#policynz — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #policynz, aggregated by home.social.
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So if there is a media regulator empowered by the state, it needs to be very carefully designed. Its power constrained and tightly focused. Its purpose, structure and operations regularly reviewed. Ideally by a review board including representatives from media entities and civil society orgs (eg Better Public Media, InternetNZ), as well as Parliamentarians.
We need to pressure the government to put this new body in place as part of abolishing the #BSA. Not after, maybe never.
(7/7)
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I have an elderly uncle who lived on a farm and never got into using the net, and the most advanced tech uncle knows how to use is a prepay dumbphone.
My uncle has a storage locker with a local business that's just been bought out by a multinational. Who are replacing the existing cardkey entry with "smart entry" system requiring an app, which requires customers to own and know how to use either an iThing or an Android/Linux device;
FTS.
(1/2)
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So of course the NZ Privacy Commissioner will be pushing for third-party service providers to be subject to the OIA for every aspect of public service work they handle, just like the agencies commissioning them, right? Riiiight?
(2/2)
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Maybe a sensible government would be swap the budgets for military defence and Civil Defence at this point? Requiring any defence purchases to be suitable for the latter, since that's what they're going to be used for almost all the time.
In the rare event Aotearoa needs military defence, the armed forces could requisition the gear they need from CD. But natural disasters have killed far more kiwis in the last 100 years than military threats.
(2/2)
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I couple of weeks ago we got a leaflet in our letterbox arguing for limiting eligibility to vote to citizens, on the assumption this would limit it to the people affected by government decisions. I decided to respond as an open letter, to add my thoughts to the public conversation on election rules, and who potentially benefits from changing them;
https://strypey.dreamwidth.org/8279.html
#elections #NZPolitics #ElectionsNZ #PolicyNZ #ElectionRules
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One simple change to copyright law that would make a huge difference is making exclusive licenses unenforceable. Here's an example.
After decades of consolidation, an oligopoly of 3 corporations control licensing for the majority of the world's recorded music (Universal, Sony and Warner). If an artist wants their music distributed by one of them, they have to sign over 100% control of their music licensing rights.
(1/?)
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A 2023 episode of The Climate Denier's Playbook podcast;
https://art19.com/shows/the-climate-deniers-playbook/episodes/4d999c65-5904-47eb-a2d7-6ec1173118dd
...got me thinking about how to craft policy to disincentivise the purchase of light trucks (SUVs, utes, etc) for use as oversized cars.*Without* stinging businesses that actually need heavier vehicles for their work.
Can we not just exempt light trucks purchased by businesses (including farms), for work use, from policy aimed at discouraging truck purchases?
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This has gone beyond ridiculous. It's time to allow beneficiaries to select the social service agency we want to manage our case. Fully funded, independently of WINZ, and with the same access to MSD systems they have.
Or, as I've said before, wipe the steaming remains of WINZ from the face of the earth, hand over benefits payments to IRD ("reverse taxation"), and move work brokers etc back to an employment service with no responsibility for benefit payments.
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NZ has Citizens Initiated Referenda, but they hardly ever get used and even when they are, the results just get ignored by governments. Maybe Citizens Initiated Assemblies would be more functional?
If enough citizens signed a petition on a question, the government would be obliged to commission a citizens' assemblies on it. Unlike a CIR, the legislation could require carefully specifying the question, and make the outcome binding on the government.
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Another thing I'd like to see is a legal protection for Exit to Community. The workers of a supermarket ought to have the legal right to form a co-op and purchase their workplace from its owner. Ideally, customers would get the second option on doing this, although it would be more difficult for them to identify and organise with each other.
(9/?)
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Any political parties in Aotearoa developing a detailed policy on using binding Citizen's Assemblies, to evaluate evidence and produce nonpartisan policy on polarising issues that require government action? If they can work anywhere, they can work here.
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Maybe we need something like a Public Services Commission? Which would canvas and represent the PoV of the public on the convenient (for *us*) and *effective* running of public services? It could review things like the IPCA rubber-stamping of killer cops, as well as being the institutional home for things like the Open Government Partnership.
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Coda:
One of the deeper goals of the internet re-decentralisation movement needs to be abolishing hyperscale datacentres, and moving hosting to community-controlled small scale DataHubs.
One thing that would help is anti-monopoly rules that prevent companies from owning servers *and* owning businesses that rent servers. Or at least banning them from giving their own businesses preferential pricing.
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We expect all NZ government websites to be served from a .govt.nz subdomain. By the same token, any scripts those sites serve ought to come from a .govt.nz subdomain too. Like using HTTPS, it needs to be a legal requirement.
No more of this corner-cutting, by loading unaudited proprietary scripts in realtime, from commercial third parties. This is a huge security hole in any website. It's unacceptable in government sites.
(1/2) -
We expect all NZ government websites to be served from a .govt.nz subdomain. By the same token, any scripts those sites serve ought to come from a .govt.nz subdomain too. Like using HTTPS, it needs to be a legal requirement.
No more of this corner-cutting, by loading unaudited proprietary scripts in realtime, from commercial third parties. This is a huge security hole in any website. It's unacceptable in government sites.
(1/2) -
We expect all NZ government websites to be served from a .govt.nz subdomain. By the same token, any scripts those sites serve ought to come from a .govt.nz subdomain too. Like using HTTPS, it needs to be a legal requirement.
No more of this corner-cutting, by loading unaudited proprietary scripts in realtime, from commercial third parties. This is a huge security hole in any website. It's unacceptable in government sites.
(1/2) -
We expect all NZ government websites to be served from a .govt.nz subdomain. By the same token, any scripts those sites serve ought to come from a .govt.nz subdomain too. Like using HTTPS, it needs to be a legal requirement.
No more of this corner-cutting, by loading unaudited proprietary scripts in realtime, from commercial third parties. This is a huge security hole in any website. It's unacceptable in government sites.
(1/2) -
"'We all know that we are likely to be recorded by CCTV footage in public spaces to assist with crime prevention and detection."
Judge #BelindaSellars,
2024#PhilPennington, 2024
So this normalisation of privacy violating practice automagically makes it acceptable? WTSF?!?
It needs to be illegal to point a private security camera at any public place. Or at minimum, illegal to upload footage from that camera to any platform that allows it to be shared.
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Here's an idea for regulating the rental property management industry in Aotearoa;
If a residential tenancy has a property manager, the landlord must allow the tenants to freely choose the person/ company they want to deal with. The fees charged to the landlord can be up to a maximum level, indexed to a percentage of the rent.
(1/2)
#PolicyNZ #housing #ResidentialTenancies #PropertyManagement
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#TIL that an employer doesn't have to pay workers while they're on jury service, and the state only pays a daily lump sum for expenses that wouldn't cover 2 hours on Living Wage.
Yet another good argument for guaranteed minimum income, paid automatically, no need to apply (instead you can apply to opt out).
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There are some great policy recommendations here for all political parties this election.
#policynz #nzpol #newzealand #Election2023 #NZelection23 #elections #election #electionNZ2023