Calls for Key to resign

Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, November 25th, 2014 - 161 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, accountability, john key - Tags: ,

Goff:

Goff calls on PM to apologise or resign

“The Prime Minister should resign, everybody else has … look I think it’s a very serious matter, if he can’t own up to it , if he can’t apologise, if he can’t give the guarantee then my belief is that he ought not to be Prime Minister of New Zealand.”

https://twitter.com/MatthewHootonNZ/status/537010866474848256

https://twitter.com/MatthewHootonNZ/status/537016980528566272

161 comments on “Calls for Key to resign ”

  1. Iron Sky 1

    Government uses Leaderless Resistance to its Own Ends?

    An ironic twist? The Government increases surveillance to fight terrorists/subversives yet maybe using the very same tactics of Leaderless Resistance to further its own ends. Note, that in the entire document John Key was only mentioned once (funny also how he always seems to be missing when invited to comment). Now consider this section from the Report (again no mention of JK):

    “14. I have not found any partisan political motive on the part of the NZSIS or its Director”

    It’s all directed at the SIS.

    In addition it appears the SIS & the PMO combined have no idea on protocol? So who has GOVERNANCE over that, John Key or the tooth fairy? He did not do his JOB.

    Now filter that thought, just for the fun of it, through this definition of Leaderless Resistance, taking into consideration the MSMs work in the recent election and Ede et al:

    “A typical covert cell operates as anything from a lone individual to a small group. The basic characteristic of the structure is that there is no explicit communication between cells which are otherwise acting toward the same goals. Members of one cell usually have little or no specific information on who else is agitating on behalf of their cause.

    Leaderless movements may have symbolic figureheads. It can be a public figure or an inspirational author, who picks generic targets and objectives, but does not actually manage or execute plans. Media, in this case, often create a positive feedback loop: the publishing of declarations of a movement’s role model instills motivation, ideas and assumed sympathy in the minds of potential agitators who lend further authority to the figurehead.[citation needed] While this may be loosely viewed as a vertical command structure, it is notably unidirectional: a titular leader makes pronouncements, and activists may respond, but there is no established contact between the two levels of organization.”

    It is possible that these people (who are hardly “Lone Wolves”), do hunt in packs (cells) enabling them to deny any collusion with other packs that run to the same political theme.

    Oh, I think they call that dirty politics (2 track system)?

    So, if one wants to find, better evidence “themes” it may be gleaned in following a longitudinal study of key and peripheral individuals. Maybe you have to look at their past histories, political, business and social interactions (i.e. if they are recording conversations, GPS tracks etc). They were listening to people’s phone calls after all.

    So would it be worthwhile to extend to a wider timeline?

    In parallel to this we have the Government wanting warrant less surveillance to track a variety of threats (individuals & groups). So if an individual/group were organised and followed a Leaderless Resistance model it would probably require almost 24/7 analysis of all NZers to determine themes. If said individuals utilised such a model wouldn’t they would effectively go underground and polish up on their “don’t stand out from the fxxxing crowed skills”.

    Actually, did we know of Ede and Phil de Joux before all of this dirty politics sager? Theyre looking a little leaderless

    There is a good articles on The Myth of the Big Bad Lone Wolf, and it describes how Trying to stop lone-wolf terrorists — much less mentally ill murderers — is a waste of law enforcement’s time and money.

    “In the FBI, trying to prevent these type of lone wolf attacks is a Sisyphean task known among agents as a BFWAT, or Big Fucking Waste of an Agent’s Time.”
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/25/myth_big_bad_lone_wolf_terorrism_canada

    Yes, surveillance is asymmetric (costs alot in terms of rights, money etc) in nature, and in the right circumstances warranted. However, how does the “Government” conduct surveillance on itself and the very people who influence our future, particularly if they adopt “Leaderless Resistance” type models? Maybe start with better Governance? That was your job John.

    If we ignore books like Dirty Politics, which in itself, is a surveillance of the status quo what then.

    In addition if the recent if the assertion:
    “In the FBI, trying to prevent these type of lone wolf attacks is a Sisyphean task known among agents as a BFWAT, or Big Fucking Waste of an Agent’s Time.”
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/25/myth_big_bad_lone_wolf_terorrism_canada

    What’s to stop sophisticated “Lone Wolves” from entering parliament?

    Wherer was the Governance John

    Now where is red riding hood.

      • Chooky 1.1.1

        +100 Iron Sky…it is the thin edge of the wedge (excuse ) towards a police state serving John Key

        …in other word the inversion of this ‘paranoia’ is a fascist spying state on its citizens …which is the breakdown of a civil society based on trust and care between all individuals …

      • Chooky 1.1.2

        “What’s to stop sophisticated “Lone Wolves” from entering parliament?”…you mean psychopaths, fifth columnists, Hitlers?

    • Tracey 1.2

      Labour must stand up today and state that
      This govt and our secret services cannot yet be trusted with the serious right to surveil nzers without warrant until they prove, by actions not deeds, that they are worthy of our Trust. This government and those it appoints to work for it from cabinet ministers to PM press staff have shown themselves singularly incapable of self regulation. Their judgment and ethics are deeply flawed.

      Until that is proven to change the labour party will not entrust the privacy of nzers to them and will not budge from the notion that all kiwis are innocent until by lawful means they are found guilty.

      • karol 1.2.1

        Metiria Turei asked a question to Finlayson along those lines. Finlayson calls her allegations against Kitteridge and the SIS head interfering in elections “malignant” “filth” that does no credit to the co-leader of a party.

        geez… this arrogant government defends itself with vicious, ill-founded attacks.

        • Tracey 1.2.1.1

          so, he didnt deny the sis and the govt cant be trusted…

        • The Al1en 1.2.1.2

          “geez… this arrogant government defends itself with vicious, ill-founded attacks.”

          Not unexpected given their track record
          Poo poos their moral high ground over left wing blogs. Sounds like they’re exactly the same as the worst elements on all of them, except they get paid lots for it when most others do it for free or the crumbs of the table if you’re a whale.

        • emergency mike 1.2.1.3

          As the the speaker moves on to the next question you can hear him clearly call her a “disgusting creature”.

