I would have thought that Sprinklers would be mandatory for a multilevel accomadation unit like that one, one of my customers had to put sprinklers into their warehouse as they import passenger car and light truck tyres in large volumes....
Thank you for your words about Jacinda and Chippie. Like you,and others ,I miss seeing Jacinda in our news, on our screens. I was talking to my Melbourne based son, and granchildren on my phone last night. They had phoned because we missed each other on mother's day. Saying goodbye to them I said I was off to watch the fiancee, of our former PM's tv program shifting houses on the backs of high tech trucks.My grandson was puzzled that you could do such a thing. My son immedaitely said-"Is that Jacinda's fiancee"? I was amused that he called her Jacinda, and had been taking notice. He can be quite conservative. He and I have had tense discussions about how Julia Gillard was treated as Australia's only woman PM, and how Jacinda was treated as our latest woman PM. As for Luxon, and Seymour looking ridiculous. Chippie was trying not to laugh out loud when asked about Luxon's announced policy of giving every person a receipt. He did point out that the information was available with a bit of googling. The comments on Stuff from almost all commentators suggest Luxon is not on a winner with that policy-is it even a policy? I would suggest that having been a person dressed in a ridiculous outfit who twerked on television, David Seymour has a high bar for looking ridiculous.
Ironically this area of Wellington has seen hundreds of new public and social housing units built in the last 5 years, and blocks of council housing refurbished. Kainga Ora has recently bought two new sites just down from the fire and have hundreds more units planned. The people in the last photo with Chris Hipkins are not named but they are: Barbara Edmonds the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Omer, Labour MP, candidate for Wellington Central and one time refugee , Paul Eagle retiring MP for Island Bay and Mayor Tory Whanau. Teamwork.
I wrote to the Labour Party raising concerns I have for the radical and transformational goals that we should be having. Your article on a four day week is the kind of thinking required at this time.
I have cited three problem areas.
The first is the need for revising the climate target to be from 2050 to 2035. We urgently need to have a strategy with realistic target target date. We must bring the emissions down and not rely on trading with other countries. Labour voters may be forced to vote green in the hope of forcing a future government to take this seriously. Declaring a Labour Green accord before the election might keep Labour voters on board. Action is needed now.
The second issue is wealth occurring from unearned incomes. That is as a result of wealth generating more wealth.
We need a brilliant mind with a comprehensive and imaginative ability with mathematics. Probably this requires high school, teenager or young university student. It’s certainly does not need an economist and accountant or a banker. Let us sponsor a competition amongst young people. Let us try and find a quotient mathematical process. We need a measure that will have no tax loopholes, but will make a correction taking wealth gained simply because a person has wealth. During the pandemic the 100 richest people increased their wealth fourfold, simply because they had wealth. Meanwhile the poor and the starving had their plight worsened because of that same pandemic. We must be able to target a tax without the problems associated with a traditional Capital Gains Tax that would hit Farmers when they make just return for years of labour and investment or small rental property owners who filled a need and chose that line of saving for retirement.
And we need a measure that no one can find loop holes.
The third area needing imaginative thinking and courage is the economy. The shifts and movements occurring at present are seriously different from anything we have encountered previously. This creates a melting pot. We have to expand our vision to take in the whole situation. We cannot hide from the reality we face. A I and Zoom, automation, the increase of people working from home and in new start ups is only half the story.
Seventy percent of new employment is not filled by advertising. Instead people who are known or recommended are interviewed. Or people are making direct offers even though nothing has been advertised. They are stepping up and selling themselves.
Just as in the 50’s and 60’s tradesmen and artisans were forced to retrain because of automation, so now administrative and middle management people will need to retrain because AI will replace them sweepingly in the next few years.
This is an answer to the labour shortages experienced currently right around the world. New work in horticulture, viticulture, driving busses and shuttles, in building, nursing, hospitality, medicine, teaching etc will be there. We will need much more tolerance and readiness to do the work on offer. Out of work creativity and interesting “past times will happen. If we only work a four day or three day week leisure, crafts and volunteering can expand. This also will require a universal income to cradle and ease people into new positions in society.
We have to be ready for increased migration in the next thirty years as climate changes and crises force people to shift around the globe.
