It came out of the blue and on the face of it smacks of opportunism. If there is another more substantive reason I should like to know what it was. I don’t really buy the “we wanted the voters to have a better choice etc.” line which James Shaw has been peddling.
This seems to be what Shaw wants to bring to politics is parties working together, finding consensus, not always at each other’s throats. He thinks it turns people off politics and he’s probably right in that. This is what he’s trying to do for the climate change debate is to get cross party agreement on what should be done. We can only wait to see if this approach does anything in the poll results. I don’t think they’re going to lose voters over this, they’re still against the whole flag debate. But if it pulls in new voters, a lot of green voters will want this approach to carry on.
That’s my reading of it too. I don’t like what they’ve done re Red Peak, and I’m in two minds about doing any kind of working together thing with such a corrupt govt but something has to change or we’re screwed and maybe this is part of that change.
True, and despite my reservations about what the GP have done I am curious to see how they will make this work for the party. I don’t think they’re under any illusions about what working with National actually means (it’s not like they’re going to believe that National are their friends all of a sudden).
By itself, putting a motion to include the Red Peak is not the main issue.
The issue is (a) They did it secretly with Key behind Labour’s back (b) Blind sided Labour (c) Gave a helping hand to Key to get out of the muck that Key created himself (d) Promised Key that they would vote against Labour’s proposed Y/N amendment. What was the need for that? What game are the Greens playing here? (e) Enabled Key to play the Greens against Labour (f) Helped Key to falsely paint Labour as the bad guys (g) Put Labour and Little in a bad spot (h) Greens played dirty politics here to make the masters of dirty politics look good.
————
You also wrote: “people are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes)”
So, are you saying the exec consulted all the MPs and their members to play this disgraceful tootsie behind close doors with Key in this Red Peak case? Was there a consensus or majority support for this dirty move? Were YOU informed or consulted?
I think you’ve put it very clearly, Clem. And of course the members were not consulted – how could they have been? Nor, probably, all the Green Caucus MPs. The Greens are suddenly playing a dirty game, when up til now they’re been very principled and clean…….. this is not a good look for the Greens.
I’m a member and I don’t expect the be consulted on something like this.
For something like this I do expect to be consulted. It’s actually a fairly major move to go and work with a party that continuously attacking you and to do it in such a way as to help that party out of the hole that it’s dug for itself.
The exec/MPs already have a mandate from the members to work on policy with any party, within the kaupapa of the party. That’s what they did (I still disagree with it myself, but I don’t see them as having done the dirty on the membership).
For the GP to consult the membership on this particular issue (Hughes’ flag bill), it would take weeks if not months of work. Ideally I’d like to see internal processes set up and streamlined so that there was better democracy and representation within the party. But I just don’t think it’s possible the way things are now, certainly now with the timeframes involved here where things were changing quite rapidly.
For the GP to consult the membership on this particular issue (Hughes’ flag bill), it would take weeks if not months of work.
Nope. A simple email asking if they should work with National to get Red Peak included in the referendum and describing how they would do that with a link to a response web page. Send the email out in the morning with a close time of around 22:00.
Taking months for this type of feedback only occurs if you’re using paper methods and has been outdated since last century.
I doubt that the GP would consider that good consultation. What you propose would reach certain sectors, mostly the people who spend alot of time online or who happened to be online that day. It would actively exclude other sectors, eg people who are online intermittently or only every few days. If you wanted to get a sense of what group A thinks, it would work. If you want to consult with the membership, it wouldn’t.
As I said, the GP could improve its ability to consult on more day to day matters, but those processes aren’t in place currently. I doubt that you could ever get a 1 day turnaround, although they could set up feedback groups that people could join with the proviso that this was about feedback from activists rather than the membership.
“Taking months for this type of feedback only occurs if you’re using paper methods and has been outdated since last century.”
The GP have led the way in NZ for using IT to reach people so I really don’t think it’s that (they don’t contact me by paper and haven’t for years).
What, there’s people in the Green Party that aren’t online all the time? I seriously doubt that.
The Greens have been the party using and promulgating high tech since they started which is why Nationals cries of Luddite about them has always rung false.
Ideally I’d like to see internal processes set up and streamlined so that there was better democracy and representation within the party.
Not sure if that’s a joke, but I know quite a few GP members and they’re not online all the time. They use the internet as a tool, they don’t live there.
“By itself, putting a motion to include the Red Peak is not the main issue.”
It is to me. Havng RP on the referendum creates as many problems as it solves IMO.
Labour have had ample opportunity to form a sold working relationship with the GP (years in fact). If Labour were blindsided by this they migh want to reflect on the number of times they’ve declined to work with the Greens (I’m being polite). My feeling is that at any time that Labour steps up and builds that relationship with the GP, then the GP will be willing and keen. But as long as Labour keep hedging their bets, the GP are free to treat Labour as competition.
I haven’t followed the process this week that closely, but ‘dirty politics’ in NZ has a fairly specific meaning and I doubt that that is what the GP has done, despite how you feel about the treatment of Labour. One thing I did see was the GP being very clear in the media that this whole thing was National’s fuck up, with the clear implication that it wasn’t Labour’s fault.
You also wrote:
“people are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes)”
Please don’t selectively quote me out of context, and please don’t edit my words and misquote me (you deliberately took out meaning in your quote). Here’s what I actually said,
People who think that the GP can form govt with National the way it is now are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes).
That is clearly about formation of coalitions, and equally clearly doesn’t apply to the flag process. Get a grip.
