‘Socialism closer to Gospel than free enterprise.’
Pity Bill English can’t see this……
‘A retired High Court judge who donated $115,000 to Labour says the party’s principles reflect those of his religion.
In Labour’s first large donation for some time, Robert Smellie, QC, gave $100,000 this month, on top of the $15,000 he gave in December.
Smellie told the Herald one reason was his religion. “[Former PM] Michael Joseph Savage once said, ‘Labour is Christianity in action’. And I am a practising Anglican and as such I see socialism as being far closer to the Gospel than free enterprise.”’
Stephen Joyce’s budget is so going to give money to most vulnerable…….
‘Agency that put up rent ‘week on week’ accused of price gouging’
‘One of Auckland’s biggest rental agencies hiked rents on vacant apartments by five percent a week for several weeks earlier this year when demand from students surged to record levels.
Ray White agent Krister Samuel said demand for apartments was unprecedented in February.
The seasonal surge was caused by thousands of tertiary students and was exacerbated by a big rise in first home buyers snapping up apartments, shrinking the rental pool, he said.
“We were getting 30 to 40 applicants turning up to a one or two-bedroom apartment, and all with good credit history, and testimonials and landlord references.
“So the only response was to put the rent up,” Mr Samuel said.
“For the landlords that we were representing, and we represent about 1000 individual landlords in the city, we were putting the rent up about five percent a week, week on week for about six weeks.”‘
Krister Samuels of Ray White is touting for business via a free advertorial. If I owned a CBD apartment and needed management I’d read Krister’s comments and think ‘Gee looks like this outfit can get me top dollar for my pad.’
If the apartments were previously priced at fair market value and he is pumping the ask by 5% week on week Krister is breaking the law.
There appears to be room for some active advocates in this area. People au fait with the Residential Tenancy Act that can go in to bat for pocket raped tenants. Then Krister can ring some of his owners and advise them …”Ummm you’ve just been fined $2000.” (The contract Ray White has with owners will push the responsibility for payment of any exemplary damages onto owners.)
Money for more tax cuts for the rich, but none for our health.
A wretched government.
Vote them out in September.
‘Government not helping our region recover from Havelock North water crisis.’
It appears the National Government has decided the water crisis that struck down Havelock North is “yesterday’s problem”.
The public health cost alone from the poisoning of our town water supply is more than $1 million, but this Government has refused to help cover the gastro cost to our Hawke’s Bay District Health Board……’
The Budget had over $800 million extra for health in the coming year, an increase of 5.5%. In the last nine years health expenditure has increased in real terms by 10% per capita. That is the reason why the news is not pack filled with terrible stories on health, and why Labors health spokespeople make very little headway. In fact I can’t even recall who the new Labour spokesperson is.
It is very different to the 1990’s when Annette King was completely dominant as opposition spokesperson. She owned the territory. And it clearly signalled a change of government.
A smart guy, but a bit invisible. I should know who is Labour’s health person, but even after thinking about I didn’t. I know Dr Clark has a reputation as a thinker, but he is quiet. In key roles opposition people need to do what it takes so we know who they are. Ardern, Twyford and Davis, have all done that.
Wayne
It’s strange how Ed’s subject, the health budget needing more money, morphs away as you seem to answer it, into an opinion as to whether the Labour Healthperson has enough visibility.
And come on. Waving health statistics with percentages at us just doesn’t wash. (Health warning, after handling any statistics from National wash and dry your hands thoroughly.)
In the last nine years health expenditure has increased in real terms by 10% per capita.
This means that the amount allocated to each person in NZ has gone up during the last nine years, at about 1.1% a year, which may or may not be the equivalent of counted inflation or CPI each year. This means that if CPI
exceeds 1.1% a year, then there is no rise to match the fall in spending value of the NZ$.
I know that the left likes to parrot the line that National does not care about people, health, welfare or education, but it is a silly line.
Voters know that National is in their own way broadly representative of New Zealanders. They all have families and use public schools and public health. So at an intuitive level voters know that National is as involved in these things as other parties, though obviously with their own perspective.
That is why that sort of criticism does not cut through. It belies peoples actual experience.
To succeed you have to do what King was able to do in the 1990’s. Show comprehensive failings, not just spout mantras.
Good morning, Wayne. I agree with much you say in your reply to ed; parroting the line, broadly representative, criticism does not cut through, however Ed knows, I think, that there’s a serious problem with the ideological “planet” you and your and National Party pals inhabit and pontificate from. I’ve a question for you; you talk of “peoples actual experience”, implying that New Zealanders are comfortable with the “National Way”, but how do you accommodate such things as our distressingly high domestic violence rates and youth suicide statistics? You may claim that New Zealanders support your world view and management, but don’t those aspects; violence and a severe crisis for our young people, whisper to you that something you are collectively doing is desperately wrong? I haven’t included the appalling incarceration statistics, alcohol harm etc. etc. as these topics are covered here on The Standard in some detail and I’m guessing you read those posts.
Thanks in anticipation of your answers.
Health is going to be a bottomless pit for any government in the next few years. As a boomer it scares me to think about it. The system cannot cope with a diabetes epidemic, more poverty related diseases, mental health shortfalls, more cancer, sports injuries, more expensive treatment procedures and ,finally, countless old bastards.
We’re in for trouble big time re health.
You know very well that a large proportion of the increase is a consequence of the National “government” being forced to obey the law regarding pay equity, not increased healthcare provision.
As for the news, have you missed the crisis in mental health? Or the rate of preventable “third world” diseases? Or the increase in new HIV cases? Or doctors and nurses on strike?
Keep spinning, Wayne, I’d hate the National Party to get out of the gutter.
the news is not pack filled with terrible stories on health
What, you mean stories like “Hospital staff show strain”, “Unexplained death on Palmerston North Hospital grounds raises questions”, “NZ records highest-ever number of HIV diagnoses in 2016”, “Patients head to Aussie for treatment”, “Third of Kiwi women have chlamydia by age 38: study”, or “Man suffers heart attack just after leaving Christchurch’s Burwood Hospital”? /sarc
Wake up New Zealand! That is very appropriate at 6.30 am! Though your point is very true, however this is the Nu Zild kulcha, which is actively promoted to stop the masses waking up. It’s all part of the on going “bread and circuses”.
It’s possible. They probably realise how much they’ve screwed up and getting out now would allow them to blame the next government when it all goes in the crapper.
“Look at what we’ve delivered from Opposition with the warm up our homes scheme – which unfortunately National has now abandoned, but also national cycleways. We’ve managed to achieve a lot from Opposition, and now we’re ready to be in government – and it is with Labour.”
The Warm Up New Zealand scheme provides grants for home insulation and is due to come to an end in June 2018. The scheme has subsidised insulation for up to 300,000 homes so far.
Research institute Motu Economics says the Warm Up NZ Programme has a 6:1 benefit-to-cost ratio.
Philippa Lynne Howden-Chapman, Professor of Public Health at the University of Otago, told Newshub keeping houses warm and dry is the foundation of ‘social investment’.
“It’s clearly cost-effective. It’s inexplicable that the Government has turned their backs on the insulation policy,” Ms Howden-Chapman said.
I wonder where Bill English stands on this, the withdrawl of a key component of ‘social investment’? Too busy on social media to keep an eye on Joyce?
Increasing insulation on homes will decrease power usage and thus decrease profits for the new shareholders that National created by selling our assets against our will.
Or the other option is that the power companies, determined to maintain profit levels with decreasing power usage, boost prices.
The first one can be hidden whereas the second will be come back on National for selling the power companies.
I can’t see where it shows that. It does show imo an arrogant little man ramming stuff through without suffient process or accord or even assessment of success. Dirty bullshit by that little man.
Sam Coates Times Verified account @SamCoatesTimes
Tonight: we reveal YouGov’s first seat by seat projection of the campaign – suggests Tories fall 16 seats short of overall majority
.
Nick Faith @nickfaith82 1h
Would love to see a seat by seat break down showing how they got to this.
.
