He's a caricature of a conservative - privileged, out of touch and preaching what others should do from his ivory tower.
Of course his own standards and words don't apply to him since he's part of the "ruling class".
Printable View
Thousands of such 'workers' are in NZ - allowed in under Labour's liberal 'close-one-eye' immigration policies - and they are allowed to stay on due to humanitarian considerations.
And we know one of the Green MPs, Dorleen Tana, happily partook in the exploitation.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/...s-non-existent
A group of 16 Vietnamese allegedly paid $203,000 after being promised work and new lives, but arrived to find no jobs and were left with a mountain of debt that they say will be impossible for them to pay off.
A spokeswoman for the group, Sky Duong, said the group were recruited through Facebook to work for New Zealand company Do Painters Limited and had been promised a wage of $50 an hour.
She said they each paid $35,000 and an additional $15,000 for those with spouses and children for the job offer and an agent referred to them by the company to support their application for the work visas.
https://thumbnailer.digitalnz.org/?r...d%3DIE69121892
Heck, even Chris Luxon's daughter has migrated to Australia!
Clever lady!
Chris must be worried about how and who he is going to sell his property portfolio to before property prices really crash? Before he decamps too to Australia.
At yet it was Labour who raised the minimum wage aggressively and it's wages that are attracting our talent to Australia.
Many of the issues that you outline have stuffed NZ have been simmering for decades. Shortage of housing, low minimum wage, low incomes for teachers, nurses & police.
And what did National do in it's nine years to alleviate these issues? Nothing.
The pandemic exposed NZs inadequacies and applied pressure to its weak points.
Could Labour have done better, sure but at least they tried something unlike tge previous Government.
And now what's National doing to the police again? Screwing them.
NAFT aren't interested in solving the issue.
Watch out teachers & nurses will be next.
Kiwis out -> Migrants in.
No pressure to lift wages when there's someone to replace you as Mark mitchell put it to the police officers recently.
UK expats consider NZ a paradise compared to their own country (of course they will prefer Aus, so we get the second best tier).
You seriously think that those of us with options care any more about fxxked up NZ, after 6 years of fxxked up government who had already screwed up everything?
Screw the doctors, nurses and ECE teachers further so they all leave for Australia faster - I say that's a good thing.
NZ is stuffed and nobody is going to be able to do anything to stop the decline towards second world status.
I will be enjoying myself in my tropical beach side second home (beautiful powdery white golden sand beach kissed by crystal clear ocean waters) - going to be sad but so satisfying watching the losers and parasites in NZ fight over the diminishing economic pie.
PS. Why didn't Labour increase wages to $50 an hour (if that is a valid economic strategy) and every worker in NZ would be rich and better off according to that inflationary socialist/communist doctrine? Labour trying something unlike previous governments - you mean like Kiwibuild and increasing staff at Pacific Peoples by 350%? Wow!!!!!!!
https://media.nomadicmatt.com/2023/w...ayislands.jpeg
Seriously why do you waste your time commenting on these political threads then? Unless you want to undermine those who don’t think NZ is beyond help after the previous six year period. If you really don’t care about NZ, save your energy for whichever country you do care about.
Unlike a marriage you do not have to remain committed to your country in sickness until death do you part. Ask not what you can do for your country, just go to your tropical beach shangri-la and we will pray the tropical cyclones and rising sea levels don’t wash you back to our country.
Can't stand the truth staring you in the face?
I have the right (having paid my taxes over the decades) & energy to comment as I like - just as you have the right to put me or anyone on Ignore if you cannot handle the truth.
Ask yourself one question, Bjauck, before you comment any further :
How fxxked up can any country be when Immigration ministers formulated and implemented an immigration policy (Accredited Employers Programme -AEP) with instructions for officers to close both eyes and just allow in as many totally unqualified and impoverished employees as 'employers' want?
And when they are here, they can claim economic refugee status and stay at taxpayers' expense?
You seriously think that there is much hope for such a fxxked up country which incidentally added 16,000 more bureaucrats at the additional cost of several billion dollars to oversee the 'smooth' operation of NZ?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/...s-non-existent
Duong said the migrants, who spoke no English, came from a small fishing village called Dam Mon in the Vietnamese Khanh Hoa Province.
"They are very simple-minded people, and their daily lives are just about fishing and cooking. Some of them have never even been to school, and their daily wage there is only about $12-$15 a day," Duong said.
"So when they were told about this opportunity to work in NZ, where they can get paid $50 an hour and have proper education for their children, they were prepared to sell everything they own and borrow large sums of money to come."
Truth? Why should we bother reading a post from somebody who has stated they don’t care about NZ? It sounds like it is going to be a load of rubbish as after all you don’t care! It is a long post from somebody who does not care about NZ though.
He's not bothering to defend this govt which is a start on the long path to redemption.
Prefers to go on about his bach and labour (particuarly jacinda).
Just telling you some home truths which you are not going to get from the msm and certainly not from the apologists and supporters of the Labour government.
Imagine, 16,000 more staff in the civil service and they can screw up everything so badly with no accountability or care! Exactly like how Ardern and Hipkins behave - boasting along with their supporters of the most transparent government ever!
Up to you what you want to do - I could not care either way.
There will be those who read my postings and realised that they better plan ahead for a better future for themselves and their families - before it is too late.
Blubber Balance is so toxic they will have to do deep beach grooming when he leaves or is forced to leave his island paradise.Maybe a coconut will knock some balance/ reason into it's head.Maybe staying off devices will mean it does havnt to bend over(how much) and parrot off whaleoil garbage.
So very very satisfying to have panda-nz and JT in Ignore.
