Another 200 comments in the last hour (up to 3600 now).
You can always expect a few bad apples in government but it seems the whole damn apple cart is rotting
The local example I keep coming back to is the recent revelation that David Henderson, the Auckland property developer, paid a total of $17k tax over 17 years – less than a person on a minimum wage would have paid over that same time. And this is a guy who lived in penthouses and jet-setted around on a millionaires lifestyle and feted as a minor celebrity. That is just despicable when you think about the minimum wage factory worker who gets up at 5am and goes to work and contributes more to society than this guy.
Of course I know all the stats about how the bottom X% pay no net tax and the top Y% pay most net tax etc, and I know all about how the accounting works, and that this is just one example of many, and there are much worse examples etc etc etc, but this one really got me mad, and confirms that something is very corrupt and grossly unfair in the way we do things (regardless of who’s in power).
I guess we can only rejoice that even the right wing media are havingthe discussion. Are the old school conservatives prizing themselves away from the neo-liberals?
Only problem with this view is that this moral bankruptcy was there from the start. The original capitalist looting was the slave trade. Its nice that the descendants of the slaves are now revolting against the descendants of the old Etonian slave traders. But its true that capitalism today is manifestly morally bankrupt with no clothes and nowhere to hide except behind a baton, CS gas and tanks.
You are correct to identify the unearned wealth that was acquired through the slave trade but the original [British] capitalist looting took place before that when the colonists stole the [Native American] land to set up colonies; they found that the English ‘peasants’ they transported to the colomies died too quickly.
The moral bankruptcy commenced with the changing of interest on loans, and really took off when the money-lenders began creating loans out of thin air via fractioanl reserve banking.
I like that expression. Yes, the empire has no clothes and is hiding behind batons, CS and tanks.
As peak oil, population overshoot and unravelling of fiat currencies take their toll we must expect those who benefit the most from present arrangements to become ever more vicious in their use of ‘security forces’ the prevent a more equitable distribution of the ever-shrinking ‘cake’.
âThings got out of hand & weâd had a few drinks. We smashed the place up, and Boris set fire to the toilets.â
No, not the words of a looter, but of David Cameron about his fellow Bullingdon hooligan , the London Mayor, Boris Johnson in 1986.
HAHAHA ! Exactly⊠David and Boris are thugs too. Donât seem to see it mentioned anywhere in the press.
The young rioters are just a blue collar amateurish flock compared to the white collar organized professional syndicate of the filthy banksters, politicians in charge of the UK economy.
Morality comes from the example of those in charge. The kids CAN NOT be virtuous if the leaders are THUGS themselves and get away with it.
…………………………………….
The rejection of the ten commandments, moral absolutes and the gospel of Jesus Christ in our education system is coming back to bite us. What do we expect from this generation, or any other section of society, if we teach them that the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest reigns supreme. The New Age idea that we are all little gods precludes the imposition of any type of morality.
If it is not wrong to steal, why should these youths not take what they want from the people around them? Why shouldnât these bankers deal dishonestly with their clients and pocket whatever they can? Why shouldnât politicians fiddle their expenses?
If it is not wrong to kill why shouldnât the driver of that car plough into a crowd of people? Why shouldnât the futures marketeers cause the death of thousands by inflated food prices?
…………………………………………..
Letâs remember, this is in a country that has witnessed increasing dispossession of the masses over the past 30 years â something that is accelerating following the 2008 banking crisis? In this context, young people may very well become the neoliberal entrepreneurs that Max ironically alludes to. In form, their actions are not that different from those of the elite albeit at the âriskâ of pompous condemnation from the likes of posh twats like Cameron.
……………………………………………
.These neoliberal rioters are Thatcherâs legacy. She should be proud of herself.
the looters are also, in large part, doing what they are doing BECAUSE of the shit that has rolled down from the top. No opportunities, hope, future and more and more debt imposed upon them by the âstarsâ of the political and financial gangs.
LiKe Cameron’s days in the Bullingdon club the leader of the LIB DEMS has done some genteel property damage as have the young “rioters” some of whom are being sent to prison for quite trivial property offences but caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Cleggs criminal record! :
As a 16-year-old exchange student in Germany, Mr Clegg was convicted of arson and given a community service sentence after he and a friend set fire to two greenhouses of cacti belonging to a professor. He recalled the misdemeanour during the recent party conference.
A bit like when Boris set fire to the toilets on a Bullingdon rampage! EH CHAPPIES!
It is the height of hypocrisy to castigate Londonâs looters while simultaneously appeasing and coddling bank terrorists at Goldman, JP Morgan, HSBC, RBS, etc. Britainâs Got Riot Talent and hopefully many of these riot-preneurs will start hedge funds and investment banks and provide much needed competition. In other words, Cameron needs to decide if heâll continue to foster a UK economy driven by larceny in the banking sector â Or, try something else. Since he isnât doing anything about financial rape and apartheid in the the City, he should be aware that what goes around comes around.
I wonder what our banker leader think about all this?
Banker Fraud too big too sort out-and of corse they’re our chappies who cut us in on the lolly too, they deserve to get away with it-they have style and image.
