surely this should have an asset-sales scale campaign from a party or parties? Labour and Greens are so close on this.
Another day another Auckland housing story it really is hard to care when most of the problem seems self made buy people flocking there and others indebting them selves to the eye balls.
This Catton girl has been SO naughty……..stroppy little poppy she is. But, as you say, best we all back off a bit. Just wait and see what a good and grateful girl she CAN be I’m sure.
Ekshilly, Je suis just a little bit unsettled what with this freedom of speech thing and its patent gratuitousness (clutching pearls to beat Maggie Smith)………”I mean this is ALL about the prime minister for goodness sake and while she didn’t use the words “traitorous hua”……..well, it’s a slippery slope and there ARE limits !”
Mr Key, FAR more proficient with fiction than she ever was simply does not deserve this sort of thing !
the Herald’s rich money-grubbing right wing owners would not approve of Catton’s comments so it is hardly surprising the Herald has not engaged with the issue raised by Catton, namely rich money-grubbing right wing people.
Kim Hill’s guest says destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan were “mistakes.”
Maziar Bahari needs to divest himself of his smug “friends.”
Radio NZ National, Saturday 31 January 2015
At 8:30 this morning Kim Hill interviewed Iranian Canadian journalist and film-maker Maziar Bahari, the author of Then They Came For Me, a memoir about his imprisonment, beating and interrogation in Iran for over 100 days in 2009. The memoir was the inspiration for Rosewater, a feature film directed by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. In 2013, Bahari launched the Persian/English website Iranwire.com, which focuses on current affairs, culture and politics. He is also involved in Journalism for Change, a platform devoted to citizen journalism, and in the worldwide campaigns Education is Not a Crime and Journalism is Not a Crime. He is visiting New Zealand this week as part of a global campaign leading up to Education is Not a Crime Day on 27 February. His documentary film To Light a Candle – about the denial of education to Bahá’ís in Iran – will also have its New Zealand premiere while he is here. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
Sounds great, right? Well, Maziar Bahari turned out to be an interesting speaker, and obviously a nice fellow. Unfortunately, though, his judgement and/or integrity is less clear, as I pointed out in the following email to Kim Hill….
Maziar Bahari’s carefully tailored words
Dear Kim,
Maziar Bahari described the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan as “mistakes”, not crimes. He also spoke about journalists who are locked up “in Saudi Arabia, Russia and China”—carefully not mentioning the United States or Great Britain.
Perhaps he needs to reassess his relationship with Jon Stewart, who a few weeks ago unctuously referred to the United States and its allies as “Team Civilization”.
Here you go, phillip—American “liberal” hypocrisy at its most ignorant and galling.
Note that the intro. to this clip claims that Stewart “opened his normally comedic Daily Show Wednesday night with somber words of support for the victims in the assault on Charlie Hebdo….
Even if he was referring just to the “international cadre of journalists”, describing that collection of sycophants, propagandists and war-mongers as Team Civilization would make even less sense than if he had meant the Western world in general.
It’s as absurd and insulting to our intelligence as the regular sight of Pentagon stooges talking about the victims of some bombing as “the bad guys”.
Jon Stewart, who a few weeks ago unctuously referred to the United States and its allies as “Team Civilization”.
He did. His style was intimate, warm, compassionate. If he had had the strength of character and the intelligence to simply condemn the killings, and express support for the dead cartoonists and the policemen, that would have been a decent, serious statement.
But he didn’t simply do that. Instead, he went on to talk of “Team Civilization”, as though the West is enlightened and democratic and civilized, as opposed to the frightening savages out of Africa and the Middle East.
For argument’s sake, let’s concede your point that he was talking specifically about the “international cadre of journalists”: if he was, that would be even more of an indefensible thing to say. The corporate media—from the BBC to Fox News to their parrots at TVNZ—are crucial components of the propaganda system. If Stewart is stupid and depraved enough to be confused about that, you should not be so gallant as to try to spin his stupidity and depravity into something else.
Seventy years ago, the likes of Stewart were condemning, with an eye to those in power, the killers of another racist journalist, Julius Streicher.
I’d have thought the bigger point was his declaration to the effect that it was not our business to make sense of it because there was no sense to it. That’s a very fucked approach to what was a very easily understood event.
Very well said, Bill. Here’s Norman Finkelstein addressing this ridiculous idea that atrocities are mystical and beyond analysis….
I took it as a wider team than “America and its allies”.
It looked to me like a comedian was reflecting upon people who will kill other people because of comedy, and referring to folks who do not shoot other people over comedy as “team civilization”.
well yes, I am – only because I don’t know. If you want to abuse people because they ask an honest question then that points to some serious character flaws.
How about this:
I apologise for asking you a polite question about a topic I don’t know much about, but one on which you claim to be an expert. I even googled what appears to be an impartial source and helpfully posted that link in order to facilitate a mature dialog with you. Turns out in fact you are an arrogant fuckwit.
Sami al-Hajj was an innocent Al Jazeera cameraman that the US Government detained for years at Guantanmo Bay with no charges laid.
The US tends to more target whistleblowers (Thomas Drake, Bill Binney, Chelsea Manning, John Kiriaku) and journalist-type individuals (Julian Assange) for harassment, charges and imprisonment.
Having said that if you look at the map and identify those nations which the USA explicitly supports with funding and arms:
Bahrain 6
Egypt 12
Israel and Occupied Territories 4 (Israel also killed several journalists last year)
Saudi Arabia 4
In the USA if you drift out too far from the editorial line you simply get your ass fired and become unemployable as opposed to imprisoned (eg Nasr, Clancy).
technically he’s been sentenced for 3 charges – accessory after the fact to a crime and helping the perpertrators evade prosecution, obstructing justice, and threatening to kill an FBI agent. He’s just pleaded guilty to those.
The US justice system has gone down the road of negotiating plea bargains form their targets, which means that the cases and evidence never see a jury or a judge.
Essentially they say to the target – you plead guilty to this and this, and we’ll put you away for three or four years. Or we’ll go after you with these other charges, and you will go away for 30 or 35 years.
Sorry, nadis, I shouldn’t have jumped at you like that. I (wrongly) assumed that you were playing the Te Reo Putake game of stonewalling and asserting that black is white and up is down.
I appreciate you are genuine in trying to find out more about this, but the “Committee to Protect Journalists” is about as reliable as Fox News—which is one of its “corporate media donors” along with the Associated Press, CNBC, and CNN. The CPJ has close ties to extreme right wing Cuban “exile” terrorist groups in Miami and New York.
Like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the CPJ is a suspect and deeply compromised organisation.
Fuck me, what a load of shit. The CPJ is highly respected, has a long and proud record of campaigning for journalists and indeed, saving the lives of many who have been imprisoned. Y’know, real journalists, not the imaginery ones in your head, Moz.
Have a read and feel ashamed at your dismal effort at slandering them:
Funding
According to the organization’s 2011 Annual Report, financial supporters include individuals, corporations, and foundations. The report does not include details on the largest financial supporters. Corporate media donors include the Associated Press, CNBC, CNN and Fox News.
“Highly respected”, indeed. Not highly respected by real journalists and people who bother to read more than the Grauniad and the Daily Mail, but “highly respected” by certain “corporate media donors”.
They are staunchly independant, [sic] do good work and save lives.
They are funded by a retinue of establishment pillars, including Fox News and extreme right wing Cubans. Their “surveys” are selective and partisan, just like you would expect from a “Committee” funded by Fox News and extreme right wing Cubans.
But please, go ahead and call the CPJ “independant”. It’s your (paper thin) credibility that’s on the line when you back such partisan sources.
You … not so much.
Okay, sling off at me if you want. After that, have a listen to Jeremy Scahill, who is definitely NOT the kind of American journalist who endorses Fox News and extreme right wing Cuban terrorists…..
As you know perfectly well, they are pursuing Julian Assange and Edward Snowden with implacable ferocity; Assange is currently in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and Snowden has found refuge in Russia.
Yes, I guess you could quibble and claim that Snowden is not a credentialed journalist in the way that such outstanding practitioners of the craft as John Roughan and Fran O’Sullivan are credentialed, but the fact remains: if you speak the truth and reveal what the Government is trying to hide from its citizens in the United States, you can expect massive retaliation from the criminals you expose.
It’s not a quibble to point out that neither man is a journalist and neither man is locked up in the USA or the UK. If you have the names of journalists who are imprisoned up in those countries, please feel free to post them. If there are any then they need to have their cases publicised. Telling us their names would be a great start.
BZZZZT! Wrong answer. We were looking for journalists imprisoned in the US or UK, that’s journalists imprisoned in the US or UK. Next contestant please. For ten pounds, can you tell me what is wrong with Moz? I’ll repeat the question: what is wrong with Moz? You may confer with your teammates or phone a friend.
I appreciate the levity, Te Reo, but you haven’t done anything to answer the challenge: what about James Risen?
Just so you get on with that task, we’ll pretend for a moment that Assange, Snowden and Manning are not in asylum, exile or prison for their role in exposing momentous crimes.
BZZZZT! We were looking for journalists imprisoned in the US or UK. Contestant, you have answered James Risen who is … (checks notes) … not imprisoned in the US or UK. No points. Do any of the other contestants know the names of journalists imprisoned in the US or UK? Take your time …
Well actually I have, and it turns out he isn’t imprisoned nor is he in jail which tends to invalidate the main thrust of your rant. In fact in the story you linked there is this:
“Mr. Holder pledged not to send reporters to jail, which would normally be the consequence of refusing to testify in a case like Mr. Sterling’s. Then, he indicated that he would not force Mr. Risen to reveal his sources, but would instead force Mr. Risen only to reveal limited information that he had already acknowledged.”
So not only has not been in jail, isn’t currently in jail, the US Attorney General has ruled out putting him in jail.
Right – I see your point exactly.
I have mixed views on Snowden and Assange. The bulk of what they released should not have been. The evidence of crime (i.e., Chelsea Manning’s helicopter video) – no problem, but stuff which endangers people or hinders legitimate law enforcement I’m less supportive of.
And on this:
“if you speak the truth and reveal what the Government is trying to hide from its citizens in the United States, you can expect massive retaliation from the criminals you expose.”
Are you equally as strident about the worse behaviour of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran etc? Last time I checked the US government wasn’t sanctioning extra-judicial murder of domestic critics.
So despite your bold claim
“He also spoke about journalists who are locked up “in Saudi Arabia, Russia and China”—carefully not mentioning the United States or Great Britain.”
Are you equally as strident about the worse [sic] behaviour of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran etc? Last time I checked the US government wasn’t sanctioning extra-judicial murder of domestic critics.
With the odd exception, my government does not usually support the crimes of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, etc. It routinely does so for the crimes of the United States and the United Kingdom.
You speak confidently about Snowden and Assange exposing “stuff which endangers people or hinders legitimate law enforcement.” What evidence do you have that they did that? I’d be intrigued if you put it up on this site for us, because neither the U.S. nor U.K. government could manage to do so.
I am as opposed to state power being abused in Russia, China, Turkey and Iran as I am to it being abused in Australia and New Zealand. Are YOU?
Can you please focus on providing evidence for your earlier (mis)-assertions, otherwise people will continue to believe you are a flake. Just trying to help you out.
But, yes, you’re both right—journalists can usually speak out without fear in the United States. Thank the radicals and liberals who framed the Constitution for that.
However, constitutional and legal protections can only go so far—when governments bring their powers to bear on an individual truth-teller, they will tear down the protections if they can get away with it, including such troublesome notions as legal sanctuary and asylum. Some in the Cameron regime even suggested storming the Ecuadorian embassy to get their hooks on Assange.
I guess that’s as close as we’re going to get to you acknowledging your mistake, Moz. Some weasel words and a link to a court case last decade. Ah, well, the real takeaway from this discussion is that you don’t feel obliged to hold yourself up to the standards you demand of others. The Greeks probably had a word for that (though it may have been sold off to the troika by now).
ps. If you’d thought about it harder, you could have resorted to pedantry by mentioning all those Murdoch employees currently doing porridge in the UK. Of course, they’re not in jail for journalism, but for actual crimes.
I see, Te Reo, that you’ve garnered some (belated) support from one of our friends—one with a rather insalubrious record of credulity. He posted his intelligent comment at 3:46 p.m., more than four hours after everyone had gone home.
It’s almost as if this example of you making shit up in a froth-frenzy (and then wriggling around trying not to admit you fucked up) will remain as yet another permanent record of your loose relationship with reality.
Is it me, or is something seriously happening to NZ and are we well and truly stuffing up this once clean green country that Keys likes to promote but still allows dairying to pollute.
