Dams have not been above average storage since March 19, and when were restrictions put in place ? post lock down. After high water usage as every water blaster was utilised in the lock down period washing down paths etc. every car was washed and swimming pools were continually been topped up. Where was the leadership around Christmas/January when lower than average rainfall was being forecast ? But don't let facts get in the way ….🤬
It was in response to Indiana and the Auckland councils $750m financial hole ($250m Watercare), and the apparent need for this rates increase. And how with any leadership, this financial crisis would have been reduced.
Jeery Browneye got quite cross when Lisa Owen repeatedly interrupted him while he was answering the question he wanted her to have asked.
[You have used the same infantile name-calling of Brownlee 12 times on TS, not counting the one that I deleted yesterday, but you may have missed it. Here it is for your convenience: https://thestandard.org.nz/if-judith-and-gerry-are-the-answer-it-must-have-been-a-desperate-question/#comment-1730344. I think it’s time you grow up and call people by their proper names starting with Gerry Brownlee. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in advance – Incognito]
I have done a preliminary search and it doesn’t look so good for you. It seems to support my initial suspicion. I have been quite busy lately and have not had time to wrap it up. Do you still maintain your innocence or do you want to change your plea after I have presented the evidence to you? Good behaviour is taken into consideration when sentencing. I’m serious, BTW, as I intend to start a Pre-Election Clear-Out here.
You're being too hard on Gabby. I had a similar battle with weka over trans rights and no evidence was found to ban me so I think you should just drop it if it's too complicated.
Only difference is I didn’t keep prodding weka about it…Gabby.
I appreciate you putting in a good word for Gabby but there is evidence, as I said, I just haven’t found the right time to collate it. I’ve also mentioned previously to Gabby that I cannot stand dishonesty and that’s the real ‘crime’ as far as I’m concerned, the TERF issue is secondary. I don’t mind being reminded but please don’t start crying then when it comes to crunch time. Best not to get in the way when it comes to that 🙂
No, you’re right, it isn’t, but it is a matter of principle that commenters don’t lie here. Almost nobody will come clean, confess, and apologise when caught out and many a ban is because of a lie of some kind AKA making up shit and/or not providing supporting info to show that their ‘fact’ or assertion is nothing more than their opinion, for example. If one word captures or describes behaviour that is associated with bans here, it is dishonesty.
PS I cannot be 100% certain that none of the commenters here is paid.
Muttonbird your comment that Incognito keeping matters on an even keel and reasonably sane as we discuss this most important and contentious of topics, politics, "doesn’t seem to be a great use of your time" shows what seems youthful carelessness about the quality of our lives. He/she is doing a difficult job out of principle, as you say unpaid, and we who think and yearn for better-thinking, discussing and debating and civilised society and conditions thank this person for it. (Even when it annoys us personally by calling taihoa on a tirade. By the way sorry if this is tl:dr Gabby.)
I always enjoy Gabby's irreverent comments and the titles she bestows. She's/he's cheeky, not snide, imo, but I do recognise that tone is hard to gauge and once you feel someone's unkind, it's hard to un-feel that. I don't think Gabby's unkind at all (but wouldn't like to be the target of her attentions
Thanks Robert. I find that Gabby’s comment range from infantile crude shit (AKA poppycock) to hilarious and some are even a contribution to ‘normal’ conversation. I didn’t dig the hole and I didn’t remind that the hole needed to be filled and covered. I will close this chapter soon and then we can move on to the Election, one way or another.
It's your call (you wield the Sword of Righteousness – perhaps your de-scabarding will be enough to rein in Gabby's gabiosity without having to lop off her head). She will be sorely tempted though, by the characters in the latest Punch'n'Judy Show; Gerry's a big target and lampooning the Creature from the Kauri Swamp seems irresistible.
I know it can be a fine line between witty and crude. I’ve asked nicely to stop the crudeness; I don’t find “Browneye” funny, personally. When the same word(s) becomes over-used (e.g. “neocon Den” six times), it becomes tedious even if it was funny the first time. Other blog sites are much worse than TS when it comes to bad name-calling, infantile labelling/mocking, and bullying & intimidating of targets (victims). Social media are full of it too. If people feel the need to express themselves in these kinds of manners and use language from and fit for the gutter then they know where to go. If people come here to be entertained by third grade crass comedy then they have come to the wrong place too. There’s a place & audience for all occasions but TS is not that. IMHO.
I'm starting to think you may have 'erected' this hole in your mind. You'd like this terf thing to be recurring so you've decided it is. I look forward to seeing the results of your quest.
The above are the ones in which you’re directly linked to the acronym. In addition, many other commentaries use, explain, or discuss the acronym that you would have seen although you didn’t contribute directly to those specific discussion threads.
You like word-plays and joking around and you seem to be generally very well informed.
Overall, I think it is beyond reasonable doubt that you knew the meaning of the acronym on 6 July and, therefore, that you repeatedly lied about it.
I look forward to your response. It better be good.
One thread on terfs with a definition given by Matthew Whitehead in a loong jargon ridden post I doubt I made it to the end of, a couple of Open Mike comments on a day when some people were commenting upthread, and a SPOTY post that mentions 'terf' and I comment on Bridges' croaking? And this is all from 2018. About a fairly niche issue of little interest to people not directly involved. You are drawing a very long bow. I guess your persistence is admirable but it's slim, slim pickings. And what's this 'repeatedly lied' nonsense?
