Watched this earlier. It made David Carter grumpy đ
I hope Cunliffe (and Labour) are going somewhere with this: the speech tells us the state of things without proposing any solutions. Perhaps that’s coming in the next speech…
One of the ways to change (ie: become) the government is to seize the narrative, not just on this front, either. The Radio NZ (Catch-Up Funding) Amendment Bill isn’t going to do that.
Anyway, with their conference on Labour has a good chance to seize a few moments and I hope they do.
That speech is jammed full of issues and detail. Almost all of them covered here at The Standard by one author or another.
Now we know from the other thread that Stuart Nash will have written that speech off as ‘vile, negative bile’ and ‘out of touch with political realities’ – but what about – whose the Labour leader again? Haven’t heard boo from the guy in ages.
I’m afraid the solution is too threatening for any major party because as long as Parliament is sovereign the ruling party can do anything with impunity.
The solution lies in taking power from Parliament and distributing power to other parts of the system. It’s called “checks and balances” and we don’t have it. We never will until the people decide some of these watchdogs and their budgets must be beyond the control of the ruling party of the day.
Cunliffe should also have mentioned the bias of the Speaker of the House toward National Party. Especially the way he allows key to run off at the mouth without interruption. Deplorable.
It highlights why the Speaker should be appointed by Parliament, but not out of the existing stocks, it should be someone from the Judiciary, or someone of enough mana that all people agree on, and the person nominated shouldn’t want the job.
By a unanimous Parliament or at least 75% of MPs. We need some independent bodies in our political system. Sticking to the rugby metaphor. Rugby games were pretty crap when home countries used their own ref’s.
We need independent Speakers who act as actual referees, are committed to increasing public participation in Parliament, rigorous debate, and ensuring questions are answered in an apolitical fashion.
It would be better that Speakers were independently appointed, (not from the pool of MPs) were employees of Parliament, or perhaps directly elected. (there are disadvantages to each approach, especially the last one as it could turn just as politicized as electorate races)
Then folks like OAB and DTB et al won’t agree with who is appointed because national have a parliamentary majority and that’s not democracy because they didn’t win the election. they only got more votes than any other party by screwing the scrum. sob sob sob sob the media have elected this speaker, not parliament
the left in this country is so deluded about what the reality in New Zealand, on any subject, it’s appalling. having an effective opposition is a corner stone of parliamentary democracy. I can see now why the opposition is so terrible at being an opposition. Whoever still votes for labour and the greens and turn out in support at conferences and local electorate bodies are, to put it bluntly, stupid.
Further, the people who run the National Party know that he is spot on.
That is why they have taken all those extensive steps to “screw the scrum” – because National dare not give the public a fair chance and a level playing field with which to judge them on.
You’re right of course – the Gnats have put the fix on this voting system – so how are they to be removed from power, since they are manifestly incompetent to the tune of $100 billion dollars so far? This government is the most expensive failure in NZ history.
David Cunliffe is correct in every aspect in what he delivered in that speech.
Well done.
Where the hell is the Media in not high lighting these facts ?
Democracy , how the hell can we say that this country is still a democracy when it is obvious it is not.
We are being controlled by a slimy few from the inner National Party.
Never, ever has there been a more devious Govt.
Surely that other irritant in this debacle, Peter Dunne can see where we are heading in this country, why does he keep these parasites in power ?
Show some gumption Peter Dunne and pull the pin on National !
Same goes to the Maori Party, stop this charade.
Me too, and I wish David Cunliffe was still Labour’s leader, but… National’s msm and those self serving members within Labour would never had allowed that.
+100. Odious Nash got well and truly trounced by all those who commented on his article on the TDB, and he really did show his true colours, and they weren’t red.
He needed to have been giving that type of speech back at the last election around the time of Dirty Politics, instead of doing the ‘positive message regardless’ thing. Oh well.
+1 Bill – but who knows maybe Cunliffe wanted too – he probably had loads of ‘advice’ to the contrary by his ‘team’ to stay on ‘task’.
What Labour needs is political courage and to show they are prepared to fight back. Hence all this positive outpouring from Cunliffe’s speech in The Standard when Cunliffe shows political courage by this speech. Everyone also cheered when Little said ‘show some guts’.
The voters want Labour MP’s like Cunliffe who still have Labour values of anti corruption – not as has been implied by another Labour MP the National way of raising ‘shit loads of money and forget your principals to win’.
Cunliffes speech is resonating with the population!! And more importantly some in Labour seem to be more aware of the problem – it is not a FAIR fight or a FAIR election with dirty politics!
Don’t be dirty or pretend it’s not happening, fight the right, for a FAIR fight!
Little said ‘cut the crap!’ (show some guts was when Key was justifying sending troops overseas), but you are right otherwise, in this world of airbrushed pap & committee written speeches we are hungry for some truth.
Sorry mean’t cut the crap! Was also trying to also point out that it should not be one Labour line against another and not trying to pit Cunliffe against Little – when either says something good, it is good for all in Labour.
I’d like to see Little put Cunliffe as No 2 or 3. Key did not get on with English but he still put him into finance. Labour needs to do similar and put their best people at the top.
I heard the speech via the radio broadcast from Parliament, it was good to hear that at least one MP from the Labour caucus dares to state clearly the abysmal situation we have with the rotten, bought and manipulated mainstream media in this country. I am worried though, whether David Cunliffe did speak so openly, because he may consider not standing again for Parliament next election.
