Apparently not. He can be ejected from the party if he does something bad enough to warrant that, but they can’t take his seat from him. Which is probably fair given people actually voted for him not just the party.
But I suspect Phil Goff, Labour, and National have done some sort of deal. Goff’s leaving anyway and I think the Nats know they can’t win Auckland and have buttered Goff up to smooth that particular ride in exchange for visible and actual support on the TPP. Labour have agreed, losing a battle to win the war in Auckland where I think they’ll expect Goff to do some heavy lifting for them nationally on social issues.
The Nats will insist of course that Goff sells Auckland’s assets to their rich mates once he’s in the role to pay for the CRL.
Unfettered Neolib capitalism, doncha just love it! http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/ “A few months after Governor Snyder removed Flint from the clean fresh water we had been drinking for decades, the brass from General Motors went to him and complained that the Flint River water was causing their car parts to corrode when being washed on the assembly line. The Governor was appalled to hear that GM property was being damaged, so he jumped through a number of hoops and quietly spent $440,000 to hook GM back up to the Lake Huron water, while keeping the rest of Flint on the Flint River water. Which means that while the children in Flint were drinking lead-filled water, there was one — and only one — address in Flint that got clean water: the GM factory.”
The Herald this morning carries an article about a young woman called Juliana Carvalho.
Juliana is from Brazil, and has been living and working here in New Zealand since 2012.
She has family here, two siblings and her mother, and another two siblings (one a doctor) plan to move to New Zealand next year.
Juliana is an accomplished writer, film maker and launched a TV show in Brazil.
She is working full time…did I say that already?….and yet…
…she has been told she is not wanted in New Zealand and she has to return to Brazil.
Why?
She has a disability and uses a wheelchair.
This government HATES disabled people.
I met Juliana once. This was at the 2014 Health and Disability Conference in 2014.
My partner and I were having a two person protest against the lack of accountability when disabled people have been neglected to death in care of Contracted Providers.
As expected, we were shunned by the government funded ‘advocates’ attending this white table cloth conference….but Juliana, bless her, came over to speak with us and find out what we were protesting about.
I wish there was something we could do to help her.
Kia Kaha, Juliana.
This government HATES disabled people….did I say that already?
No not just this government, sadly I think there I long history of this regardless of who is in power.
In this case, surely the basic human right of equal treatment should apply.
Pity the Labour Party wouldn’t stop hugging scum bag criminals long enough to actually stand up for the human rights of decent people. If they did, the would once again get my vote.
“No not just this government, sadly I think there I long history of this regardless of who is in power.”
This government has ramped the hate up to a new level…but you are right…Labour was not much better.
Under Labour…the ‘deserving disabled’, the ones under ACC certainly felt more secure, but the rest had to battle and manipulate the system to get the supports they needed.
At the last election I emailed all opposition parties about their policy on one particular disability issue.
Got no satisfactory answer from any of them.
So I voted for no one. (a little contribution to the ‘stupid folk who don’t vote’ conversation the was had on TS yesterday!)
As you say pete…it is about treating all people as equals.
Apart from disabled people…as far as I know, few protections against hate speech or other forms of discrimination and persecution.
Pete, none of the comments I have made are anything to do with you or about you. My last comment was in reply to Rosemary and her point about a conversation that was happening on the standard yesterday. I was just clarifying what happened and asking Rosemary (not you) where she fitted in with the clarification.
I’m not sure what to make of your comments about abuse given you then go on to be rude and mean.
pete, weka was directly replying to Rosemary, who both referenced a conversation that was on The Standard yesterday and she also said she didn’t vote.
Your attacks on weka are entirely unfounded and unwarranted. Also I don’t think I’ve ever seen weka personally insult anyone, which is something I don’t think I can say about any other regular commenter on TS (actually maybe Mickey and r0b, but I think even they get fed up with the trolls sometimes).
Right, so apparently you’ve never voted in 33 years, then?
For someone who is politically aware to have chosen not to vote for 33 years, rather relegates them into a very, very small minority of the public. People in this group will likely have such incredibly diverse rationales for not voting that it’d be a massive sunk cost attempting to wring votes out of that group (and focussing those resources on such a minority would result in a net loss of votes from the mainstream who go elsewhere).
“For someone who is politically aware to have chosen not to vote for 33 years, rather relegates them into a very, very small minority of the public.”
That is one of the reasons I try and avoid those sorts of conversations…the premise seems to be that non voters are apathetic, ill informed, poorly educated and the rest.
I grew up being cynical and skeptical of politics and politicians. Hard to shake off that influence.
But it is liberating in a way, as one can be totally and utterly impartial political partywise.
In the last election…Mana popped up on my radar…then they hopped into bed with KDC….seduced by the dollars.
Mana weren’t seduced by the dollars at all – they may have been seduced by the thought of getting a few MP’s in and changing the face of politics for the better though
I guess Rosemary only wants to vote for loser underdogs, and not a party that actually has the resources and prospects to get elected and make a difference.
Fair enough Rosemary. There was just a bit of misrepresentation happening yesterday about what I actually meant and I didn’t want that carrying on again in another thread so felt I needed to say something. Not wanting to derail the conversation.
Marilyn Waring would have been tricky back in the day, because she was a National MP. If the election weren’t close I might have voted for her too. It’s interesting to consider what party she would be in now.
Yes this sort of thing really annoys me. If Julianna deserves to stay or not, absolutely should be solely on whether she offers a net benefit to NZ or not (and from what you say it appears she would).
If they made a judgement based on her colour, we all would be appalled, quite rightly. Yet disabled? Same discrimination yet somehow acceptable to many.
From what I read, it’s not her disability (which isn’t costing the state anything), it’s her illness and the probability of her costing the state over her lifetime over and above what other people would.
I agree it should be about the net benefit. Forty odd thousand dollars over her lifetime doesn’t seem like a lot of money given what she brings. But from what I can tell immigration is often based on economic benefit brought in rather than other benefits. And in this case that adds another level of prejudice to the case, because what she brings is probably not considered relevant because it’s of benefit to people with disabilities.
“And in this case that adds another level of prejudice to the case, because what she brings is probably not considered relevant because it’s of benefit to people with disabilities.”
Exactly.
Now, what are we going to do about it?
There are people here on TS who are members of various parties….come on…what is the story on this?
Or do all parties have this vision of a ‘perfect’ New Zealand populated by ‘perfect’ people?
Unfortunately I would guess that immigration are acting consistently with the legislation, but it would be worth looking at policy and seeing how much discretion there is.
How we decide who is valued to live here sucks but I think that’s a long term change rather than for one person. I hope she does well with the appeal and more media attention may help (??).
the only party I can think that’s worth talking to is the Greens, because of Mathers and because they’re not anti-immigration.
Estimated cost is based on an independent Medical Assessor’s assessment of the medical certificates and usually a specialist report, and the threshold is $41,000 over 5 years.
Paraplegia is automatically assessed as not being an Acceptable Standard of Health for residence (there is a list of conditions at A4.10.1 of the Immigration Instructions), so the cost was only relevant to the issue of whether or not to grant a medical waiver (waiving the requirement to be an Acceptable Standard of Health). Obviously INZ didn’t think a waiver was justified, hence the decision to decline the application (once the waiver was declined, there was no choice in the matter).
From here, the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT) will consider her appeal, and either uphold the decision or send it back for reassessment of the waiver. If they uphold the decision, IPT can recommend that the Minister of Immigration consider granting residence as an exception to instructions – that’s reasonably rare, but it happens.
