What because Griffin lost his rag and essentially declared himself unwilling to work with the coalition? If he’d meant to keep his sinecure he wouldn’t have made it into a drama. With or without Curran, Griffin is gone. The wails of grief will not reach heaven.
Yes. As the story unfolds, Curran actually looks increasingly to have acted within the rules. Her handling of it was clumsy and landed Hirschfeld in it, unfortunately. But then Curran is no match for the Nats’ underhand political plays.
And Griffin is increasingly looking like a dodgy manipulator who doesn’t want to follow the government’s plans for a repurposing of RNZ.
Griffin in his role should not be playing politics. He should work within the framework put in place by the government.
For 9 long years RNZ had to work on a shoestring, because the Nats want to give more power to the corroborates owning and running commercial media, while public service media has been undermined.
Now it’s all change and Griffin and Thompson will just have to suck it up or resign.
And there’s been some dodgy collusion between Griffin and Melissa Lee – that is unacceptable for a chairman of a state broadcaster.
I posted a Newsroom opinion piece below on the politics of the RNZ revamp. Do you see Thompson as being RW? Jennings appears to be saying that Thompson is supportive of RNZ although nervous about the move to TV broadcasting.
Thompson is currently in the position of having to play the line expected of him by the Board, and in particular the Chair, Griffin. He may well have been walking a tightrope himself and had to suppress his own real views.
I was 99% sure that Griffin would not be rolled over again (he’s done 8 years as RNZ Chair) because of the change of government; now my bet is 100% that he is gone. Griffin has always played politics; he know no other way and does know all the tricks in the book. He’s now in his mid 70s, semi-retired, and knows he is unlikely to get any appointments under this government. He’s got nothing to lose re ‘feeding’ Lee etc at this stage.
In fact, having seen how he operates, my bet is that he may have been the one who ‘fed’ her right back on 7 December – the day that Curran met the Board of RNZ and two days after the Curran/Herschfeld meeting on 5 December. December 7 was also the same day that Lee filed her first written question No 19129 (2017) to Curran re her meeting with Herschfeld. The next day (8 Dec) Lee filed 24 more Written Questions on various matters relating to RNZ directly or indirectly via ‘fishing’ questions as I reported in my comment at 13.3 in OM 27 March: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27-03-2018/#comment-1466525
IMHO Lee did not pull those questions out of thin air.
And re your 1.1.1.2.1 below, I really don’t think CH would want the Chair job. Obviously under Griffin it has essentially been a part time job, but also it is a “governance” strategic/overview position, not a hands-on management/operational position. CH appears to someone who is an ‘in there doing it’ type of person.
Well I was thinking more along the lines of:
Shane Jones blatantly ignoring Jacinda,
Sexual assaults at Labour affiliated camps,
Ron Mark treating the air force as his own personal taxi service,
the Greens giving their share of questions to National (powerful symbolism), NZFirst attempting to bribe/blackmail/threaten Mark Mitchell (not sure of the correct terminology),
Claire Curran being well Claire Curran
I’ll answer your question James …. when you answer mine and Tracys …. which were made well over a week ago just as you were being banned for being an arse.
Its very discourteous and arrogant to ask questions without having the decency to address ones made to you ….
So you first.
In the meantime I recommend this comedian who makes more appropriate comments about sexual assaults than those who seek to defend it ….
David Cameron …. the masculine version of theresa May, gets a good mention over the pigs head rumor that Lord Ashcroft started https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXsL-4a8dg
5 minute mark approx
The Shane Jones. I believe he was speaking as a minister with his regional hat on. I would have thought the MP Adern would have some influence in that regard.
The Radio NZ carry on is small beer, beltway stuff. No one really cares about the ins-and-outs of Curran and Hirshfeld meeting in a Wellington caff, though both of them should have known better.
Ardern and Peters frankly weird response to the Russia spy/poisoning though has the capacity to really undermine her premiership. She needs to finetune that sort of stuff pretty smartly.
The Russian Spy thing is also an exaggerated beat up. My guess is that May has used the Skripal poisoning as an excuse to stir up popular sentiment against Russia. It was all done too hastily without all the evidence being in.
There’s various elements of uncertainty about what has been stated publicly.
I think NZ should not jump on the bandwagon at this point. Ardern expressing certainty about the origin of the Skripal attack seems like appeasing allies, while not getting sucked into reprisals.
Jacinda claims to have been briefed by the SIS. The SIS have no doubt been briefed by MI6. But MI6, whatever their actual beliefs, would not wish to be seen to be contradicting their PM, so how much is Jacinda’s reason for supporting Britain (TINA) really worth?
Can it really be true that no other country possesses the chemistry smarts that the Russians possess?
Once again you’ve produced a comment with no substantive material, other than a personal attack. Did your father enjoy the movie you made with him and your pet goat?
Ardern’s announcement yesterday that MFAT had advised her there were no ‘non declared’ Russian spies in NZ took me by surprise. Spies, be they of the western or eastern variety, are the province of the NZSIS.
She corrected it today but it suggested a lack of knowledge on her part.
Btw, why has this government not looked into the circumstances surrounding the National MP, Jian Yang who was discovered to have had close ties to the Chinese military intelligence?
Sorry Anne, I meant to include in my comment at 1.1.3.3.2 this link to an article by Matt Nippert in the Herald in Dec 2017 where Winston Peters was calling for an investigation into Jian Yang. Considering Peters’ position in the new govt, it would not surprise me if there was an investigation in progress.
The Nats pathetic, tissue paper thin strategy of claiming this government is incompetent is laughable.
