Check the polls – we’re off to war!

Written By: - Date published: 8:13 pm, October 9th, 2014 - 63 comments
Categories: uncategorized - Tags:

“It all depends on the question  you ask” – this was John Key’s response to a question as to whether he had concerns about the SAS identifying air-strike targets that might kill civilians.

If you ask whether they are comfortable with identifying targets people might not be happy with that, but if you ask them whether they think innocent people being beheaded is right, people would say no.

I’ve no doubt Curia will be in the field as we speak asking questions to find out how to make New Zealanders comfortable with SAS identifying targets.

An eye for an eye is not going to stop this war. Pollsters don’t do statesmanship; and nor do poll-driven politicians. Somebody else picks up the pieces.

63 comments on “Check the polls – we’re off to war! ”

  1. In Vino 1

    Yep – another widely reported atrocity, and as a result, more people will die.

    Unfortunately, it will mostly be the wrong ones, and our ‘wise’ leaders, having ignored many other relevant atrocities because they did not suit the agenda, will have seeped our hands in the blood.

  2. Bill 2

    Okay. Point one. The ISIS guys are basically criminals – nothing more and nothing less. Why elevate them to being something other than that?

    Point two. All this shit about air strikes and what-not has no end point; no plan that points to achieving peace.

    Point three (made before). When you encourage a wipe out legitimate political opposition over decades through the deliberate traumatising of populations (ie, put in ‘our’ dictator and supply the means to establish a brutal ‘police state’)… then stack drones and ‘total domination’ invasion scenarios on top of that when ‘our’ guys over step the mark… well, seriously, what the fuck is to be expected?

    • Ron 2.1

      But it is so good for munitions makers and their shareholders /sarc

      • Colonial Rawshark 2.1.1

        Govts have to elevate ISIS to the level of a major military and moral threat, or they wouldn’t be able to justify the multi-billion dollar, multi-year western waged war that is now being launched.

        It also saves US embarrassment trying to justify the results of the last 10 years of training and US$25B spent on the Iraqi Army.

      • halfcrown 2.1.2

        “But it is so good for munitions makers and their shareholders /sarc”

        EXACTLY You don’t make bombs and bullets just to “sit on shelves”

        Two things happen

        If you can’t sell and use you get overstocked

        There is no profit in over stocked goods sitting on shelves.

        Have you noticed that it is always rightwing fucking governments who are all for letting a few bangers off and although they are always crying “austerity” for some, always have the money for the odd bomb or two.

        I wonder how much the fucking spiv expects us to pay to support his mates in the White House , now he says he might/will send support troops.

    • Murray Rawshark 2.2

      I can’t remember where, but I read ISIS were basically a social welfare organisation until the Iraqi Security Forces captured and tortured one of their leaders. Then all hell broke loose. Anyone know anything about that?

    • GregJ 2.3

      There was an interesting letter in the Bahrain published Gulf Daily News that picked up the theme of your first point. It referred back to ant-terrorist doctrine of the 60s, 70s & 80s.

      3 points made in the letter I found interesting:

      “The key insight was this: Terrorist movements always want you to over-react, so don’t do it. Terrorists usually lack the popular support to overpower their opponent by force, so they employ a kind of political jiu-jitsu: they try to use the adversary’s own strength against him. Most domestic terrorism, and almost all international terrorism, is aimed at provoking a big, stupid, self-defeating response from the target government.”

      and:

      “Rule one in the old anti-terrorism doctrine was don’t over-react and it still applies. That means as little bombing as possible, and only of strictly military targets. Preferably, it would mean no bombing at all except in specific areas where IS troops are on the offensive.

      It means not letting yourself be lured into more extreme action by the public beheading of innocent hostages and the other atrocities that IS stages to attract a certain kind of recruit. Indeed, it means not launching a major ground offensive against IS (for which the troops are not available anyway), and waiting for events to take their course within the ‘Islamic State’.”

      and

      “Regimes as radical and violent as this one rarely survive for long.

      The revolution will eat its children, as so many have before, and it will happen a lot more quickly if they don’t have a huge foreign military threat to hold them together.”

  3. oarSum 3

    Valid poll question:
    Do you approve of the SAS helping the USA to kill people if it means we can have a few more years of cheap oil?

