I’ve watched this speech, and I’ve also just watched David Shearer on Campbell and Close-Up. I think the Labour caucus has made a brave choice, and I think the right choice. I really think Shearer gives the party, and if successful at that the country, a chance to look forward and move forward in a positive new way.
The first major task is to name the shadow cabinet, that will give an idea of how much the talk is going to be walked. There will be some disappointments but I hope that means there is mostly a look of a fresh new direction.
I fully support Shearer’s request to be on the poverty committee – how we address this issue is too important to get distracted by partisan crap.
If I was involved with Labour I’d be very hopeful and enthusiastic, in fact I feel that anyway, it’s important Labour recovers well. There’s a lot to be done but this beginning to a new way is refreshing and promising, and David Shearer just may be the person to succeed.
I’m glad he prioritised doing something about poverty. Otherwise, not a very inspiring speech and Robertson (who I have always liked in the House) looks irritatingly smug.
Shearer doesn’t really connect with me so far, and going to “the beaches, the clubs and pubs” is not where he will find me.
However, if he connects with a wide selection of kiwis and gets more support for the Labour Party, that’ll be good for them.
I’ll continue to look to the Greens or Mana, unless Shearer/Labour surprises me in the next year or so.
Cheers, Carol. Let’s not forget that MMP is now locked in at least for our lifetimes. As far as I am concerned, a vote for Labour, Green, or Mana are all votes for progressive social and environmental change.
I am not really too concerned about which of those parties gains or looses, as long as we all collectively gain. If Labour under Shearer shifts a little to the right to pick up the soft National vote, I don’t have a problem. That will probably leak votes to the Greens and Mana on the left. But that is good, rather than bad, in terms of forming a socially and environmentally progressive government in 2014.
We have to get past the old FPP thinking. It is voting blocs that count now, not the dominance of one of the two old Parties.
I think I was kinda saying that, Toad. If Shearer’s Labour Party works for a lot of people, that’s fine by me. I have other alternatives that connect more with me.
Under MMP, one thing that everyone should be aware of are wasted votes. By fragmenting, each party wastes a proportion of the votes needed to add an additional MP. All votes for the alliance were wasted for example. By eating its support parties, National minimises wasted votes for the right – except for ACT where they exploited the loophole to get the non-ACT Banks in with fewer votes than an additional list MP would need.
“the beaches, the clubs and pubs” more crap publicity bullshit and he is only just started so much for freshness! Shearer should try building a decent LEC before he does anything, and before he try’s connecting with NZ he should connect with Labour Party members. Thats the trouble when you think you can run before you walk, you inevitably end up stumbling and falling flat on your face.
Not what he said, Craig. It’s toward the end of the speech. The slice of the sentence you quote gives a false impression of what was a quite inclusive statement.
The only things we left off were “the Marae, wherever”. The Marae was Maori-inciusive, but the whole, especially the first 3, shows a particular chacterisation indicating Shearer’s (dated) view of “ordinary kiwis”.
So in your view New Zealanders now do not go to the beach, do not go to pubs and are not involved in sports clubs, I am really curious here, where do you think they go.
Some of us don’t really. I usually avoid crowded beaches – prefer them in winter when they are fairly empty. I haven’t been swimming in decades. I don’t know anyone who belongs to clubs very much anymore. I rarely visit pubs. I go to local parks, people’s places, movies, bushy kind of walks, restaurants etc. I really don’t enjoy places full of crowds, although I have been on a demonstration or 2 in recent years.
I think young people go more to nightclubs and concerts than the kind of clubs my dad used to belong to.
LOL, you avoid crowded beaches in summer, is that because there are people there? Maybe that is the rather obtuse (to you) point he was making. Many people go the beach, many people are involved in clubs and a lot of people go to pubs. Just beacuse you dont Carol does not mean this is a bad ideaif he does want to connect with people that have not voted or who have voted blue.
My mistake, Rob. I answered where I go, not where I think other people go.