UPDATE: Notice that due to PUBLIC wrath, the justice system is working overtime through the weekend to lock up rioters. The wheels of justice can move if the people demand it. So name me one single banker in London that has been arrested and tried for the fraud that saw TRILLIONS stolen from pension funds around the world? The fraud that directly caused the financial collapse that has resulted in millions losing their livelihood? London is THE beating heart of this global financial fraud, so why have none of those responsible been arrested? Why have the population not demanded their expenses-cheating politicians at least give us a whitewash inquiry? Even Lord Hutton will do! The fact is, however, that the British people are mindful of the fact that banker looting benefits them at the expense of hundreds of millions of other people around the world who have had their national wealth and sovereignty transferred to the safe haven of London. [News today: Russian banker steals billions and flees to . . . London, of course.]
More details about posh David Cameron’s Bullingdon Club
A little bit of Genteel rioting was quite acceptable at times old chap.
A number of episodes over many decades have become anecdotal evidence of the Club’s behaviour. Famously, on 12 May 1894 and again on 20 February 1927, after dinner, Bullingdon members smashed almost all the glass of the lights and 468 windows in Peckwater Quad of Christ Church, along with the blinds and doors of the building. As a result, the Club was banned from meeting within 15 miles of Oxford.
While still Prince of Wales, Edward VIII had a certain amount of difficulty in getting his parents’ permission to join the Bullingdon on account of the Club’s reputation. He eventually obtained it only on the understanding that he never join in what was then known as a “Bullingdon blind”, a euphemistic phrase for an evening of drink and song. On hearing of his eventual attendance at one such evening, Queen Mary sent him a telegram requesting that he remove his name from the Club.
Andrew Gimson, biographer of Boris Johnson, reported about the club in the 1980s: “I don’t think an evening would have ended without a restaurant being trashed and being paid for in full, very often in cash. A night in the cells would be regarded as being par for a Buller man and so would debagging* anyone who really attracted the irritation of the Buller men.”
Dinners in recent years, being relatively low key, have not attracted press attention, though in 2005, following damage to a 15th century pub in Oxfordshire during a dinner, four members of the party were arrested; the incident was widely reported. A further dinner was reported in 2010 after damage to a country house.
In the last few years the Bullingdon has been mentioned in the debates of the House of Commons in order to draw attention to excessive behaviour across the British class spectrum, and to embarrass those increasingly prominent MPs who are former members of the Bullingdon. These most notably include David Cameron (UK Prime Minister), George Osborne (UK Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Boris Johnson (Mayor of London). Hansard records eight references to the Bullingdon between 2001 and 2008.
*That’s a bunch of chaps ripping of the trousers of the offending party-“Teach you to be arty round real men!”
I thought this so meaningful I have copied all of it
Life In An Age Of Looting: “Some Will Rob You
With A Sixgun And Some With A Fountain Pen”
By Phil Rockstroh
12 August, 2011
Countercurrents.org
As the poor of Britain rise in a fury of inchoate rage and stock exchanges worldwide experience manic upswings and panicked swoons, the financial elite (and their political operatives) are arrayed in a defensive posture, even as they continue their global-wide, full-spectrum offensive vis-Ă -vie The Shock Doctrine. Concurrently, corporate mass media types fret over the reversal of fortune and trumpet the triumphs of the self-serving agendas of Wall Street and corporate swindlersâŠeven as they term a looter, in ill-gotten possession of a flat screen television, fleeing through the streets of North London, a mindless thug.
According to the through-the-looking-glass cosmology of mass media elitists, when a poor person commits a crime of opportunity, his actions are a threat to all we hold dear and sacred, but, when the hyper-wealthy of the entrenched looter class abscond with billions, those criminals are referred to as our financial leaders.
Regardless of the propaganda of “free market” fantasists, the great unspeakable in regard to capitalism is its wealth, by and large, is generated for a ruthless, privileged few by the creation of bubbles, and, when those bubbles burst, the resultant economic catastrophe inflicts a vastly disproportionate amount of harm upon those — the laboring and middle classes — who generate grossly inequitable amounts of capital for the elitist of the fraudster class…by having the life force drained from them by the vampiric set-up of the gamed system.
Woody Guthrie summed up the situation in these two (unfortunately) ageless stanzas:
“Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered
I’ve seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a sixgun,
And some with a fountain pen.
“And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won’t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.”
–excerpt from Pretty Boy Floyd.
Although, at present, U.S. bank vaults contain little tangible loot for a Pretty Boy Floyd-type outlaw to boost. How would it be possible for an old school bank robber such as Floyd to make-off with a haul of funneling electrons?
Here’s the lowdown: The Wall Street fraudsters of the swindler class want to refill their coffers and line their pockets (that is, offshore accounts) with Social Security and Medicare funds. That’s the nature of the unfolding scam, folks. Oligarchic rule has always been a system defined by legalized looting that leaves a wasteland of want, deprivation, and unfocused rage in its wake.
Consequently, in the U.K. (and beyond): When poor people’s hopes dry up, cities become a tinderbox of dead dreams, and we should not be stricken with shock and consternation when these degraded places are set aflame, nor should we be surprised when the bribed, debt-beholden and commercial media propaganda-bamboozled middle class (who helped create the wasteland with their arid complicity) cry out (predictably) for police state tactics to quell the fiery insurrection.
