New Zealand 2017 Election

[Sparko]

I doubt I am back, just driving by. Have just been lurking and laughing at the right-wing fundy crazy. Kinda like how I go to the zoo occasionally to watch the monkeys throwing their poop I guess. Tass and Jim deserve a medal for their zoo-keeping efforts.

yeah I noticed you lurking nearly every day since you "left"

[One Bad Pig]

funny I noticed you lurking nearly every day since you "left"

This way he can safely laugh and mock without actually having to defend his views. It's much easier to feel good about yourself when you can label the opposition as subhuman and not have to interact with them.

[Mountain Man]

So the new Prime Minister is Jacinda Ardern. At 37 years old she's our youngest-equal PM ever, and the 3rd female PM:

I'll say this: your Prime Minister is better looking than our President.

But not necessarily better looking than our First Lady.

melania-trump-040317-1491239956.jpg

[Starlight]

What do you mean parental leave? Maternity/paternity leave

Yes. When a person or couple has a new baby or adopt a child under 6 years, the government pays 18 weeks (now going up to 26) worth of leave for the primary caregiver and 2 weeks leave for their partner if they have one (these numbers get extended slightly if the baby is born preterm), and the employer must allow the primary caregiver to take the remainder of the year off in unpaid leave and hold open the job position for up to 52 weeks total for them to return to their job then.

The 18 weeks got raised to 26 in response to a recommendation from the OECD, as NZ strangely had one of the lowest amounts of paid parental leave in the OECD. There seem to be only a few countries in the world that do not have paid parental leave... Lesotho, Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and The United States. So much for Republican 'family values'...

Y'all never had mold provisions in your rental laws? Wow...

It appears that the US doesn't, so I dunno why you are faking surprise here.

Pandering to the young and gullible college aged kids.

Yeah, man, the government paying for one more year of education, how terrible! I mean, tertiary education used to be free when my parents did it in the 70s, but of course the young generation just isn't as deserving as you olds. And the government fully paid for 16 of my 22 years of formal education (13 years of primary, intermediate, and high school + 3 year uni scholarship) but if they'd paid for 17 years instead of 16, man, that would just be terrible and too far!

The plan is roll out 3 years of free tertiary education over the next 6 years, so basically the entire population will get 19 years of free formal education rather than the current 16 years worth. University costs here are already subsidized anyway down to ~$3000 USD per year, and the government already provides interest-free loans (if you leave the country for more than a year, interest starts getting charged) to students to cover university fees and living costs while studying (the average student ends up completing their study with an interest-free government loan of ~$14000 USD). So it's not as much additional spending as you might think, if you are thinking of the US system - the government will be effectively spending an additional $9000 USD total per person studying over 3 years instead of loaning them that amount in an interest-free loan. So it's not a throw money from the rooftops and set it on fire policy like the Republican tax bill or the recent defense spending increase that was passed in the US.

[Roy]

The 18 weeks got raised to 26 in response to a recommendation from the OECD, as NZ strangely had one of the lowest amounts of paid parental leave in the OECD. There seem to be only a few countries in the world that do not have paid parental leave... Lesotho, Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and The United States. So much for Republican 'family values'...

Parental leave is unnecessary if the mother doesn't work outside the home

[Sparko]

In the USA, most FMLA leaves (for illness or giving birth) are up to 3 months and are usually paid through the company benefits via a short term disability insurance plan or the medical plan. The company I work for has three levels: up to 20 days, you can bank extra sick days to pay for it. 21 days to 3 months is covered by the short term disability plan (premiums are paid by the company) and past 3 months we have a long term disability plan that can last until retirement or you get better, but at that point FMLA has run out and you will need to find a new job, they can't hold your job that long.

[Bill the Cat]

Yes. When a person or couple has a new baby or adopt a child under 6 years, the government pays 18 weeks (now going up to 26) worth of leave for the primary caregiver and 2 weeks leave for their partner if they have one (these numbers get extended slightly if the baby is born preterm), and the employer must allow the primary caregiver to take the remainder of the year off in unpaid leave and hold open the job position for up to 52 weeks total for them to return to their job then.

The 18 weeks got raised to 26 in response to a recommendation from the OECD, as NZ strangely had one of the lowest amounts of paid parental leave in the OECD. There seem to be only a few countries in the world that do not have paid parental leave... Lesotho, Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and The United States. So much for Republican 'family values'...

It appears that the US doesn't, so I dunno why you are faking surprise here.

Because rental laws are state jurisdiction. See my home state's laws:

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...roperties.html

Yeah, man, the government paying for one more year of education, how terrible!

When it comes at the taxpayers' expense, yes. It is. College is not a requirement the way primary education (K-12) is.

I mean, tertiary education used to be free when my parents did it in the 70s, but of course the young generation just isn't as deserving as you olds.

Things have changed substantially in 40 years.

And the government fully paid for 16 of my 22 years of formal education (13 years of primary, intermediate, and high school + 3 year uni scholarship) but if they'd paid for 17 years instead of 16, man, that would just be terrible and too far!

They only should have paid for what is mandatory. And I have no problem with offering help to those less financially able to afford college. My kids don't qualify because I make too much, but others who are less fortunate than I am should get an opportunity if they qualify academically.

The plan is roll out 3 years of free tertiary education over the next 6 years, so basically the entire population will get 19 years of free formal education rather than the current 16 years worth. University costs here are already subsidized anyway down to ~$3000 USD per year, and the government already provides interest-free loans (if you leave the country for more than a year, interest starts getting charged) to students to cover university fees and living costs while studying (the average student ends up completing their study with an interest-free government loan of ~$14000 USD). So it's not as much additional spending as you might think, if you are thinking of the US system - the government will be effectively spending an additional $9000 USD total per person studying over 3 years instead of loaning them that amount in an interest-free loan. So it's not a throw money from the rooftops and set it on fire policy like the Republican tax bill or the recent defense spending increase that was passed in the US.