If you want incompetence, look at the mess the Nats have left the public health service in-John Campbell covered this on Checkpoint tonight. Oh but that’s right, only the plebs use the public health service so that doesn’t matter when you can afford to roll up to Coleman’s private health service.
Yeah I’m sure you’re right, not likely to be any more scandels for a while 🙂 at the very least its going to be interesting to see what happens when Jacinda goes on maternity leave on Winstons running the show 🙂
The final terms of reference for the government’s inquiry into the electricity sector goes further than draft proposals to include examining whether power companies can make “excessive profits” and “whether the costs of providing electricity services are or should be socialised or spread evenly across different classes of consumers”.
This story got posted in twitter about an Aussie guy who nearly got shot by the police in the US for getting out of his car, walking towards the police and reaching for his wallet after he had been pulled over (tweet is a decent warning about how to behave in the US).
I’ve been pulled over twice and stayed in my car both times because walking towards someone is generally considered threatening (I’m guessing from the polices point of view)
Much better to stay in the car and follow the polices instructions
There are some things about the Carol Hirschfeld RNZ saga that just don’t add up.
Why would a highly respected, experienced broadcasting executive like Hirschfeld repeatedly lie to her boss?
Especially given that she had enjoyed a highly successful partnership with that boss?
Hirschfeld and RNZ CEO Paul Thompson are widely credited with pulling off a remarkable revival of RNZ in the face of a funding freeze and a somewhat staid culture.
Thompson’s digital and strategic skills married with Hirschfeld’s style and TV experience seemed to be the perfect combination.
He suggests that the meeting was a relationship building one, and that Hirschfeld’s lying about its planning was around the politics of Cullen’s plans for RNZ to do public television. Still doesn’t make sense of Hirschfeld lying to Thompson though.
Maybe a management / board directive that only the CEO and Chair were to meet with the Minister or MPs. We haven’t heard much about the culture within RNZ, but I’m wondering what went on too.
This bit suggests that Thompson doesn’t want to go with Currran’s full plan, and is more in step with Griffin:
Since the policy announcement both Thompson and RNZ’s chairman, Richard Griffin, have played down expectations of what RNZ+ will be – suggesting it is an extension of what they are already doing rather than something new.
It’s possible that anything that Hirschfeld said to Thompson about Curran’s planned changes would be relayed directly to Griffin.
Yep. It’s the lie that’s the problem. It may have been their way of trying to hold off the manipulations of Griffin. But, if so, it backfired and was not the best way to go about dealing with Griffin’s resistance.
if it had been formally planned then CH would have had to inform her boss?
If your theory is correct then that’s even more damning of CH. I get it, but it was still a daft move. I had been thinking she had just told a stupid lie at the start and then needed to keep telling it, but if it was part of an intentional strategy that’s way worse.
There’s always stuff going on behind the scenes that we don’t see.
My impression is that there’s been a lot of right wing maneuvering behind the scenes to undermine public service media. I think that’s why Hirschfeld and Mihingarangi Forbes left Maori TV, and also probably why Forbes and Campbell left TV3. Their experience was probably of some pretty dodgy dealings.
However, it sounds like the pre-meeting texts shows that Curran initiated the meeting. A better minister would have been more aware of what she would be leading CH into, and would have managed the whole situation better.
Drawing a public sector employee into discussions that lead to self-destructive behaviour does nothing to help implement the changes Curran is after.
The Cabinet Manual tells what is expected of Cabinet Ministers. Claire Curran has done nothing wrong according to the Cabinet Manual. Its a beat-up like the Russian spy story.
Australia with over 20millon people could find only 2. NZ with 4 million nil. And the members of the Five Nations agree and accept that.
3.81
If an employee wishes to communicate privately with a Minister about a matter concerning the agency by which he or she is employed, the Minister should ensure that the employee has first raised the matter with the agency’s chief executive.
I’ve have been wondering to myself for the best part of the day about Jacinda Ardern’s comment about the general lack of Russian spies in Aotearoa presently. I would presume she is going on advice from – well, whom, exactly. If this advice has been proffered by the GSCB via the Five Eyes network are they bumbling nincompoops or deliberately undermining her.
2 in big Australia. Nil so far in NZ. She gets her information from the NZ SIS whose job it is to Know. She cannot just deport someone/anyone who looks Russian can she?
And although it was a Russian missile that brought down the airliner, they are still trying to find out who fired it. An international Tribunal is still deciding.
“Jacinda Ardern’s comment about the general lack of Russian spies in Aotearoa presently.”
She did not really say that but her wording was a bit off. The action taken to expel Russian “spies” by other countries is in relation to only one small category of intelligence operatives – namely what are known as “undeclared intelligence staff”.
Andrew Geddis on Stuff and on the Pundit Blog has done the best job I have ever seen of explaining this category of intelligence operatives I have ever seen.
And so the action that obviously was agreed behind the scenes was to kick out the “undeclared intelligence agents” that each country has identified as working out of its various Russian diplomatic posts. Exactly what is meant by an “undeclared intelligence agent” is then very important, as it is the key to why NZ acted (or, didn’t act) as it did.
An undeclared intelligence agent is not an ordinary diplomat who gathers gossip, monitors news media and attends cocktail functions in order to report to their government at home what is happening in NZ. All diplomats do this – our embassy staff overseas just as much as Russian embassy staff here. So “collecting information for your government” does not make someone an undeclared intelligence agent.
Instead, an undeclared intelligence agent is a member of a country’s secret service who pretends to be a diplomat in order to actually undertake covert operations in the country to which they are posted. They are really spies who are pretending to be diplomats so as to get the benefits of diplomatic immunity should they get caught spying.
