Open mike 19/06/2024

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 37 comments
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37 comments on “Open mike 19/06/2024”

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  3. 3

    Part of the well being of society is that those in it do not get placed under financial stress.

    Yet because of the high cost of housing to income here (No 1) people find it difficult to retain any level of savings to cope with contingency.

    So far, the removal of "high cost" lenders preying on the vulnerable (spiraling to a worse position) is about the only improvement. And food banks are growing in importance.

    In the USA charity groups buy up health debt, in Oz they help with the debt of beneficiaries (interest free loans).

    https://wayforward.org.au/debt-information/emergency-help-and-funding/

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/350309166/how-cost-living-hitting-our-savings

  4. 4

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/06/19/conservation-minister-says-saving-every-species-may-be-too-expensive/

    Some endangered native species may have to go extinct because it would be too expensive to save them all, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka suggested at a select committee hearing on Tuesday.

    The two-hour inquiry into the implications of the Budget for the Department of Conservation came as part of Parliament's first-ever scrutiny week. Labour's environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said it started to go off the rails early on, when Potaka freely volunteered that saving every species was merely "aspirational"

    Slippery slope…..

        1. 4.1.1.1

          This government knows the price of everything and the value of nothing

          Not convinced they actually know the cost!!!

  5. 5

    As expected, Luxon has changed his tune on NZAirforce One!

    While I might agree with his decision, it has more to do with his prestige than anything else.

    I bet they manage to find the money too, even if cancer sufferers have to wait even longer!

      1. 5.1.1

        Before the election he said he would travel commercially, but I imagine arriving in Japan virtually unheralded and without the travelling troop of reporters to record his every meal might have changed his mind.

  6. 6

    While the government is apparently focused on de-regulation and infrastructure (but without the money to pay for it), it has chosen to neglect focus on growing the economy.

    One way is exports online – software as a service.

    Unfunding central support of an industry that can operate from anywhere (provinces to urban centres) that does not deplete the planets resources or harm the environment.

    Leading opponent of economic growth that does not negatively impact the environment has been the Taxpayers Union.

    the Taxpayers’ Union shot back: “A special interest group calling for corporate welfare isn’t exactly news, but Judith Collins needs to hold firm and not cave in to crony capitalism. Governments shouldn’t be using taxpayers’ money trying to pick winners or propping up fashionable industries like SaaS with handouts.”

    KiwiSaaS’s focus is – or was – on helping the next generation coming through

    The wider issue

    The Government was criticised by the Technology User Association of New Zealand (Tuanz) earlier this week for halting work on an Industry Transformation Plan designed to address skills shortages through inclusion and education initiatives, and for ending funding for the Digital Boost progamme, aimed at lifting small business digital literacy and tech uptake – while at the same time failing to match government initiatives in the UK, US and Australia to address areas like internet safety, cyber security and AI (artificial intelligence) challenges and uptake.

    The Startup Council called for the $300m Elevate venture capital fund (now exhausted) to be topped up to the tune of $500m. It got nothing. A rebate for the video game sector was unexpectedly kept, albeit with only around half of the available funds paid out.

    And it gets worse

    And as Sir Peter Beck thanked Industrial Research Ltd (IRL, now part of Callaghan Innovation) for giving Rocket Lab its start, Callaghan Innovation incurred similar staff cuts as other Government agencies and had its plan for R&D hubs in the capital canned.

    “There were no new technology initiatives in the Budget, but agencies have been reprioritising resources to focus on new priorities including biotech, AI, and game development,”

    The CofC is not going to realise an increase in productivity nor knowledge led economic growth, it is not even trying to.

    It is one based on catering to existing activity by deregulation (including worker and tenant exploitation) and keeping government capability small so it is dependent on private capital for infrastructure funding.

    It is one of, by and for a class of citizen who exploit a lack of CGT and estate tax (and stamp duty) to have privilege not easily found elsewhere.

    https://archive.li/3vYK4

    1. 7.1

      Luxon and National have never loved localism. What they love is provincial Tory fiefdoms perpetuated by shockingly low turnout in local body elections and run by politer Kiwi versions of Faulkner's southern Gothic Snopes Clan.

  8. 8

    “There were no new technology initiatives in the Budget, but agencies have been reprioritising resources to focus on new priorities including biotech, AI, and game development,”

    Game development a priority?? Don't these characters have any idea at all about true wealth creation?

    1. 8.1

      World of Warcraft

      "The game had over one hundred million registered accounts by 2014 and by 2017, had grossed over $9.23 billion in revenue"

      2024 and it's still raking it in

      1. 8.1.1

        That's as may be, but I still don't see game-playing or creation as producing genuine wealth. Though I guess it keeps a few incels occupied and not causing mischief elsewhere.

        1. 8.1.1.1

          It is an earner of export revenue, just as saas is.

          Does Xero create wealth, or merely reduce compliance cost for business? What is growth in shareholder value called.

          1. 8.1.1.2.1

            Yes, yes, it shifts a bit of money in our direction. But I'm more concerned with the big picture. Does it on the whole benefit humanity (and the non-human inhabitants of the planet), or is it essentially just a distraction from the real issues requiring attention and resources?

