NZF+ACT+National thus far...

[Lightspeed]

School lunches spending cut of 30-50% 'in the ballpark', Seymour says

"It's certainly true that kids being well looked after, well nourished, are going to do better overall. But, of course, kids that are missing meals potentially have other problems in the home," Seymour said.

[xor]

Agreed. The people need a commissar to ensure food distribution is established so people can eat. We will also be establishing more roles for commissars to facilitate the distribution of bread and wheat to the northern regions. This will be known as 'The ministry of bread distribution'.

[Lightspeed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

[xor]

yeah maybe, just misanthropic attitude towards people in general after years of watching parents neglect their kids in South Auckland.

[Lightspeed]

If that's your attitude from watching those circumstances, consider the attitude that arises from growing up within them?

Neglected kids neglect their kids. The most effective intervention is less neglect. It's certainly not more.

[Ab]

And as Kainga Ora showed, removing kids from environments in which they are neglected is entirely unproblematic

[Cyberbob]

A week in the life of the entitled

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Ab

And as Kainga Ora showed, removing kids from environments in which they are neglected is entirely unproblematic

Feeding kids is obvious and easy, yet we struggle with it.

Assuring safe homes for children is far beyond our capacity.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

School lunches spending cut of 30-50% 'in the ballpark', Seymour says

but also

On Tuesday, Seymour told Breakfast the Ministry of Education did not have any hard evidence that the programme was making a difference for children across the board.

The ministry had done five studies on the programme. None of them asked the basic question: "If we compare the students that got the school lunches, with the students that didn't, have we seen an improvement in kids getting to school, and kids achieving?"

[Lightspeed]

Hahaha, ministries working hard to ensure they aren't gathering data that might say something about government policy one way or the other.

Well, I guess until we've got studies to prove it, we'll remain unsure about whether children benefit from being fed.

[DrTiTus]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

School lunches spending cut of 30-50% 'in the ballpark', Seymour says

I saw someone that would post regularly (almost daily?) pictures of the lunches. They are absolute dog shit.

But I guess if you state how much was paid for the services to provide them it's a success, because money means results, right?

The Government should be forced to eat/catered with the same things provided to kids for lunch. I'm sure the quality would improve quite quickly.

[Lightspeed]

Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee denies hiding after Newshub news

The government working to ensure they don't say anything that might reveal or undermine plans to kneecap news broadcasting.

[Lightspeed]

Govt hopes for landlords' help in ending emergency housing

We are so buggered.

[Ab]

The government wants help from private landlords in addressing a public housing crisis? Am I taking crazy pills? WTAF.

[Lightspeed]

Ah, this is what they mean:

Unlocking investment in Build-To-Rent housing developments

They're hoping to attract foreign rent seekers.

No word on who will build the infrastructure to support these developments. I guess councils are flush with cash they're eager to spend.

[Lightspeed]

Disability Ministry reduces wheelchair services due to cost

It makes sense. Cripples aren't much good for the economy, no point wasting money on them.

[Ab]

An internal communication at a private-sector business that sells disability equipment contained the words "Whaikaha (Ministry of Disabled People) will now be actively enforcing the set budget cap for the provision of equipment and modification services", which is not the same thing. To me it looks more like a commercial provider that has been skimming off the top or delivering fuck all because it knows that #BeKind means every invoice to the govt is always going to be paid no questions asked... is warning its internal teams that the gravy train might be slowing down, and please be ready to prove that the invoice was legit.

[Lightspeed]

I mean, that's one conclusion that we can jump to.

Our greedy, checks notes, disability equipment providers being checked by our, checks notes again, new government promising tax breaks for the wealthy and austerity for public services.

[Cyberbob]

"The party asked all government departments to find savings of either 6.5% or 7.5% in December"

There's no science or data driven analytical thinking taking place here.

It's just a "Slash your budget however you can because we've already promised you will"

[Ab]

The party doesn’t have standing or authority to do shit. If the party asked an organisation to change its budget, the correct response would be “lick my balls”.

[fixed_truth]

Originally Posted by Ab

An internal communication at a private-sector business that sells disability equipment contained the words "Whaikaha (Ministry of Disabled People) will now be actively enforcing the set budget cap for the provision of equipment and modification services", which is not the same thing. To me it looks more like a commercial provider that has been skimming off the top or delivering fuck all because it knows that #BeKind means every invoice to the govt is always going to be paid no questions asked... is warning its internal teams that the gravy train might be slowing down, and please be ready to prove that the invoice was legit.

Yeah nah it's more that the demand for services go beyond what's budgeted as with the Ministry of Health anyone with an illness is eligible. ACC as an insurance provider only covers specific clients.
Every time National becomes government these types of memos are sent out to all disability service providers. Also Health NZ (formally DHBs) get budgets capped causing having to jump through hoops to get equipment funding approved resulting in delays and waiting lists. The whole system is a bit of a limping horse.

[Lightspeed]

Renters 'very grateful' for incoming landlord tax breaks - Luxon

This is about as true as anything else he's said.

[Cyberbob]

Has New Zealanders rent ever decreased? Not average rent per area etc as some demographic metric, but someone's actual rent per week. Never heard of it.

[Lightspeed]

Andrew Hoggard walks back SNA announcement experts say is unlawful

An associate government minister has walked back advice to councils that they can ignore a set of rules protecting the environment.

Legal experts have said the government is breaking legal precedent, and asking councils to break the law too, by suspending the requirements.

Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard announced on Thursday the government was suspending rules around Significant Natural Areas, known as SNAs, for three years while it replaces the Resource Management Act.