Don Reekie (88)
PS I received a request from Forest and Bird’s to support a call and a fund to work for the recovery of wetlands across New Zealand. They point out if we had now the wetlands rivers would flood safely and humans would not be inhabiting areas that will increasingly be flooded.
It seems obvious that we should protect people by working with nature not against it.
Thank you Nick another thoughtful post. Agree absolutely regarding Jacinda, what a loss to the country and what a sad reflection on those amongst us who constantly disparaged her efforts.
I agree about building regs. And about Chris Hipkins -intelligent, wise, compassionate, cool under pressure.
I am also so very impressed with Grant Robertson - a very loyal and trustworthy sidekick with a big and kind heart and an enormous brain.
Nick, currently I am reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. She writes about caste as the key factor in the USA. It occurs to me constantly as I read, how much her thesis re caste applies in Aotearoa NZ as well. It explains National and Act dog-whistling. And it explains why the USA right wingers set about fomenting and increasing dissent here and why they found such a ready audience that national and act are taking advantage of. Nothing to do with Labour failures, everything to do with keeping “whites” at the top and Maori at the bottom as the lowest caste, and “others” ranged in between. Jacinda and Chippie led and lead a party that looks to remove caste boundaries and for more pakeha than we can fathom why, that is a huge threat to their status and it explains why they vote against their own interests.
Get the book (hardcopy, kindle, audiobook) and let me know what you think.
I still do not understand how so few of the bewildered could have such a huge effect on our future by deliberately targeting the wonderful woman who was leading our country with lies, hate and anger.
Why were the rest of us so ineffective at countering that vitriol? And what will happen when the misanthropic morons turn their attention to our new leader?
♡♡♡ Thank you for positive piece about an upbeat young man who stepped up right when he was needed.
Labour WILL WIN the election.
Great piece once again Nick. I feel the same way about Jacinda and al still coming to terms with it. We lost an amazing PM in her <3
I would have thought that Sprinklers would be mandatory for a multilevel accomadation unit like that one, one of my customers had to put sprinklers into their warehouse as they import passenger car and light truck tyres in large volumes....
Thank you for your words about Jacinda and Chippie. Like you,and others ,I miss seeing Jacinda in our news, on our screens. I was talking to my Melbourne based son, and granchildren on my phone last night. They had phoned because we missed each other on mother's day. Saying goodbye to them I said I was off to watch the fiancee, of our former PM's tv program shifting houses on the backs of high tech trucks.My grandson was puzzled that you could do such a thing. My son immedaitely said-"Is that Jacinda's fiancee"? I was amused that he called her Jacinda, and had been taking notice. He can be quite conservative. He and I have had tense discussions about how Julia Gillard was treated as Australia's only woman PM, and how Jacinda was treated as our latest woman PM. As for Luxon, and Seymour looking ridiculous. Chippie was trying not to laugh out loud when asked about Luxon's announced policy of giving every person a receipt. He did point out that the information was available with a bit of googling. The comments on Stuff from almost all commentators suggest Luxon is not on a winner with that policy-is it even a policy? I would suggest that having been a person dressed in a ridiculous outfit who twerked on television, David Seymour has a high bar for looking ridiculous.
Thank you Nick, I miss Jacinda and her big smile, but am grateful that Chippie is holding the reins, and keeping us on track.
Feeling sad about the tragedy of the fire in Wellington. There will be more information in the coming days.
Ironically this area of Wellington has seen hundreds of new public and social housing units built in the last 5 years, and blocks of council housing refurbished. Kainga Ora has recently bought two new sites just down from the fire and have hundreds more units planned. The people in the last photo with Chris Hipkins are not named but they are: Barbara Edmonds the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Omer, Labour MP, candidate for Wellington Central and one time refugee , Paul Eagle retiring MP for Island Bay and Mayor Tory Whanau. Teamwork.
Thank you Nick for your thoughtful compassion.
I wrote to the Labour Party raising concerns I have for the radical and transformational goals that we should be having. Your article on a four day week is the kind of thinking required at this time.
I have cited three problem areas.