Actually, I think maybe Shearer could take a tip from Len Brown as to where he goes to talk to people for his Mayor in the Chair sessions, in order to try to engage with a cross section of the (admitttedly urban) public. I believe his first session was in Aotea Square, and I know he’s done sessions in local libraries. It wouldn’t surprise me if he also did sessions in public spaces in shopping centres and in community centres.
Shearer, as I understand it, is all about building a narrative and image that connects with Kiwis. Yet the first places he talks about engaging with them conjures for me an image of 50s-60s NZ, rather than Len Brown’s more contemporary public and community spaces. I understand community centres attract people from diverse kinds of local communities. And Brown has spent some time on Auckland trains where he talks to commuters. Much more creative than Shearer’s stodgy old image of Kiwis.
Look hoenstly I appreciate your comments, I just feel that he (Shearer) is on the right track trying to connect with people in places where people are..
Also I would like to say that I dont like comming over as being overtly agressive.
Your talking crap Voice of Reason he was talking about connecting with NZ. It was the same rhetoric that he gave in Auckland my comment stands which is in context. I have listen three times to his speech, the more I listen to him try and speak the more I realize its Phil Goff with a new face, but its the same shit.
“…Shearer doesn’t really connect with me so far, and going to “the beaches, the clubs and pubs” is not where he will find me…”
and
“…“the beaches, the clubs and pubs” more crap publicity bullshit and he is only just started so much for freshness! Shearer should try building a decent LEC…”
So, can one of you two pretentious tossers explain to me again why only one in five kiwis voted for us not three weeks ago?
So, can one of you two pretentious tossers explain to me again why only one in five kiwis voted for us not three weeks ago?
Who is “us”? I voted Green as I have done the last 2-3 elections. Labour lost me a while back after it turned it’s back on Maori. Pretentious? Does wanting party leadership that reflects, connects with, and generally shows some understanding of issues for women in their diversity make me pretentious? Greens have more to offer here, as does Mana.
Pubs, clubs and beaches reminds me of my parents, back in the days when my dad belonged to a load of clubs. Shearer’s looking a lot like my dad’s generation. Can he connect with diverse people much younger than both of us?
VOR. I tell it as it strikes me. Shearer doesn’t connect with me. And it seems to me a very dated, and masculinist, view of Kiwis. Should I lie about my perceptions?
That is what he said its exactly what he said! Further more its just lines, its tired and its old. This is the guy who said to get more woman into Parliament we should give them more training. His lines and his thinking is totally bloody patronizing.
I don’t think that Marae are dated and masculinist. It’s the other things Shearer listed. But ignoring multicultual NZ in his attempt to be inclusive, is a bit dated too.
Really? I’m pretty sure you can find examples of multicultural NZ in pubs, clubs, beaches and marae. The point I’m making is that you and Craig misrepresented what Shearer said. That’s usually the kind of crap I associate with Cameron Slater. If you don’t like Shearer, that’s fine. But deliberately twisting his words in lieu of an intelligent argument is pretty low, in my opinion.
Me, I wanted Cunliffe to win. But I’m prepared to give Shearer a go, because the people I helped elect to Parliament believe he can lead them to a victory in the next election. I trust them, I’m prepared to give Shearer my support and I will work hard to see Labour head the next Government, whoever the leader is.
the people I helped elect to Parliament believe he can lead them to a victory in the next election.
That’s a telling point – alongside the fact that the Labour caucus didn’t have sufficient confidence that Cunliffe could achieve that. Everyone in caucus seems to have accepted the result after an unusually thorough consultation with the wider party.
Some Cunliffe supporters sound bitter, but there are likely to be more in the party who are quietly pleased and hopeful.
Dead right, Pete. And over the next few months there will be opportunities to suggest changes to internal party workings. If members want to change the way we elect our Parliamentary leaders, then that’s the forum for presenting alternatives.