A4.70 Determination of whether a medical waiver should be granted (residence and temporary entry)
(a) Any decision to grant a medical waiver must be made by an immigration officer with Schedule 1-3 delegations (see A15.5).
(b) When determining whether a medical waiver should be granted, an immigration officer must consider the circumstances of the applicant to decide whether they are compelling enough to justify allowing entry to, and/or a stay in New Zealand.
(c) Factors that officers may take into account in making their decision include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) the objectives of Health instructions (see A4.1) and the objectives of the category or instructions under which the application has been made;
(ii) the degree to which the applicant would impose significant costs and/or demands on New Zealand’s health or education services;
(iii) whether the applicant has immediate family lawfully and permanently resident in New Zealand and the circumstances and duration of that residence;
(iv) whether the applicant’s potential contribution to New Zealand will be significant;
(v) the length of intended stay (including whether a person proposes to enter New Zealand permanently or temporarily).
(d) An applicant who is the partner or dependent child of a New Zealand citizen or residence class visa holder, who would otherwise meet the criteria for residence under Partnership (see F2.5(a)) or Dependent Child (see F5.1(a)) instructions, will be granted a medical waiver unless the limitations on the grant of medical waivers to such persons set out at A4.60(a) and A4.60(b) apply.
(e) An applicant who has been recognised as having refugee or protection status will be granted a medical waiver, unless the limitation on the grant of medical waivers to such persons set out at A4.60(a) applies.
(f) An immigration officer should consider any advice provided by an Immigration New Zealand medical assessor on medical matters pertaining to the grant of a waiver, such as the prognosis of the applicant.
Thanks. It sounds like it’s possible for them have said yes, although what they consider significant costs might be interesting to know (it was mentioned in the media).
“However, a review of her health by the Ministry of Health concluded: “All [costs] are dependent on Juliana’s needs changing significantly due to physical deterioration which will possibly never occur.”” (from the herald article)
God forbid that I say anything in support of the Misery of Health…. but they seem to be supporting her.
Or am I misinterpreting this?
Question.
A ‘perfect’ person is granted residency and NZ Citizenship.
Within a year they commit a hideous crime and are jailed for 10 years at a cost of $1000000.
A citizen would not be deported (citizens can’t be deported and citizenship can only be revoked if it was awarded as a result of fraud/false information) – we’d just have to suck it up.
A resident could be deported if the offense was committed within 10 years of residence being granted. Citizenship is normally available as an option 5 years after residence is granted (not that everyone who is eligible applies for it).
The MoH report was definitely favourable IMO, but has no specifics, so it’s hard to really do much with it.
The Greens put Mojo Mathers high enough on their list that she became an MP in 2011, thereby picking a fight over getting the required support for her to do her job (and winning it, if I recall correctly).
I’m curious, Rosemary. Isn’t that a demonstrable step in the right direction big enough and different enough to the other parties for you to go to a polling booth and tick a bit of paper? Your not voting strikes me as a case letting the perfect become the mortal enemy of the good.
“The Greens put Mojo Mathers high enough on their list that she became an MP in 2011, thereby picking a fight over getting the required support for her to do her job (and winning it, if I recall correctly).”
I’m not privy to the inner workings of the Green Party…but I’m pretty sure that Mojo got her higher ranking on her overall ability rather than her disability.
The shit storm over facilitating her full participation in the House was a fucking embarrassment to the government.
Someone should have looked up “reasonable accommodation” before they started gum beating about the extra cost for the technology.
Roll on the day when we have a permanent wheelchair user elected.
Also..look up the difference between “equity” and “equality”.
Again…discrimination…against the disabled community it’s ubiquitous.
If you have two people of equal ability then choose the person that brings something extra that you want and that is needed and that there is an obligation to provide. Not Mather’s disability but her understanding and skill in disability politics of which much will be informed by her own experiences as a person with a disability.
Hell, disabled people get such a crap deal I’d advocate some positive discrimination in favour of disabled people. For as long as it takes to eliminate prejudice against disabled people.
As far as I’m aware, Mathers is the first MP in New Zealand to need an accommodation for a disability. I think it’s a reasonable inference that the Greens are the first party in New Zealand to not automatically disqualify someone (that happens to have a disability) for office regardless of ability.
Isn’t the fact that the Greens choose to value her for her ability, rather than disqualify her because of a disability, a huge step forward that’s worthy of support?
I’m not privy to the inner workings of the Green Party…but I’m pretty sure that Mojo got her higher ranking on her overall ability rather than her disability.
I was pretty strongly involved with the GP at the time of the 2014 list selection, and it is largely decided by an STV proportional vote amongst the current members. Though there is a recommended candidate order by party central (which was much the same as the final result – though from memory; Shaw and Browning dropped down, while Hughes and Davidson went up). Also, the final vote can be adjusted for gender parity plus geographical and Māori inclusivity (by dropping or raising candidates a single place – which I don’t think was necessary last time).
So yes; Mathers was ranked according to perceived ability by those GP members who voted. But part of her ability repertoire was her contacts within the disabled community eg; “Member of Disability Inclusion Group (2009-10)”.
As for; “the day when we have a permanent wheelchair user elected”, I would suggest that this might one day be Chris Ford who was number 36 on the Green list in 2014 (previously with the Alliance):
He was brought in as a third Dunedin candidate in 2014, and ranked higher than Gallagher who had previously contested several elections for South Dunedin. My impression was that he is understudying for the day when Turei stops contesting the Dunedin North seat; either by either leaving parliament altogether, or going onto contesting the Te Tai Tonga seat (which is where she casts her vote).
I think you’ll find that Mojo Mathers only won because the case was high profile and the Greens were able to leverage some public support for her case, not to mention the legal side of things.
The vast majority of disabled people aren’t so lucky. Most certainly haven’t the profile to exert any political pressure nor the funds to fight the system endlessly through the courts. Most don’t even have the means to access our so called representatives.
You cannot therefore complain when disabled people become disillusioned in New Zealands broken and repressive system that seems intent on punishing them for their impediments.
Jackal, I agree with all of that. I’d go further and say that to my very limited knowledge Australia and the US (at least California, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) are a lot better at assisting disabled people than New Zealand is.
It seems to me the Greens have willingly picked a public fight and won it. Surely that’s a good thing, in terms of raising the public profile of disability issues, and showing that the bogeymen raised by people opposed to assisting disabled aren’t actually that scary. That must be an improvement on having all the parties in Parliament determined to ignore disability issues.
But Rosemary’s and your reaction makes me think I’m missing something, beyond it just not being fast enough progress. I’d sure like to figure out what I am missing.
I wouldn’t call one case of a politician gaining some equipment “progress”. Some disabled people would even view that as a bit unfair, so I’m not sure that there’s much benefit for the Greens overall. Most disabled people don’t get $30,000 spent on them to ensure they have access to anything.
It’s policy that really matters, and National is simply continuing Labour’s archaic policy direction that ensures a lack of available funding and services for disabled people.
Unfortunately the current system is devised to get rid of anybody it perceives to be non-productive. This includes people with even mild disability that would benefit greatly from rehabilitation and then reintegration back into the workforce.
I don’t see the broken system changing anytime soon just because of one high profile case.
“It’s policy that really matters, and National is simply continuing Labour’s archaic policy direction that ensures a lack of available funding and services for disabled people.”
Agree with everything you say…other than a rider on the above statement.
National is continuing Labour’s policy of ensuring that pretty much every dollar that is used to support eligible disabled New Zealanders is channeled through the bank account of a Contracted Provider, or two.