The first is the need for revising the climate target to be from 2050 to 2035. We urgently need to have a strategy with realistic target target date. We must bring the emissions down and not rely on trading with other countries. Labour voters may be forced to vote green in the hope of forcing a future government to take this seriously. Declaring a Labour Green accord before the election might keep Labour voters on board. Action is needed now.
The second issue is wealth occurring from unearned incomes. That is as a result of wealth generating more wealth.
We need a brilliant mind with a comprehensive and imaginative ability with mathematics. Probably this requires high school, teenager or young university student. It’s certainly does not need an economist and accountant or a banker. Let us sponsor a competition amongst young people. Let us try and find a quotient mathematical process. We need a measure that will have no tax loopholes, but will make a correction taking wealth gained simply because a person has wealth. During the pandemic the 100 richest people increased their wealth fourfold, simply because they had wealth. Meanwhile the poor and the starving had their plight worsened because of that same pandemic. We must be able to target a tax without the problems associated with a traditional Capital Gains Tax that would hit Farmers when they make just return for years of labour and investment or small rental property owners who filled a need and chose that line of saving for retirement.
And we need a measure that no one can find loop holes.
The third area needing imaginative thinking and courage is the economy. The shifts and movements occurring at present are seriously different from anything we have encountered previously. This creates a melting pot. We have to expand our vision to take in the whole situation. We cannot hide from the reality we face. A I and Zoom, automation, the increase of people working from home and in new start ups is only half the story.
Seventy percent of new employment is not filled by advertising. Instead people who are known or recommended are interviewed. Or people are making direct offers even though nothing has been advertised. They are stepping up and selling themselves.
Just as in the 50’s and 60’s tradesmen and artisans were forced to retrain because of automation, so now administrative and middle management people will need to retrain because AI will replace them sweepingly in the next few years.
This is an answer to the labour shortages experienced currently right around the world. New work in horticulture, viticulture, driving busses and shuttles, in building, nursing, hospitality, medicine, teaching etc will be there. We will need much more tolerance and readiness to do the work on offer. Out of work creativity and interesting “past times will happen. If we only work a four day or three day week leisure, crafts and volunteering can expand. This also will require a universal income to cradle and ease people into new positions in society.
We have to be ready for increased migration in the next thirty years as climate changes and crises force people to shift around the globe.
Don Reekie (88)
PS I received a request from Forest and Bird’s to support a call and a fund to work for the recovery of wetlands across New Zealand. They point out if we had now the wetlands rivers would flood safely and humans would not be inhabiting areas that will increasingly be flooded.
It seems obvious that we should protect people by working with nature not against it.
Thanks as always. Agree with all of that!
Thank you Nick another thoughtful post. Agree absolutely regarding Jacinda, what a loss to the country and what a sad reflection on those amongst us who constantly disparaged her efforts.
Great read Nick.
A great read Nick thank you.
Thanks, Nick.
I agree about building regs. And about Chris Hipkins -intelligent, wise, compassionate, cool under pressure.
I am also so very impressed with Grant Robertson - a very loyal and trustworthy sidekick with a big and kind heart and an enormous brain.
Nick, currently I am reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. She writes about caste as the key factor in the USA. It occurs to me constantly as I read, how much her thesis re caste applies in Aotearoa NZ as well. It explains National and Act dog-whistling. And it explains why the USA right wingers set about fomenting and increasing dissent here and why they found such a ready audience that national and act are taking advantage of. Nothing to do with Labour failures, everything to do with keeping “whites” at the top and Maori at the bottom as the lowest caste, and “others” ranged in between. Jacinda and Chippie led and lead a party that looks to remove caste boundaries and for more pakeha than we can fathom why, that is a huge threat to their status and it explains why they vote against their own interests.
Get the book (hardcopy, kindle, audiobook) and let me know what you think.
Cheers and hugs,
Marilyn
Thank you for this excellent analysis. You are right on. Jacinda was extraordinary and exactly who we needed for those difficult years. Go Chippy.
I still do not understand how so few of the bewildered could have such a huge effect on our future by deliberately targeting the wonderful woman who was leading our country with lies, hate and anger.
Why were the rest of us so ineffective at countering that vitriol? And what will happen when the misanthropic morons turn their attention to our new leader?