Poverty Watch 33

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, June 1st, 2013 - 12 comments
Categories: national, poverty - Tags:

It is fortuitous that this series has just finished reviewing the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCCC) 2012 report “Child Poverty in New Zealand evidence for action“. Good timing because this week the government released its response (pdf).

How has the government’s response been received? From Brian Rudman:

Free breakfast as poverty solution? It’s a joke

Last December, the Government’s expert advisory group on Solutions to Child Poverty came up with 78 recommendations. It painted a grim picture. “As many as 23 per cent of children – about 270,000 – currently live in poverty.” It said the economic cost of child poverty was $6 billion to $8 billion a year and it was damaging the nation’s long-term prosperity. For individual children it meant going to school hungry, living in a cold, damp house and missing out on school outings and sports. It led to lower educational achievement, poor health and social exclusion.

Calling for “political vision, courage and determination”, the report declared “no child should experience severe and persistent poverty, least of all in a land of relative abundance”.

Yesterday’s package was not a demonstration of that political vision, courage and determination. It was more the plucking of the lowest, and cheapest fruit in the 78-strong basket and wrapping it with the shiniest of Warehouse-quality wrapping paper. …

The Government yesterday was patting itself on the back for adopting some of the 78 recommendations of its advisory group. But the initiatives it has seized, such as the pilot scheme of a warrant-of-fitness programme for rental houses and consideration of micro-financing loans for low-income families, are just baby steps. As solutions to the problem of 270,000 children living in poverty, they’re a joke.

From Labour:

Response to poverty report a disgrace

The Government’s response to recommendations made by the expert advisory group on solutions to child poverty is an absolute insult – not only to members of the group, but to every Kiwi family struggling to make ends meet, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says.

“This group gave almost a year of its time, produced 24 working papers and gave 78 detailed recommendations. In response, the government has given it the brush-off.

“There are some 270,000 Kiwi kids living in income-deprived households. According to Paula Bennett the panacea to lifting them out of poverty is tax cuts and low floating mortgage rates. ….

“The first step, it [the group] said, was to introduce specific measurements for child poverty, set short and long-term targets, establish various child poverty-related indicators and ensure the regular monitoring and reporting on results.

“This government has never shied away from setting targets in other areas. When it comes to child poverty it is obviously running scared, because none of those things have been addressed in this response.

From The Greens:

Action on incomes needed to address poverty

The Government’s final response to recommendations made by the expert advisory group on solutions to child poverty is a cop out leaving the extensive work carried out by the Children’s Commission largely ignored, the Green Party said today

The Children’s Commissioner’s ‘Solutions to Child Poverty’ report called for action to improve family incomes to ensure all New Zealand children get a good start in life and can fulfil their potential. …

“The Children’s Commissioner’s expert report recommended a universal child payment as a key step towards ensuring all our children have the best possible start in life. The Government should listen to that recommendation.

“We support a universal child payment as the best and fairest way to ensure that all children, not just some, have the opportunity to have a good life, and a fair, bright and prosperous future.

“We will also instigate a national poverty measure and implement the recommendations of the Children’s Commissioner so that the right information is collected in order to be able to tackle child poverty at its source.

“We’ve got all the evidence we need for comprehensive policy to end child poverty. What will it take to make the National Government wake up and do something to save a whole generation of children?”

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG):

Group says Recommendations to Reduce Child Poverty Ignored

CPAG’s public health spokesperson Dr Nikki Turner says the government has cherry picked through the Expert Advisory Group’s 78 recommendations to focus on only a handful of issues. …

“The government has failed to respond to the EAG’s recommendations in particular to the major issue of income inadequacy for the poorest kids.”

The response of one of the leaders of the OCC report:

Govt defends child poverty moves

PM says National cares about the problem but expert panel head says key proposals in report ignored.

Prime Minister John Key has had to defend National against criticism that the Government’s response to a child poverty report fell short, despite adding a sweetener by announcing $9.5 million towards a breakfast in schools programme.

…there was criticism that the long-awaited response failed to address the key recommendations in the panel’s report. Panel co-chairman Professor Jonathan Boston said it was disappointing the Government ignored key proposals to measure child poverty and set targets to improve it, and to address the issue of low incomes by providing extra financial support such as through a child payment for those on benefits.

