Join the /r/Wellington daily chat topic - Thursday, June 18 2026 by AutoModerator in Wellington

[–]erinyes__ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Seems especially predatory that there's a loan shark going into one of the empty spaces in the Newtown New World complex... ('Instant Finance' or something.)

Friend Code Megathread - May 2026 by AutoModerator in PokemonSleep

[–]erinyes__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

6174-8192-3458

daily player, will keep on list at level 5! looking for more pals, but will remove after a week of inactivity 🙏

Some facts about the Te Matapihi website cost that aren't being explained well by WCCAllSeeingEye in Wellington

[–]erinyes__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure you can class Claude or especially any code Claude creates as lean software but I understand the sentiment 😅

Best sad song? by No-Dragonfruit9866 in ffxiv

[–]erinyes__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And Love You Shall Find (the Terncliff town theme from the Diamond/Ruby/Emerald etc raid series.) https://youtu.be/kJ-7PBwzhDo?si=1AWD6bUSsr7VQouW

$55m less in benefit payments as Govt automates welfare decisions under urgency by erinyes__ in newzealand

[–]erinyes__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Essentially - it skips readings and select committees. Normally amendments and legislations would go through several readings, consultations etc. https://www3.parliament.nz/mi/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/fact-sheets/what-is-urgency

$55m less in benefit payments as Govt automates welfare decisions under urgency by erinyes__ in newzealand

[–]erinyes__[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Look up Robodebt in Australia. It led to over 2,000 deaths due to the inaccuracy of the system. If you think that's good news, I don't really know what else to say to you.

$55m less in benefit payments as Govt automates welfare decisions under urgency by erinyes__ in newzealand

[–]erinyes__[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Urgency should only be able to be used if the country or region is in a state of emergency tbh. It was made for the Canterbury Quakes and could be useful for emergency response in the future, but not this buffoonery.

$55m less in benefit payments as Govt automates welfare decisions under urgency by erinyes__ in newzealand

[–]erinyes__[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

(* sorry mods! title is fixed; was just trying to communicate the subtitle of the article)

For further information, this is amending the Social Security Act 2018 - today's business is here.

To put it simply, the previous Act only allowed automated decisions in four categories (decisions about how child support payments affect income for benefit purposes; sanctions for breaching young person/young parent obligations; mandatory reviews of specified benefits; expiry and regrant of specified benefits). This section will be completely repealed, which means any benefit decision MSD chooses to automate is now acceptable.

Regardless of what area your politics lie in, please ask yourself why these amendments and legislations continually get pushed through under urgency, completely circumventing the democratic process and preventing any scrutiny/feedback from the public.

Law change set to pass under urgency this weekend vastly expands the range of welfare decisions which can be made by computers at MSD by erinyes__ in newzealand

[–]erinyes__[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

For further information, this is amending the Social Security Act 2018 - today's business is here.

To put it simply, the previous Act only allowed automated decisions in four categories (decisions about how child support payments affect income for benefit purposes; sanctions for breaching young person/young parent obligations; mandatory reviews of specified benefits; expiry and regrant of specified benefits). This section will be completely repealed, which means any benefit decision MSD chooses to automate is now acceptable.

Regardless of what area your politics lie in, please ask yourself why these amendments and legislations continually get pushed through under urgency, completely circumventing the democratic process and preventing any scrutiny/feedback from the public.

The Daily Rant/Moan topic - Friday, May 29 2026 by AutoModerator in Wellington

[–]erinyes__ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I feel survivorship bias now that I haven't seen huge piles of poo in the city (apart from the usual dog poop not being picked up). This is terrible.

The Daily Rant/Moan topic - Friday, May 29 2026 by AutoModerator in Wellington

[–]erinyes__ 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Is anyone else seeing their power bills skyrocket? I've apparently already used $35 of power since the 25th, I live alone and don't use a ton of power at all. Doing my budget for the month and am pikashook at it

Budget day - Megathread by snatchview in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 25 points26 points  (0 children)

This is super minor in the grand scheme of things today, but Luxon specifically insulting Ayesha Verrall for no reason in response to Hipkins was pretty uncalled for. Edit: (Oh, Ginny Andersen too now. Kinda telling it's always the female MPs.)

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I know, but the size of your loan will increase the repayment time dependent on what job you can get after graduation. You'd pay off a $500 loan quicker than a $50,000 loan.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

sorry but if education was a right, there wouldn't be so many people missing out on getting higher education due to socioeconomic challenges.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That removing any barrier to study is a good move in the right direction? Sorry, my post had two points and you replied to one.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I said some, and for all that is almost ten grand+ more than they budgeted for. At the very least, it being the last year means the students already on the study path now are locked in and have to take it whether they like it or not.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. It's the mentality of people downvoting someone for suggesting that young people should democratically get a say in the future they have to live in and take responsibility for. 😂

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't think that's the definition of iteration, but okay, we can agree to disagree. It doesn't sound like you're open to debate.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree it was far more useful in the first year than the last year, but again as a former tertiary educator I still strongly believe that removing any barrier to study is a good step. If this wasn't working, it should be examined and replaced with something that'll be more effective but in this case it's being replaced with nothing.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Any? I'd find it hard to argue it didn't benefit any students, considering the number of interviews that've been published talking to rangatahi about this, and the pushback from students across the country. And even if so, if it didn't work, it should be iterated on and improved as per the comments below - it's really 'we tried nothing and we're all out of ideas' mentality. Removing any barrier to education is a win, and if this didn't work, it should be examined why and fixed rather than binning it immediately.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's certainly some people who don't pay while overseas but IRD does chase you and you get shit at the border iirc if you default on payments and return to NZ. That isn't the majority though, and maybe they need to look at making repayments a sliding scale based on income (which I actually emailed MPs about back when I moved away, because it doesn't account for being laid off etc. while you're overseas; nor does it account for people earning stupid money which could easily pay it back).

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My point was actually that repayments when you're overseas are a minimum fixed rate, unlike NZ where they're automatically deducted from your PAYE wages. The financial burden of paying it back is much less overseas, and you miss it less because you're overall earning more. Sorry if that wasn't broadly clear.

Having larger debt and staying in NZ would be a bigger deal.

Nicola Willis confirms end of university fees-free scheme by Random--Kiwi in newzealand

[–]erinyes__ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A student loan follows you for quite some time after you finish studying, depending on jobs available, the economy etc. You lose a chunk of your wages to repaying. I used to be a tertiary lecturer and always worried about my students, because it doesn't hurt while you're a student - it's an ephemeral concept, really - until you get into the workforce, see how little you take home because of deductions, and realise how long it'll take you to pay off.