Normally when we have a hot dry weather you are deafened by the Cicada’s. This year the silence of the Cicada’s is deafening, Silence. Hardly a sound. The other thing I have noticed over the last few years, when I came to NZ over 45 year ago, the Myna’s used to line up at the side of the road to get the dead insects hit by cars, and jump out of the way ”just in time” before they were hit by a vehicle. The number of Myna’s doing that now, to me seems to have decreased.
In my non expert opinion, these two things, along with the Kauri die back and the devastation of the Cabbage tree by a virus concerns me that all is not well with the environment of NZ.
Yeah, I noticed that there are a lot less cicadas than usual. Cicadas and summer go hand in hand for me. I love them, always have. When summer kicks off I always listen out for the first cicada.
Cicada’s have a long in ground life cycle (5-7 years) and years where there are lower numbers can be traced back to adverse weather events during breeding. They also forecast ‘mast’ years by the same logic. I think from memory there was one in the Hutt Valley 4 or so years ago where literally thousands could be seen on a single lamppost.
Regarding the cabbage tree virus it is actually a long existing disease called Phytoplasma that proliferated with the arrival of a new vector in this case passion vine hoppers the same has happened with Phormium.
Kauri dieback is more interesting I cant help but suspect that the particular phytophera strain has long existed but has been inadvertently spread or subtle climate changes have allowed it to proliferate. Phytophera exists in all soils and is usually kept in check by other naturally occurring organisms like trichoderma.
Perhaps we are loving our kauri to death. I looked at available bookings to view the great kauri in Northalnd I think it was Tane Mahuta himself, but it was booked up for months. It is said that the numbers of people going through the kauri are probably transporting this nasty whatsit around. I looked at an old book the other day and there was one of the old super giant kauris in it and two people standing at the base were dwarfed and I don’t know how many people it would have taken to stretch arms round the trunk.
We have probably reached the stage where we have to limit visitors and make times for NZs to visit. It would be nice to get a chance. There are limits to viewing Tiritiri Matenga Island – it’s special and same with kauri. And keep pigs off – they are said to be another problem, and then they would draw hunters and their dogs after them.
There is an extensive board walk and board platform to view Tane Mahuta from – built in recent years – designed to protect the forest floor around the old giant.
What I think should be of more concern is that huge logging trucks trundle up and down the road beside that forest – I would think that causes much more damage reverberating from roadside thru to the forest – than people on a board walk.
Instead, an army of swarming frustrating flies has invaded New Zealand.
P.S :
I have made four fly traps using empty plastic coke bottles as shown in the link below. The fly attractants I have used/experimented include liver, honey, fish and , fermenting yeast.
While some flies have been attracted and get caught, I am still not satisfied as there are heaps of flies still flying about. I have read that different types of flies are attracted to different types of bait!
Question : Do any of you know which may be the best fly attractant to the contemporary flies we have?
Here is the info for a very simple home made fly trap! You are welcome!
Instead of taking the all-out nuclear option and viciously killing flies, have you ever thought of just trying to reason with them ? You know, being a decent human being by making an effort to appeal to their moral sensibilities ? Next time you see a couple of flies flying around like out-of-control boy-racers, just try telling them (preferably in an authentic Yorkshire accent) ‘Come on, luds, there’s no need for all this, there was never any need for it. Let’s just let bygones be bygones.” And if that doesn’t do the job then just corner one of them and have a quiet word along the lines of: “If this sort of behaviour continues, young man, then I’m going to have to have a serious talk with your father”. Works a treat every time. Flies are people too, remember.
Hm, that may be my last resort….Simple sweet talking sound bites to these filthy-free-market neoliberal buggers hovering around with such utterly gutterly misappropriating maddening minds.
I won’t be surprised if the crooks come with embedded mobile and GPS these days!
Your better with a pair of frogs in a terrarium, and using a butterfly net to catch the flies. Great light excise and quite addictive seeing how many you can scoop. Give us a laugh seeing (all arms & legs) & hearing them crashing about the foliage nailing their prey. You know when really content, as Mrs & Mr Froggy sing with delight. Amazes me how they can eat so many as the next morning very few are left.
There is bugger all flies aroung mine this year and being a farm house that’s a surprise. We’ve had a 30ish swallows living with us so i wonder if that’s the cause.
Normally when we have a hot dry weather you are deafened by the Cicada’s. This year the silence of the Cicada’s is deafening,
Cicadas (species specific ) have long life cycles and have evolved over time to select periods determinable with prime numbers to constrain predation ie they tend to outlive their predators.
Usually at this time of year we are feeding our yellow bearded dragon lizard them, he goes crazy chasing them around his terrarium, something’s up their absence if strange. In the interim plenty of crickets from our back section. Out place is a zoo, all good makes a happy home.
Would you say that the water quality is of very great concern? I personally feel that there is being more and more taken from the qualifier and wonder why the Farmers and associated industry do not (want to?) realize that their water will one day be saline because of it. At the same time, water quality is being compromised at all levels with the excuse that it is OK to have a “certain amount” of pollutants go into streams and lakes. It already affects the health of people due to high nitrate concentration in the water table – our drinking water.
I think this is connected to all living things and beings.
I have to say, the Greek fight against the German led Troika is stirring all my romantic Byronic philhellenism!!!
When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbors;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and Rome,
And get knocked on his head for his labors.
To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always nobly requited;
Then battle for freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.
If a deal isn’t struck then Greece as a whole and the poorer parts particular will get economically smashed as Greece has a massive budget shortfall. Someone will blink first – Greece or the EU?
With EUR exit off the table I can’t see what options Greece has. They can’t fund current expenditure by themselves let alone service their debt. I’m assuming Tsipras has a plan, but so far with the cancelling of asset sales, re-hiring and raising pensions/salaries he has cocked his nose at the Germans who are paying his bills, while at the same time building a level of expectation within Greece that will be very difficult to wind back if necessary. Maybe he is just going nuclear and saying “we are going to default, so get your check book out”. If so, I think that is a miscalculation – I think the Germans would let Greece default and leave the Euro. It would actually make it stronger as it removes an outlier from an appropriate policy perspective.
What has been disappointing from a Syriza policy perspective is any talk about cracking down on corruption, tax evasion and the cosy corrupt monopolies that enrich the top end of Greece. If they addressed some of those issues the discussions with Germany would be lot easier plus Greece would have a ton more fiscal revenue.
This is how a police state protects “secrets”:
Jeffrey Sterling, the CIA and up to 80 years on circumstantial evidence
Sterling’s conviction should chill anyone who believes in investigative reporting in a free society
by MARCY WHEELER, Salon, 29 January 2015
The participants in the economy of shared tips and intelligence in Washington D.C., breathed a collective sigh of relief when, on January 12, the government announced it would not force James Risen to testify in the trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling. “Press freedom was safe! Our trade in leaks is safe!” observers seemed to conclude, and they returned to their squalid celebration of an oppressive Saudi monarch.
That celebration about information sharing is likely premature. Because, along the way to the conviction of Sterling this week on all nine counts – including seven counts under the Espionage Act — something far more banal yet every bit as dear to D.C.’s economy of secrets may have been criminalized: unclassified tips.
To understand why that’s true, you need to know a bit about how the Department of Justice larded on charges against Sterling to get to what represents a potential 80-year maximum sentence (though he’s unlikely to get that). Sterling was accused — and ultimately convicted — of leaking two related things: First, information about the Merlin operation to deal flawed nuclear blueprints to Iran, as well as the involvement of a Russian engineer referred to as Merlin in the trial. In addition to that, the government charged Sterling separately for leaking a document (one which the FBI never found, in anyone’s possession): a letter Merlin included along with the nuclear blueprints he wrapped in a newspaper and left in the mailbox of Iran’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency. So the government convicted Sterling of leaking two things: information about the operation, and a letter that was used in the operation.
Then, having distinguished the operation from the letter, DOJ started multiplying. They charged Sterling for leaking the operation to Risen, then charged him for causing Risen to attempt to write a 2003 New York Times article about it, then charged him for causing Risen to publish a book chapter about it: one leak, three counts of espionage.
Then they charged Sterling for improperly retaining the letter (again, FBI never found it, not in CIA’s possession, not in Sterling’s possession, and Merlin purportedly destroyed his version before anyone could find it in his possession). Then DOJ charged Sterling for leaking the letter to Risen, then charged him for causing Risen to attempt to write a 2003 New York Times article including it, then charged him for causing Risen to publish a book chapter including verbatim excerpts from it (apparently Risen is a better investigator than the FBI, because he found a copy): one letter, four more counts under the Espionage Act. ….
I agree with Morrissey.
On top of the various examples he has presented, there is also the simple fact that the west has other powerful ways of controlling journalists.
You only get a job or get promoted if you say the right things.
Look at the Eleanor Catton affair to see the state of the media here and the role in suppressing dissent.
I recommend everyone watches Shadows of Liberty.
The story of Gary Webb shows what happens when a US journalist questions the system.
Sobering. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1543807/
The roots of one of our leafy tenants had cracked the pipe and, while the plumber chap was seeking out the best fitting replacement part, I sawed another chunk of exposed root away. “Sorry, mate,” I said as I patted the tree.
There’s more and more research suggesting that plants have a kind of sentience beyond what we normally consider. Nature is intelligent and it behooves us to behave as if that were true, for our own sakes as much as for nature’s.
“And saying sorry is also healthy”
That one seem especially important all things considered.
You, or at least the person who cut the tree root, is a brute.
That wasn’t the English word “mate” but the Maori word with the same spelling.
He was saying sorry because he had killed the poor tree. Very healthy indeed!
There’s probably another pun there on the word mate to do with what marty was talking about, mea culpa mea mate, to mangle it completely, but I’ve been online too long to come up with something better.
You,
or at least
the person who cut
the tree root,
is a brute.
That wasn’t the
English word
“mate”
but the Maori
word with the
same spelling.
He was saying sorry
because he had killed
the poor tree.
Very healthy
indeed!
as an aside maybe phils prose should be read as poetry 🙂
Talk to water too!
The following links say there is scientific evidence to show that water undergoes structural (not chemical) changes constantly depending upon different factors. Good happy thoughts or bad thoughts affect the structure of water doing good or harm to you. Take a look!
Structured Water : How music/words/thoughts affect structure of water[8 minutes]
Water effects :Sadhguru at IIT Madras (Part V) [9 minutes]
In the thread about Syriza’s victory I picked out this sentence from one of the articles, “To start from priorities and then define the method.” I think it is very important that parties on the left do just that if they want to be taken seriously. Andrew Little seems to get this, since he has listed four priorities he intends to discuss over his coming speeches, and I hope he does not waver from it.
If we look at how, say, the Capital Gains tax was presented last election, the order ran the other way – it was put forward as a method for curbing house-price inflation and addressing inequality. But people were expected to trust that the stated objectives would follow from the method. And this is my point – when you declare an aim you are making a commitment, and people can assume that you will adapt your method accordingly. When you declare a method, insisting that some desired objective will result from it, you are effectively asking for unwarranted trust, since your commitment stops at the method. For this reason, the method-before-aim order comes across as more of a pitch than a promise.
That’s very good. So with the CGT, it should be presented later as a solution to some other aim? eg we’re going to do x, y, z (eg build more houses), and here is how we pay for it.
Yes, if you put the intended result first, it can be assumed you will adjust your method if the one you have in mind doesn’t work. For example, let’s say, “We are going to build more houses and we will pay for it with a capital gains tax.” However, house sales slow down and we are not getting enough from the CGT, so we are obliged to look for another way of paying for the houses. Whereas if we say, “A CGT will result in more houses being built” and this doesn’t happen, we are committing ourselves only to the CGT but not the houses – if things don’t result as we said they would, well too bad. I think people sniff out the difference intuitively without the need to analyse the arguments.
The thing is, National do not have to meet any such standards – their commitment is to their cronies and their pitch is to the public. And National voters know that the pitch is merely to placate waverers and ward off criticism. Labour does not have, and cannot have, that luxury. They did have something like it in the eighties, when aspiring young men of the city gravitated their way, but then they had not yet lost the trust of working class and National had not won over the aspiring young men. Now, they have no choice but to say what they mean and mean what they say. Convincingly.
… their commitment is to their cronies and their pitch is to the public
Which of course is exactly what Labour has been doing in recent years. That is, trying to be National lite and adopt their type of strategy. Cunliffe tried to shift the paradigm but he didn’t have enough time or support to do it. Now Labour has a new leader who understands that for Labour to succeed it must be the other way around – a commitment to ordinary NZers and a pitch to potential cronies. He started down that road this week just gone.
I agree. I voted for Andrew, and I am glad I did. I like the fact that he has four priorities he intends to discuss in the next little while – the SME one being his state-of-the nation speech. You know where you are with someone who can clearly articulate their priorities.
