Red zone ride

Written By: - Date published: 5:50 pm, September 17th, 2012 - 34 comments
Categories: disaster, Gerry Brownlee - Tags: ,

Went for a ride through the Red Zone yesterday, and I am feeling it today.

Not so much in the legs, as it wasn’t a particularly long ride. More in the heart.

14 years ago we were looking for a house after moving back to CHCH , and Avonside was where we wanted to buy. We spent a lot of time looking in the area, before settling on one “one suburb over” in Richmond.

I felt connected to this part of town. But not any more. After yesterday I realise that there is nothing left to connect to.

To many people reading this, that statement won’t really be real. Even sympathetic readers might take the position , “Well, yes of course, this has been a major event – people have been displaced and their lives disrupted”.

It is so much more than that. Almost all of the terrain that I covered yesterday was broken ground, filled with broken stuff – that will never be fixed. And it is that last statement that “gets me”.

Some people have hung on, but they will all be gone by April next year. I saw one family packing up. No moving company involved, just an old Holden and a trailer. Something must have been keeping them there for them to hold on this long. None of the houses around them looked to be maintained.

I could keep on writing on this theme, or should that be “I could keep on carping and moaning” (don’t do Facebook), but I want to change tack.

Two bloody years, this has been going on – and people are still, largely left to cope with this on their own. Where is the leadership we were promised. Or alternatively, what efforts have been made to empower people to solve their own problems?

Either option could work, but instead information is withheld, or arrives at a glacial pace. Every month seems to bring another layer of bureaucracy to navigate through.

And our so called leader has just shown himself, again in case you missed it the last time, to be an incompetent, gutless, bully. Gerry, if the job is too hard for you, stand down and let someone else have a crack.

Most of the people caught up in this disaster paid their insurance and taxes in good faith. What some of us are slowly waking up to is that the whole process of redzoning, government buy outs, “negotiations” with insurers and the wall of vacuous silence from the likes of the EQC have all served to slowly, step by step, get us to accept that commitments that were made to us via things like “full replacement policies” are never going to be met. The contract with the community has been broken. Like the land, the houses, the roads and a good few of the people.

We should do better. And yes, Gerry, I am looking at you.

— Andy-Roo

34 comments on “Red zone ride ”

  1. prism 1

    I noticed the unmaintained look of many houses in the still current residential zones. The flat land at the south-east still occupied has water lying in pools -the house I visited had narrow open drains to try and collect it and get it to flow, or maybe they pump it, to the public stormwater drain that seemed itself to be fairly full.

    But to get anything done people would have to mass and create some noise. I didn’t like the satisfied, accepting sound of some commenters when they praised residents resilience. Such as
    “23 Dec 2011 – One year on from the earthquake that claimed 185 lives in Christchurch, … Social worker Wilfrid McKerras says residents are fairly resilient and stoically get on ….” As some have found you have to moan to even get noticed. And then Brownlee gives you heaps. Right from the beginning he was more interested in the CBD. Which he wanted to clear fell, very dismissive of old buildings and history. He sees himself as top dog of Christchurch all right. What do you think – will he get a knighthood when it’s more advanced?

    Just to refresh here are a few links.
    Here is Hugh Pavletich who I think is a housing speculator in the early days.http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1110/S00308/christchurch-earthquakes-the-political-circus.htm

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/5142774/Christchurch-Should-we-stay-or-should-we-go

    • Andy-Roo 1.1

      The concept of Sir Gerry turns my stomach.

      But then again I am not much of a fan of “Sir” Anybody.

      Right now one of the perceptions we need to fight against is the perception that is very very prevalent in some quarters that red zoners have been generously and fairly treated.

      This is what allows people to stick the “carping and moaning” label on them – which undermines anything and everything that they (or anyone who supports them) have to say.

      People have not been well treated. That message needs to stop.