The entire MOH:DSS system depends on these Contracted Providers…from assessment through to actual care.
MOH:DSS also pours $millions into so called disability’advocacy’ groups…who can be pretty much depended on to keep quiet on the most important issues.
And…National has set in law that support for(non ACC) disabled people living as part of a family is the responsibility of that family…and the fact that there is absolutely no ‘entitlement’ to support.
None at all.
Yet…over a billion dollars per year is funded through MOH:DSS…when I have the time I will find out how much of that goes to paying for actual hands on care, and how much is consumed by the bureaucracy.
I don’t see the broken system changing either…but I also don’t want to be a citizen of a country that treats disabled people like crap…so, we’ll keep squeaking away, giving the can another kick.
Adam- Some years ago now the response I got from Workbridge was “You’re unemployable, go away” (direct quote). Needless to say I do not hold them in high regard.
Interesting you say institutionalised racisism, because they are also well know for despising certain “categories” of disability and extreme discrimination. For many years it was well known that they didn’t want to know you if you didn’t “look” disabled. I’ve heard conflicting reports in recent years about their change in attitude there so couldn’t say what they’re like now. Obviously I won’t have anything to do with them.
Why does Pete want an even higher recidivism level than we have now? Pete would rather that penal policy be a vehicle for Pete’s pathetic vengeance fantasies, rather than the crime prevention strategy that works all over the world.
Pete’s attitudes and behaviour cause more crime, then Pete throws his toys and refuses to accept responsibility.
What kind of trash behaves like that?
PS: Pete is a late newcomer to his handle. I don’t believe the original Pete deserves to be associated with low-life.
Brilliant article by Dita de Boni about the TPPA and how the establishment smears those who oppose it.
It’s also a very brave article given the current North Korean media mentality in NZ. Anyone questioning Dear Leader loses their job, it seems.
It is worth noting that the subprime market in the US did not cause the GFC, as debone says. It was merely the spark that ignited the GFC. The GFC was caused by the unsustainable financial system that we have.
Excerpt:
“The smear campaign against people who oppose the TPPA – or see much to question in it – has almost completely stifled proper debate about this game-changing deal.
“Doubters have been called ‘children’, hippies, dirty lefties, communists, ‘anti-trade’, and much worse.
“Even if they are respected economists, doctors, business leaders or even revered rugby players, they are in for a drubbing for questioning the TPPA.”
Not sure about the “almost” (stifling debate) – If there has been any open public debate on the signing, in NZ mainstream media, then I think I’ve missed it.
Saw one guy on news last night, part of anti TPP car rally, when asked what he did not like about TPP, 10 second pause and then something inane about petrol prices going up Talk about gullible been led
Hey reddelusion, why is it that under the TPPA foreign investors can sue the government if it causes them losses through legitimate law changes but domestic investors have no such ability? Why do foreigners enjoy extra and substantial rights over us?
Wayne Mapp cannot answer this – maybe you can with your amazing insight
Umm maybe vto becuase you are party to a trade agreement that by default reflects cross border transactions and international business , if you are domestic company you are not involved in a such but nz businesses have the same reciprocal rights if they trade internationally. There always have been differences between international and local commerce, just look at tax as one, nz fight with oz over access to apples etc, This is not new and just a red herring, not the end of the world and been over egged to the max,
🙄
I suggest you will get the egging – all over your face.
NZ is already treading water and holding back on legislation it can no longer introduce – at the continued cost of hundreds of NZ lives and heavy medical costs – because it is now a party to ISDS disputes under the Chinese FTA.
“Doubters have been called ‘children’, hippies, dirty lefties, communists, ‘anti-trade’, and much worse.”
That “much worse” is true. Someone posted a link here on TS yesterday which, when followed through, claimed that people on the left who opposed the TPP (and they specifically named several well known people) encouraged “violence against people and property”. (my emph) I will see if I can dig up that comment and link.
http://nominister.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/the-profile-of-those-opposed-to-tppa.html#links
“So, if we look at those who oppose the signing of the TPPA… on the Left, assorted anarchists aided and abetted by the likes of the Bomber Bradburys, Sue Bradfords, John Mintos and Hone Harawiras of this world who believe in ‘direct action’ read violence against people and property) (emph added)
‘Yet there are plenty of similarities. The debt under America’s housing bubble was only sustainable with very low interest rates forever. Anyone supremely confident about Auckland’s housing market simply needs to answer the question: how would it cope with 10 per cent mortgage rates and a 10 per cent unemployment rate. Unlikely right now, but plausible over the long run.’
Just did and I see hickey agrees with me, he simply raises the ? If interest rates rise to 10 pc what would happen, why not 20, why not 30, of course there is a tipping point but the US example is very different to NZ, ( the housing market itself, non recourse loans, Problem was US wide, key driver was Fannie Mae and fanny Mac, both gov institutions set up to encourage house ownership, creation of mortgage back bonds and the derivatives market that grew around these underlying bonds, level of sub prime mortgages and fraud etc etc ) By the way great movie the big short
Modest turn out at TPP protest, in the 10s, a petition of 4000, hardly a sign of huge anti sentiment against TPP, I suggest labour on a real loser here, can they go below 22pc , suggest not. That’s their bedrock close mind support
Andrew Little’s ‘State of the Nation’ speech time has been brought forward by an hour
Who is organising this, late changes to the time, maybe less people attending certainly disorganisation, white anting anyone?
I understand the reason is because heavy, thundery showers have been forecast from about mid-afternoon so they’ve brought the time forward in the hope they will miss them. They have also advised members by email “to bring an umbrella”. If it buckets down, they’ve arranged to move to a nearby venue (prob. in the university) but they would want to avoid that if possible.
‘Foxcatcher’ is a great film, based on fact, which shows what can happen when the poncy self-entitled wealthy takeover the lives and education of the impoverished gifted…exploitation, self delusion, self aggrandisement, abuse….and the destruction of excellence
To spell it out: at the moment Tertiary education is for the often mediocre children of the NZ wealthy , especially at post grad level…and overseas paying students
New Zealand ‘A’ grade students ( NZs best and brightest) who have been invited to do honours by their universites have often been forced to decline
…They already have $40,000 + debt for undergrad degrees( unless they have rich parents who pay for them)
….and jonkey Nactional has ensured there are no more student loans for these ‘A’ grade students invited and wishing to do further postgrad degrees…(and if there were more student loans it would increase their debt further)
No young New Zealander should be forced into debt to pursue an education for which they are entitled and able
This is why Labour is on to a winner by making undergraduate and other Tertiary studies free
Meanwhile We continual to underfund our schooling system, IMO better to adequately fund the education for every school at the expense of tertiary and the benefit of the few.
What is equity? In the simplest terms, it means fairness, which is not necessarily the same thing as equality.
It’s not about everybody getting the same thing,” Parker said. “It’s about everybody getting what they need in order to improve the quality of their situation.”
From now on every post about Donald Trump on the Huffington Post will carry the following disclaimer:
Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
Just read Heather du Plessis’ column in the Herald and wonder what planet she is on. Where did she buy this house in Auckland? Where I live on the North Shore we have been inundated with immigrants to our suburb – they just LOVE the North Shore – I don’t know if it is the brick homes/no maintenance thingee or the proximity to private schools and the university, the beaches or whatever. In our street alone we now have 4 lone standing European NZ owners and the rest are Asian which has to be now about 95% ownership. No problems with us, mainly they keep their homes tidy and are quiet, absent owners are a trial as they leave their properties unkempt is the only bugbear as it brings down the value of the area. The only negative is, it has meant a slow evacuation of our NZ neighbours from the street and an isolation for the remaining left with language difficulties, cultural problems and a real sense of dislocation in our street life and interactions with neighbours.