If Labour starts back on CGT again, it is a vote killer. Most people in Auckland know what the problem is, immigration and high cost of materials and commercialisation of housing and low wages that are not keeping up with inflation. There are so many other ways to solve or relive the housing in Auckland. For example in the old days, you could have a granny flat on your property or rent out a basement or whatever to help with the rent/mortgage etc or to house other members of the family like your elderly parents etc. Not only did it help to provide additional income for lower income people it also allowed a cheaper nicer place for affordable accommodation in better areas for renters.
Now, no way. Has to be an apartment to be affordable which has Body corp fees, no pets normally, and not so good for children. To get through a legal granny flat there is a huge amount of red tape to get one in a domestic house.
(BTW Nothing to do with RMA and the National RMA reforms are to make unaffordable housing and to polluters to wreck the environment!) You can bet no one has suggested Granny flats in the unitary plan – that because in NZ, democracy is a business, full of lobbyists – they actually don’t want real people who want housing to have a say, just barristers of people who have land and want to develop it (which will not be for affordable housing but for unaffordable housing to make a profit) or politicians who don’t really know much about housing.
Currently to create a granny flat/minor unit on dwelling in Auckland, you need to pay approx $10,000 straight to council for 2nd unit, approx $12,000 for separate water meter, god knows for separate power etc etc. Quite frankly that is why you have no affordable housing. Because of the above to create an affordable unit that is council compliant would be about $40,000 before you actually do the work. AT say $300 a week for rent it would take about 3 years before you paid back the council and the utility connections alone. But in most parts of Auckland you are not allowed to have a granny flat anyway. If the council allowed Granny flats cheaply then you could make about 20% more housing in Auckland for the cost of conversion of a 2nd kitchen.
Utilising existing housing stock would be the easiest way in the short term to create more housing in rental shortage areas.
What is wrong with this country is that people only have 1 idea and then they just keep bringing it up to solve a problem that is different to the solution. It is simpleton politics.
65% of Kiwis or something like that own property, it is their key asset and they do not want to lose it by some politician in Wellington trying to solve a housing problem in Auckland, that will not be solved by CGT but instead impact them on their retirement of their biggest asset, all while the top 1% are paying practically no tax. If anything should be learn’t by Greece, don’t target middle class to pay the taxes of the mistakes of the super rich. They see red, (and don’t vote for it).
If you wanna kill housing price rises (and none of the top 5% with a big property portfolio does), you tamp down bank lending, and you put a big fuck off stamp duty on every residential property transaction a person undertakes over 1 transaction every 3 years.
Also we cannot have 1/3 of NZ’s population living in 0.3% of NZ’s land area.
I’m totally for stamp duty if there is a tax on property, to make sure even the super rich and immigrants pay it too. Not only would it be an immediate way to get taxes, you could target for the poor. i.e. under $250k no stamp duty. First home owners, no stamp duty, etc. But should be very low like 1/2 percent or something like that. That way when you buy your 10 million dollar mansion in Auckland, hey presto, $50,000 in revenue for NZ taxpayer and all collected by title transfer and no way to get out of it by clever accounting.
When you look at growing inequality – whereas it predicted that 1% of the world is going to own 99% of world’s assets, it is pretty clear that governments need to target the 1% owning all the assets. If you look at John Key, owns 50 million in assets but nobody really knows cos it’s in various trusts etc – that is who should be paying more tax and targeted.
Going on about the ‘greedy’ investors, ‘greedy baby boomers’ greedy landlords etc latest scapegoat, is missing the point. Why are some people owning 50 million in assets and gaining more and more every year? If that super rich group, paid more tax then maybe we could afford more for everybody else.
In Italy they actually targeted people driving about in Porsches and expensive cars, guess what, found a lot of them could not account for their cars, and many claimed subsidies and on the lowest tax bracket.
Labour and Greens need to stop whipping the PAYE middle class for tax and actually look at fair ways to target consumption such a stamp duty. Personally I would prefer someone (often coming into the country) to have to pay a small tax to purchase an expensive house. Even if stamp duty was on houses over 3 million – again it is stopping super expensive houses being speculated on and farm sales etc
Soon, in Auckland in places in the inner city they are going to reach that level with the constant speculation (often on the family home so not affected by any CGT if that came in) and that is actually locking out families that used to live in those areas.
There are many flexible and varied ideas which can be used. I generally agree that taxation via PAYE and GST is over used and taxation on capital/land/speculation/financial transactions under used.
Although to make a statement, I would introduce one more much higher PAYE threshold set at 10x the minimum wage = over $280,000 pa.
The total value of houses sales in NZ in 2014 was 40 billion. Assuming you get a 0.5% stamp duty on every one of those you’ll raise 200 million. Exclude all houses under 400,000 and you’ll raise 120 million.
120 million is equivalent to about 240 houses at the NZ median house price. Thats a rough idea of the demand impact of a stamp duty (studies into Tobin tax indicate the reduction in turnover is roughly equivalent to the tax raised. A heroic assumption but gives an idea)
Too inflexible and prone to failure in my view. Might be used as a short term emergency measure. Controlling down house prices over the longer term will require a range of powerful measures.
Price controls, subsidies, extra taxes etc may all work in the short term but eventually distort completely the market they are applied to. Imagine what would happen if the government mandated a maximum price of 29 cents per kilogram for bananas? Eventually two things would happen – supermarkets would sell no bananas, and there would be black market where you actually ended up paying higher prices.
The best way to reduce the Auckland housing shortage is by incentivising people to act in their best interests. Build a fast rail from Auckland to Whangarei and Auckland to Hamilton. Any new Govt sector jobs have to go outside Auckland. Make it easier to build new houses in Auckland. Encourage high density housing initiatives. Bring in Singapore style traffic congestion charging.
Little bit hard to sell a house on the black market.
I’m all for
“”The best way to reduce the Auckland housing shortage is by incentivising people to act in their best interests. Build a fast rail from Auckland to Whangarei and Auckland to Hamilton. Any new Govt sector jobs have to go outside Auckland. Make it easier to build new houses in Auckland. Encourage high density housing initiatives. Bring in Singapore style traffic congestion charging.”
And would add if we as a nation invested in small town nz in stead of letting them fade away less people would drift to the big smoke.
Well actually no its not hard. There would be plenty of ways to avoid the price cap – paying too much for chattels, settling in 6 months time but renting at a premium in the mean time, losing at high stakes poker etc. Why would a person sell their property for less than waht someone is prepared to pay? Don’t underestimate peoples capacity to innovate. I hesitate to call anything around economic behaviour a law, but the closest you get is individuals acting in their own best interest. It’s been that way for millions of years of evolution.
One of my children is thinking about buying a first home – unless something amazing pops up, I don’t think there is any harm in waiting. Economic cycles and all that – anyone with grey hair can think of plenty of times in the past where we have had similar fears about asset prices. And guess what, eventually they revert.
Fast fact: 80% of residential property development in Singapore is done by the public sector. That’s how important the Singaporean government views stable housing supply and pricing.
The Singaporean public sector develops everything from cheap social housing to million dollar luxury appartments.
I suspect that Singapore modelled its system off the NZ of the 1950s and 60s.
I’ve lived in Singapore – it’s a resource constrained (land + everything else) country and the deal the population has done with the govt is that they will give up a certain amount of civil rights in exchange for certainty around things like housing and minimum standard of living.
Not sure NZ’ers would embrace 1 or 2 room HDB housing.
Understood. It’s not exactly the Kiwi dream. Yet in the peculiar Auckland environment I think the market has shown that ‘cheap’ 2 bedroom 80m2 apartments will sell like hot cakes to young people and first home buyers.
Currently we have speculators making a killing in Auckland – tax ’em as well. The Nats really need to do something more in Auckland than make fancy (but useless) speeches.
I think the framing of the question is important. Essentially that survey asked: “Are you in favour of other people paying capital gains tax?” I’m surprised 100% weren’t in favour of that.
Speculators should be getting taxed under existing rules. If you buy an asset – any asset – for a trading or speculative purpose – any gains are taxed at your personal tax rate. The rules are in existence. All that needs to change is the threshold that is applied to assessment. At the moment it is something like 6 property transactions in a 2 year period. That could easily be lowered to capture more.
Just read this off a Facebook group that I belong to:
“….I heard a rumour this morning, and would like to know if theres any truth to it,if there is, then its an outrage.
Ok, the rumour is…. that all those 3 bedrooms that people are being kicked out of,and extra bedrooms added are not for larger families at all.They are ‘social housing’ in the broadest sense of the word,meaning they are to be ‘shared; in the same manner as a boarding house,anyone single without dependants is to be put in this ‘shared social housing’ the small ablution block style houses reserved for those with dependants.
If theres anyone on here thats matey with a local MP, could they please get that MP to check and see if this is correct,as my old neighbour was offered a place in one and was told this was the arrangement for adults with no dependants nowadays by her tenancy manager…..”
No, Marty, you’re wrong. I conceded—admittedly after a bit of squabbling—their point that not a lot of journalists are actually in jail in the United States—pointing out that this happy state of affairs is entirely due to the radicals and liberals who wrote the Constitution, and to generations of activists who have fought for the right to speak freely in America.
I also pointed out, with a few examples, that the United States regime has been, and is, a grave threat to journalists all over the world.
Thank you for your concern my friend – you would have had more luck quoting figures for people of colour wrongly imprisoned or maybe indigenous people wrongly and unjustly imprisoned, even today – maybe some of them were journalists too.
Interesting link on your web site there about the “American Dream” – or lack of it any more.
The stats there are very similar to ones I’ve seen here in NZ… one that really caught my eye about child poverty:
“#15 Right now, more than one out of every five children in the United States is on food stamps”
Great stuff, but too obvious for the current “administration” here I suspect.
I can tell. Pull your pants up. If one of your doomsdays does occur, I suppose your last words will be an orgasmic “I told you so” that, sadly for you, nobody else will hear.
In the meantime, how’s the NZ ebola epidemic going? Aren’t we all due to have it by now?
There is an anti Greece pro capitalist article in the Kiwi blog. I put the above link there and made the following comment.
“I hope our stupid, lying neo-liberal, profit-obsessed, narrow, myopic and money-hungry pro wealthy, pro corporate, capitalist National/ACT government changes its agenda and stops all its shallow, pro rich and anti people, anti nation policies such as for example, the sale of state houses immediately. The uncontrolled, mega rich corporate driven capitalist free market agenda is a fraud on the ordinary people, the less privileged, the ‘under class’ and the poor”
No-one will take you seriously because you are obviously hiding your lack of knowledge behind over the top jargon which is so exaggerated it is meaningless.
You sound like an exaggerated version of Wolfie Smith.
by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
Buzz from the Beehive New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
Nick Matzke writes – Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
Hi,Before we get to Hayden’s column — RIP to Millennials Killing Everything — a quick observation.There was a day last week where it had suddenly reached 10pm and I hadn’t eaten all day. Hunger had suddenly gripped me with a panicky all-consuming force, so I jumped onto Uber Eats and ...
We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
So the teachers are on strike, marching across Aotearoa today to press their demands for better pay and working conditions.Children remained in bed this brisk morning, many no doubt quite pleased about a day off school. Parents perhaps taking the day off to look after the kids, or working from ...
After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
Ouch: Hipkins’ policy bonfire has resulted in an expensive self-administered removal of a Budgetary foot with an explosive device. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Bonfires can be dangerous things when they get out of control. They also create a lot of smoke and heat and burn the grass. ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
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The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Buzz from the Beehive Exempting bikes, electric bikes and scooters from fringe benefit tax looked like something of a sop for a Green Party that had good grounds to grumble after a bunch of climate change measures was tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire. The combustibles included the clean car ...
Today is a Member's Day, the first of the year. Unfortunately it also looks to be a boring one. First, there's a two hour debate on the budget policy statement (somehow inexplicably "member's business", despite it being fundamentally a government thing). Then there's a couple of "private bills" - people ...
Most days, Chris Hipkins and James Shaw seem a bit like the Seals and Crofts of the centre-left: Earnest, inoffensive, and capable of quite nice harmonies at times. They blow gently through the jasmine in your mind, but you know they’re never going to rock your world. Back in 2020, ...
The reflection gazed back at him. Pale and a little paunchy, he wasn’t a well man.He had a toga made from a fitted sheet and it kept bunching up under his armpits.His Laurel wreath was made from some Christmas tree branches he’d found in the shed, not a real pine ...
Yesterday we covered the government’s latest policy/delivery changes with a focus on light rail. But there was another important transport part of the announcement: The government will also intends to scale back its road safety plans. The programmes that are being reprioritised include: Significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to ...