You’re on a bit of a crusade, aren’t you.
Ok, let me get this straight: you still deny that you did not know the meaning on 6 July when you had your contemptuous outburst? That’s “the lie”. It was less than 20 months ago and it has appeared many times since here on TS but never triggered an irreverent comment from you. Why might that be? I don’t believe you and I’ve already stated that I cannot stand dishonesty. Are you deliberately acting thick again or do you hold me for an old senile fool? Do you want me to drop this now?
What are you talking about? Deny that I did NOT know?? It's patently obvious that I did NOT know. Evidently it was an insult, but I did NOT know what terf stood for. It was well over 19 months ago, which is a very long time. As for it never triggering an irreverent comment in the interim, why, it might be that I didn't notice, or didn't care, or didn't read that thread or any number of things. I'm sure you're not senile.
I guess I will have to take your word for it then, won’t I? Such a shame of all the effort I put it into it. Never mind, it wasn’t all wasted. You never answered my question at the end though; maybe you don’t trust me 😉
BTW, “well over 19 months ago” is almost as good as “less than 20 months ago”. Well done!
What question? I'm sure you're not senile. It might be because I didn't notice etc etc. Denying I did not know something? I'd have to know what you meant by that, ie that you intended the double negative, before an answer would mean the same thing to both of us. I can certainly say that when I asked wtf terf was, I was unaware of what words the letters stood for though obviously it was an insult. Matthew Whitehead spelling it out at great length many moons ago doesn't equal me retaining the info.
Never mind, I dropped it anyway for your and my sake, but you seem very keen to waste more time on this!?
The double negative was my bad, sorry; this “not” should not have been there. It was many moons ago, more than 20 months, when I was taught English at school and I must have forgotten to retain the info. Shit happens.
I'll bring this up now, but it should get much more attention as we get closer to the election. Two things will be consistently, annoyingly misleading in coverage of the campaign: the words "Election day" and "Election night".
Advance voting begins on Sept 5, two weeks before "Election day". This year there will probably be more advance voting than ever before. Polls will be published after many people have already voted.
After "Election night", we wait for the special votes. In 2017 they totalled 446,287 or 17% of total votes cast. That includes 61,524 overseas votes. (source: official site).
Given the nature of special voters (late enrolments, especially students, and Kiwis overseas) I would not be at all surprised if they swing heavily Ardern's way, and seats change hands.
The no. of overseas votes may not be as high as we've seen in the past because many of those voters have returned to NZ or are preparing to return to NZ soon due to C19.
Labour is vulnerable in two areas, Kiwibuild and Auckland light rail.
Labour is going to have to present policy on these two areas and it had better be good.
I'd like to see compulsory acquisition of large tracts of land north and south of Drury close to rail. Take land speculators out of it because they are the very definition of inefficient. Finish the electrification gap. Use this newly redundant workforce we have to build, build, build without the obsession with profit. Clearly the private sector is both unwilling and unable to do this.
Drop light rail for the moment and just do the Puhinui spur. That is what is needed for people movement to and from Auckland International Airport. Future tourists actually pay for this so it's a no-brainer! The light rail concept was trying to do too many things at once and became confused. It’s quite a long way from the bottom of Dominion Road to the airport, not so far from the airport to the main trunk line.
Along with Law & Order the Nats under Collins will be targeting Labour on Kiwibuild and light rail and Labour had better be ready for it.
Given the importance of health at the moment a couple of attack ads highlighting National’s legacy of shit dripping out of the walls at Middlemore Hospital might go some way to squaring up balance don’t you think?
ScottGN – It came through the ceiling, not the walls. Get it right, or you will be accused of lying, just as Jacinda Ardern was earlier on, when she made the same minor error…
Judith will attack these areas because that's been her job on TV over the last three years and because Twyford has not been good at all*. Those spots on the AM show have literally paved the way for her resurrection. Without them she would be a distant memory right now.
She will also attack on Law & Order – she was in the thick of that policy area when she forced the Police to under report crime when the Nats were last in government so she knows all the tricks. Also National Party pollster and blogger, David Farrar, has built his blog on Maori bashing as it relates to Law & Order.
*Hard to blame Twyford too much on light rail because that concept was not at all thought though when it was floated. It’s simply not what we need right now. In 10 or 20 years, maybe.
*Hard to blame Twyford too much on light rail because that concept was not at all thought though when it was floated. It’s simply not what we need right now. In 10 or 20 years, maybe.
We needed it a hundred years ago when it was first proposed as a subway.
That horse has bolted. Nothing to be done about it now.
What is required is clear thinking about what Auckland will look like in 20 years. The essential bones of it must be built first, the rest of it can wait.
Did you know you have to walk between Auckland International and Domestic? Put a rail line in, ffs.
Not so sure National would be stupid enough to launch an attack re KiwiBuild. To do so would mean they would have to have a better proposition for achieving the same goals. That would imply there was an affordable housing problem that they denied when last in Government. As for Auckland Light Rail, discretion would be needed there too. They know damned well that NZ First stuffed that. To attack would imply they would be able to succeed in getting Auckland moving if in Government – possibly with having to have Winston in tow. How would they do that? Cover the city in tarseal?