Time will tell. Most if not all in Labour dare say nothing about the biased and generally poorly informing media.
It has really troubled me to see a fair few turn up on the Paul Henry breakfast program, but it is always a balancing act, to be heard and taken note of at all, at the risk of being ridiculed by Henry, or to risk not being taken note of by staying away. You are damned if you do deal with the present MSM, you are damned if you do not. Hence also the Greens, NZ First and so talk with the most useless or biased reporters and program hosts at times.
The henry / gower segment this morning made some good points about labour around Little needing to show where labour is heading and how they have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it.Henry even commended Little for his success in unifying caucus.
Na I reckon labour /nzf with greens in support . I know you want radicle change and now but i’ll settle for a.government with integrity for starters.
I think Little is boxing clever and will get stronger as time goes on.
There will be very few members left in the Party if that happens I would think. Robertson couldn’t set a barbecue on fire. Just hasn’t got the chops for that job or the finance one either. You either have it, or you don’t, and he doesn’t! Robertson is not politically brave, it’s that simple.
“have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it”
I totally agree, they goad and demand Labour policies, then do a wek copy or hack them apart
I’ve been reading Chris Trotter’s Bowalley Road lately. He seems incandescent over the media being largely kept out of the coming Labour conference. Its all to be ‘in the family’ except for a few open opportunities to gather info. (Which family might that be – ‘the Cosa Nostra’?)
In his recent essay – Burning Down The House: Why Does The Labour Caucus Keep Destroying The Labour Party In Order To Save It? – he says this: Only a mass influx of people determined to make policy â not tea â can rescue the Labour Party from the self-perpetuating parliamentary oligarchy that currently controls it.
Only a rank-and-file membership that is conscious of, and willing to assert, its rights â as the Corbynistas are doing in the United Kingdom â has the slightest hope of selecting a caucus dedicated to circulating the whole oxymoronic notion of democratic elitism out of New Zealandâs political system altogether.
In his latest piece – All In The Family: Labourâs President Keeps The Media Out Of His Partyâs Annual Conference. – on what he sees is a disaster for progressive Labour in banning media scrutiny and report, he says – [Professor Nigel Haworth] the partyâs president explained that its proceedings needed to be kept âin the familyâ. Putting to one side the obvious fact that a political party is nothing like a family…. Families that shut their doors and draw their curtains against the outside world are often trying to hide something. …
Paradoxically, what Haworth and the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Little, are trying to hide isnât in the least bit shameful or ugly. Free and frank political debate is the declared objective of the media ban. âWe want people to be able to speak freely and frankly and be reported appropriatelyâ, was the way Haworth put it to Trevett
Curiously, the Herald journalist did not challenge Haworthâs implication that she and her colleagues would not report the delegatesâ statements âappropriatelyâ. Nor did Trevett point out to the Heraldâs readers that with the news media excluded from important debates party leaders can crack down hard on dissident delegates with impunity.
This is no small consideration. At the 2012 annual conference, held in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie, journalists were able to report the extraordinary vitriol hurled at disobedient delegates by Labour MPs. The latter were furious that the conference had voted contrary to their instruction. They were probably even more furious that their behaviour was reported…..
Free and frank discussion is actually much more likely when the whole worldâs watching. Absent the television lights, anyone daring to challenge the top table is likely to be flayed alive by individuals who throw insults for a living.
âONLY ONE political party conference matters in New Zealandâ, says veteran political journalist, Richard Harman. âThe National Partyâs conference is little more than a PR presentation; NZ First keeps theirs behind closed doors and the Greens is entirely predictable.â But, according to Harman, Labour conferences are different. As recently as 2012, he says, âLabourâs has been coloured by political blood on the floor.â
Thereâs a very good reason for paying attention to what goes on at Labour Party Conferences, and thatâs because the political fault line dividing the defenders of the status quo from the advocates of real change runs right down the middle of the conference floor. Itâs been that way since the 1980s
I think Chris fears that if they close off reports of dissent and bruising argument about policy and method, it will take a major earthquake to bring the present Labour edifice tumbling down despite the shoddy engineering that has gone into the soulless concrete slab construction of modern Labour.
Tracey
And here is an opposing and well argued viewpoint from Anonymous on Chris’s points.
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I won't deny that at least some of what you claim are indeed risks of closed conferences. But while I can't speak for Labour, as a Green Party member, I prefer it when our debates occur away from the media glare. There is far greater pressure to watch what one says when the media is present and why wouldn't there be? Most in the media wouldn't know nuance if they fell over it and aren't interested in policy debates despite protestations. They want to report controversy and personal animosity and are happy to invent it when there is not enough on offer. Rank and file members are very aware that what they read in the papers often bears little resemblance to what they experienced, and it pisses them off.
And as for your attempt at high principle in claiming the internal workings of a party are the property of the entire public rather than the party's members, that is just journalistic self interest. What a party owes the public is a clear statement of it's principles, it's policies and it's priorities, plus a commitment to stick with all three in return for a vote. It cannot ask for more.
5 November 2015 at 22:20
Nothing ever changes on the New Zealand left does it.
3 election defeats and still blaming everyone else. The world is against us. The media are bias. The NZ media could hardly be more left if they tried. The NZ Herald still offers column space to discredited far left economist Professor Jane Kelsey. You don’t see them offering the same space to the far right.
You guys spend so much time stressing over conspiracy theories rather than considering what’s steering you in the face. You policies suck and you don’t have a credible leader.