Unbridled Consumption: This civilisation we have built (we being the whole human species) is the most astonishingly wonderful thing homo sapiens has ever seen. We love it. We cannot imagine how awful life would be without it. And, we most certainly are not going to co-operate with anyone who advises ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Let’s start with the absolute truisms.Politics is the art of the possibleHalf of something is better than all of nothingLet us now consider these with reference to the Under New Management government.What is a supporter of progressive politics to make of the abandonment of various policies, as announced in recent post-cabinet ...
Chris Hipkins has surprised even some of his closest friends and backers with the bounce he has secured for Labour in public polls since he became Prime Minister. He has been put to the test since he took over from Jacinda Ardern in the top job, and has shown a ...
Buzz from the Beehive It was a big day for the stopping or slowing of a second tranche of government programmes, an exercise which Beehive publicists are pitching as measures to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on “the bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders. ...
Last night there was a One News political poll which was welcomed by the left and will cause some concern in the opposition camp. A poll that showed no path to victory for ACT and National and which would likely result in another Labour/Greens government, possibly with the inclusion, or ...
Our young renters can vote Labour or Green as often as they like, but will end up paying the price of more and bigger climate emergencies, while also paying most of their after-tax income on rent with little hope of owning their own homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR:PM ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at ...
Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at the working class politics of places like West Auckland ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Chris Baraniuk It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, the thermal engineer suddenly had all ...
Hi,I just wanted to say hello as this week really gets going, and check in about a few things. They’re a series of fractured random thoughts, so bear with me! First up — I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages and I’m really glad I watched yesterday. It felt like ...
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention. “I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages. “Reducing transport ...
The Hipkins Government revealed its true colours yesterday as it chopped a whole series of “nice to have” policies — many of them promoted by the Greens — and instead diverted the savings to relieve the impact of inflation. His approach is all about taking action; no more excuses, ...
Saving The People From ... The People: The strangest aspect of the mass Israeli protests, from a New Zealand perspective, is that the judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would only confer upon Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, powers which the New Zealand House of Representatives has not only exercised ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
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We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region. Establishing a regime to pave ...
Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
$15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University IISD/ENB The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation. The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva The installation of the Turaga Bale na Vunivalu Na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, clearly indicates that Fiji’s traditional chiefly system still has a strong footing and chiefs still command respect among the country’s citizens. This is the view of Dr Paul Geraghty, the University ...
ANALYSIS:By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in ...
By Antoine Samoyeau in Pape’ete About 3000 activists of French Polynesia’s pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party met for six hours at the weekend with the executives insisting that they were “united’ after a recent upheaval over leadership. The party also presented a “renewed” slate of 73 candidates for next month’s territorial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The first arrest has been made following the Brereton inquiry into allegations that Australians committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, 41, has been remanded in custody after his arrest by ...
We have our 2023 finalists after a big Sunday double-header at North Shore Stadium. Alice Soper reviews.Matatū vs BluesMatatū have scored the first try in every match they have played this season. It looked like this streak was going to be broken as the Blues finally found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Park, Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock Some 70% of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island has been closed to non-essential visitors in response to a recurrence of the plant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suranga Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer – Security, University of Sydney Shutterstock Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor, The Conversation Thanks in no small part to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today few people would be foolish enough to dispute the scientific consensus on the climate crisis. But as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Windholz, Senior Lecturer and Associate, Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Monash University Inadequate, inequitable, and in some cases possibly in breach of workers’ compensation laws. That’s how bad the current insurance arrangements are for Australia’s professional sports people, ...
The newly-minted Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, has been called on by the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) to investigate how the previous Minister allowed Police to propose extraordinary fee increases for licensed firearm owners without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Kingsford, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Bill Ormonde, Author provided Millions of dead fish float on the surface of the river. Native bony herring and introduced young carp, as well as a few mature ...
Things make more sense when people are speaking your language! This CAB Awareness Week (20-26 March), we are celebrating diversity and multiculturalism within our service. At the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are committed to making sure our service ...
The second week of the Auckland Arts Festivals showed the versatility of the city’s spaces, even when not matched entirely correctly with shows. Sam Brooks reviews (with assistance from Shanti Mathias).I often dismay at the lack of performance spaces we have in Auckland, and it takes something like the ...
The free and easy SMS two factor authentication (2FA) to log into your Twitter account ends today. That concerns Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster because it takes away one of the most common ways to verify who users are on their free accounts, which ...
New Zealand’s new minister of police will be one of the freshest faces around the cabinet table. Ginny Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, has been named as the new minister taking over from Stuart Nash. Andersen first became an MP in 2017 and only became a minister for the ...
The government has announced further roading reconnections, several weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this morning it was confirmed the link between Napier and Taupō had been reestablished. And now, transport minister Michael Wood said another six bailey bridges would be constructed. “Our immediate priority has been to reopen lifeline ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this morning. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras 2023 were a huge success. Sydney was activated in a way rarely seen – block and street parties, cultural festivals and dance parties for ...
For the first time since 2019, a New Zealand minister will head to China this week. Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta will meet with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing. “I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues. I will ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has completed his investigation into complaints about Auckland Council’s role in the National Erebus Memorial project. The complaints relate to the council’s approval and consents process for the memorial site in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Pandemic-generated pressures have left our rental housing market reeling. Australia-wide, vacancy rates are at rock-bottom levels. Rents are soaring at record rates. Queensland has ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the formula has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt Shihad frontman ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the long-running Wellington festival has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt ...
The anti-transgender activist that provoked aggressive protests in Australia over the weekend may not be able to enter New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner, is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. But according to a new statement from Immigration NZ, her ability to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is pleased to hear that the Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, has invited concerned mayors to the Beehive to discuss the Three Waters reforms but believe he should meet with the country’s largest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Dan Himbrechts/Paul Braven/AAP The New South Wales state election will be held on Saturday. I had a preview of both ...
Whether the anti-trans campaigner can enter the country without a visa is now up in the air. Controversy surrounds the upcoming visit by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner on a global tour who is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. During an appearance in Melbourne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynne Chepulis, Associate Professor Health Sciences, University of Waikato Getty Images The controversial 2021 decision by the government drug-buying agency Pharmac to prioritise Māori and Pacific patients in its funding of two game-changing new diabetes drugs appears to have paid ...
The idea of the Greens flirting with National gets an airing before almost every election. It remains as much of a nonstarter as ever, writes Henry Cooke.This article was first published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. It’s far more reliable than clockwork. Every election cycle – often several ...
With half the value of all Lotto, Powerball and Strike tickets going to cyclone relief, the "Must-be-won" draw for $15.5 million on Saturday went to a Canterbury player. ...
Auckland’s mayor has taken aim at road closures and traffic disruption around the super city, revealing a plan to reduce road cones. Wayne Brown had previously pledged to clean up the city of road cones and set it out as an “immediate priority” for the council’s transport agency. Now, he’s ...
The name's Bond – unhedged Treasury bond. Jonathan Milne argues that bond traders have again become sexy, for all the wrong reasons.Analysis: Giant Swiss bank UBS has agreed to buy its rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs (US$3.23 billion) and to assume up to $5.4 billion in losses, in a shotgun ...
‘Don’t fucking come and talk to me, write a submission,’ reckons Mayor Wayne Brown. So how do you do that?Let’s be honest, most people don’t understand local politics. We know that we vote for a mayor and councillors every couple of years, and that’s about it. But local politics ...
The link between Napier and Taupō has reopened this week for the first time since it was damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle. State highway five will be open to all traffic between 7am and 7pm, with overnight closure points at Kaimata Road, Glengarry Road and Matea Road. Kiri Allan, the associate ...
Analysis by By Geoffrey Miller. Political Roundup: NZ’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq ...
If you find yourself stressing about the cost of living crisis and how it will impact your home loan, talking to your bank as soon as possible is important. If you are experiencing financial challenges or think you might in the future, it’s important to reach out to your bank ...
Despite being entrenched practice in New Zealand schools, the practice of academic streaming in schools might not be around much longer. A plan launched today sets out a pathway to achieve this.If you went to school in Aotearoa, odds are that streaming was part of your experience. The numerically-inclined ...
The Paediatric Society of New Zealand/Te Kāhui Mātai Arotamariki o Aotearoa are very concerned about the high number of tamariki injured by dogs in Aotearoa. Auckland emergency doctor Natasha Duncan-Sutherland says, “Over 2800 dog-related injuries ...
MP Ibrahim Omer will replace Grant Robertson as Labour’s candidate in the Wellington Central electorate after beating former party president Claire Szabo in the candidate selection race. Omer arrived in New Zealand as a refugee and worked as a cleaner before enrolling at Victoria University in 2014. “As someone who has ...
A new report from Australia highlights the significant community exposure to alcohol advertising through social media platforms. Over a one-year period researchers observed nearly 40,000 advertisements from a subset of alcohol-related accounts on Meta platforms ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of Melbourne pexels/tara winstead, CC BY-SA You’ve probably heard about the “great resignation” which saw large numbers of people resigning from their jobs in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle Shutterstock You’ve probably heard about the medication Ozempic, used to manage type 2 diabetes and as a weight loss drug. Ozempic (and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Menna Elizabeth Jones, Associate Professor in Zoology, University of Tasmania Human life on Earth is utterly dependent on biodiversity but our activities are driving an increase in extinctions. Yet some extinct species continue to hold our fascination. New methods in genetics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Kidson, Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Australian schools have been under huge pressures in recent years. On top of concerns about academic progress and staff shortages, schools have faced significant, ongoing disruptions due to ...
The Green Party has made it clear it’s frustrated after being shafted by Labour during last week’s so-called policy bonfire. The prime minister recently ditched a number of policies announced during Jacinda Ardern’s tenure, many of which were backed strongly by the Greens. In a state of the nation address ...
The US banking crisis may help force a rethink by the Reserve Bank here, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Did last week’s turmoil stop interest rate hikes in their tracks? ...
The Greens have laid down a challenge to potential coalition partners: come to the table with faster and stronger climate action if you want our support. ...
The early days of Māori Television were chaotic. After the founding CE was fired and imprisoned for fraud, Dr. Jim Mather was tapped to lead the fledging broadcaster. An account with no previous media experience, he was an unlikely choice for the role, but ended up leading the channel through ...
Regional public transport is where money can do the most good in the shortest time. So why is the government giving the regions’ funding to the main centres? I used to think of public transport mainly as a way to reduce our environmental impact. It was only when I started ...
The most recent piece of research on actual menstrual blood volume was conducted in 1964, which has left many people without key health information, writes researcher Claire Badenhorst. Last month, after being in the office for only half a day, I headed home early for the sole reason that I ...
Does it pay to be a great novelist in New Zealand? The Detail talks to two authors about how they make a living spinning a good yarn.Catherine Chidgey Catherine Chidgey has been writing novels for almost 30 years - and she's one of our most celebrated writers on the scene ...
The amazing success story of a Takapuna writer In 2021, I self-published The Lighthouse, a novel I had been working on for 10 years. Something that kept me going was the thought I might one day walk into a bookstore and see my book sitting on the shelf. Would ...
Watch video: In part 4 of our video series, The Way Forward, Rod Oram looks at big new ideas that can lead our response to climate change and improve sustainability. Agriculture generates half New Zealand’s greenhouse gases, but the sector is still moving very slowly and reluctantly towards cutting ...
The precious metal surged almost 4 percent as investors, shaken by US bank collapses and trouble at the venerable Swiss bank Credit Suisse, fled to a safe haven ...
The jargon-dense economic commentary reinforces our belief we are unqualified to have a view on how our economy should be designed, but it's time to democratise economics and demand an economy that works for people and the planetOpinion: Imagine a day when you tune into the financial news and the announcer reports: ...
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By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr says the Royal PNG Constabulary is “stretched” with only 5000 men and women serving the country of more than 9 million people. “Now more than ever we need leadership, we are stretched as a force, ...
From his office at NIWA headquarters in Wellington, scientist Craig Stewart gets updates from the Southern Ocean, where climate change is starting to melt the ice shelves.All week on The Spinoff we’re delving into our relationship with the world of work in Aotearoa. For more Work Week stories, click ...
Celebrate the last of the summer veg with this crisp, crunchy, flavour-packed salad. If you grow zucchini or are lucky enough to know someone who does then you’ll know that when they come on, they produce in abundance – and figuring out exactly what to do with them all can ...
Unless, that is, the crowd truly demands it.Mt Smart Stadium was a sea of colour and noise last week. Handwritten signs, screams, singalongs and hollered appreciation of the main attraction via the chant, “Harry, Harry, Harry [contd]”. Puzzlingly, however, when Mr Styles departed the stage after 70 minutes or ...