Only 4 months into New Govt reign after the rotten incompetent rubbish of the past 6 years got tossed and you can't even swallow the first few home truths coming out ? ;)
Why don't you take your good mate Panda and head off for a permanent holiday in Argentina - where Panda has assured all the new land of honey is situated in a sea of worse serpents like spiralling inflation and poverty like never seen here (not even after Jaxinda had a play to make it worse then mislead all about it before never mentioning the failure again) ;)
So you say Labour didn’t care and you don’t care about NZ. You sound like a perfect fit. Maybe you can all form an enclave on your tropic beach.
Luxon must care enough to want to be PM. A difficult job. I don’t agree with all their policies but I am still hoping he does his best, and does not give up on the country as readily as some. Many countries have had dire histories and pulled through. However every person should strive to live their best life….
Asked my Personal AIssistant to give a critical review of Labour 2017 - 2023:
As a critic of the Labour government in New Zealand from 2017 to 2023, one might argue that the tenure was marked by a series of lofty promises and grand visions that ultimately fell short, leaving a trail of unmet expectations and disillusioned constituents.
The housing crisis stands as a monument to failure, with the KiwiBuild programme emblematic of well-intentioned but poorly executed policy. Promising to deliver 100,000 affordable homes but falling embarrassingly short, the initiative became a byword for bureaucratic overreach and underdelivery, leaving countless New Zealanders still grappling with unaffordability and homelessness.
Child poverty, a central pledge of the government, saw little more than marginal improvements, mocking the bold claims of transformative change. The persistent plight of vulnerable children in New Zealand serves as a stark reminder of the gap between political rhetoric and the harsh realities of those living on the margins.
Mental health services, despite significant financial injections, remained in a state of crisis, with many New Zealanders unable to access timely or effective care. The government's strategy appeared more as a patchwork of band-aid solutions rather than a coherent, long-term plan to address a deepening mental health emergency.
On climate change, the Labour government's policies were a lesson in how to pay lip service to an existential crisis. Despite declaring a climate emergency, actions taken were often criticized as too little, too late, leaving New Zealand's ambitious climate goals hanging in the balance.
Transport and infrastructure projects, including the ill-fated Auckland Light Rail, became mired in delays, disputes, and disillusionment. What was touted as transformative infrastructure development often ended up as examples of missed opportunities and wasted potential.
The government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, initially lauded globally, later faced scrutiny over vaccine rollouts and prolonged lockdowns that inflicted significant economic and social scars. The strategy, once seen as exemplary, increasingly appeared rigid and unresponsive to changing circumstances.
On immigration and workforce shortages, the government's policies were at best myopic, failing to foresee the critical impact on sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and hospitality. This lack of foresight contributed to an economic strain felt by businesses and communities across the country.
Furthermore, the pace and substance of Treaty of Waitangi settlements with Māori were viewed by some as insufficient, failing to live up to the partnership's spirit and promise, thereby perpetuating long-standing grievances rather than resolving them.
In summary, the Labour government's term was a litany of missed opportunities, unfulfilled promises, and policy missteps. The gulf between the government's ambitious rhetoric and the tangible outcomes for New Zealanders has only widened, leaving a legacy of disillusionment and frustration in its wake.
Can’t do an equivalent one for the current govt because it is too recent.
You along with all the Labour apologists and supporters.
Your wish is like Ardern’s Kiwibuild.
You expect us to leave the likes of you & Labour/Green/Maori to continue to create victims out there without any accountability?
Six years of the BS and spin and you still cannot get enough!
Stunning!
AI is very sensitive to the actual prompts you give it, for example, if you asked "what have been the failings of the Labour government of NZ", one would expect a response that you have posted.
If you asked a more nuanced question (assuming your AI can access websites), "what contrasts are there from what the Labour party of NZ promised, and said that they have achieved (here at https://www.labour.org.nz/), against what was actually achieved?"
Try that, or some variants of it. Try to make sure that your prompts don't elicit an apparently biased response, make your AI reason between promise and reality.
Between 2017 and 2023, the Labour Party in New Zealand, under the leadership of Jacinda Ardern and then Chris Hipkins, made several key promises across various sectors, including housing, child poverty, healthcare, climate change, and public transport. While the party claimed achievements in these areas, there were contrasts between the promises made and the perceived outcomes or achievements. Here are some notable contrasts:
HousingPromise: Labour pledged to address the housing crisis through initiatives like KiwiBuild, aiming to build 100,000 affordable houses over a decade.
Perceived Achievement vs. Reality: KiwiBuild fell significantly short of its targets, leading to a reset of the programme. While the government made efforts to increase housing supply and reform planning laws, the crisis of affordability and availability persisted, with critics pointing out that the measures did not meet the scale of the problem.
Child PovertyPromise: Reducing child poverty was a central goal, with promises to significantly cut poverty rates through various welfare reforms and initiatives.
Perceived Achievement vs. Reality: There was some progress in reducing child poverty by certain measures; however, critics argue that the changes were not as transformative as hoped. The persistence of poverty for many children indicated that the initiatives did not go far enough to address systemic issues.
HealthcarePromise: Promised to improve access to healthcare and mental health services, including a significant increase in funding for mental health.
Perceived Achievement vs. Reality: Despite increases in funding and initiatives aimed at expanding access to services, the healthcare system continued to face challenges, including long wait times and staffing shortages. The mental health sector, in particular, struggled to meet the increased demand for services.
Climate ChangePromise: Labour promised ambitious climate action, including the Zero Carbon Bill and initiatives to reduce emissions and transition to renewable energy.