“steering” us “into the face”? Grammar check, perhaps, spelling check, perhaps? The steering is done from the PM’s Office, and their lackey’s offices, the staring is also there, but it is that of hopeless players in government, doing all to play smoke and mirrors and make the ones in public (apparently incl. you) think, it is all fair dink-um and real.
What a waste of an argument, perhaps consult your computer for the spelling check button first, mate.
Mr Hoot on and off, TV will be with us for many years to come, the only difference will be, they will not broadcast and present programs in the old fashioned way, they will embrace multi media, have many platforms, and use web based and other services, like On Demand, much more.
You will never have a nice large screen in a living room be replaced for viewing by tiny tablet and smart phone screens. It is not the same experience, and people will continue to watch TV, same as some will continue to buy hard copy books, mags and papers also.
It is better for the eyes, as that much blue light from screens we use here, is not at all good for your eyes, for your general health, and especially not the nervous system. It makes for poor sleep and information uptake, due to poor concentration. It can worsen or cause depression. Also are online and internet services quite addictive, which will explain your and some of our presence here, will it not?
That is just one other aspect of the wider problem of dumbing down people, which is a main problem we have.
As you will likely earn money paid by companies promoting this technology, to dumb down, you will not want to discuss this, I bet.
“loony”, a throwaway comment with no evidence or anything worth noting, what a tosser, I reckon. I like people presenting an argument and some stuff to back them up, but not such rubbish. You lost as soon as you came with that word I first mentioned.
brilliant speech. Highlights so much that is wrong with politics in NZ, as practised by the National party. Creeping authoritarianism to keep themselves in power because they have no solutions to the issues facing NZ, just want to give themselves and their mates more money at the expense of ordinary NZ’ers.
That was quite an amazing speech he gave. It was certainly nothing like his anodyne performance in the campaign.
It does appear that he needs some advice on side-effects of medications though.
Even a small amount of alcohol can have results like this when the person is on medicines like Clozapine or Risperidone. I think he should have been warned, as it certainly looks like those side-effects in his behaviour.
Scoop is seeking 1000 Kiwis who care about the future of NZ News media
Dear Scoop Foundation Pledgers,
Thank you for your very generous support.
With 12 days to go we have reached 37% of our target. However that means we have 63% of the target to go and we really need your help to get there
If you can please forward this email to friends, family, colleagues and or people who you think will be interested. We only need 600 more people to join us to get this show on the road!. http://www.scoop.co.nz/sections/comment.html
Pledgeme’s update on the latest from Scoop’s fundraiser. Now is the time to come to the aid of the party. And Scoop is the party providing news and views to be trusted so we can understand what is going on behind the wordy smoke screens and smiley images.
If you can’t afford much give the $16 pledge which they have obviously put in knowing the state of many people’s finances. A responsive thoughtful move. But do something if you want to see NZ improve, even stop sliding over the cliff. Their words will be more effective than yours here, but together make a worthy tool to prick the barriers of the self-centred.
(lprent I thought that Scoop’s situation would justify the rare use of so much bold. Hope you agree. How is the weather in…Italy?)
Lyn, not sure if you’ll get a chance, but I would thoroughly recommend Assisi. I had a great week there in April this year.
It’s right up on the side of a mountain, and in the evening the son sets the length of a great u-valley that stretches for hundreds of kilometres in each direction, and the light and shadow and colour change every 30 seconds I swear. Particularly in the colder months.
Slightly closer to where you are, make sure you get to The Last Supper in Milan. Milan’s pleasures are few – so you have to plan carefully. And the main cathedral honestly is too twee for me. But if you don’t come back with a decent pair of shoes for Her In Doors, you’ll have a few questions I’m sure.
Cunliffe deserved to be PM obviously.
“Sorry for being a Man” would have been a real winner in the changing rooms after the AB’s won the RWC.. especially in that faux PI inflection he did on the back of the bus a few years ago.
I’m surprised he hasn’t given up and tried to get a real job by now, or better yet started a business & paid maximum tax – & maximum wage to the parents of the million kids in poverty…
FFS, delusional seems to not only exist, but seems mandatory to Lefties.
you think you’re smart but you just keep showing us what an imbecile you really are.
[lprent: Pointless abuse and stupid flame inducing at that. But for your comment I’d have had been able to moderate Mr Rylands. On the other hand he probably wouldn’t have made such a comment without this pinheaded comment to induce it. ]
Freemark
You can talk the talk, but in fact you’d be walking for ever if you had to ask for directions to find your way home. Pop out and let off your firecrackers and bangers, that is something you could manage. Try not to set the hillside on fire, or go on past 10pm will you. There are responsible adults trying to get their sleep before again coping with the real world.
I guess mine is pointless abuse too. I should just leave them alone in their own gated community, and ignore their stupidity of which they seem inordinately proud.
“Freemark” All I can say it is just as well that none of the ABs are sporting long hair and ponytails because JK’s ponytail debacle (and creepy fetish) far outweighs any supposed gaffes that DC has committed.
“Sorry for being a man” was in the context of us winning the world cup …… for domestic violence
Cunliffe was quite correct …………. New Zealand men should be ashamed of our number 1 ranking for domestic violence in the developed world
FreeMark like John Key would never get near an AB’s changing room based on anything they’d ever achieved playing the game rugby ……………
Jockstrap sniffers and pony tail pulling hanger-on s like freemark and Key grease they way into places like that ……….and act like stalkers when they get there
Cunliffe is also correct that our media is pretty rooted and a right wing stitch up on places like tv3, the herald etc
People generally make the logical and correct choices when presented with all the information ………..