“(hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes). That is clearly about formation of coalitions, and equally clearly doesn’t apply to the flag process. Get a grip”
Why does it not apply to this secret flag deal with Key? Do you know if the ‘executive’ had the backing of their MPs (If not the members) for it?
Or was it the brilliant brain fart of just Shaw and Hughes?
I’m not an active member, so I have no idea what happened at that level. But are you really suggesting that the GP go back to the membership each time they want to do something? Seriously? They don’t have any processes in place for that for things that need to be done quickly. No party does afaik.
“Do you know if the ‘executive’ had the backing of their MPs (If not the members) for it?”
Um, given Shaw and Hughes are both MPs and have been speaking on this publicly this week I think it’s safe to assume they knew. Honestly, I’m not sure what you are on about here.
Well, I applaud him for that maui – especially over Climate Change. It makes a lot of sense. The trouble is, he’s up against a cynical sleaze-bag in John Key who I suspect has used Shaw and the Greens to get him out of a hole of his own making.
It looks to me the ‘about face’ was going to happen anyway because Farrar would have been polling 24/7 on the issue and it would have become clear Key was on the losing side. Instead Shaw gave Key the opportunity to do it without egg on his face and, at the same time, rub the egg in Little’s face as if he was the culprit. Not the sort of thing you do to an ally.
I agree Anne, and MS – what the Greens have just done, is NOT what you do to an ally. And if Maui is right and the Greens under Shaw want to work more collaboratively with other political parties, then they’re going the wrong way about it. Working collaboratively surely means talking and working together ?NOT sticking it to one potential ally while pandering to the panda-like needs of a trumped-up self-satisfied American puppet – who just happens to be our PM.
I wouldn’t see Labour as an active ally of the GP, so I can understand why the GP wouldn’t put that up there as a priority. I’d love for Labour to form a solid working relationship with the GP, but they haven’t, despite attempts from the GP to make this happen. I was a bit surprised at how Labour got thrashed in this process, but I’m not surprised that the GP chose to not make Labour’s wellbeing their own priority. Given how Labour have treated the Greens historically I think it’s unrealistic to think that the GP should relate with Labour as anything special until Labour step up in that relationship. The ball is in Labour’s court on that one.
Yes weka. I know there was bad blood between Labour and the Greens in the past and I have no doubt a lot of the fault lay with the then Labour caucus. But those days have gone and those involved have gone too. Even so, I think the Greens also have to take some of the blame – especially over the fact the Clark government did a coalition deal (or something similar) with NZ First and not the Greens. The Greens failed to take into account they didn’t end up with sufficient MPs to make such a deal strong and viable in an MMP environment. That wasn’t Labour’s fault. That was the fault of the voters.
If I remember correctly Winston Peters held a gun at their heads too. He refused to sign any agreement that included the Greens. What was Labour supposed to do? Stand down and let the Tories form a government under Don Brash?
Sorry Anne, but it’s not in the past. It’s the current situation. At the last election the GP tried to work with Labour and Labour rejected that. I don’t see anything has changed since then except some vague noises from Little occassionally. The two parties aren’t working together in a way that promotes them as a govt in waiting. I don’t think that’s down to the GP despite what they’ve done this week.
I don’t agree with what the GP have done here, but I also don’t believe that the GP should be kind to Labour out of some sense of fairness or duty when Labour still shows no real sign of wanting to work together. I’m gobsmacked that so many people here think that the GP should put Labour’s wellbeing ahead of their own.
All I can say weka is the Labour members I know have no quarrel with the Greens and see them as a natural coalition party. I have also spoken to a few MPs and they have never shown any aggro towards the Greens so it’s hard for me to reconcile what I’ve encountered… and what you are saying. There does seem to be a difference in perception but maybe it’s a regional difference. Certainly in Auckland there seems to be generally good vibes between most Labour and Green members. That’s my experience anyway.
that’s good to hear Anne. I’m talking about the parties not the members. If we want a left wing govt, then Labour and the GP have to work together publicly. That’s not happening. Why not?
” If we want a left wing govt, then Labour and the GP have to work together publicly. That’s not happening. Why not?’
There are very good strategic, electoral and political reasons for not going too gung go together. That does not mean they, ie, all the opposition, including NZF, should not work together on several issues with reasonable commonalities. I know you are intelligent enough to figure it out yourself.
“The trouble is, he’s up against a cynical sleaze-bag in John Key who I suspect has used Shaw and the Greens to get him out of a hole of his own making.”
My concern is the sleaze-bag factor and the risk of the GP being tainted. Not so sure that the GP were victims to Key’s using them so much as they’re using the situation to build political capital. Dangerous, but I am curious to see how that plays out.
Shortly after he was elected leader of the Greens Shaw claimed he wanted to do this but couldn’t tell Guyon Espiner who Labour’s climate change spokesperson was. Now I would have thought if he was really interested in doing this he’d have noticed Megan Woods, who is one of the better Labour MPs. The recent working paper he produced on climate change was not impressive and showed no signs of cross party consultation.
This latest deal with National was unnecessary and damaging to the relationship between Labour and the Greens. It is hypocritical, unprincipled politics, and I am very disappointed in the Green Party leadership..
I also don’t like the way Metiria seems to have been sidelined. I thought initially she was allowing Shaw to get a higher profile, but it is going on too long. Why was it Shaw representing the Greens in the Nation debate last weekend? On the anniversary of women getting the vote, party leaders get to discuss the last election and the Greens send their male co-leader who was a backbencher at the last election.