There have been incidents in which a fire has smoldered for years in an abandoned, sealed-off mineshaft, and then the fire, traveling through the tunnels of the mine, and up the roots of dead, dried trees have caused a dying forest to bloom into flames. The rage that sparks a riot can proceed in a similar manner — and the insular, sealed-off nature of a nation’s elite and the willful ignorance of its middle class will only make the explosion of pent-up rage more powerful when it reaches the surface.
We exist in a culture that, day after day, inundates its have-nots with consumerist propaganda, and then, when the social order breaks down, its wealthy and bourgeoisie alike express outrage when the poor steal consumer goods — as opposed to going out and looting an education and a good job.
Under Disaster Capitalism, the underclass have had economic violence inflicted upon them since birth, yet the corporate state mass media doesn’t seem to notice the situation, until young men burn down the night. Then media elitists wax indignant, carrying on as if these desperate acts are devoid of cultural context.
A mindset has been instilled in these young men and boys that they are nothing sans the accoutrements of consumerism. Yet when they loot an i-Phone, as opposed to creating economy-shredding derivative scams, we’re prompted by the corporate media to become indignant.
When the slow motion, elitist-manipulated mob action known as our faux democratic/consumerist culture deprives people of their basic human rights and personal dignity — then, in turn, we should not be shocked when a mob of the underclass fails to bestow those virtues upon others.
The commercial mass media’s narrative of narrowed context (emotional, anecdotal and unreflective in nature) serves as a form of corporate state propaganda, promulgated to ensure the general population continues to rage against the symptoms rather than the disease of neoliberalism. The false framing of opposing opinions — of those who state the deprivations of neoliberalism factor into the causes of uprisings, insurrections and riots as being apologists for violence and destruction is as preposterous as claiming one is an apologist for dry rot when he points out structural damage to a house due to a leaking roof.
Because of the elements of inverted totalitarianism, inherent within the structure of corporate state capitalism, and internalized within the general population by constant, commercial media re-enforcement, one should not be surprised when a sizable portion of the general populace is inclined to support police state tactics to quell social unrest among the disadvantaged of the population.
Keep in mind: When watching the BBC or the corporate media, one is receiving a limited narrative (tacitly) approved by the global power elite, created by informal arrangements among a careerist cartel comprised of business, governmental and media personality types who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, even if, in doing so, they serve as operatives of a burgeoning police state.
Accordingly, you can’t debate fascist thinking with reason nor empathetic imagination e.g., the self-righteous (and self-serving) pronouncements of mass media representatives nor the attendant outrage of the denizens of the corporate state in their audience — their umbrage engineered by the emotionally laden images with which they have been relentlessly pummeled and plied — because their responses will be borne of (conveniently) lazy generalizations, given impetus by fear-based animus.
Through it all, veiled by disorienting media distractions and political legerdemain, we find ourselves buffeted and bound by the predicament of paradigm lostâŠthat constitutes the onset of the unraveling of the present order.
“The kings of the world are growing old,
and they shall have no inheritors.
Their sons died while they were boys,
and their neurasthenic daughters abandoned
the sick crown to the mob.”
–Rainer Maria Rilke, excerpt from The Kings of the World”
Yet, while there is proliferate evidence that, even as people worldwide are rising up against inequity and exploitation, the economic elite have little inclination to do so much as glimpse the plight of those from whose life blood their immense riches have been wrung, nor hear the admonition of the downtroddenâŠthat they are weary of life on their knees and are awakening to the reality that the con of freedom of choice under corporate state oligarchy is, in fact, a life shackled to the consumerism-addicted/debt-indenturement that comprises the structure of the neoliberal, global company store.
“The rotten masks that divide one man
From another, one man from himself
They crumble
For one enormous moment and we glimpse
The unity that we lost, the desolation
…Of being man, and all its glories
Sharing bread and sun and death
The forgotten astonishment of being alive”
–Octavio Paz, excerpt from “Sunstone”
Accordingly, the most profound act of selfless devotion (commonly called love) in relationship to a society gripped by a sociopathic mode of being is creative resistance. Submission is madness. Sanity entails subversion. The heart insists on it; otherwise, life is only a slog to the graveyard; mouth, full of ashes; heart, a receptacle for dust.
Most of the NZ right, and practically all of the online right, are intellectual pygmies who have abandoned the troublesome requirement of thought to some half arsed Russian women. The funny thing about a Tory article such as this is it belongs to another age of small c conservatism, hopelessly out of place in the world of right wing idiocy that makes up the right mainstream these days.
The two or three that I know are stunningly gorgeous…and can probably use an AK to get a three round grouping on a 50 cent coin at seventy five metres.
The fuckin amazing thing about this is that our own National government are going to continue regardless with their austerity measures, bashing the unions and beneficiaries rights and thinking that there is not going to be a backlash!
I hope that Key and Bennett are taking a good hard look at what went on in Britain over the last few days.
The tragedy is that the top banksters and swindlers will get away with impugnity while the looters who are cought will feel the full force of the law.
Socialist world had a good angle on this the large education cuts demonstrations a few months back could have had more backing from the unions if it had the backing and enough people went out on strike the Tories would be OUT!!
