Well we can all criticise Winston Peters but he was the only one in NZ politics predicting and supporting Brexit .
His appearance on the Paul Henry show this morning was a eye opener and in my opinion he is heading toward further polling strength. This could be at the expense of Labour as Andrew Little had to back down in his statement regarding tax expert Mr Shewan. Not good for Andrew or Labour.
I pose the question should the LabGreen partnership accept Winston as Prime Minister if as expected Winston will hold the keys to the formation of a Government in 2017.
I believe that will be his price to the LabGreen and NZ First coalition.
I also believe that Little, Turei and Shaw will accept those terms from Winston, such is their desperation to be part of a NZ Government.
National would not accept such a proposal from Winston though they would accept him high in their cabinet rankings.
The question of Prime Ministership in 2017 needs to be asked and answered now, after the election is to late and would cause political turmoil if outcomes are not what the electors expect.
An obsfucation answer to the question should not be tolerated.
Shewans report is a complete parroting of John Key’s various claims and statements about the tax haven, opps Zero tax rated companies Key have made since the panama papers were released.
Show me where he has said anything original.
I’m going to put NRT’s post here in it’s entirety:
Damning inquiry points finger at the Government, State Services Commissioner, Stuff, June 23, 2016:
The Government has rejected parts of a damning report into its handling of an inquiry into leaks from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Ombudsman Ron Paterson has told the Government it should compensate a former top diplomat whose career ended in tatters after he was targeted by the inquiry, which was instigated by the State Services Commission.
He has also recommended a formal apology.
[…]
In a statement, Rennie said he did not agree with all elements of the Ombudsman’s findings, in particular that in making findings relating to the investigation being outside its terms of reference.
—————————————————————————————-
Ombudsman resigns: Professor Ron Paterson steps down two years early, New Zealand Herald, 27 June 2016:
One of the country’s two Ombudsmen has resigned and will leave the role two years before the end of his five-year term.
Professor Ron Paterson will leave the role on Thursday. He was appointed an Ombudsman in June 2013 for a five-year period.
[…]
The timing of this really doesn’t look good. The SSC report was apparently hotly contested, and Rennie effectively refusing to accept its “recommendations” may have been a final straw.
Ron Paterson did not intend to see out his full term, but his decision to up-sticks forthwith is worthy of investigation. As NRT infers: something is definitely not right here.
Anyone know what Murray McCully has been up to lately?
The real idiots are the lawmakers whose economic policies prepared the perfect conditions for the Brexit in the UK and the rise of Donald Trump in the US.
The real idiots are the well-dressed, gently spoken, highly educated, mostly men, who plan perpetual wars around the world that lead to terrorism and refugee crisis.
The real idiots are the politicians whose inability to act on climate change and the nuclear threat is pushing humanity to the precipice of extinction.
And the even bigger idiots are those who advocate and believe in the American and British economic model claiming that it is the best of bad alternatives.
Not so. The Nobel laureate economist, Joseph Stiglitz, believes tackling extreme inequality is an achievable goal.
Probably the best breakdown of Brexit that I’ve read so far.
The truth about the British Labour leadership coup.
Been planning it for months. A small bunch of Blairites who never accepted Corbyn and have been waiting for a chance to launch their coup. “Westminster Games”.
As soon as I heard about it I figured that it had been in the making for months. Probably started before Corbyn even made leader, as it became obvious that he was going to win and not their hand selected parrot. Someone who was a danger to the status quo rather than its defender.
Saw this in the comment section of a Guardian article:
This much is clear. The country is divided virtually down the middle. On the one side we have those who despise the political classes. On the other, those who absolutely hate them.
The fury of the membership and unions will be unlimited. I suspect not a single one of these self-indulgent dorks will be remain in Labour in a year’s time. There’ll be a general crab-like scuttle off towards the rock called Liberal.
These munters had a choice, they could have seen Corbyn as someone different and a challenge to politics as usual, some-one they needed to get in behind, serve protect and promote. They could have formed a team around him and looked after his back, but no. Their personal arrogance had to come first. They had to plot, scheme, and finesse the rule-book.
And just when the Tories are on their knees they act to ensure the Tories will rise unscathed. In wartime you don’t fuck about with traitors, you just execute them out of hand.
I mean the sainted Hilary Benn, has the unmitigated gall to insult his Party Leader in public, call ‘no-confidence’ … and then fail to resign on the spot !!!. What fucking planet did I wake up on today?