  2. Colonial Viper 2

    Throw away NZers. All but forgotten, left to struggle one by one, family by family, quiet invisible crises in each house. Where are the country’s leaders?

  3. Carol 3

    What’s happened to parts of Christchurch is sad, and so much is wrong in the way the government’s handled it.

    I lived there a couple of years in my younger days, and have fond memories of it the way it was.

    The government is being autocratic, and pandering to the moneyed interests. It really would be better to have a more consultative and inclusive approach.

  4. Wayne 4

    However, if it is Redzone it is intended the the owners will to leave. That is why the offers by the government have been made, either the 2007 valuation, or the insurance and the EQC payment (I think I am correct on the second option). Lots of people have accepted and are getting on with their lives, having purchased new properties elswhere (often in places like Rolleston).

    It is not really accurate to say there has been no assistance. There has been a lot, and the most important were the offers, generally recognised to be be at the top of the market. However, I appreciate there has been some hard cases. If someone had an especially smaller older property, it will be hard to buy something comparable elsewhere in the city for the same price.

    I would hope that as summer comes on there will be a sense of real progress on the ground in the Eastern suburbs. When you are living in a damaged home as do my elderly Aunt and Uncle it is a long and frustrating time to wait to get repairs done.

    I think CERA and the City will need to soon set out what they intend to do in the Redzone. As with the central city once a property is condemned and vacant it is best to demolish and to set out the vision for the Redzone, that can be seen as revtalising the East. Presumbably parks, recreation spaces and wild life refuges. It could be done really well, with the new sort of concept as envisaged for the CBD.

    • fatty 4.1

      “Presumbably parks, recreation spaces and wild life refuges. It could be done really well, with the new sort of concept as envisaged for the CBD.”

      Yes, there needs to be a plan for the East, but can we get some competent people onto it?
      The CBD plan is a sham. Absolute bollocks. Those responsible for it should hang their heads in shame. Those money-grabbing arseholes need to leave Christchurch alone, they are just causing more damage.
      What’s there to like about it?

    • No, the second option is that you get the private insurance valuation for your building and the crown purchases your land from you for the most recent valuation, buying out your EQC claim. (This gives you an out if your building valuation was unusually low. I assume the Crown will simply ask EQC to write off claims assigned to them) Neither option involves EQC directly and is pretty much just in the hands of CERA.

      I agree with you that some sort of plan for the red zone land, and action to demolish properties already brought out, is long due.

    • Andy-Roo 4.3

      Hi Wayne,

      Yes, lots of people have accepted the government offers. And from the outside looking in, these offers might have looked like they were generous, or “top of the market”.

      The question I am asking though is “which market, and for whom?”.

      The market is not your freind in Christchurch right now. Most of the people shifting out to places like Rolleston will be taking substantial losses in terms of “like for like” that they would not have expected to take as they shelled out for their total replacement insurance policies.

      Even had the market not moved, post quake – prices in the East did not generally match those in the West. And the market has moved, a lot.

      Looked at from the point of view of who’s needs have been served, the buy out has worked well enough for the government, and for insurance companies – given the magnitude of the liability they were facing – but it has not stopped large numbers of people getting shafted.

      We as a society have been prepared to let that happen.

      Hence my question – “Which market, and for whom”.

  5. Murray Olsen 5

    Why isn’t there a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Christchurch rather than in Afghanistan propping up some smack dealing dictator?

  6. Rich 6

    Why are NZ’s construction crews in Wellington working day and night building an highway tunnel by the war memorial, rushed through under urgency because nobody could foresee that it would be the hundredth anniversary of Gallipoli soon? (you’d have thought that before slaughtering the flower of a nation’s youth in a pointless cause, the authorities would have put in train plans for a memorial?)

    They could be in Christchurch fixing the place up.

    • Colonial Viper 6.1

      Christchurch? Hardly any pollies spend time in Christchurch. Wellington is the place to be, and is where all the spend is needed.