Looting only plays into the hands of the elite and will give them the perfect pretext to bring in a more totalitarian regime.
A nationwide strike where appox 1,500,000 workers stay in bed for a few weeks and not bother going to work will achieve more in halting the NAT/ACT in their tracks.
If a figure like 1,500,000 workers should stay in bed then how would the police deal with that?
The serious fraud office hasn’t got enough money to deal with all the fraudsters it says. But when it comes to the peasants THEY WILL FEEL THE FULL FORCE OF THE LAW
Very interesting. The historian was making good points in general; the other two guests seemed to rush to accuse him of pinning the blame on black culture.
I believe what he was doing was attempting to understand a group mindset and identity from a sociological perspective.
The game has indeed moved away from obvious superficial skin colour.
It explains again how the Mp and National can fit together so easily, hand in glove.
Certainly a rather amazing comentary from the Daily Telegraph. To give them their due they do have a few off (right wing) messages. I haven’t followed Mr Oborne’s career in depth but he has published a couple of columns lately that weren’t the usual sclerotic rghtist crap.
As for Cameron, how pathetic.
‘In his strongest comments yet on the perpetrators of the violence, Mr Cameron said: âThere are pockets of our society that are not only broken, but frankly sick it is a complete lack of responsibility in parts of our society, people allowed to feel that the world owes them something.â
He added: âThe sight of those young people running down streets smashing windows, taking property, looting, laughing as they go â the problem with that is a complete lack of responsibility, a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals. That is what we need to change.â ‘
âThere are pockets of our society that are not only broken, but frankly sick.”
“a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals. That is what we need to change.â
How does that relate to your bankster mates Mr Cameron, or for that matter your dodgy journalistic mates? Or the entirety of your globalist coterie? Are you by any chance yet another hollow man? And doesn’t your finance minister have gangsta connections on yachts in the Med? Resign now.
‘
Here is another good commentary on the causes of the riots by British Labour MP John McDonnell.
Many of the media commentators were particularly struck the large number of very young looters.
This prompted the torys to go into lengthy diatribes in parliament about bad parenting and the teaching of proper moral values in the home – blah, blah, blah.
I thought that John McDonnell’s quote from the young woman who commented that she had never seen her parents together for months due to their working such long hours just to pay the bills, very telling.
Peter Oborne, the man that wrote this obsequious piece of flesh-crawling drivel recently?
David Cameron has the makings of a truly great prime minister
Many of those in No 10 end up as essentially irrelevant figures, but a small few attain genuinely heroic status, says Peter Oborne.
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The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana â or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. Itâs a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealandâs highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes –Â Â Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – âIt is often said that behind every great man is a great womanâ. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their âLadies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxonâ. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Petersâ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes â If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshubâs closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague â whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak â has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
âIt is often said that behind every great man is a great womanâ. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their âLadies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxonâ. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Ministerâs ...
The Coalition Governmentâs plan to âget Auckland movingâ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities sheâs meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Governmentâs archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the Americaâs Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it wonât stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Memberâs Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labourâs change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand Firstâs State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared âco-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te PÄti MÄori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. âIâm calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to âtake back our countryâ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jonesâ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Governmentâs fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Governmentâs miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesnât act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. âIt was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âThe Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend.  âThis travel will focus on a range of New Zealandâs traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,â Mr Peters says.  Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. âRoad safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. âOur relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliamentâs order paper. âThe Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,â Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams wonât be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. âThe coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. âDam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. âI have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. âThe Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023â24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the governmentâs finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Governmentâs Budget objectives. âThe coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says.                                        âThe Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says.  âThese changes are long overdue â the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealandâs growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Ministerâs Prizes for Space today. âNew Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealandâs concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. Â Â âThe Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Educationâs School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. âThere is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âToday I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of Peopleâs Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. âThe use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,â Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. âWeâre sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealandâs ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. Â Â âI am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. âI have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commissionâs online consultation portal.â Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. âComprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. âI would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. âThis is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women donât ...
Good morning, itâs great to be here.  First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Governmentâs ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Governmentâs commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools MÄori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. âThe Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, Iâm proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of todayâs address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and Iâm sorry I canât be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the WhangÄrei site where the facility will be constructed. âNorthland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata MÄori 20 years ago, says MÄori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisationâs 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliamentâs forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the âdisappearanceâ of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people âsequesteredâ in this weekâs raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Itâs Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether youâre a boomer, or an â80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fijiâs Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? â Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems thereâs one luxury most Australians wonât sacrifice â their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Educationâs claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxonâs fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20â24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50â44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayersâ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the Peopleâs Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether youâre facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, itâs always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. Itâs an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting âoff the booksâ illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Governmentâs announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is âshamefulâ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain â a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata MÄori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is âfar-off sightâ. In the contemporary and living language of te reo MÄori, âwhakaataâ as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israelâs war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Governmentâs decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for âDead in Bedâ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research â and large-scale commercialisation. Whatâs beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martinâs favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martinâs fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Heraâs help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. Iâm 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
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A kid comes on tv and says its about respect.
Murdoch papers tapped a kids phone, deleted text, led police to believe she was still alive.