“The recent working paper he produced on climate change was not impressive and showed no signs of cross party consultation.”
Please link to Labour’s response to the discussion paper. Really, I’m quite curious.
The GP have been waiting a long time for Labour to be willing for the two parties to work together. Still waiting, but not putting their own agenda on hold. Sorry, but I’ve run out patience with this. If Labour are being sidelined they’ve no-one to blame but themselves in this instance.
Agree,the Greens demonstrating a distinct cavalier responce to the rule of law.Showing this pathetic Govt the path to Urgency for such a trivial flag issue when other important matters are left alone.
Good on the greens, possibly a sign they can and are happy to look at coalition with national, actually achieve something vs hanging around with perennial losers that call themselves labour, here come the blue greens
That idea may be the thinking of their simple silly brains, but I suspect this move they have done behind the scene with Key, without first signalling it to Labour and blind siding them will back fire on the Greens. I think Winston and NZF will end up reaping the benefit of this dodgy dirty move. By this the Greens have shown to be untrustworthy and undependable and have lost some of their dignity, integrity and mana.
The only way that the GP can go into coalition with National is if National changes and becomes more like the GP (ie the GP has a mandate to work with any party where there is sufficient common ground on policy). Is that what you are suggesting?
People who think that the GP can form govt with National the way it is now are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes).
Looks to me like the GP exec have actually just done what it likes re Red Peak and flag issue, Weka – and to heck with the GP charter or mandate or whatever it is you think they’re working to. The Red Peak flag would not have been in the GP Charter !
Not following you there Jenny. The rules around coaltion formation are clear, and the membership has voted on what it wants the party to do for a number of years now. Day to day running of the party and taking stances on various issues can’t go back to the membership each time, for what I would have though were obvious reasons.
I’m curious which bits of the charter you feel have been compromised by the flag legislation or process.
And I’m curious too – Weka – as to how Green-supporting voters are going to take this dirty kick-in-the-back to Labour over the Red Peak flag when so many of them have been talking a Labour-Green coalition for the future.
There’s a fair bit of disappointment and shock coming thru on the Green Facebook page at the moment – I wonder if it will last, or fade away.
I’m not too happy about it myself, although I’m more concerned about the RP thing than the Labour thing. Exactly how long should GP members wait for Labour to show any real sign of wanting to work with the GP? As fas as I can see Labour still aren’t committed. Should the GP wait another election cycle, see how things work out after the 2017 election? Or what?
The GP have been trying for a very long time to work with Labour. It’s on Labour that that hasn’t happened.
As for GP voters, calcualted risk I’d say and I’ll be interested to see how it plays out. Main problem is that the last Roy Morgan was probably a rogue number for the GP (15%) so we’re not really going to be able to tell directly.
“Maybe they’ll go into coalition with national. There seems to have been a changing of the guard with the greens representing a younger urban demographic, not the old hippies and anarchists”
May be. Who knows? One thing is clear to me. At the moment, they are thinking through their arse on this issue. Dumb nincompoops.
That is a snap shot of every thing that is wrong with how big business is run.
I just read on a face book post that farmers are ditching fonterra flat out in the south island ,might be more trouble ahead for fonterra.
I don’t think it is the Greens helping National, I think the Greens have been hi jacked like the Labour party was by Douglas by electing an opportunist bit of shit like Dung, and the Greens are going to regret it.
“Despite that rolling controversy, Ms Tolley has said she would still be open to Serco – which is looking at running child services in the UK – being contracted to provide more social services.”
Of course< MM : the CYFs report just gives Tolley the excuse to dump CYFs as a real government service/department and to bring in privatisation to make it more efficient, more business-like, more profitable ….. and to hell (because that's where they'll go, if they're not already there) with those poor little kids.
Paula Bennett is responsible for this CYF disaster. She was Minister of Social Development for SIX years: 19 Nov. 2008 to 8 Oct. 2014.
Bennett ruined CYF by forcing them to cut budgets and services.
I am no fan of Tolley, who was previously the Minister of Education but has no university degree! Amazingly, Tolley would not have met the minimum qualifications for working in the ministry she was in charge of.
I want Bennett held to account for screwing up the lives of thousands of young people during her six years at the helm.
Selling one’s soul for Key’s vanity project isn’t smart, especially when most don’t seem to overmuch care about the flag issue anyway. One’s view might change if the Greens secure public transport instead of more highways, all kids going to bed with a full stomach and the country’s sovereignty is not sold off to the TPP rort as a payoff but of course, none of those will happen.
as i see it both the Greens and Labour have shot themselves in the foot over Red Peak….if they had left National out on a limb over this debacle rather than giving it oxygen then the Nats would have been solely responsible for an expensive waste of time in the publics eye and now theres enough blame to spread around….mugs the lot of them
Andrew Little, after Key initiated overture, made very wise, very reasonable and very statesman-like suggestions regarding the inclusion of the Red Peak and the referendums to make the process more democratic and sensible.
Key rejected those, even after little publicly showed willingness to discuss the issue again without any pre-conditions to find a solution. Then the Greens secretly played dirty behind Labour’s back. Those are facts. So, don’t unfairly blame Labour here.
Blame Key and the two, literal and figurative, Greens, Hughes and Shaw.
But you are right in a way. Key is a poisonous snake with a forked tongue. The Greens have been foolish pea nuts here pulling Key out of his own hole.