… very little of what the Government has done to date directly addresses the challenges of low incomes. Government initiatives are all well and good, but we have a situation where hundreds of thousands of children are experiencing material deprivation. So in many ways this is dealing primarily with mitigating the consequences of poverty rather than reducing the nature of the problem.”

I intend to go in to this further next week, looking in a bit more detail at the OCC recommendations and how the government has responded or (as is more usually the case) not.

Here’s the standard footnote. Poverty (and inequality) were falling (albeit too slowly) under the last Labour government.   Now they are on the rise again, in fact a Waikato University professor says that poverty is our biggest growth industry.

Before the last election Labour called for a cross party working group on poverty. Key turned the offer down.  Report after report after report has condemned the rate of poverty in this country, and called on the government to act. Meanwhile 40,000 kids are fed by charities and up to 80,000 are going to school hungry. National has responded with complete denial of the issues, saying that the government is already doing enough to help families feed their kids. Organisations working with the poor say that Key is in poverty ‘la la land’.

The Nats refuse to even measure the problem (though they certainly believe in measurement and goals when it suits them to bash beneficiaries). In a 2012 summary of the government’s targets and goals John Armstrong wrote: “Glaringly absent is a target for reducing child poverty”…

The costs of child poverty are in the range of $6-8 Billion per year, but the Nats refuse to spend the $2 Billion that would be needed to really make a difference. Even in purely economic terms National’s attitude makes no sense.

12 comments on “Poverty Watch 33 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. AsleepWhileWalking 1
    1 June 2013 at 9:52 am

    In the wake of the hearing this week around the IWTC I am reminded of a previous court action by the same group.

    All but forgotten in the current child poverty debate is Section 70 of the Social Securities Act which allows Work and Income to deduct $28 from the main benefit (most likely DPB, Sickness or IB) for any child where the non-custodial parent has not been named – that’s $28 for each child so if you had two kids where the other parent wasn’t named that would be $56/week less than other beneficiaries in a similar situation, three kids $84/week.

    The CPAG did attempt a court action years ago on the grounds of discrimination (as the penalty rate only applies to beneficiares) but unfortunately for these kids and their parents they failed.

    It’s hard to say why people still choose to avoid naming the other parent and accept the penalty, but in the end it probably matters very little as the children have to suffer as a result.

    Worth noting is that at 2003/4 there were over 20,000 beneficiaries and God knows how many kids in this situation although back then the penality was ONLY $22 a child. It is shocking to think of how this contributed and compounded the harm done to children from these families. Around this time Work and Income sent their Investigators around to interview these parents and essentially threatening them with the increased rate of penality of an additional $6/week per child. How much of a difference it made I couldn’t say. Perhaps the parents just lied on an affidavit to stop the penalty, or maybe they made some other kind of compromise aside from integrity.

    One thing I know for sure is that parents don’t unnecessarily compromise their income. They would need a damn good reason.

    • Jenny 1.1
      1 June 2013 at 10:34 am

      Great stuff. AWW.

      As to the why. What can we presume? There are a number of options:

      The mothers are under some form of duress or obligation to the unnamed fathers.

      That the mothers are genuinely not aware of the father’s identity? It does happen. And doesn’t mean that they are not good and caring mothers to their child. In genuine cases like this, why should a child be made to suffer for a singular mistake, or accident in birth control?

      Short of genetically testing every male in the country. No matter the best intentions of the mother there is no way she can provide the identity of the father to the state.

      I have heard no moral argument why innocents should be made to suffer. It reeks of 19th century judgmental concept of sin and punishment.

      • AsleepWhileWalking 1.1.1
        1 June 2013 at 9:23 pm

        Re: Duress, yes I suspect the level of threat has a lot to do with not naming the non custodial parent.

        Legislation was changed after 2004 that meant if someone was under threat/domestic violence they would then be excluded from the penalty. Of course the BIG assumption made by the government was that victims of violence/threats would readily trust the government to take care of them if they revealed this. You know….like the government has taken care of them when they needed protection orders. The idea that they will keep everything confidential despite THAT privacy breach.

        Also, you can be excluded from a penalty rate if the child was conceived as a result of sexual abuse. That assumes that:

        – a woman can easily identify if sexual abuse has taken place. For example a man threatens to kill himself if a woman doesn’t have sex with him, so she has sex with him in order to placate him = rape. How many woman could identify that? Not many hot shot criminal lawyers find themselves on benefits I’m guessing. There are many other instances where society has a nasty tendancy to blame the victim of the rape so women are likely to feel like it was their fault even if legally it was a rape.

