When immigration means exploitation

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, June 15th, 2017 - 37 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war, human rights, im/migration, unemployment, workers' rights - Tags: , , , , , ,

Good coverage of Labour’s immigration policy from an anonymous editorial on Stuff:

Immigration cuts are not xenophobic, but economically necessary

Labour’s immigration policy is not racist or xenophobic. It is a careful and moderate policy designed to deal with several serious problems at once.

Net immigration is at unprecedented levels and is causing serious economic trouble. It is helping stoke the fires of house prices. It is helping clog the already-clogged roads of Auckland. It is putting a strain on schools, transport services, even on the decaying water pipes. Nobody disputes that these problems are real or that they will cost a fortune to fix.

Clearly too many unskilled foreign workers are being allowed into New Zealand, allowing the Government and employers to avoid the thorny problem of training New Zealanders to do this work. Bill English’s attempts to paint Kiwi workers as drugged-out and useless back-fired disastrously when the evidence showed that drugged-up workers are not a major problem.

There certainly are problems with unemployed people lacking skills, and this won’t be easily fixed. It raises serious issues about underprivilege and a hard-core of intergenerational unemployed. But this is a problem that must be faced and fixed. Hiring foreigners to stack shelves and serve in shops is daft.

Labour’s policy would allow a more regional approach to deciding skill shortages and needs and would also require foreign workers to stay in the particular region. It would also put greater pressure on employers to find local workers before reaching for the immigration solution. That is as it should be. Immigration has always been meant to run in tandem with a local labour market policy, not as a substitute for it. …

The exploitation of foreign students and workers needs more attention:

Exploited students ‘sleeping in cars’ – Immigration staff

Immigration officials say Indian students have been regularly threatening self-harm and sleeping in cars because they did not earn enough to buy food.

Emails from Immigration NZ staff in India, obtained by the Labour Party under the Official Information Act, expressed concern about an “exploitation/facilitation triangle” in which Indian education agents, NZ educational institutions and Kiwi employers were all making money from Indian students. …

Uncovered: Exploitation of migrant workers rife in NZ

Widespread migrant exploitation has been uncovered in New Zealand with a new report stating workers have been unpaid, denied toilet breaks and subjected to threats and abuse by Kiwi bosses.

Dozens of migrant workers who have fallen victim to exploitation and human trafficking in New Zealand have relayed disturbing accounts of abuse to University of Auckland researcher Dr Christina Stringer.

Workers claimed their passports have been confiscated, their movements have been restricted and they’ve been forced to work up to 18 hours a day and live in overcrowded, substandard accommodation.

Some reported being propositioned for sex by employers while others said New Zealand authorities had refused to listen to their pleas for help because they didn’t have the right documentation.

Two interviewees said they felt like they were “prey”, while another commented: “I feel like they own me because of visas.” Stringer interviewed more than 100 people during her research, the majority of whom were temporary migrants.

Her report marks the first independent evidence-based research of its kind in the country.

It highlights how migrant exploitation – an often secretive and under-reported issue – has been occurring for years across some of New Zealand’s biggest industries, including dairy, horticulture, hospitality and international education.

“The findings of this report, which highlight and uncover areas of significant concern, deserve urgent attention,” read the report, titled Worker Exploitation in New Zealand: A Troubling Landscape.

Read more: New Zealand Herald in-depth report on human trafficking

See also:
Farm owners fined $21k for under-paying migrant workers
Immigrant workers felt helpless during exploitation
Abuse of young and migrant workers uncovered
Report finds migrant worker exploitation
Filipino national fined $10,000 for exploiting migrant workers
Migrant workers underpaid $70,000-plus
And so on.

Those arguing for unrestricted immigration are – wittingly or unwittingly – fueling higher levels of exploitation in NZ. Meanwhile 90,000 young Kiwis have no job, no training to go to. We need better pathways in to work for these young people. And we need better support to protect workers’ (all workers’) rights.

37 comments on “When immigration means exploitation ”

  1. Ethica 1

    This policy also doubles the refugee quota which is a start in that direction, and has not been mentioned in the commentary I’ve seen.

    • Daphna 1.1

      Thats right Labour has tried to dress up its immigration package by saying they’ll double the refugee quota. Next year the refugee quota goes up from a tiny 750 to 1000 people. So Labour is looking at taking 2000 refugees.