Sam Coates TimesVerified account @SamCoatesTimes
Replying to @nickfaith82
Tomorrow on YouGov website
Tonight: we reveal YouGov's first seat by seat projection of the campaign – suggests Tories fall 16 seats short of overall majority pic.twitter.com/8ouPRHTZ7m
It will be noticed I think that an earlier comment I made was in response to one of Wayne’s which lauded 10% per capita increase in health spending over 9 years. I said that was only 1.1% p.a. which would be less than CPI, so therefore it would still be a drop.
Now we all don’t understand economics perfectly, and as he said it was 10% in real terms, he meant that was allowing for inflation, so providing 1.1% rise in each year.
If you thought that meant all was right because I was wrong in not allowing for the calculations showing a rise in real terms, then you are a shallow thinker.
Because there is an error in understanding of the figures, it does not mean that there is assuredly an error in the commenter’s opinion and conclusions Because 1.1 rise a year per capita from a low base, does not sound sufficient to cope with our growing diseases from overseas, and our growing incapacitation for long periods as we are forced to grind out our lives to the last sigh.
So you have to read things carefully to form your own opinions. I would direct you to the discussion on the terms of banking by Dr Don Brash, ex-governor of the Reserve Bank. Who has stated certain understandings which are not agreed by the Bank of England, and Bryan Gould who knows a few things, one of which is that Dr Brash has been proceeding on a faulty presumption. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11845670 If this is “nonsense”, the “peddlers” include some very distinguished economists. My legal training has taught me the value of being able to turn to reliable authority to support what I say.
In my original piece, I referred to a Bank of England research paper, published in the bank’s first Quarterly Bulletin 2014, which describes in detail the process by which banks create money.
And quite a few thinkers of repute have been stating that our whole economic system is run on twisted lines. They say economists have proposed procedures from theories they have formulated, and when they don’t work because people haven’t followed the expected lines of approach, they arrange to change the laws and utilised PR to change people’s behaviour so they match the theories which then shown to be right.
I’m glad that we can start to take tsunamis more seriously and I suspect once people (public, journos) start trawling through and seeing the stark reality of quake and tsunami, we might get better prepared.
I see Rex Tillerson (ex Exxon and now US Secretary of State is coming to NZ next week where he will meet Bill English and Gerry Brownlee.
Tillerson will head to Wellington where Brownlee said a meeting would be held to discuss “some of the world’s most pressing issues and to further promote our economic ties”.
Climate Change and World are surely the most pressing issues at this point in time.
I would like Gerry Brownlee to tell Rex Tillerson that NZ does not want to have any close ties with the USA until:
1. The USA honours its commitment on Climate Change
2. It cancels its arms deal to Saudi Arabia and takes responsibility for its own part in fuelling terrorism in the world.
“Eighty percent of the country’s native bird species are in bad shape, with some on the brink of extinction, and the environment watchdog is recommending genetic engineering and tourist taxes to tackle the problem.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright has released the report Taonga of an island nation: Saving New Zealand’s birds, which provides seven recommendations to government”.
What is reality Bill? seriously, man, no one can predict shit, we may all die in some climate-induced apocalypse or we may not for a myriad of unknown reasons.
This reading chicken guts, tea leaves predictions is a complete waste of time, the future is unwritten, it can be anything, live in the present don’t get hung up on the future.
[did you edit out my moderation note when you edited your comment? Interesting, never had that before, please don’t do that again. Let me repeat then, Stop Trolling. Good to see you trying to make an actual point in the edit, maybe just start with that next time so I don’t end up wasting my time. – weka]
They conclude that the budget will reduce health spending over 5 years by 7.5% and this with an increasing number of elderly people and DHBs struggling to meet their budgets.
Hence I find Wayne’s comment at 6.49am that “The Budget had over $800 million extra for health in the coming year, an increase of 5.5%.” misleading at best.
I’d much rather have a well funded health system than a tax cut. I just can’t imagine what it’s like having to wait several hours at emergency with a sick child especially if you live in a car.
The World Economic Forum has launched a new initiative that they are calling “The Great Reset”. Its purpose is to help “guide decision-makers on the path to a more resilient, sustainable world beyond coronavirus” At first glance it can look like virtue signalling by some of the ...
Tom Farr in an excellent article on Medium presents in-depth the central arguments around prostitution decriminalisation, unionisation, and its conceptualisation as work, specifically from a socialist perspective The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic facing numerous countries across the world is undoubtedly a dire time for anyone who in some way depends on ...
You’ve got to wonder why the New Zealand Police undertook an armed response teams (ARTs) trial in the first place? Of course there was the Christchurch mosque terrorism attack, but that was an isolated incident and therefore cannot be used as an excuse to arm Police. What this trial does ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 31 through Sat, June 6, 2020Editor's ChoiceThe world must seize this opportunity to meet the climate challengeAs current and former central bankers, we believe the pandemic offers ...
The 60 Years of New Zealand Television celebrations, such as they were, seemed to rely heavily on the classics: here we go again with Lynn of Tawa, A Week of It and the Country Calendar spoofs. Wonderful highlights of our televisual past, to be sure, but after hearing Paul Holmes’ ...
The Two Americas Collide: You gotta love the Americans marching for George Floyd and the fragile promises of the US Constitution. But, you also gotta keep your eye on the pale rider in the White House, and understand that behind him Hell follows.THE FRAGILITY of democracy’s promise is becoming clearer ...
Radical Proposition: The remote possibility that someone in the protest demonstrations might be carrying the coronavirus – and with no cases of community transmission detected for weeks that possibility is extremely remote – could not be permitted to constrain New Zealanders from demonstrating their support for the self-evident truth that black lives ...
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Trump administration, after less than one full first term, has every likelihood of being adjudged the most anti-climate, anti-science, and anti-environment executive branch in U.S. history. With numerous high-level Trump nominees having cut their teeth as lobbyists with major polluting industries, the administration ...
Does National have any chance of winning the election in September? It’s looking very unlikely, especially after National’s change of leadership hasn’t exactly produced Mullermania in the first two weeks. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I summarised in Tuesday’s Political Roundup column: Todd Muller’s torrid start as National leader. ...
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ...
George Thomson, Nick Wilson, Richard EdwardsThis blog discusses the passing of the Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Act last week. We briefly review some lessons from this legislation’s long journey and explore future smokefree possibilities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. A law ...
Last month I noted that the public policy debate was all about how we deal with covid-19. That’s changing now, and will change more over the next couple of months as the buffering impact of the wage subsidy disappears and we see starkly the economic hole out of which we ...
The mission of the New Zealand Police is to make this country the safest nation in the world. To achieve that aim, there is one important step the police need to take at the end of this month. When the evaluation of the Armed Response Teams’ trial is completed, the ...
The right of employees to strike is an internationally recognised employment right that has been a feature of New Zealand’s industrial relations system for over a century, albeit with different constraints and limitations at different times. Although more restricted, this right even continued under the anti-union Employment Contracts Act (1993-2000). ...
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf we stopped oil, gas and coal extraction immediately – ...
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...
The latest opinion poll is out, and it’s more bad news for the National Party, with Roy Morgan putting them on only 26.5% support, against Labour’s 56.5%. You can see the details here: Roy Morgan May opinion poll. Roy Morgan is regarded as less accurate than other polling companies, and the ...
When miners pillage conservation land, they are typically required to "rehabilitate" it afterwards. Its not much compared to the damage they do, but its something. But apparently even that is now too much to expect. NZG Limited, a company owned by Oravida directors James Blackwell, Julia Jiyan Xu, Stone Shi, ...
Like everyone else, I've spent too much of the weekend watching the protests in America, and the increasingly brutal response to them. The overwhelming impression is of a nationwide police riot, as people speaking out against a murder and demanding change are beaten, gassed and shot by racist, militarised thugs ...
In mid-April, as New Zealand entered its fourth week of alert level 4, the Prime Minister warned us not to make comparisons with other countries over our Covid-19 pandemic response. This extraordinary advice came after Simon Bridges had urged the government to adopt a less-stringent lockdown similar to those in ...