Perceived Achievement vs. Reality: While legislative progress was made, including the passing of the Zero Carbon Act, critics argued that the government's actions on the ground were not sufficient to meet its ambitious targets, with continued reliance on some fossil fuels and slow progress in reducing emissions.
Public Transport and InfrastructurePromise: Promised significant investment in public transport and infrastructure, including light rail projects in Auckland.
Perceived Achievement vs. Reality: Some infrastructure projects faced delays, cost overruns, and scaling back, notably the Auckland Light Rail project. While investments were made, the execution and delivery of these projects often fell short of initial promises, leading to dissatisfaction among those expecting transformative change.
Summary
The Labour Party made significant promises in key areas critical to New Zealanders' well-being and the country's future. While the government claimed achievements in these areas, the reality often fell short of the expectations set by their initial promises. These contrasts reflect the complexities and challenges of governing, where ambitious goals meet the practicalities of implementation, funding, and unforeseen obstacles.
I'm guessing ChatGPT4 right? pretty impressive, that it can discern between promise and reality. Try asking it to "... same question, but ... do not summarise. Provide a long-hand description of every instance with all relevant details, where the promise was made but not met or achieved by the actual implementation or outcome". You might have to include the website URL's as reference.
Yes GPT-4. It is an amazing tool. GPT-5 coming out later this year I think and if things are only going to try better from here then man oh man am I excited about the future.
I will run a query for more detail, but one limitation is it will not read website if I give it a link.
It does surf the internet (using Bing) but its knowledge ends April 2023 at the moment I think.
Given the constraints of my current capabilities, including the inability to access real-time data, updates, or specific documents from external sources such as the Labour Party's website or governmental records, I'll elaborate on the known key promises and initiatives from the Labour government in New Zealand between 2017 and 2023, to the best of my ability and based on publicly available information up to April 2023.
Housing
KiwiBuild: Aimed to build 100,000 affordable homes over ten years for first home buyers.
Outcome: The programme struggled to meet its targets due to various challenges, including land acquisition, construction costs, and demand in targeted locations. By 2021, a fraction of the intended homes were completed, leading to a programme reset and refocusing on broader housing policies.
Urban Development: Legislation aimed at improving housing affordability and availability.
Outcome: Changes were made to streamline the building process and improve urban development, but housing affordability remains a critical issue, with prices continuing to rise in many areas.
Child Poverty Reduction
Families Package: Increased welfare payments and tax credits aimed at supporting low-income families.
Outcome: This initiative reportedly lifted tens of thousands of children out of poverty, though critics argue that the extent of these measures did not fully address the broader systemic issues.
School Lunch Program: Aimed to provide free lunches in schools to tackle child poverty.
Outcome: The program was rolled out, providing meals to thousands of students, but debates about scalability and long-term funding persisted.
Climate Change
Zero Carbon Bill: Set a target for New Zealand to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Outcome: Passed into law, establishing the Climate Change Commission for oversight. However, critics highlight a need for more immediate action plans and question the pace of progress toward the 2050 goal.
Green Investment Fund: Aimed to stimulate investment in sustainable projects.
Outcome: The fund was established, investing in various green initiatives, but the overall impact on reducing emissions remains under scrutiny.
Healthcare
Mental Health: Promised significant investment in mental health services.
Outcome: Funding was allocated to various mental health initiatives, though service delivery faced challenges, including staffing shortages and access issues.
Primary Healthcare: Aimed to increase access and reduce costs for primary healthcare.
Outcome: Some fees were reduced, and access improved for certain groups, but the healthcare system continues to face pressure, including from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Education
Free Tertiary Education: First year of tertiary education made free.
Outcome: Implemented, but the future of the policy became uncertain, with the government pausing its extension due to budgetary constraints.
School Infrastructure: Significant investment in school buildings and facilities.
Outcome: Investments were made, though some projects faced delays and the challenge of meeting the needs of a growing student population.
Transport and Infrastructure
Auckland Light Rail: Proposed to build light rail lines in Auckland to reduce congestion.
Outcome: The project faced significant delays, debate, and was eventually put on hold, with criticism over the planning process and cost projections.
Public Transport Investment: Increased funding for public transport across the country.
Outcome: While investments were made, the pace of improvement and expansion of services, such as bus and rail, varied regionally.
COVID-19 Response
Lockdowns and Border Closures: Implemented to control the spread of COVID-19.
Outcome: New Zealand was initially successful in controlling the virus, but the economic and social impact of prolonged lockdowns was significant.
Vaccine Rollout: Aimed to vaccinate the population against COVID-19.
Outcome: Faced initial delays but eventually covered a significant portion of the population. The strategy included measures to reach remote and vulnerable communities.
This detailed account showcases the complexities and challenges faced by the Labour government in New Zealand from 2017 to 2023. Achievements in certain areas were often counterbalanced by setbacks or criticisms regarding the scale, pace, or effectiveness of initiatives, reflecting the multifaceted nature of governance and policy implementation.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politi...CNPU5HPQOY3V4/
Hipkins “We should be a first world country”.
LOL. Yeah mate, the whole country agrees - that’s why your lot got slammed in the last election
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/home-t...OZ3CWZSDLQIDU/
KiwiBuild.
So, of the 100K houses that were promised, only 2335 built with a further 1238 under construction.
So 3573 in total.
3.5% of the goal.
Ouchie wah wah.
Promised 10,000 a year and the clowns led by Clueless Cindy & Hapless Hipkins could not even manage to deliver 5,000 in 6 years!