Really? Why were Labour MPs openly supporting red peaks? Why didn’t Labour have a wee think about its strategy and come out swinging 100% against the whole process? Because, like on many issues, it didn’t think, that’s why.
Labour MPs have different views on it. The referendum is an individual vote, not a party vote. Some want to change, some don’t want to, most think that Key has manipulated and poisoned the issue, some want the Red Peak, some don’t.
well I guess you wont be able to tell us what Andrew Little hoped to gain then….if it was to highlight how inept the government are they dont need any help highlighting that
“well I guess you wont be able to tell us what Andrew Little hoped to gain then’
I think he hoped to make the terribly flawed process a little better, a little more democratic, a little more fair, a little more worthwhile and a possibly a little less expensive under the circumstances.
As you know, Key started this very important process as a National party and personal stunt when the public had NOT actually shown any inclination or demand for change through a series of public media polls.
He then manipulated the whole issue as HIS personal ego trip project at great expense of time, resources and money.
The flag selection panel did NOT have ANY design experts. Two referendums were unnecessary. One would have sufficed if worded smartly. Leaving that point aside, they could have held the referenda along side a general election to save money and also to get better participation.
The extremely well paid stupid panel (at reportedly $600 per day each?) and the completely biased and dumb Key’s cabinet poodles choose and offered us FOUR ferns as our choice to pick one!
Don’t you see that this whole thing has been just shit?
“Don’t you see that this whole thing has been just shit”
indeed it has been….and that is why both Labour and the Greens had nothing to gain by getting involved
I think Labour got involved because Key specifically offered that he would include a fifth flag if Labour supported it. Labour said yes but publicly made its position clear. Not so the gormless Greens.
“I think he hoped to make the terribly flawed process a little better, a little more democratic, a little more fair, a little more worthwhile and a possibly a little less expensive under the circumstances.”
So he tried to make the process a little less terribly flawed? Wow, that’s certainly setting your sights high. What a winner!
i just dont get it.
a rudderless, clueless regime, headed to the rocks of tppa, bent ex copper mp going to court, $100B and climbing, mccully sheep ventures…..
the money manager plucks a flag change out his backside and tonight on the news we get labour mps outside parliament proudly with red peak flags celebrating when they should be railing against the whole distraction charade.
Re interview with Madam Fu Ying made my blood boil. Does nobody get that there is an elephant in the room here re investment in NZ when she criticises NZ for not wanting investment of the type that buys up huge farms Ie. great chunks of NZ land for the benefit of providing food sources for china and which employs mainly Chinese workers.
Does she forget that no foreigners can buy land in China? Does she forget the disgusting human rights abuses her country perpetrates daily? Does she forget the sweat shop work force that is making China rich? Does she forget the pollution problems created in Chinas get rich economy? Does she forget the corruption in her country and the counterfeit industry that is probably the biggest in the world ripping off patented products that people in other parts of the world have put in huge amounts of time and money into? Does she live in LaLa Land. I think she does. Backed herself into a hole when she blamed all other asian countries for conflicts over territory. Of course she saw it all the other countries as the aggressors. Also when China was being compared to the US, she said how China of course is fair and treats everyone equal. Vomit. What a load of rubbish. Yes and getting back to investment in NZ she compared the farm deals to business deals in the US. Well hallo, buying shares in a company is quiet different than taking over our land by stealth by buying up huge amounts of land that is the best food producing land in the country and basically shutting us out of the profit chain. Go back to where you come from you arrogant woman. Do you think we are completely stupid? I am so sick of the bowing and scraping to the Chinese investors that is going on. I have not seen any great benefit to Kiwis! So far investment in NZ by Chinese investor is all about benefiting Chinese investors at the expense of Kiwis. Maybe a few Kiwis at the top who are mates with the big wigs in the government are getting rich off it but ordinary Kiwis are getting shafted. It’s not racism it is the truth. I’m sick of people claiming it’s racist when people are disadvantaging ordinary Kiwi for their own greed. Why should the overseas investor in our land be reaping the benefits while Kiwi’s quality of life is getting worse and worse. Overseas investment in our companies is ok but not in our land. Get the message Madam Fu Ying and that is not being racist. You might look at the fact that your country is racist by not letting foreigners buy up huge amounts of land in China or for that matter any land in China. Racist racist China.
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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 → ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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,” ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
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Winston Peters blasts the Greens as naive and stupid in doing their backroom deceptive deal with Key.
He claims that even the Green supporters on Facebook are dismayed by this dumb move by the greens to help Key out of his hole.
And I agree.
Listen to his speech here (9 minutes):
http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/video/39875
Why did they do it? Does anyone know?
It came out of the blue and on the face of it smacks of opportunism. If there is another more substantive reason I should like to know what it was. I don’t really buy the “we wanted the voters to have a better choice etc.” line which James Shaw has been peddling.
“Why did they do it? Does anyone know?”
May be Shaw and Hughes think they are clever! Too clever by half!
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity” Martin Luther King, Jr.
This seems to be what Shaw wants to bring to politics is parties working together, finding consensus, not always at each other’s throats. He thinks it turns people off politics and he’s probably right in that. This is what he’s trying to do for the climate change debate is to get cross party agreement on what should be done. We can only wait to see if this approach does anything in the poll results. I don’t think they’re going to lose voters over this, they’re still against the whole flag debate. But if it pulls in new voters, a lot of green voters will want this approach to carry on.
That’s my reading of it too. I don’t like what they’ve done re Red Peak, and I’m in two minds about doing any kind of working together thing with such a corrupt govt but something has to change or we’re screwed and maybe this is part of that change.