Wales has lowered the voting age to 16: 16 and 17 year olds can now officially vote in Wales for Senedd elections. Votes at 16 & 17 come into force on Monday, as part of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020. Next year’s Senedd elections will ...
The government announced more changes to the ETS today, including to the emissions budget for 2021 - 2025. The overall budget for that period will stay at 354 million tons of CO2-equivalent. But the ETS component of that - stockpile reduction, free allocation, and credits to be auctioned - budget ...
The new National Party leader, Todd Muller, had been at pains to portray himself as a solid, serious, safe pair of hands, in contrast to the increasingly Trumpian leanings of Simon Bridges, who Muller deposed in a leadership coup last Friday. But after an uneventful, if uninspiring, first press conference, ...
Minneapolis Police StationIf you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George ...
Becoming the leader of a political party is a bit like having a baby. Not so much the screaming and sleepless nights, as the fact that you’ve waited and hope and planned for something and it’s finally here. And when that wonderful gift finally arrives, you want to be ready, ...
The US appears to be headed towards what Antonio Gramsci and other Italian political theorists call an “organic crisis of the State.” It involves the simultaneous and compounded fractures of economy, society and politics, which together constitute a tipping point in a nation’s history. Social contradictions are exacerbated, class and ...
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week...
Climate concerns as Siberia experiences record-breaking heatHeat wave sparks concerns about devastating wildfire season and melting permafrost.Satellite ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 24 through Sat, May 30, 2020Editor's ChoiceAntarctic Ocean Reveals New Signs of Rapid Melt of Ancient Ice, Clues About Future Sea Level RiseA study of seafloor ripples ...
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk A banner on the International Energy Agency website spells it out in bold font: “The global oil industry is experiencing a shock like no other in its history.” As the response to the coronavirus pandemic upends the lives of billions of ...
The ownership of newspapers and televison channels is in turmoil, and they want to redisorganise public broadcasting. *Three years ago, I expressed concern in a column about the future of the (traditional) media. Nothing has happened since to reduce the concern. It was based on an earlier column which ...
Australia's High Court has ruled that the "palace letters" between the queen and then-Governor-General John Kerr are public records rather than private papers: Historian Jenny Hocking has won her High Court bid to access the letters exchanged between then governor-general Sir John Kerr and the Queen around the time of ...
SATURDAY MAY 30Six60: Live at Western Springs 2020 (TVNZ 1, 8.45pm). Remember live concerts? The day will come again, friends, when we will be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an uncomfortable sweaty venue with people we don’t know. It will happen. Sometimes the sound of concerts drifts over to the ...
New Zealand and its prime minister Jacinda Ardern have received international attention and praise, rightly so, for decisive leadership, clear communication and scientific management of the coronavirus pandemic. Observers point out that the nation has been through multiple crises under Ardern’s leadership – such as the Christchurch terrorist attack and ...
…a lot of things unrelated to the pandemic were happening. Relatively little attention was given to some major events on the global stage, so I thought I would do a quick recap of some of the high (or low) -lights, starting with something familiar. The common theme throughout is human ...
Labour's talk of gutting the RMA to push through "shovel ready" projects to boost employment after the pandemic predictably has every half-arsed pipe-dream crawling out of the woodwork demanding special treatment. Today, it's the West Coast inbreds, who are demanding a host of laws be rescinded so they can dig ...
"I can't breathe, Mama. I'm dying." - Last words of George Floyd.LOOK HARD at this image. Think about what it depicts. Ask yourself how one human-being could behave so brutally when so many eye-witnesses – and very soon millions of people online around the world – were there to watch ...
Since the government announced its pandemic wage subsidy, there have been regular stories about companies taking it and then sacking or refusing to pay their workers - essentially committing fraud. But how often does this happen? The Minister just doesn't want to know: Government ministers are not receiving up to ...
"You call that a conservative?Nah, this is a conservative!" New Zealanders are in the market for a quiet and reassuring small-c conservative political centrist. The critical question, however, is which politician is currently playing that role? Who has mastered the art of relaxed, informal and intimate political communication? Who ...
I’VE OFTEN WONDERED if South African immigrants passing through towns like Kerikeri and Kaikohe ever wonder how we do it. In their homeland, through the bitter years of Apartheid, keeping the races segregated required pass laws, Alsatian dogs, tear gas, rubber bullets and, all-too-often, live rounds. Not here. Not in ...
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from July 31, 2019 to September 30, 2019. Sports categories must be by sex, not gender identity Queer theory glossary Woke misogyny and homophobia: a gay critique of trans ideology Another unfortunate experiment? New Zealand’s transgender health policy and ...
Smart Energy Europe: A Plan to provide 100% of ALL ENERGY using Renewable Energy to EuropeIntroductionAll Energy renewable energy systems are often commented on here at Skeptical Science. Many comments suggest that it will be difficult, expensive or impossible to use renewable energy to power the world. To ...
The government released its Action for Healthy Waterways package today, ostensibly with the goal of cleaning up our rivers and making them swimmable within a generation. Doing that, of course, requires confronting the cow in the room: the dairy industry which causes most of the pollution. But while they've imposed ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI would like to know if New Zealand’s carbon emissions ...
Simon Lamb, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonBack in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth’s deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant ...
Remember KiwiBuild? Previously the government's flagship policy, it was supposed to build thousands of new homes every year for kiwi families. But instead of flooding the market, we've got a pathetic dribble: The Government's former flagship housing policy is so far behind schedule it will take more than 400 years ...
Don Franks Now Covid-19 restrictions allow gatherings of a hundred, an urgent hui needs calling. A special conference of the Council of Trade Unions. Today, workers face the greatest attack on employment, pay and conditions since the depression, we need a strong united union voice. As it stands now, organised ...
George Henderson New Zealand schools have introduced a climate change resource that suggests children “eat less meat and dairy”, even though teachers will not know how much meat or dairy any child in their care has eaten. Opinion pieces in the papers have called for the reduction of meat and ...
Questioning the number of district health boards in New Zealand has got to the extent that “too many DHBs” has become a perceived truth requiring no further elaboration. It is rarely challenged by policy advisers, academics, and journalists. But when one drills down further it becomes clear that the number ...
The emergence of a new National party leader, seemingly out of nowhere, has – not surprisingly – raised a number of questions as to who Todd Mulller actually is and what makes him tick. He has been an MP for some time but seems to have hidden his light under ...
Costa Rica has become the first country in Central America to recognise same-sex marriage: The first same-sex weddings have taken place in Costa Rica, the first Central American country to equalise its marriage legislation. A lesbian couple became the first to tie the knot in a ceremony that took ...
There's a new twist in the Winston Peters secret donation story. It appears that a significant chunk of NZ First's secret laundered donations goes straight into the pockets of the people administering the scheme: Tens of thousands in donor's funds given to the New Zealand First Foundation were spent paying ...
Is Todd Muller the Ned Flanders of the National Party? This is how he’s been characterised by political commentator Gordon Campbell, who suggests the change in leadership is, in Simpsons terms, akin to swapping the scary and cruel Monty Burns for Homer Simpson’s compassionate but conservative neighbour. There’s almost a ...
We all know that many so-called journalists and political commentators in New Zealand work directly or indirectly for political parties or for certain political factions. This was obviously the case when pundit for hire Matthew Hooton launched a campaign against then National Party leader, Simon Bridges, over their numerous polling ...
Let's Roll! The easy victory over a Bridges-led National Party which the Left had every cause to anticipate just a few days ago is no longer in the offing. Our enemy’s position has changed. His numbers are swelling. A rapid thrust to the left, followed by an audacious outflanking manoeuvre ...
New National Party leader Todd Muller has been interviewed about his policies, and has promised to restart offshore fossil fuel exploration if elected: The Bay of Plenty MP rolled former leader Simon Bridges last week, but says the party has not changed its stance on previous promises. "That is ...