      How does New Zealand stack-up on the humanitarian front compared to other countries? Lebanon with a population of 5.8m – just a bit bigger than NZ’s 4.5m – is home to an estimated 1.15m refugees, the largest in the world in per capita terms. That’s 209 per 1000 people, where New Zealand has 0.3 per 1000 people. We compare poorly to Australia 1.5, Canada 4.19, Netherlands 4.8 and Sweden 14.6. In fact New Zealand’s intake per capita was the lowest in the Western world bar Japan.
      https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/from-bad-to-worse/

  2. Adrian Thornton 2

    RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme) workers ARE being used to suppress wages in NZ, that is just a fact.
    Here in the Hawkes Bay, picking apples used to be a pretty respectable and well paid job, and when I moved here about 20 years ago, many families lived a good life picking, pruning etc in the orchard industry, hard work, but good work.

    Cut to 2017, bin rates have barely moved over this time.
    A bin rate is the amount you are paid to pick a bin of apples, which is about 350kg of apples per bin.
    Bin rates vary, dependent on the variety, but average out at about $30.00 per bin
    This is about the same bin rate that was paid 15-20 years ago.

    OK so here is the break down of what an average picker can expect to make.

    An upper average picker will pick 4-5 bins per day, so I will use the top average picker as my example.
    @$30 per bin this is 150 per day, or about $18.75 per hour, which is $3.00 above minimum wages,
    So over one month that picker would in theory make $3000.
    However this doesn’t take into account rain days, so when I did these numbers it was April, and the average rain days per month in April is 10 days according to NIWA
    https://www.niwa.co.nz/static/Hawkes%20Bay%20WEB.pdf
    So you can potentially lose up to 10 days work in April, this year the people I know lost 6 days in April, so I will use this lower average number.
    Deduct $900 for the 6 days of lost work and your above average picker is now earning $2100 per month, which works out at over $2.50 less than minimum wage.
    The Hawkes Bay Orchard industry has been crowing long and hard about it’s bumper crops for many seasons now, but still pays 15-20 year old bin rates and minimum wages to most of the thousands of pack house workers employed…creating a low wage ghetto economy in the Hawkes bay, no spreading the wealth created by the workers around, no just more money for those at the top, enabled by a RSE scheme that Labour wants to expand into the building sector.

    Anna Lorck our local Labour candidate..
    “The rest of New Zealand could learn a lot from the success of Labour’s world-class Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme in Hawke’s Bay.”
    “The great results we are achieving in the region through growing more long-term better paying jobs for locals, underpinned by the RSEs, should be heralded as a shining example for other industries to follow.”
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503459&objectid=11720136

    Yes Labour defending class war and not defending labour, and they wonder why they can’t break 30% in the polls.. they are a party of the middle and upper class and NOT workers that is why.
    Why would any worker vote Labour?

    Turn Labour Left!

    • RedLogix 2.1

      Same everywhere. My partner used to manage a reasonable sized retail business. She observes that shop manager pay (ie the senior at a location) hasn’t changed in 20 years, and gone radically backwards in real terms.

      • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1

        About 15 years ago I had a job as CSR. I started at $40,000 and also had a ~$8000 per year bonus. Same job now would be lucky to get $35,000.

        Now, if you think about it (which politicians and economists don’t as they believe the dogma instead) you’d realise that this is actually the correct thing to happen. As productivity increases the demand for the same work to be done decreases and so wages for that work also decrease.

        What should happen in such case is that the people looking for such work should go looking for other better paying work. This would keep the wages at the same level but that isn’t happening because we’re not developing our economy properly. Instead of doing more stuff, especially in R&D, we’re just doing more of the same stuff and often not even that resulting in higher unemployment and lowering wages across the board.

    • Philj 2.2

      Anna Locke must be the National candidate! Surely there is a terrible error in this Tory press release. Please make an immediate retraction or correction. Is this April 1? Seriously Lol.

    • Philj 2.3

      Thanks for the comment and link. The RSE workers don’t vote, so no loss there. So Labour is pushing RSE for construction worker shortages? Really. Wow. Good to know they support Nationals policies.