Violent gang crime is up in people's minds if not actually in statistics. We know why this is – 501s – but the general voting public might not understand as much, so Farrar and Collins will push gang and Maori related crime stories in front of the media for full effect.
Don't agree about Kiwibuild. As I have been saying Kiwibuild is last years story. People don't give a f..k about it. They care of course about housing and Labour has made good progress, particularly on social housing. National made none. Everybody knows it………
Its Covid and the economy. That's all that is in peoples minds now. The question is do people want a competent well tested decisive leader that has saved us all from the ravaged of Covid. Or do the want a Donald Trump version of a leader. I actually trust NZders on this.
There's all that but Kiwibuild remains something which Labour can be attacked on. And rightly so, it was and is a complete failure because they bottled the balance between government and private sector. The government should have taken a much, much bigger role.
According to that pathetic excuse for shithouse paper called the Herald. Another up and coming bit of odious bit of shit that has risen to the surface in the National sewer called Goldsmith has wonderous solutions to the economical recovery of this country, like freezing contributions to the Cullen fund what he calls the Supernation Fund, plus a freeze on the April planned minimum wages increase. In other words same old failed Tory fuck you Jack policies that have almost destroyed this country,
Who the fuck would want to vote for this pack of crap. Yesterdays failed policies in today's "completely" different world I just don't believe that these fuckwits are so fucking brain dead to suggest policies like that.
Doubt those earning the minimum wage would regard the raise as a mistake "in the current economic situation." Can only conclude that you're not on the minimum wage.
This is entirely the right time to increase the minimum wage towards the living wage. The fiction called the economy needs simulating. Putting money into hands of those with less is the best way to do this.
It really is so terrible that some seem to have missed the 'be kind' memo.
I like it though when nasties remind victims that they're meant to play nice when the supposed-to-be-nice-ones who missed the memo reciprocate as they've been treated. The umbrage taken at not acting on the memo is quite lovely.
Of course you do, you're part of the subset that thinks screwing over the majority of people and destroying the economy to make a few rich people richer is great.
Knew our Gov were long on rhetoric and extremely short on action but didnt realise quitr how missing in action we have been…
"That means over the next decade we need to find 93.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent to cut out to meet our targets – more than the entire country's gross annual emissions. Even if we took every car in Auckland off the road for the entirety of the next decade, that would only close the gap by 35 Mt CO2e."
"So how has a supposedly transformational Government led by a Prime Minister who has pledged to treat climate change as her prime focus failed to meaningfully implement emissions-reducing policies? How can Jacinda Ardern promise to treat emissions as her generation's nuclear-free moment without consequence?
Simple: New Zealand is letting her get away with it."
And with National self destructing the political motivation to move has disappeared….perhaps the self destruction serves a purpose after all.
What crazy effing logic – how do you expect the PM to cut the emissions? To help achieve the goal, join the others who are getting off their backsides and walk, bike or use public transport. It's time for the team of 5 million to carry the load again!
Hi James How are you doing? I hope life is treating you well better than some of the unfortunates that are struggling on low wages having to pay for things like Cheese that has risen by nearly 30 % in price. in the last few weeks, That is if they have any money after paying rent to some parasitical property owner
It is a different world now pal they are failed yesterdays policies and unless the right realises that there is going to be one hell of an "adjustment" something I would hate to see.
Hi Mutton Nice to see that, We told the local veggie shop to shove them. But they do have an excuse I understand that they are imported from Queensland and because of the virus etc etc etc we have to expect those prices.
But what I cannot accept is the winging farmers who are always bleating how hard done they are expecting us(New Zealanders), to pay through the nose for their product because
Yep, there's always something involved in keeping vegetable prices at stratospheric heights. Yet it's all out of their control according to the power players.
I'd rather see no fucking courgettes at all in the supermarket than seeing them for an obscene $28/kg…
My understanding is it's not the farmers & growers setting the prices, but the supermarkets (I guess they would argue they ship and package etc). If something is too expensive, I just don't buy it, as protest & necessity.
Obviously the things will sit and start to rot, then be fed to the pigs.
Who will buy them at that price? (Although they are not heavy, and how many of them make a kilogram? But why buy them? They desperately need added flavours.)
Am looking at way to promote New Zealand's Covid response and Covid-free status. Sanzaar hopes to hold the entire Rugby Championship in Covid free New Zealand.
Unlike most other countries we have free association and the ability to pack Eden Park with 50,000 people for the very first, and probably only, international rugby matches in 2020, full stop.
Imagine the scenes on TV for those less fortunate, watching the only international test matches in front of a full stadium when they are struggling to even open pubs let alone gather in crowds.
Grant Roberston should make this a priority as it builds on New Zealand's international reputation in pandemic management.
If the flood of returning Kiwis has slowed enough that there's room in isolation and quarantine facilities for the players, and the players are OK with spending two weeks in managed isolation (while NZ players get to train as much as they want), and they pay for the managed isolation, and they're OK with the idea that very few if any of their supporters will be able to come and the crowds will be entirely kiwi, plus a bunch of other restrictions that are likely needed for safety that I haven't thought of, then sure, go nuts.
Yes, there's a few things to be addressed, chiefly how SA, AUS and Argentina will train. Athletes at the highest level are on a program and two weeks watching Netflix in your room is not part of that program.