Sorry, but all the harping on, its true, its about the moral decay of the elite.
Why would youth think police could not be trusted? Duh
Great article and I’m absolutely stunned that it appeared in the Telegraph.
Another 200 comments in the last hour (up to 3600 now).
You can always expect a few bad apples in government but it seems the whole damn apple cart is rotting
Brilliant and obvious.
The local example I keep coming back to is the recent revelation that David Henderson, the Auckland property developer, paid a total of $17k tax over 17 years – less than a person on a minimum wage would have paid over that same time. And this is a guy who lived in penthouses and jet-setted around on a millionaires lifestyle and feted as a minor celebrity. That is just despicable when you think about the minimum wage factory worker who gets up at 5am and goes to work and contributes more to society than this guy.
Of course I know all the stats about how the bottom X% pay no net tax and the top Y% pay most net tax etc, and I know all about how the accounting works, and that this is just one example of many, and there are much worse examples etc etc etc, but this one really got me mad, and confirms that something is very corrupt and grossly unfair in the way we do things (regardless of who’s in power).
Bit different from that arch lefty, Adam Smith, who reckoned that workers, and entrepreneurs, should not be taxed. “They produce the wealth”.
He said that taxes should be paid by landowners and owners of money capital. “To put it to more productive use”.
Most of the new right havn’t got past Machiavelli, or the Marque de Sade, in their economic education.
The wealthy realise that its more money faster if you break a country down and sell it off, not build it up over generations.
I too am stunned this appeared in the well known lefty rag The Telegraph. /sarc
I guess we can only rejoice that even the right wing media are havingthe discussion. Are the old school conservatives prizing themselves away from the neo-liberals?
Here’s another goodie..
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/75626
Only problem with this view is that this moral bankruptcy was there from the start. The original capitalist looting was the slave trade. Its nice that the descendants of the slaves are now revolting against the descendants of the old Etonian slave traders. But its true that capitalism today is manifestly morally bankrupt with no clothes and nowhere to hide except behind a baton, CS gas and tanks.
You are correct to identify the unearned wealth that was acquired through the slave trade but the original [British] capitalist looting took place before that when the colonists stole the [Native American] land to set up colonies; they found that the English ‘peasants’ they transported to the colomies died too quickly.
The moral bankruptcy commenced with the changing of interest on loans, and really took off when the money-lenders began creating loans out of thin air via fractioanl reserve banking.
I like that expression. Yes, the empire has no clothes and is hiding behind batons, CS and tanks.
As peak oil, population overshoot and unravelling of fiat currencies take their toll we must expect those who benefit the most from present arrangements to become ever more vicious in their use of ‘security forces’ the prevent a more equitable distribution of the ever-shrinking ‘cake’.
Yeah I was being poetic with history đ
âThings got out of hand & weâd had a few drinks. We smashed the place up, and Boris set fire to the toilets.â
No, not the words of a looter, but of David Cameron about his fellow Bullingdon hooligan , the London Mayor, Boris Johnson in 1986.
HAHAHA ! Exactly⊠David and Boris are thugs too. Donât seem to see it mentioned anywhere in the press.
The young rioters are just a blue collar amateurish flock compared to the white collar organized professional syndicate of the filthy banksters, politicians in charge of the UK economy.
Morality comes from the example of those in charge. The kids CAN NOT be virtuous if the leaders are THUGS themselves and get away with it.
…………………………………….
The rejection of the ten commandments, moral absolutes and the gospel of Jesus Christ in our education system is coming back to bite us. What do we expect from this generation, or any other section of society, if we teach them that the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest reigns supreme. The New Age idea that we are all little gods precludes the imposition of any type of morality.
If it is not wrong to steal, why should these youths not take what they want from the people around them? Why shouldnât these bankers deal dishonestly with their clients and pocket whatever they can? Why shouldnât politicians fiddle their expenses?
If it is not wrong to kill why shouldnât the driver of that car plough into a crowd of people? Why shouldnât the futures marketeers cause the death of thousands by inflated food prices?
…………………………………………..
Letâs remember, this is in a country that has witnessed increasing dispossession of the masses over the past 30 years â something that is accelerating following the 2008 banking crisis? In this context, young people may very well become the neoliberal entrepreneurs that Max ironically alludes to. In form, their actions are not that different from those of the elite albeit at the âriskâ of pompous condemnation from the likes of posh twats like Cameron.
……………………………………………
.These neoliberal rioters are Thatcherâs legacy. She should be proud of herself.
the looters are also, in large part, doing what they are doing BECAUSE of the shit that has rolled down from the top. No opportunities, hope, future and more and more debt imposed upon them by the âstarsâ of the political and financial gangs.
LiKe Cameron’s days in the Bullingdon club the leader of the LIB DEMS has done some genteel property damage as have the young “rioters” some of whom are being sent to prison for quite trivial property offences but caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Cleggs criminal record! :
As a 16-year-old exchange student in Germany, Mr Clegg was convicted of arson and given a community service sentence after he and a friend set fire to two greenhouses of cacti belonging to a professor. He recalled the misdemeanour during the recent party conference.
A bit like when Boris set fire to the toilets on a Bullingdon rampage! EH CHAPPIES!