Anyone who keeps an eye on evidence around cannabis and public health will be familiar with the Christchurch Health and Development Study. It's one of two local longitudinal studies frequently cited with respect to cannabis and youth development. But in a new article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, it is ...
In the age of covid we are Jacinda’s team of five million, except for some. There has rarely been a more blatant case of discrimination against beneficiaries than Grant Robertson’s announcement yesterday that people who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus will receive weekly payments of $490 per week for 12 weeks and $250 per week for part time ...
It was 75 years ago this month that Germany surrendered and the Allies celebrated VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Millions of people around the world had been killed and many more injured or captured. It was an end to war not just for Europeans, but their allies too, in countries across Africa. But its impact is ...
Hon Shane Jones, NZ First List MP based in Northland New Zealand First MP Hon Shane Jones has today announced his candidacy for the electorate of Northland. Speaking at a New Zealand First meeting in Kerikeri, Northland, Mr Jones said it was a privilege to be selected by the Party ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced two diplomatic appointments: New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Consul-General to Hong Kong. “As New Zealand recovers from COVID-19, our diplomatic and trade networks are more important than ever. That is ...
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...
We’re confident in the ability of Kiwi businesses to succeed in the face of COVID-19, and our Government is committed to doing our bit to enable that success. Kiwi businesses have always been innovative and resilient, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proven this yet again. Many businesses are finding new, creative ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its first tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. The includes all sitting New Zealand First Members of Parliament except Clayton Mitchell MP who earlier today announced he will not be seeking re-election. In alphabetical order they are: MP ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Tauranga New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell has decided not to seek re-election in this year’s General Election. “After serious consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided to pursue other passions in my life and spend a lot ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced that new Lockheed Martin Super Hercules aircraft would replace the outdated and costly 1960s Hercules fleet. The $1.521b project will include a flight simulator for staff training and other supporting infrastructure. "This fleet will ensure the Defence Force can continue to support New Zealand's ...
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has described Labour's original COVID-19 commercial rent dispute proposal as "poorly targeted". Justice Minister Andrew Little hasannounced a temporary law changeto force commercial landlords and renters to consider COVID-19 in disputes over rent issues, almost two months after the Government first floated the idea. But ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First acknowledges that some small businesses have been struggling to meet fixed costs due to the loss of revenue by COVID-19. We also know some businesses are at greater risk of insolvency when they cannot come to a reasonable ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First is disappointed that the removal of the spousal deductions has had to be delayed by the Ministry fo Social Development, due to COVID19 workload pressures. “New Zealand First has always stood for fairness when it comes to superannuation ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First On the steps of Parliament today the Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters received a petition from registered nurse Anna Maria Coervers, requesting an amendment to the Protection for First Responders Bill which will ensure the legislation also include registered ...
It's been a busy seven days as we start to rebuild New Zealand together. From delivering extra support for small businesses, to investing in our artists and arts organisations, to cutting red tape on home DIY projects, we're rolling out our plan to get the economy and New Zealand moving ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says alert level 2 restrictions have to be discussed during today's Cabinet meeting. Thousands gathered across the country, including at Parliament, yesterday forBlack Lives Matter marcheswhere social distancing and mass gathering rules were flouted. Mr Peters said the breaching of Alert Level 2 rules at ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Owned Enterprises KiwiRail’s Northland rail upgrade steps up another gear today and will help Northland recover from the impacts of COVID-19, State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters says. The Government is investing $204.5 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to ...
“Today and every day we stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, friends and community who feel pain and fear about his untimely death at the hands of Minneapolis police”, said Green Party Co-leader and Māori Development spokesperson Marama Davidson. ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation The West Coast forests of Mount Te Kinga at Kotuku Whakaoho/Lake Brunner are the latest predator free project to receive Government funding, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
The Green Party says major freshwater reforms announced today provide the strongest ever protections of our waterways, to help ensure the next generation can swim in the rivers of Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Megan Woods, Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Health Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods, and Health Minister David Clark today announced a COVID-19 vaccine strategy, ...
Budget 2020 is about rebuilding together, supporting jobs, getting business moving and the books back into the black. It’s an integral part of our COVID-19 economic response, and our plan to grow our economy and get New Zealand moving again.Here’s a quick look at the five top things you ...
The Green Party is pleased to reveal its candidate list for the upcoming election. With a mix of familiar faces and fresh new talent, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to lead the Greens back into Government. ...
The Coalition Government has approved $206 million in essential upgrades at Ōhakea Air Base. Defence Minister Ron Mark said the money would be spent on improving old infrastructure. He said safety issues would be addressed, as well as upgrades to taxiways, accommodation and fresh, storm and waste water systems. "This ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First “I am not persisting with this case just for myself, but for all people who have had their privacy breached. Privacy of information is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Without it our society truly faces a bleak future. We now ...
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...
Extra 40,000 businesses to be eligible for wage subsidy extension Small business cashflow support application period extended The Government is today announcing further support for businesses that continue to be affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as the broader economy becomes one of the most open in the world following ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport aircraft will be purchased to replace the existing fleet, Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “Last year, Cabinet selected these aircraft as the preferred option to replace the current Hercules fleet. Procurement of the Super Hercules has been ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage is celebrating World Environment Day with an announcement of a major step towards Wairarapa Moana being recognised as an internationally significant wetland. “Wairarapa Moana is an ecosystem of 10,000 hectares of wetland and open water that provides a home for indigenous fish, birds and ...
New public housing that will save tenants money in energy bills, and provide warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, is setting the standard for the Government’s future public housing programme, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. Dr Woods opened the new Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities complex, which has a ...
A new-look Police graduation ceremony to take account of COVID19 health rules has marked the completion of training for 57 new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash attended this afternoon's ceremony, where officers of Recruit Wing 337 were formally sworn in at the Royal New Zealand Police College without the normal support of ...
Mobile traders and truck shops must adhere to responsible lending requirements Interest rate cap on high-cost loans Lenders prohibited from offering further credit to an applicant who has taken two high-cost loans in the past 90 days The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, has signalled an end ...
94% of firms say wage subsidy had positive impact on cashflow 62% of firms say support helped to manage non-wage costs like rent A survey of business that have received the Government’s wage subsidy show it has played a significant role in saving jobs, and freed up cash flow to ...
New legislation introduced to Parliament today will support growth and assist businesses on the road to economic recovery, said Revenue Minister Stuart Nash. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill proposes that businesses can get tax deductions for ‘feasibility expenditure’ on new investments,” said Mr ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has welcomed the first release of funds from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced as part of Budget 2020. Sport NZ has announced that $4.6 million in funding will go to the Wellington Phoenix, NZ Warriors, Super Rugby teams and the ANZ Premiership ...
An iconic New Zealand tourism attraction and the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations are the first recipients of support from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The plan includes a Strategic Tourism Assets Protection ...
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the COVID-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. A temporary amendment to the Property Law Act will insert a clause in commercial leases requiring a fair ...
The Minister for Small Business says new data from Xero highlights the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises as we move into economic recovery. Last month Government ministers wrote to significant private enterprises and the banking industry to request they join efforts by government agencies to ...
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. During term 3, the Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools following the ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court. “Any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody is taken very seriously. The charges today reflect the gravity of the ...
$196 million for Crown Research Institutes $150 million for R&D loan scheme $33 million for Māori research and development opportunities $12 million for the Nationally Significant Collections and Databases $10 million to help maintain in-house capability at Callaghan Innovation New Zealand’s entrepreneurs, innovators and crown researchers will benefit from a ...
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. “The wellbeing of students and teachers is a priority. As we are all aware, COVID-19 has created massive disruption to the school system, and the Government ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through ...
The deadline for landlords to include detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Homes Standards, so tenants can see the home they are renting is compliant, has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2020. The Healthy Homes Standards became law on 1 July 2019. The Standards are ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little today announced details of further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I am pleased to announce Paula Rose QSO OStJ as Deputy Chief Commissioner for a term of five years commencing on 15 June 2020,” said Andrew Little. “I am also pleased to announce the ...