Perhaps there are better ways, but I’m not sure if the way we do it now is any different to most parties of any stripe in Western democracies. But maybe we should adapt the local electorate candidate process and have the views of the members represented by a vote or votes in the caucus ballot, perhaps cast by the President on our behalf?
VOR. We’ll have to agree to disagree. I have told it as I see it – beaches, clubs and pubs, along with Shearers comments elsewhere about connecting with people while raising a few beers around the barbie, and his other reported patronising comments about women in politics, points to a dated, and usually masculinist view of NZ culture. And this is one of the main reasons I prefr the Greens and Mana.
Resorting to aggressive ad hominems by equating me with the oily one is below the belt and a diversion – it doesn’t contribute anything of relevance to the debate.
I’ve stated my case. Clearly you don’t agree. I stand by what I said. To me it’s you that’s twisting my words. Enough of this. I’m out of this little debate.
Meanwhile you’ve ignored the fact that I have commended Shearer for his focus on poverty. If his Labour Party contributes something significant in tackling poverty, I’ll be very happy to praise them.
Where have we ( myself or Carol) twisted or taken anything out of context.He was talking about reconnecting with NZers, he lists a bunch of places. Im saying its bullshit its just lines. You dont agree, fine but dont try and say we have taken what he said out of context when clearly anyone with year 6 comprehension can see we haven’t.
You want to pretend its all good in the Labour hood and that Shearer has got what it takes when he clearly hasn’t, thats your call. This is the same call the Labour MP’s would have us swallow, unlike you I don’t have confidence in them I have way more confidence in the collective wisdom of hard working activist many who post on this site and attended the membership meetings were Shearer spoke. It was not just his delivery that is a major concern its his content he is a complete bloody novices.
You have taken Shearer’s words out of context by extracting part of the phrase he used and claiming that the segment accurately represents his position. Comprende?
By the way, here’s me doing it back to you from your comment:
Craig Glen Eden:
“Im saying bullshit. Its just lines. we have year 6 comprehension. I don’t have what it takes, that is a major concern. I have way more confidence in the hard working novices. I swallow.”
Yeah the Cunliffe bonds I bought are junk rated by many right now, but there’s always a chance for a bailout, front bench roles for both him and Mahuta is what is needed here.
I think that for a lot of Labour supporters there will be a sense of relief that we have at least got to this point. There were a few persistent political memes that have been whirling around for the last 3 years, the combination of which meant that basically Labour just had to, painfully, wait it out. Those were:
1. Key is really popular and shit doesn’t seem to stick to him (teflon john)
2. Goff was unpopular and never had the ‘P.M quality’ (whatever that is)
3. It has been a very long time since any government in NZ has lasted only a single term. (I haven’t seen this one mentioned much and I think it is one of the most important factors. Something in the Kiwi psyche about giving a party a ‘fair go’ maybe?)
4. Helen Clark hangover (the corollary of 3. ie ‘ We’re all still sick of the last lot and we don’t want to see them back just yet’)
If you believe these kinds of ideas, and I think a lot of people did, then it is an
incredibly frustrating pyschological state for Labour party supporters because it implies any efforts to help Labour win will probably be a waste of time.
But now basically none of those memes carries much weight:
Key has definitely lost some cred, Phil is gone and National are on their second term.
So potentially there will be lots of pent-up optimism that can now be put to good use.
SO LET”S KICK SOME TORY ARSE! (er,.. see what I mean?)
YMMV
Ive never been a member of the Labour Party so can pass judgement on them without fear or favour.
This is a defeat for the left of Labour and all the left forces in society that have to work with Labour supporters. The old guard behind Shearer have no capacity to fight the NACTs they are tainted and demoralised by their complicity in Labour’s record. They are using him to put a new coat of high gloss dulux on the shabby centrist project of the past. Labour used Lange to front its attacks on workers in the 80s until he could no longer stomach the attacks.
The old guard around Clark and Goff never undid the major damage they did then to the working class constituency. They couldnt because they bought into the parameters of neo-liberalism. The leaders of the unions are complicit in this betrayal too because they still pretend that they can build unions when the share of workers income has been falling significantly despite their increasing productivity (and therefore exploitation). That has led the unions to near extinction.