        – a woman will feel ok signing a written affidavit stating her child was conceived in such a way (after a detailed discussion of exactly how she was raped has occurred with one of those friendly lawyers) and then handing that document to Work and Income. FYI at least 3 people will process that piece of paper. Furthermore, while improper access is instant dismissal anyone within the ministry can theoretically access a file. The only way around this is to ask that the file is “secured”, meaning each time a manager or similar must unlock the computer record. Not sure what they do with the paper files with a secure record but they are in the system forever.

        – a woman will feel ok going through the stressful process required above to have the penalty lifted, even after ACC sensitive claims have just rejected cover based on excessively strict reading of S128 of the Crimes Act.

        FFS this makes me particularly angry because being a rape victim is bad enough, but the harm is compounded by the penalty rate being added, possibly before a victim is ready to face up to the reality of what has occurred. The birth of a child conceived in such a manner imposes a time frame outside of the victims control.

    • prism 1.2
      1 June 2013 at 7:22 pm

      AWW
      This is a result of the impatience felt by the comfortably off who don’t want to accept the reality of generations – that young NZs have sex and often fall down on the needed contraception which is usually the female’s responsibility. This has been happening all through the 20th century, it’s not something recent.

      Jenny Shipley and her ilk were strong on the responsibility and morality of the matter of children outside committed partnerships. The business of deducting money from already miserly benefits and so making managing a one parent family difficult comes from this moralistic and economic resentment to welfare. The women who don’t name may be wiser than the government. They may not have realised they were sexing with trash. It only has to happen once. Then they can be tied to coping with some low-life who remains irresponsible all his life and drags the family down. But all the government cares about is getting some money back from the father. And makes a big deal about how it is important that children know their fathers, as if the government cared.

      If more attention was put into providing small businesses with incentives to employ part-time and train single parents and allow them to have a fully rounded life with dignity and knowing respect for the good job they do, and less effort put into involving unsatisfactory fathers who often end up instigating violent domestic abuse, we would have a better, happier country and less expensive social needs costs. But government actually doesn’t care about that. It likes to have the bennies to bash and the right wingers like to despise them and tut-tut about them as worthless spongers.

    • Colonial Viper 1.3
      1 June 2013 at 7:31 pm

      It was a good thing that the recent Labour Govt reversed all this stuff, understanding that cutting money off already miserly benefits was greatly increasing child poverty.

  2. Jenny 2
    1 June 2013 at 12:42 pm

    Mana Party Press Statement

    “70% of New Zealanders heard and voted to support MANA’s Feed the Kids message” said MANA Leader and Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira, as government announces an expanded breakfast programme in association with Sanitarium, Fonterra and KidsCan. “That’s what got the Prime Minister to do something about supporting food-in-schools”

    “And for that, kids can also be thankful to the many organisations who have supported a comprehensive food-in-schools programme and backed MANA’s Feed the Kids bill over the past 9 months.

    “Together we made a difference. Today we got the government to take action on the most pressing issue of our time, child poverty.

    “But it doesn’t end here, not by a long-shot” said Harawira. “While I applaud the long-standing support from the business sector, eliminating child poverty in Aotearoa is not about charity and neither should it rely on public-private partnerships. We have already seen breakfast programmes dropped in the past when profits have fallen. Our kids deserve better than that.”

    In 2011, the Red Cross was forced to end its breakfast in schools programme due to the loss of their major sponsor, Countdown.

    “Eliminating child poverty should be the highest priority of any government, and feeding the kids should be the first step in achieving that goal.

    “I am grateful to everyone for their support and thankful for the Prime Minister’s announcement today on expanding the current food-in-schools programme” said Harawira.

    “But I would ask New Zealanders to take this to the next level by urging your MP to Support the Feed the Kids bill at first reading. If the bill goes to Select Committee we get the opportunity to hear from teachers, parents, doctors, children, nurses, and child support agencies.

    “That’s what we did with the Tobacco Inquiry and we got legislation making Aotearoa smokefree by 2025” said Harawira

    “Wouldn’t it be great if we took same road to eliminating child poverty by 2020?”