That’s one interpretation.
Another is Corbyn was/is/and always will be electoral toast. Rolling him now, after his much discredited performance, could equally be the saving of and popular comeback of UK labour.
Oh come on, blaming Corbyn for the outcome of a referendum that was never of his own making is a feeble, cowardly fig-leaf.
We have Diane Abbott’s plain commentary on the matter, this scum had been planning it for fucking months. Down to the very detail. Even their ‘resignation’ letters all look they came from the same PR firm.
I just might have a smidgeon less contempt for them if they actually thought they might be stepping down; but in their minds this is nothing more than a game where they play ‘time-out’ for a few days, topple the Leader their Party voted for … and then waddle back into their comfortable troughs under a new Leader who’s neck deep in their debt.
Speaking of which … they all whine that Corbyn is electoral toast, but exactly WHO among their number is not an electoral greasy smut on the ceiling?
I don’t know if the rules permit it, but in the circumstances I’d argue he would certainly have moral mandate to ask for them to step down. And with a GE almost certain within six months, there would likely be no especial need to call by-elections.
Back in 1981, in Hard Road to Renewal, Stuart Hall remarked: “The right of the labour movement, to be honest, has no ideas of any compelling quality, except the instinct for short-term political survival. It would not know an ideological struggle if it stumbled across one in the dark. The only ‘struggle’ it engages in with any trace of conviction is the one against the left.”
You’ll have to scroll down to 21:33 for the ‘breaking’ news.
It does say at 22:08 that “the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg notes, Mr Watson didn’t explicitly tell Mr Corbyn he should resign and stressed that the final decision was a matter for him.”
But I didn’t see it and my post was before this, so no lie on my part.
I will accept your apology for casting aspersion. 😉
Don’t bother. I’m picking you don’t have it in you. lol
Though next time you call me for mis quoting and stating I’m a liar, I’d appreciate it if you were a little more researched and less half cocked as this time. Thanks.
Lets face it some of these MPs in the UKLP cant decide on the colour of shite.
All the Labour party members did in voting in huge numbers for Corbyn was reaffirm what they historically stood for and that was to represent working people and their aspirations for a better life and fairness at work with a livable wage and a belief in society and properly funded public services and keep the ever present dangerous capitalist establishment in check.
Its been an ambush under the cloak of the BREXIT and these plotters cant accept that the british Labour voter wants something better than the Tories prescription or Tony Blairs New Labour that they rejected with Gordon Brown in 2010 and again with New Labour part two in 2015.
These shadow ministers who have resigned were never prepared to accept Corbyn or any other left wing candidate for leader because they no longer support what their parties founding principles are about and are more relevant now , today than ever before and should think long and hard about what their members want rather than their own vile selfish agendas.
Maybe they should split away and take their chances with a different party if they cant stomach the one they are in.
In the mean time if they cant be loyal they should go to the back of the room and let the elected leadership get on with it and remind themselves unity is strength.
And at the earliest opportunity , resign and test their position at a by election.
Bullies – when young – are often very oblivious to the hurt caused by their actions.
A simple solution – and one that I used to use here at home – is to sit both children involved facing each other – knee to knee. Then as dispassionately as possible articulate what has gone on. The children are asked to look directly into each others faces, and at young ages – very few are able to mask the hurt and pain when they are revisiting what occurred. Most times the “bully” reacts immediately with guilt and empathy.
No requirement for sermons or explanations from the parent.
Not that all children are angels, but the very young are often very empathetic, and we teach them out of this by competitive structures in schooling, sports and in a million other ways.
Including a couple they can stop making fun of now, but also:
– Free movement of labour … only possibly, despite this being a Leave policy
– The right to be forgotten
– Working time directive
– Temporary Agency Workers Directive
– Renewables Directive
– EU Climate and Energy Package
– Banking Regulations
– Clean Water regulations
“In 1935, a young Laurie Lee set off to walk across Spain, from north to south. In the book the adventure would eventually lead to, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Lee describes a country riven by inequality, of communities in grinding poverty, and an out-of-touch ruling elite. The fascists and the communists both laid claim to the discontents, the rhetoric becoming increasingly polarised. The narrative resonated across the European continent. By the time Lee got to Malaga, in the summer of 1936, the Spanish civil war had begun.”