The Auckland Mayor’s comments belittle the skills, expertise and commitment of library staff and undermine the library profession more generallyOpinion: Volunteer-run libraries for Auckland have been proposed by Mayor Wayne Brown as a cost-cutting measure that could help the council address the spiralling costs of the City Rail Link ...
Though venting has its place and can be a helpful way to cope under the right conditions, there are many other strategies that offer benefits more consistentlyOpinion: When we have a long and stressful day, we often want to talk about it with someone close to us. Whether it ...
Bard Billot on the Labour blathererMates "Mate," says Lord of Punishings Stu, "Can we get a bit more enthusiastic With the floggings and beheadings?" "Sure, mate," replies Centurion Andronicus, "Just give us the word, mate." The mates companionably swill a yard of warm ale And watch the ...
bloody hell..!..is this the end-times..?
..rightwinger roughan has come out swinging..
..for beneficiaries..(!)
(i know..!..i know..!..colour me surprised too..!..)
ed:..well..!..knock me over with a feather..!..rightwinger roughan has come out in support of the ‘pariahs’..beneficiaries..
“..Boston and Chapple make a good case for increasing benefits by the rate of average wage rises.
It is strange that Labour did not make this change 10 or more years ago when it had budget surpluses –
– National should do now.
Ideally it would backdate the increases as far as surpluses might permit –
– giving benefits quite a boost in the next few years.
Pensions have long enjoyed increases pegged to wages –
– and it is not fair to treat superannuitants so much more generously than other state dependants –
– particularly children..”
(cont..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2015/ed-well-knock-me-over-with-a-feather-rightwinger-roughan-has-come-out-in-support-of-the-pariahs-beneficiaries/
and the other rightwinger o’sullivan..
..has come out with a plea for turei to also stand down..(!)
..o’sullivan thinks turei is too left..
..(and that she sometimes says nasty-things about key..)
..i won’t link to it..
..because it is a pile of steaming-horse-shit..
Yeah, I love how all the right wing journalists keep trying to advise the Green Party that if only they were more like National they would be able to be a minor part of government and then maybe they could get the occasional environmental policy enacted. Nothing too green of course, nothing that would stop Nats’ mates continuing to wreck the environment. The Herald editorial has a similar flavour to O’Sullivan’s piece. Unbelievably patronising with absolutely no understanding of how the Green Party operates.
The problem with rightwingers is they can’t comprehend the concept of having principals and sticking to them. For them it seems power is all that counts.
Getting into bed with National totally worked for Act and the Maori Party, NOT! The Greens not so stupid…
I guess only Nixon could go to China….
….only Nixon could go to China
That’s political class bilge if ever there was. Nixon “went to China” in order to drive a further wedge between the USSR and China. Don’t forget that at the time he went to China, Nixon was supervising the destruction of Indo-China.
As well as that, his backdoor emissary to the Chinese was Yahya Khan, the bloodsoaked leader of Pakistan. Because of Khan’s sterling work, the United
States refrained from speaking out against Pakistan’s murderous war on East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh.
The idea that the Democrats would somehow have lacked the credentials or political weight to undertake certain actions is as nonsensical as the notion that Obama is a great reformer who is held back by those ornery Republicans.
I guess only Nixon could go to China….
there are echoes of that..
No it’s not as they were, and still are, keeping to the neo-liberal BS that benefits should be low so as to keep wages low.
And yet what National will do is give tax cuts to the rich.
These long queues we are seeing for people trying to find a place to rent are only going to get bigger and bigger. So the political story will grow too.
Surely this should have an asset-sales scale campaign from a party or parties? Labour and Greens are so close on this.
Another day another Auckland housing story it really is hard to care when most of the problem seems self made buy people flocking there and others indebting them selves to the eye balls.
Politics is made by people working crowds.
Make it a Chch story then.
i agree…everyone who has not lived for at least 20 years in Auckland should move…somewhere else.
simple as that. If they can’t find jobs – pffft who cares. if they are elsewhere the govenrment and its water boys has got no more problems.
You can’t fit 1/3 of the population of NZ in 0.3% of the land area without the whole thing being a shit fight.
Unless you were going in on a income of $150k minimum you would be mad to move there.
@col you can if people stop with the mansions and the lawns
Sure, it can be done with affordable apartment buildings, subways and public transport, like any modern city of the world.
How right you are Granny Herald !
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11394465
This Catton girl has been SO naughty……..stroppy little poppy she is. But, as you say, best we all back off a bit. Just wait and see what a good and grateful girl she CAN be I’m sure.
Ekshilly, Je suis just a little bit unsettled what with this freedom of speech thing and its patent gratuitousness (clutching pearls to beat Maggie Smith)………”I mean this is ALL about the prime minister for goodness sake and while she didn’t use the words “traitorous hua”……..well, it’s a slippery slope and there ARE limits !”
Mr Key, FAR more proficient with fiction than she ever was simply does not deserve this sort of thing !
Pathetic Herald surprise surprise ……..
the Herald’s rich money-grubbing right wing owners would not approve of Catton’s comments so it is hardly surprising the Herald has not engaged with the issue raised by Catton, namely rich money-grubbing right wing people.
The Herald is conflicted all to hell
yes, Mr.Key, “50’s Shady n Grey”
Kim Hill’s guest says destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan were “mistakes.”
Maziar Bahari needs to divest himself of his smug “friends.”
Radio NZ National, Saturday 31 January 2015
At 8:30 this morning Kim Hill interviewed Iranian Canadian journalist and film-maker Maziar Bahari, the author of Then They Came For Me, a memoir about his imprisonment, beating and interrogation in Iran for over 100 days in 2009. The memoir was the inspiration for Rosewater, a feature film directed by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. In 2013, Bahari launched the Persian/English website Iranwire.com, which focuses on current affairs, culture and politics. He is also involved in Journalism for Change, a platform devoted to citizen journalism, and in the worldwide campaigns Education is Not a Crime and Journalism is Not a Crime. He is visiting New Zealand this week as part of a global campaign leading up to Education is Not a Crime Day on 27 February. His documentary film To Light a Candle – about the denial of education to Bahá’ís in Iran – will also have its New Zealand premiere while he is here.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
Sounds great, right? Well, Maziar Bahari turned out to be an interesting speaker, and obviously a nice fellow. Unfortunately, though, his judgement and/or integrity is less clear, as I pointed out in the following email to Kim Hill….
Maziar Bahari’s carefully tailored words
Dear Kim,
Maziar Bahari described the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan as “mistakes”, not crimes. He also spoke about journalists who are locked up “in Saudi Arabia, Russia and China”—carefully not mentioning the United States or Great Britain.
Perhaps he needs to reassess his relationship with Jon Stewart, who a few weeks ago unctuously referred to the United States and its allies as “Team Civilization”.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
“..unctuously..”..?
..or an exercise in irony..?
..(and is that your ‘reading’..?..)
..’cos going on stewarts’ past-form..
..i wd plump for the latter.
He was absolutely sincere about it. It was a teary-eyed homily after the Charlie Hebdo killings.
He did and said nothing similar after Israel targeted and killed journalists in Gaza last July.
yeah..?..u sure..?
..it has echoes of sth park..
..how about giving us the link..?
..so we can judge for ourselves..
Here you go, phillip—American “liberal” hypocrisy at its most ignorant and galling.
Note that the intro. to this clip claims that Stewart “opened his normally comedic Daily Show Wednesday night with somber words of support for the victims in the assault on Charlie Hebdo….
http://adage.com/article/media/jon-stewart-paris-attacks-team-civilization/296502/
morrissy..
..is stewart not referring to the international cadre of journalists..
..as ‘team civilisation’..?
..not america and its’ allies as ‘team civilisation’..
..as u claim..?
Even if he was referring just to the “international cadre of journalists”, describing that collection of sycophants, propagandists and war-mongers as Team Civilization would make even less sense than if he had meant the Western world in general.
It’s as absurd and insulting to our intelligence as the regular sight of Pentagon stooges talking about the victims of some bombing as “the bad guys”.
morrissey..you stated that stewart said that america and their allies were ‘team civilisation’..
..that is completely and utterly untrue..
..and i am astounded you made such a ‘reading’ from what stewart said..
.and shouldn’t you apologise to the readers here for misleading them/mis-representing stewart..?
..and why the fuck am i having to factcheck u all the time..?
,,why are u so fucken sloppy with yr facts..?
,.how do u think it can help yr credibility in any way to do that..?
“..It is absurd and insulting to our intelligence..”
He said it. Watch the video. What should I apologise for, exactly?
“.. Jon Stewart, who a few weeks ago unctuously referred to the United States and its allies as “Team Civilization”..”
Jon Stewart, who a few weeks ago unctuously referred to the United States and its allies as “Team Civilization”.
He did. His style was intimate, warm, compassionate. If he had had the strength of character and the intelligence to simply condemn the killings, and express support for the dead cartoonists and the policemen, that would have been a decent, serious statement.
But he didn’t simply do that. Instead, he went on to talk of “Team Civilization”, as though the West is enlightened and democratic and civilized, as opposed to the frightening savages out of Africa and the Middle East.
For argument’s sake, let’s concede your point that he was talking specifically about the “international cadre of journalists”: if he was, that would be even more of an indefensible thing to say. The corporate media—from the BBC to Fox News to their parrots at TVNZ—are crucial components of the propaganda system. If Stewart is stupid and depraved enough to be confused about that, you should not be so gallant as to try to spin his stupidity and depravity into something else.
Seventy years ago, the likes of Stewart were condemning, with an eye to those in power, the killers of another racist journalist, Julius Streicher.
I’d have thought the bigger point was his declaration to the effect that it was not our business to make sense of it because there was no sense to it.
That’s a very fucked approach to what was a very easily understood event.
I’d have thought the bigger point was his declaration to the effect that it was not our business to make sense of it because there was no sense to it. That’s a very fucked approach to what was a very easily understood event.
Very well said, Bill. Here’s Norman Finkelstein addressing this ridiculous idea that atrocities are mystical and beyond analysis….
I took it as a wider team than “America and its allies”.
It looked to me like a comedian was reflecting upon people who will kill other people because of comedy, and referring to folks who do not shoot other people over comedy as “team civilization”.
Just a thought.
Who are the journalists imprisoned in the USA and UK?
https://www.cpj.org/imprisoned/2014.php
Jesus H. Christ, are you SERIOUS?
well yes, I am – only because I don’t know. If you want to abuse people because they ask an honest question then that points to some serious character flaws.
How about this:
I apologise for asking you a polite question about a topic I don’t know much about, but one on which you claim to be an expert. I even googled what appears to be an impartial source and helpfully posted that link in order to facilitate a mature dialog with you. Turns out in fact you are an arrogant fuckwit.
Sami al-Hajj was an innocent Al Jazeera cameraman that the US Government detained for years at Guantanmo Bay with no charges laid.
The US tends to more target whistleblowers (Thomas Drake, Bill Binney, Chelsea Manning, John Kiriaku) and journalist-type individuals (Julian Assange) for harassment, charges and imprisonment.
Having said that if you look at the map and identify those nations which the USA explicitly supports with funding and arms:
Bahrain 6
Egypt 12
Israel and Occupied Territories 4 (Israel also killed several journalists last year)
Saudi Arabia 4
In the USA if you drift out too far from the editorial line you simply get your ass fired and become unemployable as opposed to imprisoned (eg Nasr, Clancy).
also just been reading about barrett brown – good summary here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/01/30/the-controversial-punishment-of-barrett-brown-a-deep-dive/
technically he’s been sentenced for 3 charges – accessory after the fact to a crime and helping the perpertrators evade prosecution, obstructing justice, and threatening to kill an FBI agent. He’s just pleaded guilty to those.
Another source of journalist tracking:
http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-barometer-journalists-imprisoned.html?annee=2015
The US justice system has gone down the road of negotiating plea bargains form their targets, which means that the cases and evidence never see a jury or a judge.
Essentially they say to the target – you plead guilty to this and this, and we’ll put you away for three or four years. Or we’ll go after you with these other charges, and you will go away for 30 or 35 years.
Sorry, nadis, I shouldn’t have jumped at you like that. I (wrongly) assumed that you were playing the Te Reo Putake game of stonewalling and asserting that black is white and up is down.
I appreciate you are genuine in trying to find out more about this, but the “Committee to Protect Journalists” is about as reliable as Fox News—which is one of its “corporate media donors” along with the Associated Press, CNBC, and CNN. The CPJ has close ties to extreme right wing Cuban “exile” terrorist groups in Miami and New York.
Like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the CPJ is a suspect and deeply compromised organisation.
Fuck me, what a load of shit. The CPJ is highly respected, has a long and proud record of campaigning for journalists and indeed, saving the lives of many who have been imprisoned. Y’know, real journalists, not the imaginery ones in your head, Moz.