National are masters at suppressing and manipulating information …… and running dirty politics smear campaigns………..
Northlands bye-election drubbing for the Nats showed what happens when the majority get it together and act semi-cohesively against the largest minority …………………. which is all the Nats/act are.
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes –Â The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that âthe first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.â When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECDâs second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commissionâs 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the governmentâs official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:Â we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition  NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamarikiâs statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. âThere are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a âfirst strikeâ (that is, a âstage-1 convictionâ under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a âsecond strikeâ. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesnât normally happen in politics. Thatâs refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to âsaveâ the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Governmentâs official website – arrived in Point of Orderâs email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive  Melissa Lee â as may be discerned from the screenshot above â has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Governmentâs focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes –Â Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu â often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the governmentâs readiness to make urgent changes to âthe resource management systemâ through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes donât go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a âmedia summitâ to discuss âthe state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalismâ. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes –Â This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
 Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for âfast trackâ consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill â currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes-Â The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you arenât wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said âSince we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
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 ...
Te PÄti MÄori 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 veteransâ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veteransâ affairs spokesperson Greg OâConnor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxonâs management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonightâs court decision to overturn the summons of the Childrenâs Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about MÄori without evidence, says Te PÄti MÄori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âThe 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 yearâs 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, Labourâs 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 countryâs 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 Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a âget out of jail freeâ 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 PÄti MÄori Justice Spokesperson, TÄkuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, MÄori 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 Zealandâs good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National governmentâs 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 PÄti MÄori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. âThis act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.â Said Te PÄti MÄori 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 TÄmaki 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 PÄti MÄori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mĆ TÄmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with MÄori 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 Governmentâs democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Governmentâs 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 thatâs great for the planet and great for consumers after her memberâs 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 countryâs books after Teanau Tuionoâs membersâ 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 memberâs bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,â says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. âWe know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,â Dr Reti says. âEvery day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikoheâs new $14.7 million sports complex. âThe completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,â Mr Jones says. âThis facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Petersâ engagements in TĂŒrkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.  âReturning 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,â Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen â 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 â a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. âOur 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 Zealandâs hydrogen future, with the opening of the countryâs first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. âI 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 Zealandâs own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealandâs 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. âThe report shows that New Zealandâs emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,â Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where heâll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Governmentâs work to restore law and order. âAttending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the worldâs largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. âThe reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealandâs 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  NgÄ 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. âOur 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 Zealandâs overseas missions.  âOur diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealandâs interests around the world,â Mr Peters says.  âI 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. Â âOver 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. âIt 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. âOur coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
âChina remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,â 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. âRecently 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 Teachersâ 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.  âThe 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. âScience, 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 todayâs 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. âThe Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in TaupĆ as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the TaupĆ International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. âAnticipation for the ITM TaupĆ 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. âThe 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. âThis project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sectorâs productivity,â Mr Jones says. âThe project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Governmentâs plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. âBenefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Governmentâs commitment to doubling New Zealandâs 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 Zealandâs 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. âOur 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. âNew 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 Governmentâs intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. âThe introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
The protest outside the White House correspondentsâ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. âYou have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
âOur exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,â says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Memberâs Bill from Labourâs workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurchâs best kept secrets â and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, thereâs the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. âYouâre not going to be able to sell it.â Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. âEnter!â says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. âI can explain everything âŠâ she begins. âFine,â says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.âIt didnât start out like, âThis is a show about Nina,ââ says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. Iâm another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
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 Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs 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 Whatâs Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scoutâs human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird â she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including âterribleâ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking âdo you have what it takes to be a popstar?â 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 â 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. ...
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 â while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
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 couldnât stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
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. Itâs not often an episode of a childrenâs cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but thatâs exactly what happened this week when ...
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 minuteâs silence to mark the âblood debtâ owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. âA promise to most people is a promise,â 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 âadministrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the countryâs major TV network of broadcasting âpropagandaâ backing Israelâs 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 menâs ...
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 âChildhoodâ and âdementiaâ are two words we wish we didnât 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 governmentâs 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 9â17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Thereâs been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russiaâs 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 Peaceâs new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a womanâs 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 Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingwayâs 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 â ...
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, Australiaâs 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 âWicked Gameâ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didnât stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from âWicked Gameâ, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called đ, 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 MÄori and remove many specialist MÄori 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, weâve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedinâs India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoaâs 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 itâs 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 Spinoffâs 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. ...
Watched this earlier. It made David Carter grumpy đ
I hope Cunliffe (and Labour) are going somewhere with this: the speech tells us the state of things without proposing any solutions. Perhaps that’s coming in the next speech…
So OAB
The solution is to change the Government. As you well know. But perhaps that won’t please You or your carping Greens. More the Pity.
Congratulations David Cunliffe. You are outstanding.
One of the ways to change (ie: become) the government is to seize the narrative, not just on this front, either. The Radio NZ (Catch-Up Funding) Amendment Bill isn’t going to do that.
Anyway, with their conference on Labour has a good chance to seize a few moments and I hope they do.
That speech is jammed full of issues and detail. Almost all of them covered here at The Standard by one author or another.
Now we know from the other thread that Stuart Nash will have written that speech off as ‘vile, negative bile’ and ‘out of touch with political realities’ – but what about – whose the Labour leader again? Haven’t heard boo from the guy in ages.