Although shortly stated, it was intended to be a serious question. Whilst there are pressing social problems to be solved, I don’t think the current govt fits the usual definition of extreme right wing. Centre right, or depending ones perspective right. Not when we have a minimum wage of $15, and an increase in general benefit levels, both of which occurred under the current govt. In my view etreme right wing would need to be more like say the Republicans in the US, or perhaps ACT in NZ.
As for the definition of Hard left, I would say the Corbynista left of UK Labour fits well enough. That would include some on the left of Labour in NZ and the left of the Greens (and quite a few commenters on this site). It would not include Andrew Little or James Shaw. Not sure where I would put the most left of the Labours MP’s (for instance Carmel Sepuloni) I am not sure that she would be far left enough to meet the my definition of hard left. Choosing people as illustrations helps. This not intended to be personal, it is just that it easier than a formal description of political philosophy. Lilia Harre would do so. As much as anything for her role in the destruction of the Alliance. Breaking it up on the basis of Afghanistan following 9/11 seemed reckless, even though I was looking at it from the perspective of the Opposition. Similarly her involvement with Kim Dotcom. We are all assessed on our political judgements and others will make of them what they will.
My old school fellow pupil, Len Richards, would also qualify, he was two years ahead of me. I have not heard much of him in the news these days, so he might be retired.
I am certainly aware of some pretty personal attacks on this site, which means it is risky for me to comment.
Most people on the right would regard me as a moderate liberal, but in recent times this site (or at least some of the commenters) has become much less forgiving of hearing an alternate view, at least if put by me.
The right has enjoyed political dominance without a public mandate for much too long. So now its organs are reviled and dare not show their faces to the people they have misled and betrayed. Why are you surprised?
You toss around labels like confetti. Can’t take the heat from your employers? Your predetermined opinions and association with the National Party constitute a conflict of interest.
I note your abject failure to address the points raised: families living in cars while your corrupt crony sponsors lie and blame and increase the prison population, then you have the insufferable gall to pretend that $15 p/h is a good earn.
Go on, pretend criticism of your opinions and behaviour is a personal attack. That’ll work 🙄
“but in recent times this site (or at least some of the commenters) has become much less forgiving of hearing an alternate view, at least if put by me.”
symptomatic of the type of feelings expressed in the US and UK……feelings that apparently have no basis in NZ?
I am certainly aware of some pretty personal attacks on this site, which means it is risky for me to comment.
For better or worse, the policy doesn’t allow interventions for personal attacks unless they get pretty extreme or stray from the post and/or discussion.
The reason why the policy has those limits is because the site was founded to provide robust public debate. That means that we can have people on here doing the usual right wing unthinking slagging of the poor, and the equivalent left wing demonisation of the capitalists. The reason that we want this is because it means that the public debate that is essential for the development of good supported public policy is able to happen, and that the choke points of debate aren’t left in the hands of mindless demagogues like Mike Hoskings or Nigel Farange. Personally I consider that those kinds of narcissistic and probably psychotic personalities simply aren’t that reliable at leading rational debates.
But to be able to express an opinion on people like that, you have to allow all people seeking a public profile to similarly be analysed. People carry their history with them when they claim it as you have done, and they will be attacked on it – mainly limited by legal limits, not screwing up the debate here with too many side issues, and a modicum of good taste.
And it isn’t exclusive. It operates in exactly the same way for anyone on the left as well. Even with my very limited public profile, that has been extensively attacked in various media. More recently it has been personally and expensively attacked in the courts by a illiterate legal idiot in a private prosecution. It appears that he failed to read the first paragraph of the about on this site. It is simply part of the cost of being involved in having a public life.
Most people on the right would regard me as a moderate liberal…
I suspect that in many policy areas you’d be well to the ‘left’ of me.
…but in recent times this site (or at least some of the commenters) has become much less forgiving of hearing an alternate view, at least if put by me.
This isn’t abnormal and is a whole lot less here than in many forums. But have you ever seen what happens if I make a comment on kiwiblog? Even one supporting something said by David Farrar? The second reason (after a simple lack of time) that I don’t comment there very often is that I have an aversion to derailing comment streams by simply being present. Comment streams there tend to immediately divert into “I hate lprent” whenever I make a comment regardless on what the comment is about or what its content is. It is a whole lot more extreme than anything that is allowed to happen on this site.
