OnPoint: Everything has changed until 2014
138 Responses
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Greg Dawson, in reply to
I thought we’d already figured out it was all due to the moon?
Don’t be silly, in this thread it’s all John Key’s fault.
I'm not ruling out the possibility that John Key controls the moon, obviously.
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the world’s foremost geopolitical director
Is that the job title of someone who cranks to keep the world turning?
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giovanni tiso, in reply to
i think Cullen might have been all over it. he was the last elected official to address aging.
Which is why after Labour's time in office we all felt nine years younger.
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Paul Williams, in reply to
i struggle with that. surely working out the details of public policy is the job of public service.
So long as I can recall, Labour's always done a fair bit of policy work but it is largely at the strategic level.
My own view is that a party needs to do enough of their own thinking to develop some coherence, particularly in policy clusters; the major goals in education, employment, IR should line up for instance.
I was involved in industry training before leaving NZ and used to be frustrated that on the one hand, firms would be asked jump through a few (reasonable) hoops to get any funding for accredited training but, on the other hand, WINZ would hand out cash for unaccredited training and MED would offer funding for "development" that didn't include any requirement for training. Entirely mixed messages (and in the case of MED, I'm of the view it was Ministerial failure).
regards that report you link to, i think Cullen might have been all over it. he was the last elected official to address aging.
Indeed. NZ Treasury's saying similar things, I just don't see the same agency buy-in that I see here (albeit primarily federal agencies).
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Che Tibby, in reply to
the major goals in education, employment, IR should line up for instance.
problem: you ever see “George and Mildred”? show from the 70s?
those goals are george-unsexy.
it seems to be the outcome every time anyone stands up to talk about aspirational goals in any way relating to these areas? almost instant eye-glaze compared to sexy sexy tax cuts or worrisome worrisome public debt.
how to fix it? i do not know.
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Paul Williams, in reply to
those goals are george-unsexy.
Hell yes, which is why you use cute phrases like Modern Apprenticeships to make it meaningful. I do a fair bit of policy "confectionary", as do all officials, but you can't shine a shit (as they say here).
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Che Tibby, in reply to
but you can’t shine a shit (as they say here).
you might like to look for those statues of the Conservation Minister someone here has been making.
otherwise, maybe that's the problem with all these politics. they're trying to make their job interesting, when what they should be doing is just getting the hell on with integrating the economy/workforce/education...
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Sacha, in reply to
What's your take on compulsory savings? As I see it, this is the main difference in NZ's tax structure to Australia's and they don't have any of this debt crisis. Nor are they totally skewed towards property, since the super funds typically have a large investment directly into the stockmarket. Could this be the central plank of a genuine response from Labour?
Not that I'm Keith, but I'd say establishing the Cullen Fund and KiwiSaver were parts of that response during Labour's last time in the driver's seat. Not safe from dismantling by the current bozos after a quick short-term buck, despite rhetoric about saving. Sure looks like a difference I'd expect to see emphasised during election campaigning.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
Not safe from dismantling by the current bozos after a quick short-term buck, despite rhetoric about saving. Sure looks like a difference I'd expect to see emphasised during election campaigning.
Dancing Cossacks 2.0, methinks?
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
I thought we’d already figured out it was all due to the moon?
Don’t be silly, in this thread it’s all John Key’s fault.
I’m not ruling out the possibility that John Key controls the moon, obviously.
I bet the wristband is the remote control device
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Islander, in reply to
Waua! The things I learn in the PAS Cafe! Thank you Ross!
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Surely Peter Dunne should be the one to address the intergenerational and ageing issues we face, given that he will continue to live amongst humanity for many of those coming generations, and was exposed to similar issues during his time in 11th Century Mesopotamia...
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Islander, in reply to
Please tell us more!
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Islander: You have never noticed that Peter Dunne resembles a vampire?
In my household, he is known as Dunncula. It was the haircut he sported at the '08 election that did it really.
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Islander, in reply to
No I hadnt - but nowwww you mention it...
...and given some of his policies...
arrrgh! -
shagensis, in reply to
_Also, "cuts" isn't a very useful word on its own._
_"Cuts" are about to lead to 75 NIWA staff, including 17 scientists, being sacked.
_
Too right. Cuts for cuts sake, if you reduce the workforce, how does efficiency or productivity increase?Bring on the Levy too, at least we know where the money will be spent rebuilding. Cuts just go to the never never... just like at NIWA
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So why is there no money left for scientists and public transit, but there is somehow money for pet project highways and a sporting tournament of dubious profitability?
Probably for the same reasons that robbing a bank at gunpoint will earn a prison sentence, but doing the same thing by gambling it on CDO's will get you off scott-free.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
I’m not ruling out the possibility that John Key controls the moon, obviously.
No, but he is made of the same stuff... cheese.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
but you can’t shine a shit (as they say here).
Ah but...
National managed to do it to a currency speculator.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
if you reduce the workforce, how does efficiency or productivity increase?
Doing the same with less is a productivity increase., which is what they'll be expecting of NIWA.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
there is somehow money for ... a sporting tournament of dubious profitability?
That one's very definitely not National's fault. Labour signed that contract, and it's not the kind of thing that you can suddenly say "Yeah, sorry, we're a bit too broke" even 18 months out from the kick-off date, never mind fewer than six.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
[Key] is made of the same stuff... cheese.
Ah, but what sort? Edam? Parmesan? Gouda? Feta? Gourmet voters want to know!
Where's a Wishartian expose when you need one?
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
That one's very definitely not National's fault. Labour signed that contract, and it's not the kind of thing that you can suddenly say "Yeah, sorry, we're a bit too broke" even 18 months out from the kick-off date, never mind fewer than six.
For sure. But didn't Australia manage to self-finance their RWC with minimal state funding? From what I know, the Aussie stadium upgrades were mostly paid for by the stadium companies themselves. Also, rugby doesn't seem to have as wide a global audience as, say, soccer.
It's a different kettle of fish to the America's Cup defence, where most seemed to agree that the financial returns were assured.
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Sacha, in reply to
Doing the same with less is a productivity increase
As is doing more with the same - thanks to better processes, partnerships, leadership or capital investment in technology and research.
Now, which of those approaches is 'ambitious'? Which sort produces a high value economy? What sort of country do we want to live in and for our children to inherit?
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