And with Grant Robertson advising Little on strategy, you’re not likely to.
But I thought no MP read TS đ
@ One Anonymous Bloke
I’m afraid the solution is too threatening for any major party because as long as Parliament is sovereign the ruling party can do anything with impunity.
The solution lies in taking power from Parliament and distributing power to other parts of the system. It’s called “checks and balances” and we don’t have it. We never will until the people decide some of these watchdogs and their budgets must be beyond the control of the ruling party of the day.
+100
Yes.
Most definitely we need it.
Our last bastion of checks and balances at this stage may be the judiciary.
Cunliffe should also have mentioned the bias of the Speaker of the House toward National Party. Especially the way he allows key to run off at the mouth without interruption. Deplorable.
Have you ever heard of Margaret Wilson?
So much for personal responsibility…
but but but Llllaaaabbbbooooouuuuurrrrrr!!!!!!
It highlights why the Speaker should be appointed by Parliament, but not out of the existing stocks, it should be someone from the Judiciary, or someone of enough mana that all people agree on, and the person nominated shouldn’t want the job.
Sounds sensible. ‘Let’s not do it.’
By a unanimous Parliament or at least 75% of MPs. We need some independent bodies in our political system. Sticking to the rugby metaphor. Rugby games were pretty crap when home countries used their own ref’s.
What about the Speaker coming from one of the Opposition parties?
Same problem, but in reverse.
We need independent Speakers who act as actual referees, are committed to increasing public participation in Parliament, rigorous debate, and ensuring questions are answered in an apolitical fashion.
It would be better that Speakers were independently appointed, (not from the pool of MPs) were employees of Parliament, or perhaps directly elected. (there are disadvantages to each approach, especially the last one as it could turn just as politicized as electorate races)
Then folks like OAB and DTB et al won’t agree with who is appointed because national have a parliamentary majority and that’s not democracy because they didn’t win the election. they only got more votes than any other party by screwing the scrum. sob sob sob sob the media have elected this speaker, not parliament
the left in this country is so deluded about what the reality in New Zealand, on any subject, it’s appalling. having an effective opposition is a corner stone of parliamentary democracy. I can see now why the opposition is so terrible at being an opposition. Whoever still votes for labour and the greens and turn out in support at conferences and local electorate bodies are, to put it bluntly, stupid.
David Cunliffe’s analysis is spot on.
Further, the people who run the National Party know that he is spot on.
That is why they have taken all those extensive steps to “screw the scrum” – because National dare not give the public a fair chance and a level playing field with which to judge them on.
+100 CV
Cheese with your whiiiiiine?
You’re right of course – the Gnats have put the fix on this voting system – so how are they to be removed from power, since they are manifestly incompetent to the tune of $100 billion dollars so far? This government is the most expensive failure in NZ history.
John Campbell
Ah the Labour did it too defence … totally ignoring Keys promise to enforce higher standards from his government
I have long argued the Speaker should be an impartial judge approved by 75% of the MPs.
How can you have a fair debate when the judge belongs to one of the debating teams.
Who would mind going to trial if they could appoint the judge deciding the case.
David Cunliffe is correct in every aspect in what he delivered in that speech.
Well done.
Where the hell is the Media in not high lighting these facts ?
Democracy , how the hell can we say that this country is still a democracy when it is obvious it is not.
We are being controlled by a slimy few from the inner National Party.
Never, ever has there been a more devious Govt.
Surely that other irritant in this debacle, Peter Dunne can see where we are heading in this country, why does he keep these parasites in power ?
Show some gumption Peter Dunne and pull the pin on National !
Same goes to the Maori Party, stop this charade.
Where the hell is the Media in not high lighting these facts ?
Cunliffe explains that pretty clearly: the writers and journalists who might have done so have been sacked.
On that line….where’d all the good people go?
https://youtu.be/hxuCLopcEy4
This puts me in mind of hawaii… lies and our PM
http://youtu.be/tG4Y1Kq9ZHQ
Cunliffe, his team and his supporters were hardly media friendly during the election.
What does being “media friendly” actually mean? Can you give examples?
Probably has something to do with John Armstrong waiting over a year to make an apology for his disgusting lies.
Put money and support behind Scoop initiative!
Yup
+100 Simple Simon
More important than making David Carter grumpy, Cunliffe explained how The High Court found The Ombudsman illegally sucked up to Groser.
She has thoroughly trashed her integrity for John Key; and dirtied her once proud office for him.
Sick
David Cunliffe has integrity and depth – Stuart Nash the polar opposite.
+1 Hami
yes! & killer speech Cunliffe! I was wanting him to be PM.
@Gangnam Style
Me too, and I wish David Cunliffe was still Labour’s leader, but… National’s msm and those self serving members within Labour would never had allowed that.
What a shame that so many voters disagreed with you.
@Melb
What did you expect when John Key used dirty politics to rig… oops I mean, win an election?
@Hami Shearlie
+100. Odious Nash got well and truly trounced by all those who commented on his article on the TDB, and he really did show his true colours, and they weren’t red.
+1 Hami
He needed to have been giving that type of speech back at the last election around the time of Dirty Politics, instead of doing the ‘positive message regardless’ thing. Oh well.
+1 Bill – but who knows maybe Cunliffe wanted too – he probably had loads of ‘advice’ to the contrary by his ‘team’ to stay on ‘task’.