      • Adrian Thornton 2.3.1

        Unfortunately the RSE scheme is from Labour…

        “The RSE scheme was launched in April 2007 with a cap of 5,000 workers under the then Labour Government led by Helen Clark when unemployment was under 4%, but the cap was lifted to 8,000 in October 2008 when unemployment was rising and was lifted again in 2014 from 8,000 to 9,000, and then again from 9,000 to 9,500 in December last year when unemployment was over 5%. The workers come mostly from the Pacific Islands.”

        http://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/84733/ministers-announce-cap-recognised-seasonal-employer-rse-scheme-201617-raised-1000

      • Sigh 2.3.2

        The RSE is an aid scheme with the Pacific. Without it some island economies would collapse. To remove it without a substitute would be a humanitarian disaster.

        As for the scheme itself, get your facts right. They’re not used for construction or other jobs where NZers are likely to work. This scheme is for seasonal work (That’s what the S in RSE stands for), mostly in rural areas, that would not provide stable, long-term employment for New Zealanders.

        • Adrian Thornton 2.3.2.1

          I absolutely no problem with aid schemes that help Island communities, however when these schemes are cynically used to suppress wages in NZ, which they plainly are, then we should all have a serious problem with these schemes.

          There is a growing disaster looming in the Hawkes Bay, brought on by so many of the local population employed on minimum wages or less by the orchard industry, while their industry booms.

          BTW Kiwis do work in the orchard industry, and more would if the pay was fairer and reflected NZ living costs and not those of the RSE workers who come from countries where the minimum wage is something in the region of US $100p/w.

        • Draco T Bastard 2.3.2.2

          The RSE is an aid scheme with the Pacific.

          [citation needed]

          That said, I don’t see why we should be sacrificing NZers livelihoods so that the Pacific can do better. If their economies are so bad how about they develop them. And, yes, I’m fine with NZ helping them do that. Of course, that would mean higher competition for NZ and probably less exports.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.4

      RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme) workers ARE being used to suppress wages in NZ, that is just a fact.

      Yep. Something that the employers wanted but the unions and workers didn’t as they knew who would lose out. The unions and workers were right.

      Yes Labour defending class war and not defending labour, and they wonder why they can’t break 30% in the polls.. they are a party of the middle and upper class and NOT workers that is why.

      QFT

      Then again, Labour have always been a party for the capitalists. They put in a few policies to help out the workers but they’ve always done more for business.

    • Gabby 2.5

      I guess if the exploitees are non-voters, Labour’s not too bothered.

    • North 2.6

      Not apropos the effect of Tongan (and other Polynesian) fruit pickers on the labour market……but in snotty wee Kerikeri, the town of wicked racial and economic divide where I live, they’re basically treated with ignore and steered clear of. The racism screams. Which is why on principle I, a 60 plus palagi in a suit, always give a cheery (sometimes obviously disarming)…….”Hi !”

  3. red-blooded 3

    I find it ironic that some are quick to jump to the conclusion that restricting immigration in any way is racist. I see the allowing people to be enticed here for courses that do pretty much nothing to give them meaningful skills or qualifications while being scalped by agents and by the private “training” providers and being forced to work for crap pay in sub-standard conditions doing jobs on the bottom rung of the employment ladder as being based on the racist assumption that these people and their goals and dreams are not important, that they’re just part of a profit equation and as individuals they’re expendable.

  4. Stuart Munro 4

    An easy measure would be a skilled worker availability register. At present a prospective employer need only advertise for a month or so, and claim than any applicants were unsuitable as a prelude to obtaining access to foreign workers.

    If Immigration had a list showing a hundred people available for the category of work in the region they should decline the application automatically. This would make the process less unilateral.

  5. Bill 5

    Who’s been arguing for unrestricted immigration?

    Why doesn’t NZ Labour’s immigration policy state an intention to identify and shut down courses that are an exploitative sham? And why doesn’t NZ Labour’s immigration policy even so much as mention tackling the Employment Legislation that enables fairly widespread exploitation?

    NZ Labour’s policy discriminates against one cohort of immigrants claiming it’s necessary to alleviate stresses on infrastructure and services. But their policy doesn’t actually do that.

    And as I keep pointing out, it chimes with UKIP policy on immigration, while being a blue million miles away from UK Labour immigration policy – that’s the same UK Labour that just last week, everyone was holding up as some worthy example of what NZ Labour could or should be.

    But here we are a few days down the track. On a labour site – cheerleading a clearly discriminatory immigration policy and throwing up paper men in order to construct justifications for it.

    • Stuart Munro 5.1

      I would say the Gnats, with a degree of Labour complicity.

      But such is the arrogance of this government that rather than make the case in parliament as a lawful process demands they have merely subverted the rules until large numbers of applicants were available to be exploited by their fellow scoundrels.