We probably will leave in the end because of this scenario – do these demographers ever research how this affects communities. I see in the future NZ Aucklanders will be forced out of AK because of rate increases and the cost of living plus the sense we are losing our city by a thousand cuts to immigrants with bottomless pockets. The latest house to be sold was bought by a Chinese man for his 21 year old son – it was $1.5 million – how can ordinary New Zealanders in our low wage economy ever compete with that. Just my grouch for the day.
I believe same problems around Kumeu with absent owners and land banking.
As to blame, at the macro level you can blame neoliberal system that promotes greed and selfish motivation.
Both domestic and overseas speculators are to blame as they snap up properties, driving up prices so young people can’t afford a home to live in.
Of course, much is speculation and anecdotal because our corporate government doesn’t collect data on how many houses some speculators own.
Yep you can blame me…..
Sold our property in Coatesville (near Kumeu for those not familiar with the area) to a Chinese buyer – who has never visited the property in 6 years as far as I know. Rented out to a kiwi couple. Interesting discussion on the machinations of chinese funding for these properties.
It was a very long settlement in our case, and now I understand why!
This from the start of Labour’s policy on Future of Education, announced today –
“Labour’s Working Futures Plan will provide three years of free post-school education across a person’s life so New Zealanders can thrive in the 21st century economy.
The nature of work is changing constantly. To compete into the future and seize opportunities as they arise we need one of the best educated workforces in the world.
Our Working Futures Plan means that no matter what path someone wants to take after school, be it university or an apprenticeship, they will be able to gain the skills they need to succeed without being shackled with years of debt.
It will be available throughout a person’s lifetime, so that it can be used for retraining or if someone changes career part way through their working life………
Apparently I’m traditional working class so no, I’m not surprised.
Result: the class group you most closely match is:
Traditional working class
This class group scores low for economic, social and cultural factors, but they do have some financial security. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
Own their own home
Are older
Tend to mix socially with people similar to themselves
Fizzi please go away, this thread is on a New Zealand blog why would we want to do a so-called class test that you have found in a site based in England? or are you a recent immigrant from the UK.?
Class was one of the reasons for my forbears emigrating to New Zealand in the mid 19th century.
You do realise also don’t you that England is where the Union Jack comes from , it is their Flag. Yep that’s right the very same as the miniature version of it that sits in the top left corner of our New Zealand Ensign/Flag.
I hope John, your leader. doesn’t read this , he could be a bit upset that his favourite stirrer favours the Union Jack the very symbol on a flag that he is trying to get rid of.
Funny old world innit?
Wilderness photographer and bushwalker Dan Broun has just returned from the Central Plateau.
Vision he filmed shows how the fires have raced through the area, which is home to unique alpine flora including pencil pines, king billy pines and cushion plants, some more than 1,000 years old.
Mr Broun walked four hours into the bushfire affected areas on Saturday.
“The scene is complete and utter devastation. There is kilometres of burnt ground, everything is dead,” he said.
He said small pockets of areas protected by rock escaped the fire.
“I also witnessed devastated wildlife; burnt wallabies, dead wombats and the like,” said Mr Broun.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
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In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
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David Shearer. Really, what a fuck up. Fucked up his time in the chair. Now continuing. Fuck off.
Phil Goff. Same.
Pricks and selfish assholes.
(apologies for the required language on a sunday morning)
What have they done now?
TPPA – Transgressed Party Political Arrangements.
I reckon Shearer should become a independent.
Cut a deal with National in exchange for some overseas position.
He’d do better to hit up Helen – like Goff he’s better out of the country.
Why?
He’s, much more useful to National staying where he is.
National needs another vote to get the RMA changes done.
Maybe Shearer could be that vote?
Only the whipped National MPs and puppet party ACT have any interest in the type of RMA reforms National are trying to ram through.
Could be Shearers meal ticket.
Lets be honest, he knows his days are numbered with in Labour, he really only has three options.
1) Leave and retire from politics
2) Start another party
3) Do a deal with National.
Why are his days numbered? He holds a safe electorate seat, and Labour seem incapable of shifting electorate dead-wood on.
So, if Shearer doesn’t want to go, there’s nothing the party or the members can do to get rid of him?
Apparently not. He can be ejected from the party if he does something bad enough to warrant that, but they can’t take his seat from him. Which is probably fair given people actually voted for him not just the party.
Even Shearer isn’t that stupid.
Mt Albert needs to deselect him.
Then he wouldn’t be an independent MP for very long, would he?
National managed to find a plum job for Shane Jones while he was a Labour MP, don’t see why Shearer would need to go independent first.
Shearer is pretty loose alright.
But I suspect Phil Goff, Labour, and National have done some sort of deal. Goff’s leaving anyway and I think the Nats know they can’t win Auckland and have buttered Goff up to smooth that particular ride in exchange for visible and actual support on the TPP. Labour have agreed, losing a battle to win the war in Auckland where I think they’ll expect Goff to do some heavy lifting for them nationally on social issues.
The Nats will insist of course that Goff sells Auckland’s assets to their rich mates once he’s in the role to pay for the CRL.
Yeah, who in the general public cares what Shearer thinks of the TPPA anyway?
Nobody.
So why did he do it?
Shearer really does need to leave.
Otherwise he will bumblef%#k again on the next big thing… what a goober
Unfettered Neolib capitalism, doncha just love it! http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/ “A few months after Governor Snyder removed Flint from the clean fresh water we had been drinking for decades, the brass from General Motors went to him and complained that the Flint River water was causing their car parts to corrode when being washed on the assembly line. The Governor was appalled to hear that GM property was being damaged, so he jumped through a number of hoops and quietly spent $440,000 to hook GM back up to the Lake Huron water, while keeping the rest of Flint on the Flint River water. Which means that while the children in Flint were drinking lead-filled water, there was one — and only one — address in Flint that got clean water: the GM factory.”
The Herald this morning carries an article about a young woman called Juliana Carvalho.
Juliana is from Brazil, and has been living and working here in New Zealand since 2012.
She has family here, two siblings and her mother, and another two siblings (one a doctor) plan to move to New Zealand next year.
Juliana is an accomplished writer, film maker and launched a TV show in Brazil.
She is working full time…did I say that already?….and yet…
…she has been told she is not wanted in New Zealand and she has to return to Brazil.
Why?
She has a disability and uses a wheelchair.
This government HATES disabled people.
I met Juliana once. This was at the 2014 Health and Disability Conference in 2014.
My partner and I were having a two person protest against the lack of accountability when disabled people have been neglected to death in care of Contracted Providers.
As expected, we were shunned by the government funded ‘advocates’ attending this white table cloth conference….but Juliana, bless her, came over to speak with us and find out what we were protesting about.
I wish there was something we could do to help her.
Kia Kaha, Juliana.
This government HATES disabled people….did I say that already?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11582384
No not just this government, sadly I think there I long history of this regardless of who is in power.
In this case, surely the basic human right of equal treatment should apply.
Pity the Labour Party wouldn’t stop hugging scum bag criminals long enough to actually stand up for the human rights of decent people. If they did, the would once again get my vote.
“No not just this government, sadly I think there I long history of this regardless of who is in power.”
This government has ramped the hate up to a new level…but you are right…Labour was not much better.
