Open mike 18/09/2023

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 27 comments
Categories: open mike


Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

27 comments on “Open mike 18/09/2023”

Comment numbers have changed to permanent references. Older quoted numbers may no longer identify the same comment.

  1. 1

    Ryan Hamilton. Nat candidate…and maybe MP. A worry.

    He has also described protecting the vulnerable from Covid as "a carefully constructued manipulative guilt inducing narrative". And he suggested data on Covid fatalities reported by coroners "seems set up only to inflate the death numbers for the propaganda machine."

    In 2021, he was the only Hamilton City Councillor to oppose not letting the unvaccinated enter some council buildings.

    These comments have won him support from groups such as Voices for Freedom, which has a record of fanning misinformation. Hamilton's social media accounts also follow many mis-information spreaders, including a radical fringe political party 'NNP: New Nation Party'.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/498204/ryan-hamilton-national-s-anti-fluoride-anti-mandate-mp-in-waiting

    I well remember Ryan Hamilton from this…the anti 20 minute City …nutbar conspiracists, who took over a meeting.

    Hamilton failed to admonish the crowd’s behaviour and instead reminded them that he was the sole councillor to vote against vaccine mandates during the last council term.

    “Look, I sympathise with a lot of what you said tonight regarding traffic, I was the only councillor to stand up against council’s imposed mandates,” he said to rapturous applause.

    he implored the “passionate” crowd to show up to speak at council meetings on the topic. This came directly after witnessing members of the audience attempt to conduct a citizens arrest on his colleagues.

    “You’ve got the manpower, I just encourage you to channel it.”

    https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/a/nz-news/350019375/ive-never-seen-it-extent-city-leaders-flee-conspiracy-mob

    And..props to RNZ Undercurrent

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/undercurrent/story/2018907089/undercurrent-bonus-episode

    1. 1.1

      Apparently he's also an ex-member of the Destiny Church too!*

      Alarm bells should be ringing loudly! Another cranky fundamentalist like Luxon et al?

      Edit:
      *Can’t find where I read that so may not be true.

    1. 2.1

      Act wants to cut back on the winter energy payment (end the payment) KiwiSaver (end $500 tax credits for those paying in) and the NZ Super Fund (end contributions into it) as part of its alternative budget.

      Also end best start payments and first year free fees

      https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/actnz/pages/2652/attachments/original/1620723316/15813_A_Budget_for_Middle_NZ_Document_%282%29.pdf?1620723316

      and also

      Pause minimum wage increases for three years

      (this would be around $40 a week less in the first year and $120 week less by the end of 3 years).

    1. 3.1

      Seymour 2022: PM should meet with protesters at Parliament, they are peaceful.

      Seymour 2023: Get these protesters outa here!

      Same people, David. Reap what you sow.

    1. 4.1

      Damn good idea.

      Personally I run a number of UPS'es here at the end of Ponsonby Road because the power tends to be somewhat flaky both in voltage and blackouts. I run workstations and servers in my apartment. But the system shows no real signs of getting much better. It feels like it is steadily moving back to when I moved here in 1998 when we had some severe blackouts.

      That is despite the cost of power in real terms increasing by about 40+% in that time despite the dropping in my kWH usage with more efficient hardware (even with my partners showers).

      For peace of mind and reliability, when I move out of here to a house, I want to put in solar + small wind, some much bigger batteries than my UPS. Start shifting to a 24VDC household and see if I can get off relying on a flaky power grid that isn't getting fixed up to spec. Besides, I can see some fun in writing code to optimise the house grid (if I ever stop working).

      I don't mind staying on the grid and selling off surplus stored power. But at present it sounds like that won't be worth while. The line charges look like they will be moving towards costing more than the price paid for power off my system.

      I guess that is what happens after decades of deferring grid maintenance and upgrades.

      1. 4.1.1

        I think part of the subsidy going towards battery storage is also a good idea. That should help solve some of the load issues that power companies don't like.

        Probably the biggest concern is that the increase demand pushes up the price of installs so the value of the subsidy is diluted. Hopefully that isn't the case though.

        It has always seemed a no-brainer to me because the cost of putting solar on people's roofs must be a lot quicker and cheaper than say building a new dam. So, the idea would hopefully be self-funding through reduced need for other infrastructure expenditure.

        I actually suggested this idea to the energy guy in National. But, I haven't seen anything come of it yet.

        Hopefully, they will see it as a good idea as well so it happens whoever is in government.

        1. 4.1.1.1

          Don't hold your breath!

          Unless there's a buck or several to be made by one of their big donors, I doubt the Natz will entertain the idea.

      2. 4.1.2

        FWIW, if yr looking at going off grid I would recommend leaving wind out of the mix and get more solar. Ideally if you are able to get a property with running water – creek or spring and go with a pelton wheel.