          Findlayson is one of the weirdest of all. I’ve always seen him as a particularly dead-eyed self-impressed elitist wannabe snob. People of such naked unprincipled vanity are easily used by people like Key.

          • Sans Cle 1.2.1.3.1

            Unbelievable! And Carter sniggers at the “disgusting creature” comment from Findlayson. Kids in a playground have better behaviour than the National Party. What a farce of an afternoon in Parliament. I feel sick to the core that this is what the country voted back in (with the help of well oiled smear campaigns, complicit MSM etc etc etc). New Zealand, we deserve better than this.

        • North 1.2.1.4

          Finlayson’s a caricature of an Old World Downton Abbey git……so adept in the questionable ‘art’ of toffy Wellington ‘drinks parties’ that you just gotta admire, and chuckle.

          A fellow who studiedly honours the butter knife, even while dining alone. Lives and breathes under the patronage of TheGodKey. He will, being somewhat thespian, perform as bidden. Jowl-shakingly so if threatened.

          The pearl clutching and outrage ain’t half bad but really we should kindly ignore Mr Attorney-General. The Tory Party’s resident anachronsim, exceedingly low bow and cocktail party grimace to rival the best of Edwardian drama. In other words fuckwit in the new century…….doing no more than pulling handsome pay.

      • Chooky 1.2.2

        +100 Tracey “This govt and our secret services cannot yet be trusted with the serious right to surveil nzers without warrant …”

      • MrSmith 1.2.3

        “Labour must stand up today and state that
This govt and our secret services cannot yet be trusted with the serious right to surveil nzers without warrant until they prove, by actions not deeds, that they are worthy of our Trust.”

        Exactly:
        So the first thing Labour do is roll over for a tummy rub on this issue, showing they are part of the problem.

        Eventually this, ‘if one person dies it’s to many’ bullshit must stop, the price of freedom is people are going to die, the alternative is a place where we are rapped in cotton wool, then watched and tracked 24 hrs a day, politicians continually use hysteria to take away our liberty and privacy.

        Labour clearly don’t have a problem with this and then wonder why their party keep imploding, stand up Labour and grow a spine.

        • Tracey 1.2.3.1

          yup… not surprised but it means they are heading toward nats voters not green voters.

        • Murray Rawshark 1.2.3.2

          They possibly need to grow a spine before they can stand up. In any case, I’d like to see them try it for once.

  2. Tracey 2

    Apparently real men only say sorry to other real men..

    So much made of Cunliffe talking about being sorry to be a man when talking to a room full of rape victims or advocates got alot of mileage… Very little made of the PMs almost pathalogical block to saying sorry. No wait he said sorry to slater who has caused immense suffering by his own words and deeds with never a sideway glance.

  3. Tracey 3

    Has Peter Dunne spoken up yet. He didnt read Dirty Politics and called it muckraking. But if you read UFs principles a couple almost demand he reads it and comments on the two reports today.

    PRINCIPLES

    The key principles that United Future is based on are:

    A fair, democratic and open society, founded on the rule of law, integrity and justice, committed to the fundamental values of respect for life, liberty, equality and community, including:
    Freedom of political choice through free elections;
    Freedom of speech, information and assembly;
    Freedom of belief and religious expression;
    Integrity and truth as essential to all relationships between individuals, communities and Government.
    Self-reliance, personal responsibility and independence, and proper reward for effort.
    Economic freedom through an open market economy, and the promotion of innovation, creativity and wealth for the individual and collective benefit of both employers and employees, balanced by a recognition of wider social responsibility and the need to protect the natural environment.
    The family (including wider family and whanau) as the primary unit for a sustainable society and its interdependence with strong, caring and compassionate community organisations, such as churches, schools, charitable and other service groups.
    A modern multicultural society which encourages social harmony and unity through respect for individual differences and cultural diversity and:
    Which recognises New Zealand’s bicultural heritage arising from the Treaty of Waitangi;
    Which encourages responsible citizenship based on mutual respect;
    Where the framework and rule of law applies equally to all.
    Where no one is enslaved by poverty or ignorance, and every child has the best possible start in life.

    A partnership between New Zealanders and their Government where:

    Individuals balance freedom of choice and opportunity with the responsibility of living in community with other people;
    The Government seeks to empower individuals, families and communities through values based leadership including protecting the weak and those at risk and requiring responsible behaviour of all people.

    • weka 3.1

      Am expecting Dunne’s Grima Wormtoungue along any minute now to tell us all that the real issue here is that the person behing Notices and Features was biased in their selection of tweets 😉

  4. Chooky 4

    Paul Buchanan , Security Analyst , is damning about the SIS and Prime Minister’s Office…

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20158532/security-analyst-says-sis-and-pms-office-unprofessional

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1

      And what he says on his blog is also good:

      Short of taking monetary or personal favours, this is official malfeasance of the first order and is corrosive of the professional integrity of the intelligence community. Shame on all involved.

  5. karol 5

    What a disgusting performance by Key in Question Time today. Not worthy of a PM. He treated the whole issue of the Gwyn Report and its substance, and one big joke, and blame shifted constantly to Goff.

    Nasty, diversionary, against the spirit of transparency and democracy.

    Tricky, slippery, arrogant.

    • Tracey 5.1

      The only emotional response he appears to have to anything is humour…

      • wyndham 5.1.1

        Never seen Key so hyped up – – – almost out of control and constantly reprimanded by the Speaker.

        What is he on ?

        • Tracey 5.1.1.1

          He wont have slept cos he would have been undergoing his practice of the crosby textor lines for today all night.

          He is used to his lies being believed but even he may be finding it hard to believe this one is being bought.

          There is a singular lack of right wing apologists on here today. Fizzi briefly. Alwyn playing the nothing to see here card… Almost makes you think they have all been busy somewhere else today… And last night

      • Ffloyd 5.1.2

        That’s not humour. It’s vitriol. He runs on hatred. Very disturbed person. His time is running out and he knows it.

    • Chooky 5.2

      …. as Mike Williams points out on Ninetonoon , Phil Goff was made to look incompetent or a liar just before an Election which was lost by Phil Goff and Labour by only a few thousand votes ( this could have swung the Election)

      (http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20158544/political-commentators-on-the-gwyn-inquiry )

      Democracy was undermined and is being undermined with John Key as leader

      • alwyn 5.2.1

        ” Phil Goff was made to look incompetent or a liar just before an Election ”

        I would agree that Phil Goff was made to look incompetent “just before an election” but this wasn’t it.
        The OIA release was on 2 August 2011, almost four months before the election that was held on 26 November 2011.