National was not interested in working collaboratively. It was interested in getting out of a situation it created all by itself.
True, and despite my reservations about what the GP have done I am curious to see how they will make this work for the party. I don’t think they’re under any illusions about what working with National actually means (it’s not like they’re going to believe that National are their friends all of a sudden).
” I don’t like what they’ve done re Red Peak”
By itself, putting a motion to include the Red Peak is not the main issue.
The issue is (a) They did it secretly with Key behind Labour’s back (b) Blind sided Labour (c) Gave a helping hand to Key to get out of the muck that Key created himself (d) Promised Key that they would vote against Labour’s proposed Y/N amendment. What was the need for that? What game are the Greens playing here? (e) Enabled Key to play the Greens against Labour (f) Helped Key to falsely paint Labour as the bad guys (g) Put Labour and Little in a bad spot (h) Greens played dirty politics here to make the masters of dirty politics look good.
————
You also wrote:
“people are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes)”
So, are you saying the exec consulted all the MPs and their members to play this disgraceful tootsie behind close doors with Key in this Red Peak case? Was there a consensus or majority support for this dirty move? Were YOU informed or consulted?
I think you’ve put it very clearly, Clem. And of course the members were not consulted – how could they have been? Nor, probably, all the Green Caucus MPs. The Greens are suddenly playing a dirty game, when up til now they’re been very principled and clean…….. this is not a good look for the Greens.
FFS, what party consults with the membership on day to day issues? I’m a member and I don’t expect the be consulted on something like this.
What evidence do you have that the GP caucus didn’t discuss this?
For something like this I do expect to be consulted. It’s actually a fairly major move to go and work with a party that continuously attacking you and to do it in such a way as to help that party out of the hole that it’s dug for itself.
The exec/MPs already have a mandate from the members to work on policy with any party, within the kaupapa of the party. That’s what they did (I still disagree with it myself, but I don’t see them as having done the dirty on the membership).
For the GP to consult the membership on this particular issue (Hughes’ flag bill), it would take weeks if not months of work. Ideally I’d like to see internal processes set up and streamlined so that there was better democracy and representation within the party. But I just don’t think it’s possible the way things are now, certainly now with the timeframes involved here where things were changing quite rapidly.
Nope. A simple email asking if they should work with National to get Red Peak included in the referendum and describing how they would do that with a link to a response web page. Send the email out in the morning with a close time of around 22:00.
Taking months for this type of feedback only occurs if you’re using paper methods and has been outdated since last century.
I doubt that the GP would consider that good consultation. What you propose would reach certain sectors, mostly the people who spend alot of time online or who happened to be online that day. It would actively exclude other sectors, eg people who are online intermittently or only every few days. If you wanted to get a sense of what group A thinks, it would work. If you want to consult with the membership, it wouldn’t.
As I said, the GP could improve its ability to consult on more day to day matters, but those processes aren’t in place currently. I doubt that you could ever get a 1 day turnaround, although they could set up feedback groups that people could join with the proviso that this was about feedback from activists rather than the membership.
“Taking months for this type of feedback only occurs if you’re using paper methods and has been outdated since last century.”
The GP have led the way in NZ for using IT to reach people so I really don’t think it’s that (they don’t contact me by paper and haven’t for years).
What, there’s people in the Green Party that aren’t online all the time? I seriously doubt that.
The Greens have been the party using and promulgating high tech since they started which is why Nationals cries of Luddite about them has always rung false.
And the way to do that is to do it online.
Not sure if that’s a joke, but I know quite a few GP members and they’re not online all the time. They use the internet as a tool, they don’t live there.
“By itself, putting a motion to include the Red Peak is not the main issue.”
It is to me. Havng RP on the referendum creates as many problems as it solves IMO.
Labour have had ample opportunity to form a sold working relationship with the GP (years in fact). If Labour were blindsided by this they migh want to reflect on the number of times they’ve declined to work with the Greens (I’m being polite). My feeling is that at any time that Labour steps up and builds that relationship with the GP, then the GP will be willing and keen. But as long as Labour keep hedging their bets, the GP are free to treat Labour as competition.
I haven’t followed the process this week that closely, but ‘dirty politics’ in NZ has a fairly specific meaning and I doubt that that is what the GP has done, despite how you feel about the treatment of Labour. One thing I did see was the GP being very clear in the media that this whole thing was National’s fuck up, with the clear implication that it wasn’t Labour’s fault.
You also wrote:
“people are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes)”
Please don’t selectively quote me out of context, and please don’t edit my words and misquote me (you deliberately took out meaning in your quote). Here’s what I actually said,
People who think that the GP can form govt with National the way it is now are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes).
That is clearly about formation of coalitions, and equally clearly doesn’t apply to the flag process. Get a grip.
“(hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes). That is clearly about formation of coalitions, and equally clearly doesn’t apply to the flag process. Get a grip”
Why does it not apply to this secret flag deal with Key? Do you know if the ‘executive’ had the backing of their MPs (If not the members) for it?
Or was it the brilliant brain fart of just Shaw and Hughes?
I’m not an active member, so I have no idea what happened at that level. But are you really suggesting that the GP go back to the membership each time they want to do something? Seriously? They don’t have any processes in place for that for things that need to be done quickly. No party does afaik.
“Do you know if the ‘executive’ had the backing of their MPs (If not the members) for it?”
Um, given Shaw and Hughes are both MPs and have been speaking on this publicly this week I think it’s safe to assume they knew. Honestly, I’m not sure what you are on about here.