But of course it’s the faults of everyone else and everything except the Labour clowns.
https://liberation.typepad.com/.a/6a...1fef200d-800wi
https://liberation.typepad.com/.a/6a...fdf1200d-800wi
https://pics.craiyon.com/2023-07-21/...7fb1c5ec4.webp
Stop spinning BS circa 13k of houses were delivered. Built or bought same difference.
How many did the previous Government deliver in 9 years? How many did they promise?
Delivered less houses than they started with & promised nothing, as they did nothing.
If National had delivered at the same rate as Labour did we would have close to 20,000 additional state houses.
100k was kb specifically not total yield of Kainga Ora and co. Kainga Ora didn’t exist at that point.
I actually worked for kb for 3 years as their data analyst. I administered their data capture and provided all the reporting, including formalising many of the measures.
Agreed, for someone who doesn't care and likes to gloat about a life he will lead elsewhere, he certainly has a lot to say for something he doesn't give a stuff about.
His continuous & repetitious slagging off of Ardern, all lefties etc is just boring. I think if he says the source of truth or can't handle the truth he will miraculously turn into Jack Nicholson.
Either way this entire thread is just littered with BS and name calling. Funny, wasn't there a few posts about school kids behaviour on here recently? I wonder who they learned that from..
Yes. As Labour never said they would build 100k houses themselves. I clearly remember them saying they it would be a mixture of sources, I.e the market being part of it.
Either way they were never going to deliver 100k in the time frame they promised so it was niave and a fail.
They did however deliver circa 13k whilst the previous Government reduced the number of State Houses.
No spin, no BS, those are the facts
So you have gone from 13,000 'built' by Labour to 13,000 'delivered' by Labour - of which many were simply a transfer of houses from existing providers (CHPs) to the government.
Facts - twisted and manipulated just like your heroine Clueless Cindy taught you to.
https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/00/89/12/37...d6csf1tEiT.jpg
The original claims were that Kiwibuild alone would do 100,000. 10,000 per year.
They changed the story as it became pretty clear that they would never be able to deliver anything like those kind of promises. It became reputation preservation and the comms teams got a lot bigger to handle the job rather than delivery teams.
deleted deleted
deleted deleted
Haha, get over yourself. " actually shocking" & you say I was gas lighting. Give me a break.
How many State Houses does the Government have now vs before Labour came to power.
Circa 13,000. Simple. End of.
How many houses did National deliver? Minus circa 2000 over nine years. Simple. End of.
Sorry I underestimated National’s ineptitude.
State housing stock actually reduced by over 6,000 in their nine years.
So if National had delivered pro rata what Labour did then we would have 25.5k more state houses, which would almost have solved the problem.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/25-09-2023/did-national-really-just-simply-sell-off-state-houses
But alas, National didn't make any promises, they just swept NZ's major inadequacies under the carpet and let someone else deal with it.
Hang on, no they didn't, they actually deliberately made the problem worse.
Genuine question.
How many more State Houses is NAFT promising to deliver?
Daytr thinks that he is still in the days of Ardern - where a population cowed by the scaremongering and dictatorship due to Covid allowed Ardern & Labour to hoodwink and lied to NZers.
He along with the other deluded Labourites has still to wake up from the spell cast by the red witch.
Your imagination running wild again?
Hearing voices?
Delusional. Not a question.
You really do drop to the lowest depths imaginable.
Deleting a few posts there I see Balance.
Understandably as they were your typically rude slagging off childish BS.
I used to enjoy our interactions at times, especially when you dropped the constant reference to your arse.
However lately they have just become tedious.
Meanwhile, ever more NZers with skills and experience migrate to Australia and GOOD ON THEM!
They have our best wishes for a great future away from Woke Woke Land created after 6 years of Labour & the Maori Cabal.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/why-ne...JLMDQZ6R5WMCU/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v...=70&smart=true
Exactly what happened.
I had several interactions with two of the KB managers (for Auckland North Shore) when they were actively seeking out developers to build with/for them. They were accompanied by an analyst & a junior officer - to gather data?
Dealing with them was a nightmare as their brief kept changing - first they wanted as many 3 bedrooms as possible. Then, they wanted more 2 bedrooms. Then, they reverted back to 3 bedrooms or more!
I got the impression that they were simply following the edicts from Head Office with no real authority save to scope out the market. That could be one reason why they employed so many staff? Correct me if I am incorrect in my assumption.
We gave up and the development in Murrays Bay went ahead privately - did okay although the delay cost penalty interest at one stage at the end of 2% per month for 3 months! Luckily property prices were rocketing ahead so the return was still very good. Thank goodness the development did not go ahead with KB!!!!
And no wonder why ever more experienced and good family NZ police officers will leave NZ for Australia.
Nurses and doctors are nuts to stay in Woke Woke land to be part of the race based health system.
A good commentary on why crime has worsen so very much during the 6 years of Labour & the Maori Cabal :
https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/...st-three-years
"Less immediately visible, but extremely important, was the long-term effect that the Maorification policy had on the underclass that decades of easy welfare had produced.
Since the Labour Government seemed to be saying that all things Maori were excusable, the justice system went soft.
Kelvin Davis as Minister of Corrections emptied more than 30% of offenders out of prisons, arguing they didn’t need to be detained. Name suppression and a soft approach to under 18-year-olds became common in the courts.
It protected young criminals who are truanting, thus providing a protective cover for their slack parents who aren’t looking after their youngsters with the welfare payments they receive to do so.
When young hoods come before a judge, “Cultural Reports” are provided to rescue them. Legal aid lawyers are there to plead their cases, and an army of taxpayer-funded social workers is on tap to support them. Meantime, the court system at the highest level has been swept up with Maorification, and has taken to lecturing us on the virtues of tikanga, most of it of recent invention.