Because these two things are not the same, they are not viewed the same in diplomatic interactions. A country kicking out a diplomat because they actually are an undeclared intelligence agent is a lesser deal than is kicking out a diplomat proper, because the “diplomat’s” country knows that they’ve basically been rumbled misusing their diplomatic privileges.
So, that’s the level of response that the UK’s various friends collectively decided was warranted – not kicking out “real” diplomats (which is a major step) but kicking out spies-in-diplomats-clothing (which is a lesser step). Which then is a problem for New Zealand.
Because it appears that we don’t have any Russian undeclared intelligence agents on hand to kick out. This claim has, I know, been met with ridicule by many. I mean, it’s Russia! We all know they spy all the time on everyone!! And New Zealand is so very, very important that they must spy on us, too!!! Please? We need the validation … .
Except – maybe there just aren’t any down here at the bottom of the world. And even if there is some undeclared intelligence agent kicking about in the Russian embassy, our SIS doesn’t know who it is. Nor do our overseas intelligence partners, apparently, because we asked them and they couldn’t finger anyone either.
I hope that helps but I also suggest that you read the whole article to put the above into context.
Apparently the man directly responsible for the post invasion insurgency, the ongoing violence and the deaths of perhaps 100K or more Iraqis is much more at peace now.
. Gradually, Bremer appears to have come to terms with the vitriol. “He still answers hate mail,” Francie told me. “People will say, ‘Do you consider yourself a war criminal?’ Or ‘Why don’t you go commit harakiri?’ Nice things like that. But I think he’s much more at peace now. We both are.”
Still, it’s quite a comedown for a man who, back in the summer of 2003, was being talked up for a top cabinet post himself. At a high point of his CPA tenure, Bremer received a note from Colin Powell joking that he was probably measuring the drapes in the Secretary of State’s office. The viceroy’s reply: “‘When I get out of here — if I ever get out of here — I’m going to Vermont and I’m going to show you a Rip Van Winkle act like you’ve never seen,” he vowed. “I’m going to sleep for years.”
Adern risks being a one term prime minister according to Hooton.
Ominously possible but not for the reasons he is stating. This is death by a thousand cuts from every single branch of commercial media which is arrayed against the government. Relentless antigovernment propaganda.
This has to be aggressively countered.
If National can fund friendly media, shut down their detractors and stack boards then it’s time to get cracking.
There is obviously a clash of cultures at RNZ, an intelligent attractive indigenous woman vs an aged white man, ex National Party PR man, who is past his best b4 date ?
It would be interesting to know what CH thought the meeting was going to be about. She might have initially thought the meeting was about things besides RNZ – the minister wanted a run down on the media sector based on her experience or maybe she thought the minister was head hunting her for a job. She might not have thought she needed to get permission if those were the topics and it was only during/after the meeting that she found that she had been dropped into it. The only safe way was to lie because telling the truth would have got her fired sooner.
I am just guessing but I would politely say “she has probably just had a guts full of working in a toxic environment with not particularly nice people” ?
Hopefully the worms will come out of the woodwork ?
MSM in NZ and Worldwide are a disgrace to journalism and accurate reporting, and that is a fact ?
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RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The instability comes as the party tries to refresh its brand after six years of being part of a right-wing, pro-imperialist government with both the Labour Party and, from 2017-2020, the far-right NZ First Party. ...
Based on the latest Treasury forecasts, New Zealand Government debt will tick above $90,000 per household for the first time ever at 10pm today, Sunday 19 May 2024. The Taxpayers’ Union is calling it “$90k Debt Day”. Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ ...
Arawata Shane Arawata Shane had wandered long In the wild tangled hills of the West Coast. He came to a stop on the mighty range And looked down at the wide river flats. He breathed in the clean air, And he took in the shadows playing across The face of ...
SPECIAL REPORT:Islands Business in Suva Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist and Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific digital journalist Police have used tear gas and stun grenades on rioters at an airport near Nouméa as the chaos in New Caledonia stretched into its sixth day. Five people, including two police officers, have died and hundreds of ...
Asia Pacific ReportThe global human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on France to not “misuse” a crackdown in the ongoing unrest in the non-self-governing French Pacific territory of Kanaky New Caledonia in the wake of a controversial vote by the French Parliament to adopt a bill changing the territory’s ...
A major provider of school lunches fears the government's new $3 limit for most students will see them eating more pre-packaged and processed food. ...
The star of Dark City: The Cleaner takes us through his life in TV, including the VHS revolution and the John Campbell impression that started it all. Best known for his comedic roles, Cohen Holloway says he struggled at times to maintain the stone cold facade of serial killer on ...
David Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. My friend Doug never travelled; he had little interest in the world beyond his own tiny rural town. I’ve rarely known anyone who radiated such contentment. Doug (I’ll call him that) died in March. You won’t know him. ...
Some of the earliest photos of life in Aotearoa are on display at Auckland Museum right now – but the identities of some of the people in them are a mystery.What was it like to be one of the first people in New Zealand to have their photo taken? ...
Since its founding almost a decade ago, Featherston Booktown has grown into one of the country’s most interesting and idiosyncratic literary events. Erin Banks reports from the audience. “Come in, have you had lunch? I’m about to make a cheese toastie.” Mary Biggs, operations manager of Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival, ...
After 33 years abroad, Loveni Enari recently returned to Aotearoa and Samoa in what a friend joked was an “existential crisis”. He learnt and re-learnt so much about his family, friends and both countries. Almost as an afterthought, he got a Samoan tatau. This is his story. (Accompanying it are ...