    Tuesday 28 May 2013

  3. Psycho Milt 3
    1 June 2013 at 8:47 pm

    Well, yeah – National aren’t interested even in starting the kind of background work that needs doing to pin down what’s causing it, what the extent of it is and what effect current measures are having, so it’s no surprise they aren’t interested in anything more substantive. Heading off a public relationships disaster by putting some bowls of Weetbix into schools is as far as they’re willing to go, but even there the key phrase is “heading off a public relations disaster,” nothing particularly to do with child poverty.

    However, the Commission also has to cop a significant share of the blame. We’ve got a situation in which we apparently have a significantly worsening child poverty problem, but we don’t have a significantly worsening family income problem. That suggests somebody needs to be looking into why the fuck that is – if I were them I’d have started with the fact that proportion of households below the poverty line has mostly been falling or static for the last 20 years but the proportion of the nation’s kids in those households has shot up, but that seems to have been considered of little interest. Instead, they’ve thought up various ways we could fling money at the symptoms without troubling ourselves too much about what might be causing the increase. Any government would have the right to be less than chuffed with them.

  4. kiwicommie 4
    2 June 2013 at 3:28 am

    Feeling poetic today:
    Neoliberalism is (a poem)

    Neoliberalism is a beggar under a bridge,
    Neoliberalism is a teenager selling their body to afford an education,
    Neoliberalism is a family struggling to feed their kids,
    Neoliberalism is a child at a sweat shop,
    Neoliberalism is someone without a job,
    Neoliberalism is forcing sick people to work,
    Neoliberalism is a starving child,
    Neoliberalism is having your wages cut,
    Neoliberalism is not being able to afford medicine,
    Neoliberalism is having your pension cut,
    Neoliberalism is politicians selling out their country,
    Neoliberalism is taking away human rights,
    Neoliberalism is crushing political protests,
    Neoliberalism is supporting fascist dictatorships,
    Neoliberalism is state-sponsored murder,
    Neoliberalism is evil.

  5. RedBaronCV 5
    3 June 2013 at 12:58 pm

    Re AWW.
    The lack of naming the father is likely, as others have said, due to threats or even overt violence. I suspect in some cases this is potentially very serious violence, sawn off shotgun in the car glovebox type violence.

    The penalty also far exceeds what is reasonable. The collection from paying parents towards parents on benefits is down around the minimum of $10 to $12 per week per family. As others above say they are being penalised a minimum of $22 per child. The State is actually “making a profit” at the expense of these poorest of the poor.

    FFS the state only manages to collect about $70 per week on average to pass on to working caregivers. That is about 2 litres of milk and half a loaf of bread per day for the whole family from the non resident parent.

    The state is not known to pursue even parents who could pay and are not. The CA decided a big case recently where a child support dodger was ordered to pay many years of back child support. Just after the breakdown of the relationship the caregiver had been on a benefit for a shortish period of time (18 months?) when the payer was also dodging paying on the same basis. The IRD could have been a beneficiary of the same order on behalf of the taxpayer on a “me too” basis but they didn’t even bother to try.

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    Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses

    The country has imported literally thousands of nurses over the past few months yet whether they are being employed as nurses is another matter. Just what is going on with HealthNZ and it nurses is, at best, opaque, in that it will not release anything but broad general statistics and ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • A Time For Unity.

    Emotional Response: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses mourners at the tangi of King Tuheitia on Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday, 31 August 2024.THE DEATH OF KING TUHEITIA could hardly have come at a worse time for Maoridom. The power of the Kingitanga to unify te iwi Māori was demonstrated powerfully at January’s ...
    Bowalley Road
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again

    National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.

    A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • Nicola Willis’s Very Unserious Bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander Cancellation

    Open to all with kind thanks to all subscribers and supporters.Today, RNZ revealed that despite MFAT advice to Nicola Willis to be very “careful and deliberate” in her communications with the South Korean government, prior to any public announcement on cancelling Kiwirail’s i-Rex, Willis instead told South Korea 26 minutes ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Satisfying the Minister’s Speed Obsession

    The Minister of Transport’s speed obsession has this week resulted in two new consultations for 110km/h speed limits, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. There has also been final approval of the Kapiti Expressway to move to 110km/h following an earlier consultation. While the changes will almost certainly see ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago
  • What if we freed up our streets, again?