It is the height of hypocrisy to castigate Londonâs looters while simultaneously appeasing and coddling bank terrorists at Goldman, JP Morgan, HSBC, RBS, etc. Britainâs Got Riot Talent and hopefully many of these riot-preneurs will start hedge funds and investment banks and provide much needed competition. In other words, Cameron needs to decide if heâll continue to foster a UK economy driven by larceny in the banking sector â Or, try something else. Since he isnât doing anything about financial rape and apartheid in the the City, he should be aware that what goes around comes around.
I wonder what our banker leader think about all this?
Banker Fraud too big too sort out-and of corse they’re our chappies who cut us in on the lolly too, they deserve to get away with it-they have style and image.
UPDATE: Notice that due to PUBLIC wrath, the justice system is working overtime through the weekend to lock up rioters. The wheels of justice can move if the people demand it. So name me one single banker in London that has been arrested and tried for the fraud that saw TRILLIONS stolen from pension funds around the world? The fraud that directly caused the financial collapse that has resulted in millions losing their livelihood? London is THE beating heart of this global financial fraud, so why have none of those responsible been arrested? Why have the population not demanded their expenses-cheating politicians at least give us a whitewash inquiry? Even Lord Hutton will do! The fact is, however, that the British people are mindful of the fact that banker looting benefits them at the expense of hundreds of millions of other people around the world who have had their national wealth and sovereignty transferred to the safe haven of London. [News today: Russian banker steals billions and flees to . . . London, of course.]
Hmmm. Putin is not going to be pleased, and Putin has ways of executing justice which does not rely on extraditions or the court system.
I couldn’t agree more with Mr Osborne. I particularly liked this bit:
Although I would argue that many politician’s are worse than animals.
More details about posh David Cameron’s Bullingdon Club
A little bit of Genteel rioting was quite acceptable at times old chap.
A number of episodes over many decades have become anecdotal evidence of the Club’s behaviour. Famously, on 12 May 1894 and again on 20 February 1927, after dinner, Bullingdon members smashed almost all the glass of the lights and 468 windows in Peckwater Quad of Christ Church, along with the blinds and doors of the building. As a result, the Club was banned from meeting within 15 miles of Oxford.
While still Prince of Wales, Edward VIII had a certain amount of difficulty in getting his parents’ permission to join the Bullingdon on account of the Club’s reputation. He eventually obtained it only on the understanding that he never join in what was then known as a “Bullingdon blind”, a euphemistic phrase for an evening of drink and song. On hearing of his eventual attendance at one such evening, Queen Mary sent him a telegram requesting that he remove his name from the Club.
Andrew Gimson, biographer of Boris Johnson, reported about the club in the 1980s: “I don’t think an evening would have ended without a restaurant being trashed and being paid for in full, very often in cash. A night in the cells would be regarded as being par for a Buller man and so would debagging* anyone who really attracted the irritation of the Buller men.”
Dinners in recent years, being relatively low key, have not attracted press attention, though in 2005, following damage to a 15th century pub in Oxfordshire during a dinner, four members of the party were arrested; the incident was widely reported. A further dinner was reported in 2010 after damage to a country house.
In the last few years the Bullingdon has been mentioned in the debates of the House of Commons in order to draw attention to excessive behaviour across the British class spectrum, and to embarrass those increasingly prominent MPs who are former members of the Bullingdon. These most notably include David Cameron (UK Prime Minister), George Osborne (UK Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Boris Johnson (Mayor of London). Hansard records eight references to the Bullingdon between 2001 and 2008.
*That’s a bunch of chaps ripping of the trousers of the offending party-“Teach you to be arty round real men!”
I thought this so meaningful I have copied all of it
Life In An Age Of Looting: “Some Will Rob You
With A Sixgun And Some With A Fountain Pen”
By Phil Rockstroh
12 August, 2011
Countercurrents.org
As the poor of Britain rise in a fury of inchoate rage and stock exchanges worldwide experience manic upswings and panicked swoons, the financial elite (and their political operatives) are arrayed in a defensive posture, even as they continue their global-wide, full-spectrum offensive vis-Ă -vie The Shock Doctrine. Concurrently, corporate mass media types fret over the reversal of fortune and trumpet the triumphs of the self-serving agendas of Wall Street and corporate swindlersâŠeven as they term a looter, in ill-gotten possession of a flat screen television, fleeing through the streets of North London, a mindless thug.
According to the through-the-looking-glass cosmology of mass media elitists, when a poor person commits a crime of opportunity, his actions are a threat to all we hold dear and sacred, but, when the hyper-wealthy of the entrenched looter class abscond with billions, those criminals are referred to as our financial leaders.
Regardless of the propaganda of “free market” fantasists, the great unspeakable in regard to capitalism is its wealth, by and large, is generated for a ruthless, privileged few by the creation of bubbles, and, when those bubbles burst, the resultant economic catastrophe inflicts a vastly disproportionate amount of harm upon those — the laboring and middle classes — who generate grossly inequitable amounts of capital for the elitist of the fraudster class…by having the life force drained from them by the vampiric set-up of the gamed system.
Woody Guthrie summed up the situation in these two (unfortunately) ageless stanzas:
“Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered
I’ve seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a sixgun,
And some with a fountain pen.