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects as New Zealand recovers from COVID-19 Apprentices working in all industries ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will finally start to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas pollution as it was originally intended to, because of changes announced today by the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw. The changes include a limit on the total emissions allowed within the ETS, rules to ensure ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List provides an abundance of examples that Pacific people’s leadership capability is unquestionable in Aotearoa. “The work and the individuals we acknowledge this year highlights the kind of visionary examples and dedicated community leadership that we need ...
The Government is backing a new $27 million project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production and New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our economy. During and ...
Applications have opened for 2021 Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships, which will support more Māori and women to pursue careers in forestry science, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones. “I’m delighted Te Uru Rākau is offering Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships for the third year running. These ...
The Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List once again highlights the dedication by many to looking after our native plants and wildlife, including incredible work to restore the populations of critically endangered birds says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Anne Richardson of Hororata has been made an Officer of the New ...
The Government will invest $10 million from the One Billion Trees Fund for large-scale planting to provide jobs in communities and improve the environment, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Forestry Minister Shane Jones have announced. New, more flexible funding criteria for applications will help up to 10 catchment groups plant ...
Organisations that support women are invited to apply to a new $1,000,000 fund as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “We know women, and organisations that support women, have been affected by COVID-19. This new money will ensure funding for groups that support women and women’s rights,” said Minister for ...
Healthier waterways are front and centre in a new project involving more than 300 King Country sheep, beef and dairy farmers. The Government is investing $844,000 in King Country River Care, a group that helps farmers to lift freshwater quality and farming practice, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Yesterday ...
A major funding package for libraries will allow them to play a far greater role in supporting their communities and people seeking jobs as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19. “Budget 2020 contains over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs,” says Internal Affairs ...
A jobseekers programme for the creative sector and four new funds have been set up by the Government to help our arts and music industry recover from the blow of COVID-19. Thousands of jobs will be supported through today’s $175 million package in a crucial economic boost to support the ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has welcomed the First Reading of a Bill that will make legislative changes to further improve the veterans’ support system. The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill No 2, which will amend the Veterans’ Support Act 2014, passed First Reading today. The bill addresses a number of ...
Views sought on Order in Council to help fast track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, will be seeking public written comment, following Cabinet approving the drafting of an Order in Council aimed at fast-tracking the reinstatement of the ...
The law setting out New Zealanders’ basic civil and human rights is today one step towards being strengthened following the first reading of a Bill that requires Parliament to take action if a court says a statute undermines those rights. At present, a senior court can issue a ‘declaration of ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today reiterated the deep concern of the New Zealand Government following confirmation by China’s National People’s Congress of national security legislation relating to Hong Kong. “New Zealand shares the international community’s significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand ...
Thousands of artists and creatives at hundreds of cultural and heritage organisations have been given much-needed support to recover from the impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern announced today. “The cultural sector was amongst the worst hit by the global pandemic,” Jacinda ...
Key New Zealand assets will be better protected from being sold to overseas owners in a way contrary to the national interest, with the passage of the Overseas Investment (Urgent Measures) Bill. The Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, also cuts unnecessary red tape to help attract ...
Setting higher health standards at swimming spots Requiring urban waterways to be cleaned up and new protections for urban streams Putting controls on higher-risk farm practices such as winter grazing and feed lots Setting stricter controls on nitrogen pollution and new bottom lines on other measures of waterway health Ensuring ...
The Government is on the verge of reaching its target of state sector boards and committees made up of at least 50 percent women, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa. For the first time, the Government stocktake measures the number of Māori, ...
Does a move to Covid-19 Level 1, that Cabinet is considering tomorrow (Monday, June 8), mean back-to-normal for 290,000 rental property owners and managers, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today. The Covid-19 Response (Urgent Management) Act, ...
ANALYSIS:By Denis Muller of theUniversity of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. On June 3 the Times published in its opinion section an ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Noble, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Three quarters of a million Australian children are likely to be experiencing employment stress in the family as a result of COVID-19. This is on top of around 615,000 children whose families were ...
Spice up the classic banana muffin with a subtle touch of star anise.These muffins came about one rainy Saturday when the cupboards were bare and there was nothing much left in the fruit bowl aside from some very sad-looking bananas. Fortunately we know sad bananas result in the best kind ...
For years, Work and Income has been telling New Zealanders they couldn’t get the benefit until their redundancy payments ran out. Turns out, it was wrong.What’s all this then?Work and Income has long told New Zealanders receiving redundancy payments that they weren’t eligible for the benefit until their redundancy money ...
New Zealand writer Anna Rankin reports from Los Angeles. Last Friday afternoon, I went downtown to a protest outside the enormous Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on 1st Street. The LAPD had set up cordons, placing orange cones across streets to block traffic. Arms crossed, they stood with a wide ...
Until the sudden closure of Bauer Media in April, Simon Farrell-Green was the editor of HOME, New Zealand’s oldest architecture magazine. Here he explains what comes next.Being the editor of a major architecture magazine was the best job I ever had. I got it in 2016, after a career spent ...
A global success story or an overly generous, unsustainable scheme that is doing lasting damage to our fish stocks? Ethan Neville looks at the ongoing debate over New Zealand’s fishing quota management system. The management of our fisheries is a touchy topic – and why wouldn’t it be? New Zealanders ...
By RNZ News Thousands of people were protesting across Australia today to oppose the deaths of Indigenous people in police custody. It comes as Black Lives Matter protests are held around the world after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in the US ...
Wrapping everyone in a blanket of love, whakapapa and mauri for Matariki is the brave, exuberant and generous fabric art of Maungarongo Te Kawa, writes Amanda Thompson.E te AtuaNau enei rau harakeke he taongaTukuna ki a matouKia tika o matou mahiKo Papatuanuku e takoto neiTuturu WhakamauaKia tina, tinaHui eTaiki e.‘Karakia ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...
It’s not often that someone graduates from university one year and becomes a senior economist commentating on national media the next. George Driver investigates the meteoric rise of the high-flying Brad Olsen.Google “senior economist Brad Olsen” and you’ll find him quoted in no fewer than 167 articles in the past ...
As public sentiment turned against Uber Eats, a new local operation emerged promising a more ethical alternative to help New Zealand’s struggling hospitality industry. But now Eat Local NZ has suspended trading after falling out with its Australian partner Mr Yum. So what happened?A dispute between local hospitality platform Eat ...
By Budi Sutrisno in Jakarta As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as ...
Edward Cullen became a vampire to survive the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Now a new Twilight novel looms and Laura Surynt, a New Zealander living in the UK, wants to live forever too. As I lay in bed this morning watching Instagram stories, Tayi Tibble told my reluctant little Capricorn ...
Over the lockdown period, thousands of people joined a Facebook group dedicated to remembering the nightlife of inner-city Auckland. Its creator Simon Grigg explains why it touched a chord in lockdown.Within a few days of The Lost Nightlife of Inner-city Auckland Facebook page accidentally going live on May 12, we ...
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...
WATCH: In a candid interview on Sky Sport, Dame Susan Devoy talks on her concern for rising sports stars, the state of NZ squash, and the spectre of racism. Dame Susan Devoy is proudly still “a little terrier who fights for the underdog”. “I have been doing it all my life and ...
Of the huge funding boost coming for early childhood education, Playcentre has been left with just the crumbs, writes Kate Barber. Amidst all the celebration of the $430m funding boost for early childhood education (ECE) announced in this year’s budget, little attention was paid to the plight of Playcentre. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vikrant Minhas, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide Although bacteria are single-celled and microscopically small, they still need energy to survive, just like us. One of the most efficient ways of acquiring energy for bacteria is through sweet, soluble carbohydrates: sugars. In fact, ...
PACIFIC PANDEMIC DIARY:By David Robie Three cartoonists had especially poignant takes on the tragic and toxic political aftermath of martyr George Floyd’s brutal killing under the knee of a white American policeman in Minneapolis last week. The Boston Globe’s Christopher Weyant featured a split frame contrasting a red-capped “Make ...