    This guest post is by Tommy de Silva, a local rangatahi and freelance writer who is passionate about making the urban fabric of Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland more people-focused and sustainable. New Zealand’s March-April 2020 Level 4 Covid response (aka “lockdown”) was somehow both the best and worst six weeks of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    6 days ago
  • No Alarms And No Surprises

    A heart that's full up like a landfillA job that slowly kills youBruises that won't healYou look so tired, unhappyBring down the governmentThey don't, they don't speak for usI'll take a quiet lifeA handshake of carbon monoxideAnd no alarms and no surprisesThe fabulous English comedian Stewart Lee once wrote a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Five ingenious ways people could beat the heat without cranking the AC

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Every summer brings a new spate of headlines about record-breaking heat – for good reason: 2023 was the hottest year on record, in keeping with the upward trend scientists have been clocking for decades. With climate forecasts suggesting that heat waves ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • No new funding for cycling & walking

    Studies show each $1 of spending on walking and cycling infrastructure produces $13 to $35 of economic benefits from higher productivity, lower healthcare costs, less congestion, lower emissions and lower fossil fuel import costs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • 99

    Dad turned 99 today.Hell of a lot of candles, eh?He won't be alone for his birthday. He will have the warm attention of my brother, and my sister, and everyone at the rest home, the most thoughtful attentive and considerate people you could ever know. On Saturday there will be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Open Government: National reneges on beneficial ownership

    One of the achievements of the New Zealand’s Open Government Partnership Fourth National Action Plan was a formal commitment from the government to establish a public beneficial ownership register. Such a register would allow the ultimate owners of companies to be identified - a vital measure in preventing corruption, money ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt One.

    This project analyzes security politics in three peripheral democracies (Chile, New Zealand, Portugal) during the 30 years after the end of the Cold War. It argues that changes in the geopolitical landscape and geo-strategic context are interpreted differently by small … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • Tea and Toast

    When the skies are looking bad my dearAnd your heart's lost all its hopeAfter dawn there will be sunshineAnd all the dust will goThe skies will clear my darlingNow it's time for you to let goOur girl will wake you up in the mornin'With some tea and toastLyrics: Lucy Spraggan.Good ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • NLTP 2024 released – destroying pipeline of shovel ready local projects

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Waka Kotahi yesterday released the latest National Land Transport Plan (NLTP) for 2024-27. The NLTP sets out what transport projects will be funded for the next three years, including both central and local government projects. As expected given the government’s extremely ideological transport policy, it’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago
  • Can Brown deliver his roads

    The Government’s unveiling of its road-building programme yesterday was ambitious and, many would say, long overdue. But the question will be whether it is too ambitious, whether it is affordable, and, if not, what might be dropped. The big ticket items will be the 17 so-called Roads of National Significance. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago
  • New paper about detecting climate misinformation on Twitter/X

    Together with Cristian Rojas, Frank Algra-Maschio, Mark Andrejevic, Travis Coan, and Yuan-Fang Li, I just published a paper in Nature Communications Earth & Environment where we use the Computer Assisted Recognition of Denial and Skepticism (CARDS) machine learning model to detect climate misinformation in 5 million climate tweets. We find over half ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • Excerpting “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies.”

    In the late 2000s-early 2010s I was researching and writing a book titled “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Chile, New Zealand and Portugal.” The book was a cross-regional Small-N qualitative comparison of the security strategies and postures of three small … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Hating for the Wrong Reasons: Of Rings of Power, Orcs and Evil

    A few months ago, my fellow countryman, HelloFutureMe, put out a giant YouTube video, dissecting what went wrong with the first season of Rings of Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ6FRUO0ui0&t=8376s). It’s an exceptionally good video, and though it spans some two and a half hours, it is well worth your time. But ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: “Least cost” to who?

    On Friday the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released their submission on National's second Emissions Reduction Plan, ripping the shit out of it as a massive gamble based on wishful thinking. One of the specific issues he focused on was National's idea of "least cost" emissions reduction, pointing out that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Israeli Lives Matter

    There is no monopoly on common senseOn either side of the political fenceWe share the same biology, regardless of ideologyBelieve me when I say to youI hope the Russians love their children tooLyrics: Sting. Read more ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Luxon Cries

    Over the weekend, I found myself rather irritably reading up about the Treaty of Waitangi. “Do I need to do this?” It’s not my jurisdiction. In any other world, would this be something I choose to do?My answer - no.The Waitangi Tribunal, headed by some of our best legal minds, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Just one Wellington home being consented for every 10 in Auckland

    A decade of under-building is coming home to roost in Wellington. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday September 2:Wellington’s leaders are wringing their hands over an exodus of skilled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Container trucks on local streets: why take the risk?