If it's deemed important enough the other considerations can be overcome. A full Rugby Championship has got to be worth quite a bit locally and globally in the absence of any other rugby altogether. I'm sure quarantine costs can be dealt with in this context.
The players, the fans, the Unions, and Sanzaar will not be too worried about offshore fans not being able to attend.
I'm not that bothered about the rugby itself, but proposing it is brilliant politics.
What are National going to do, oppose the All Blacks playing? The timetable works very well – get it in the headlines between now and the election, and have the games (and any stuff-ups) after the election.
It was the lead story on TV3 news tonight. Score one for the comms team.
I'm thinking about the wider benefits of having this comp up and running. We look like a country which gets things done in a Covid world. Our Sanzaar partners and their players will be gagging to come here for two months to showcase the game to the rest of the world. We as a country would gain huge benefits from that exposure.
The Alex Salmond Show interviews top public health academic, Professor Michael Baker of Otago University, who details the reasons for New Zealand’s success in eliminating Covid-19 and warns of the worldwide dangers yet to come. Meanwhile the author of ‘Pandemic Century’, Dr Mark Honigsbaum, explains why some countries have succeeded in taming the coronavirus when so many others have struggled.
Let me get this straight. Simon Bridges has used an interview to take a swipe at his own front bench colleague Todd Muller who is no doubt still on health leave.
United caucus? Nope. Considerate of mental health? Nope. Same old National Party brutality.
I was not impressed with the statement by Winston Peters about Todd Muller's health issue. Especially as Winston demands privacy and keeps very tight lipped about his own medical issues.
Loyalty is sadly missing in the National caucus ; leaks to Tova just after Judith Collins won the leadership and now Simon Bridge's little dig at Todd Muller. Not looking good for the party if this is how they plan to build up to the election.
Peters might demand privacy and to be treated with respect. That didn't happen before the last election when some minion decided that his personal information held by a Ministry should be handed to politicians with no reasonable justification.
Sacha, it was the headline, I too thought the comments fairly tame, it is curious that the Newshub/ Herald (?) guys spun it as such, coz it prob would have passed unnoticed really. I missed the Peters bit.
A desperate journo trying to spin a story out of nothing is sadly to be expected; and by now we ought to be able to distinguish that from the underlying facts – hence me quoting what Bridges said, not what the writer said he did.
Absolutely, I've said here many times, Collins, Brownlee etc will say some barmy things, will do dirty politics, they can't help themselves. I was just surprised to see the headline.
Australia is now clocking up Covid deaths. They'd stopped at about 102 when we also eradicated. Now they are up to 113 which when they passed 110 is officially more than NZ in deaths/capita.
Australia's covid response once vaunted by Mike Hosking and his followers Simon Bridges and and the rest of NZ's rump-right seems to be unravelling.
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span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
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Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/122116574/auckland-council-budget-rates-up-35-per-cent-and-more-than-500-jobs-to-go
If found it strange that if you were asked if you'd like a 3.5% increase or a 2.5% increase…where was the option for no increase?
that was on Planet Key.
“…where was the option for no increase?”
They may have had to cut executives salaries and bonuses for that to happen.
Ah, yes, the delusional idea that governments can always do more with less.
Dams have not been above average storage since March 19, and when were restrictions put in place ? post lock down. After high water usage as every water blaster was utilised in the lock down period washing down paths etc. every car was washed and swimming pools were continually been topped up. Where was the leadership around Christmas/January when lower than average rainfall was being forecast ? But don't let facts get in the way ….🤬
https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/articles/news/2020/05/council-to-make-decision-on-water-restrictions/
WTF has that got to do with what I said?
It was in response to Indiana and the Auckland councils $750m financial hole ($250m Watercare), and the apparent need for this rates increase. And how with any leadership, this financial crisis would have been reduced.
It's difficult to get good financial leadership when all the politicians are following the same, failed, economic ideology.
The latest opposition National party ‘reshuffle‘:
Got to admit – that was funny.
well played.
Jeery Browneye got quite cross when Lisa Owen repeatedly interrupted him while he was answering the question he wanted her to have asked.
[You have used the same infantile name-calling of Brownlee 12 times on TS, not counting the one that I deleted yesterday, but you may have missed it. Here it is for your convenience: https://thestandard.org.nz/if-judith-and-gerry-are-the-answer-it-must-have-been-a-desperate-question/#comment-1730344. I think it’s time you grow up and call people by their proper names starting with Gerry Brownlee. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in advance – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 6:16 PM.
How did that other search go? Any luck?
I have done a preliminary search and it doesn’t look so good for you. It seems to support my initial suspicion. I have been quite busy lately and have not had time to wrap it up. Do you still maintain your innocence or do you want to change your plea after I have presented the evidence to you? Good behaviour is taken into consideration when sentencing. I’m serious, BTW, as I intend to start a Pre-Election Clear-Out here.
You're being too hard on Gabby. I had a similar battle with weka over trans rights and no evidence was found to ban me so I think you should just drop it if it's too complicated.
Only difference is I didn’t keep prodding weka about it…Gabby.