        The actual date on which Goff was made to look a complete idiot was three months later than the OIA release. It was on 3 November 2011 in the debate when Goff was left stuttering with Key’s simple request “Show me the money”. That was the event that showed that Goff was an ass.

        You also have an interesting view on what a “few” is. You say that ” Election which was lost by Phil Goff and Labour by only a few thousand votes “.
        Perhaps you have forgotten but National received 1,058,636 votes and Labour got 614,937. I would have thought that 443,699 was a bit more that a “few thousand”.

        • Chooky 5.2.1.1

          @ alwyn…….Suggest people should listen to that link and make up their own minds about your arguments…

          http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20158544/political-commentators-on-the-gwyn-inquiry

          Mike Williams states ..(.re Ede’s liaison with Slater to seek information from the SIS)….. “it should put in context . This was during an Election campaign….where Phil Goff and the Labour party came within 10,000 votes of the ability to form a government…so this conspiracy, and it clearly is a conspiracy, may well have saved John Key’s bacon ”

          For Mike Williams it is …. unpredented… possibility of a lot more to be discovered further …unbelievable
          .
          Looks like Tucker edited the report to make Goff look either incompetent or a liar ….Hager’s book was correct…. despite Key’s denials and reaction to Hager’s book

          • Tracey 5.2.1.1.1

            you mean alwyns spinning and deliberately misrepresenting. he does seem to have moved into spin mode this last 2 days

            • alwyn 5.2.1.1.1.1

              You can give some evidence for this can you Tracey?
              What in this comment is deliberating misrepresenting for example?

              • Tracey

                just keep diverting alwyn… your ethics are showing

                • alwyn

                  In other words you can’t show anything that I have been misrepresenting can you?

                  • Tracey

                    Thats the way, make yourself feel beetter

                    • alwyn

                      Since Chooky seems to have gone AWOL, but you seem to still think that I am “misrepresenting things” when I comment on the fact that Labour would have needed far more than 10,000 votes to have been able to form a Government in 2011 perhaps you will tell me what is wrong with the calculation I have posted just below here
                      http://thestandard.org.nz/calls-for-key-to-resign/#comment-931391
                      You are so sure I am sure you can point out the flaw. Well I’m not actually because there isn’t one.
                      Do try. I’m sure a person like you will think of something.

                    • Tracey

                      Were your eyes welling up?

                      Your spinning is that you have taken the opportunity to deflect so eagerly, still pursue it and have been basically silent on the topic. You did it for almost two days. Now I shall leave the last word for you.

                    • McFlock

                      5000 for Maori party to lose their electorate.
                      2200 and banks loses epsom
                      1300 and the hairdo is gone from ohariu

                      Then those peope switch theirs party votes as well, then 1000 isn’t too far off.
                      But feel free to quibble about whether 10,000 or 30,000 votes might have swung the election for Labour without the SIS assisting national.

                    • alwyn

                      @McFlock.
                      What a wonderful piece of logic. Is this a serious proposition?
                      Can I suggest a simple alternative example for your parallel world?
                      Do you realise that Andrew Little would have been out of Parliament if one of the 2014 Parliamentary candidates had received a mere 711 extra votes?
                      If Anderson in Ohariu had got 711 more votes she would have entered Parliament, Little would have been out and Robertson would be the Leader. My god Grant will be unhappy won’t he.? What a ridiculous hypothesis you propose.
                      In the words that little children used to snigger at. “If my Aunt had balls she’d be my Uncle”.

                    • alwyn

                      @McFlock.
                      I got interested in your theory so I tried the following for the 2011 election.
                      Gave Labour all three of the Maori Party seats (This was 2011 remember) No Maori Party
                      Also gave the Ohariu so Peter Dunn has gone.
                      Gave Epsom to Labourl so Banks would have gone.
                      Gave Labour 35,000 more party votes.
                      The result had National governing alone with 61 seats in a 120 seat Parliament.
                      I had to give Labour 60,000 more votes before I got National down to 59 seats and the sum of all the others up to 61.
                      It wasn’t nearly as close as Mike Williams likes to claim was it?

                    • McFlock

                      Lol, so you poor scorn on the idea that only a few thousand votes could have swayed the election, and your fallback was to argue that hypotheticals are pointless.

                      Then you do the math when you finally have something to talk about, and pretend you never moved from position A, the literal interpretation of the numbers, as opposed to the election was fucking close, and the SIS assisted the national party.

                      0.83% being their majority after you decided to know what you were talikng about?

                      Yeah, no way in fuck calling goff a liar would have affected that,/i> /sarc

          • alwyn 5.2.1.1.2

            I never bothered to listen to the item on the radio.
            I was really commenting on the wording of your comment about the “just before” and “a few thousand”.

            To form a Government, even if the got another however many thousand votes (and I haven’t bothered to check how many would have been enough since it never happened) they would have had to get every other party to go along. Getting Winston and the Greens to co-operate would have been like herding cats. Then they would have needed to persuade Dunne (probably possible) and Maori and Mana to happily coexist. It was never going to happen.
            Incidentally I regard a “few” as being two or three.

            I would still argue that we can’t really consider four months as close to the election and I don’t think the general public gave a damn. It was the debate that wiped Goff out.

            Mike Williams is of course a former Labour Party President. He is also the man who wandered off to Australia in the middle of a campaign with his claim that he was going to find the “neutron bomb” or whatever he called it that was going to destroy John Key. I don’t regard him as a particularly relevant commentator.

        • Clemgeopin 5.2.1.2

          We are in MMP, not FPP. You forgot about the Labour’s potential coalition partners.

          • alwyn 5.2.1.2.1

            Then he/she should have said so. I haven’t forgot about MMP but Chooky seems to have.
            Why talk about Labour missing out by a few thousand if what you mean is the total of nearly all the other parties in Parliament?
            And just how many parties do you think they could have got to cooperate?
            You would have needed more than a “few thousand” extra votes to come to a number more that the combined National, United Future, ACT and Maori Party figures wouldn’t you?