Under Labour…the ‘deserving disabled’, the ones under ACC certainly felt more secure, but the rest had to battle and manipulate the system to get the supports they needed.
At the last election I emailed all opposition parties about their policy on one particular disability issue.
Got no satisfactory answer from any of them.
So I voted for no one. (a little contribution to the ‘stupid folk who don’t vote’ conversation the was had on TS yesterday!)
As you say pete…it is about treating all people as equals.
Apart from disabled people…as far as I know, few protections against hate speech or other forms of discrimination and persecution.
The only people that got called stupid yesterday where those that don’t vote as a way of changing National policy. Is that why you didn’t vote?
I have absolutely no idea what the significance of ‘yetsrday’ is. Nor do I care.
And please do not make assumptions about what I did or did not do. Your kind of personal abuse is what undermines sites like this.
Please return to your bedroom and your computer and be a big anonymous hero all on your own. Pathetic.
Pete, none of the comments I have made are anything to do with you or about you. My last comment was in reply to Rosemary and her point about a conversation that was happening on the standard yesterday. I was just clarifying what happened and asking Rosemary (not you) where she fitted in with the clarification.
I’m not sure what to make of your comments about abuse given you then go on to be rude and mean.
pete, weka was directly replying to Rosemary, who both referenced a conversation that was on The Standard yesterday and she also said she didn’t vote.
Your attacks on weka are entirely unfounded and unwarranted. Also I don’t think I’ve ever seen weka personally insult anyone, which is something I don’t think I can say about any other regular commenter on TS (actually maybe Mickey and r0b, but I think even they get fed up with the trolls sometimes).
Your disgust shouldn’t be directed at Weka. She is one of the best commenters here, as you must know if you have spent any time here.
weka…I follow such discussions with a liberal dose of detachment now.
Ask me….”what would encourage you to vote?”
weka, I’ll vote when there is a candidate worth voting for, and a party with definite policies that fit with my principles.
(and since the electoral office has finally caught up with me after a mere 33 years of non enrollment…I’ll vote against the flag change.)
(I would have voted for Marilyn Waring…but she quit. Kinda convinced me that integrity and politics do not make good bedfellows.)
I’ll vote for the party that allows Juliana permanent residency.
Right, so apparently you’ve never voted in 33 years, then?
For someone who is politically aware to have chosen not to vote for 33 years, rather relegates them into a very, very small minority of the public. People in this group will likely have such incredibly diverse rationales for not voting that it’d be a massive sunk cost attempting to wring votes out of that group (and focussing those resources on such a minority would result in a net loss of votes from the mainstream who go elsewhere).
“For someone who is politically aware to have chosen not to vote for 33 years, rather relegates them into a very, very small minority of the public.”
That is one of the reasons I try and avoid those sorts of conversations…the premise seems to be that non voters are apathetic, ill informed, poorly educated and the rest.
I grew up being cynical and skeptical of politics and politicians. Hard to shake off that influence.
But it is liberating in a way, as one can be totally and utterly impartial political partywise.
In the last election…Mana popped up on my radar…then they hopped into bed with KDC….seduced by the dollars.
incredibly diverse rationale ≠ the premise seems to be that non voters are apathetic, ill informed, poorly educated.
Although it might be argued that you’re providing a pertinent example.
OAB… you never fail to proffer you very own special type of support.
Thank you.
Mana weren’t seduced by the dollars at all – they may have been seduced by the thought of getting a few MP’s in and changing the face of politics for the better though
I guess Rosemary only wants to vote for loser underdogs, and not a party that actually has the resources and prospects to get elected and make a difference.
the expectation of politics bar is set pretty high methinks
Fair enough Rosemary. There was just a bit of misrepresentation happening yesterday about what I actually meant and I didn’t want that carrying on again in another thread so felt I needed to say something. Not wanting to derail the conversation.
Marilyn Waring would have been tricky back in the day, because she was a National MP. If the election weren’t close I might have voted for her too. It’s interesting to consider what party she would be in now.
Yes this sort of thing really annoys me. If Julianna deserves to stay or not, absolutely should be solely on whether she offers a net benefit to NZ or not (and from what you say it appears she would).
If they made a judgement based on her colour, we all would be appalled, quite rightly. Yet disabled? Same discrimination yet somehow acceptable to many.
From what I read, it’s not her disability (which isn’t costing the state anything), it’s her illness and the probability of her costing the state over her lifetime over and above what other people would.
I agree it should be about the net benefit. Forty odd thousand dollars over her lifetime doesn’t seem like a lot of money given what she brings. But from what I can tell immigration is often based on economic benefit brought in rather than other benefits. And in this case that adds another level of prejudice to the case, because what she brings is probably not considered relevant because it’s of benefit to people with disabilities.
“And in this case that adds another level of prejudice to the case, because what she brings is probably not considered relevant because it’s of benefit to people with disabilities.”
Exactly.
Now, what are we going to do about it?
There are people here on TS who are members of various parties….come on…what is the story on this?
Or do all parties have this vision of a ‘perfect’ New Zealand populated by ‘perfect’ people?
Unfortunately I would guess that immigration are acting consistently with the legislation, but it would be worth looking at policy and seeing how much discretion there is.
How we decide who is valued to live here sucks but I think that’s a long term change rather than for one person. I hope she does well with the appeal and more media attention may help (??).
the only party I can think that’s worth talking to is the Greens, because of Mathers and because they’re not anti-immigration.
Estimated cost is based on an independent Medical Assessor’s assessment of the medical certificates and usually a specialist report, and the threshold is $41,000 over 5 years.
Paraplegia is automatically assessed as not being an Acceptable Standard of Health for residence (there is a list of conditions at A4.10.1 of the Immigration Instructions), so the cost was only relevant to the issue of whether or not to grant a medical waiver (waiving the requirement to be an Acceptable Standard of Health). Obviously INZ didn’t think a waiver was justified, hence the decision to decline the application (once the waiver was declined, there was no choice in the matter).
From here, the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT) will consider her appeal, and either uphold the decision or send it back for reassessment of the waiver. If they uphold the decision, IPT can recommend that the Minister of Immigration consider granting residence as an exception to instructions – that’s reasonably rare, but it happens.
Thanks! What are the criteria for a medical waiver?
A4.70 Determination of whether a medical waiver should be granted (residence and temporary entry)
(a) Any decision to grant a medical waiver must be made by an immigration officer with Schedule 1-3 delegations (see A15.5).
(b) When determining whether a medical waiver should be granted, an immigration officer must consider the circumstances of the applicant to decide whether they are compelling enough to justify allowing entry to, and/or a stay in New Zealand.
(c) Factors that officers may take into account in making their decision include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) the objectives of Health instructions (see A4.1) and the objectives of the category or instructions under which the application has been made;
(ii) the degree to which the applicant would impose significant costs and/or demands on New Zealand’s health or education services;
(iii) whether the applicant has immediate family lawfully and permanently resident in New Zealand and the circumstances and duration of that residence;
(iv) whether the applicant’s potential contribution to New Zealand will be significant;
(v) the length of intended stay (including whether a person proposes to enter New Zealand permanently or temporarily).
(d) An applicant who is the partner or dependent child of a New Zealand citizen or residence class visa holder, who would otherwise meet the criteria for residence under Partnership (see F2.5(a)) or Dependent Child (see F5.1(a)) instructions, will be granted a medical waiver unless the limitations on the grant of medical waivers to such persons set out at A4.60(a) and A4.60(b) apply.