I appreciate you putting in a good word for Gabby but there is evidence, as I said, I just haven’t found the right time to collate it. I’ve also mentioned previously to Gabby that I cannot stand dishonesty and that’s the real ‘crime’ as far as I’m concerned, the TERF issue is secondary. I don’t mind being reminded but please don’t start crying then when it comes to crunch time. Best not to get in the way when it comes to that 🙂
I get that you are unpaid. We all are.
But you searching for evidence of Gabby’s alleged indiscretions doesn’t seem to be a great use of your time.
No, you’re right, it isn’t, but it is a matter of principle that commenters don’t lie here. Almost nobody will come clean, confess, and apologise when caught out and many a ban is because of a lie of some kind AKA making up shit and/or not providing supporting info to show that their ‘fact’ or assertion is nothing more than their opinion, for example. If one word captures or describes behaviour that is associated with bans here, it is dishonesty.
PS I cannot be 100% certain that none of the commenters here is paid.
Muttonbird your comment that Incognito keeping matters on an even keel and reasonably sane as we discuss this most important and contentious of topics, politics, "doesn’t seem to be a great use of your time" shows what seems youthful carelessness about the quality of our lives. He/she is doing a difficult job out of principle, as you say unpaid, and we who think and yearn for better-thinking, discussing and debating and civilised society and conditions thank this person for it. (Even when it annoys us personally by calling taihoa on a tirade. By the way sorry if this is tl:dr Gabby.)
I always enjoy Gabby's irreverent comments and the titles she bestows. She's/he's cheeky, not snide, imo, but I do recognise that tone is hard to gauge and once you feel someone's unkind, it's hard to un-feel that. I don't think Gabby's unkind at all (but wouldn't like to be the target of her attentions
Thanks Robert. I find that Gabby’s comment range from infantile crude shit (AKA poppycock) to hilarious and some are even a contribution to ‘normal’ conversation. I didn’t dig the hole and I didn’t remind that the hole needed to be filled and covered. I will close this chapter soon and then we can move on to the Election, one way or another.
It's your call (you wield the Sword of Righteousness – perhaps your de-scabarding will be enough to rein in Gabby's gabiosity without having to lop off her head). She will be sorely tempted though, by the characters in the latest Punch'n'Judy Show; Gerry's a big target and lampooning the Creature from the Kauri Swamp seems irresistible.
I know it can be a fine line between witty and crude. I’ve asked nicely to stop the crudeness; I don’t find “Browneye” funny, personally. When the same word(s) becomes over-used (e.g. “neocon Den” six times), it becomes tedious even if it was funny the first time. Other blog sites are much worse than TS when it comes to bad name-calling, infantile labelling/mocking, and bullying & intimidating of targets (victims). Social media are full of it too. If people feel the need to express themselves in these kinds of manners and use language from and fit for the gutter then they know where to go. If people come here to be entertained by third grade crass comedy then they have come to the wrong place too. There’s a place & audience for all occasions but TS is not that. IMHO.
BTW That was a funny comment 🙂
I really enjoy Gabby's comment, but respect moderators decision. Would miss Gabby very much
Gabby is not going anywhere. Gabby is just going to do a bit of growing up and become even wittier and sharper as a result.
I'm starting to think you may have 'erected' this hole in your mind. You'd like this terf thing to be recurring so you've decided it is. I look forward to seeing the results of your quest.
You’re stiff competition but I’m up for it.
Dear Gabby,
My apologies for the delay but you did remind me and asked for an update and I felt I had to keep my promise and oblige.
Here are the results of my search as to whether you, in all probability, knew the meaning of TERF, which you denied. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06-07-2020/#comment-1726241
You commented under this post, less than two years ago – the title alone is telling enough: https://thestandard.org.nz/terfed-out/
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28-11-2018/#comment-1555214
You commented under this post: https://thestandard.org.nz/the-spotys-2018/
The above are the ones in which you’re directly linked to the acronym. In addition, many other commentaries use, explain, or discuss the acronym that you would have seen although you didn’t contribute directly to those specific discussion threads.
You like word-plays and joking around and you seem to be generally very well informed.
Overall, I think it is beyond reasonable doubt that you knew the meaning of the acronym on 6 July and, therefore, that you repeatedly lied about it.
I look forward to your response. It better be good.
One thread on terfs with a definition given by Matthew Whitehead in a loong jargon ridden post I doubt I made it to the end of, a couple of Open Mike comments on a day when some people were commenting upthread, and a SPOTY post that mentions 'terf' and I comment on Bridges' croaking? And this is all from 2018. About a fairly niche issue of little interest to people not directly involved. You are drawing a very long bow. I guess your persistence is admirable but it's slim, slim pickings. And what's this 'repeatedly lied' nonsense?
You’re on a bit of a crusade, aren’t you.
Ok, let me get this straight: you still deny that you did not know the meaning on 6 July when you had your contemptuous outburst? That’s “the lie”. It was less than 20 months ago and it has appeared many times since here on TS but never triggered an irreverent comment from you. Why might that be? I don’t believe you and I’ve already stated that I cannot stand dishonesty. Are you deliberately acting thick again or do you hold me for an old senile fool? Do you want me to drop this now?
What are you talking about? Deny that I did NOT know?? It's patently obvious that I did NOT know. Evidently it was an insult, but I did NOT know what terf stood for. It was well over 19 months ago, which is a very long time. As for it never triggering an irreverent comment in the interim, why, it might be that I didn't notice, or didn't care, or didn't read that thread or any number of things. I'm sure you're not senile.