“And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won’t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.”
–excerpt from Pretty Boy Floyd.
Although, at present, U.S. bank vaults contain little tangible loot for a Pretty Boy Floyd-type outlaw to boost. How would it be possible for an old school bank robber such as Floyd to make-off with a haul of funneling electrons?
Here’s the lowdown: The Wall Street fraudsters of the swindler class want to refill their coffers and line their pockets (that is, offshore accounts) with Social Security and Medicare funds. That’s the nature of the unfolding scam, folks. Oligarchic rule has always been a system defined by legalized looting that leaves a wasteland of want, deprivation, and unfocused rage in its wake.
Consequently, in the U.K. (and beyond): When poor people’s hopes dry up, cities become a tinderbox of dead dreams, and we should not be stricken with shock and consternation when these degraded places are set aflame, nor should we be surprised when the bribed, debt-beholden and commercial media propaganda-bamboozled middle class (who helped create the wasteland with their arid complicity) cry out (predictably) for police state tactics to quell the fiery insurrection.
There have been incidents in which a fire has smoldered for years in an abandoned, sealed-off mineshaft, and then the fire, traveling through the tunnels of the mine, and up the roots of dead, dried trees have caused a dying forest to bloom into flames. The rage that sparks a riot can proceed in a similar manner — and the insular, sealed-off nature of a nation’s elite and the willful ignorance of its middle class will only make the explosion of pent-up rage more powerful when it reaches the surface.
We exist in a culture that, day after day, inundates its have-nots with consumerist propaganda, and then, when the social order breaks down, its wealthy and bourgeoisie alike express outrage when the poor steal consumer goods — as opposed to going out and looting an education and a good job.
Under Disaster Capitalism, the underclass have had economic violence inflicted upon them since birth, yet the corporate state mass media doesn’t seem to notice the situation, until young men burn down the night. Then media elitists wax indignant, carrying on as if these desperate acts are devoid of cultural context.
A mindset has been instilled in these young men and boys that they are nothing sans the accoutrements of consumerism. Yet when they loot an i-Phone, as opposed to creating economy-shredding derivative scams, we’re prompted by the corporate media to become indignant.
When the slow motion, elitist-manipulated mob action known as our faux democratic/consumerist culture deprives people of their basic human rights and personal dignity — then, in turn, we should not be shocked when a mob of the underclass fails to bestow those virtues upon others.
The commercial mass media’s narrative of narrowed context (emotional, anecdotal and unreflective in nature) serves as a form of corporate state propaganda, promulgated to ensure the general population continues to rage against the symptoms rather than the disease of neoliberalism. The false framing of opposing opinions — of those who state the deprivations of neoliberalism factor into the causes of uprisings, insurrections and riots as being apologists for violence and destruction is as preposterous as claiming one is an apologist for dry rot when he points out structural damage to a house due to a leaking roof.
Because of the elements of inverted totalitarianism, inherent within the structure of corporate state capitalism, and internalized within the general population by constant, commercial media re-enforcement, one should not be surprised when a sizable portion of the general populace is inclined to support police state tactics to quell social unrest among the disadvantaged of the population.
Keep in mind: When watching the BBC or the corporate media, one is receiving a limited narrative (tacitly) approved by the global power elite, created by informal arrangements among a careerist cartel comprised of business, governmental and media personality types who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, even if, in doing so, they serve as operatives of a burgeoning police state.
Accordingly, you can’t debate fascist thinking with reason nor empathetic imagination e.g., the self-righteous (and self-serving) pronouncements of mass media representatives nor the attendant outrage of the denizens of the corporate state in their audience — their umbrage engineered by the emotionally laden images with which they have been relentlessly pummeled and plied — because their responses will be borne of (conveniently) lazy generalizations, given impetus by fear-based animus.
Through it all, veiled by disorienting media distractions and political legerdemain, we find ourselves buffeted and bound by the predicament of paradigm lostâŠthat constitutes the onset of the unraveling of the present order.
“The kings of the world are growing old,
and they shall have no inheritors.
Their sons died while they were boys,
and their neurasthenic daughters abandoned
the sick crown to the mob.”
–Rainer Maria Rilke, excerpt from The Kings of the World”
Yet, while there is proliferate evidence that, even as people worldwide are rising up against inequity and exploitation, the economic elite have little inclination to do so much as glimpse the plight of those from whose life blood their immense riches have been wrung, nor hear the admonition of the downtroddenâŠthat they are weary of life on their knees and are awakening to the reality that the con of freedom of choice under corporate state oligarchy is, in fact, a life shackled to the consumerism-addicted/debt-indenturement that comprises the structure of the neoliberal, global company store.
“The rotten masks that divide one man
From another, one man from himself
They crumble
For one enormous moment and we glimpse
The unity that we lost, the desolation
…Of being man, and all its glories
Sharing bread and sun and death
The forgotten astonishment of being alive”
–Octavio Paz, excerpt from “Sunstone”
Accordingly, the most profound act of selfless devotion (commonly called love) in relationship to a society gripped by a sociopathic mode of being is creative resistance. Submission is madness. Sanity entails subversion. The heart insists on it; otherwise, life is only a slog to the graveyard; mouth, full of ashes; heart, a receptacle for dust.