    This is a guest post by Charmaine Vaughan, who came to transport advocacy via her local Residents Association and a comms role at Bike Auckland. Her enthusiasm to make local streets safer for all is shared by her son Dylan Vaughan, a budding “urban nerd” who provided much of the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 week ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #35

    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, August 25, 2024 thru Sat, August 31, 2024. Story of the week After another crammed week of climate news including updates on climate tipping points, increasing threats from rising ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • An Uncanny Valley of Improvement: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power, Episodes 1-3 (Season ...

    And thus we come to the second instalment of Amazon’s Rings of Power. The first season, in 2022, was underwhelming, even for someone like myself, who is by nature inclined to approach Tolkien adaptations with charity. The writing was poor, the plot made no sense on its own terms, and ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • Alcohol debris and Crocodile Tears

    I write to you this morning from scenes of carnage. Around the floor lie young men who only hours earlier were full of life, and cocktails, and now lie silent. Read more ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • When Do We Look Away?

    Hi,The first time I saw something that made me recoil on the internet was a visit to Rotten.com. The clue was in the name — but the internet was a new thing to me in the 90s, and no-one really knew what the hell was going on. But somehow I ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • The decades just fly by

    You turn your back for a moment and a city can completely transform itself. It was, oh, just the other day I was tripping up to Kuala Lumpur every few months to teach workshops and luxuriate in the tropical warmth and fill my face with Char Kway Teow.It has to ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • 2024 Reading Summary: August

    Completed reads for August: Aesop’s Fables (collection), by Aesop Berserk: Volume XXV (manga), by Kentaro Miura Benighted, by J.B. Priestly Berserk: Volume XXVI (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXVII (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXVIII (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXIX (manga), by Kentaro Miura ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • Is recent global warming part of a natural cycle?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is recent global warming part ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • White Noise

    Now here we standWith our hearts in our handsSqueezing out the liesAll that I hearIs a message, unclearWhat else is there to decide?All that I'm hearing from youIs White NoiseLyrics: Christopher John CheneyIs the tide turning?Have we reached the high point of the racist hate and lies from Hobson’s Pledge, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • The Death Of “Big Norm” – Exactly 50 Years Ago Today.

    Norman KirkPrime Minister of New Zealand 1972-1974Born: 6 January 1923 - Died: 31 August 1974Of the working-class, by the working-class, for the working-class.Video courtesy of YouTubeThese elements were posted on Bowalley Road on Saturday, 31 August 2024. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • Claims and Counter-Claims.

    Whose Foreshore? Whose Seabed? When the Marine and Coastal Area Act was originally passed back in 2011, fears about the coastline becoming off-limits to Pakeha were routinely allayed by National Party politicians pointing out that the tests imposed were so stringent  that only a modest percentage of claims (the then treaty ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand Honours Maori King ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • The Principles of the Treaty

    Hardly anyone says what are ‘the principles of the treaty’. The courts’ interpretation restrain the New Zealand Government. While they about protecting a particular community, those restraints apply equally to all community in a liberal democracy – including a single person.Treaty principles were introduced into the governance of New Zealand ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • The Only Other Reliable Vehicle.

    An Elite Leader Awaiting Rotation? Hipkins’ give-National-nothing-to-aim-at strategy will only succeed if the Coalition becomes as unpopular in three years as the British Tories became in fourteen.THE SHAPE OF CHRIS HIPKINS’ THINKING on Labour’s optimum pathway to re-election is emerging steadily. At the core of his strategy is Hipkins’ view ...
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    1 week ago
  • A Big F U to this Right Wing Government

    Open to all - deep thanks to those who support and subscribe.One of the things that has got me interested recently is updates about Māori wards.In April, Stuff’s Karanama Ruru reported that ~ 2/3 of our 78 councils had adopted Māori wards in NZ.That meant that under the Coalition repeal ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago

  • Action to grow the rural health workforce

    Scholarships awarded to 27 health care students is another positive step forward to boost the future rural health workforce, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “All New Zealanders deserve timely access to quality health care and this Government is committed to improving health outcomes, particularly for the one in five ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Pharmac delivering more for Kiwis following major funding boost

    Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour has welcomed the increased availability of medicines for Kiwis resulting from the Government’s increased investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the Government,” says Mr Seymour. “When our Government assumed office, New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Sport Minister congratulates NZ’s Paralympians

    Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop has congratulated New Zealand's Paralympic Team at the conclusion of the Paralympic Games in Paris.  “The NZ Paralympic Team's success in Paris included fantastic performances, personal best times, New Zealand records and Oceania records all being smashed - and of course, many Kiwis on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Government progresses response to Abuse in Care recommendations

    A Crown Response Office is being established within the Public Service Commission to drive the Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care. “The creation of an Office within a central Government agency was a key recommendation by the Royal Commission’s final report.  “It will have the mandate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Passport wait times back on-track

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says passport processing has returned to normal, and the Department of Internal Affairs [Department] is now advising customers to allow up to two weeks to receive their passport. “I am pleased that passport processing is back at target service levels and the Department ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New appointments to the FMA board

    Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister has today announced three new appointments and one reappointment to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) board. Tracey Berry, Nicholas Hegan and Mariette van Ryn have been appointed for a five-year term ending in August 2029, while Chris Swasbrook, who has served as a board member ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • District Court judges appointed

    Attorney-General Hon Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new District Court judges. The appointees, who will take up their roles at the Manukau Court and the Auckland Court in the Accident Compensation Appeal Jurisdiction, are: Jacqui Clark Judge Clark was admitted to the bar in 1988 after graduating ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government makes it faster and easier to invest in New Zealand

    Associate Minister of Finance David Seymour is encouraged by significant improvements to overseas investment decision timeframes, and the enhanced interest from investors as the Government continues to reform overseas investment. “There were about as many foreign direct investment applications in July and August as there was across the six months ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand to join Operation Olympic Defender

    New Zealand has accepted an invitation to join US-led multi-national space initiative Operation Olympic Defender, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. Operation Olympic Defender is designed to coordinate the space capabilities of member nations, enhance the resilience of space-based systems, deter hostile actions in space and reduce the spread of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government commits to ‘stamping out’ foot and mouth disease

    Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says that a new economic impact analysis report reinforces this government’s commitment to ‘stamp out’ any New Zealand foot and mouth disease incursion. “The new analysis, produced by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, shows an incursion of the disease in New Zealand would have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Improving access to finance for Kiwis

    5 September 2024  The Government is progressing further reforms to financial services to make it easier for Kiwis to access finance when they need it, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.  “Financial services are foundational for economic success and are woven throughout our lives. Without access to finance our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Prime Minister pays tribute to Kiingi Tuheitia

    As Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII is laid to rest today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has paid tribute to a leader whose commitment to Kotahitanga will have a lasting impact on our country. “Kiingi Tuheitia was a humble leader who served his people with wisdom, mana and an unwavering ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Resource Management reform to make forestry rules clearer

    Forestry Minister Todd McClay today announced proposals to reform the resource management system that will provide greater certainty for the forestry sector and help them meet environmental obligations.   “The Government has committed to restoring confidence and certainty across the sector by removing unworkable regulatory burden created by the previous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • More choice and competition in building products

    A major shake-up of building products which will make it easier and more affordable to build is on the way, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Today we have introduced legislation that will improve access to a wider variety of quality building products from overseas, giving Kiwis more choice and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Joint Statement between the Republic of Korea and New Zealand 4 September 2024, Seoul

    On the occasion of the official visit by the Right Honourable Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand to the Republic of Korea from 4 to 5 September 2024, a summit meeting was held between His Excellency President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the goal for New Zealand and Korea

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol. “Korea and New Zealand are likeminded democracies and natural partners in the Indo Pacific. As such, we have decided to advance discussions on elevating the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive ...
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    5 days ago
  • International tourism continuing to bounce back

    Results released today from the International Visitor Survey (IVS) confirm international tourism is continuing to bounce back, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey says. The IVS results show that in the June quarter, international tourism contributed $2.6 billion to New Zealand’s economy, an increase of 17 per cent on last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government confirms RMA reforms to drive primary sector efficiency

    The Government is moving to review and update national level policy directives that impact the primary sector, as part of its work to get Wellington out of farming. “The primary sector has been weighed down by unworkable and costly regulation for too long,” Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.  “That is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Weak grocery competition underscores importance of cutting red tape