Nanaia Mahuta and Willie Jackson can’t believe their luck. They sowed a wind and we are reaping their whirlwind."
Yet, the Labour Party escapes from the long-term results of their crusade. In the short term they don’t need to come up with ideas about turning Maori society around so that law-breaking is no longer an acceptable way of life for so many young people.
All you are displaying is a lack of faith in the new Government. You are saying there is no hope, so you have already made up your mind that NAFT are useless.
I want to at least give people a chance.
I hope NAFT can deliver for NZ and in some areas they are making a start.
Other areas they want to take us backward.
One think they could learn to do is be less divisive. Ardern is accused of that all the time when in fact she was trying to save lives during a Pandemic and it was those who wouldn't make a short term sacrifice for others that created division.
The covert Maori agenda imo did create unnecessary division and like all things, if there is overreach in one direction, the pendulum swings back equally and that's what we are seeing from the likes of Seymour.
Short term sacrifices my arse.
NZers on the bottom rung will be feeling the repercussions of the economic impacts to the endless lockdowns for many years to come. That will have its own problems with crime, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse.
But let’s also not forget how many people were not able to say goodbye properly to dying loved ones. Those poor souls were ‘lucky’ to get a Zoom call and then had to die on their own with strangers.
Short term sacrifices? “You people” really are the most wicked.
The sacrifices by some were certainly not short term, and were certainly not evenly borne. Some were expected to be the cannon fodder. A lockdown of some sort was probably necessary to allow our underfunded basic public health to cope with the first surge. It was hastily conceived and implemented. It is obvious that some bore a heavy and long lasting burden.
Measures to cope with the low interest rate economic response were deficient and ramifications will be felt for many years.
Please don’t dismiss the sacrifIces made by some as being short term. To this day the effect is felt by me, by us, of having a family member alone and confused in a short staffed hospital and denied visitors. And there are those whose businessses and jobs were seriously impacted with mental health effects, even if there was some compo.
Also the sacrifices of those who did not want to be vaccinated, was in effect a fight imposed upon them by the government covid response, no matter how medically justified.
Michael Bassett's opinion piece is well worthwhile posting in full for all to read and digest carefully - huge challenge ahead for NZ as the skilled, experienced and the young leave NZ after 6 years of crap from Labour.
https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/...st-three-years
Maorification of NZ and its disastrous impact & consequences for NZ :
The Labour Government lost the 2023 election when its support halved from 2020. It deserved to lose on economic grounds alone :
Covid lockdowns that went beyond the prudent and wrecked livelihoods in the name of saving lives;
an orgy of careless spending of borrowed money;
and
a failure to ensure that the 16,000 extra bureaucrats improved crucial services in meaningful ways; plus sloppily handled infrastructure plans, were all counts against Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins.
But this is only part of the case against that government. We are still experiencing aftershocks from the Maorification policy that Nanaia Mahuta and Willie Jackson foisted on the ministry, starting on the day the results of the 2020 election made it clear that Winston Peters’ steadying influence was gone from the cabinet table. The He Puapua plan secretly hatched by Mahuta came to light. It aimed at Maori control of New Zealand by 2040. A wave of promoting everything Maori swept across the country at the Beehive’s behest. State agencies were renamed with titles dreamt up by the Maori Language Commission; district health boards were dis-established and replaced by a centralised service armed with a Maori veto; bogus, but compulsory, New Zealand history began to be taught in schools, reinforced with grossly misleading aide-memoires for students like the School Journal cartoon presentation on the Treaty of Waitangi. This was sheer propaganda produced by people with an axe to grind and no serious qualifications in history. Both TV One and Radio New Zealand outdid each other in a competition among woke journalists to display their new skills at Te Reo. Bonuses were paid to bureaucrats who could spout Maori that the rest of us couldn’t understand. Aotearoa became the country’s new name, despite the fact that it was a relatively recent name, and meant for the North Island. The mainstream media swung into gear with The New Zealand Herald banning criticism of the government’s Maorification policies from its pages.
Less immediately visible, but extremely important, was the long-term effect that the Maorification policy had on the underclass that decades of easy welfare had produced. Since the Labour Government seemed to be saying that all things Maori were excusable, the justice system went soft. Kelvin Davis as Minister of Corrections emptied more than 30% of offenders out of prisons, arguing they didn’t need to be detained. Name suppression and a soft approach to under 18-year-olds became common in the courts. It protected young criminals who are truanting, thus providing a protective cover for their slack parents who aren’t looking after their youngsters with the welfare payments they receive to do so. When young hoods come before a judge, “Cultural Reports” are provided to rescue them. Legal aid lawyers are there to plead their cases, and an army of taxpayer-funded social workers is on tap to support them. Meantime, the court system at the highest level has been swept up with Maorification, and has taken to lecturing us on the virtues of tikanga, most of it of recent invention. Nanaia Mahuta and Willie Jackson can’t believe their luck. They sowed a wind and we are reaping their whirlwind.
Yet, the Labour Party escapes from the long-term results of their crusade. In the short term they don’t need to come up with ideas about turning Maori society around so that law-breaking is no longer an acceptable way of life for so many young people. However, Labour needs to do a lot more work than simply devising new ways to tax the law-abiding segment of society and hoping the public will overlook their shocking dereliction of duty over the last three years. Those wet fish from the Labour caucus who rush to be included in photos with Chippy have a lot of hard work to do before the public can trust them anywhere near the Treasury benches again.