(e) An applicant who has been recognised as having refugee or protection status will be granted a medical waiver, unless the limitation on the grant of medical waivers to such persons set out at A4.60(a) applies.
(f) An immigration officer should consider any advice provided by an Immigration New Zealand medical assessor on medical matters pertaining to the grant of a waiver, such as the prognosis of the applicant.
Thanks. It sounds like it’s possible for them have said yes, although what they consider significant costs might be interesting to know (it was mentioned in the media).
Same as above, $41000 over 5 years, no inflation adjustment.
ok, thanks.
I had the impression that for this woman that was a theoretical number, that might not be needed.
Thanks Craig for that expansion of the criteria.
“However, a review of her health by the Ministry of Health concluded: “All [costs] are dependent on Juliana’s needs changing significantly due to physical deterioration which will possibly never occur.”” (from the herald article)
God forbid that I say anything in support of the Misery of Health…. but they seem to be supporting her.
Or am I misinterpreting this?
Question.
A ‘perfect’ person is granted residency and NZ Citizenship.
Within a year they commit a hideous crime and are jailed for 10 years at a cost of $1000000.
Upon their release, are they exiled?
A citizen would not be deported (citizens can’t be deported and citizenship can only be revoked if it was awarded as a result of fraud/false information) – we’d just have to suck it up.
A resident could be deported if the offense was committed within 10 years of residence being granted. Citizenship is normally available as an option 5 years after residence is granted (not that everyone who is eligible applies for it).
The MoH report was definitely favourable IMO, but has no specifics, so it’s hard to really do much with it.
The Greens put Mojo Mathers high enough on their list that she became an MP in 2011, thereby picking a fight over getting the required support for her to do her job (and winning it, if I recall correctly).
I’m curious, Rosemary. Isn’t that a demonstrable step in the right direction big enough and different enough to the other parties for you to go to a polling booth and tick a bit of paper? Your not voting strikes me as a case letting the perfect become the mortal enemy of the good.
“The Greens put Mojo Mathers high enough on their list that she became an MP in 2011, thereby picking a fight over getting the required support for her to do her job (and winning it, if I recall correctly).”
I’m not privy to the inner workings of the Green Party…but I’m pretty sure that Mojo got her higher ranking on her overall ability rather than her disability.
The shit storm over facilitating her full participation in the House was a fucking embarrassment to the government.
Someone should have looked up “reasonable accommodation” before they started gum beating about the extra cost for the technology.
Roll on the day when we have a permanent wheelchair user elected.
Also..look up the difference between “equity” and “equality”.
Again…discrimination…against the disabled community it’s ubiquitous.
If you have two people of equal ability then choose the person that brings something extra that you want and that is needed and that there is an obligation to provide. Not Mather’s disability but her understanding and skill in disability politics of which much will be informed by her own experiences as a person with a disability.
Hell, disabled people get such a crap deal I’d advocate some positive discrimination in favour of disabled people. For as long as it takes to eliminate prejudice against disabled people.
As far as I’m aware, Mathers is the first MP in New Zealand to need an accommodation for a disability. I think it’s a reasonable inference that the Greens are the first party in New Zealand to not automatically disqualify someone (that happens to have a disability) for office regardless of ability.
Isn’t the fact that the Greens choose to value her for her ability, rather than disqualify her because of a disability, a huge step forward that’s worthy of support?
Rosmary McD
I was pretty strongly involved with the GP at the time of the 2014 list selection, and it is largely decided by an STV proportional vote amongst the current members. Though there is a recommended candidate order by party central (which was much the same as the final result – though from memory; Shaw and Browning dropped down, while Hughes and Davidson went up). Also, the final vote can be adjusted for gender parity plus geographical and Māori inclusivity (by dropping or raising candidates a single place – which I don’t think was necessary last time).
So yes; Mathers was ranked according to perceived ability by those GP members who voted. But part of her ability repertoire was her contacts within the disabled community eg; “Member of Disability Inclusion Group (2009-10)”.
As for; “the day when we have a permanent wheelchair user elected”, I would suggest that this might one day be Chris Ford who was number 36 on the Green list in 2014 (previously with the Alliance):
https://home.greens.org.nz/candidates/chris-ford
He was brought in as a third Dunedin candidate in 2014, and ranked higher than Gallagher who had previously contested several elections for South Dunedin. My impression was that he is understudying for the day when Turei stops contesting the Dunedin North seat; either by either leaving parliament altogether, or going onto contesting the Te Tai Tonga seat (which is where she casts her vote).
Thanks Parsupial.
Chris Ford would be an asset in the house.
He has written some sterling pieces….http://www.voxy.co.nz/blogs/chris-ford
I might even be tempted to vote Green to increase his chances!
I think you’ll find that Mojo Mathers only won because the case was high profile and the Greens were able to leverage some public support for her case, not to mention the legal side of things.
The vast majority of disabled people aren’t so lucky. Most certainly haven’t the profile to exert any political pressure nor the funds to fight the system endlessly through the courts. Most don’t even have the means to access our so called representatives.
You cannot therefore complain when disabled people become disillusioned in New Zealands broken and repressive system that seems intent on punishing them for their impediments.
Jackal, I agree with all of that. I’d go further and say that to my very limited knowledge Australia and the US (at least California, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) are a lot better at assisting disabled people than New Zealand is.
It seems to me the Greens have willingly picked a public fight and won it. Surely that’s a good thing, in terms of raising the public profile of disability issues, and showing that the bogeymen raised by people opposed to assisting disabled aren’t actually that scary. That must be an improvement on having all the parties in Parliament determined to ignore disability issues.
But Rosemary’s and your reaction makes me think I’m missing something, beyond it just not being fast enough progress. I’d sure like to figure out what I am missing.
I wouldn’t call one case of a politician gaining some equipment “progress”. Some disabled people would even view that as a bit unfair, so I’m not sure that there’s much benefit for the Greens overall. Most disabled people don’t get $30,000 spent on them to ensure they have access to anything.
It’s policy that really matters, and National is simply continuing Labour’s archaic policy direction that ensures a lack of available funding and services for disabled people.
Unfortunately the current system is devised to get rid of anybody it perceives to be non-productive. This includes people with even mild disability that would benefit greatly from rehabilitation and then reintegration back into the workforce.
I don’t see the broken system changing anytime soon just because of one high profile case.
“It’s policy that really matters, and National is simply continuing Labour’s archaic policy direction that ensures a lack of available funding and services for disabled people.”
Agree with everything you say…other than a rider on the above statement.
National is continuing Labour’s policy of ensuring that pretty much every dollar that is used to support eligible disabled New Zealanders is channeled through the bank account of a Contracted Provider, or two.
The entire MOH:DSS system depends on these Contracted Providers…from assessment through to actual care.
MOH:DSS also pours $millions into so called disability’advocacy’ groups…who can be pretty much depended on to keep quiet on the most important issues.
And…National has set in law that support for(non ACC) disabled people living as part of a family is the responsibility of that family…and the fact that there is absolutely no ‘entitlement’ to support.
None at all.
Yet…over a billion dollars per year is funded through MOH:DSS…when I have the time I will find out how much of that goes to paying for actual hands on care, and how much is consumed by the bureaucracy.
I don’t see the broken system changing either…but I also don’t want to be a citizen of a country that treats disabled people like crap…so, we’ll keep squeaking away, giving the can another kick.
Slightly off point of what you have been saying Rosemary McDonald. But maybe the finger should be pointed at some of these piss poor providers.