    • prism 6.2

      Rich 6 These authorities don’t like any plan that has ‘train’ in it.

  7. RedLogix 7

    What did anyone expect? … It was a Labour electorate after all.

  8. MrSmith 8

    I have to admit things at EQC are really starting to improve after two years. I just receive today, a reply to an email I sent in July, yes this year, but unfortunately they said they couldn’t help me! stupid me for asking them for help, shame on me, I will now write them back over the next 8 weeks, then as I have nothing better to do I will sit around and wait for a reply.

  9. Dr Livingstone 9

    Christchurch Democracy was stolen by this National Government with ECAN Sacking on Flimsy word of Mayor Bob Parker & Now Quakes have given Central Government Tsar Gerrys unbridled power with The Christchurch City Council and Government observerKerry Marshall aided and abetted by Sideshow Bob & Tony Marryatt and the dictatorial CBD BLUEPRINT which has replaced “SHARE AN IDEA in which all of us once upon a time in fairyland had a Say. Rent-A Key who only comes here for photo ops and his starring role in the Six Part $5 Million NZ. ON AIR Film” After The Earthquakes.” and then there,s Cera, EQC, and Insurance Companies.We know REDZONE People $100,000 out of pocket with Govt. offer ..OUR CITY Has been stolen from us The People have been sidelined in all of this and we have all discovered we don,t actually have absolute rights to our land Businesses and homes.But wait there is more…We now have the School Closures and more decimation of our communities by a heartless Hekia Parata and John Key whose National Secret Agenda is for Charter Private Business Schools for profit.Everything is For Sale.!People don,t count..

    • mike e 9.1

      Nationals plan for CHCH a Circus of Lackeys to replace democratic institutions.
      The Circus will distract the poor people of CHCH while the cronies take the money and run!

    • Andy-Roo 9.2

      Hard to argue with any of this.

      And I am not inclined to try.

      The ECAN affair was a debacle from start to finish.

    • prism 9.3

      Paragraphs? Somewhere to take a breath?

  10. Colonial Viper 10

    It seems to me that the only way Key & Co are able to do what they are doing is that there are large numbers of influential people in Christchurch who are fine with what is happening, or who are actively backing it.

    • fatty 10.1

      That’s true, there are too many people in Chch without a political voice, or who believe they have no political voice.
      The response to the CBD plan was disturbing. For all the good work John Campbell has been doing for children lately, he let down the people of Chch. The powerpoint presentation / champagne party was presented by the media as a positive, but I am yet to see how? The protesters outside that event were largely ignored as the media and the public got a boner over some computer graphics.
      For some reason NZ celebrated a bunch of rich pricks taking over Chch….and the East of Chch continues to wait for something to happen. But there is not much chance of anything happening soon. I’m guessing another powerpoint presentation and a champagne party is the best we can hope for.

      • Colonial Viper 10.1.1

        Of course the ordinary people of Christchurch have a political voice. If they want to take it and make it heard.

        Frak the MSM. Non-violent and civil resistance techniques are well known and easily utilisable. Make it impossible for them to ignore you.

        That’s true, there are too many people in Chch without a political voice, or who believe they have no political voice.

        Your initial response seemed to miss my point a bit. I was saying that the top 10,000 well connected and wealthy people in Christchurch who make the key decisions seem fine with the way Key & Co are running the show.

        • fatty 10.1.1.1

          I don’t think I missed your point at all…I did point out that: “The response to the CBD plan was disturbing. For all the good work John Campbell has been doing for children lately, he let down the people of Chch. The powerpoint presentation / champagne party was presented by the media as a positive, but I am yet to see how? The protesters outside that event were largely ignored as the media and the public got a boner over some computer graphics.”

          “Of course the ordinary people of Christchurch have a political voice. If they want to take it and make it heard.”