Maorification has to be wound back. We aren’t a country of two cultures, but many. Proselytizing the notion that Maori are more than first settlers, and therefore entitled to extra rights and respect, must stop. Education might be a good place to start. As Sir Apirana Ngata always said, it was the key to Maori advancement. And it has to be done in an orderly fashion. Last week’s report that Kiwi school students were amongst the worst-behaved kids in the OECD, and that behaviour has significantly worsened over the last two years, is scary. Pinching others’ property and inflicting serious physical harm on fellow students, must be punished. Just standing students down from school won’t fix anything. Parents need to be held to account, especially since we pay them via the benefits they receive to look after their children. Again, details from schools about young offenders need to be married to the welfare benefits register so that errant parents are made to realise there are material costs if they fail to perform their duties.
Fixing our schools goes way beyond this. More and better-trained teachers are necessary along with security guards at schools. The whole curriculum needs an overhaul. Erica Stanford desperately needs a more enlightened head of her ministry than Iona Holsted who has been at the centre of Maorification and the curriculum stuff-ups of recent years and will only be a drag on any efforts at reform.
There’s a huge amount of work to be done. Is the current ministry up to the challenge?
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...pg?format=500w
Can't change the past, you can only learn from it.
Good to see waste being cut from the public service, and a stop to the separatist race based policy,but further back you (Balance) in the thread express concern at the number of productive people leaving the country.
Do you think doubling the population by 2060 will make NZ a better place? Different yes, but better?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...KACSHBJX4KBIY/
Part of the reason NZ cannot pay police more is that tax cuts have to be funded from somewhere. Blindly pushing ahead with tax cuts when there are useful things to spend it on.
The form of the tax cuts, although I disagree with the interest deductiblity and complicated rules around residential property investment, first home buyers were starting to outnumber investors and "investors" could still get full deductibility if they actually built a house to rent rather than buying an existing asset.
Time to let the Labour debacle go, and question whether our current government is doing the right thing. What have they or will they do to make NZ attractive for young people? Or will we just continue to make NZ a happy place for old people as the IMF survey suggests.
https://mishtalk.com/economics/us-dr...piness-report/
The past is the past but when past policies continue to feature strongly in undermining the fabric of NZ as a society and country, then the policies need to be reversed and changed.
The cancer of racial, social and economic divisions cultivated and promoted by Labour & the Maori Cabal is so wide-spread and ingrained that the new government imo will be unable to do anything. Total lack of political will to reverse the divisive policies.
Spoke to my Filipino neighbours (nurses on work visa) and they are not stupid or ignorant about what's happening in NZ. They can see the health system in crisis and they can also see how divisive the race based system is. So they will do their 3 years under the work visa, get their PR and then NZ citizenship 2 years after that. Then, it's off to Australia for them - just as my ex-colleague (hubby is a nurse) & family who left NZ and have happily settled in Brisbane. They love it there - better pay, better work conditions and they welcomed their second child there. So very pleased and happy for them.
NZ is now but a transit point for migrant workers who will mostly follow the same routine imo - and who can blame them when they see their NZ colleagues getting the heck out of NZ.
Can’t argue with that. I think Brisbane would be an awesome place to live for the balance between opportunity and lifestyle. My wife can’t handle the heat though, so that’s the end of that! Ha!
One thing I will add though is that it is not ALL roses.
As more and more people (quite understandably) flock to Melbourne and Brisbane, competition for jobs increases. You are up against other very skilled people. If you are good at what you do, you will get a job but it may take longer than you think.
Great for employers over there!
On the flip side, I have found in my line of work that the competition is much less so I am able to contract around without too much issue getting a new gig. There is still competition, but if I am up against a lot if freshies the advantage is mine even if some these guys have better technical skills in some areas because they cannot communicate as well as I can, or understand the culture etc.
So not everyone is a ‘loser’ with people heading overseas. And those that do leave will see that the grass is not quite as green over there as they imagine.
I was referring to getting vaccinated and not mixing in the hundreds or thousands in protests during a global pandemic. Nothing else.
It wasn't the Government's fault people chose not to get vaccinated it was their ignorant & selfish choice, a choice that had consequences, to keep the wider population safe.
Yes there was overreach, however that's much easier to say in hindsight.
My own business was seriously impacted and still is from the impacts of high interest rates and Cyclone Gabriele. The Government provided massive subsidies, but unfortunately as like many parts of the world experienced & some were going to fail. Of course I have sympathy for those who brunted the biggest losses / costs being it personal or business but there are always going to be casualties when it comes to such major events, be them health, natural disasters etc.
NZ is recognized as having one of the best responses to the pandemic globally. So much so other places like Australia copied what we were doing. Remember Melbourne and what they went through before they got tough? New York? Italy?
We had some of the shortest lockdowns compared to most Western countries as well.
Hard as it was for some people and individual circumstances, it's the wider population the Government had to protect, as well as the health system. And no health system is ready to cope with a once in 100 year event like Covid.
What would have been the sacrifice if we had let Covid become rampant? Hospitals overloaded just like other countries who didn't take severe measures quick enough.
We have one of the lowest debt ratios in the OECD and yet we act like we can't afford basic humane funding.
Sure cut back on the bloated bureaucracy that Labour created but we are hardly in dire straits from a Government debt perspective.
Iceman, the day I get taken seriously by you will be the day I question myself thoroughly. I don't expect to be taken seriously by the likes of you & I don't look for admiration or pats on the back, it sounds like something that's important to you, not me.
Would I be correct in assuming you are an ACT supporter? Or the me first & @#$% the rest party. Forgive me if I have got that wrong, NZF?
Actually a little over 3 years ago Labour got elected in a landslide, the first party to win an outright majority since MMP again.
Labour managed the spread of Covid very well and NZ has one of the best responses globally.
