NZ Politics

Lol. Q3 here sets out what he (edit: allegedly) said (anything said in the House is protected by Parliamentary privilege)

https://bills.parliament.nz/v/11/59669ddb-f7b1-405a-0e5b-08dc696671a5

You could call it a 'mask off' moment, although VFF have never been keen on masks.

Corrections has spent over $305,000 on slushy syrup and maintaining frozen ice machines in the past six years.

The news comes as proposed job cuts ravage the public service with 3460 jobs set for the chopping block, as part of the cost savings drive.

The slushy machines caused controversy in 2019 when it was revealed Corrections had spent over $1 million of taxpayer money on 193 slushy machines.

The then-National leader Simon Bridges called it "irresponsible and wasteful spending" at the time but then-Corrections minister Kelvin Davis said was about health and safety.

Since then the slushy fund has continued with 160 of the 193 original machines still in use and $305,906 spent on syrup, maintaining them.

Wow, turns out being jerks to kids is really unpopular......better backpedal as fast as possible.

She added: "Perhaps I was a little slow, what I can say is I tried my very best ... and I respect the prime minister's decision."

Having a minister describe themselves as "a little slow" is just an incredible quote.

Lol

This government doing it's best to ruin the country and our reputation overseas. Having said that I have witnessed too many acts of corruption to every buy that we were somehow more honest than other countries.

Analysis: Burning less coal to make electricity helped New Zealand achieve its biggest official annual drop in planet-heating gases since records started in 1990.

The same week those figures came out, Resources Minister Shane Jones told Morning Report New Zealand should develop more of its own coal, rather than importing "dirty" coal from Indonesia.

Jones earlier told Parliament that opposition MPs turned a blind eye while New Zealand imported Indonesian coal "every month, to keep the lights on."

While it's true Genesis Energy - owner of the country's only coal-fired station - burns coal to run its Huntly generators, it last year reported that its last shipment of coal had arrived in July 2022.

Government figures show New Zealand was a net exporter of coal every year since records began, except 2021 - a dry year for hydro, coupled with an unexpected shortage on Genesis' gas field.

That was the year Huntly used record amounts of imported Indonesian coal, pushing up the climate impact of the whole country.

Now is time to change Te Papa's Treaty of Waitangi display, the museum's co-leaders say.

It comes after the museum left a defaced version of the Treaty of Waitangi on display over summer to enable "valuable conversations" about te Tiriti o Waitangi

...

Te Papa said it would consult with te Tiriti experts, iwi and communities for the permanent exhibition

...

The removed panel will be stored by the museum, and while no decision has been made about its future, Johnston said it was part of the exhibition's history and the story of te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Among the list of organisations that have been invited to apply are organisations associated with projects that would destroy a pristine mountaintop and rip up the seafloor.  

It includes organisations that have lost cases in the Environment, High and Supreme Courts, with proposals roundly rejected through prolonged court action.

both the education and health systems are getting absolutely butchered by this government and this is definitely going to impact you and the people around you.

Who could have seen this coming!

$10 billion for one tunnel, or three times what the scrapped ferries were going to cost. And that's just the initial estimate.

More economic vandalism from this government - unlimited money for roads, fuck everything else.

This would be amazing for anyone heading out to the bays or Wellington Airport, no intersections or lights to worry about, and it would make life so much easier for the CBD as well, not having so much through traffic in the CBD.

"He's blaming the boards and principals and schools for the problem we have, yet he's the one that says, 'Listen we are going to cut lunches'. How the hell is that going to get people into school? He says, 'We are going to cut back the public transport subsidies'. How the hell is that going to get people into schools?

Common sense, really.

Seymour pointed to New Zealand's attendance rates having fallen from 69.5 percent in term 2015, to 39.9 percent in term two 2022.

That's actually quite a shocking statistic, there must be a large number of kids simply never attending school at all to have an average that low.

Posting mainly for the very good first comment on this article, which queries how they might actually achieve 50,000 fewer jobseeker recipients in six years when the population will grow, many recipients are either already working and can't get more hours, or have health conditions limiting or preventing them from working.

The answer of course is to game the KPI like a good CEO as it only measure numbers of recipients, not the actual outcomes you'd want as a result - people into secure and sustainable work.

Expect more hoops to jump through and more punitive measures to discourage people from getting support or kicking them off to juice the numbers.

Its particularly fucked up when you think about how as a system, we require unemployment to control inflation. So we're creating unemployment and then punishing people for being subjected to it.

From Whangārei to Invercargill, thousands are expected to take to the streets in Friday's climate strike.

But it is not just about the climate crisis: The event is led by a coalition including Toitū Te Tiriti, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, and School Strike 4 Climate.

They have six demands. To keep the ban on oil and gas exploration, end the Fast Track Approvals Bill, toitū te Tiriti o Waitangi, climate education for all, lower the voting age to 16 and to "free Palestine".

"Our government has signalled changes to the plan, including a reduced focus on institutional racism and colonial racism against Māori, which would render the plan pointless as all instances of personal racism result from the institutional racism of our society," Ngata said.

Uhh, what? What absolute nonsense is this?

Honestly, this whole thing feels like the forum getting the pip because we weren't making this all about them, and taking their ball and going home.

And then there's Bullshit like this.

Maori aren't the only group in NZ on the receiving end of racist behaviour.

The government's transport plan is at odds with economic growth and a step backwards for the climate, a group of 88 academics says.

"Road transport dependency is costly to the society as a whole, in terms of environmental degradation; illnesses and injuries associated with traffic, air pollution, and noise; low efficiency of transport of people and goods; infrastructure building and maintenance; direct user costs; and land use."

Second, the plan was a step backwards on climate change, with 39 percent of emissions coming from transport. They referred to the climate action tracker run by independent scientists, which was already rating New Zealand's response as "highly insufficient".

It would also reduce public transport funding, saying this could mean whole neighbourhoods without access and making it harder for those with lower incomes or disabilities to get around.

The submission highlighted a lack of walking and cycling infrastructure, despite evidence about the benefits of these.

"The GPS' intention to reverse speed limit reductions and reduce traffic calming funding can be expected to increase road traffic injuries and deaths," it said.

Finally, aiming to fast-track infrastructure would allow decisions to be made despite evidence suggesting risks to human health and natural environments, they said.

Instead, the academics urged the government to set targets for shifting to healthier and more efficient urban and inter-city transport, prioritising public transport, walking, cycling, while rail and coastal shipping should be prioritised for long-distance freight.

The plan should also reduce space dedicated to roads and curb subsidies for driving, while focusing on health and liveability, they said.

Why would you want sickness to spread at schools? This will get kids sick, it will get their teachers sick, kids will take it home to parents and get them sick. What’s the impact to education but also to the wider workforce and productivity?