Have a read and feel ashamed at your dismal effort at slandering them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_Protect_Journalists
From your (sadly for you) very useful link….
Funding
According to the organization’s 2011 Annual Report, financial supporters include individuals, corporations, and foundations. The report does not include details on the largest financial supporters. Corporate media donors include the Associated Press, CNBC, CNN and Fox News.
“Highly respected”, indeed. Not highly respected by real journalists and people who bother to read more than the Grauniad and the Daily Mail, but “highly respected” by certain “corporate media donors”.
So fucken what. They are staunchly independant, do good work and save lives. You … not so much.
So fucken what.
Excellent! A first rate response to being exposed. Possibly the funniest and most bewildered “So what” since Garth George was similarly confronted by Jon Stephenson……
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1012/S00457/journalists-clash-on-media7-over-war-reporting.htm
They are staunchly independant, [sic] do good work and save lives.
They are funded by a retinue of establishment pillars, including Fox News and extreme right wing Cubans. Their “surveys” are selective and partisan, just like you would expect from a “Committee” funded by Fox News and extreme right wing Cubans.
But please, go ahead and call the CPJ “independant”. It’s your (paper thin) credibility that’s on the line when you back such partisan sources.
You … not so much.
Okay, sling off at me if you want. After that, have a listen to Jeremy Scahill, who is definitely NOT the kind of American journalist who endorses Fox News and extreme right wing Cuban terrorists…..
🙄
Cheers, nadis. I was wondering the same thing myself.
As you know perfectly well, they are pursuing Julian Assange and Edward Snowden with implacable ferocity; Assange is currently in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and Snowden has found refuge in Russia.
Yes, I guess you could quibble and claim that Snowden is not a credentialed journalist in the way that such outstanding practitioners of the craft as John Roughan and Fran O’Sullivan are credentialed, but the fact remains: if you speak the truth and reveal what the Government is trying to hide from its citizens in the United States, you can expect massive retaliation from the criminals you expose.
Have you ever heard of James Risen? Thought not……
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/us/james-risen-in-tense-testimony-refuses-to-offer-clues-on-sources.html?_r=0
It’s not a quibble to point out that neither man is a journalist and neither man is locked up in the USA or the UK. If you have the names of journalists who are imprisoned up in those countries, please feel free to post them. If there are any then they need to have their cases publicised. Telling us their names would be a great start.
It’s not a quibble, it’s a lie. But obviously your mind is made up.
If Assange is not a journalist, then neither is James Risen. I note that you did not even bother to mention Risen’s case.
Of course, this is the “non-journalism” that compels the U.S. government and its legion of unpaid hounds to bay after Assange….
BZZZZT! Wrong answer. We were looking for journalists imprisoned in the US or UK, that’s journalists imprisoned in the US or UK. Next contestant please. For ten pounds, can you tell me what is wrong with Moz? I’ll repeat the question: what is wrong with Moz? You may confer with your teammates or phone a friend.
I appreciate the levity, Te Reo, but you haven’t done anything to answer the challenge: what about James Risen?
Just so you get on with that task, we’ll pretend for a moment that Assange, Snowden and Manning are not in asylum, exile or prison for their role in exposing momentous crimes.
BZZZZT! We were looking for journalists imprisoned in the US or UK. Contestant, you have answered James Risen who is … (checks notes) … not imprisoned in the US or UK. No points. Do any of the other contestants know the names of journalists imprisoned in the US or UK? Take your time …
What’s your point? The US doesn’t officially torture people within its own borders either. It subcontracts it overseas.
Well actually I have, and it turns out he isn’t imprisoned nor is he in jail which tends to invalidate the main thrust of your rant. In fact in the story you linked there is this:
“Mr. Holder pledged not to send reporters to jail, which would normally be the consequence of refusing to testify in a case like Mr. Sterling’s. Then, he indicated that he would not force Mr. Risen to reveal his sources, but would instead force Mr. Risen only to reveal limited information that he had already acknowledged.”
So not only has not been in jail, isn’t currently in jail, the US Attorney General has ruled out putting him in jail.
Right – I see your point exactly.
I have mixed views on Snowden and Assange. The bulk of what they released should not have been. The evidence of crime (i.e., Chelsea Manning’s helicopter video) – no problem, but stuff which endangers people or hinders legitimate law enforcement I’m less supportive of.
And on this:
“if you speak the truth and reveal what the Government is trying to hide from its citizens in the United States, you can expect massive retaliation from the criminals you expose.”
Are you equally as strident about the worse behaviour of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran etc? Last time I checked the US government wasn’t sanctioning extra-judicial murder of domestic critics.
So despite your bold claim
“He also spoke about journalists who are locked up “in Saudi Arabia, Russia and China”—carefully not mentioning the United States or Great Britain.”
you cant come up with a single example?
Are you equally as strident about the worse [sic] behaviour of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran etc? Last time I checked the US government wasn’t sanctioning extra-judicial murder of domestic critics.
With the odd exception, my government does not usually support the crimes of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, etc. It routinely does so for the crimes of the United States and the United Kingdom.
You speak confidently about Snowden and Assange exposing “stuff which endangers people or hinders legitimate law enforcement.” What evidence do you have that they did that? I’d be intrigued if you put it up on this site for us, because neither the U.S. nor U.K. government could manage to do so.
I am as opposed to state power being abused in Russia, China, Turkey and Iran as I am to it being abused in Australia and New Zealand. Are YOU?
Yes.
Can you please focus on providing evidence for your earlier (mis)-assertions, otherwise people will continue to believe you are a flake. Just trying to help you out.
Just trying to help you out.
That remark was a bit snide and unfunny. Hmmmm….
Okay! Stop the play-acting, Te Reo! Your “nadis” persona is as irritating as it is dopey.
I can assure I am not TRP. Are you are going to back up your earlier (mis)-assertions or not?
I knew that. I was trying to annoy Te Reo.
Riiiight. Well spotted, Moz, two different people asking the same simple question* must be evidence of either a conspiracy or a Vulcan mind meld.
*and that question was ‘which journalists are imprisoned in the US and UK ‘ as you claimed. Answer came there none.
Here’s one. Don’t be put off by the fact he looks like Moss from The IT Crowd….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Wolf_(journalist)
But, yes, you’re both right—journalists can usually speak out without fear in the United States. Thank the radicals and liberals who framed the Constitution for that.
However, constitutional and legal protections can only go so far—when governments bring their powers to bear on an individual truth-teller, they will tear down the protections if they can get away with it, including such troublesome notions as legal sanctuary and asylum. Some in the Cameron regime even suggested storming the Ecuadorian embassy to get their hooks on Assange.
I guess that’s as close as we’re going to get to you acknowledging your mistake, Moz. Some weasel words and a link to a court case last decade. Ah, well, the real takeaway from this discussion is that you don’t feel obliged to hold yourself up to the standards you demand of others. The Greeks probably had a word for that (though it may have been sold off to the troika by now).
ps. If you’d thought about it harder, you could have resorted to pedantry by mentioning all those Murdoch employees currently doing porridge in the UK. Of course, they’re not in jail for journalism, but for actual crimes.
lol
I see, Te Reo, that you’ve garnered some (belated) support from one of our friends—one with a rather insalubrious record of credulity. He posted his intelligent comment at 3:46 p.m., more than four hours after everyone had gone home.
Better late than never, I suppose.
Or is it?
asynchronous communication is a bitch, ain’t it?
It’s almost as if this example of you making shit up in a froth-frenzy (and then wriggling around trying not to admit you fucked up) will remain as yet another permanent record of your loose relationship with reality.
Is it me, or is something seriously happening to NZ and are we well and truly stuffing up this once clean green country that Keys likes to promote but still allows dairying to pollute.
Normally when we have a hot dry weather you are deafened by the Cicada’s. This year the silence of the Cicada’s is deafening, Silence. Hardly a sound. The other thing I have noticed over the last few years, when I came to NZ over 45 year ago, the Myna’s used to line up at the side of the road to get the dead insects hit by cars, and jump out of the way ”just in time” before they were hit by a vehicle. The number of Myna’s doing that now, to me seems to have decreased.
In my non expert opinion, these two things, along with the Kauri die back and the devastation of the Cabbage tree by a virus concerns me that all is not well with the environment of NZ.
Yeah, I noticed that there are a lot less cicadas than usual. Cicadas and summer go hand in hand for me. I love them, always have. When summer kicks off I always listen out for the first cicada.
Cicada’s have a long in ground life cycle (5-7 years) and years where there are lower numbers can be traced back to adverse weather events during breeding. They also forecast ‘mast’ years by the same logic. I think from memory there was one in the Hutt Valley 4 or so years ago where literally thousands could be seen on a single lamppost.
Regarding the cabbage tree virus it is actually a long existing disease called Phytoplasma that proliferated with the arrival of a new vector in this case passion vine hoppers the same has happened with Phormium.
Kauri dieback is more interesting I cant help but suspect that the particular phytophera strain has long existed but has been inadvertently spread or subtle climate changes have allowed it to proliferate. Phytophera exists in all soils and is usually kept in check by other naturally occurring organisms like trichoderma.
natural cycles can be adversely affected by humans messing with the ecologies, either local, or global (CC).
Perhaps we are loving our kauri to death. I looked at available bookings to view the great kauri in Northalnd I think it was Tane Mahuta himself, but it was booked up for months. It is said that the numbers of people going through the kauri are probably transporting this nasty whatsit around. I looked at an old book the other day and there was one of the old super giant kauris in it and two people standing at the base were dwarfed and I don’t know how many people it would have taken to stretch arms round the trunk.
We have probably reached the stage where we have to limit visitors and make times for NZs to visit. It would be nice to get a chance. There are limits to viewing Tiritiri Matenga Island – it’s special and same with kauri. And keep pigs off – they are said to be another problem, and then they would draw hunters and their dogs after them.
There is an extensive board walk and board platform to view Tane Mahuta from – built in recent years – designed to protect the forest floor around the old giant.
What I think should be of more concern is that huge logging trucks trundle up and down the road beside that forest – I would think that causes much more damage reverberating from roadside thru to the forest – than people on a board walk.
I suspect the trees may have grown used to the ground shaking after all these millennia; it’s the temperatures that’ll they’ll struggle with.
The most likely explanation is that it’s a good year for the wasps.
Instead, an army of swarming frustrating flies has invaded New Zealand.
P.S :
I have made four fly traps using empty plastic coke bottles as shown in the link below. The fly attractants I have used/experimented include liver, honey, fish and , fermenting yeast.
While some flies have been attracted and get caught, I am still not satisfied as there are heaps of flies still flying about. I have read that different types of flies are attracted to different types of bait!
Question : Do any of you know which may be the best fly attractant to the contemporary flies we have?
Here is the info for a very simple home made fly trap! You are welcome!
http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/How_to_make_a_fly_trap/
“I have made four fly traps”
Instead of taking the all-out nuclear option and viciously killing flies, have you ever thought of just trying to reason with them ? You know, being a decent human being by making an effort to appeal to their moral sensibilities ? Next time you see a couple of flies flying around like out-of-control boy-racers, just try telling them (preferably in an authentic Yorkshire accent) ‘Come on, luds, there’s no need for all this, there was never any need for it. Let’s just let bygones be bygones.” And if that doesn’t do the job then just corner one of them and have a quiet word along the lines of: “If this sort of behaviour continues, young man, then I’m going to have to have a serious talk with your father”. Works a treat every time. Flies are people too, remember.
“…the contemporary flies we have”
I prefer to think of them as Post-Modernist.
Hm, that may be my last resort….Simple sweet talking sound bites to these filthy-free-market neoliberal buggers hovering around with such utterly gutterly misappropriating maddening minds.
I won’t be surprised if the crooks come with embedded mobile and GPS these days!
Fans – if you have them – are an effective deterrent to flies.
Your better with a pair of frogs in a terrarium, and using a butterfly net to catch the flies. Great light excise and quite addictive seeing how many you can scoop. Give us a laugh seeing (all arms & legs) & hearing them crashing about the foliage nailing their prey. You know when really content, as Mrs & Mr Froggy sing with delight. Amazes me how they can eat so many as the next morning very few are left.
There is bugger all flies aroung mine this year and being a farm house that’s a surprise. We’ve had a 30ish swallows living with us so i wonder if that’s the cause.
Swallows are very effective insect catchers, so I’d say yes.
Normally when we have a hot dry weather you are deafened by the Cicada’s. This year the silence of the Cicada’s is deafening,
Cicadas (species specific ) have long life cycles and have evolved over time to select periods determinable with prime numbers to constrain predation ie they tend to outlive their predators.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.ms.cicada10may10-story.html
@ poission
Hi can you tell me anything about raising nz preying mantis successfully. They are in decline around here.