          • Chooky 5.2.1.2.2

            @Clem…+100

            @alwyn ..as i worked for MMP i never forget MMP ….however i think you either forgot it or you deliberately tried destroy my argument, which was a repeat of Williams’ arguments

            …actually I remember very clearly Goff being made to look either incompetent or a liar just before the Election….i think for many it was the reason they didnt give him their vote…so Yes I agree with Williams that it was a conspiracy that swung the Election away from a Labour coalition win and for John Key and Nact

            ….disgraceful on so many counts!

            • alwyn 5.2.1.2.2.1

              @Chooky
              Did Mike Williams really say what you quote him as saying
              “This was during an Election campaign….where Phil Goff and the Labour party came within 10,000 votes of the ability to form a government”

              If so he is either a fool or he is making things up. I have never thought he was a fool so I can only assume that he regards the rest of the world as fools who will accept anything he says as gospel.

              After the 2011 election the Government was formed from four parties holding 64 seats. There were four other parties holding 57 seats.
              If we assume that all of those parties would combine to form a government, Labour, Green, NZF and Mana they would have had to get an additional four seats and National would have had to lose four list seats. ACT, Maori and UF held only electorate seats so wouldn’t have changed.
              If we assume that all electorate seats remained as they were and all parties except Labour got the number of votes that they did then Labour would have been the only party to get more votes.
              Mike is suggesting, and you seem to agree with him that they had only needed 10,000 more votes. In fact they would have had to increase their vote to 734,370 in order for their grouping to get 61 of the 121 seats in the house.
              That is an additional 119,433 votes. Rather more than “10,000” don’t you think?

              If you understand the Sainte-Lague formula you can easily check this calculation. If not you can easily check my conclusion by putting the actual results into the election calculator with Labour having 734,369 votes (when National and partners get 61 seats) or 734,370 votes when Labour and partners get the 61 seats to govern)

              I think Mike has been conning you and you have fallen for it.

        • D'Esterre 5.2.1.3

          @ Alwyn: “You also have an interesting view on what a “few” is. You say that ” Election which was lost by Phil Goff and Labour by only a few thousand votes “.
          Perhaps you have forgotten but National received 1,058,636 votes and Labour got 614,937. I would have thought that 443,699 was a bit more that a “few thousand”.”

          Tsk, tsk! Williams was talking about the 2011 election. Surely this was obvious to you, given that the issue under discussion is the Gwyn report?

    • Andrea 5.3

      Karol: “tricky, slippery, arrogant.”

      Flatterer.

  6. Kiwiri - Raided of the Last Shark 6

    Is there something for concerned members of the public to sign, such as a public petition or call for referendum?

  7. aaron 7

    In reference to Mathew Hooten’s second tweet above; the report doesn’t say that Key instructed his staff to tip off Slater (obviously) but given that Key received a briefing from the head of the SIS the same day that Slater was tipped off the only possible way that his staff (specifically de Joux) could have heard about the info was from the PM himself.

    No doubt Key will say it was just a chance comment on his behalf but how does he make the claim that his staff didn’t do anything dodgy?

    • Tracey 7.1

      Why would Key need to discuss his SIS briefing with his national party branch of the PMs office?

      Are SIS briefings not themselves confidential?

    • Tracey 7.2

      Just posted about that too aaron. And pasted the paragraph. Hoots either has reading comprehension problems or is playing some kind of game.

      Keys phone email records would clear it up quickly.

    • RedBaronCV 7.3

      Chance comment ” who will rid me of that turbulent priest”

  8. Tracey 8

    been reading john armstrongs article… Quite strong for him but it seems its not up there with Cunliffe manning up to victims and helpers of sexual violence, or an 11 year old letter asking for a timeline for an immigration app. So, no screaming headlines calling for resignation or democracy under attack.

    Read a few comments. This one caught my eye… For its less than veiled threat

    “…Stop banging this tired old drum. Perhaps it’s time to do a bit of clearing up at The Herald too. Your hands are hardly clean.

    I think you might all find you are increasingly starved of stories if you keep on hammering away at this. Perhaps that might further accelerate your decline.
    What have we found out? Not much.

    But Goff can leak and posture and pontificate without any comeback from the media. A lot of expensive time has been wasted to find out blow all.
    Bea B – Hamilton – 02:05 PM Tuesday, 25 Nov 2014 …”

    • North 8.1

      Tracey @ 8 – I suspect “Bea B” is the unhinged thing of pen name “Bea Brown” that strolls on The Standard from time to time , as here on 12 November –

      http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12112014/#comment-924692

      Bea Brown – Open Mike 12/11/14 @ 18 – “We love him ! The world loves him !”

      Around the time TheGaucheKey gave us a prime time television preview of his dinner party howler about murder and child rape.

  9. Kiwiri - Raided of the Last Shark 9

    When Nats no longer have any shred of trustworthiness left, they shout in the House. Shout loudly. Shout very loudly.

  10. No point in asking J(er)K to resign as he has a hide as thick as his head.
    The man has not an ounce of morality in his body.

    • Chooky 10.1

      does that make him a snake?

      • peterlepaysan 10.1.1

        Please leave us snakes out of this discussion, we do have ethics.

        • Chooky 10.1.1.1

          sorry to all self respecting snakes.!…actually snakes were supposed to be the bringers of knowledge and wisdom ( that is when they weren’t being a snake in the grass and giving you a nasty bite)

  11. Jenny Kirk 11

    Good speech by Andrew Little in urgent debate today (after Question Time) – really laying into the PM and the ” dirty, sleazy” workings of this govt . AL is starting to make his mark as Labour’s Leader – and he’s barely been in the job a week. Great stuff.

    • cogito 11.1

      Yes, great rousing speech by Andrew Little. Hope he keeps it up as that is exactly what is needed to shake people out of their complacency and start the resistance that is sorely needed to this putrid government of liars.

    • AmaKiwi 11.2

      Brilliant performance by Andrew Little.

      His indignation was superb.

      If someone spoke like that in a pub I would duck for cover and slink out the back door before the fistfight breaks out.

      In essence Andrew said, “I am not going to any take sh*t from you scumbags.”