        Consider how you will heat water, gas califont or solid fuel and maybe solar hot water.

        Refrigeration is the other use that needs to be ameliorated, there are some good European fridges and freezers. Elcold and Gram are what we have.

        Anyone advising on this will tell you to do an energy audit. Look at the wee sticker on any electrical appliance that says what wattage the appliance is and multiply that by the time used a day (in minutes).

        1. 4.1.2.1

          From family in Oz they had large communities built with every house with solar hot water and after two to three years to connections from the panels to the water supply crapped out in the sun causing quite a bit of water damage in some cases and high repair costs or disconnection and being left will a small back up electric hot water cylinder.

          They said basically the developers put them in every house to get certification with no consideration at all to longevity.

          1. 4.1.2.1.1

            I'm fortunate to benefit from refurbished, old school drain back solar panels. Borderline bulletproof.

            A possibility in the example you cite is that componentry is of an inferior quality for the reason you gave.

      1. 4.3.1

        You don't think such a profit margin would incentivise others to set up an install business? Really?

        As soon as government applied the policy (post election) people would be making plans to get in on the action.

  5. 5

    Te Pāti Māori have dropped their Disability policy

    The main points

    Establish a Mana Hauā Authority

    Reallocate 25% of all Disability funding to the Māna Hauā Authority

    Establish Kaupapa Māori disability organisations and rehabilitation facilities.

    Abolish ACC and establish a Māori ACC Authority.

    Ensure that Māori disability organisations are formally included in the development of all disability-related policy and legislation.

    Reform building standards to require that all new housing builds are fully accessible.

    Remove all barriers for Tangata Hauā to access health services

    Ensure that antenatal screening programmes are not biased towards termination of pregnancies if a disability is diagnosed.

    Recognise Te Reo Rotarota as an official language in Aotearoa.

    Require te reo Māori proficiency to be assessed in NZSL qualifications.

    Provide pathways for te reo Māori speakers to learn Te Reo Rotarota and NZSL.

    Abolish abatement rates on benefits for Tangata Hauā and their careworkers.

    Immediately abolish the minimum wage exemption for Tangata Hauā.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V1fVe2hhe5eNDVBuJYmxu3_07igGSiyo/view

  6. 6

    With Uffendal and co ACT candidates plus Nationals lies about costings of tax cuts the Wellsford Tuhoi $2.3 billion under estimate of construction.Remember John Key with his deal of the century the sky casino conference centre ! It nearly caused the bankruptcy of One of NZ's largest companies.National over inflate there policy and ignore their massive mistakes.National would release there cost analysis if it were true!

    1. 6.1

      National is promising $14.5 billion in tax cuts and at the same time promising 13 major roading projects while saying that Labour has left the cupboard bare.

      These simple (ridiculous) facts are worth a poster/advert from Labour. Hipkins should be repeating this a few times in tomorrow's TV1 debate.

      Why is the MSM not asking more questions about this?

  7. 7

    The Coalition of chaos? Audrey has a look.

    National is not Act and Act is not National. Audrey Young looks at where the tensions could lie in any coalition negotiations.

    If National and Act get to negotiate to form the next Government after October 14, some policies will be simpatico – but others are so far apart, the two parties could face intense disputes.

    Law and order is likely to be a relatively easy one but approaches to the Treaty of Waitangi are likely to be more difficult.

    First, some of the things National and Act agree on. They have both pledged to reintroduce the Three Strikes laws, they both have policies focused on dealing with young offenders and plans to crack down on gangs. The one area they disagree on is whether to abolish the firearms registry, as Act wants, or to keep it, as National wants. And Act wants the youth justice system for young offenders to be run by Corrections instead of Oranga Tamariki.

    Other policies in harmony include phasing in an increase to the superannuation age from 65 to 67.

    They both support abolishing the clean-car discount, which incentivises the purchase of electric cars.

    They both want to re-introduce partnership schools, also known as charter schools.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Advertise with NZME.

    They both want to reinstate tax deductibility on mortgage interest for landlords. Act wants to abolish the bright-line test to tax capital gains on investment properties and National wants to take it back to the two years it introduced in 2015.

    The extent of any dispute between National and Act would depend on myriad factors, including the numerical strength of each party, the distance between their policies, and what concessions have been made on other policies…..

    It has also promised $1b over four years for a teaching excellence reward fund (distributed by principals to excellent teachers), which National would be unlikely to object to on principle….

    And so on with mostly cuts and undoings.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2023-national-and-act-where-the-policy-differences-lie/5RBFT3A4MJF5LL3PCYRLYJ5HBM/

Comments are closed.