Good analysis.
Well, I applaud him for that maui – especially over Climate Change. It makes a lot of sense. The trouble is, he’s up against a cynical sleaze-bag in John Key who I suspect has used Shaw and the Greens to get him out of a hole of his own making.
It looks to me the ‘about face’ was going to happen anyway because Farrar would have been polling 24/7 on the issue and it would have become clear Key was on the losing side. Instead Shaw gave Key the opportunity to do it without egg on his face and, at the same time, rub the egg in Little’s face as if he was the culprit. Not the sort of thing you do to an ally.
I agree Anne, and MS – what the Greens have just done, is NOT what you do to an ally. And if Maui is right and the Greens under Shaw want to work more collaboratively with other political parties, then they’re going the wrong way about it. Working collaboratively surely means talking and working together ?NOT sticking it to one potential ally while pandering to the panda-like needs of a trumped-up self-satisfied American puppet – who just happens to be our PM.
I wouldn’t see Labour as an active ally of the GP, so I can understand why the GP wouldn’t put that up there as a priority. I’d love for Labour to form a solid working relationship with the GP, but they haven’t, despite attempts from the GP to make this happen. I was a bit surprised at how Labour got thrashed in this process, but I’m not surprised that the GP chose to not make Labour’s wellbeing their own priority. Given how Labour have treated the Greens historically I think it’s unrealistic to think that the GP should relate with Labour as anything special until Labour step up in that relationship. The ball is in Labour’s court on that one.
Yes weka. I know there was bad blood between Labour and the Greens in the past and I have no doubt a lot of the fault lay with the then Labour caucus. But those days have gone and those involved have gone too. Even so, I think the Greens also have to take some of the blame – especially over the fact the Clark government did a coalition deal (or something similar) with NZ First and not the Greens. The Greens failed to take into account they didn’t end up with sufficient MPs to make such a deal strong and viable in an MMP environment. That wasn’t Labour’s fault. That was the fault of the voters.
If I remember correctly Winston Peters held a gun at their heads too. He refused to sign any agreement that included the Greens. What was Labour supposed to do? Stand down and let the Tories form a government under Don Brash?
Sorry Anne, but it’s not in the past. It’s the current situation. At the last election the GP tried to work with Labour and Labour rejected that. I don’t see anything has changed since then except some vague noises from Little occassionally. The two parties aren’t working together in a way that promotes them as a govt in waiting. I don’t think that’s down to the GP despite what they’ve done this week.
I don’t agree with what the GP have done here, but I also don’t believe that the GP should be kind to Labour out of some sense of fairness or duty when Labour still shows no real sign of wanting to work together. I’m gobsmacked that so many people here think that the GP should put Labour’s wellbeing ahead of their own.
All I can say weka is the Labour members I know have no quarrel with the Greens and see them as a natural coalition party. I have also spoken to a few MPs and they have never shown any aggro towards the Greens so it’s hard for me to reconcile what I’ve encountered… and what you are saying. There does seem to be a difference in perception but maybe it’s a regional difference. Certainly in Auckland there seems to be generally good vibes between most Labour and Green members. That’s my experience anyway.
that’s good to hear Anne. I’m talking about the parties not the members. If we want a left wing govt, then Labour and the GP have to work together publicly. That’s not happening. Why not?
” If we want a left wing govt, then Labour and the GP have to work together publicly. That’s not happening. Why not?’
There are very good strategic, electoral and political reasons for not going too gung go together. That does not mean they, ie, all the opposition, including NZF, should not work together on several issues with reasonable commonalities. I know you are intelligent enough to figure it out yourself.
Fine, just don’t expect the GP to give Labour concessions while that’s the case.
“The trouble is, he’s up against a cynical sleaze-bag in John Key who I suspect has used Shaw and the Greens to get him out of a hole of his own making.”
My concern is the sleaze-bag factor and the risk of the GP being tainted. Not so sure that the GP were victims to Key’s using them so much as they’re using the situation to build political capital. Dangerous, but I am curious to see how that plays out.
I don’t buy this.
Shortly after he was elected leader of the Greens Shaw claimed he wanted to do this but couldn’t tell Guyon Espiner who Labour’s climate change spokesperson was. Now I would have thought if he was really interested in doing this he’d have noticed Megan Woods, who is one of the better Labour MPs. The recent working paper he produced on climate change was not impressive and showed no signs of cross party consultation.
This latest deal with National was unnecessary and damaging to the relationship between Labour and the Greens. It is hypocritical, unprincipled politics, and I am very disappointed in the Green Party leadership..
I also don’t like the way Metiria seems to have been sidelined. I thought initially she was allowing Shaw to get a higher profile, but it is going on too long. Why was it Shaw representing the Greens in the Nation debate last weekend? On the anniversary of women getting the vote, party leaders get to discuss the last election and the Greens send their male co-leader who was a backbencher at the last election.
“The recent working paper he produced on climate change was not impressive and showed no signs of cross party consultation.”
Please link to Labour’s response to the discussion paper. Really, I’m quite curious.
The GP have been waiting a long time for Labour to be willing for the two parties to work together. Still waiting, but not putting their own agenda on hold. Sorry, but I’ve run out patience with this. If Labour are being sidelined they’ve no-one to blame but themselves in this instance.
Agree,the Greens demonstrating a distinct cavalier responce to the rule of law.Showing this pathetic Govt the path to Urgency for such a trivial flag issue when other important matters are left alone.