  12. Tracey 12

    Again Slater lies and lies… As Collins alleges he does in the other report by Chisolm today.

    At paragraph 209 Slater says he was assisted by someone from the SIS with his OIA. This is what he wrote in his blog post to give it some credibility.

    Para 214 Slater actually reassured Ede in an email that he would claim he has a SIS source to protect Ede.

    Hooton tweeted (above)

    “…Matthew Hooton @MatthewHootonNZ
    Follow

    Pare 218 on pp64-65 shows @johnkeypm personally involved in hit on Goff, including calling Tucker from the USA about it …” my reading of that paragraph is that Key was called, not Key did the calling?

    “… 218 From those inquiries, and the wider investigation that I undertook of the actions of NZSIS and PMO, I found the following:   The Acting Director and the Director each briefed the Prime Minister on the Israeli allegations by telephone on 21 and 22 July respectively. The Prime Minister was, on those dates and until 30 July, in the United States. The Director, as part of the 22 July briefing, advised the Prime Minister that the Leader of the Opposition had received a briefing on the Israeli allegations. The Prime Minister made a public comment that the Leader of the Opposition had been briefed on the Q&A programme broadcast on 24 July. Mr de Joux had also sought confirmation of that point and was given that confirmation, including a description of the briefing documents and the date of those documents, by the DDROC on 22 July. He confirmed that point again with the Director on 25 July. On the same day, Mr de Joux provided that information to Mr Ede with the suggestion that it might prompt an OIA request for those documents. Mr Ede then provided that information to Mr Slater, discussed the terms of the OIA request with Mr Slater and provided Mr Slater with draft blog posts concerning the issue. . After receiving that information, Mr Slater published a blog post that commented “[a]ll someone has to do now is ask Warren Tucker to produce the briefing notes and [Mr] Goff is a goner”. Mr Slater emphasised that he had decided to make the OIA request himself but that he was assisted by NZSIS information provided to him. As noted above, I have accepted the evidence from Mr de Joux and Mr Ede that it was Mr Ede who provided that information. “

  13. Mark Wilson 13

    [deleted]

    [lprent: Banned for 4 months for trolling. If you want to say something make a point rather than simply stroking your brain to an upright position. I am kind of intolerant of wankers on this site. The site for that is Whaleoil. ]

  14. chris73 14

    To be fair Key resigning is looking like the only way the left will beat Key

  15. hoom 15

    Yet more banana republic stuff from the Nats.
    Is it not clearly time for a fully independent anti-corruption committee?

    • chris73 15.1

      I think this is a good idea

    • Paul 15.2

      Let’s ignore c73.
      Thoughtful intelligent debate will be derailed if we reply to him.

    • Tracey 15.3

      or we could vote for people with ethics. or if we voted and found out they had no ethics, dont vote for them again. voters enable politicians

      • Draco T Bastard 15.3.1

        I like the idea that if we vote for people with no morals that those people quickly get put in jail for treason.

        • Chooky 15.3.1.1

          well you are an optimist..it is good to be an optimist

        • weka 15.3.1.2

          The people with no morals or the people that voted for the people with not morals? It’s not like we didn’t know what Key and co were like before the last election.

          • Draco T Bastard 15.3.1.2.1

            The people with no morals or the people that voted for the people with not morals?

            The people with no morals that get elected into parliament.

            It’s not like we didn’t know what Key and co were like before the last election.

            Apparently some people were still fooled at the last election. I suspect putting a lot of the present government behind bars might wake them up to what is acceptable when running the country to what isn’t..

            • Peter 15.3.1.2.1.1

              Mr Key will be remembered as the guy who was to good to be true and as the great pretender.

        • alwyn 15.3.1.3

          “put in jail for treason”
          It’s an interesting idea but I wouldn’t get to optimistic about it happening.
          There has been, if I am correct, only one person in New Zealand who has been convicted of Treason. He was, according to Wikipedia,
          “Hamiora Pere, for fighting against the British government in Te Kooti’s War.”

          There was a New Zealand Labour Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, who was convicted in his younger days of sedition. Is that a sort of younger brother of treason?

          • Draco T Bastard 15.3.1.3.1

            There has been, if I am correct, only one person in New Zealand who has been convicted of Treason.

            Just because it happens only rarely doesn’t mean that it won’t happen again.

            Is that a sort of younger brother of treason?

            No and it’s been removed from the law books for good reason.

          • chris73 15.3.1.3.2

            Sort of, its more (going off my wonky memory) like inciting insurrection as opposed to going out and doing it yourself

          • GregJ 15.3.1.3.3

            Sedition under the Crimes Act was “speech, writing or behaviour intended to encourage rebellion or resistance against the government”.

            Tim Selwyn was convicted of sedition in 2006 when he threw an axe through the window of Helen Clark’s electorate office in 2004 in protest of the foreshore and seabed issue and urged others to take similar action. Sedition was removed from the Crimes Act in 2008(?).

            Fraser’s was for arguing against conscription in WWI (interestingly conscription was introduced in WWII while he was Prime Minister).

  16. Zolan 16

    What wishful-thinking lefties have to realise is that facts aren’t enough.
    This situation is very similar to those Key faced in business and finance, in which he mastered techniques that allowed him to profit even on shaky foundations and step free of the fallout.
    He has no reason to lose his nerve, and every reason to believe that ruthless persistence will lead to victory.
    In short, the opposition still has to fight hard, and be ready for devious defense and counter-attack to the very end.

    • Chooky 16.1

      +100 Zolan…very good analysis and points…short of getting proof of complicity ….or having someone spit the dummy or develop a conscience and rat …it is going to be gruelling

      ….i live in hope that someone like Hager has more

  17. I’m on RadioLIVE after 7pm news to do a bit of talkback on all this. Should I join the list?

    • the pigman 17.1

      List of people calling on Key to resign? Such a cocktease!

      ‘cept without the tease part.

  18. Weepus beard 18

    @ Matthew Hooton 17. You’d only be doing so safe in the knowledge that this is not the fatal blow to John Key. You’d only be doing so in an attempt to appear (as per instruction), to keep John Key honest.*

    *A nearly impossible task, I would have thought.

    • BMW 18.1

      “Weepus Beard, since the start of 2014 Matthew has made circa 358 comments on this site.