          I’m not so sure about this, there are people trying to organise things from the grassroots, but it is so difficult. The Government’s response kills their voice so effectively, The Government responds with ‘this is a major disaster’, ‘we are doing all we can’, ‘everyone is suffering’ etc.
          Its not that the people of Chch aren’t trying, what more can be done to overcome this disaster capitalism? The media and the main opposition Party have done little to help.

          • Colonial Viper 10.1.1.1.1

            Ah, OK.

            I’m not so sure about this, there are people trying to organise things from the grassroots, but it is so difficult. The Government’s response kills their voice so effectively,

            Hmmmmm. To be clear. I’m not talking letters to the editor, interviews on RNZ and cups of tea with people in City Council. Or waiting for the Opposition to have a moan in the House. If Christchurch has got to the stage of being as serious and as desperate as some people say it is, then this needs to move to non-violent non-co-operation/civil resistance/civil disobedience.

            • fatty 10.1.1.1.1.1

              “Hmmmmm. To be clear. I’m not talking letters to the editor, interviews on RNZ and cups of tea with people in City Council.”

              Neither was I…the media and the city council are not grassroots movements. Like most people in Christchurch, I have given up on hoping our city council or Government will help the marginalised. A grassroots approach has been, and still is far more effective, its all we have…some good examples are Student Volunteer Army, the Christchurch Youth Market, Gap Filler, Greening the Rubble, Rebuild Christchurch, the Avon Otakaro Network, and Whole House Reuse.

              “If Christchurch has got to the stage of being as serious and as desperate as some people say it is, then this needs to move to non-violent non-co-operation/civil resistance/civil disobedience.”

              What do you suggest the people in the East do? Remember that as soon as they get together and push a protest beyond the law, they will get arrested and then be told that they are not helping a ‘difficult situation’ blah blah blah. Brownlee will then pop up on the news and then say he understands our frustrations, but this is ‘not the way to go about things’. Paula Bennett will bash some beneficiaries, Shearer will strum his banjo…and the rest of NZ will feel sorry for us and shrug their shoulders.

    • Andy-Roo 10.2

      But is this not always the case? No matter where you are?

      I don’t think CHCH is anything special in terms of number of pigs willing to stick their snout into the public trough if they can get some one else to pay for it.

      It’s just that they have been handed a set of ready made earthquake sized excuses to hide their anti democratic agenda behind.

      Plus – most of us are still distracted by day to day stuff. Right now I am living in half my house, my commute to work is much more complicated than it used to be, I am arguing with my insurance company, the bloody builder still hasn’t been back to pick up his stuff or finish painting the backwall of the house, my parents roof starts leaking again after every significant aftershock…

      And when we do organise a protest we don’t really get much coverage because much of the country is sick and tired of hearing us whine when we have been so generously treated and are just a bunch of racist, iunsular, rednecks who probably deserved what they got anyway. To echo some of the stuff I have read (here and other places)

  11. JonL 11

    EQC!
    Since the disaster, they have been stacked with rejects from ACC and WINZ – self serving, incompetent, useless bullying toadies who are less interested in helping people and more interested in climbing, tooth and claw over each other in some sort of heirarchical frenzy.
    All the older members, who were actually interested in helping people have bailed!
    You’ll get no help out of EQC these days- just like the rest of this government!

  12. Dr Livingstone 12

    As long as John Key has a compliant media in this country who don,t ask the real questions anymore and cut to the chase we will be downtrodden& ignored..I am fed up with all the lies and the bullsh we are fed .People ,The community, Residents are not being listened to. New Zealanders need to sit up and take notice.Heartbreak despair and life lessons in Christchurch have us discovering we don,t actually have absolute rights to “OUR” Land and homes. It could come to your town or City.too.

  13. I do think there has been some help and I also think by and large SKIRT is doing a great job. I also acknowledge that the earthquake has been “huge” and that it was always going to take a long time to get some things done. But as you point out, Andy-roo, we are now two years in and that excuse is wearing very thin.