What Labour needs is political courage and to show they are prepared to fight back. Hence all this positive outpouring from Cunliffe’s speech in The Standard when Cunliffe shows political courage by this speech. Everyone also cheered when Little said ‘show some guts’.
The voters want Labour MP’s like Cunliffe who still have Labour values of anti corruption – not as has been implied by another Labour MP the National way of raising ‘shit loads of money and forget your principals to win’.
Cunliffes speech is resonating with the population!! And more importantly some in Labour seem to be more aware of the problem – it is not a FAIR fight or a FAIR election with dirty politics!
Don’t be dirty or pretend it’s not happening, fight the right, for a FAIR fight!
Little said ‘cut the crap!’ (show some guts was when Key was justifying sending troops overseas), but you are right otherwise, in this world of airbrushed pap & committee written speeches we are hungry for some truth.
Sorry mean’t cut the crap! Was also trying to also point out that it should not be one Labour line against another and not trying to pit Cunliffe against Little – when either says something good, it is good for all in Labour.
I’d like to see Little put Cunliffe as No 2 or 3. Key did not get on with English but he still put him into finance. Labour needs to do similar and put their best people at the top.
media would have criticised his tie being wonky anyway
I guess that certain faction in caucus hates Cunliffe just a little bit more after he pulls good shit like this off.
I heard the speech via the radio broadcast from Parliament, it was good to hear that at least one MP from the Labour caucus dares to state clearly the abysmal situation we have with the rotten, bought and manipulated mainstream media in this country. I am worried though, whether David Cunliffe did speak so openly, because he may consider not standing again for Parliament next election.
Time will tell. Most if not all in Labour dare say nothing about the biased and generally poorly informing media.
Remember, most of the Labour Caucus view the MSM as their main constituency, not us poor saps in the voting public.
It has really troubled me to see a fair few turn up on the Paul Henry breakfast program, but it is always a balancing act, to be heard and taken note of at all, at the risk of being ridiculed by Henry, or to risk not being taken note of by staying away. You are damned if you do deal with the present MSM, you are damned if you do not. Hence also the Greens, NZ First and so talk with the most useless or biased reporters and program hosts at times.
The henry / gower segment this morning made some good points about labour around Little needing to show where labour is heading and how they have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it.Henry even commended Little for his success in unifying caucus.
My prediction – Little will lose the next election and Robertson will put his hand up for the Leadership yet again. And this time he will get it.
Na I reckon labour /nzf with greens in support . I know you want radicle change and now but i’ll settle for a.government with integrity for starters.
I think Little is boxing clever and will get stronger as time goes on.
There will be very few members left in the Party if that happens I would think. Robertson couldn’t set a barbecue on fire. Just hasn’t got the chops for that job or the finance one either. You either have it, or you don’t, and he doesn’t! Robertson is not politically brave, it’s that simple.
If so Labour will reach 10% next election.
“have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it”
I totally agree, they goad and demand Labour policies, then do a wek copy or hack them apart
A Paul Henry commendation is like a cyanide capsule dropped into your drink, while you are not aware of it (done behind your back).
I’d vote for him.
I’ve been reading Chris Trotter’s Bowalley Road lately. He seems incandescent over the media being largely kept out of the coming Labour conference. Its all to be ‘in the family’ except for a few open opportunities to gather info. (Which family might that be – ‘the Cosa Nostra’?)
In his recent essay – Burning Down The House: Why Does The Labour Caucus Keep Destroying The Labour Party In Order To Save It? – he says this:
Only a mass influx of people determined to make policy â not tea â can rescue the Labour Party from the self-perpetuating parliamentary oligarchy that currently controls it.
Only a rank-and-file membership that is conscious of, and willing to assert, its rights â as the Corbynistas are doing in the United Kingdom â has the slightest hope of selecting a caucus dedicated to circulating the whole oxymoronic notion of democratic elitism out of New Zealandâs political system altogether.
In his latest piece – All In The Family: Labourâs President Keeps The Media Out Of His Partyâs Annual Conference. – on what he sees is a disaster for progressive Labour in banning media scrutiny and report, he says –
[Professor Nigel Haworth] the partyâs president explained that its proceedings needed to be kept âin the familyâ. Putting to one side the obvious fact that a political party is nothing like a family…. Families that shut their doors and draw their curtains against the outside world are often trying to hide something. …
Paradoxically, what Haworth and the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Little, are trying to hide isnât in the least bit shameful or ugly. Free and frank political debate is the declared objective of the media ban. âWe want people to be able to speak freely and frankly and be reported appropriatelyâ, was the way Haworth put it to Trevett
Curiously, the Herald journalist did not challenge Haworthâs implication that she and her colleagues would not report the delegatesâ statements âappropriatelyâ. Nor did Trevett point out to the Heraldâs readers that with the news media excluded from important debates party leaders can crack down hard on dissident delegates with impunity.
This is no small consideration. At the 2012 annual conference, held in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie, journalists were able to report the extraordinary vitriol hurled at disobedient delegates by Labour MPs. The latter were furious that the conference had voted contrary to their instruction. They were probably even more furious that their behaviour was reported…..
Free and frank discussion is actually much more likely when the whole worldâs watching. Absent the television lights, anyone daring to challenge the top table is likely to be flayed alive by individuals who throw insults for a living.