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis?There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monika Sarder, Senior Strategic Analyst, Monash University Algorithmic decision-making has enormous potential to do good. From identifying priority areas for first response after an earthquake hits, to identifying those at risk of COVID-19 within minutes, their application has proven hugely beneficial. But ...
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Thomas, Associate professor, Flinders University We have seen ten days of protests in the United States over the death of George Floyd. While thousands of people have gathered to express their outrage peacefully, some demonstrations have been marred by vandalism and ...
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...
Auckland writer Caroline Barron has a terrific book out today called Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death. Here, she writes about the memoirs that have been a balm, a lesson, or both. Throughout my life, I’ve sought solace between the covers of books, particularly memoirs. There, I’ve learnt ...
An exclusive interview with Steve McSteverson about his traumatic and tragic ordeal this week.Many New Zealanders are struggling with the news that a children’s book not commissioned or authorised by Jacinda Ardern was advertised in a newsletter for children’s books. This horrific attack on New Zealanders whose ears are permanently ...
Air New Zealand staff are dismayed and angered at the company’s announcement to cut a further $150 million from their wage bill. On Friday, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, made the announcement to employees, who are still ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr. Bodean Hedwards, Lecturer, Monash University This week the leaders of India and Australia reaffirmed their mutual interest in closer diplomatic and economic ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their long-delayed Thursday “virtual summit”: ...
The Herald reported this morning that MediaWorks was on the verge of selling its TV assets to US TV giant Discovery – but an internal email and senior source suggest the story may have been premature.A senior MediaWorks source has emphatically denied a report in the NZ Herald that a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gery Karantzas, Associate professor in Social Psychology / Relationship Science, Deakin University Life in lockdown has been tough on many relationships. But negotiating the transition back to “normal” as restrictions continue to lift could also be a challenge for couples. So what ...
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Adelaide HomeBuilder is a good idea gone bad. It is possibly the most complex and least equitable program the government could have devised to deliver construction jobs. It gives $25,000 to people who already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Keller, Professor of Cognitive Science, Western Sydney University The coronavirus pandemic has silenced the world’s concert halls and opera theatres. Organisations specialising in live performance face an existential crisis under current restrictions on social gatherings, with up to 75% of people ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, wearing his Sport and Recreation ministerial hat, can show he can be a big spender and draw voters’ attention to his largess each time he dispenses money from the funds under his control – or the control of an agency within his ministerial bailiwick. Yesterday he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Scott Morrison wants to overhaul the skills workforce to ensure a better post-COVID-19 recovery. But there may not be enough people with the necessary skills to do so. And travel restrictions, which ...
As we transition out of a Covid-focused world and prepare for what comes next, New Zealand’s ICT industry is gearing towards growth.From app development helping track the Covid-19 virus to website engineering keeping businesses in touch and online, ICT knowledge has been crucial to keeping New Zealand working over the ...
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...
Ten days is too long. That from insurance claimant advocate, Ali Jones. EQC has today made contact with homeowners via email after accidentally releasing confidential details of 8000 insurance claims on May 26. Jones says although she has not received ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin Classics, $24)Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. The other day, ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin. The conversation around the 2020 covid19 pandemic has been widely framed as ‘health versus the economy’. It has been quite political, with people leaning to the left emphasising ‘health’, and people leaning to the right emphasising ‘the economy’. A couple of weeks ago ...
Sam Brooks pays tribute to Alex Rider, and the new TV series that (finally) captures the spirit of the books.“What if James Bond was a teenager?”The concept for Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series is so simple but so brilliant. There’s a reason why the franchise has managed to sustain 12 ...
Analysis - The PM resists pressure to move immediately to level 1, Winston Peters' tactics play into the hands of the Opposition and the government at last works out a commercial rent solution, writes Peter Wilson. ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHAFrom Washington DC Federal charges against the four protectors of the Venezuelan Embassy, who defended the building in Washington DC against violent opposition crowds for several weeks between April 10 and May 16 of 2019, were completely dropped in a case that ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHA Editorial TeamFrom Washington DC The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) joins the Black Alliance for Peace[1] and other pro-democracy organizations throughout the world in calling for the United Nations to address the systemic violations of human rights by the police and ...
Being shot by police had a profound, transformational effect on Rob Mokaraka’s life in more ways than you’d expect. A new documentary, airing on Māori TV at 7.30pm on Sunday, explores the work he’s done to heal his own mind and to ensure nobody has to go through the same ...
Human rights watchdog TAPOL has condemned the demand by Indonesian prosecutors seeking 17 and five years imprisonment for West Papuan activists Buchtar Tabuni and Irwanus Uropmabin. On June 2, the Jayapura District Prosecutor’s Office issued 33 pages containing charges against the defendant Irwanus Uropmabin. In the document, the Public Prosecutor ...
The arrival of Dan Carter is far from the first time the ever-struggling Auckland team has hoped to turn around its fortunes with a star signing, writes Jamie Wall.New Zealand rugby Twitter is a generally desolate place, especially lately given that there’s been nothing to talk about ever since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity US President Donald Trump delivered an address this week in which he threatened military action on the nation. Then he walked to the nearby St John’s Episcopal Church ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Why do we burp? We sometimes also burp before meals, why does this happen? — Ahaana, age 7 That is a really interesting question, Ahaana! There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Bell-James, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland After years of litigation, Australia’s highest court will today make a major decision on the fate of the controversial proposed expansion to the New Acland Coal mine in Queensland. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Williams, Associate Professor in Urban Ecology and Urban Horticulture, University of Melbourne Tomorrow is the first World Green Roof Day. Cities around the world will celebrate the well-documented environmental, economic and social benefits of green roofs. New ground-level green spaces are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Senior Lecturer, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Robodebt isn’t the only measure the government should consider withdrawing. Late last Friday, after a long press conference from the prime minister which avoided any mention of the topic, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Harvard University’s Alberto Alesina died suddenly of a heart attack on May 23. He was 63. His long-time colleague and friend Larry Summers wrote that before him, “there was no academic field of political economy. Today, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University What keeps democracies together? As America burns, Brazilians die and Europe braces for another wave of the coronavirus, the question assumes an alarming immediacy. If the answer is complicated in one way, it is ...
Open Mike 31/05/2017 
Tom Farr in an excellent article on Medium presents in-depth the central arguments around prostitution decriminalisation, unionisation, and its conceptualisation as work, specifically from a socialist perspective The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic facing numerous countries across the world is undoubtedly a dire time for anyone who in some way depends on ...1 hour ago
You’ve got to wonder why the New Zealand Police undertook an armed response teams (ARTs) trial in the first place? Of course there was the Christchurch mosque terrorism attack, but that was an isolated incident and therefore cannot be used as an excuse to arm Police. What this trial does ...9 hours ago
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 31 through Sat, June 6, 2020 Editor's Choice The world must seize this opportunity to meet the climate challenge As current and former central bankers, we believe the pandemic offers ...16 hours ago
The 60 Years of New Zealand Television celebrations, such as they were, seemed to rely heavily on the classics: here we go again with Lynn of Tawa, A Week of It and the Country Calendar spoofs. Wonderful highlights of our televisual past, to be sure, but after hearing Paul Holmes’ ...1 day ago
The Two Americas Collide: You gotta love the Americans marching for George Floyd and the fragile promises of the US Constitution. But, you also gotta keep your eye on the pale rider in the White House, and understand that behind him Hell follows.THE FRAGILITY of democracy’s promise is becoming clearer ...2 days ago
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...2 days ago
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...2 days ago
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...2 days ago
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ... 4 days ago
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...4 days ago
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...5 days ago
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...6 days ago
Image credit: Writing an Article vs. Writing a Blog Post: What’s the Difference? I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is ... 6 days ago
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...1 week ago
Hon Shane Jones, NZ First List MP based in Northland New Zealand First MP Hon Shane Jones has today announced his candidacy for the electorate of Northland. Speaking at a New Zealand First meeting in Kerikeri, Northland, Mr Jones said it was a privilege to be selected by the Party ...7 hours ago
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...2 days ago
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...3 days ago
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...2 days ago
...3 hours ago
The Spanish-owned contractor behind the stalled Transmission Gully Public Private Partnership is accused of abandoning projects in Australia. ...4 hours ago
ANALYSIS: By Denis Muller of the University of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. On June 3 the Times published in its opinion section an ...9 hours ago
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...10 hours ago
New Zealand writer Anna Rankin reports from Los Angeles. Last Friday afternoon, I went downtown to a protest outside the enormous Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on 1st Street. The LAPD had set up cordons, placing orange cones across streets to block traffic. Arms crossed, they stood with a wide ...16 hours ago
Tania Tapsell is replacing MP Anne Tolley as National's candidate for the East Coast. ...1 day ago
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...1 day ago
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...2 days ago
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...2 days ago
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...2 days ago
WATCH: In a candid interview on Sky Sport, Dame Susan Devoy talks on her concern for rising sports stars, the state of NZ squash, and the spectre of racism. Dame Susan Devoy is proudly still “a little terrier who fights for the underdog”. “I have been doing it all my life and ...2 days ago
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis? There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...2 days ago
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...2 days ago
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...2 days ago
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...2 days ago
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...2 days ago
‘Socialism closer to Gospel than free enterprise.’