If you do spot anything that walks too far over the edge in comments, then just highlight it in a comment or in email
Wayne. Here is a quote of something you once said on Bowalley Road.
“On that basis, I would say there is a reliable 25% of the voting population who are essentially left (hard left as I am wont to say) as opposed to centre-left. ”
If it is true that, in your terms, anyone who is a traditional Social Democrat is Hard Left, then it must also be true that a similar percentage on the Right can be designated in the same fashion.
Based on the high tide marks achieved by ACT and various conservative / Christian parties, and the fact that most of the people who have in the past voted for those Parties have certainly defaulted to currently voting National as their only viable option, it must also be true to say that nearly half of National’s voter base are, in your terms “Hard Right”??
There seems to have been uncertain result in the Spanish elections. The conservative Peoples Party have 137 seats out of 350; the Socialists 85; Unidos Podemos 71; and other conservative party 32. Coalition possibilities are uncertain. UP did not do as well as many were hoping apparently.
Then why do you care Tory? You should stay quiet & then laugh with glee if what you say turns out correct & use your crystal ball to predict winning Lotto numbers genius.
I’m getting redflags (in firefox top tab – instead of the clicked page loading) most of the time when I try to access or refresh OM (more than usual). The other posts are mostly ok, but some of the older ones have been giving me the same problem. Thought I’d mention it here, as this post loads and won’t be too distracting to the above discussion.
Is this just me, or have others been having this problem too?
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Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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 The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Well, if yah going to just go half way, like the guy in the pic above with a half shaved head, you mose as well go all the way.
Otherwise yah just look silly.
Well we can all criticise Winston Peters but he was the only one in NZ politics predicting and supporting Brexit .
His appearance on the Paul Henry show this morning was a eye opener and in my opinion he is heading toward further polling strength. This could be at the expense of Labour as Andrew Little had to back down in his statement regarding tax expert Mr Shewan. Not good for Andrew or Labour.
I pose the question should the LabGreen partnership accept Winston as Prime Minister if as expected Winston will hold the keys to the formation of a Government in 2017.
I believe that will be his price to the LabGreen and NZ First coalition.
I also believe that Little, Turei and Shaw will accept those terms from Winston, such is their desperation to be part of a NZ Government.
National would not accept such a proposal from Winston though they would accept him high in their cabinet rankings.
The question of Prime Ministership in 2017 needs to be asked and answered now, after the election is to late and would cause political turmoil if outcomes are not what the electors expect.
An obsfucation answer to the question should not be tolerated.
Shewans report is a complete parroting of John Key’s various claims and statements about the tax haven, opps Zero tax rated companies Key have made since the panama papers were released.
Show me where he has said anything original.
I’m going to put NRT’s post here in it’s entirety:
Ron Paterson did not intend to see out his full term, but his decision to up-sticks forthwith is worthy of investigation. As NRT infers: something is definitely not right here.
Anyone know what Murray McCully has been up to lately?
Wow, just wow.
Pushing out the Ombudsman? WTF?
They will push out anyone that makes them look bad or shows them up as incompetent
The Brexit Vote: The Painful Price of Inequality
Probably the best breakdown of Brexit that I’ve read so far.
The truth about the British Labour leadership coup.
Been planning it for months. A small bunch of Blairites who never accepted Corbyn and have been waiting for a chance to launch their coup. “Westminster Games”.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36632956
Diane Abbott MP. Video now half way down article.
Edit: new Shadow health secretary.
As soon as I heard about it I figured that it had been in the making for months. Probably started before Corbyn even made leader, as it became obvious that he was going to win and not their hand selected parrot. Someone who was a danger to the status quo rather than its defender.
GregJ called it last night:
http://thestandard.org.nz/corbyn-coup-hilary-benn-is-sacked-for-disloyalty/#comment-1195037
So did swordfish. Always good to have it confirmed from ‘a horse’s mouth’ though.
+1
I called it three days ago
But this really isn’t a spitting contest but a place for discussion.
Probably the Blairites are best to try and get this business done before the release of the Chilcott Report huh?
After July 6th they just might be toxic.
Saw this in the comment section of a Guardian article:
Appeals to me anyway.
Ha ha nice one.
Very good thanks
They even waited until Corbyn’s right hand man was out of town at Glastonbury.
Now I have a difficult choice … can I both despise AND absolutely loath these despicable shitters?