Nearly 30 years ago, two people told me they’d killed a woman they knew. I thought the truth would come out, that others would tell it. In the end, I had to. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Fact: in 1995, Angela Blackmoore ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at the week and shines a light on some increasingly rare longform journalism. Mōrena and welcome to The Weekend where there will sadly be no aurora to see. After a busy week last week of short, sharp pieces, this week we swung the other way, ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a revered Kanak visionary, was inspirational to indigenous Pacific political activists across Oceania, just like Tongan anthropologist and writer Epeli Hao’ofa was to cultural advocates. Tragically, he was assassinated in 1989 by an opponent within the independence movement during ...
Forget thin is in, apparently now bigger is better … or is it? After over a decade of body positivity, girls, teens and women are even more confused about what body positivity actually is. The movement began with women confronting unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look. But sub-strands ...
Grace always sat at the bar at the back of The Cambridge, where she could watch who came in. A huge mirror ran the length of the pub, so you could sometimes watch people without them knowing. The mirror made the place seem a lot bigger than it really was. ...
MONDAY Sheriff Mark Mitchell rose at dawn. He had a long day’s ride ahead of him. He was headed for Waikeria. Waikeria! Even the name itself stirred his blood, and set root in his imagination. There was nothing and no one in Waikeria. But he would bend it to his ...
The first phase of the inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones finished this week, turning up plenty of revelations and few answers. But through all the confusion, heartbreak and antipathy on display, the simple fact at the heart of this case remains: if little Lachie’s body had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Benjamin, Professor in Art History, University of Sydney “She’s no oil painting”. Those were the unkind words of a colleague commenting on the subject of Vincent Namatjira’s acrylic painting, Gina. Every one of the prominent Australians and cultural heroes in Namatjira’s ...
Government plans to require local councils hold a referendum on whether to have Māori wards breaches the Treaty of Waitangi, a Waitangi Tribunal report has found. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney This year the National Rugby League (NRL) opened its season in Las Vegas. It was an audacious move by the league’s ambitious head honcho Peter V’Landys to showcase the game in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate Professor, Music Industry, RMIT University Leading music organisations have praised the federal budget for its investment in the live music sector. The budget includes A$8.6 million for a program called Revive Live: to provide essential support to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marnee Shay, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, The University of Queensland The 2024 federal budget contains A$110 million for Indigenous education. This includes funding for various different organisations to represent and help Indigenous people as well as scholarships in a bid to ...
Air New Zealand has confirmed Nouméa’s Tontouta International airport in New Caledonia is closed until Tuesday. The airline earlier told RNZ it would update customers as soon as it could. Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Morning Report government officials had been working on an “hourly basis” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Linley, PhD Candidate in Ecology, Charles Sturt University Grant Linley Australia’s unprecedented Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20 created ideal conditions for misinformation to spread, from the insidious to the absurd. It was within this context that a bizarre story ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcel Scharth, Lecturer in Business Analytics, University of Sydney OpenAI executive Mira Murati launching GPT-4o.OpenAI Earlier this week OpenAI launched GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), a new version of the artificial intelligence (AI) system powering the popular ChatGPT chatbot. GPT-4o is promoted ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treasure McGuire, Assistant Director of Pharmacy, Mater Health SEQ in conjoint appointment as Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Bond University and as Associate Professor (Clinical), The University of Queensland Speedkingz/Shutterstock Menopause is a natural biological process that marks the end of a ...
A new poem by Hannah Patterson. Xiāng There’s a pear tree in our backyard And Xiāng tells me She can’t eat them anymore Not after some things that have happened in her life. She tells me, in Mandarin The word for pear sounds the same as the word for disassociation ...
‘Cycling Works’ aims to show business support for citywide cycle infrastructure. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, supermarket giant Foodstuffs lost its attempt to block the construction of a cycle lane outside Thorndon New World in Wellington. The Spinoff’s Wellington editor ...
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 Slow Productivity by Cal Newport (Penguin, $40)Taking out the top spot in Auckland this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University For decades, Australia has exported uranium – but not used it, other than in the Lucas Heights research reactor. But change is coming. We now face a rapidly deepening commitment to ...
"In future I should walk away," Green MP Julie Anne Genter says after complaints over an exchange in Parliament and from two members of the public. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Graffam, PhD Candidate in Theatre, Monash University Gianna Rizzo/Malthouse Music pumps; lights pulsate; two sweaty bodies sway together, touching, breathing in each other’s scent. A male body framed by downlight restlessly shifts between stances and gestures. He undresses. The intensity ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra van der Laan, Professor of Accounting, University of Sydney Mtaya/Shutterstock At some point, you or someone else will need to make a decision about your “send-off”. Most Australians die in an institution, such as a hospital or aged care facility. ...
Asia Pacific Report Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai — who is also Chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group — has reaffirmed MSG’s support of the pro-independence umbrella group Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) stance opposing the French government’s constitutional bill “unfreezing” the New Caledonia Electoral Roll. It is ...
Producer Susan Leonard remembers her father Ernie, a pioneer of Māori television, and how his legacy lives on in Pathfinders.My father was a fabulous man. His name was Ernie Leonard and he started in TV in the 1970s when it was still glamorous – when TVNZ made behind the ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk, and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The suspected ringleaders of the unrest in New Caledonia have been placed in home detention and the social network TikTok has been banned as French security forces struggle to restore law and order. The French ...
Multi-year appropriations - which give the government authority to spend money without reapplying annually - are loosening Parliament's control of the public purse, auditor-general says. ...
Dr. Eric Chuah who stood for a centrist NZ political party in the October 2023 NZ Elections for Maungakiekie Auckland will stand as a candidate for Tauranga City Council Ward of Matua-=Otumoetai and Mayor of Tauranga. ...