The real issues came when transitioning out of crisis mode as people were over it, we had vaccines if only we had all taken them, and the rest of the world was moving on. Labour were far too slow to change gears, some of that was due to the global demand for vaccines & as NZ wasn't suffering yhe same fatalities as other parts of the world we weren't a priority.
What endless lockdowns? Seriously?
People in Europe, parts of Australia, the UK and many other places had much, much longer lockdowns than we did.
Yes some paid a higher price than others, would you rather that a hell of a lot more people paid the ultimatethat price as well by having deaths enmasse such as happened overseas?
It was an event that hadn't occurred in a 100 years. It was a global event that overloaded hospitals overseas. Did Labour get everything right? Of course not, but they did save thousands of lives.
The response could be separated into initial pandemic, and latter pandemic, health and economic. So basically four separate aspects. While the initial health response was internationally commended, it seems flippant to dismiss the sacrifices requested to be of short term significance. The result of the economic response has had long term ramifications too.
Obviously whichever party had been in power during the pandemic would have suffered blowback from the consequences of having to make speedy and difficult decisions deeply affecting lives. Fwiw, I think we had the right party in government during the initial health response part of the pandemic. To an extent as the pandemic spread around the World we did have time to learn from others’ experiences.
We'll be on that track once the inflationary tax cuts come though.
Maybe not argentina but a credit downgrade is on the cards for little old NZ.
I suspect the tax cuts will be smaller than what they campaigned on.
They (politically) have to deliver something now.
But they are still in the phase as a new govt where they can blame Labour for everything. So Nicola will announce a modest tax cut I think with a spiel about how things were far worse than her worst nightmare due to the legacy or labour etc.
And she will be right.
And life will go on. I don't think we will have to worry about being like Zimbabwe any time soon.
Interesting website Balance.
Another interesting article on that site:
https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/...ng-what-s-next
where they talk about people potentially losing their jobs for refusing to partake in cultural brainwashing/training, in particular the real estate agent that was in the news recently.
Woke woke land - that’s what NZ has become after 6 years of Ardern, Hipkins, the Maori Cabal & Labour.
With nothing to show but racial, social and economic divisions.
And $90 billion of increased debts and cost of living crises on all fronts.
Too late now imo for any government to stop the slide to 2nd world status - matter of slowing down the slide.
The best, brightest and young NZers will find Australia most welcoming and they in turn, are very fortunate that there’s a big country with excellent economic & social depth and breadth to allow them to prosper and be successful.
Fxxk Woke Woke land - leave it to the wokesters, parasites, the losers and the beneficiaries.
Just in case your comprehension is not up to scratch - let me repeat what’s happening in NZ TODAY.
Aotearoa is Woke Woke land today - thanks to the last 6 years.
I do not see any likelihood that the woke cancer is going to be treated and successfully got rid off - so ingrained and so widespread it is right throughout Aotearoa.
All that the new government can do is slow the cancer down as the will is not there to undertake radical surgery to remove the cancer and subject the country to a dose of chemotherapy to stave off the cancer.
Problem with the Labourites is that they would NZers to forget what brought NZ to the state of no return it is in today.
I am simply stating the obvious - if you have ambition, skill, experience and/or is young, go to where you will be able to make the best of your abilities for you and your families. Australia is where our bright and best are heading - join them. Don’t waste your lives fighting against the race, social & economic divisions on NZ. The racial & social divisions are going to get worse as NZ slides to 2nd world status.
Fxxk Woke Woke land - go to where there is a real future.
It is getting bad Balance when even you are calling NZ Aotearoa.
What and how else would one call Woke Woke land? Aotearoa suits Woke Woke land so well, don't you think?
Good example below which shows just how hypocritical the woke leftists are. They screamed hate crime when a rainbow crossing was painted over and then, one of them proceeded to provoke Destiny Church members by hoisting a rainbow flag in front of the church. Is that not a hate crime - purposefully insulting the religious beliefs of another group - during the holiest time (Easter) of the Christian faith.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3502...mischief-maker
"A man has claimed he was assaulted after hanging a rainbow flag in a tree outside Destiny Church - but the Church says the man is “just mischief-making”. Police were called to a report of an assault on Druces Rd in Wiri, South Auckland shortly before 4.30am on Easter Sunday. According to a police spokesperson, initial inquiries suggested there was an “altercation” between a man and two occupants of a Druces Rd property after the man was seen hanging a flag in a tree."
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As for the hate crime of someone painting over the rainbow crossing, here's another view :
https://thebfd.co.nz/2024/03/31/so-i...cceptance-huh/
"The argument for the crossings as far as I know is that they are there to make the “rainbow” community feel accepted, as if anyone apart from the wokesters in Auckland Council give a crap. But, as I wrote about last week, only one in five autistic people feel accepted. So where are the welcoming crossings for them? And remember there are at least 96,000 people with autism in New Zealand, and that’s not counting those undiagnosed. That’s a whole lot more than those who can’t make up their mind what gender they are."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
And the leftist MSM is still out with their begging bowls even as the inevitable stares them in their woke faces.
Most appropriate cartoon from NZ Herald* resident cartoonist, in truth showing how the msm is begging for $$$$ from the government :
Current Media Minister playing the violin to the tunes of the $55m Labour government Media Bribe Fund.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v...=70&smart=true
*Remember the NZ Herald banned any criticism of the Maorification of NZ as part of its deal to obtain $$$$ from the $55m media bribe bribe fund.
So far as ‘hate crime’ goes I am not aware of NZ having any laws against ‘hate crime’.
The previous govt talked about introducing something, but nothing ever actually came of it so far as I am aware. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Defining a ‘hate crime’ into something that is legally enforceable is very hard. And the bar needs to be very very high for stuff like that.