    The first annual grocery report underscores the need for reforms to cut red tape and promote competition, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “The report paints a concerning picture of the $25 billion grocery sector and reinforces the need for stronger regulatory action, coupled with an ambitious, economy-wide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government moves to lessen burden of reliever costs on ECE services

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the Government has listened to the early childhood education sector’s calls to simplify paying ECE relief teachers. Today two simple changes that will reduce red tape for ECEs are being announced, in the run-up to larger changes that will come in time from the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Over 2,320 people engage with first sector regulatory review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says there has been a strong response to the Ministry for Regulation’s public consultation on the early childhood education regulatory review, affirming the need for action in reducing regulatory burden. “Over 2,320 submissions have been received from parents, teachers, centre owners, child advocacy groups, unions, research ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs women in horticulture

    “The Government is empowering women in the horticulture industry by funding an initiative that will support networking and career progression,” Associate Minister of Agriculture, Nicola Grigg says.  “Women currently make up around half of the horticulture workforce, but only 20 per cent of leadership roles which is why initiatives like this ...
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    6 days ago
  • Government to pause freshwater farm plan rollout

    The Government will pause the rollout of freshwater farm plans until system improvements are finalised, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard announced today. “Improving the freshwater farm plan system to make it more cost-effective and practical for farmers is a priority for this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Milestone reached for fixing the Holidays Act 2003

    Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden says yesterday Cabinet reached another milestone on fixing the Holidays Act with approval of the consultation exposure draft of the Bill ready for release next week to participants.  “This Government will improve the Holidays Act with the help of businesses, workers, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • New priorities to protect future of conservation

    Toitū te marae a Tāne Mahuta me Hineahuone, toitū te marae a Tangaroa me Hinemoana, toitū te taiao, toitū te tangata. The Government has introduced clear priorities to modernise Te Papa Atawhai - The Department of Conservation’s protection of our natural taonga. “Te Papa Atawhai manages nearly a third of our ...
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    6 days ago
  • Faster 110km/h speed limit to accelerate Kāpiti

    A new 110km/h speed limit for the Kāpiti Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS) has been approved to reduce travel times for Kiwis travelling in and out of Wellington, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy. ...
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    6 days ago
  • IVL increase to ensure visitors contribute more to New Zealand

    The International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) will be raised to $100 to ensure visitors contribute to public services and high-quality experiences while visiting New Zealand, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Matt Doocey and Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka say. “The Government is serious about enabling the tourism sector ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Delivering priority connections for the West Coast

    A record $255 million for transport investment on the West Coast through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will strengthen the region’s road and rail links to keep people connected and support the region’s economy, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “The Government is committed to making sure that every ...
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    1 week ago
  • Road and rail reliability a focus for Wellington

    A record $3.3 billion of transport investment in Greater Wellington through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will increase productivity and reduce travel times, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Delivering infrastructure to increase productivity and economic growth is a priority for our Government. We're focused on delivering transport projects ...
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    1 week ago
  • Record investment to boost economic and housing growth in the Waikato

    A record $1.9 billion for transport investment in the Waikato through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will create a more efficient, safe, and resilient roading network that supports economic growth and productivity, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “With almost a third of the country’s freight travelling into, out ...
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    1 week ago
  • Building reliable and efficient roading for Taranaki

    A record $808 million for transport investment in Taranaki through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will support economic growth and productivity, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Taranaki’s roads carry a high volume of freight from primary industries and it’s critical we maintain efficient connections across the region to ...
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    1 week ago
  • Supporting growth and resilience in Otago and Southland

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    1 week ago
  • Delivering connected and resilient roading for Northland

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    1 week ago
  • Top of the South to benefit from reliable transport infrastructure

    A record $479 million for transport investment across the top of the South Island through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will build a stronger road network that supports primary industries and grows the economy, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “We’re committed to making sure that every dollar is ...
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    1 week ago
  • Government delivering reliable roads for Manawatū-Whanganui

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    1 week ago
  • Restoring connections in Hawke’s Bay

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    1 week ago
  • Transport resilience a priority for Gisborne

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    1 week ago
  • Prioritising growth and reduced travel times in Canterbury

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    1 week ago
  • Supporting growth and freight in the Bay of Plenty

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    1 week ago
  • Getting transport back on track in Auckland

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    1 week ago

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