The statement said: "For now, the government has agreed to suspend the obligation for councils to impose SNAs under the NPS Indigenous Biodiversity, and we're sending a clear message that it would be unwise to bother".

[Lightspeed]

Another confession masked as accusation:

Peters compares previous govt policies to 'Nazi Germany' in fiery address

[Ab]

What’s the vampire confessing to?

[Lightspeed]

Just his authoritarian bent.

I worry for RNZ.

[DrTiTus]

He didn't confess anything: he just made a 'treating people differently based on race is wrong' argument, and LS has interpreted that as "Winston said he is himself a Nazi" because the words he said were not those words, therefore he meant what LS imagined.

[fixed_truth]

Originally Posted by Winston

I've seen that sort of philosophy before. I saw it in Nazi Germany, we all did

Usual dog whistling bullshit that Maori are being given different rights & privileges, based on their ancestry that the rest of us don't get. Of course with no proof and in reality statistics show otherwise.

It's wrong to call the addressing of need based on a breach of rights, a special privilege (Moana Jackson)

But dumbarses will eat up this NZF/ACT crap that Pakeha's rights are under threat. Facts don't support this. Rights breaches in justice, health and education have always (and continue to do so now) disproportionately affect Maori.

But you won't see these self proclaimed proponents of justice standing up for these breaches which says a lot about their intentions i.e., to make Pakeha NZers fearful and bitter towards Maori. The factually absurd notion that flips colonisation on it's head and says that Pakeha are the victims of a system designed to favour Maori. Watch out for the brown boogie man!

[Ab]

Originally Posted by fixed_truth

Usual dog whistling bullshit that Maori are being given different rights & privileges, based on their ancestry that the rest of us don't get.

this is EXACTLY what the last government (Labour-led, plus Greens and Māori Party) began putting in place.

For example, the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill, votes 77 for 43 against:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hans...06_20220406_20

This bill legislated for the 22,000 voters on the Māori roll in the Rotorua Ward to have the same voting weight as the 56,000 voters on the General roll, making each white and yellow and polkadot voter count as only 39% of a brown voter. The bill literally gave Maori different privileges based on their ancestry that others don't get.

[Lightspeed]

It's not ancestry, it's association. You don't get these privileges unless you're associated with Iwi.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

It's not ancestry, it's association. You don't get these privileges unless you're associated with Iwi.

No because that blatantly discriminates against people of Maori descent whose ancestors were dispossessed and driven off tribal land and whose descendants lost language and connections. Lots of "colonised" urban Maori have no fucking idea what iwi they belong to. Being a member of a specific iwi is not a requirement to be on the Maori roll. Only being of Maori descent is, even if that descent is a mystery to you. But if you have the brown skin, the last government wanted to make your vote count for more than anyone else's.

[Lightspeed]

Right, well that's a correction for me. Perhaps I'm conflating different initiatives.

In any case, that sounds like the status quo for anyone without money. Dispossession and loss of connection is just what one has to bear if you don't have resources to protect yourself from the uncertain nature of life.

Our culture and identity is the chaff to be separated from the wheat of our labour.

[Ab]

The last government didn't attempt to confer extra voting power based on how much money you have. It tried to do so based on your race.

[Lightspeed]

Why would they do that?

Originally Posted by Ab

No because that blatantly discriminates against people of Maori descent whose ancestors were dispossessed and driven off tribal land and whose descendants lost language and connections. Lots of "colonised" urban Maori have no fucking idea what iwi they belong to. Being a member of a specific iwi is not a requirement to be on the Maori roll. Only being of Maori descent is, even if that descent is a mystery to you.

Oh, right.

Except, it's not race is it, it's identity.

Of course, you've named the real reason why this government is calling for the former Nazis:

The last government didn't attempt to confer extra voting power based on how much money you have.

Privilege is fine, as long as it's money that grants you that privilege. Any resources can be controlled, denied from the community, as long as that's achieved by money.

That's why so much effort is made to keep money out of the hands of the filthy public. Can't have the public making decisions.

[fixed_truth]

Ab who do you think exercised their power to establish that when it comes to control of natural resources a simple democracy will be considered a right or privilege?

The same group who were dishing out colonization perhaps?

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

Privilege is fine, as long as it's money that grants you that privilege. Any resources can be controlled, denied from the community, as long as that's achieved by money.

Money grants you no extra power when you have a pencil in hand at a voting booth. The Electoral Act makes every NZ voter the same as every other voter: one person, one vote. The last government introduced and voted in support of a bill that overrode the Electoral Act to make some voters more powerful than others: one brown person, more than one vote.

[Lightspeed]

That's the threat, isn't it. People so effectively marginalised for so long, having an iota more power that isn't granted by way of money. What a horrifying idea!

For those whose power is based in money, I can see why they'd think the Nazis are coming for them.

[DrTiTus]

I'll settle this debate:
fixed truth gets 39% of a vote, LS gets 39% of a vote, so that's 78% of a vote in favour of limited rights for non-Maori. Ab gets 100% of a vote due to his ancestry.

Therefore in this post-democratic vote, Ab wins, because he's a Maori.

Now shut up, and accept your opinion is not worth shit simply because you got born wrong. That's what you wanted, so accept it.

[fixed_truth]

Woosh.

Co-governance is a partnership. The clue is in the name.

This is lacking in rural & regional councils and other governing bodies that manage our natural resources. See article two of Ti Tiriti.

Article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi protects Māori rangatiratanga, which refers to chiefly authority and self-determination rooted in tikanga, and the protection of lands, forests, fisheries and other taonga or treasures.