Your country does things quite differently than mine. Your professors and administrators make less than those in the US, UK, Canada, and Oz. That report shows that salaries have started to increase in NZ to be more competitive with those other nations. So increase salary, increase government-provided tuition... Where is that money coming from?

And you'll get no sympathy from me about US defense spending. It pays my bills.

[Roy]

Emphasis mine:

There seem to be only a few countries in the world that do not have paid parental leave... Lesotho, Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and The United States. So much for Republican 'family values'...

FMLA maternity leave
When an employee becomes pregnant, her employer must also consider her right to take FMLA leave.
To qualify for FMLA leave, an employee must have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily continuously) and clocked at least 1,250 hours of service (slightly more than 24 hours per week) during the 12 months leading up to FMLA leave.
Any organization with 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius of the work site must comply with the FMLA.

FMLA leave is unpaid leave. Companies may choose to pay their employees during that period, but they don't have to.

You have proven Starlight's point.

[Sparko]

And you'll get no sympathy from me about US defense spending. It pays my bills.

So! You admit to being a socialist who lives off of the government dole!!! You are a swamp dweller!!!

[Starlight]

Pregnancy discrimination law

The various things you cite seem to be unpaid leave, or sick leave, or some sort of insurance that seems to offer up to 13 weeks at most.

In NZ, by law, all jobs provide 10 days of paid public holidays, 4 weeks per year of paid annual leave, 5 days paid sick leave per year (these two both accrue from year to year if unused), and now 26 weeks paid maternity leave (this one is paid by the government, others by the employer). An employer who's feeling generous can, of course, offer more than that, and offering 10 paid sick days a year is relatively common from employers who want to ensure that their workers don't come to work sick and spread it around.

Because rental laws are state jurisdiction. See my home state's laws:
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...roperties.html

Seems pretty limited. The new laws here cover a 49-point checklist of things that need to be safe and functioning in the rental property.

College is not a requirement the way primary education (K-12) is.

Things have changed substantially in 40 years.

Well actually, because things have changed substantially in 40 years, college education is now necessary for most jobs, and at the bare minimum a 1-year college course is often done even by those not attending university.

Your country does things quite differently than mine. Your professors and administrators make less than those in the US, UK, Canada, and Oz.

Yes the salaries are quite a bit lower, I agree they should probably be higher. However, there are other major differences that mean you're not comparing apples to apples here, like... all jobs come with decent benefits by law (see above), the working week here is 37.5 hours and overtime is a rarity not the rule, our universities don't run on a tenure-based system (all professors and academics are normal permanent employees of the university just as in any other job), and overall you'll find that salaries for professional jobs are just lower across the board in NZ than when compared to the US.

So increase salary, increase government-provided tuition... Where is that money coming from?

Higher taxes. This government's made clear it will be raising them at some point.

And you'll get no sympathy from me about US defense spending. It pays my bills.

So your pretense at being anti-socialism is a projection of the guilt you feel at being on the giant government slush-funded jobs program that is US defense spending?

It's amusing how you ask "where is that money coming from?" to pay university students before admitting that your own salary is paid by government funding... where's that money coming from? The recent increase in defense spending passed by the US congress was enough to make college tuition free in the US. That's how much money is being wasted on people like you.

[Sparko]

The various things you cite seem to be unpaid leave, or sick leave, or some sort of insurance that seems to offer up to 13 weeks at most.

In NZ, by law, all jobs provide 10 days of paid public holidays, 4 weeks per year of paid annual leave, 5 days paid sick leave per year (these two both accrue from year to year if unused), and now 26 weeks paid maternity leave (this one is paid by the government, others by the employer). An employer who's feeling generous can, of course, offer more than that, and offering 10 paid sick days a year is relatively common from employers who want to ensure that their workers don't come to work sick and spread it around.

Nice. Hopefully one day you can find a job so you don't have to actually work.

[Sparko]

Higher taxes. This government's made clear it will be raising them at some point.

So you ARE paying for all those freebies after all.

It's the same in Germany. They get lots of vacation and benefits mandated by the government but then they pay through the nose in taxes. So not so free after all.

[One Bad Pig]

So you ARE paying for all those freebies after all.

It's the same in Germany. They get lots of vacation and benefits mandated by the government but then they pay through the nose in taxes. So not so free after all.

It helps if you can essentially get the US to defend you, so you don't have to spend so much on national defense. As a bonus, you can self-righteously point to the United States as bent on world domination and castigate it for how much it spends on the military!

[rogue06]

So you ARE paying for all those freebies after all.

It's the same in Germany. They get lots of vacation and benefits mandated by the government but then they pay through the nose in taxes. So not so free after all.

It's like when a friend of mine visited relatives in London after we graduated High School back in the Late Bronze Age (mid 70s) and was shocked to find that one of his cousins only took home less than the equivalent of $20/week because all the rest went to taxes, fees, regulations...

[Sparko]

It's like when a friend of mine visited relatives in London after we graduated High School back in the Late Bronze Age (mid 70s) and was shocked to find that one of his cousins only took home less than the equivalent of $20/week because all the rest went to taxes, fees, regulations...

You should see all the deductions on my paycheck. yeesh. But at least they are for MY expenses (401K, insurance, parking, etc) and not going to pay for everyone else's vacations and 'freebies.'