Hmmm typical centrists 😛
“They even waited until Corbyn’s right hand man was out of town at Glastonbury”
And he’s just told him what everyone else in the plp knows.
“Labour deputy leader ‘tells Jeremy Corbyn to quit.
Tom Watson has told Jeremy Corbyn to resign. He told him he has “no authority with the PLP”.”
lol
This will be the absolute wreckage of the UKLP.
The fury of the membership and unions will be unlimited. I suspect not a single one of these self-indulgent dorks will be remain in Labour in a year’s time. There’ll be a general crab-like scuttle off towards the rock called Liberal.
These munters had a choice, they could have seen Corbyn as someone different and a challenge to politics as usual, some-one they needed to get in behind, serve protect and promote. They could have formed a team around him and looked after his back, but no. Their personal arrogance had to come first. They had to plot, scheme, and finesse the rule-book.
And just when the Tories are on their knees they act to ensure the Tories will rise unscathed. In wartime you don’t fuck about with traitors, you just execute them out of hand.
I mean the sainted Hilary Benn, has the unmitigated gall to insult his Party Leader in public, call ‘no-confidence’ … and then fail to resign on the spot !!!. What fucking planet did I wake up on today?
That’s one interpretation.
Another is Corbyn was/is/and always will be electoral toast. Rolling him now, after his much discredited performance, could equally be the saving of and popular comeback of UK labour.
I guess only time will tell.
Oh come on, blaming Corbyn for the outcome of a referendum that was never of his own making is a feeble, cowardly fig-leaf.
We have Diane Abbott’s plain commentary on the matter, this scum had been planning it for fucking months. Down to the very detail. Even their ‘resignation’ letters all look they came from the same PR firm.
I just might have a smidgeon less contempt for them if they actually thought they might be stepping down; but in their minds this is nothing more than a game where they play ‘time-out’ for a few days, topple the Leader their Party voted for … and then waddle back into their comfortable troughs under a new Leader who’s neck deep in their debt.
Speaking of which … they all whine that Corbyn is electoral toast, but exactly WHO among their number is not an electoral greasy smut on the ceiling?
What I want to know is if they will resign as MPs if Corbyn stays on as leader.
I don’t know if the rules permit it, but in the circumstances I’d argue he would certainly have moral mandate to ask for them to step down. And with a GE almost certain within six months, there would likely be no especial need to call by-elections.
Looks to me like Peter Swift is using mis-quotes and lying.
“Deputy leader falls short of calling on Corbyn to resign as more frontbenchers quit in protest at his leadership of the party”
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/27/labour-resignations-continue-as-mps-try-to-force-out-jeremy-corbyn
I wouldn’t have posted it if I hadn’t have seen it on the BBC website.
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-36570120
You’ll have to scroll down to 21:33 for the ‘breaking’ news.
It does say at 22:08 that “the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg notes, Mr Watson didn’t explicitly tell Mr Corbyn he should resign and stressed that the final decision was a matter for him.”
But I didn’t see it and my post was before this, so no lie on my part.
I will accept your apology for casting aspersion. 😉
Don’t bother. I’m picking you don’t have it in you. lol
Though next time you call me for mis quoting and stating I’m a liar, I’d appreciate it if you were a little more researched and less half cocked as this time. Thanks.
Lets face it some of these MPs in the UKLP cant decide on the colour of shite.
All the Labour party members did in voting in huge numbers for Corbyn was reaffirm what they historically stood for and that was to represent working people and their aspirations for a better life and fairness at work with a livable wage and a belief in society and properly funded public services and keep the ever present dangerous capitalist establishment in check.
Its been an ambush under the cloak of the BREXIT and these plotters cant accept that the british Labour voter wants something better than the Tories prescription or Tony Blairs New Labour that they rejected with Gordon Brown in 2010 and again with New Labour part two in 2015.
These shadow ministers who have resigned were never prepared to accept Corbyn or any other left wing candidate for leader because they no longer support what their parties founding principles are about and are more relevant now , today than ever before and should think long and hard about what their members want rather than their own vile selfish agendas.
Maybe they should split away and take their chances with a different party if they cant stomach the one they are in.
In the mean time if they cant be loyal they should go to the back of the room and let the elected leadership get on with it and remind themselves unity is strength.
And at the earliest opportunity , resign and test their position at a by election.
and judging by their actions the political classes are themselves in those groupings
Very well put and sums up the mood in the UK.