I guess I will have to take your word for it then, won’t I? Such a shame of all the effort I put it into it. Never mind, it wasn’t all wasted. You never answered my question at the end though; maybe you don’t trust me 😉
BTW, “well over 19 months ago” is almost as good as “less than 20 months ago”. Well done!
What question? I'm sure you're not senile. It might be because I didn't notice etc etc. Denying I did not know something? I'd have to know what you meant by that, ie that you intended the double negative, before an answer would mean the same thing to both of us. I can certainly say that when I asked wtf terf was, I was unaware of what words the letters stood for though obviously it was an insult. Matthew Whitehead spelling it out at great length many moons ago doesn't equal me retaining the info.
What question? This question:
Never mind, I dropped it anyway for your and my sake, but you seem very keen to waste more time on this!?
The double negative was my bad, sorry; this “not” should not have been there. It was many moons ago, more than 20 months, when I was taught English at school and I must have forgotten to retain the info. Shit happens.
.
Post a link as well please.
I'll bring this up now, but it should get much more attention as we get closer to the election. Two things will be consistently, annoyingly misleading in coverage of the campaign: the words "Election day" and "Election night".
Advance voting begins on Sept 5, two weeks before "Election day". This year there will probably be more advance voting than ever before. Polls will be published after many people have already voted.
After "Election night", we wait for the special votes. In 2017 they totalled 446,287 or 17% of total votes cast. That includes 61,524 overseas votes. (source: official site).
Given the nature of special voters (late enrolments, especially students, and Kiwis overseas) I would not be at all surprised if they swing heavily Ardern's way, and seats change hands.
The no. of overseas votes may not be as high as we've seen in the past because many of those voters have returned to NZ or are preparing to return to NZ soon due to C19.
Good point. I wonder if they will have ballot boxes in all the isolation hotels …
I imagine they would be duty bound to, because every NZer regardless of circumstances has a right to vote.
And yes, imo, that includes those in prison. The right to vote should be above the laws of the land.
I think people overseas will vote Ardern for all the obvious reasons. Time to email friends and loved ones!
Labour is vulnerable in two areas, Kiwibuild and Auckland light rail.
Labour is going to have to present policy on these two areas and it had better be good.
I'd like to see compulsory acquisition of large tracts of land north and south of Drury close to rail. Take land speculators out of it because they are the very definition of inefficient. Finish the electrification gap. Use this newly redundant workforce we have to build, build, build without the obsession with profit. Clearly the private sector is both unwilling and unable to do this.
Drop light rail for the moment and just do the Puhinui spur. That is what is needed for people movement to and from Auckland International Airport. Future tourists actually pay for this so it's a no-brainer! The light rail concept was trying to do too many things at once and became confused. It’s quite a long way from the bottom of Dominion Road to the airport, not so far from the airport to the main trunk line.
Along with Law & Order the Nats under Collins will be targeting Labour on Kiwibuild and light rail and Labour had better be ready for it.
Labour is vulnerable in two areas, Kiwibuild and Auckland light rail.
those two areas being over promising and failing to deliver.
I think you can be confident that’s where National will attack – and for good reason.
National have been attacking on many fronts, putting out press releases, making speeches, announcing roads.
For some reason these don't seem to be the stories making the news headlines. Wonder why?
Given the importance of health at the moment a couple of attack ads highlighting National’s legacy of shit dripping out of the walls at Middlemore Hospital might go some way to squaring up balance don’t you think?
ScottGN – It came through the ceiling, not the walls. Get it right, or you will be accused of lying, just as Jacinda Ardern was earlier on, when she made the same minor error…
Judith will attack these areas because that's been her job on TV over the last three years and because Twyford has not been good at all*. Those spots on the AM show have literally paved the way for her resurrection. Without them she would be a distant memory right now.
She will also attack on Law & Order – she was in the thick of that policy area when she forced the Police to under report crime when the Nats were last in government so she knows all the tricks. Also National Party pollster and blogger, David Farrar, has built his blog on Maori bashing as it relates to Law & Order.
*Hard to blame Twyford too much on light rail because that concept was not at all thought though when it was floated. It’s simply not what we need right now. In 10 or 20 years, maybe.
We needed it a hundred years ago when it was first proposed as a subway.
That horse has bolted. Nothing to be done about it now.
What is required is clear thinking about what Auckland will look like in 20 years. The essential bones of it must be built first, the rest of it can wait.
Did you know you have to walk between Auckland International and Domestic? Put a rail line in, ffs.
Put a rail line in for a 5 minute walk ?
Not really as we still need it. Cities really don't do well with personal cars as the main transport system.
Of course, with the better technology available to day and better planning techniques we'd probably end up with a better system.
Not so sure National would be stupid enough to launch an attack re KiwiBuild. To do so would mean they would have to have a better proposition for achieving the same goals. That would imply there was an affordable housing problem that they denied when last in Government. As for Auckland Light Rail, discretion would be needed there too. They know damned well that NZ First stuffed that. To attack would imply they would be able to succeed in getting Auckland moving if in Government – possibly with having to have Winston in tow. How would they do that? Cover the city in tarseal?