Two which spring to mind without much effort on my part as bloody awful service providers or dis-service providers to disable people are:
Deaf Aotearoa
http://www.deaf.org.nz/
and
Work Bridge
http://workbridgeincorporated.virtuozzo.co.nz/?page=1
Bureaucratic and wasteful of public money.
Both great at adding extra paper work, and time wasting tools to disabled peoples lives.
Old organisations re-branded for the 21st century, to look as P.C as possible.
Both really good at hiding there institutionalized racism under a great PR face.
Adam- Some years ago now the response I got from Workbridge was “You’re unemployable, go away” (direct quote). Needless to say I do not hold them in high regard.
Interesting you say institutionalised racisism, because they are also well know for despising certain “categories” of disability and extreme discrimination. For many years it was well known that they didn’t want to know you if you didn’t “look” disabled. I’ve heard conflicting reports in recent years about their change in attitude there so couldn’t say what they’re like now. Obviously I won’t have anything to do with them.
“…the finger should be pointed at some of these piss poor providers.”
Now that, Adam, is a post all of it’s own.
Snouts in the trough…and if they don’t perform to an acceptable standard…you know where the fault will lie?
“Bureaucratic and wasteful of public money.
Both great at adding extra paper work, and time wasting tools to disabled peoples lives.”
In a nutshell.
Why does Pete want an even higher recidivism level than we have now? Pete would rather that penal policy be a vehicle for Pete’s pathetic vengeance fantasies, rather than the crime prevention strategy that works all over the world.
Pete’s attitudes and behaviour cause more crime, then Pete throws his toys and refuses to accept responsibility.
What kind of trash behaves like that?
PS: Pete is a late newcomer to his handle. I don’t believe the original Pete deserves to be associated with low-life.
Bribery and corruption and the TPP:
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/01/29/top-tpp-negotiator-resigns-over-bribery-allegations-10000-people-demand
“Corporate Crime Runs Rampant”
Following the Law is optional for some of the mega corporations. And here we are about to sign away our future and our children’s futures to such as these? http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/29/corporate-crime-runs-rampant-thanks-rigged-system-elizabeth-warren
Brilliant article by Dita de Boni about the TPPA and how the establishment smears those who oppose it.
It’s also a very brave article given the current North Korean media mentality in NZ. Anyone questioning Dear Leader loses their job, it seems.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/dita-deboni-the-smear-campaign-against-people-who-oppose-tppa-has-almost-stifled-proper-debate
It is worth noting that the subprime market in the US did not cause the GFC, as debone says. It was merely the spark that ignited the GFC. The GFC was caused by the unsustainable financial system that we have.
It is still not sustainable today.
Excerpt:
“The smear campaign against people who oppose the TPPA – or see much to question in it – has almost completely stifled proper debate about this game-changing deal.
“Doubters have been called ‘children’, hippies, dirty lefties, communists, ‘anti-trade’, and much worse.
“Even if they are respected economists, doctors, business leaders or even revered rugby players, they are in for a drubbing for questioning the TPPA.”
Not sure about the “almost” (stifling debate) – If there has been any open public debate on the signing, in NZ mainstream media, then I think I’ve missed it.
Saw one guy on news last night, part of anti TPP car rally, when asked what he did not like about TPP, 10 second pause and then something inane about petrol prices going up Talk about gullible been led
Yep red 0.7% improvement really good by 2030 eh.
Just who has been gullible then?
i suggest the benefits are underestimated as per previous trade agreements, the real issue as articulated by Helen is the cost of opting out.
“i suggest the benefits are underestimated
Yep as I though Gullible.
“ i suggest the benefits are underestimated as per previous trade agreements
A “reckon” does not an argument make.
The costs of opting in far out weight the costs of opting out.
Hey reddelusion, why is it that under the TPPA foreign investors can sue the government if it causes them losses through legitimate law changes but domestic investors have no such ability? Why do foreigners enjoy extra and substantial rights over us?
Wayne Mapp cannot answer this – maybe you can with your amazing insight
Umm maybe vto becuase you are party to a trade agreement that by default reflects cross border transactions and international business , if you are domestic company you are not involved in a such but nz businesses have the same reciprocal rights if they trade internationally. There always have been differences between international and local commerce, just look at tax as one, nz fight with oz over access to apples etc, This is not new and just a red herring, not the end of the world and been over egged to the max,
🙄
I suggest you will get the egging – all over your face.
NZ is already treading water and holding back on legislation it can no longer introduce – at the continued cost of hundreds of NZ lives and heavy medical costs – because it is now a party to ISDS disputes under the Chinese FTA.
No Reddelusion, you miss the issue. Try again.
It’s not a free trade agreement.
It’s a forced trade agreement.
“Talk about gullible been led”
Yeah, the odds are he probably voted for National.
You don’t think he was set up my the ‘news crew’? I mean out of all the people there they had to choose him right? Gullible indeed.
No need to run straight to media bias:
Option a) they chose one person, turned out he couldn’t think on his feet (bad luck)
Option b) they chose many people, selected an average example because most couldn’t think on their feet (good reporting)
Option c) they chose many people, selected the worst exception (media bias)
Option d) they showed many people, red’s memory only registers a skewed reflection of the one who matches red’s delusion. (source bias)
Option e) they chose one person, red’s memory only registers a skewed reflection in order to conform to red’s delusion. (source bias)
lol
“Doubters have been called ‘children’, hippies, dirty lefties, communists, ‘anti-trade’, and much worse.”
That “much worse” is true. Someone posted a link here on TS yesterday which, when followed through, claimed that people on the left who opposed the TPP (and they specifically named several well known people) encouraged “violence against people and property”. (my emph) I will see if I can dig up that comment and link.
http://nominister.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/the-profile-of-those-opposed-to-tppa.html#links
“So, if we look at those who oppose the signing of the TPPA… on the Left, assorted anarchists aided and abetted by the likes of the Bomber Bradburys, Sue Bradfords, John Mintos and Hone Harawiras of this world who believe in ‘direct action’ read violence against people and property) (emph added)
Bernard Hickey on the Auckland housing bubble.
‘Yet there are plenty of similarities. The debt under America’s housing bubble was only sustainable with very low interest rates forever. Anyone supremely confident about Auckland’s housing market simply needs to answer the question: how would it cope with 10 per cent mortgage rates and a 10 per cent unemployment rate. Unlikely right now, but plausible over the long run.’
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11582389
One big difference here is in the U.S. Mortgage are non recourse loans, you can just walk away and leave the keys in letter box, not the case here
Did you read his article?
Just did and I see hickey agrees with me, he simply raises the ? If interest rates rise to 10 pc what would happen, why not 20, why not 30, of course there is a tipping point but the US example is very different to NZ, ( the housing market itself, non recourse loans, Problem was US wide, key driver was Fannie Mae and fanny Mac, both gov institutions set up to encourage house ownership, creation of mortgage back bonds and the derivatives market that grew around these underlying bonds, level of sub prime mortgages and fraud etc etc ) By the way great movie the big short
Yes, Bernard says that in the article. Perhaps you should have read it.
I know he said that.
Then qualified it by saying he have worrying similarities.
You need to learn how threaded comments work. I was replying to Reddelusion, not you.
Sorry – do understand threads but did not look carefully
Modest turn out at TPP protest, in the 10s, a petition of 4000, hardly a sign of huge anti sentiment against TPP, I suggest labour on a real loser here, can they go below 22pc , suggest not. That’s their bedrock close mind support
Andrew Little’s ‘State of the Nation’ speech time has been brought forward by an hour
Who is organising this, late changes to the time, maybe less people attending certainly disorganisation, white anting anyone?