      I’m being patient and still waiting to see his genius shine through…

      Yawn!

      Now where did I put my copy of House and Garden

      • Tracey 18.1.1

        matthew apparently said in an interview the other day that everyone at the standard is crazy… 358 posts makes him one of everyone at the standard?

  19. fisiani 19

    Norman huffed and Little puffed and Winston still couldn’t blow the PM down.
    Masterful display by John Key making the Opposition look amateurish. It was pathetic to see three grown men flailing around like a no armed boxer trying to land an uppercut knockout.

    • karol 19.1

      And yet, that seems to have passed (conservative) Vernon Small by – and most others. It’s only a masterful display by Key if you “ignore the obvious”, and close your eyes to Key shooting himself in the foot.

    • BMW 19.2

      Ede huffed and Phil puffed and Finlayson still couldn’t blow the PM……………

      Down

    • McFlock 19.3

      thanks for the broadcast from the bunker

    • Weepus beard 19.4

      That’s the thing with you morally corrupt right wing folk. It’s all a game and a nursery rhyme to you.

      Like when you were a child.

      • chris73 19.4.1

        It is a game because games are meant to be won and the prize for winning is running the country how you see fit

        • McFlock 19.4.1.1

          with one difference: people die.

          • chris73 19.4.1.1.1

            Pretty sure that no matter whos in government people die so not really relavent here

            • Tracey 19.4.1.1.1.1

              read the reports yet?

              “… It did not seek out crucial evidence – Facebook messages from Collins deleted account (still retrievable), emails, and missing phone records. The author appears to have shrugged off Slater’s withholding of emails from the inquiry. He didn’t think it necessary to interview key players, lawyer Cathy Odgers and Hanover boss Mark Hotchin…” list of stuff not examine by chisolm regarding collins possible undermining of feeley.

              • chris73

                I think all political parties, thats all political parties, do whatever it takes to gain and keep power

                To think otherwise is naive, to want it to be more honest is noble but it won’t ever happen

                Best you can hope for is the government of the day doesn’t make things worse and in the case of the last Labour and present National government things are going not too bad

                • Weepus beard

                  Tell that to the casualised workforce who struggle to make ends meet.

                • The Other Mike

                  Aha! The old “they all do it” canard.

                  Yup I can see Andrew Little cosying up with the SIS tomorrow for briefings he is (not) entitled to.

                  As if.

            • McFlock 19.4.1.1.1.2

              The quality of the governance affects how many people die.

              Not the effectiveness of campaign dirty tricks.

            • Ffloyd 19.4.1.1.1.3

              Umm, don’t mean to be rude, but why do you bother with Chris 73??. Everything he says is irrelevant to pretty much everything on the planet. Time for him to blast off.

        • Weepus beard 19.4.1.2

          Appallingly simplistic with poor grammar and punctuation.

          Just what I’d expect.

      • Tracey 19.4.2

        they rediscover morals when in opposition

    • Tracey 19.5

      can you post a picture of you in your rose tinted glasses

    • North 19.6

      Long, long, long, very, very, very, slow, slow, slow, clap, clap, clap for Fizzy, Fizzy, Fizzy Anus x 3.

      The Wind-Up Boy. The Shadow. The Lunatic. The Odour. The Tarnish. Off to SlaterPorn Ya Mad Fuck. Ya remind me of Madame Ceacescu near the end !

  20. Sans Cle 20

    After watching question time in Parliament, it is embarrassing that we have a Prime Minister that treats Parliament (and the NZ public) with such derision. I feel so angry that a Prime Minister thinks it is ok to behave in such a way.

  21. Gruntie 21

    Key is a fucking liar – always has been always will be

  22. Penny Bright 22

    FYI folks! This cuts to the heart of this issue (IMO) – the FACT that the Office of the Prime Minister is completely out of control ……

    It contains facts and evidence on this issue that I haven’t seen anywhere else – so I apologise for the length. (I’ve sent it out far and wide today 🙂

    ___________________________________________________________________________

    25 November 2014

    My formal request to Cheryl Gwyn (dated 12 September 2014) to extend the scope of her inquiry into the role of the Office of the Prime Minister:

    This is a formal request for you to please ensure that your current “in-depth and robust inquiry” into claims Security Intelligence Service (SIS) information was used for political purposes covers the underpinning role of the Office of the Prime Minister. (if it does not already do so).

    ———- Forwarded message ———-
    From: IGIS_Enquiries
    Date: Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 3:47 PM
    Subject: RE: Response to your request attached UNCLASSIFIED
    To: Penny Bright

    Received safely.
    ____________________________________________________________________________________

    12 September 2014

    Cheryl Gwyn
    Inspector-General
    Intelligence and Security

    ‘OPEN LETTER’

    Dear Inspector-General,

    This is a formal request for you to please ensure that your current “in-depth and robust inquiry” into claims Security Intelligence Service (SIS) information was used for political purposes covers the underpinning role of the Office of the Prime Minister. (if it does not already do so).

    My full name is Penelope Mary Bright.

    DISCLOSURE: I am currently standing as an Independent candidate in the Helensville electorate.

    BACKGROUND:

    In 1981 I was publicly named in Prime Minister Robert Muldoon’s famous SIS list as a ‘subversive’ arising from my role in organising opposition to the Springbok Tour.

    I have never been able to get a copy of my SIS file, although I have not been a member of any politically active party for over 30 years, and have no history of violent offending.

    I was also unable to get it confirmed or denied whether I was one of the 88 New Zealanders upon whom the GCSB unlawfully spied.

    My ‘submission’ made directly to Prime Minister John Key on the GCSB Bill, is available here: (11 minutes)

    Since 2000 – I have chosen to work full time as a self-funded ‘anti-privatisation’ and latterly ‘anti-corruption Public Watchdog’.

    During that time, I have now attended four significant international anti-corruption conferences, met the experts, read the material, and put my mind to the New Zealand corruption ‘reality’.