I’m not sure Law & Order is going to be particularly fertile for National this election cycle.
Violent gang crime is up in people's minds if not actually in statistics. We know why this is – 501s – but the general voting public might not understand as much, so Farrar and Collins will push gang and Maori related crime stories in front of the media for full effect.
Don't agree about Kiwibuild. As I have been saying Kiwibuild is last years story. People don't give a f..k about it. They care of course about housing and Labour has made good progress, particularly on social housing. National made none. Everybody knows it………
Its Covid and the economy. That's all that is in peoples minds now. The question is do people want a competent well tested decisive leader that has saved us all from the ravaged of Covid. Or do the want a Donald Trump version of a leader. I actually trust NZders on this.
We've got this
There's all that but Kiwibuild remains something which Labour can be attacked on. And rightly so, it was and is a complete failure because they bottled the balance between government and private sector. The government should have taken a much, much bigger role.
According to that pathetic excuse for shithouse paper called the Herald. Another up and coming bit of odious bit of shit that has risen to the surface in the National sewer called Goldsmith has wonderous solutions to the economical recovery of this country, like freezing contributions to the Cullen fund what he calls the Supernation Fund, plus a freeze on the April planned minimum wages increase. In other words same old failed Tory fuck you Jack policies that have almost destroyed this country,
Who the fuck would want to vote for this pack of crap. Yesterdays failed policies in today's "completely" different world I just don't believe that these fuckwits are so fucking brain dead to suggest policies like that.
I get the feeling you missed the be kind memo.
and I think they are good suggestions.
Raising the minimum wage was a mistake when last done and it’s a mistake to do it again in the current economic situation.
It's still not a LIVING wage yet, James.
James comes to troll. Not worth responding to
Agreed Anker…sometimes can't help myself.
Doubt those earning the minimum wage would regard the raise as a mistake "in the current economic situation." Can only conclude that you're not on the minimum wage.
This is entirely the right time to increase the minimum wage towards the living wage. The fiction called the economy needs simulating. Putting money into hands of those with less is the best way to do this.
It really is so terrible that some seem to have missed the 'be kind' memo.
I like it though when nasties remind victims that they're meant to play nice when the supposed-to-be-nice-ones who missed the memo reciprocate as they've been treated. The umbrage taken at not acting on the memo is quite lovely.
Of course you do, you're part of the subset that thinks screwing over the majority of people and destroying the economy to make a few rich people richer is great.
Knew our Gov were long on rhetoric and extremely short on action but didnt realise quitr how missing in action we have been…
"That means over the next decade we need to find 93.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent to cut out to meet our targets – more than the entire country's gross annual emissions. Even if we took every car in Auckland off the road for the entirety of the next decade, that would only close the gap by 35 Mt CO2e."
and our infrastructure spend is on……roads!
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/boris-johnson-has-done-more-for-the-climate-than-jacinda-ardern
"So how has a supposedly transformational Government led by a Prime Minister who has pledged to treat climate change as her prime focus failed to meaningfully implement emissions-reducing policies? How can Jacinda Ardern promise to treat emissions as her generation's nuclear-free moment without consequence?
Simple: New Zealand is letting her get away with it."
And with National self destructing the political motivation to move has disappeared….perhaps the self destruction serves a purpose after all.
What crazy effing logic – how do you expect the PM to cut the emissions? To help achieve the goal, join the others who are getting off their backsides and walk, bike or use public transport. It's time for the team of 5 million to carry the load again!
care to name any gov actions that have reduced our emissions?
How has it happened?
Uh, the Winston veto..
answer to James @6.1
Hi James How are you doing? I hope life is treating you well better than some of the unfortunates that are struggling on low wages having to pay for things like Cheese that has risen by nearly 30 % in price. in the last few weeks, That is if they have any money after paying rent to some parasitical property owner
It is a different world now pal they are failed yesterdays policies and unless the right realises that there is going to be one hell of an "adjustment" something I would hate to see.
Went to the supermarket today and saw the glistening green courgettes sitting lonely and untouched at $28/kg. They’ll have to be thrown out.
Broken neoliberalism.
Hi Mutton Nice to see that, We told the local veggie shop to shove them. But they do have an excuse I understand that they are imported from Queensland and because of the virus etc etc etc we have to expect those prices.
But what I cannot accept is the winging farmers who are always bleating how hard done they are expecting us(New Zealanders), to pay through the nose for their product because
A. Prices have fallen overseas or
B Prices are so buoyant overseas.
Yep, there's always something involved in keeping vegetable prices at stratospheric heights. Yet it's all out of their control according to the power players.
I'd rather see no fucking courgettes at all in the supermarket than seeing them for an obscene $28/kg…
Agree Mutton 200%
My understanding is it's not the farmers & growers setting the prices, but the supermarkets (I guess they would argue they ship and package etc). If something is too expensive, I just don't buy it, as protest & necessity.
Obviously the things will sit and start to rot, then be fed to the pigs.
Who will buy them at that price? (Although they are not heavy, and how many of them make a kilogram? But why buy them? They desperately need added flavours.)
Am looking at way to promote New Zealand's Covid response and Covid-free status. Sanzaar hopes to hold the entire Rugby Championship in Covid free New Zealand.