Well you know what the Brits have done of course…. they have Voted Them Out
Vote Them Out
they did
vto
And I approve of all those English outside of London exercising that option.
40% of people inside London too.
Indeed, you are correct.
“And I approve of all those English outside of London exercising that option.”
Does that mean you disapprove of the scots, N.Ireland, and 13,266,996 voters in England?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/little-kids/81489771/teacher-uses-two-apples-to-show-kids-what-really-happens-when-they-bully-others
For anyone involved in teaching this is an interesting anti bullying technique.
Bullies – when young – are often very oblivious to the hurt caused by their actions.
A simple solution – and one that I used to use here at home – is to sit both children involved facing each other – knee to knee. Then as dispassionately as possible articulate what has gone on. The children are asked to look directly into each others faces, and at young ages – very few are able to mask the hurt and pain when they are revisiting what occurred. Most times the “bully” reacts immediately with guilt and empathy.
No requirement for sermons or explanations from the parent.
Not that all children are angels, but the very young are often very empathetic, and we teach them out of this by competitive structures in schooling, sports and in a million other ways.
15 EU laws the UK will miss
Including a couple they can stop making fun of now, but also:
– Free movement of labour … only possibly, despite this being a Leave policy
– The right to be forgotten
– Working time directive
– Temporary Agency Workers Directive
– Renewables Directive
– EU Climate and Energy Package
– Banking Regulations
– Clean Water regulations
“In 1935, a young Laurie Lee set off to walk across Spain, from north to south. In the book the adventure would eventually lead to, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Lee describes a country riven by inequality, of communities in grinding poverty, and an out-of-touch ruling elite. The fascists and the communists both laid claim to the discontents, the rhetoric becoming increasingly polarised. The narrative resonated across the European continent. By the time Lee got to Malaga, in the summer of 1936, the Spanish civil war had begun.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/27/liverpool-london-brexit-leave-eu-referendum
what next?
Thanks, that was a grim but important read.
Now imagine the despairing fury of these people, betrayed by the Labour party and brutalised by an extreme right wing government in a few years time.
Define “extreme right wing”.
Families living in cars while government ministers lie and blame and build private prisons.
“Families living in cars while government ministers lie and blame and build private prisons.” – Burn!
Bit worried about your historical future Wayne, don’t worry, you seemed soft for that mob in the end, please let me down.
Work assessment tests with fatal outcomes
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34838539
Benefit sanctions with fatal outcomes
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefit-sanctions-lead-claimants-to-self-harm-crime-and-destitution-warns-damning-report-a7047211.html
Why don’t you go first, Wayne, and define ‘Hard Left’ which is your favourite put-down of your political opponents.
Although shortly stated, it was intended to be a serious question. Whilst there are pressing social problems to be solved, I don’t think the current govt fits the usual definition of extreme right wing. Centre right, or depending ones perspective right. Not when we have a minimum wage of $15, and an increase in general benefit levels, both of which occurred under the current govt. In my view etreme right wing would need to be more like say the Republicans in the US, or perhaps ACT in NZ.
As for the definition of Hard left, I would say the Corbynista left of UK Labour fits well enough. That would include some on the left of Labour in NZ and the left of the Greens (and quite a few commenters on this site). It would not include Andrew Little or James Shaw. Not sure where I would put the most left of the Labours MP’s (for instance Carmel Sepuloni) I am not sure that she would be far left enough to meet the my definition of hard left. Choosing people as illustrations helps. This not intended to be personal, it is just that it easier than a formal description of political philosophy. Lilia Harre would do so. As much as anything for her role in the destruction of the Alliance. Breaking it up on the basis of Afghanistan following 9/11 seemed reckless, even though I was looking at it from the perspective of the Opposition. Similarly her involvement with Kim Dotcom. We are all assessed on our political judgements and others will make of them what they will.
My old school fellow pupil, Len Richards, would also qualify, he was two years ahead of me. I have not heard much of him in the news these days, so he might be retired.
$15 must be enough, because a living wage is ~$20.
I wonder if you even understand the contempt you’ve earned.
I am certainly aware of some pretty personal attacks on this site, which means it is risky for me to comment.
Most people on the right would regard me as a moderate liberal, but in recent times this site (or at least some of the commenters) has become much less forgiving of hearing an alternate view, at least if put by me.