            1. 8.1.1.2.1.1

              Lets just say its a distraction. An utter waste of time and money. So what? Its still employs people. People all over the world voluntarily choose to buy the products. Its their businesses. Apparently looks to be successful without needing tons of "government" cash or direction to make it successful. Would you wipe them out because they are not doing something to proactively save the planet? Really?

              1. 8.1.1.2.1.1.1

                Is reading books a waste of time, going for a walk in the forest, having a beer down the pub, watching a rugby game – pretty sure none of those things are saving the planet?

                Anyway it isn't passive as you may think – I've had many very interesting conversations with people from all over the world about lots of things through gaming as have my kids. They are now adult friends with people they met online when they were eight. When one son was 11 we organised all his online friends to meet in real life – they had a ball. I've done the same with my on-line friends including providing free accommodation for them to come and visit or have a break after something bad happening. One Forza artist was stranded with her kids in a massive snowstorm. She reached out to the gaming community. One of the Forza community who didn't know her went and rescued her.

                Online a lot of gamers can be themselves without fear or favour or discrimination – nobody can see they have a limb missing, or are a little person, or are a thalidomide baby with deformities they just get treated the same as everyone else. Tis great – and why sometimes meeting in real life is both special and surprising.

                Your prejudice is just ignorant and boring.

  9. 9

    Commerce Commission starts High Court case against Foodstuffs

    The commission said the charges related to anti-competitive land covenants, which it said were lodged by the supermarket operator with the purpose of blocking competitors from opening rival supermarkets at particular sites, and developing existing ones.

    It said the parties were working on a settlement to resolve the issues, and the High Court would determine any orders to be made in relation to Foodstuffs North Island in due course.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/519951/commerce-commission-starts-high-court-case-against-foodstuffs

    Well…we will see how that goes. I did see this adjacent..

    Foodstuffs vote to merge North and South Island operations

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018941310/foodstuffs-vote-to-merge-north-and-south-island-operations

    The supermarket Duopoly. Mega $Millions Profit at the centre of it all.

    Aint gonna change till that changes…

    1. 9.1

      And on the "super" markets…..

      Low pay, understaffing and customer abuse are causing major concern across the grocery industry, according to a survey of more than 1500 supermarket and grocery workers from major retail chains.

      The survey – completed electronically in May through First Union's member database – shows thousands of supermarket workers are grappling with the high cost of living.

      They are also dealing with regular incidents of customer abuse in understaffed supermarkets that are typically paying the majority of workers less than the living wage.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/519921/grocery-workers-struggle-with-low-pay-understaffing-and-customer-abuse

      And yea the Mega Profits !

      Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy​ said supermarkets took more than $1 million in excess profits every day.

      “These profits are twice what they should be. We need more competition to drive down prices and give New Zealanders a fairer price at the checkout.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128586011/a-slap-in-the-face-consumer-nz-calls-for-end-to-excess-supermarket-profits

    1. 10.1

      $65 million / yr = $650 million in 10yrs (very conservative)

      Sometimes you need to spend money to save money.

    2. 10.2

      Intentional or not, National may well oversee the collapse of significant inter island marine transport. Smaller boats might be able to fill in for passengers, but road and rail…it will be interesting.

  11. 11

    Could the C)C have a Master plan? "Pause" many planned projects for a year or so.

    In the third year let the brakes off and claim the resultant flow of "recovery."

    1. 12.1

      In the 1970's 3M knew about the hazards of forever chemicals used in packaging, non-stick and stain-resistant products and fire-fighting foam.

      And they covered it up.

      //

      Several of 3M’s most successful products contained man-made compounds called fluorochemicals. In a spray called Scotchgard, fluorochemicals protected leather and fabric from stains. In a coating known as Scotchban, they prevented food packaging from getting soggy. In a soapy foam used by firefighters, they helped extinguish jet-fuel fires. Johnson explained to Hansen that one of the company’s fluorochemicals, PFOS—short for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid—often found its way into the bodies of 3M factory workers. Although he said that they were unharmed, he had recently hired an outside lab to measure the levels in their blood. The lab had just reported something odd, however. For the sake of comparison, it had tested blood samples from the American Red Cross, which came from the general population and should have been free of fluorochemicals. Instead, it kept finding a contaminant in the blood.

      […]

      Hansen’s team found it in Swedish blood samples from 1957 and 1971. After that, her lab analyzed blood that had been collected before 3M created PFOS. It tested negative. Apparently, fluorochemicals had entered human blood after the company started selling products that contained them. They had leached out of 3M’s sprays, coatings, and factories—and into all of us.

      https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/27/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-toxic

    1. 14.1

      Nobby? Or just a knob…

      He seems to be a particularly beady eyed characterisation of a redneck. The Anti-woke fleshed, as it were.

        1. 14.1.1.1

          Unfortunately a majority of voters at the last election voted for the guy. He is a well known local 'identity' and they knew what they were voting for.

          1. 14.1.1.1.1

            I suspect it's much like how our Mr Laws got his gig.

            Publicly, people loathed him but privately it was he gets things done, and they voted for the prick.

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