Now as the crisis worsens and Labour has suffered two defeats because a big group of its supporters did not turn out, the reality that Labour has abandoned large elements of its natural constituency is blindingly obvious.
Cunliffe and Mahuta drew that conclusion and made it clear that they wanted to reconnect with these alienated voters. They were articulating policies to make this happen. More than that they said that these voters should elect the leaders of their party. So their defeat is a defeat for those workers.
Shearer will dumb down any serious attempt to re-connect with the roots and pull Labour further to the centre. When he talks about renewing Labour its like Blair ‘renewed’ British Labour away from the unions towards the middle class.
Labour’s rightward trajectory is the blind leading the dumb. Competing for the middle ground is the road to oblivion. The middle class is being squeezed downwards. the ‘self employed’ and small business people will be squeezed out of existence as the depression deepens.
This is creating a dangerous layer of combustible people who will find themselves downwardly mobile and see the working class either as their allies or their enemies. The Labour Party cannot reach out to them with a centrist program because it cannot counter the forces that are destroying the middle classes. It can win them over however with a radical program that promises jobs, living wages and economic security for all workers including the self-employed. Failing that, these layers will become fascist fodder as the NACT regime moves further to the right.
There aint no middle ground where the UN can rush in with the peacekeeping forces. Shearer’s expertise is irrelevant when you have to fight a class war. And there is a class war and the bosses are winning. Either Labour goes back to its working class roots or it will find itself cannibalised by the petty bourgeois NZF, Greens, and National lite at the centre and Mana and other forces on the left.
This is probably inevitable looking at the fate of Social Democracy in Southern Europe as it is replaced by the direct rule by Goldman Sachs veterans. But unless those in the Labour tribe want to go down with a whimper they should put up a fight. Instead of this mantra of a ‘caucus’ united behind a mindless centrism those on the left need to take a stand and fight for their ideas and the people behind them to regain the leadership of the Labour Party.
I think this old class war rhetoric is outdated. I see the extremes lamenting lack of progress for their ideologies, both here and on KB. The simple fact is that most people don’t care for it and won’t buy into the “them bad, us perfect” meme.
Trying to incite a divide is selfish. The best way forward is to work together more.
Trying to incite a divide is selfish. The best way forward is to work together more.
The divide has already been incited… not by Dave Brown… but by the extreme 0.1% who have exploited their privileges to capture an immensely outsized portion of wealth. They started the class war, and pretty much they have been winning it every inch of the way.
And yes ‘working together more’ is a nice sentiment. But to what ends? We’ve been ‘working together’ quite nicely as a nation for much of the last 30 years… but look at the dark corner we have been led down.
Dave hits an exceedingly pertinent note; Failing that, these layers will become fascist fodder as the NACT regime moves further to the right. . The disspossed and alienated will eventually get angry. I’ve seen it here in NZ upfront and personal in the 80’s amongst Maori. It’s ugly and very unpredictable.
That anger is inevitable… the question is … who will harness it and to what ends?
Trying to incite a divide is selfish. The best way forward is to work together more.
What? the kind of “forward” where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?
I just don’t think you understand that one groups default position is that for them to “go forward” others get left behind, there is no together in that situation.
Pay attention Pete. Your failure to comprehend what people say is very, very irritating. Nowhere did I say, imply or even hint faintly that it was my wish to see violent revolt in this country. Nowhere.
In fact the complete opposite. Such events are brutal, vile and usually wholly counter-productive. It’s the last thing any sane person would wish for.
But wishes are for childrens fairy tales Pete. Just wishing won’t stop angry alienated people from being manipulated into action. And when that happens all the pleasant sentiments in the world will mean less than nothing to the armed mob heading up your driveway….
And sticking your head up your arse will prevent it?
Besides you’ve missed the essential point.. anger can go two ways… destructive and constructive. It’s just an emotion, a motivation, but the act that follows it is what matters.