Usually at this time of year we are feeding our yellow bearded dragon lizard them, he goes crazy chasing them around his terrarium, something’s up their absence if strange. In the interim plenty of crickets from our back section. Out place is a zoo, all good makes a happy home.
Would you say that the water quality is of very great concern? I personally feel that there is being more and more taken from the qualifier and wonder why the Farmers and associated industry do not (want to?) realize that their water will one day be saline because of it. At the same time, water quality is being compromised at all levels with the excuse that it is OK to have a “certain amount” of pollutants go into streams and lakes. It already affects the health of people due to high nitrate concentration in the water table – our drinking water.
I think this is connected to all living things and beings.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/30/eleanor-catton-blasts-critics-jingoistic-national-tantrum
Eleanor Catton won’t shut up.
So fuck you Key, Plunket, Farrar, Ede, Hooton.
This is a quite sobering read; the brief biographies of some of the many women who have died fighting ISIS in Kobani:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/30/kurdish-women-died-kobani-isis-syria
Indeed, Te Reo. Which makes you wonder why the United States and United Kingdom continue to fund and support ISIS in Syria.
[Sorry RY but best if this site does not link to that site – MS]
yesterday’s blog … seriously worth the time.
Oh dear, yet another “prominent New Zealander” gets name suppression and as always the PM knows nothing!
@DTB .. how do you make the link that way please ? Much improved on my effort, thank you.
How do I put links in the comments cleanly
Prime Mr Forgetful Minister John Key
Yeah right!
LOL !
thx @DTB
Looks like the home of democracy is serious about once again defending itself against a polyglot empire far more powerful than they….
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/30/greece-finance-minister-yanis-varoufakis-shun-officials-troika
I have to say, the Greek fight against the German led Troika is stirring all my romantic Byronic philhellenism!!!
When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbors;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and Rome,
And get knocked on his head for his labors.
To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always nobly requited;
Then battle for freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.
-Byron, 1820
But what comes next?
If a deal isn’t struck then Greece as a whole and the poorer parts particular will get economically smashed as Greece has a massive budget shortfall. Someone will blink first – Greece or the EU?
With EUR exit off the table I can’t see what options Greece has. They can’t fund current expenditure by themselves let alone service their debt. I’m assuming Tsipras has a plan, but so far with the cancelling of asset sales, re-hiring and raising pensions/salaries he has cocked his nose at the Germans who are paying his bills, while at the same time building a level of expectation within Greece that will be very difficult to wind back if necessary. Maybe he is just going nuclear and saying “we are going to default, so get your check book out”. If so, I think that is a miscalculation – I think the Germans would let Greece default and leave the Euro. It would actually make it stronger as it removes an outlier from an appropriate policy perspective.
What has been disappointing from a Syriza policy perspective is any talk about cracking down on corruption, tax evasion and the cosy corrupt monopolies that enrich the top end of Greece. If they addressed some of those issues the discussions with Germany would be lot easier plus Greece would have a ton more fiscal revenue.
2 words: military coup.
Taiparas needs to watch out for the generals.
In EU circles, the hushed whispers about military junta perhaps being the best option to carry out austerity measures will start up…
All through Greek austerity, the Greek military have still somehow been receiving new billion dollar toys
“2 words: military coup.”
Funny that, I can feel a Pinochet type Chile thing coming on.
The EU wont give Greece up yet. Though they will probably kick off with a ‘hearts and minds’ propaganda campaign.
This is the outline plan that Varoufakis, Holland and Galbraith have put together over the last couple of years.
http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/euro-crisis/modest-proposal/
@ nadis -Well analyzed, glad that someone sees the bigger picture.
@ Sanctuary
Like
Guess which of these two women was called a “fiery
human rights crusader” by the New York Times
https://twitter.com/KeaneBhatt/status/561045999284916224
This is how a police state protects “secrets”:
Jeffrey Sterling, the CIA and up to 80 years on circumstantial evidence
Sterling’s conviction should chill anyone who believes in investigative reporting in a free society
by MARCY WHEELER, Salon, 29 January 2015
The participants in the economy of shared tips and intelligence in Washington D.C., breathed a collective sigh of relief when, on January 12, the government announced it would not force James Risen to testify in the trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling. “Press freedom was safe! Our trade in leaks is safe!” observers seemed to conclude, and they returned to their squalid celebration of an oppressive Saudi monarch.
That celebration about information sharing is likely premature. Because, along the way to the conviction of Sterling this week on all nine counts – including seven counts under the Espionage Act — something far more banal yet every bit as dear to D.C.’s economy of secrets may have been criminalized: unclassified tips.
To understand why that’s true, you need to know a bit about how the Department of Justice larded on charges against Sterling to get to what represents a potential 80-year maximum sentence (though he’s unlikely to get that). Sterling was accused — and ultimately convicted — of leaking two related things: First, information about the Merlin operation to deal flawed nuclear blueprints to Iran, as well as the involvement of a Russian engineer referred to as Merlin in the trial. In addition to that, the government charged Sterling separately for leaking a document (one which the FBI never found, in anyone’s possession): a letter Merlin included along with the nuclear blueprints he wrapped in a newspaper and left in the mailbox of Iran’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency. So the government convicted Sterling of leaking two things: information about the operation, and a letter that was used in the operation.
Then, having distinguished the operation from the letter, DOJ started multiplying. They charged Sterling for leaking the operation to Risen, then charged him for causing Risen to attempt to write a 2003 New York Times article about it, then charged him for causing Risen to publish a book chapter about it: one leak, three counts of espionage.
Then they charged Sterling for improperly retaining the letter (again, FBI never found it, not in CIA’s possession, not in Sterling’s possession, and Merlin purportedly destroyed his version before anyone could find it in his possession). Then DOJ charged Sterling for leaking the letter to Risen, then charged him for causing Risen to attempt to write a 2003 New York Times article including it, then charged him for causing Risen to publish a book chapter including verbatim excerpts from it (apparently Risen is a better investigator than the FBI, because he found a copy): one letter, four more counts under the Espionage Act. ….
Read more….
http://www.salon.com/2015/01/28/this_is_how_a_police_state_protects_secrets_jeffrey_sterling_the_cia_and_up_to_80_years_on_circumstantial_evidence/
“Department of Justice.”
Sort of like the “Ministry for Truth.”
And the Ministry of “Defence”.
Homework assignment for “nadis” and Te Reo Putake
Research the following topics and then argue how the United States is not a dire threat to journalists:
1.) Giuliana Sgrena
2.) Al Jazeera office, Baghdad, April 8, 2003
3.) Palestine Hotel, Baghdad, April 8, 2003
4.) Abu Dhabi strikes, April 8, 2003
Nice goalposts, Moz. Did you shift them all by yourself?
Shouldn’t you be doing your homework?
I agree with Morrissey.
On top of the various examples he has presented, there is also the simple fact that the west has other powerful ways of controlling journalists.
You only get a job or get promoted if you say the right things.
Look at the Eleanor Catton affair to see the state of the media here and the role in suppressing dissent.
I recommend everyone watches Shadows of Liberty.
The story of Gary Webb shows what happens when a US journalist questions the system.
Sobering.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1543807/
This is lovely
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11394630
Talking to trees and other plants is healthy imo. And saying sorry is also healthy. And calling a tree ‘mate’ is very healthy.
There’s more and more research suggesting that plants have a kind of sentience beyond what we normally consider. Nature is intelligent and it behooves us to behave as if that were true, for our own sakes as much as for nature’s.
“And saying sorry is also healthy”
That one seem especially important all things considered.
You’d get more sense out of a tree root than you would out of people like this….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEkPoZSBXh0
or this….
You, or at least the person who cut the tree root, is a brute.
That wasn’t the English word “mate” but the Maori word with the same spelling.
He was saying sorry because he had killed the poor tree. Very healthy indeed!
very funny al – the tree didn’t die.
Cutting some roots won’t kill a tree (depending on the tree, how big it is, how many roots are cut etc).
Hey, I had just say down after a long, lazy, mildly alcoholic brunch.
Let me have an (albeit possibly a weak one) attempt at a joke.
Sorry. A 😉 always makes things clearer.
There’s probably another pun there on the word mate to do with what marty was talking about, mea culpa mea mate, to mangle it completely, but I’ve been online too long to come up with something better.
It would make a nice poem 🙂
You,
or at least
the person who cut
the tree root,
is a brute.
That wasn’t the
English word
“mate”
but the Maori
word with the
same spelling.
He was saying sorry
because he had killed
the poor tree.
Very healthy
indeed!
as an aside maybe phils prose should be read as poetry 🙂
If we could actually read it 😛
Nice poem, I agree.
Talk to water too!
The following links say there is scientific evidence to show that water undergoes structural (not chemical) changes constantly depending upon different factors. Good happy thoughts or bad thoughts affect the structure of water doing good or harm to you. Take a look!
Structured Water : How music/words/thoughts affect structure of water[8 minutes]
Water effects :Sadhguru at IIT Madras (Part V) [9 minutes]
Water has memory: Very interesting doco [1 hour 25 min]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFdXLmbHM2I
Good luck to the Queensland Labour Party today.
If the LNP get another term, Queenslanders can kiss their power grid goodbye, among other things.
If anyone needs some light relief – here is something very funny
Richard Dawkins Reads Hate Mail From “Fans”
http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/richard-dawkins-reads-hate-mail-fans
Hilarious…
Could do the same with whale oil views on lefties….
In the thread about Syriza’s victory I picked out this sentence from one of the articles, “To start from priorities and then define the method.” I think it is very important that parties on the left do just that if they want to be taken seriously. Andrew Little seems to get this, since he has listed four priorities he intends to discuss over his coming speeches, and I hope he does not waver from it.
If we look at how, say, the Capital Gains tax was presented last election, the order ran the other way – it was put forward as a method for curbing house-price inflation and addressing inequality. But people were expected to trust that the stated objectives would follow from the method. And this is my point – when you declare an aim you are making a commitment, and people can assume that you will adapt your method accordingly. When you declare a method, insisting that some desired objective will result from it, you are effectively asking for unwarranted trust, since your commitment stops at the method. For this reason, the method-before-aim order comes across as more of a pitch than a promise.
That’s very good. So with the CGT, it should be presented later as a solution to some other aim? eg we’re going to do x, y, z (eg build more houses), and here is how we pay for it.
Yes, if you put the intended result first, it can be assumed you will adjust your method if the one you have in mind doesn’t work. For example, let’s say, “We are going to build more houses and we will pay for it with a capital gains tax.” However, house sales slow down and we are not getting enough from the CGT, so we are obliged to look for another way of paying for the houses. Whereas if we say, “A CGT will result in more houses being built” and this doesn’t happen, we are committing ourselves only to the CGT but not the houses – if things don’t result as we said they would, well too bad. I think people sniff out the difference intuitively without the need to analyse the arguments.
Quite right Olwyn, but it’s like you are having to teach Labour, the oldest political party in the country, the bloody ABC’s.
The thing is, National do not have to meet any such standards – their commitment is to their cronies and their pitch is to the public. And National voters know that the pitch is merely to placate waverers and ward off criticism. Labour does not have, and cannot have, that luxury. They did have something like it in the eighties, when aspiring young men of the city gravitated their way, but then they had not yet lost the trust of working class and National had not won over the aspiring young men. Now, they have no choice but to say what they mean and mean what they say. Convincingly.
… their commitment is to their cronies and their pitch is to the public
Which of course is exactly what Labour has been doing in recent years. That is, trying to be National lite and adopt their type of strategy. Cunliffe tried to shift the paradigm but he didn’t have enough time or support to do it. Now Labour has a new leader who understands that for Labour to succeed it must be the other way around – a commitment to ordinary NZers and a pitch to potential cronies. He started down that road this week just gone.
I agree. I voted for Andrew, and I am glad I did. I like the fact that he has four priorities he intends to discuss in the next little while – the SME one being his state-of-the nation speech. You know where you are with someone who can clearly articulate their priorities.
If Labour starts back on CGT again, it is a vote killer. Most people in Auckland know what the problem is, immigration and high cost of materials and commercialisation of housing and low wages that are not keeping up with inflation. There are so many other ways to solve or relive the housing in Auckland. For example in the old days, you could have a granny flat on your property or rent out a basement or whatever to help with the rent/mortgage etc or to house other members of the family like your elderly parents etc. Not only did it help to provide additional income for lower income people it also allowed a cheaper nicer place for affordable accommodation in better areas for renters.
Now, no way. Has to be an apartment to be affordable which has Body corp fees, no pets normally, and not so good for children. To get through a legal granny flat there is a huge amount of red tape to get one in a domestic house.