Unlike most other countries we have free association and the ability to pack Eden Park with 50,000 people for the very first, and probably only, international rugby matches in 2020, full stop.
Imagine the scenes on TV for those less fortunate, watching the only international test matches in front of a full stadium when they are struggling to even open pubs let alone gather in crowds.
Grant Roberston should make this a priority as it builds on New Zealand's international reputation in pandemic management.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12348506
If the flood of returning Kiwis has slowed enough that there's room in isolation and quarantine facilities for the players, and the players are OK with spending two weeks in managed isolation (while NZ players get to train as much as they want), and they pay for the managed isolation, and they're OK with the idea that very few if any of their supporters will be able to come and the crowds will be entirely kiwi, plus a bunch of other restrictions that are likely needed for safety that I haven't thought of, then sure, go nuts.
People used to go to the commonwealth/olympic games/rugby/cricket tours by boat. That was a 6 week trip. Two weeks in isolation is not that much.
Great idea! Come to NZ on a Covid-19 floating incubation chamber to watch a rugby game or two and expect to not be quarantined?
Yes, there's a few things to be addressed, chiefly how SA, AUS and Argentina will train. Athletes at the highest level are on a program and two weeks watching Netflix in your room is not part of that program.
If it's deemed important enough the other considerations can be overcome. A full Rugby Championship has got to be worth quite a bit locally and globally in the absence of any other rugby altogether. I'm sure quarantine costs can be dealt with in this context.
The players, the fans, the Unions, and Sanzaar will not be too worried about offshore fans not being able to attend.
I'm not that bothered about the rugby itself, but proposing it is brilliant politics.
What are National going to do, oppose the All Blacks playing? The timetable works very well – get it in the headlines between now and the election, and have the games (and any stuff-ups) after the election.
It was the lead story on TV3 news tonight. Score one for the comms team.
I'm thinking about the wider benefits of having this comp up and running. We look like a country which gets things done in a Covid world. Our Sanzaar partners and their players will be gagging to come here for two months to showcase the game to the rest of the world. We as a country would gain huge benefits from that exposure.
Oh, I agree. Brand NZ is strong internationally, and this is one more possible plus.
Or, just ask a bit more for the tv rights, and nobody has to travel.
The Alex Salmond Show interviews top public health academic, Professor Michael Baker of Otago University, who details the reasons for New Zealand’s success in eliminating Covid-19 and warns of the worldwide dangers yet to come. Meanwhile the author of ‘Pandemic Century’, Dr Mark Honigsbaum, explains why some countries have succeeded in taming the coronavirus when so many others have struggled.
https://www.rt.com/shows/alex-salmond-show/494810-new-zealand-coronavirus-measures/
Let me get this straight. Simon Bridges has used an interview to take a swipe at his own front bench colleague Todd Muller who is no doubt still on health leave.
United caucus? Nope. Considerate of mental health? Nope. Same old National Party brutality.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12348674
After the Brownlee interviews (Garner & Owen) they really will say some barmy stuff, their confidence is so exuberant!
I was not impressed with the statement by Winston Peters about Todd Muller's health issue. Especially as Winston demands privacy and keeps very tight lipped about his own medical issues.
Loyalty is sadly missing in the National caucus ; leaks to Tova just after Judith Collins won the leadership and now Simon Bridge's little dig at Todd Muller. Not looking good for the party if this is how they plan to build up to the election.
We might as well add Winston Peters to the National Party now because there's no way NZF will be in a Labour led government.
He only went with Labour for personal reasons – that much is widely suspected.
I thought his comment on Muller was a serious breach of good conduct which he himself pretends to subscribe to.
I do hope NZF is finished on September 19, I really do. They are such a pathetic waste of space.
I get it about Peters and Muller.
Peters might demand privacy and to be treated with respect. That didn't happen before the last election when some minion decided that his personal information held by a Ministry should be handed to politicians with no reasonable justification.
Oh that's so savage. I'm off to clutch my pearls and sniff my salts. Call me when civility reached acceptable levels again.
You can trivialise it if you want but the point is that the National Party is not even remotely united as they now profess to be.
You do not need to wildly over-egg comments here to make that point. They are enough of a trainwreck without our help.
Sacha, it was the headline, I too thought the comments fairly tame, it is curious that the Newshub/ Herald (?) guys spun it as such, coz it prob would have passed unnoticed really. I missed the Peters bit.
A desperate journo trying to spin a story out of nothing is sadly to be expected; and by now we ought to be able to distinguish that from the underlying facts – hence me quoting what Bridges said, not what the writer said he did.
Absolutely, I've said here many times, Collins, Brownlee etc will say some barmy things, will do dirty politics, they can't help themselves. I was just surprised to see the headline.
Australia is now clocking up Covid deaths. They'd stopped at about 102 when we also eradicated. Now they are up to 113 which when they passed 110 is officially more than NZ in deaths/capita.
Australia's covid response once vaunted by Mike Hosking and his followers Simon Bridges and and the rest of NZ's rump-right seems to be unravelling.
It's sort of like Christmas when you were a kid. You go to bed on Christmas Eve expectant and excitef about what the next day will bring.
Who will be National's big player of the day when you wake up the next morning!
Some wit on Twitter, "more people have escaped the National Party in the last month than have escaped quarantine".
Some value in Twitter after all?