Good on the greens, possibly a sign they can and are happy to look at coalition with national, actually achieve something vs hanging around with perennial losers that call themselves labour, here come the blue greens
Yes! Here they come! Any day now! You’re pathetic.
Bad day AOB ? Take a pill and chill …… Take 2
That idea may be the thinking of their simple silly brains, but I suspect this move they have done behind the scene with Key, without first signalling it to Labour and blind siding them will back fire on the Greens. I think Winston and NZF will end up reaping the benefit of this dodgy dirty move. By this the Greens have shown to be untrustworthy and undependable and have lost some of their dignity, integrity and mana.
Maybe they’ll go into coalition with national.
There seems to have been a changing of the guard with the greens representing a younger urban demographic, not the old hippies and anarchists.
Maybe you should go in a coalition with National, that’s right you’re already in one.
“Maybe they’ll go into coalition with national.”
The only way that the GP can go into coalition with National is if National changes and becomes more like the GP (ie the GP has a mandate to work with any party where there is sufficient common ground on policy). Is that what you are suggesting?
People who think that the GP can form govt with National the way it is now are just ignorant of how the GP functions (hint, the exec can’t just do what it likes).
Looks to me like the GP exec have actually just done what it likes re Red Peak and flag issue, Weka – and to heck with the GP charter or mandate or whatever it is you think they’re working to. The Red Peak flag would not have been in the GP Charter !
Not following you there Jenny. The rules around coaltion formation are clear, and the membership has voted on what it wants the party to do for a number of years now. Day to day running of the party and taking stances on various issues can’t go back to the membership each time, for what I would have though were obvious reasons.
I’m curious which bits of the charter you feel have been compromised by the flag legislation or process.
And I’m curious too – Weka – as to how Green-supporting voters are going to take this dirty kick-in-the-back to Labour over the Red Peak flag when so many of them have been talking a Labour-Green coalition for the future.
There’s a fair bit of disappointment and shock coming thru on the Green Facebook page at the moment – I wonder if it will last, or fade away.
I’m not too happy about it myself, although I’m more concerned about the RP thing than the Labour thing. Exactly how long should GP members wait for Labour to show any real sign of wanting to work with the GP? As fas as I can see Labour still aren’t committed. Should the GP wait another election cycle, see how things work out after the 2017 election? Or what?
The GP have been trying for a very long time to work with Labour. It’s on Labour that that hasn’t happened.
As for GP voters, calcualted risk I’d say and I’ll be interested to see how it plays out. Main problem is that the last Roy Morgan was probably a rogue number for the GP (15%) so we’re not really going to be able to tell directly.
“Maybe they’ll go into coalition with national. There seems to have been a changing of the guard with the greens representing a younger urban demographic, not the old hippies and anarchists”
May be. Who knows? One thing is clear to me. At the moment, they are thinking through their arse on this issue. Dumb nincompoops.
Interesting…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/72361647/fonterra-boss-theo-spierings-gets-up-to-18-per-cent-pay-rise
18% seems a lot more than the rate of inflation. 🙂
Rich people are worth more because they’re rich.
/sarc
That is a snap shot of every thing that is wrong with how big business is run.
I just read on a face book post that farmers are ditching fonterra flat out in the south island ,might be more trouble ahead for fonterra.
Farmers without the brains to reject this kind of economic feudalism deserve to be reduced to serfdom.
This makes me question the Greens.
Why help Key?
They must have reckoned it is a brilliant idea to join Henry and Hosking in sucking on Key’s jowls.
I don’t think it is the Greens helping National, I think the Greens have been hi jacked like the Labour party was by Douglas by electing an opportunist bit of shit like Dung, and the Greens are going to regret it.
Dung?
“Despite that rolling controversy, Ms Tolley has said she would still be open to Serco – which is looking at running child services in the UK – being contracted to provide more social services.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11518395
yeah I’m sure she’s still open after all that was the agenda in the first place.
be very afraid
Of course< MM : the CYFs report just gives Tolley the excuse to dump CYFs as a real government service/department and to bring in privatisation to make it more efficient, more business-like, more profitable ….. and to hell (because that's where they'll go, if they're not already there) with those poor little kids.
Paula Bennett is responsible for this CYF disaster. She was Minister of Social Development for SIX years: 19 Nov. 2008 to 8 Oct. 2014.
Bennett ruined CYF by forcing them to cut budgets and services.
I am no fan of Tolley, who was previously the Minister of Education but has no university degree! Amazingly, Tolley would not have met the minimum qualifications for working in the ministry she was in charge of.
I want Bennett held to account for screwing up the lives of thousands of young people during her six years at the helm.
Labour have been outplayed by the Nats again
The Greens have been pragmatic and will be seen as such.
Sterling stuff from James Shaw
Yep, that is just about what Key said! A crook endorsing the idiots.
Selling one’s soul for Key’s vanity project isn’t smart, especially when most don’t seem to overmuch care about the flag issue anyway. One’s view might change if the Greens secure public transport instead of more highways, all kids going to bed with a full stomach and the country’s sovereignty is not sold off to the TPP rort as a payoff but of course, none of those will happen.
as i see it both the Greens and Labour have shot themselves in the foot over Red Peak….if they had left National out on a limb over this debacle rather than giving it oxygen then the Nats would have been solely responsible for an expensive waste of time in the publics eye and now theres enough blame to spread around….mugs the lot of them
+1
Andrew Little, after Key initiated overture, made very wise, very reasonable and very statesman-like suggestions regarding the inclusion of the Red Peak and the referendums to make the process more democratic and sensible.