The right has enjoyed political dominance without a public mandate for much too long. So now its organs are reviled and dare not show their faces to the people they have misled and betrayed. Why are you surprised?
You toss around labels like confetti. Can’t take the heat from your employers? Your predetermined opinions and association with the National Party constitute a conflict of interest.
I note your abject failure to address the points raised: families living in cars while your corrupt crony sponsors lie and blame and increase the prison population, then you have the insufferable gall to pretend that $15 p/h is a good earn.
Go on, pretend criticism of your opinions and behaviour is a personal attack. That’ll work 🙄
“but in recent times this site (or at least some of the commenters) has become much less forgiving of hearing an alternate view, at least if put by me.”
symptomatic of the type of feelings expressed in the US and UK……feelings that apparently have no basis in NZ?
For better or worse, the policy doesn’t allow interventions for personal attacks unless they get pretty extreme or stray from the post and/or discussion.
The reason why the policy has those limits is because the site was founded to provide robust public debate. That means that we can have people on here doing the usual right wing unthinking slagging of the poor, and the equivalent left wing demonisation of the capitalists. The reason that we want this is because it means that the public debate that is essential for the development of good supported public policy is able to happen, and that the choke points of debate aren’t left in the hands of mindless demagogues like Mike Hoskings or Nigel Farange. Personally I consider that those kinds of narcissistic and probably psychotic personalities simply aren’t that reliable at leading rational debates.
But to be able to express an opinion on people like that, you have to allow all people seeking a public profile to similarly be analysed. People carry their history with them when they claim it as you have done, and they will be attacked on it – mainly limited by legal limits, not screwing up the debate here with too many side issues, and a modicum of good taste.
And it isn’t exclusive. It operates in exactly the same way for anyone on the left as well. Even with my very limited public profile, that has been extensively attacked in various media. More recently it has been personally and expensively attacked in the courts by a illiterate legal idiot in a private prosecution. It appears that he failed to read the first paragraph of the about on this site. It is simply part of the cost of being involved in having a public life.
I suspect that in many policy areas you’d be well to the ‘left’ of me.
This isn’t abnormal and is a whole lot less here than in many forums. But have you ever seen what happens if I make a comment on kiwiblog? Even one supporting something said by David Farrar? The second reason (after a simple lack of time) that I don’t comment there very often is that I have an aversion to derailing comment streams by simply being present. Comment streams there tend to immediately divert into “I hate lprent” whenever I make a comment regardless on what the comment is about or what its content is. It is a whole lot more extreme than anything that is allowed to happen on this site.
If you do spot anything that walks too far over the edge in comments, then just highlight it in a comment or in email
Wayne. Here is a quote of something you once said on Bowalley Road.
“On that basis, I would say there is a reliable 25% of the voting population who are essentially left (hard left as I am wont to say) as opposed to centre-left. ”
If it is true that, in your terms, anyone who is a traditional Social Democrat is Hard Left, then it must also be true that a similar percentage on the Right can be designated in the same fashion.
Based on the high tide marks achieved by ACT and various conservative / Christian parties, and the fact that most of the people who have in the past voted for those Parties have certainly defaulted to currently voting National as their only viable option, it must also be true to say that nearly half of National’s voter base are, in your terms “Hard Right”??
There seems to have been uncertain result in the Spanish elections. The conservative Peoples Party have 137 seats out of 350; the Socialists 85; Unidos Podemos 71; and other conservative party 32. Coalition possibilities are uncertain. UP did not do as well as many were hoping apparently.
Yeah the centre right gained a few seats, but not enough yet again to form a majority government.
third time lucky?
Corbyn and his rump of ragtag Commies will lead UK Labour to the greatest defeat in history. Foretaste of what is to come here.
Meh – England is a sideshow now. The schwerpunkt will be in Europe.
Then why do you care Tory? You should stay quiet & then laugh with glee if what you say turns out correct & use your crystal ball to predict winning Lotto numbers genius.
A better class of chicken entrails…
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/04/the-political-resonance-of-game-of-thrones?mbid=social_facebook
Lprent
I’m getting redflags (in firefox top tab – instead of the clicked page loading) most of the time when I try to access or refresh OM (more than usual). The other posts are mostly ok, but some of the older ones have been giving me the same problem. Thought I’d mention it here, as this post loads and won’t be too distracting to the above discussion.
Is this just me, or have others been having this problem too?