      • Bill 5.1.1

        Sorry Stuart. There was a fair bit of late editing and I’m not sure which version of the comment (long or short) you’re responding to. My bad for coming back to a comment I’d just submitted and making major additions.

        • Stuart Munro 5.1.1.1

          No need to apologize – just my answer didn’t anticipate very well – no harm done, hope I haven’t deflected too much.

    • Draco T Bastard 5.2

      On a labour site – cheerleading a clearly discriminatory immigration policy and throwing up paper men in order to construct justifications for it.

      It’s not a ‘Labour site’ as you well know and I haven’t seen anything discriminatory in Labour’s policy. It’s not the one I’d use as I don’t think it goes far enough.

      [Don’t make stupid allegations Draco. I didn’t say “the standard” was a Labour site.] – Bill

      • Draco T Bastard 5.2.1

        [Don’t make stupid allegations Draco. I didn’t say “the standard” was a Labour site.] – Bill

        The implication was there in what you wrote. Your wording clearly implies this site otherwise it wouldn’t be here.

        But here we are a few days down the track. On a labour site – cheerleading a clearly discriminatory immigration policy and throwing up paper men in order to construct justifications for it.

        If you meant another site you probably should have named the other site.

        • Bill 5.2.1.1

          I meant this site Draco. Do you not have a brain engaged today?

          • McFlock 5.2.1.1.1

            To be fair, after half a dozen references to LabourcapitalL parties, the switch to referring to the labourlowercasel movement might have been more clearly indicated. Threw me a bit as well.

    • red-blooded 5.3

      “Who’s been arguing for unrestricted immigration?”

      National.

      “Why doesn’t NZ Labour’s immigration policy state an intention to identify and shut down courses that are an exploitative sham?”

      It does. “Labour will stop issuing student visas for courses below a bachelor’s degree which are not independently assessed by the TEC and NZQA to be of high quality.” http://www.labour.org.nz/immigration

      “And why doesn’t NZ Labour’s immigration policy even so much as mention tackling the Employment Legislation that enables fairly widespread exploitation?”

      Have a look at the comments about increasing apprenticeships, about requiring proof that meaningful efforts have been made to find local workers, offering rates of pay and working conditions that are at least of market value. Plus, an immigration policy has a specific focus. Check out the employment policy when its announced before you make assumptions.

      “NZ Labour’s policy discriminates against one cohort of immigrants claiming it’s necessary to alleviate stresses on infrastructure and services. But their policy doesn’t actually do that.”

      Who are the “one cohort”? Labour’s policy doesn’t only focus on international students (although they’ve been the focus of a lot of the commentary). It also looks at things like targeting immigration towards regions with particular needs and removing the points system that disadvantages older, highly-skilled immigrants.

      “And as I keep pointing out, it chimes with UKIP policy on immigration”

      Bullshit. Show me where UKIP extolls the virtues of being a multi-cultural society, or promises to double their refugee quota.

      “..while being a blue million miles away from UK Labour immigration policy” – presumably that the policy that says “Labour believes in fair rules and reasonable management of migration.” Well, so does NZ Labour. These suggestions are aimed at creating fairer rules and more reasonable management.

      “But here we are a few days down the track. On a labour site” – I thought TS was unaligned, in party terms.

      “– cheerleading a clearly discriminatory immigration policy and throwing up paper men in order to construct justifications for it.” The only “paper people” (I don’t use the word “men” unless there’s a reason to be gendered) I see are the ones you’re putting up, Bill. Who do you feel is being discriminated against? On what basis? Is it your belief that everything is hunky-dory and immigration is having no impact on resources like housing, health, education, roading etc? Is it having no impact on employment and employment conditions? Are low value “export education” courses and scalping of international students OK by you?

      Please note, it’s perfectly possible to discuss immigration and to suggest that NZ should manage our immigration settings more effectively without being racist or denying the positives that immigration can add to our society.

      • Bill 5.3.1

        Bullshit. Show me where UKIP extolls the virtues of being a multi-cultural society, or promises to double their refugee quota.

        Yup. Not a thing where the thrust and tone of NZ Labour’s immigration policy chimes with that of UKIP.

        Britons are among the most welcoming and tolerant people in the world…

        Immigration has placed huge pressure on public services and housing. It has affected the domestic labour market, where wages for manual and low paid jobs have stagnated.