So when the pedestrian crossing was painted over and the cops said they were treating it as a ‘hate crime’ wtf were they on about? There is currently no such thing in NZ.
An act of vandalism? Sure. But this nonsense about hate crimes was just the woke ripping the ring right out of it as usual.
I can comprehend that you are a misery guts who needs to move on.
I love being back in NZ after a career overseas.
Yep, there is plenty to fix, but there always has been. There's plenty to fix in most countries around the world.
I'm just going to switch you offer. If all you can offer is negativity, you aren't worth engaging with. Life is too short to be dragged down by pessimists.
It is easier for me to criticise than to offer a workable alternative. I admit that. Other countries tried to dampen the effect of low interest rates on making wealth disparities worse especially with regards to house prices. What was supposed to help business, inevitably inflated NZ house prices.
2nd world = communist countries. Surely Cluxon won’t allow that.
K Rd is a big centre along with Ponsonby Rd for the liberal, woke and gender fluid part of Auckland. Definitely makes good commercial sense to be welcoming. My bet is that vandals had to drive into the area to demonstrate their intolerance. I am not sure if the autistic people in the area feel overlooked.
You must be the most defeatist poster on the thread. After just a six year woke government you want to retreat ranting and raving into the tropic jungle like a lost WW2 Japanese soldier in the 1950’s!
They campaigned on a lie (that we could afford tax cuts and they would be delivered by savings and extra income).
They knew it was a lie and everyone told them so but 'they know numbers' and their numbers were 'rock solid'.
So their ideology says that they have to follow through even if it is a bad idea.
Honesty would have them say that they got it wrong. They are already trying to say that the books are worse than they thought even though the books are basically the same as the PERFU taking into account the reduction in economic activity that they are spearheading.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Luxon came across on NZB this morning. Mind you Mike gives anyone from the right a much easier ride than anyone from the left.
Luxon just needs to reign in the other two heads of the three headed monster.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politi...D6LQC3XBMUYVM/
Oh dear I thought one of the fundamental messages from the Christian Easter was to love one’s enemies, and to turn the other cheek to insult.
What is wrong about flying a rainbow flag in a public place? Sure. between dusk and dawn flags should be lowered. Anyway, if the Destiny Church thinks that flag represents those who sin (which is everyone after all,) Jesus said sinners should be loved. Others should be loved not hated.
St Mathew-in-the-city Church incorporates rainbow colours in its logo. Of course the Rainbow also symbolises the promise made by God after the flood.
Flying a rainbow flag was surely a message of love.
https://www.stmatthews.nz/single-pos...thews-new-logo
Don't discourage him. The Whitsundays are calling Balance.
Let's wish him well as he contemplates the white sand and sparkling water, and enjoys the spectacle of the woke 'do gooders' fighting with the parasites, losers, and beneficiaries (there may be some overlap here) as our few remaining resources are dissipated by wasteful spending and this sh!thole country sinks further into the woke collectivist swamp.
I'm sure that Balance's personal qualities - his warmth, tolerance, friendly attitude, love of humanity, sympathy for other people less fortunate, and 'milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein' will endear him to the locals over there.
He will certainly find it easy to make new friends and will live out his remaining years surrounded by love, affection,and warm and close human relationships.
Mental health minister scrambles as Suicide Prevention Office is caught in spending cuts directive.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350...ce-caught-cuts
All this effort to be inhumane, when they can simply put in a CGT or cancel the landlord tax cuts.
I had a bit of a radical thought yesterday.
We have a very blunt tool using interest rates to tame inflation / cool the economy, which only impacts those with debt I.e those starting out or those who can least afford the hit. Meanwhile those debt free are getting higher interest rates on their deposits and can carry on spending up large.
So what if we combined floating interest rates with floating tax rates on the higher income bracket?
Surely it would slow the economy more quickly & spread the burden more evenly.
Latest poll - Government extending lead over Opposition.
What are the polls telling the msm?
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/n...at-15-5-points
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v...=70&smart=true
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v...=70&smart=true
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v...=70&smart=true
Govt Up 1% since Feb.
More telling is this
New Zealand Government Confidence Rating plunges 17pts to 81 in March
Not long to find out if this Govt is a slow moving train wreck and inflation rears it's head.
You will need to explain the concept of "So what if we combined floating interest rates with floating tax rates on the higher income bracket?". That can be interpreted a few ways.
Are you talking about a type of windfall tax? In any case, If you earn 10% interest, you pay 3.9% as tax; if you earn 1% interest you pay 0.39% tax. We already have a type of floating tax rate on fixed interest investments, which of course has no allowance for the effect of inflation on the fixed interest investment. So 10% interest rates combined with 3.9% tax and say 7% inflation would see a negative net economic return. Currently * we probably still have zero or negative, after tax and inflation, returns from fixed interest assets. Why wring more tax out of these taxpayers?
Also the debt free investors may also have investments that lose capital value during periods of high interest rates.
It is often during periods of low interest rates that most countries capture tax on “windfall” capital gains. Not NZ in general though, so that absence may exacerbate the asset price inflation, and wealth inequalities in NZ.
* Currently the inflation rate is about 4.7%pa. 12 month term deposits yield about 6% gross interest pa. At a tax rate of 33%, the net interest is 4%, providing the investor with a net economic loss of -0.7% pa. Sure, the investor has the choice of spending all their net interest during the year, but that will come at the cost of shrinking their wealth in real terms, and reducing their income in subsequent years. Wealthier individuals would rely less on fixed interest and more on equity investments providing (untaxed) capital gains.