Government ignores MBIE s advice to delay and reduce minimum wage hike
6 Jan, 2021 04:00 PM
6 minutes to read
Willie Jackson, the Government s holiday period Duty Minister, (pictured here with Finance Minister Grant Robertson, left) defended the minimum wage decision. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Government s decision to push ahead with a large minimum wage hike in April flouts bureaucrats advice to both delay and severely temper the increase. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) provided the Government with a review, dated December 2020, which advised delaying the 2021 minimum wage increase until October, and prescribed only a very modest rise of 25 cents, or 1.3 per cent.
Year in Review, December 2020: A new bridge, new art and new beginnings
30 Dec, 2020 03:30 PM
4 minutes to read
December 3
After months of delays and eager anticipation, the $3.4 million Upokongaro Cycle Bridge finally opened to the public on December 3, with streams of cyclists and walkers alike taking to the new structure.
The opening saw a ceremony which included waiata performed by Upokongaro School students, and a speech from mayor Hamish McDouall. McDouall acknowledged the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Waka Kotahi NZTA and elected officials for their assistance throughout the project.
The new cycling bridge in Upokongaro opened in December. Photo / Paul Brooks
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Fletch and Marc keep an eye on Kate at the Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital on Christmas day. In December, Jackie arranged for Kate’s father Marc, her brother Fletch and sister Jessie, to travel from their Matamata home in New Zealand to be with her at the hospital. They applied for an emergency allocation to hold places at a quarantine facility for their return to New Zealand on December 30. But Jackie had wanted the family to remain together for a couple of weeks more, when it was expected Kate would show positive signs of recovery. Her application for a second emergency allocation application had initially been turned down by New Zealand’s Managed Isolation and Quarantine [MIQ].
“If you’re wanting to detect whether something is present, for instance it might be E. coli in the water, or it might be cyanobacteria in the water, or even Covid-19, you use molecular biology, or DNA amplification technologies, to search in to the sample to see whether it’s present, Broom said. “So we’ve come up with an instrument that does it fast and simply, at a constant temperature, and it works off a smartphone.
BRYA INGRAM/STUFF Broom said a portable instrument was taken to the field to undertake research. DNAiTECH was the recipient of an “Unlocking Curious Minds” regional grant from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment for 2020, for running a workshop to engage secondary students with science and technology.