        …halving gross immigration for a five-year period. This will still allow us to bring in the key skills we need, while giving a breathing space to public services under immense pressure.

        To give working class people in particular a chance to find employment, we will place a moratorium on unskilled and low-skilled immigration…

        We will also operate a seasonal worker scheme based on six month visas to support those sectors, such as agriculture, which need additional labour for short but predictable periods of time.

        Highly skilled workers with a job offer sponsored by companies paying them a minimum of £30,000 per annum will have priority.

        No mention of doubling refugee numbers, but then I was addressing the general thrust and tone of the policies, however…

        UKIP will comply fully with the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and honour our obligations to bona fide asylum seekers.

        UKIP will commission, equip and staff a Naval Ocean-Going Surgical Hospital (….) this will be an extremely useful way to deliver large-scale relief to our armed forces on active operational duties, to civilians and refugees in war zones, or to undertake humanitarian missions in peacetime.

        And then we could mention how Paul Nuttal and Grant Robertson used basically the same words to justify their parties policies…”It’s about policy, not immigrants”

        Go and look at UK Labour’s policy. Not a lot chimes there.

        They refuse to count international students in immigration numbers because they are not permanent residents or citizens and acknowledge they make a contribution to society. They are also allowed to work while studying. UK Labour undertakes to shut down sham courses and end, not just that avenue for exploitation of foreigners, but to tackle current Employment Law in conjunction with unions and others so that bastard employers are shut down too. And UK Labour is explicit about not using the result of economic mismanagement (knackered infrastructure) as a rationale for determining immigration policy.

        • Nope 5.3.1.1

          Interesting you didn’t know about Labour’s plan to double the refugee quota. Clearly you hadn’t even read the policy before calling Labour racists.

          Shame on you.

          • Bill 5.3.1.1.1

            Interesting that the difference between a refugee and an immigrant appears to elude you.

            Now. Provide the link and the quote to where I’ve called Labour racists over the head of this immigration policy. Thank you.

    • Sigh 5.4

      You ask “Why doesn’t NZ Labour’s immigration policy state an intention to identify and shut down courses that are an exploitative sham?”

      It does. That’s exactly what the policy is.

      You ask “And why doesn’t NZ Labour’s immigration policy even so much as mention tackling the Employment Legislation that enables fairly widespread exploitation?”

      If you’d watched the announcement (it was live streamed by news outlets) you’ll have seen that Little said Labour is announcing its employment relations policy later this month. You’ll have also seen that this policy talks about beefing up the labour inspectorate and stamping out migrant exploitation.

      I honestly can’t believe how much anti-Labour stuff is just plain made up by so-called leftists on this site.

      • Bill 5.4.1

        Yeah, nah.

        So now we’re to see exploitation of immigrants as somehow unconnected to Employment Law, and then think that it’s okay Employment Law didn’t get so much as a passing mention in the immigration policy because of that, and anyway, Employment Policy is later? Jesus wept.

        In relation to the assertion made in the last sentence of your comment – link to the comment where I’ve made something up in this discussion. Thank you.

    • Wainwright 5.5

      Hear hear Bill. Shocking to see this kind of distraction manoevre and it only proves what a dogwhistle the policy is. Gordon Campbell’s on the money here
      http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2017/06/14/gordon-campbell-on-anti-immigration-gambit-labour-israel/

      • Bill 5.5.1

        Thankyou for the link Wainwright.

        Campbell hits on some pretty revealing snippets and details there. I think I’m singing from the same song-sheet as him with regards the general overview, but just coming at it from a more comparative angle.

        I suspect this bullshit from Labour has pissed off more people than they’ll be happy to admit to. Least ways, insofar as I hate politicians peddling disgusting shit, I hope that’s the case.

  6. Draco T Bastard 6

    Some reported being propositioned for sex by employers while others said New Zealand authorities had refused to listen to their pleas for help because they didn’t have the right documentation.

    Not having the ‘right documentation’ would be prima facie evidence of a crime being committed wouldn’t it? And that such crime should therefore be investigated to its fullest?

    It shouldn’t be ‘Oh, you have the wrong documentation so we can’t do anything.’ As that would actually be enabling crime doing so would itself be a crime.

    I wonder how government departments got to the point of denying people justice because of ‘wrong documentation’.

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     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    2 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    2 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    2 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    3 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    3 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    3 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    4 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    5 days ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    6 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    6 days ago
  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    7 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    7 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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