  4. cogito 4

    I’m all for sending Key and his gang of 60 off to war. They can leave right now.

  5. adam 5

    SO the economy is tanking and these idiots have one solution “war economy”. God Bless these United States Of New Zealand.

    Funny one song from the 80’s seems to be on constant repeat. Thethe Sweet bird of truth. Sorry younger ones very 80’s.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7QvSB3k8cg

    • Colonial Rawshark 5.1

      War is not the only thing western countries are doing to boost the all important GDP measure. Including prostitution and drug dealing as legitimate economic activities included in GDP are other steps being taken to boost “growth.”

      • AmaKiwi 5.1.1

        Yes, I saw that a few weeks ago and thought, “These politicians are really scraping the bottom of the barrel manipulating statistics to try to convince us the economy is not collapsing.”

        Next step: Include political bribes as part of GDP. Those numbers should be a lot more accurate than the estimates for illegal prostitution and drugs.

  6. adam 6

    If someone goes and fights or offers medical support in the Kurdish Autonomous Areas, will they be treated as a terrorist by this government?

    • Colonial Rawshark 6.1

      Such volunteers are OK while the Kurds are considered friendly and allies. But in a couple of years time when that changes and they are the new bad guys, you’re fucked.

  7. Richard AKA RAWSHARK 7

    There is only one song, in my head lately, still going strong to stir the best emotions for parallels to todays radically right amalgamated corporation called

    …The National Party.

    and adam that was far too light, try War Pigs by Sabath if you want to get heavy on war 🙂

    try a little

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0TAnFWLsco

  8. Picard101 8

    So, what do we do about ISIS murdering all these people then?

    Nothing?

    • Colonial Rawshark 8.1

      You get the US and their allies to continue to provide them with money, weapons and training.

      And you get the US to keep supporting the Shia government in Baghdad which has spent the last 5 years marginalising and fucking off Sunni communities. So that these communities now prefer to have ISIS running things than the Iraqi Government in Baghdad.

      What are you going to do about that?

      BTW your Star Trek namesake “Picard” would probably be asking better questions than you are.

      • Picard101 8.1.1

        Providing Isis?

        • Colonial Rawshark 8.1.1.1

          To be more precise – you keep feeding the parts of ISIS attacking Assad with money and weapons, while trying to bomb the parts of ISIS taking ground in Iraq and acting against Kurds.

          Stupid yeah, but that’s the kind of US strategic thinking that has brought us to this point.

          • blue leopard 8.1.1.1.1

            *cough* immoral but not stupid if you are involved in an industry profiting from such behaviour *cough*

          • Picard101 8.1.1.1.2

            Hmmmmm, yes. America does seem to have its head up its backside over that little conundrum. That’s what happens when everything you do is about money.

            John Stewart did a very good bit on the hypocrisy of the US government funding everyone.

      • wekarawshark 8.1.2

        “BTW your Star Trek namesake “Picard” would probably be asking better questions than you are.”

        Indeed and each time 101 posts,

        http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view6/2709062/picard-double-facepalm-o.gif

        • Picard101 8.1.2.1

          Troll elsewhere Weka. Not my fault you cannot back up what you say.

          • wekarawshark 8.1.2.1.1

            Ooh look the trole calls someone he can’t debate with a trole.

            My record in ts stands for how I debate, including backing up statements I make (which I did in the other thread and which you continue to ignore). You are just establishing your record, which so far shows you to not be very good at debating.

        • Richard RAWSHARK 8.1.2.2

          Picard was no James, T, small pause Kirk. There is only one Star Trek, true, star trek originals will never bare their souls for another version, Klingon spinoff, Romulan subplot or even Q’s trickery.

          • Picard101 8.1.2.2.1

            Lol. I was never much of a Kirk fan. Too much of a dumb jock for my liking. Not a thinking man.

            • Richard RAWSHARK 8.1.2.2.1.1

              Then you must not have rushed home from school for every episode when it first aired on NZ TV. It looked so realistic as a kid, later in life you look at it, fake as, but still I watch it now and enjoy each one, even forbidden planet and Robbie the Robot.

              • Picard101

                I may not have even been alive when it first aired in NZ.

                When was that?

                And I did enjoy it as a kid, but I was never a fan of Kirk. More a Spock fan.

