RNZ: 'The Budget for Business, Science and Innovation cut a total of about $35m from four major research funds - Health, Endeavour, Marsden and Strategic Science - from 2027.' A non-increase would have been bad enough, but cutting? I have no words.

Happy Landlords Day to all who celebrate.

Awful: we spend 47 million a year pursuing welfare fraud (which totals only 47 million a year).
We spend only 17 million pursuing white collar crime and #taxevasion which steals 7 BILLION. And this govt is reducing funding to go after white collar crime.

McAnulty's right. this is dodgy. a $500,000 stitch up of a report, arranged via text without any formal process. And full of factual errors.

All just an excuse to slash government home building from 6000 a year to 375, and pave the way for privatisation.

newshub.co.nz/home/politics/…

A new report, shared exclusively with Newsroom, shows families that include someone with a disability may be paying up to $5500 more a year under this Government.

“Free RATs will be available until 30 June. RNZ has heard from people around the country who said they were already struggling to find tests. RNZ called several pharmacies: Some had stock while others had run out.”

In no way responsible, given cases.

rnz.co.nz/news/what-you-…

Sorry, not sorry

Almost half of all Australians estimated to have had C0VID just in the last 6 months.
Scientist calls this 'extraordinary'
- NZ politicians & media, time to talk about the pandemic & #LongCovid in the present tense?
- and, the last 6 mths incl summer / wasn't winter!

Covid spikes to highest level in 18 months, hospitalisations rising

Michael Baker told RNZ up to 1/3 people still contagious 5 days after testing positive for the virus

Suggests people with Covid isolate then test negative before going back into society
rnz.co.nz/news/national/…

Why aren't the teachers' unions taking legal action around the H&S aspects of covid, I wonder. I've avoided watching that q&a with Stanford until now. She's clueless (by design 🤷‍♀️). It's such a risk for kids and teachers both.

Little blue dots going UP

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Coming to AoNZ very soon, brought to you by the party of landlords - featuring @chrisluxon et al.

Miners pay a stupidly low royalty rate in NZ: just over 2% & 97% goes overseas.
* TTR is 100% Aust-owned
* Chatham Rock Phosphate: Canadian regd
* Oceana Gold: Canadian
* Bathurst Resources: Australian
And who cleans up the mess?
The Kiwi taxpayer

scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2405…

“We at Aotearoa Covid Action are urging the Government in its upcoming Budget to continue funding free RAT tests.”

Please amplify this important message ahead of the Budget, with many thanks to Aotearoa Covid Action for this vital mahi 🙏🙏

covidaction.nz/en/keepratsfree

🚨 #BREAKING 🚨

While Destiny Church head Brian Tamaki is busy trying to convince Aotearoa drag queens & rainbow crossings are sexually indoctrinating our kids, one of his church members has been out there allegedly sexually abusing the church’s rangitahi.
nzherald.co.nz/nz/destiny-chu…

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Media report on increasing Covid cases as if there is nothing that can be done about it, other than keeping up to date with 💉.

Vaccines are good at reducing severity of illness, but they are not available to everyone, and there are other tools that can help prevent infection
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'Most concerning of all is that the Minister of Education will have the power to direct local schools to enter the conversion process for being a charter school based on 'government priorities' ... This direction can happen without any input from the school community.'
WTAF? 😡

And these are just the projects we know of. There is a vast swathe of conservation land now unprotected from mining interests… it is a #WarOnNature