Phil Rockstroh is a poet, lyricist and philosopher bard living in New York City. He may be contacted at: phil@philrockstroh.com . Visit Phil’s website http://philrockstroh.com / And at FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100…
No less true hereâŠ
Most of the NZ right, and practically all of the online right, are intellectual pygmies who have abandoned the troublesome requirement of thought to some half arsed Russian women. The funny thing about a Tory article such as this is it belongs to another age of small c conservatism, hopelessly out of place in the world of right wing idiocy that makes up the right mainstream these days.
I’m struggling to see where the russian women are involved?
Me too, most Russian women I have seen could never be called “half arsed”
The two or three that I know are stunningly gorgeous…and can probably use an AK to get a three round grouping on a 50 cent coin at seventy five metres.
I think Sanctuary must have meant Ayn Rand (woman with an a), I hope there aren’t more than one of that ilk, Russian or otherwise.
Ah yes the plural threw me out there, thanks.
Ayn Rand. Surely a pseudonym?
‘Rand was born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum . . . .
She was the eldest of the three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum and Anna Borisovna Rosenbaum, largely non-observant Jews.’
see the wikip
Not a Slav as such. Not today’s Russian blonde beauty stereotype as email bride.
LET’S STAY IN BED ! ! !
That was a very good article by Peter Oborne another good one was by Laurie Panny at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
The fuckin amazing thing about this is that our own National government are going to continue regardless with their austerity measures, bashing the unions and beneficiaries rights and thinking that there is not going to be a backlash!
I hope that Key and Bennett are taking a good hard look at what went on in Britain over the last few days.
The tragedy is that the top banksters and swindlers will get away with impugnity while the looters who are cought will feel the full force of the law.
Socialist world had a good angle on this the large education cuts demonstrations a few months back could have had more backing from the unions if it had the backing and enough people went out on strike the Tories would be OUT!!
Looting only plays into the hands of the elite and will give them the perfect pretext to bring in a more totalitarian regime.
A nationwide strike where appox 1,500,000 workers stay in bed for a few weeks and not bother going to work will achieve more in halting the NAT/ACT in their tracks.
If a figure like 1,500,000 workers should stay in bed then how would the police deal with that?
Haha a general strike which isn’t a general strike.
It’d be better just to have a mass mental health day off, arrange some activities in the parks, picnics and a few concerts.
See how much actual ROI the “wealth producing” capitalists can make without the input of labour eh. My guess is sweet FA.
The serious fraud office hasn’t got enough money to deal with all the fraudsters it says. But when it comes to the peasants THEY WILL FEEL THE FULL FORCE OF THE LAW
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14513517
Very interesting. The historian was making good points in general; the other two guests seemed to rush to accuse him of pinning the blame on black culture.
I believe what he was doing was attempting to understand a group mindset and identity from a sociological perspective.
The game has indeed moved away from obvious superficial skin colour.
It explains again how the Mp and National can fit together so easily, hand in glove.
Certainly a rather amazing comentary from the Daily Telegraph. To give them their due they do have a few off (right wing) messages. I haven’t followed Mr Oborne’s career in depth but he has published a couple of columns lately that weren’t the usual sclerotic rghtist crap.
As for Cameron, how pathetic.
‘In his strongest comments yet on the perpetrators of the violence, Mr Cameron said: âThere are pockets of our society that are not only broken, but frankly sick it is a complete lack of responsibility in parts of our society, people allowed to feel that the world owes them something.â
He added: âThe sight of those young people running down streets smashing windows, taking property, looting, laughing as they go â the problem with that is a complete lack of responsibility, a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals. That is what we need to change.â ‘
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8694401/London-riots-water-cannons-to-be-used-on-sick-society.html
âThere are pockets of our society that are not only broken, but frankly sick.”
“a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals. That is what we need to change.â
How does that relate to your bankster mates Mr Cameron, or for that matter your dodgy journalistic mates? Or the entirety of your globalist coterie? Are you by any chance yet another hollow man? And doesn’t your finance minister have gangsta connections on yachts in the Med? Resign now.
‘
Here is another good commentary on the causes of the riots by British Labour MP John McDonnell.
Many of the media commentators were particularly struck the large number of very young looters.
This prompted the torys to go into lengthy diatribes in parliament about bad parenting and the teaching of proper moral values in the home – blah, blah, blah.
I thought that John McDonnell’s quote from the young woman who commented that she had never seen her parents together for months due to their working such long hours just to pay the bills, very telling.
See McDonnell’s speech on youtube, here.
Peter Oborne, the man that wrote this obsequious piece of flesh-crawling drivel recently?
David Cameron has the makings of a truly great prime minister
Many of those in No 10 end up as essentially irrelevant figures, but a small few attain genuinely heroic status, says Peter Oborne.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/8514174/David-Cameron-has-the-makings-of-a-truly-great-prime-minister.html
While you’re at it, check out Deputy PM Nick Clegg getting quizzed about his “form” for arson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ueBCWaWNcY&feature=player_embedded
Delingpole’s article seemed to be well received too
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100101201/london-riots-cameron-has-learned-nothing-will-do-nothing/