Key rejected those, even after little publicly showed willingness to discuss the issue again without any pre-conditions to find a solution. Then the Greens secretly played dirty behind Labour’s back. Those are facts. So, don’t unfairly blame Labour here.
Blame Key and the two, literal and figurative, Greens, Hughes and Shaw.
But you are right in a way. Key is a poisonous snake with a forked tongue. The Greens have been foolish pea nuts here pulling Key out of his own hole.
Labour did not fall for Key’s cunning.
dear God …and they call Cantabrians one eyed
Why? What did I write wrong? Labour did nothing wrong here.
Because in your eye Labour can do no wrong.
You are wrong. Labour or Little HAVEN’T done anything wrong in this case at all.
Okay, then.
“Labour did not fall for Key’s cunning.”
Really? Why were Labour MPs openly supporting red peaks? Why didn’t Labour have a wee think about its strategy and come out swinging 100% against the whole process? Because, like on many issues, it didn’t think, that’s why.
Labour MPs have different views on it. The referendum is an individual vote, not a party vote. Some want to change, some don’t want to, most think that Key has manipulated and poisoned the issue, some want the Red Peak, some don’t.
Yes, totally. Why can’t Clemgeopin and those of his or her ilk see this?
more to the point why cant their strategists see this?
Clemgeopin’s probably one of them.
lol.is that true Clemgeopin?
no
no
well I guess you wont be able to tell us what Andrew Little hoped to gain then….if it was to highlight how inept the government are they dont need any help highlighting that
“well I guess you wont be able to tell us what Andrew Little hoped to gain then’
I think he hoped to make the terribly flawed process a little better, a little more democratic, a little more fair, a little more worthwhile and a possibly a little less expensive under the circumstances.
As you know, Key started this very important process as a National party and personal stunt when the public had NOT actually shown any inclination or demand for change through a series of public media polls.
He then manipulated the whole issue as HIS personal ego trip project at great expense of time, resources and money.
The flag selection panel did NOT have ANY design experts. Two referendums were unnecessary. One would have sufficed if worded smartly. Leaving that point aside, they could have held the referenda along side a general election to save money and also to get better participation.
The extremely well paid stupid panel (at reportedly $600 per day each?) and the completely biased and dumb Key’s cabinet poodles choose and offered us FOUR ferns as our choice to pick one!
Don’t you see that this whole thing has been just shit?
“Don’t you see that this whole thing has been just shit”
indeed it has been….and that is why both Labour and the Greens had nothing to gain by getting involved
I think Labour got involved because Key specifically offered that he would include a fifth flag if Labour supported it. Labour said yes but publicly made its position clear. Not so the gormless Greens.
What’s so hard about understanding that supporting adding a fifth flag to the final choice involves giving tacit support to the process?
“I think he hoped to make the terribly flawed process a little better, a little more democratic, a little more fair, a little more worthwhile and a possibly a little less expensive under the circumstances.”
So he tried to make the process a little less terribly flawed? Wow, that’s certainly setting your sights high. What a winner!
i just dont get it.
a rudderless, clueless regime, headed to the rocks of tppa, bent ex copper mp going to court, $100B and climbing, mccully sheep ventures…..
the money manager plucks a flag change out his backside and tonight on the news we get labour mps outside parliament proudly with red peak flags celebrating when they should be railing against the whole distraction charade.
man, i am out of touch.
Re interview with Madam Fu Ying made my blood boil. Does nobody get that there is an elephant in the room here re investment in NZ when she criticises NZ for not wanting investment of the type that buys up huge farms Ie. great chunks of NZ land for the benefit of providing food sources for china and which employs mainly Chinese workers.
Does she forget that no foreigners can buy land in China? Does she forget the disgusting human rights abuses her country perpetrates daily? Does she forget the sweat shop work force that is making China rich? Does she forget the pollution problems created in Chinas get rich economy? Does she forget the corruption in her country and the counterfeit industry that is probably the biggest in the world ripping off patented products that people in other parts of the world have put in huge amounts of time and money into? Does she live in LaLa Land. I think she does. Backed herself into a hole when she blamed all other asian countries for conflicts over territory. Of course she saw it all the other countries as the aggressors. Also when China was being compared to the US, she said how China of course is fair and treats everyone equal. Vomit. What a load of rubbish. Yes and getting back to investment in NZ she compared the farm deals to business deals in the US. Well hallo, buying shares in a company is quiet different than taking over our land by stealth by buying up huge amounts of land that is the best food producing land in the country and basically shutting us out of the profit chain. Go back to where you come from you arrogant woman. Do you think we are completely stupid? I am so sick of the bowing and scraping to the Chinese investors that is going on. I have not seen any great benefit to Kiwis! So far investment in NZ by Chinese investor is all about benefiting Chinese investors at the expense of Kiwis. Maybe a few Kiwis at the top who are mates with the big wigs in the government are getting rich off it but ordinary Kiwis are getting shafted. It’s not racism it is the truth. I’m sick of people claiming it’s racist when people are disadvantaging ordinary Kiwi for their own greed. Why should the overseas investor in our land be reaping the benefits while Kiwi’s quality of life is getting worse and worse. Overseas investment in our companies is ok but not in our land. Get the message Madam Fu Ying and that is not being racist. You might look at the fact that your country is racist by not letting foreigners buy up huge amounts of land in China or for that matter any land in China. Racist racist China.