If you can’t get to the comedy fest, let us bring the comedy fest to you. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is in full swing at the moment, with a veritable smorgasboard of comedy treats ...
A new poll commissioned by Unions Wellington shows an overwhelming majority of Wellingtonians oppose the Council’s plan to sell the 34% public stake in Wellington Airport. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aruna Sathanapally, Chief Executive, Grattan Institute, Grattan Institute A central focus of this week’s budget is the treasury’s forecast for inflation. By this time next year, inflation is projected to be back within the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target range. Inflation has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yolanda van Heezik, Professor of Ecology, University of Otago Getty Images Cities across Aotearoa New Zealand are trying to solve a housing crisis, with increasing residential density a key solution. But not everyone is happy about the resulting loss of natural ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, Energy and Climate Change, Grattan Institute WDG Photo/Shutterstock For years, the electricity sector has been the poster child for emissions cuts in Australia. The sector achieved a stunning 26% drop in emissions over the past 15 ...
It’s often the last thing people want to do, but asking someone if they’re having suicidal thoughts is a critical first step to helping them. Content warning: this story discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. For a list of resources that can help if you or someone you know is feeling ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy J. Ralph, Associate Professor, Macquarie University The pyramids at Giza, like dozens of others, are located several kilometres west of the current path of the Nile.Alex Cimbal / Shutterstock The largest field of pyramids in Egypt – consisting of 31 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute ABO PHOTOGRAPHY/Shutterstock Receiving a cancer diagnosis is life-changing and can cause a range of concerns about ongoing health. Fear of cancer returning is one ...
Winston Peters has been on tour around the Pacific while two unrelated crises unfolded, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Two separate ...
This is the Mount Everest of artificial meatcraft.Ah, bacon. Pig’s gold. Toast’s consolation. Dawn’s savoury embrace. If meat was a currency, bacon would be the Benjamin Franklin. Or if you’re feeling patriotic, the Lord Rutherford. When it comes to fake bacon, the obvious question is: why bother? In the ...
From illegal milk to sprinkler bans and airplane ticket scams, Tyrone Barugh is on a one-man mission through New Zealand’s most obscure legal loopholes. I’m deep undercover, investigating Wellington’s criminal underworld. Inside this store, I’ve been told there is a million-dollar trade in illicit substances. A man dressed in black ...
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Cheer up Lefties, it can’t get any worse for Labour
Or can it…. 🙂
What because Griffin lost his rag and essentially declared himself unwilling to work with the coalition? If he’d meant to keep his sinecure he wouldn’t have made it into a drama. With or without Curran, Griffin is gone. The wails of grief will not reach heaven.
Yes. As the story unfolds, Curran actually looks increasingly to have acted within the rules. Her handling of it was clumsy and landed Hirschfeld in it, unfortunately. But then Curran is no match for the Nats’ underhand political plays.
And Griffin is increasingly looking like a dodgy manipulator who doesn’t want to follow the government’s plans for a repurposing of RNZ.
Griffin in his role should not be playing politics. He should work within the framework put in place by the government.
For 9 long years RNZ had to work on a shoestring, because the Nats want to give more power to the corroborates owning and running commercial media, while public service media has been undermined.
Now it’s all change and Griffin and Thompson will just have to suck it up or resign.
And there’s been some dodgy collusion between Griffin and Melissa Lee – that is unacceptable for a chairman of a state broadcaster.
I posted a Newsroom opinion piece below on the politics of the RNZ revamp. Do you see Thompson as being RW? Jennings appears to be saying that Thompson is supportive of RNZ although nervous about the move to TV broadcasting.
Thompson is currently in the position of having to play the line expected of him by the Board, and in particular the Chair, Griffin. He may well have been walking a tightrope himself and had to suppress his own real views.
As I reported yesterday on OM at 9.3.1.2.1.3, Griffin’s two year reappointment by Amy Adams in 2016 runs out on 30 April, just four weeks away. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/appointments-radio-new-zealand-board
I was 99% sure that Griffin would not be rolled over again (he’s done 8 years as RNZ Chair) because of the change of government; now my bet is 100% that he is gone. Griffin has always played politics; he know no other way and does know all the tricks in the book. He’s now in his mid 70s, semi-retired, and knows he is unlikely to get any appointments under this government. He’s got nothing to lose re ‘feeding’ Lee etc at this stage.
In fact, having seen how he operates, my bet is that he may have been the one who ‘fed’ her right back on 7 December – the day that Curran met the Board of RNZ and two days after the Curran/Herschfeld meeting on 5 December. December 7 was also the same day that Lee filed her first written question No 19129 (2017) to Curran re her meeting with Herschfeld. The next day (8 Dec) Lee filed 24 more Written Questions on various matters relating to RNZ directly or indirectly via ‘fishing’ questions as I reported in my comment at 13.3 in OM 27 March: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27-03-2018/#comment-1466525
IMHO Lee did not pull those questions out of thin air.
And re your 1.1.1.2.1 below, I really don’t think CH would want the Chair job. Obviously under Griffin it has essentially been a part time job, but also it is a “governance” strategic/overview position, not a hands-on management/operational position. CH appears to someone who is an ‘in there doing it’ type of person.
Was Curran meeting Hirschfeld to sound her out about Hirschfeld replacing Griffin.
Works for me.
Except for the theory that CH wouldn’t want Griffin’s job.
Well I was thinking more along the lines of:
Shane Jones blatantly ignoring Jacinda,
Sexual assaults at Labour affiliated camps,
Ron Mark treating the air force as his own personal taxi service,
the Greens giving their share of questions to National (powerful symbolism), NZFirst attempting to bribe/blackmail/threaten Mark Mitchell (not sure of the correct terminology),
Claire Curran being well Claire Curran
But hey on the bright side
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/102577041/ed-sheeran-pops-over-to-prime-minister-jacinda-arderns-for-a-cuppa-and-scones
And? He’s not in her party and she doesn’t have control over him.