          • GregJ 8.1.2.2.2

            Meh. Fuck Star Trek. If you want some kick ass get a woman on the job.

    • joe90 8.2

      The same as what we do about those Mexicans murdering all those people . Nothing.

    • cogito 8.3

      ISIS are a product of generations of regional religious and ethnic hatreds worsened by years of poorly judged Western interference. What makes you think that Key sticking his nose in it will help? NZ should stay out of it, except for providing humanitarian assistance.

      • AmaKiwi 8.3.1

        @ cogito “What makes you think that Key sticking his nose in it will help?”

        It depends on your goals. If your goal is to be best buddies with the Imperial Empire of America, it will be very helpful.

        • cogito 8.3.1.1

          Oh yes, Key still owes the President for that round of golf…. and for stuffing up the raid on Dotcom, and for putting a halt (if he did) on the NSA tap on the Southern Cross cable…. He’s got some ground to make up….

    • halfcrown 8.4

      “So, what do we do about ISIS murdering all these people then?”

      The same when the yanks murder Pakistani children with their Drones, or the Jews murdering children in the that concentration camp called Gaza.

      Nothing.

  9. Expect to see increased reports of NZ people “linked” to people “potentially linked” to terrorism.

    Expect to see increased blogging by WO & Farrar on reasons why we need to intervene etc.

    WO already doing his bit to promote prejudice in NZ, todays “DailyDumbDown” has a picture on a persons car window which is clearly a Sikh figure with a spear, but because it looks slightly “Arabic” with a dark man, long beard, turban, and a spear he put the image up stating “pretty overt”.

    There has already been a massive Western media turn around to viewing PKK (designated terrorist group in West and NZ) as heroes now, along with child soldiers etc.

    If we think ISIS are bad, then what will arise from us getting involved in bombing and more war in 10 years time will be 1000x worse.

    • Richard RAWSHARK 9.1

      I hear you DD, Healthy scepticism is required with the media today.

      I think I just had an epiphany, I think he’s asking to send troops to save that village on TV and front line of the invading Islamic state. That’s what I thought was happening. He’s not sending us to join the global war on freaking bullshit terrorism is he.

      OH FFS please respond it’s fucking not is it!!!!

  10. Richard RAWSHARK 10

    In my opinion contrary to most here, I welcome our limited as it Is, involvement.

    Wrong or right, that many of us, if we new the horrors and atrocities the innocent people there have and are facing imminently, would want to assist, knowing what was about to happen,

    But sitting far away and having ideologies, it’s a case of it’s right but not john Key, or other frankly pointless excuses in the face of babies, kids, women, men and anything else in the path of IS being murdered, raped beaten, sold, tortured, beheaded. etc.

    The question becomes, should we, and why don’t they, just like the united nations.

    From a common sense point of view isn’t just going in and doing whatever we can to help just the right thing to do to a human, or anything else that thinks, lives, breathes, laughs, cry’s, loves, and dies if we all stand around with our ideological hands in our pockets.

    Sometimes I think the old adage of if you cannot control the outcome don’t worry about it, focus on what you can control. It’s about time we led, not asked to join.

    To lead requires a country brave enough to go to an atoll and fight the French but to suffer a bombing, to say no to nuclear warships and weapons. That also requires that when needed, we have the leadership to say in this case we know there is a wrong happening, we are going to help. Let the other countries figure out what they are up to that’s their problem.

    Sorry big opinion but I had to get my side across, I know there are probably a lot of peace loving hippies with big bags of weed going WTF? War! Outrageous. Ethel, get me crash helmet, and protest sign out of the closet. That’s Richard fella’s a War Pig.

    I’m not

    • Murray Rawshark 10.1

      Why don’t we send the SAS to stop the atrocities committed by the police in Rio de Janeiro? Apart from the beheadings, they do everything else you’ve mentioned.

      Why aren’t we helping stop the violence in Mexico and Colombia? Why didn’t we intervene in Sri Lanka against the torturers and murderers of the Tamil population? Why wasn’t the SAS dropped in the Negev to defend Gazan schools and hospitals?

      Sorry Richard, but I’m not like Pavlov’s dog to get excited every time Uncle Sam rings a bell. Not even one of Skinner’s pigeons.