Cold be something to do with this.
I wouldn’t want to be outdoors when it hits, especially under trees or in a rotunda.
http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/auckland/auckland-central
Looks like they’re pushing their luck http://metvuw.com/forecast/forecast.php?type=rain®ion=nzni&noofdays=10
“Looks like they’re pushing their luck”
Lucky indeed for us here in the Waikato. An hour of torrential rain, accompanied by rolling thunder and lightning.
Preceded by an hour of rolling thunder…with us scanning Mt Pirongia and begging the rain falling there to come our way.
At a rough guesstimate, we collected about 10,000 litres in our water tanks.
This is gold in the middle of summer.
Bummer about the cricket though.
Crikey, lucky you indeed! Pretty dry down south too despite a cold summer.
I understand the reason is because heavy, thundery showers have been forecast from about mid-afternoon so they’ve brought the time forward in the hope they will miss them. They have also advised members by email “to bring an umbrella”. If it buckets down, they’ve arranged to move to a nearby venue (prob. in the university) but they would want to avoid that if possible.
‘Foxcatcher’ is a great film, based on fact, which shows what can happen when the poncy self-entitled wealthy takeover the lives and education of the impoverished gifted…exploitation, self delusion, self aggrandisement, abuse….and the destruction of excellence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8361stZ8n0w
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxcatcher
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1100089/
Labour is on to an Election winner if it makes Tertiary education FREE for New Zealand’s best and brightest youth .
“Tertiary education FREE for New Zealand’s best and brightest youth”
Who gets to define that? Or do you mean anyone that wishes to enroll in tertiary education?
To spell it out: at the moment Tertiary education is for the often mediocre children of the NZ wealthy , especially at post grad level…and overseas paying students
New Zealand ‘A’ grade students ( NZs best and brightest) who have been invited to do honours by their universites have often been forced to decline
…They already have $40,000 + debt for undergrad degrees( unless they have rich parents who pay for them)
….and jonkey Nactional has ensured there are no more student loans for these ‘A’ grade students invited and wishing to do further postgrad degrees…(and if there were more student loans it would increase their debt further)
No young New Zealander should be forced into debt to pursue an education for which they are entitled and able
This is why Labour is on to a winner by making undergraduate and other Tertiary studies free
Meanwhile We continual to underfund our schooling system, IMO better to adequately fund the education for every school at the expense of tertiary and the benefit of the few.
Good graphic showing equality vs equity,
http://interactioninstitute.org/illustrating-equality-vs-equity/
What is equity? In the simplest terms, it means fairness, which is not necessarily the same thing as equality.
It’s not about everybody getting the same thing,” Parker said. “It’s about everybody getting what they need in order to improve the quality of their situation.”
Not sure how true this is but it’s amusing,
From now on every post about Donald Trump on the Huffington Post will carry the following disclaimer:
Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
http://realtimepolitics.com/2016/01/30/huffington-post-adding-disclaimer-to-all-posts-about-donald-trump/
Example,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-foundation-charity_us_56aa90bae4b00b033aae659f
Heh! Imagine if the equivalent was happening in media over here – any articles about certain serial liars contained a disclaimer to that effect.
Yeah although to be fair they’d have to use a lot more ink on disclaimers than the Huffington Post.
Just read Heather du Plessis’ column in the Herald and wonder what planet she is on. Where did she buy this house in Auckland? Where I live on the North Shore we have been inundated with immigrants to our suburb – they just LOVE the North Shore – I don’t know if it is the brick homes/no maintenance thingee or the proximity to private schools and the university, the beaches or whatever. In our street alone we now have 4 lone standing European NZ owners and the rest are Asian which has to be now about 95% ownership. No problems with us, mainly they keep their homes tidy and are quiet, absent owners are a trial as they leave their properties unkempt is the only bugbear as it brings down the value of the area. The only negative is, it has meant a slow evacuation of our NZ neighbours from the street and an isolation for the remaining left with language difficulties, cultural problems and a real sense of dislocation in our street life and interactions with neighbours.
We probably will leave in the end because of this scenario – do these demographers ever research how this affects communities. I see in the future NZ Aucklanders will be forced out of AK because of rate increases and the cost of living plus the sense we are losing our city by a thousand cuts to immigrants with bottomless pockets. The latest house to be sold was bought by a Chinese man for his 21 year old son – it was $1.5 million – how can ordinary New Zealanders in our low wage economy ever compete with that. Just my grouch for the day.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11582356
I believe same problems around Kumeu with absent owners and land banking.
As to blame, at the macro level you can blame neoliberal system that promotes greed and selfish motivation.
Both domestic and overseas speculators are to blame as they snap up properties, driving up prices so young people can’t afford a home to live in.
Of course, much is speculation and anecdotal because our corporate government doesn’t collect data on how many houses some speculators own.
Yep you can blame me…..
Sold our property in Coatesville (near Kumeu for those not familiar with the area) to a Chinese buyer – who has never visited the property in 6 years as far as I know. Rented out to a kiwi couple.
Interesting discussion on the machinations of chinese funding for these properties.
It was a very long settlement in our case, and now I understand why!
And fair enough too.
This from the start of Labour’s policy on Future of Education, announced today –
“Labour’s Working Futures Plan will provide three years of free post-school education across a person’s life so New Zealanders can thrive in the 21st century economy.
The nature of work is changing constantly. To compete into the future and seize opportunities as they arise we need one of the best educated workforces in the world.
Our Working Futures Plan means that no matter what path someone wants to take after school, be it university or an apprenticeship, they will be able to gain the skills they need to succeed without being shackled with years of debt.
It will be available throughout a person’s lifetime, so that it can be used for retraining or if someone changes career part way through their working life………
When will socialist ever learn.
There is no such thing as ‘free’.
There is no money tree.
Most Kiwis understand this, why not socialists ?
Nothing in the policy suggests it’s free – it’s costed and paid for.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22000973
You may be surprised to find out what social class you are in.
Apparently I’m traditional working class so no, I’m not surprised.
Result: the class group you most closely match is:
Traditional working class
This class group scores low for economic, social and cultural factors, but they do have some financial security. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
Own their own home
Are older
Tend to mix socially with people similar to themselves
Fizzi please go away, this thread is on a New Zealand blog why would we want to do a so-called class test that you have found in a site based in England? or are you a recent immigrant from the UK.?
Class was one of the reasons for my forbears emigrating to New Zealand in the mid 19th century.
You do realise also don’t you that England is where the Union Jack comes from , it is their Flag. Yep that’s right the very same as the miniature version of it that sits in the top left corner of our New Zealand Ensign/Flag.
I hope John, your leader. doesn’t read this , he could be a bit upset that his favourite stirrer favours the Union Jack the very symbol on a flag that he is trying to get rid of.
Funny old world innit?
sad is to insignificant a word to describe this ‘natural’ desaster
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-30/fire-ravages-world-heritage-area-tasmania-central-plateau/7127300
Wilderness photographer and bushwalker Dan Broun has just returned from the Central Plateau.
Vision he filmed shows how the fires have raced through the area, which is home to unique alpine flora including pencil pines, king billy pines and cushion plants, some more than 1,000 years old.
Mr Broun walked four hours into the bushfire affected areas on Saturday.
“The scene is complete and utter devastation. There is kilometres of burnt ground, everything is dead,” he said.
He said small pockets of areas protected by rock escaped the fire.
“I also witnessed devastated wildlife; burnt wallabies, dead wombats and the like,” said Mr Broun.