    2009 Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
    2010 Attendee Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference
    2013 Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
    2014 Attendee: G20 Anti-Corruption Conference

    Here is the link to the ACTION PLAN against ‘white collar’ crime, corruption and corporate welfare, which I have developed:

    http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ANTI-CORRUPTION-WHITE-COLLAR-CRIME-CORPORATE-WELFARE-ACTION-PLAN-Ak-Mayoral-campaign-19-July-2013-2.pdf

    This ‘ACTION PLAN’ is a far cry from New Zealand’s ‘perceived’ status as ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (currently shared with Denmark, according to Transparency International’s 2013 ‘Corruption Perception Index’)

    http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results

    (This ‘perceived’ status being based upon the subjective opinions of anonymous businesspeople.)

    having just turned 60 years of age, I have a wide range of life experience.
    I have never attended University, but am a qualified Tradesperon with Advanced Trade in Sheetmetal Engineering, was NZ’s first Certified Board for Inspectorate Personnel (CBIP) ticketed woman Welding Inspector, and was for 9 years a Welding Tutor at Manukau Institute of Technology.

    http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/qualifications/

    My work experience includes having been a Quality Assurance Co-ordinator at a stainless steel fabrication plant, which has given me a good grasp of ‘process’ and planning.

    So – why I’m writing to you is to express my strongest concerns about the apparent total failure of quality assurance systems and processes at the highest levels of the New Zealand Government, in particular, the Office of the Prime Minister, which appears to be completely ‘out of control’.

    According to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) website, the roles of the DPMC and Office of the Prime Minister, are supposed to be quite different and ‘totally separate’.

    http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/dpmc

    Issues that arise across the full range of government business

    DPMC provides a continuous flow of advice to the Prime Minister on major and daily issues, along with oversight of wider government activity and access to information and assessments. DPMC also works directly with Ministers on specific issues. The Deputy Prime Minister plays a lead role on behalf of the Prime Minister over a number of the government’s policy programmes and DPMC supports him on some of these matters from time to time.

    DPMC works with central agencies to draw together departments in support of the Government’s priorities, to focus agencies on providing options for action, to ensure implementation of agreed programmes and policies, to drive for enhanced agency performance, and to deal effectively with issues which affect the nation. DPMC also provides the secretariat support for decision making by the Cabinet and its committees.

    Administrative support to the Prime Minister
    This includes preparation of replies to Parliamentary questions, and dealing with Official Information Act requests and other correspondence.

    A totally separate body, the Office of the Prime Minister, also advises the Prime Minister: it is the primary point of responsibility for managing political issues and relationships with other political parties and for providing administrative and media support.

    _______________________________________________________

    In brief, as I understand it, the Prime Minister has two roles, one as the Leader of the New Zealand Government, and the other as the Leader of ‘party political’ National Party.

    In his role as Leader of the New Zealand Government, the Prime Minister has the DPMC, to provide top level, impartial, apolitical advice on a range of matters, including those related to security.

    http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/

    ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

    About the Department
    The Role of DPMC
    The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) serves the Executive (the Governor-General, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet) through the provision of high quality impartial advice and support services…

    ________________________________________________

    The Office of the Prime Minister, the role of which is apparently not covered by statute or regulation, is deeply ‘politically partisan / party political’, to help cover the Prime Minister as Leader of the National Party.

    It is my considered opinion, that it is fundamentally wrong for the politically partisan ‘Office of the Prime Minister’ to have dealings with the SIS, at any time.

    In my considered opinion, if the SIS is in direct contact with the ‘party political’ Office of the Prime Minister – then the role of the SIS has become ‘politicised’ – end of story.

    In my opinion, for whatever reason, clear lines of demarcation between the roles of the DPMC and Office of the Prime Minister are effectively non-existent.

    Not only is the role of the Office of the Prime Minister not subject to statute or regulation, it also lacks procedures and protocols, as is clearly stated in the attached OIA reply from Wayne Eagleson, Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister.

    (Why anyone from the Office of the Prime Minister, including the Chief of Staff Wayne Eagleson is answering Official Information Act requests, is also a real matter of concern, as it is NOT his job, as i understand it.)

    I am not sure whether your ‘terms of reference’ into the current inquiry which I understand you launched at your own initiative, extend to covering the role of the Office of the Prime Minister, but in my considered opinion, if they don’t – they should, because therein lies this apparently deep-seated problem.

    Which is – in my considered opinion – that the Office of the Prime Minister is completely out of control.

    If the role of the Office of the Prime Minister is not set by statute or regulation – then that needs to change – URGENTLY.

    FYI, following is a ‘MEDIA ALERT’ which I sent out yesterday on this matter:
    ______________________________________________________________________________________

    11 September 2014

    MEDIA ALERT!

    Is the politically partisan Office of the Prime Minister actually ‘out of control’?

    YES according to this OIA reply, received today 11 September 2014, by Prime Minister John Key’s Chief of Staff, Wayne Eagleson: (attached)

    3) Copies of the ‘procedure’ or ‘protocol(s)’ to be followed by all staff attached to or employed by the Office of the Prime Minister.

    There are no specific procedures or protocols to be followed by Ministerial office staff.

    4) A copy of the organisational ‘flow chart’ (or the like) which shows the clear reporting framework to be followed by all staff in your Office of the Prime Minister.

    There is no organisational chart for this Office and, accordingly, this part of your request is formally declined under section 18(e) of the Official Information Act “that the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or cannot be found”.

    5) A copy of the budget for your Office of the Prime Minister, with a clear breakdown of monies paid by whom, for what, on an annual basis from 2008 – 2014.

    There is no separate budget for the Office of the Prime Minister.
    The Department of Internal Affairs has a budget for all Ministerial offices as a whole, but not for individual offices.

    However, I can confirm that all staff in this Office report to me as the Chief of Staff for both the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the Leader of the Parliamentary National Party.
    ______________________________________________________________________________________

    As some one who has never been able to get a copy of my SIS file, and could not get it ‘confirmed or denied’ that I was one of the 88 New Zealanders upon whom the GCSB unlawfully spied upon, I am REALLY concerned with the revelations contained within this OIA reply.

    Is anybody else?

    If not – why not?

    Penny Bright

    ‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
    ………………………………

    • Chooky 22.1

      +1000….Thanks Penny…I always enjoy your thought provoking missives…and yes I think most of us are very concerned that this is becoming a corruption ridden totalitarian surveillance state and not accountable to anyone except John Key and friends

      …i guess if you were one of the 88…you will now be joined by many more

  23. Ecosse_Maidy 23

    Oh that pic,I thought was a caption competition…a young Mr Keys shows he cant remember where he was when the rugger was on and showed off to a waiting media his finger transplant was a stunning success….