A well handled situation it seems. Labour did everything right on it.
But, then, there was John Key’s ongoing sexual assault of a waitress that got… nothing.
You mean like John Key?
Have to agree with that – she doesn’t appear to have ministerial capability.
“Sexual assaults at Labour affiliated camps
A well handled situation it seems. Labour did everything right on it.”
Even you couldn’t believe that.
I’ve read the expert stuff – Labour did everything right.
You don’t like it because it’s Labour doing everything right.
It’s not worth going over again – but I think you are on your own with this view after reading a lot of comments on this.
Being right is more important than hanging with the crowd.
So your still being two faced over this James ….. you intrepid defender of Rugby players who sexually assault
No not at all.
So reason – as opposed to trying to deflect and start a flame war – Do you agree with DTB that Labour did everything right?
“We understand we failed in our duty of care during the event…and in support we’ve offered since then,” Haworth said.”
^ That is doing everything right according to DTB.
I’ll answer your question James …. when you answer mine and Tracys …. which were made well over a week ago just as you were being banned for being an arse.
Its very discourteous and arrogant to ask questions without having the decency to address ones made to you ….
So you first.
In the meantime I recommend this comedian who makes more appropriate comments about sexual assaults than those who seek to defend it ….
David Cameron …. the masculine version of theresa May, gets a good mention over the pigs head rumor that Lord Ashcroft started
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXsL-4a8dg
5 minute mark approx
Which was really stupid of Labour. They’re buying in to National’s rhetoric which is a lie.
Labour did everything right. Shit happened. They learn a few lessons and move on.
It is impossible to plan for every possible eventuality.
And demanding that people do so is demanding the impossible.
The Shane Jones. I believe he was speaking as a minister with his regional hat on. I would have thought the MP Adern would have some influence in that regard.
perhaps it need to be stated That the fellow that misbehaved himself at the Youth camp was not a Labour Party member .Was he a Nat mischief maker?
The Radio NZ carry on is small beer, beltway stuff. No one really cares about the ins-and-outs of Curran and Hirshfeld meeting in a Wellington caff, though both of them should have known better.
Ardern and Peters frankly weird response to the Russia spy/poisoning though has the capacity to really undermine her premiership. She needs to finetune that sort of stuff pretty smartly.
On its own it is but when you add up everything thats gone wrong in the first 6 months its eventually going to catch up with you
Actually I think less has gone wrong in the first 6 months than you would have liked. And a lot has gone right.
Almost nothing has gone wrong. What we have is the RWNJs trying really hard to make it look like things have gone wrong.
The Russian Spy thing is also an exaggerated beat up. My guess is that May has used the Skripal poisoning as an excuse to stir up popular sentiment against Russia. It was all done too hastily without all the evidence being in.
There’s various elements of uncertainty about what has been stated publicly.
I think NZ should not jump on the bandwagon at this point. Ardern expressing certainty about the origin of the Skripal attack seems like appeasing allies, while not getting sucked into reprisals.
Ardern says there no plausible alternative explanation other than the attempted murders were committed by the Kremlin. Sorry to burst your bubble.
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-27-03-2018/#comment-1467226
Yeah. Well, she’s just repeating the UK government line. And I was aware of Ardern’s statement on that when I made my comment @ 7.22pm.
So, why not just wait and see when all the evidence is in and fully published?
There are questions to be asked – though I think this article is stretching it a bit (or more than a bit) to make it 30 questions.
But the UK and US governments have a track record of stretching evidence to fit their foreign adventure plans.
But some of those questions are worth asking.
‘Plausible’ explanations aren’t evidence.
Ardern saying that reduces my respect for her – and it wasn’t that great anyway.
Jacinda claims to have been briefed by the SIS. The SIS have no doubt been briefed by MI6. But MI6, whatever their actual beliefs, would not wish to be seen to be contradicting their PM, so how much is Jacinda’s reason for supporting Britain (TINA) really worth?
Can it really be true that no other country possesses the chemistry smarts that the Russians possess?
Can it really be true that no other country possesses the chemistry smarts that the Russians possess?
Has anyone made that claim? No. Funny how all the Kremlin’s “arguments” are strawmen.
Once again you miss the point. You really are a hopeless case.
Once again you’ve produced a comment with no substantive material, other than a personal attack. Did your father enjoy the movie you made with him and your pet goat?
Ardern’s announcement yesterday that MFAT had advised her there were no ‘non declared’ Russian spies in NZ took me by surprise. Spies, be they of the western or eastern variety, are the province of the NZSIS.
She corrected it today but it suggested a lack of knowledge on her part.
Btw, why has this government not looked into the circumstances surrounding the National MP, Jian Yang who was discovered to have had close ties to the Chinese military intelligence?
Because that’s a job for the SIS, not the government.
Who said they aren’t? Or rather that the new government has not asked the NZ SIS to do further investigations?
It is not something that would be splashed all over the media while it is under investigation.
Sorry Anne, I meant to include in my comment at 1.1.3.3.2 this link to an article by Matt Nippert in the Herald in Dec 2017 where Winston Peters was calling for an investigation into Jian Yang. Considering Peters’ position in the new govt, it would not surprise me if there was an investigation in progress.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11963295
So ex Chinese spies working for the National Government is okay ?
We have to find the Russian spies b4 we can expell them duh ?
We have to find the spies b4 we can expell them ?
You’ll probably find them hiding under their beds.