+100 greywarshark…good points..”Free and frank discussion is actually much more likely when the whole worldâs watching…
Its the stategy that works for the nats
Tracey
Yes Chris noted that and it worries him to see Labour choosing the same tactic.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2015/11/litmus-test-will-labours-rank-and-file.html
âONLY ONE political party conference matters in New Zealandâ, says veteran political journalist, Richard Harman. âThe National Partyâs conference is little more than a PR presentation; NZ First keeps theirs behind closed doors and the Greens is entirely predictable.â But, according to Harman, Labour conferences are different. As recently as 2012, he says, âLabourâs has been coloured by political blood on the floor.â
Thereâs a very good reason for paying attention to what goes on at Labour Party Conferences, and thatâs because the political fault line dividing the defenders of the status quo from the advocates of real change runs right down the middle of the conference floor. Itâs been that way since the 1980s
I think Chris fears that if they close off reports of dissent and bruising argument about policy and method, it will take a major earthquake to bring the present Labour edifice tumbling down despite the shoddy engineering that has gone into the soulless concrete slab construction of modern Labour.
Tracey
And here is an opposing and well argued viewpoint from Anonymous on Chris’s points.
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I won't deny that at least some of what you claim are indeed risks of closed conferences. But while I can't speak for Labour, as a Green Party member, I prefer it when our debates occur away from the media glare. There is far greater pressure to watch what one says when the media is present and why wouldn't there be? Most in the media wouldn't know nuance if they fell over it and aren't interested in policy debates despite protestations. They want to report controversy and personal animosity and are happy to invent it when there is not enough on offer. Rank and file members are very aware that what they read in the papers often bears little resemblance to what they experienced, and it pisses them off.
And as for your attempt at high principle in claiming the internal workings of a party are the property of the entire public rather than the party's members, that is just journalistic self interest. What a party owes the public is a clear statement of it's principles, it's policies and it's priorities, plus a commitment to stick with all three in return for a vote. It cannot ask for more.
5 November 2015 at 22:20
Nothing ever changes on the New Zealand left does it.
3 election defeats and still blaming everyone else. The world is against us. The media are bias. The NZ media could hardly be more left if they tried. The NZ Herald still offers column space to discredited far left economist Professor Jane Kelsey. You don’t see them offering the same space to the far right.
You guys spend so much time stressing over conspiracy theories rather than considering what’s steering you in the face. You policies suck and you don’t have a credible leader.
Much easier to blame everyone and everything else for your problems then it is to realise the worlds moved on and that you’re stuck in the past
Hell it’s you righties who want a return to feudalism – you expect to avoid jacquery as well? The two go hand in hand.
The policies suck so much Dear Leader has to keep copying them. Fish, meet barrel.
The R Matthew
You…………………suck and you don’t have a credible………………
You can fill in the gaps in your own fashion. Which won’t amount to much I am sure.
lol
I’m maybe an undecided voter “The Real Matthew”, and I will be dead before the next elections, dammit.
But it’s far right thinking that got this country into such a mess, no wonder MSM have finally started to figure out the truth.
There maybe not many decent journalists left after the recent “crystal nights”, but their words sneak through.
Without the likes of Jane Kelsey, how can we find balance in bullshit !!!!
“steering” us “into the face”? Grammar check, perhaps, spelling check, perhaps? The steering is done from the PM’s Office, and their lackey’s offices, the staring is also there, but it is that of hopeless players in government, doing all to play smoke and mirrors and make the ones in public (apparently incl. you) think, it is all fair dink-um and real.
What a waste of an argument, perhaps consult your computer for the spelling check button first, mate.
Spot on David Cunliffe, that was an awesome speech. No mincing of words there, Cunliffe laid it all out.
He nailed it !!
Still waiting for Labour to come out with unequivocal support for a non-commercial, government funded national television channel.
What is a “television channel”?
What will a “television channel” be in 2020?
What do you mean by “will”, “is”, and “be”?
What do you mean by “mean”?
Mr Hoot on and off, TV will be with us for many years to come, the only difference will be, they will not broadcast and present programs in the old fashioned way, they will embrace multi media, have many platforms, and use web based and other services, like On Demand, much more.
You will never have a nice large screen in a living room be replaced for viewing by tiny tablet and smart phone screens. It is not the same experience, and people will continue to watch TV, same as some will continue to buy hard copy books, mags and papers also.
It is better for the eyes, as that much blue light from screens we use here, is not at all good for your eyes, for your general health, and especially not the nervous system. It makes for poor sleep and information uptake, due to poor concentration. It can worsen or cause depression. Also are online and internet services quite addictive, which will explain your and some of our presence here, will it not?
That is just one other aspect of the wider problem of dumbing down people, which is a main problem we have.
As you will likely earn money paid by companies promoting this technology, to dumb down, you will not want to discuss this, I bet.
Ah, TVNZ 7, we knew you so little.
You will be waiting a very long time.
Great speech – good on you David Cunliffe!
Long time lurker, first time commenter.
The mere fact that you are all loving Cunliffe’s speech, demonstrates how out of touch a loony it was!
Seems very much like that speech was paypack for Mickey’s hit on Nash.
Ban me if you like, I have no interest in engaging, only laughing at your continuing collective intellectual dishonesty and stupidity
Happy Thursday all!
So having been ignoring us you’ve decided to move to the laughing stage. No, wait, you’re the joke.
Defensive much Batman? It’s more like your intellectual dishonesty and stupidity is being laughed at.
“loony”, a throwaway comment with no evidence or anything worth noting, what a tosser, I reckon. I like people presenting an argument and some stuff to back them up, but not such rubbish. You lost as soon as you came with that word I first mentioned.