(BTW Nothing to do with RMA and the National RMA reforms are to make unaffordable housing and to polluters to wreck the environment!) You can bet no one has suggested Granny flats in the unitary plan – that because in NZ, democracy is a business, full of lobbyists – they actually don’t want real people who want housing to have a say, just barristers of people who have land and want to develop it (which will not be for affordable housing but for unaffordable housing to make a profit) or politicians who don’t really know much about housing.
Currently to create a granny flat/minor unit on dwelling in Auckland, you need to pay approx $10,000 straight to council for 2nd unit, approx $12,000 for separate water meter, god knows for separate power etc etc. Quite frankly that is why you have no affordable housing. Because of the above to create an affordable unit that is council compliant would be about $40,000 before you actually do the work. AT say $300 a week for rent it would take about 3 years before you paid back the council and the utility connections alone. But in most parts of Auckland you are not allowed to have a granny flat anyway. If the council allowed Granny flats cheaply then you could make about 20% more housing in Auckland for the cost of conversion of a 2nd kitchen.
Utilising existing housing stock would be the easiest way in the short term to create more housing in rental shortage areas.
What is wrong with this country is that people only have 1 idea and then they just keep bringing it up to solve a problem that is different to the solution. It is simpleton politics.
65% of Kiwis or something like that own property, it is their key asset and they do not want to lose it by some politician in Wellington trying to solve a housing problem in Auckland, that will not be solved by CGT but instead impact them on their retirement of their biggest asset, all while the top 1% are paying practically no tax. If anything should be learn’t by Greece, don’t target middle class to pay the taxes of the mistakes of the super rich. They see red, (and don’t vote for it).
If you wanna kill housing price rises (and none of the top 5% with a big property portfolio does), you tamp down bank lending, and you put a big fuck off stamp duty on every residential property transaction a person undertakes over 1 transaction every 3 years.
Also we cannot have 1/3 of NZ’s population living in 0.3% of NZ’s land area.
I’m totally for stamp duty if there is a tax on property, to make sure even the super rich and immigrants pay it too. Not only would it be an immediate way to get taxes, you could target for the poor. i.e. under $250k no stamp duty. First home owners, no stamp duty, etc. But should be very low like 1/2 percent or something like that. That way when you buy your 10 million dollar mansion in Auckland, hey presto, $50,000 in revenue for NZ taxpayer and all collected by title transfer and no way to get out of it by clever accounting.
Good arguments; just remember that real estate agents take 3% to 4% of the sale price, sometimes for doing sweet FA.
When you look at growing inequality – whereas it predicted that 1% of the world is going to own 99% of world’s assets, it is pretty clear that governments need to target the 1% owning all the assets. If you look at John Key, owns 50 million in assets but nobody really knows cos it’s in various trusts etc – that is who should be paying more tax and targeted.
Going on about the ‘greedy’ investors, ‘greedy baby boomers’ greedy landlords etc latest scapegoat, is missing the point. Why are some people owning 50 million in assets and gaining more and more every year? If that super rich group, paid more tax then maybe we could afford more for everybody else.
In Italy they actually targeted people driving about in Porsches and expensive cars, guess what, found a lot of them could not account for their cars, and many claimed subsidies and on the lowest tax bracket.
Labour and Greens need to stop whipping the PAYE middle class for tax and actually look at fair ways to target consumption such a stamp duty. Personally I would prefer someone (often coming into the country) to have to pay a small tax to purchase an expensive house. Even if stamp duty was on houses over 3 million – again it is stopping super expensive houses being speculated on and farm sales etc
Soon, in Auckland in places in the inner city they are going to reach that level with the constant speculation (often on the family home so not affected by any CGT if that came in) and that is actually locking out families that used to live in those areas.
There are many flexible and varied ideas which can be used. I generally agree that taxation via PAYE and GST is over used and taxation on capital/land/speculation/financial transactions under used.
Although to make a statement, I would introduce one more much higher PAYE threshold set at 10x the minimum wage = over $280,000 pa.
The numbers aren’t great from a stamp duty.
The total value of houses sales in NZ in 2014 was 40 billion. Assuming you get a 0.5% stamp duty on every one of those you’ll raise 200 million. Exclude all houses under 400,000 and you’ll raise 120 million.
120 million is equivalent to about 240 houses at the NZ median house price. Thats a rough idea of the demand impact of a stamp duty (studies into Tobin tax indicate the reduction in turnover is roughly equivalent to the tax raised. A heroic assumption but gives an idea)
What if a government passed into law that house values could only rise at inflation
Too inflexible and prone to failure in my view. Might be used as a short term emergency measure. Controlling down house prices over the longer term will require a range of powerful measures.
Had a feeling it would be full of fish hooks but if we were ever to move to a steady state economy rampant house booms would need sorting.
Price controls, subsidies, extra taxes etc may all work in the short term but eventually distort completely the market they are applied to. Imagine what would happen if the government mandated a maximum price of 29 cents per kilogram for bananas? Eventually two things would happen – supermarkets would sell no bananas, and there would be black market where you actually ended up paying higher prices.
The best way to reduce the Auckland housing shortage is by incentivising people to act in their best interests. Build a fast rail from Auckland to Whangarei and Auckland to Hamilton. Any new Govt sector jobs have to go outside Auckland. Make it easier to build new houses in Auckland. Encourage high density housing initiatives. Bring in Singapore style traffic congestion charging.
Little bit hard to sell a house on the black market.
I’m all for
“”The best way to reduce the Auckland housing shortage is by incentivising people to act in their best interests. Build a fast rail from Auckland to Whangarei and Auckland to Hamilton. Any new Govt sector jobs have to go outside Auckland. Make it easier to build new houses in Auckland. Encourage high density housing initiatives. Bring in Singapore style traffic congestion charging.”
And would add if we as a nation invested in small town nz in stead of letting them fade away less people would drift to the big smoke.
Well actually no its not hard. There would be plenty of ways to avoid the price cap – paying too much for chattels, settling in 6 months time but renting at a premium in the mean time, losing at high stakes poker etc. Why would a person sell their property for less than waht someone is prepared to pay? Don’t underestimate peoples capacity to innovate. I hesitate to call anything around economic behaviour a law, but the closest you get is individuals acting in their own best interest. It’s been that way for millions of years of evolution.
One of my children is thinking about buying a first home – unless something amazing pops up, I don’t think there is any harm in waiting. Economic cycles and all that – anyone with grey hair can think of plenty of times in the past where we have had similar fears about asset prices. And guess what, eventually they revert.
Singapore already owns part of Auckland city shares, so why not. Just remember, what goes up must come down. Its a matter of time.
Fast fact: 80% of residential property development in Singapore is done by the public sector. That’s how important the Singaporean government views stable housing supply and pricing.
The Singaporean public sector develops everything from cheap social housing to million dollar luxury appartments.
I suspect that Singapore modelled its system off the NZ of the 1950s and 60s.
I’ve lived in Singapore – it’s a resource constrained (land + everything else) country and the deal the population has done with the govt is that they will give up a certain amount of civil rights in exchange for certainty around things like housing and minimum standard of living.
Not sure NZ’ers would embrace 1 or 2 room HDB housing.
Understood. It’s not exactly the Kiwi dream. Yet in the peculiar Auckland environment I think the market has shown that ‘cheap’ 2 bedroom 80m2 apartments will sell like hot cakes to young people and first home buyers.
Cripes I basically agree with all you’ve written here.
Majority in favour of CGT historically – as long as it is not on family home – which was exactly what Labour was proposing prior to the election:
“Vote Compass asked tens of thousands of people whether landlords should pay more tax on the sale of their rental properties. Nearly half either agreed or strongly agreed, while a third weren’t happy” http://tvnz.co.nz/vote-2014-news/compass-support-capital-gains-tax-6063134
Currently we have speculators making a killing in Auckland – tax ’em as well. The Nats really need to do something more in Auckland than make fancy (but useless) speeches.
I think the framing of the question is important. Essentially that survey asked: “Are you in favour of other people paying capital gains tax?” I’m surprised 100% weren’t in favour of that.
Speculators should be getting taxed under existing rules. If you buy an asset – any asset – for a trading or speculative purpose – any gains are taxed at your personal tax rate. The rules are in existence. All that needs to change is the threshold that is applied to assessment. At the moment it is something like 6 property transactions in a 2 year period. That could easily be lowered to capture more.
Politicians get houses, we get bullshit:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/10809/
Just read this off a Facebook group that I belong to:
“….I heard a rumour this morning, and would like to know if theres any truth to it,if there is, then its an outrage.
Ok, the rumour is…. that all those 3 bedrooms that people are being kicked out of,and extra bedrooms added are not for larger families at all.They are ‘social housing’ in the broadest sense of the word,meaning they are to be ‘shared; in the same manner as a boarding house,anyone single without dependants is to be put in this ‘shared social housing’ the small ablution block style houses reserved for those with dependants.
If theres anyone on here thats matey with a local MP, could they please get that MP to check and see if this is correct,as my old neighbour was offered a place in one and was told this was the arrangement for adults with no dependants nowadays by her tenancy manager…..”
Are you meaning state houses?
Yes.
Thanks for raising this. It does sound like something they would do, but it also could be getting stretched by rumour.
I have raised an OIA to see if this does exist. I have also suggested the person who posted this go to the media to get this investigated.
What a lovely shiny new set of punishments for “difficult” “clients” that enables. Whoopee!
How to say: “I give up, I got nothing”
with a witty little graphic
So how DOES one concede that one has been shown up, out-pointed, exposed as a fraud, a scoundrel and a liar?
A useful convention occasionally employed on this site is to type a colon (:) then the word roll then another colon (:)
: roll :
Remove the gaps and you will end up with this pleasing little image: 🙄
which says so eloquently: “I concede, and I skulk back to my corner in disgrace.”
vide….
I dunno about that M – they gave you quite a few chances to answer the question or provide the evidence but alas twas for nought.
No, Marty, you’re wrong. I conceded—admittedly after a bit of squabbling—their point that not a lot of journalists are actually in jail in the United States—pointing out that this happy state of affairs is entirely due to the radicals and liberals who wrote the Constitution, and to generations of activists who have fought for the right to speak freely in America.
I also pointed out, with a few examples, that the United States regime has been, and is, a grave threat to journalists all over the world.
Perhaps you need to read a little more thoroughly and widely on this topic. Here’s a good place to start….
https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/journalism-under-attack-and-not-just-ferguson
Thank you for your concern my friend – you would have had more luck quoting figures for people of colour wrongly imprisoned or maybe indigenous people wrongly and unjustly imprisoned, even today – maybe some of them were journalists too.
NZ ranked 7th highest cost of living
Ahead of high income countries like France, UK, Luxembourg, Finland.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-30/visualizing-cost-living-around-world
Interesting link on your web site there about the “American Dream” – or lack of it any more.
The stats there are very similar to ones I’ve seen here in NZ… one that really caught my eye about child poverty:
“#15 Right now, more than one out of every five children in the United States is on food stamps”
Great stuff, but too obvious for the current “administration” here I suspect.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-30/death-american-dream-22-numbers
Graphene Could Double Electricity Generated From Solar .
Early days yet, but a promising development for solar.
15 years to deploy 25,000 Benmore dams worth of generation mate. I’ll be waiting in anticipation.
I can tell. Pull your pants up. If one of your doomsdays does occur, I suppose your last words will be an orgasmic “I told you so” that, sadly for you, nobody else will hear.
In the meantime, how’s the NZ ebola epidemic going? Aren’t we all due to have it by now?
Greece sacks heads of privatisation agency immediately:
The reasons are here:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/30/greece-politics-privatisation-idUSA8N0UD01M20150130
There is an anti Greece pro capitalist article in the Kiwi blog. I put the above link there and made the following comment.
“I hope our stupid, lying neo-liberal, profit-obsessed, narrow, myopic and money-hungry pro wealthy, pro corporate, capitalist National/ACT government changes its agenda and stops all its shallow, pro rich and anti people, anti nation policies such as for example, the sale of state houses immediately. The uncontrolled, mega rich corporate driven capitalist free market agenda is a fraud on the ordinary people, the less privileged, the ‘under class’ and the poor”
What do you think?
No-one will take you seriously because you are obviously hiding your lack of knowledge behind over the top jargon which is so exaggerated it is meaningless.
You sound like an exaggerated version of Wolfie Smith.
What ‘knowledge’ do you think I am hiding and lacking?
I made a succinct comment to encapsulate everything that I abhor about the RW and our present destructive government.
I had never heard of Wolfie Smith. Will watch some episodes on You Tube to see if he is good or bad!
Thanks for your response.
Myopic means short sighted. Make a list of the other words you don’t understand, and we can explain them to you.