Pity Bill English can’t see this……
‘A retired High Court judge who donated $115,000 to Labour says the party’s principles reflect those of his religion.
In Labour’s first large donation for some time, Robert Smellie, QC, gave $100,000 this month, on top of the $15,000 he gave in December.
Smellie told the Herald one reason was his religion. “[Former PM] Michael Joseph Savage once said, ‘Labour is Christianity in action’. And I am a practising Anglican and as such I see socialism as being far closer to the Gospel than free enterprise.”’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11866294
Thanks for putting your money where your heart is Bob.
Stephen Joyce’s budget is so going to give money to most vulnerable…….
‘Agency that put up rent ‘week on week’ accused of price gouging’
‘One of Auckland’s biggest rental agencies hiked rents on vacant apartments by five percent a week for several weeks earlier this year when demand from students surged to record levels.
Ray White agent Krister Samuel said demand for apartments was unprecedented in February.
The seasonal surge was caused by thousands of tertiary students and was exacerbated by a big rise in first home buyers snapping up apartments, shrinking the rental pool, he said.
“We were getting 30 to 40 applicants turning up to a one or two-bedroom apartment, and all with good credit history, and testimonials and landlord references.
“So the only response was to put the rent up,” Mr Samuel said.
“For the landlords that we were representing, and we represent about 1000 individual landlords in the city, we were putting the rent up about five percent a week, week on week for about six weeks.”‘
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/331952/auckland-agency-price-gouging-over-weekly-rent-rise
“So the only response was to put the rent up,” Mr Samuel said.
Of course it was! Responsible citizens that estate agents are – not capable of any other kind of response.
Supply and Demand in full effect!
If we a actually used supply and demand the businesses would be paying more for power than homes. After all, they do actually demand more.
Krister Samuels of Ray White is touting for business via a free advertorial. If I owned a CBD apartment and needed management I’d read Krister’s comments and think ‘Gee looks like this outfit can get me top dollar for my pad.’
If the apartments were previously priced at fair market value and he is pumping the ask by 5% week on week Krister is breaking the law.
There appears to be room for some active advocates in this area. People au fait with the Residential Tenancy Act that can go in to bat for pocket raped tenants. Then Krister can ring some of his owners and advise them …”Ummm you’ve just been fined $2000.” (The contract Ray White has with owners will push the responsibility for payment of any exemplary damages onto owners.)
Money for more tax cuts for the rich, but none for our health.
A wretched government.
Vote them out in September.
‘Government not helping our region recover from Havelock North water crisis.’
It appears the National Government has decided the water crisis that struck down Havelock North is “yesterday’s problem”.
The public health cost alone from the poisoning of our town water supply is more than $1 million, but this Government has refused to help cover the gastro cost to our Hawke’s Bay District Health Board……’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11866242
The Budget had over $800 million extra for health in the coming year, an increase of 5.5%. In the last nine years health expenditure has increased in real terms by 10% per capita. That is the reason why the news is not pack filled with terrible stories on health, and why Labors health spokespeople make very little headway. In fact I can’t even recall who the new Labour spokesperson is.
It is very different to the 1990’s when Annette King was completely dominant as opposition spokesperson. She owned the territory. And it clearly signalled a change of government.
It’s David Clark.
A smart guy, but a bit invisible. I should know who is Labour’s health person, but even after thinking about I didn’t. I know Dr Clark has a reputation as a thinker, but he is quiet. In key roles opposition people need to do what it takes so we know who they are. Ardern, Twyford and Davis, have all done that.
Wayne
It’s strange how Ed’s subject, the health budget needing more money, morphs away as you seem to answer it, into an opinion as to whether the Labour Healthperson has enough visibility.
And come on. Waving health statistics with percentages at us just doesn’t wash. (Health warning, after handling any statistics from National wash and dry your hands thoroughly.)
In the last nine years health expenditure has increased in real terms by 10% per capita.
This means that the amount allocated to each person in NZ has gone up during the last nine years, at about 1.1% a year, which may or may not be the equivalent of counted inflation or CPI each year. This means that if CPI
exceeds 1.1% a year, then there is no rise to match the fall in spending value of the NZ$.
It’s Wayne and you – both of whom are National Party apologists.
The figures show that National has always kept the increase below that of inflation and population growth.
The government does not care about the people’s health. Spin and shill for them if you want….
Ed,
I know that the left likes to parrot the line that National does not care about people, health, welfare or education, but it is a silly line.
Voters know that National is in their own way broadly representative of New Zealanders. They all have families and use public schools and public health. So at an intuitive level voters know that National is as involved in these things as other parties, though obviously with their own perspective.
That is why that sort of criticism does not cut through. It belies peoples actual experience.
To succeed you have to do what King was able to do in the 1990’s. Show comprehensive failings, not just spout mantras.
Good morning, Wayne. I agree with much you say in your reply to ed; parroting the line, broadly representative, criticism does not cut through, however Ed knows, I think, that there’s a serious problem with the ideological “planet” you and your and National Party pals inhabit and pontificate from. I’ve a question for you; you talk of “peoples actual experience”, implying that New Zealanders are comfortable with the “National Way”, but how do you accommodate such things as our distressingly high domestic violence rates and youth suicide statistics? You may claim that New Zealanders support your world view and management, but don’t those aspects; violence and a severe crisis for our young people, whisper to you that something you are collectively doing is desperately wrong? I haven’t included the appalling incarceration statistics, alcohol harm etc. etc. as these topics are covered here on The Standard in some detail and I’m guessing you read those posts.
Thanks in anticipation of your answers.
Health is going to be a bottomless pit for any government in the next few years. As a boomer it scares me to think about it. The system cannot cope with a diabetes epidemic, more poverty related diseases, mental health shortfalls, more cancer, sports injuries, more expensive treatment procedures and ,finally, countless old bastards.
We’re in for trouble big time re health.
Are you this “honest” in your day job?
You know very well that a large proportion of the increase is a consequence of the National “government” being forced to obey the law regarding pay equity, not increased healthcare provision.
Per capita health expenditure is on exactly the same trend it’s been on all this century, and as you very well know, this is a consequence of demographics.
As for the news, have you missed the crisis in mental health? Or the rate of preventable “third world” diseases? Or the increase in new HIV cases? Or doctors and nurses on strike?
Keep spinning, Wayne, I’d hate the National Party to get out of the gutter.
What, you mean stories like “Hospital staff show strain”, “Unexplained death on Palmerston North Hospital grounds raises questions”, “NZ records highest-ever number of HIV diagnoses in 2016”, “Patients head to Aussie for treatment”, “Third of Kiwi women have chlamydia by age 38: study”, or “Man suffers heart attack just after leaving Christchurch’s Burwood Hospital”? /sarc
And, ffs, there are people in the Southern DHB region going blind because of waiting lists.