      • Richard RAWSHARK 10.1.1

        Because why they havn’t done this or that, why did they do this and that is another question that should be separate from the current problem.

        Fair enough criticising the USA, they cause most of the bloody conflict.

        However that’s some issue that should be explored under a different context.

        here I’m focused on saving these lives, not solving the USA’s lack of accountability.

    • Draco T Bastard 10.2

      From a common sense point of view isn’t just going in and doing whatever we can to help just the right thing to do to a human…

      Nope. It’s actually the exact opposite. We really need them to sort their own shit out and not for us to keep going in there pretending to be Knights on White Horses. By going in fixing things as we see it we’re preventing their own development and encouraging even more of the terrorism and bloodshed as more people there try to force things back the way they were before Western Intervention.

  11. Richard RAWSHARK 11

    3 tries to print that, could not edit it, had to delete it 3 times edit and paste and send again ED.

  12. The USA is doing all it can to make the bloodthirsty visions of biblical prophets come to pass

    http://youtu.be/Pg2snxX3p0A?t=1h21m10s

  13. Intervening is not going to stop those horrors Richard… its just going to lead to the next cycle of sectarian violence and next round of terrorist groups that the West and Gulf States will fund in power plays against each other.

    Western intervention into Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria has never been about Humanitarian needs. If military interventions were about saving people and humanity we would be intervening right now in West Africa with Ebola – a real threat, which poses a real and imminent threat to the whole world including the west.

    Everything the West touches with its intervening hand turns to shit. Show me one large scale military intervention that hasn’t led to mass civilian casualties, sectarian violence, and more guns, money, power in the hands of terrorists?

    • Richard RAWSHARK 13.1

      @13, did you read it, the crux is lets stop making any excuses eh?

      There are a million reasons not to go. But one reason we must.

  14. Richard RAWSHARK 14

    Perhaps a tactic would be to send in transports to evacuate, let them approach with no people there, and the Turkish army in tanks on the hill passively doing squat. Dumb Isis are bound to march on? Heading into Turkey might be bad for them.

    Just an idea don’t shoot the turkey.

    • Murray Rawshark 14.1

      Turkey hates the Kurds almost as much as they hate the Armenians. The Turkish tanks are there to stop Kurds seeking refuge in Turkey.

      • Richard RAWSHARK 14.1.1

        Are the kurds the arabs versions of gippsies or something. FFS poor buggers. All the more reason to rescue them and let Turkey face ISIS.

  15. finbar 15

    I.S.I.L. is like a banker holding your homes debt.Who is the winner,your debt.

    • Richard RAWSHARK 15.1

      How is the Islamic state whatever they are now, linked to my mortgage i presume you imply, or any other debt I suppose.

      Arabs? Prime lenders? I would not think it’s anything the world could not soak up like a big sell on the currency markets, or whatever else the pro Islamic fronts supporters try.

  16. I spoke yesterday at a small meeting at a Marae with a gentleman who told me his two sons already had their marching orders. They had left last Saturday. He told me they were off to Australia first and Singapore next. What came next they didn’t tell him but it was clear he was extremely worried about his sons ending up in Iraq/Syria

  17. Chookyrawshark 17

    I would hate it if my son were going off to this war…it is such a mess of Western intervention, greed for oil , strategic chess playing colonialism, Islamic fundamentalism in retaliation…..i cant pretend to understand it but some of the links below show just how perfidious this war is!

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/isis-wahhabism-saudi-arabia_b_5717157.html

    http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39603.htm

    http://www.countercurrents.org/mithiborwala130914.htm

    The only course of action imo is to expose the causes and refuse to fight in it…(unless your country is directly threatened or in support of a UN Peace mandate to limit violence) ….to support it is to give it oxygen and waste young men’s lives to no good purpose

  18. RRM 18

    bahahaha – Farrar’s living in your head, rent free.

    He doesn’t even have to say or do anything, and you get hot under the collar about him, all by yourself…

    • Andrea 18.1

      RRM: I know. I know.

      It’s stress.

      You know: “The confusion created when one’s mind overrides the body’s basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some jerk who desperately deserves it.”

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    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

  • 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
    4 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
    6 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
    6 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
    20 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
    24 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
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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