Scott Watson did the poisoning Scott ….
Cheer up chris, only 12+ years to go 🙂
I was going to reply with something like it being closer to 2 years nine months but at the rate its going even that might be pushing it 🙂
weren’t you one of the righties utterly convince National were going to win the election? 🙂
The only perfect person was Jesus* and look what happened to him 🙂
*If you believe in that kind of thing
cool, so you accept that Key had some flaws then.
I don’t accept Key as a person, I accept Key as my lord and saviour 🙂
Oh no! Not another happy clapping ANZ customer!
Top that one 73. 😀
These doco’s remind me of Johnny made-off ( bent key )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f524UFheysY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdFapTVHpHI
Many a true word spoken in jest
Dream on troll.
The Nats pathetic, tissue paper thin strategy of claiming this government is incompetent is laughable.
If you want incompetence, look at the mess the Nats have left the public health service in-John Campbell covered this on Checkpoint tonight. Oh but that’s right, only the plebs use the public health service so that doesn’t matter when you can afford to roll up to Coleman’s private health service.
Yeah I’m sure you’re right, not likely to be any more scandels for a while 🙂 at the very least its going to be interesting to see what happens when Jacinda goes on maternity leave on Winstons running the show 🙂
Feel better? I’m so glad.
Newsroom.
That’s more than I expected from this government. The inquiry members are yet to be announced…
This story got posted in twitter about an Aussie guy who nearly got shot by the police in the US for getting out of his car, walking towards the police and reaching for his wallet after he had been pulled over (tweet is a decent warning about how to behave in the US).
https://twitter.com/MohapatraHemant/status/978135844870529024
I’m curious how many people in NZ get out of the car and walk towards the police when pulled over?
I’ve been pulled over twice and stayed in my car both times because walking towards someone is generally considered threatening (I’m guessing from the polices point of view)
Much better to stay in the car and follow the polices instructions
I stay in the car too, not sure why. Sometimes a safety thing, mostly probably laziness. Might be about changing the power dynamic though.
I used to work on the states a lot.
I often preferred to take a day and drive than flying on the wee commuter fights.
Was warned about this several times by people I work with. Sadly the risk is real.
Opinion piece from Mark Jennings at Newsroom,
There are some things about the Carol Hirschfeld RNZ saga that just don’t add up.
Why would a highly respected, experienced broadcasting executive like Hirschfeld repeatedly lie to her boss?
Especially given that she had enjoyed a highly successful partnership with that boss?
Hirschfeld and RNZ CEO Paul Thompson are widely credited with pulling off a remarkable revival of RNZ in the face of a funding freeze and a somewhat staid culture.
Thompson’s digital and strategic skills married with Hirschfeld’s style and TV experience seemed to be the perfect combination.
He suggests that the meeting was a relationship building one, and that Hirschfeld’s lying about its planning was around the politics of Cullen’s plans for RNZ to do public television. Still doesn’t make sense of Hirschfeld lying to Thompson though.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/27/100637/coffee-meeting-leaves-rnz-in-a-mess#
Maybe a management / board directive that only the CEO and Chair were to meet with the Minister or MPs. We haven’t heard much about the culture within RNZ, but I’m wondering what went on too.
That’s a great photo. One of my favourites from the other day.
This bit suggests that Thompson doesn’t want to go with Currran’s full plan, and is more in step with Griffin:
It’s possible that anything that Hirschfeld said to Thompson about Curran’s planned changes would be relayed directly to Griffin.
True, but we don’t know what the meeting content was, and the lie was about whether the meeting was planned or not. Why lie about that?
Yep. It’s the lie that’s the problem. It may have been their way of trying to hold off the manipulations of Griffin. But, if so, it backfired and was not the best way to go about dealing with Griffin’s resistance.
if it had been formally planned then CH would have had to inform her boss?
If your theory is correct then that’s even more damning of CH. I get it, but it was still a daft move. I had been thinking she had just told a stupid lie at the start and then needed to keep telling it, but if it was part of an intentional strategy that’s way worse.
There’s always stuff going on behind the scenes that we don’t see.
My impression is that there’s been a lot of right wing maneuvering behind the scenes to undermine public service media. I think that’s why Hirschfeld and Mihingarangi Forbes left Maori TV, and also probably why Forbes and Campbell left TV3. Their experience was probably of some pretty dodgy dealings.
However, it sounds like the pre-meeting texts shows that Curran initiated the meeting. A better minister would have been more aware of what she would be leading CH into, and would have managed the whole situation better.
Drawing a public sector employee into discussions that lead to self-destructive behaviour does nothing to help implement the changes Curran is after.
The Cabinet Manual tells what is expected of Cabinet Ministers. Claire Curran has done nothing wrong according to the Cabinet Manual. Its a beat-up like the Russian spy story.
Australia with over 20millon people could find only 2. NZ with 4 million nil. And the members of the Five Nations agree and accept that.
Except this part of the Cabinet Manual….
3.81
If an employee wishes to communicate privately with a Minister about a matter concerning the agency by which he or she is employed, the Minister should ensure that the employee has first raised the matter with the agency’s chief executive.
Not relevant this time Rof.
On what basis?
god, what a mess. A whole lot of behind the scenes stuff does make the most sense.
I’ve have been wondering to myself for the best part of the day about Jacinda Ardern’s comment about the general lack of Russian spies in Aotearoa presently. I would presume she is going on advice from – well, whom, exactly. If this advice has been proffered by the GSCB via the Five Eyes network are they bumbling nincompoops or deliberately undermining her.
2 in big Australia. Nil so far in NZ. She gets her information from the NZ SIS whose job it is to Know. She cannot just deport someone/anyone who looks Russian can she?