Did you know that in some parts bat is slang for wank.
brilliant speech. Highlights so much that is wrong with politics in NZ, as practised by the National party. Creeping authoritarianism to keep themselves in power because they have no solutions to the issues facing NZ, just want to give themselves and their mates more money at the expense of ordinary NZ’ers.
Great speech DC. I bet he has been longing to say that for some time. I see Bryce Edwards has tweeted it.
That was quite an amazing speech he gave. It was certainly nothing like his anodyne performance in the campaign.
It does appear that he needs some advice on side-effects of medications though.
Even a small amount of alcohol can have results like this when the person is on medicines like Clozapine or Risperidone. I think he should have been warned, as it certainly looks like those side-effects in his behaviour.
I stopped in amazement when he referred to “right wing” media. FFS
Yeah, Cunnliffe seems a bit unhinged.
Hope he doesn’t go postal.
Why don’t you three point out what parts weren’t true instead of having a little love in down the back here.
bwaghorn
lol
Scoop is seeking 1000 Kiwis who care about the future of NZ News media
Dear Scoop Foundation Pledgers,
Thank you for your very generous support.
With 12 days to go we have reached 37% of our target. However that means we have 63% of the target to go and we really need your help to get there
If you can please forward this email to friends, family, colleagues and or people who you think will be interested. We only need 600 more people to join us to get this show on the road!.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/sections/comment.html
Pledgeme’s update on the latest from Scoop’s fundraiser. Now is the time to come to the aid of the party. And Scoop is the party providing news and views to be trusted so we can understand what is going on behind the wordy smoke screens and smiley images.
If you can’t afford much give the $16 pledge which they have obviously put in knowing the state of many people’s finances. A responsive thoughtful move. But do something if you want to see NZ improve, even stop sliding over the cliff. Their words will be more effective than yours here, but together make a worthy tool to prick the barriers of the self-centred.
(lprent I thought that Scoop’s situation would justify the rare use of so much bold. Hope you agree. How is the weather in…Italy?)
If. – The mighty word with huge potential!
I might have to contribute a little myself.
Italy: Pretty chilly, good work, great weather, and I have to say that I haven’t found a decent wine yet. But the food….
Sunday afternoon in Innsbruck
What happens when you leave your car out, 15 minutes of ice chipping. Now I use the garage.
This evening…
Lyn, not sure if you’ll get a chance, but I would thoroughly recommend Assisi. I had a great week there in April this year.
It’s right up on the side of a mountain, and in the evening the son sets the length of a great u-valley that stretches for hundreds of kilometres in each direction, and the light and shadow and colour change every 30 seconds I swear. Particularly in the colder months.
Slightly closer to where you are, make sure you get to The Last Supper in Milan. Milan’s pleasures are few – so you have to plan carefully. And the main cathedral honestly is too twee for me. But if you don’t come back with a decent pair of shoes for Her In Doors, you’ll have a few questions I’m sure.
Cunliffe deserved to be PM obviously.
“Sorry for being a Man” would have been a real winner in the changing rooms after the AB’s won the RWC.. especially in that faux PI inflection he did on the back of the bus a few years ago.
I’m surprised he hasn’t given up and tried to get a real job by now, or better yet started a business & paid maximum tax – & maximum wage to the parents of the million kids in poverty…
FFS, delusional seems to not only exist, but seems mandatory to Lefties.
you think you’re smart but you just keep showing us what an imbecile you really are.
[lprent: Pointless abuse and stupid flame inducing at that. But for your comment I’d have had been able to moderate Mr Rylands. On the other hand he probably wouldn’t have made such a comment without this pinheaded comment to induce it. ]
Freemark
You can talk the talk, but in fact you’d be walking for ever if you had to ask for directions to find your way home. Pop out and let off your firecrackers and bangers, that is something you could manage. Try not to set the hillside on fire, or go on past 10pm will you. There are responsible adults trying to get their sleep before again coping with the real world.
I guess mine is pointless abuse too. I should just leave them alone in their own gated community, and ignore their stupidity of which they seem inordinately proud.
Says the vaccine denier.
Srylands
So they let you out did they?
“Freemark” All I can say it is just as well that none of the ABs are sporting long hair and ponytails because JK’s ponytail debacle (and creepy fetish) far outweighs any supposed gaffes that DC has committed.
Obviously the trolls coming out …..
“Sorry for being a man” was in the context of us winning the world cup …… for domestic violence
Cunliffe was quite correct …………. New Zealand men should be ashamed of our number 1 ranking for domestic violence in the developed world
FreeMark like John Key would never get near an AB’s changing room based on anything they’d ever achieved playing the game rugby ……………
Jockstrap sniffers and pony tail pulling hanger-on s like freemark and Key grease they way into places like that ……….and act like stalkers when they get there
Cunliffe is also correct that our media is pretty rooted and a right wing stitch up on places like tv3, the herald etc
People generally make the logical and correct choices when presented with all the information ………..
National are masters at suppressing and manipulating information …… and running dirty politics smear campaigns………..
Northlands bye-election drubbing for the Nats showed what happens when the majority get it together and act semi-cohesively against the largest minority …………………. which is all the Nats/act are.
Hope-fully the lesson stuck a bit ………….
Very important for the trolls to silence Cunliffe’s message for some reason – painful truths to a crowd entirely unfamiliar with truth perhaps.
+1