Doesn’t vote health cover the cost of dr visits and pharmaceuticals in Hawke’s Bay ?
Troll
Hate crime !
Ambulance at bottom of cliff thinking exemplified.
Meanwhile New Zealand is asleep, distracted by sports ‘news’….
Rugby: British & Irish Lions madness to begin
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11866436
and celebrity ‘news’……………
Police: Tiger Woods ‘asleep at wheel’ of stationary car, alcohol levels zero
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/93166630/police-tiger-woods-asleep-at-wheel-of-stationary-car-alcohol-levels-zero
and clickbait….
‘Woman criticised for super car bonnet climb’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11865908
Wake up New Zealand!
Wake up New Zealand! That is very appropriate at 6.30 am! Though your point is very true, however this is the Nu Zild kulcha, which is actively promoted to stop the masses waking up. It’s all part of the on going “bread and circuses”.
Back again Paul.
Ah, a RWNJ complaining about National’s depredations on the country being brought to light.
He’s complaininf about spammy ed whose way of getting some point across is similar to pauls who was banned for a long time.
Looks like it – soaking OM again with bullshit
UK Itunes No. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQFwxw57NBI
Anyone else scratching their heads over news coming out of Britain and wondering if Theresa May is trying to lose the up-coming election?
We can only hope.
It’s possible. They probably realise how much they’ve screwed up and getting out now would allow them to blame the next government when it all goes in the crapper.
what did she do?
Good start – te waikoropupu will be protected we wont stop until it is and tangata whenua and everyone will work together to do it.
https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/nelson-iwis-fight-protect-te-waikoropupu-springs
Keeping te puna tapu ra safe from the extractors is vital work – many thanks to those who are doing just that.
Please stop spamming on om.
Yep I’d expect that infantile response – what a sad loser you are – and you pretend to be so high and mighty lol you’re having a laugh…
I wonder where Bill English stands on this, the withdrawl of a key component of ‘social investment’? Too busy on social media to keep an eye on Joyce?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/05/new-green-candidates-not-keen-on-national-coalition.html
Worth looking at the body language throughout that clip of Paul Henry wannabe, Mark Richardson.
Increasing insulation on homes will decrease power usage and thus decrease profits for the new shareholders that National created by selling our assets against our will.
Or the other option is that the power companies, determined to maintain profit levels with decreasing power usage, boost prices.
The first one can be hidden whereas the second will be come back on National for selling the power companies.
More evidence the Maori Party, like their bedfellows the National Party, are for the elite and no-one else.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/331967/govt-hiring-before-maori-land-bill-passes-arrogant
I can’t see where it shows that. It does show imo an arrogant little man ramming stuff through without suffient process or accord or even assessment of success. Dirty bullshit by that little man.
This should be interesting, from The Times,
It will be noticed I think that an earlier comment I made was in response to one of Wayne’s which lauded 10% per capita increase in health spending over 9 years. I said that was only 1.1% p.a. which would be less than CPI, so therefore it would still be a drop.
Now we all don’t understand economics perfectly, and as he said it was 10% in real terms, he meant that was allowing for inflation, so providing 1.1% rise in each year.
If you thought that meant all was right because I was wrong in not allowing for the calculations showing a rise in real terms, then you are a shallow thinker.
Because there is an error in understanding of the figures, it does not mean that there is assuredly an error in the commenter’s opinion and conclusions Because 1.1 rise a year per capita from a low base, does not sound sufficient to cope with our growing diseases from overseas, and our growing incapacitation for long periods as we are forced to grind out our lives to the last sigh.
So you have to read things carefully to form your own opinions. I would direct you to the discussion on the terms of banking by Dr Don Brash, ex-governor of the Reserve Bank. Who has stated certain understandings which are not agreed by the Bank of England, and Bryan Gould who knows a few things, one of which is that Dr Brash has been proceeding on a faulty presumption.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11845670
If this is “nonsense”, the “peddlers” include some very distinguished economists. My legal training has taught me the value of being able to turn to reliable authority to support what I say.
In my original piece, I referred to a Bank of England research paper, published in the bank’s first Quarterly Bulletin 2014, which describes in detail the process by which banks create money.
And quite a few thinkers of repute have been stating that our whole economic system is run on twisted lines. They say economists have proposed procedures from theories they have formulated, and when they don’t work because people haven’t followed the expected lines of approach, they arrange to change the laws and utilised PR to change people’s behaviour so they match the theories which then shown to be right.
Niwa publishes paleotsunami database
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1705/S00087/new-database-sheds-light-on-prehistoric-nz-tsunamis.htm
http://ptdb.niwa.co.nz
that is very cool.
I’m glad that we can start to take tsunamis more seriously and I suspect once people (public, journos) start trawling through and seeing the stark reality of quake and tsunami, we might get better prepared.
I agree after the fiasco with the kaikoura event.
indeed. That was shocking.
I see Rex Tillerson (ex Exxon and now US Secretary of State is coming to NZ next week where he will meet Bill English and Gerry Brownlee.
Tillerson will head to Wellington where Brownlee said a meeting would be held to discuss “some of the world’s most pressing issues and to further promote our economic ties”.
Climate Change and World are surely the most pressing issues at this point in time.
I would like Gerry Brownlee to tell Rex Tillerson that NZ does not want to have any close ties with the USA until:
1. The USA honours its commitment on Climate Change
2. It cancels its arms deal to Saudi Arabia and takes responsibility for its own part in fuelling terrorism in the world.
Here is a useful video about the Saudi Arms deal,
That clip is so depressing Tautoko. What hope the World?
“Eighty percent of the country’s native bird species are in bad shape, with some on the brink of extinction, and the environment watchdog is recommending genetic engineering and tourist taxes to tackle the problem.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright has released the report Taonga of an island nation: Saving New Zealand’s birds, which provides seven recommendations to government”.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/332000/four-out-of-five-nz-bird-species-in-trouble
Shocking, if we don’t get serious they will be gone soon.
Agreed Marty… I’m aware there are other pressing priorities…. among many others…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/332003/urgent-changes-needed-in-mental-health-care
(A little unsure who the current AG is given circumstance…)
Regardless, will be interesting to see if the new Government “Watchdog”… Simon Upton, will have influence… and carry the mantle…
kia kaha
When are you moving to your cave Bill?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
When are you thinking of acknowledging reality or engaging your brain BM?
What is reality Bill? seriously, man, no one can predict shit, we may all die in some climate-induced apocalypse or we may not for a myriad of unknown reasons.
This reading chicken guts, tea leaves predictions is a complete waste of time, the future is unwritten, it can be anything, live in the present don’t get hung up on the future.
[did you edit out my moderation note when you edited your comment? Interesting, never had that before, please don’t do that again. Let me repeat then, Stop Trolling. Good to see you trying to make an actual point in the edit, maybe just start with that next time so I don’t end up wasting my time. – weka]
Sorry about that Blog Mum, I had no idea what’s going on behind the scenes anything that happened was completely unintentional.
Ok, no worries if you didn’t see it. Cheers.
When Dracos’ mum finally kicks them out of her basement 😉
Lol, so true.
G’night 😉
There’s an interesting article about “What Budget 2017 spending promises look like when adjusted for inflation and population growth” at
http://www.interest.co.nz/news/87936/what-budget-2017-spending-promises-look-when-adjusted-inflation-and-population-growth
They conclude that the budget will reduce health spending over 5 years by 7.5% and this with an increasing number of elderly people and DHBs struggling to meet their budgets.
Hence I find Wayne’s comment at 6.49am that “The Budget had over $800 million extra for health in the coming year, an increase of 5.5%.” misleading at best.
I’d much rather have a well funded health system than a tax cut. I just can’t imagine what it’s like having to wait several hours at emergency with a sick child especially if you live in a car.
Theresa Mussolini moving into panic mode…
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/30/corbyn-would-go-alone-and-naked-into-brexit-talks-says-theresa-may