And although it was a Russian missile that brought down the airliner, they are still trying to find out who fired it. An international Tribunal is still deciding.
On the other hand if we want to deport some Chinese spies, don’t go to the embassy, go to the National party office.
Yes please Keepcalm. Lots to choose from.
She’s getting advice from the spies that are not here. 🙂
If there are any here anyway they’d be damned bored, albeit highly amused.
“Jacinda Ardern’s comment about the general lack of Russian spies in Aotearoa presently.”
She did not really say that but her wording was a bit off. The action taken to expel Russian “spies” by other countries is in relation to only one small category of intelligence operatives – namely what are known as “undeclared intelligence staff”.
Andrew Geddis on Stuff and on the Pundit Blog has done the best job I have ever seen of explaining this category of intelligence operatives I have ever seen.
Here is the link and an excerpt
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/my-spy-boy-told-your-spy-boy-im-gonna-set-you-flag-on-fi-yo
And so the action that obviously was agreed behind the scenes was to kick out the “undeclared intelligence agents” that each country has identified as working out of its various Russian diplomatic posts. Exactly what is meant by an “undeclared intelligence agent” is then very important, as it is the key to why NZ acted (or, didn’t act) as it did.
An undeclared intelligence agent is not an ordinary diplomat who gathers gossip, monitors news media and attends cocktail functions in order to report to their government at home what is happening in NZ. All diplomats do this – our embassy staff overseas just as much as Russian embassy staff here. So “collecting information for your government” does not make someone an undeclared intelligence agent.
Instead, an undeclared intelligence agent is a member of a country’s secret service who pretends to be a diplomat in order to actually undertake covert operations in the country to which they are posted. They are really spies who are pretending to be diplomats so as to get the benefits of diplomatic immunity should they get caught spying.
Because these two things are not the same, they are not viewed the same in diplomatic interactions. A country kicking out a diplomat because they actually are an undeclared intelligence agent is a lesser deal than is kicking out a diplomat proper, because the “diplomat’s” country knows that they’ve basically been rumbled misusing their diplomatic privileges.
So, that’s the level of response that the UK’s various friends collectively decided was warranted – not kicking out “real” diplomats (which is a major step) but kicking out spies-in-diplomats-clothing (which is a lesser step). Which then is a problem for New Zealand.
Because it appears that we don’t have any Russian undeclared intelligence agents on hand to kick out. This claim has, I know, been met with ridicule by many. I mean, it’s Russia! We all know they spy all the time on everyone!! And New Zealand is so very, very important that they must spy on us, too!!! Please? We need the validation … .
Except – maybe there just aren’t any down here at the bottom of the world. And even if there is some undeclared intelligence agent kicking about in the Russian embassy, our SIS doesn’t know who it is. Nor do our overseas intelligence partners, apparently, because we asked them and they couldn’t finger anyone either.
I hope that helps but I also suggest that you read the whole article to put the above into context.
Apparently the man directly responsible for the post invasion insurgency, the ongoing violence and the deaths of perhaps 100K or more Iraqis is much more at peace now.
.
Gradually, Bremer appears to have come to terms with the vitriol. “He still answers hate mail,” Francie told me. “People will say, ‘Do you consider yourself a war criminal?’ Or ‘Why don’t you go commit harakiri?’ Nice things like that. But I think he’s much more at peace now. We both are.”
Still, it’s quite a comedown for a man who, back in the summer of 2003, was being talked up for a top cabinet post himself. At a high point of his CPA tenure, Bremer received a note from Colin Powell joking that he was probably measuring the drapes in the Secretary of State’s office. The viceroy’s reply: “‘When I get out of here — if I ever get out of here — I’m going to Vermont and I’m going to show you a Rip Van Winkle act like you’ve never seen,” he vowed. “I’m going to sleep for years.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/paul-bremer-iraq-war-ski-instructor/
https://taskandpurpose.com/paul-bremer-iraq-war-ski-instructor/
Adern risks being a one term prime minister according to Hooton.
Ominously possible but not for the reasons he is stating. This is death by a thousand cuts from every single branch of commercial media which is arrayed against the government. Relentless antigovernment propaganda.
This has to be aggressively countered.
If National can fund friendly media, shut down their detractors and stack boards then it’s time to get cracking.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12022002
That photo is hyperbole…
Managed hyperbole…
Can’t reason with the NRA,
Time to try some hyperbole.
“From my cold, dead hands.”
There is obviously a clash of cultures at RNZ, an intelligent attractive indigenous woman vs an aged white man, ex National Party PR man, who is past his best b4 date ?
In broad terms that imo is exactly what is happening and it explains why she felt she couldn’t tell him the truth.
Veutoviper on open Mike (I think) had past dealings with Griffin and she described him – among other things – as a misogynist.
so brown woman breaks the rules and it’s a white mans fault , got any proof, or was she trying to climb the ladder behind his back ?
It would be interesting to know what CH thought the meeting was going to be about. She might have initially thought the meeting was about things besides RNZ – the minister wanted a run down on the media sector based on her experience or maybe she thought the minister was head hunting her for a job. She might not have thought she needed to get permission if those were the topics and it was only during/after the meeting that she found that she had been dropped into it. The only safe way was to lie because telling the truth would have got her fired sooner.
I am just guessing but I would politely say “she has probably just had a guts full of working in a toxic environment with not particularly nice people” ?
Hopefully the worms will come out of the woodwork ?
MSM in NZ and Worldwide are a disgrace to journalism and accurate reporting, and that is a fact ?
MSM in NZ and Worldwide are a disgrace to journalism and accurate reporting, and that is a fact.
Hear, hear.