    I also think it is time we saw some prioritisation to ensure that those most in need, like those in the TC 3 featured last week, get priority, plus the elderly, those with disabilities, and families with little kids. As someone who, although TC 3, is only ‘moderately uncomfortable’ and can probably ‘box on’ as is for some time, I am very happy to be prioritised behind those more in need and would like to see it happening.

    I also seriously question whether Gerry Brownlee is the right person to lead Christchurch’s recovery. Last week’s remarks regarding TC3 residents were only the latest of several similar outbursts. While I appreciate that circumstances are very difficult and I wish to believe he is doing his best, his approach appears divisive and combative, when what Christchurch needs is leadership to inspire and pull people together, and to work together positively and constructively, demonstrating leadership by example on difficult issues–not attacking and abusing. In short, the Minister for Earthquake Recovery needs to be someone who is part of the solution for Christchurch, not creating additional and unnecessary difficulties. And the “solution” overall needs to be one that involves and empowers the community, not result in remarks like those from one acquaintance yesterday (whom I had rung on another matter):

    “EQC and insurance. ECan and water, schools, CERA & the central city: every day feels like an assault.”

    One would have thought that the earthquakes themselves were enough of an assault in that respect–and that if the government felt confident of their vision for the city and the region, then they would feel confident of their ability to bring people with them through the usual dem,ocratic and government processes. Instead have set up institutions, i.e. both CERA and the ECan commissioners, where everything is imposed unilaterally from above with little recourse though the justice system–which of course along with represtation is another of the integral planks of democracy. Planks now largely denied to Christchurch and Canterbury residents.

    Also denied, with respect to the central city rebuild in particular, is the principle deriving from natural justice, which is that those who pay the piper should call the tune. In this case, we are told that rebuilding central Christchurch will be entirely paid for by Christchurch ratepayers, but that we are going to have no say at all in the form of that rebuild, let alone in cutting our rebuild cloth to fit our financial cloth. And what we are getting is a gold-plated CBD rebuild plan, that is to be paid for by people who live in broken homes, or can’t live in their homes because they are too broken and so are paying both rent (often extortionate, although that does not appear to be of concern to the minister & CERA) and a mortgage, or are living in cars and tents and caravans because there isn’t enough housing to go round. The CBD proposal, I have to say, smacks to me very much as being someone’s “monument.” I do not feel this is appropriate, or again, what Christchurch needs right now. What we need is a CBD rebuild that won’t break the bank, or impoversih the city for years to come, and that feels like “our city”–not someone else’s monument where our only input is that it is paid for by our money.

    I would like to make one final point though. When it comes to the sweeping powers granted the Minister for Earthquake Recovery and CERA (as opposed to ECan), these were not solely put in place by the National-led government, but by parliament as a whole (with the exception of the Greens the second time around.) So I believe that parliament as a whole therefore needs to take responsibility for what is happening in Christchurch right now, as well as for scrutinising, reviewing, and as necessary amending the powers it has granted.

    • Andy-Roo 13.1

      +1 on this comment!

      How a party which supposedly champions individual liberties, (National in case you missed the connection!) has been so very ready to see democracy (you know, individual liberites…) set aside so swiftly and so comprehensively, beggars belief

  14. Dr Livingstone 14

    Unbridled Power has gone to their heads.I have watched Question Time and snap debate on Shock Schools Closures and ECAN Commissioners Extension Bill in Parliament today. One word sums up Hekia Parata, Gerry Brownlee and David Carter.Unbelievable arrogance about 12,000 Earthquakes and the stress levels of our Community.. And as for John Key & John Banks today They are an unbelievable Act of insulting New Zealanders intelligence.

  15. fatty 15

    Gap Filler Co-Founder and Life in Vacant Spaces Chief Evangelist, Ryan Reynolds at TEDx.

    • BernyD 15.1

      Great approach, you gotta remember th Government is the point of call, you still have to work with them.

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    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

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