The Herald reports: Wellington City Council has ended negotiations with Reading International over a controversial deal to reopen the closed cinema complex on Courtenay Place. The council had planned to buy the land underneath the cinema for $32 million, money which the cinema would use to redevelop the building. However, senior council staff now say they have not been able to reach the best possible outcomes for Wellingtonians and the decision was made this week not to pursue the proposal further. What this means is that the details of the proposed deal were so bad and terrible for ..read more

Newshub reports: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins has stood by increasing the public service workforce during his time in government, saying it’s been proportionate to the growth in population.  The Coalition Government has directed the public services to cut costs by between 6.5 and 7.5 percent to help reduce annual public service spending by $1.5 billion. It’s resulted in thousands of jobs proposed to be axed across the sector.  The National Party has said it is trying to restore “financial discipline” with its cuts to the public service because the number of staff has ballooned ..read more

The Herald reports: The End of Life Choice Act needs changes when it comes up for review later this year, say both the architect of New Zealand’s assisted dying laws and hospice leaders. An area Seymour would like to see changed is the eligibility for assisted dying only being available to terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live. That compromise was made during the parliamentary process to appease the Green Party to ensure Seymour got the votes he needed to pass the bill. Seymour believes the six-month timeframe should be scrapped because “it’s a ..read more

   The post General Debate 26 April 2024 first appeared on Kiwiblog ..read more

Newshub reports: He [Hipkins] said the government had only been in office for six months, and “the wheels are falling off already”. This is beyond stupid. Hipkins claims taking two portfolios away from Ministers who were seen to be struggling is the wheels are falling off. In the first few months of last year, we saw his Government have: The PM resign The Minister of Justice sacked/resigned after being charged with drink driving and not co-operating with Police after she crashed her car Stuart Nash sacked for leaking Cabinet discussions and multiple prior warnings Michael Wood sacked after ..read more

   The post General Debate 25 April 2024 first appeared on Kiwiblog ..read more

The Herald reports: The High Court has ruled Children’s Minister Karen Chhour cannot be compelled to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal. In a just-released decision, Justice Andru Isac granted the Crown’s application for judicial review, setting aside the summons issued by the tribunal. This is a very good decision. The Waitangi Tribunal was basically making a power play that has failed. An issue for the future is what to do with institutions that behave more like political activists than neutral bodies. The Human Rights Commission has many people wanting them to be scrapped as they often loo ..read more

I got to speak to a group of esteemed old boys from a NZ school today. My starting point was a comment made by a Head of English at a boys school I was teaching at when she stated that the comparatively poor English results, compared to Science and Math were because; ” … they were boys”. This was a part of my counter evidence: Top 30 Books of BBC Readers The LOTR, JRR Tolkien Pride and Predudic, J Austen His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee Winnie the Pooh, AA M ..read more

As job losses have occurred in the media sector, the media have done story after story about how devastating this change is for journalists and their families, and the need for empathy. And then after Melissa Lee loses the broadcasting portfolio, the NZ Herald runs the following: Calling it insensitive is putting it lightly. And people wonder why not everyone is upset with media job losses. The post Should media practice what they preach? first appeared on Kiwiblog ..read more

Max Salmon writes: Last week the Commerce Commission announced its concern with a proposed merger between Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island. Their concern is a decrease in competition in the market. It sounds crazy when you first hear it, but it’s even weirder when you see what the Commerce Commission is actually worried about. At first glance it’s ludicrous. It isn’t like there are vast numbers of inter-island shoppers, ferrying and flying between north and south to secure precious grocery bargains from the New World on the other side of the Strait. Price differences betwe ..read more