  24. Tracey 24

    calling peter dunne
    calling maori party

    yoooo hooooooooooo

  25. dave 25

    anyone up for protest outside john keys house to demand his resignation ???

  26. Neil 26

    BREAKING NEWS:
    John Key has come clean & just revealed that Moonbeam was the mastermind of the dirty politics to smear the opposition & how moonbeam controlled the staff of the PM’s office by instructing the PMs staff on what to do via hypnotism.

    • Chooky 26.1

      lol….Moonbeam says this is sheer lunacy and he is a lunatic…all the cats in the street know this…

  27. Clemgeopin 27

    I can understand that Key has no morals or integrity.
    What concerns me even more is what about the rest of the National MPs? Do they too have no sense of right and wrong? No conscience, integrity and courage to speak up? From not a single one of them? And what about National’s coalition partners, ACT, Dunne and the two Maori Party MPs? Where is the outrage and guts from them!

    • weka 27.1

      Self-preservation is a mighty motivator.

      Pretty sure that National will have been active for a long time in making sure they never end up with another Marilyn Waring.

  28. North 28

    TheGodKey’s entering the Nixonian ‘manic pacing in the Rose Garden’ phase.

    Even Sean Plunket and Matthew Hooton have sorted it. “Black is white, white is black, everyone’s wrong…….the suckers’ll buy it !”

    Wow…….psychosis in Wellington. And on Waiheke, a small Boag crys.

  29. ankerawshark 29

    Clem @ 27, Yes Bill English, a practicing Catholic. Shame on you Bill

  30. The lost sheep 30

    I lived in a very small isolated community for quite a few years, and the powerful effect this particular situation had on your world view and sanity was well recognised by the locals.
    One saying you’d hear a lot, usually about 2/3rd’s of the way through the long dark Winter, was…
    “How do you know when it’s time to get out of here?”
    There was a list of about 10 qualifications, but the one I had in mind was..
    “There is a person you hate and believe is responsible for most, if not all of the s&*t in your life, and you spend more than 1/4 of your waking time thinking about them”

    Just saying. Maybe some of you would benefit from obsessing less about JK within the same tiny community, and more time out talking to a wider range of Kiwi’s?

    It might help you understand for instance why the dirty politics thing actually increases support for JK?

    • instauration 30.1

      Like – what and how much did those dudes in the trenches think about the Kaiser ?
      I suspect you apportions are about right.
      Evil should always be despised.
      And if you can’t “get out of here” – you deal to evil in the way prescribed.

    • ankerawshark 30.2

      The lost sheep………..actually I don’t spend more than 1/4 of my life obsessing about John Key. Lots of other things that capture my head space. Good things. But Feel morally bound to follow what’s going on in this country politically and I have found the best place to do that is theStandard. Not tv3 or The NZ Herald.

    • Weepus beard 30.3

      Could you please tell me how to get out of here?

      It’s time.

      • The lost sheep 30.3.1

        In that very small community the standard procedure when you recognised you were suffering from smalltownitis was to take a decent holiday somewhere a long way away and very different. A ‘mental health’ break.
        That does ease the symptoms for a short while.

        But only one way to truly leave mate.
        You’ve got to walk out that door, and NEVER go back.

        Any ex-pat of that very small community I was talking about will tell you that within only a few weeks of getting out, they were astonished at how totally they used to be wrapped up in such a tiny sphere, and how quickly their worldview opened up once they were out.
        My favourite quote from an ex-pat is “used to think that goldfish bowl was the whole damn Ocean.”

        • Tracey 30.3.1.1

          And yet here you are, in your alleged small town pimping for the mayor of the big city. Wash your hands on the way in next time.

          • The lost sheep 30.3.1.1.1

            You’ve lost me there completely?

            I no longer live in a small town and I don’t know how anything I’ve said suggests I am pimping for the mayor of any big city?

            By the way, you don’t think you are obsessive about JK do you? You sure do spend a lot of time each day writing about him.

  31. instauration 31

    Hey Lynn – hope I’m contributing to to necessary load for you to diagnose the moderation / rogue module issue.

  32. Clemgeopin 32

    Hear what Goff has to say to Shaun Plunket here:

    LINK : radiolive

  33. mike 33

    Yeah right, good luck with this conspiracist crap. It worked well for you in the election! Dont the left ever learn?

  34. GregJ 34

    To quote Leo Amery quoting Oliver Cromwell:

    “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.”

  35. Whateva next? 35

    The snowball is started by Little and Norman yesterday in parliament, the people cannot unhear Little’s words again this morning on Morning report, and key’s bumbling, obfuscation shortly afterwards, thank God he’s going

    • Chooky 35.1

      Little is an extraordinarily impressive speaker in Parliament…certainly the right choice as Leader of the Labour Party!…like an old style Labour Leader

      Winston Peters also very impressive on Morning Report !….John Key not asked about what he knew ….big flaws/omissions in the Gwyn inquiry

      Norman is also coolly impressive calling for John Key’s resignation!…and calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry

      …. imo the Left should unite calling for a Royal Commission to explore in detail what the Gwyn Report did not examine ie John key’s role..what he knew …what evidence Jason Ede destroyed etc…there needs to be accountability at the highest levels of New Zealand government

      …after all Labour probably lost the 2011 Election because of this corruption and smearing of Goff….which goes right to the top of the John Key Nact government and the SIS…..and a black ops PR spinner operator Slater , who won an award for his work in Israel!!!!….(.and this whole issue blew up over Israeli spies in Christchurch during the Earthquake)….There are BIG questions here yet to be answered

      …imo the SIS must not be given warrantless powers to intrude into New Zealanders’ lives…this is an invitation to more lack of accountability, privatisation of surveillance contracts, blackops and abuse of power such as New Zealanders have just witnessed

  36. Sable 36

    Maybe time to call a new “clean” election. Chance would be a fine thing…

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 hour ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    7 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology â€“ the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of DĂŠjĂ  Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Funding hole for tax cuts growing by the day
    The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Luxon’s brave climate change promise
    The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles  and that ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T02:01:33+00:00