We can choose not to do business with a lot of them. Tobacco. Alcohol. Fast food. ‘Entertainment’. Gadgets. Plastic mountains for kids. We all feed the machine, and much of it far from essential.
You’re quite correct to identify the top 0.1% as the core culprits. Potentially even just the top 0.01%. In New Zealand that would equate to just a few hundred people. All very wealthy, company directors, partners of large firms, extremely well connected, able to direct the activity of thousands of others by simply signing an agreement, providing capital etc.
And the remainder of the top 1% are also highly complicit. The well paid henchmen and lieutenants, as it were, each benefitting from the equivalent of $150K pa of income or more.
“And the remainder of the top 1% are also highly complicit. The well paid henchmen and lieutenants, as it were, each benefitting from the equivalent of $150K pa of income or more.”
Its pretty obvious that in many countries around the world, boundaries between banks, corporates and governments have blurred to the extent that they are hard to see.
A revolving door of senior officials between corporates, banks and governments worsens the situation.
Not all politicians, but many of those who seem to be in the UK, Italy and Greece, and certainly the ones who continue to work hard at enriching the already rich.
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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 ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
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I’ve watched this speech, and I’ve also just watched David Shearer on Campbell and Close-Up. I think the Labour caucus has made a brave choice, and I think the right choice. I really think Shearer gives the party, and if successful at that the country, a chance to look forward and move forward in a positive new way.
The first major task is to name the shadow cabinet, that will give an idea of how much the talk is going to be walked. There will be some disappointments but I hope that means there is mostly a look of a fresh new direction.
I fully support Shearer’s request to be on the poverty committee – how we address this issue is too important to get distracted by partisan crap.
If I was involved with Labour I’d be very hopeful and enthusiastic, in fact I feel that anyway, it’s important Labour recovers well. There’s a lot to be done but this beginning to a new way is refreshing and promising, and David Shearer just may be the person to succeed.
I’m glad he prioritised doing something about poverty. Otherwise, not a very inspiring speech and Robertson (who I have always liked in the House) looks irritatingly smug.
Shearer doesn’t really connect with me so far, and going to “the beaches, the clubs and pubs” is not where he will find me.
However, if he connects with a wide selection of kiwis and gets more support for the Labour Party, that’ll be good for them.
I’ll continue to look to the Greens or Mana, unless Shearer/Labour surprises me in the next year or so.
Cheers, Carol. Let’s not forget that MMP is now locked in at least for our lifetimes. As far as I am concerned, a vote for Labour, Green, or Mana are all votes for progressive social and environmental change.
I am not really too concerned about which of those parties gains or looses, as long as we all collectively gain. If Labour under Shearer shifts a little to the right to pick up the soft National vote, I don’t have a problem. That will probably leak votes to the Greens and Mana on the left. But that is good, rather than bad, in terms of forming a socially and environmentally progressive government in 2014.
We have to get past the old FPP thinking. It is voting blocs that count now, not the dominance of one of the two old Parties.
Green is the new red , Mr Toad
Ah, and I even got around to blogging something about it.
I think I was kinda saying that, Toad. If Shearer’s Labour Party works for a lot of people, that’s fine by me. I have other alternatives that connect more with me.
That sums up how I feel too Carol. Neatly put.
Under MMP, one thing that everyone should be aware of are wasted votes. By fragmenting, each party wastes a proportion of the votes needed to add an additional MP. All votes for the alliance were wasted for example. By eating its support parties, National minimises wasted votes for the right – except for ACT where they exploited the loophole to get the non-ACT Banks in with fewer votes than an additional list MP would need.
“the beaches, the clubs and pubs” more crap publicity bullshit and he is only just started so much for freshness! Shearer should try building a decent LEC before he does anything, and before he try’s connecting with NZ he should connect with Labour Party members. Thats the trouble when you think you can run before you walk, you inevitably end up stumbling and falling flat on your face.
“the beaches, the clubs and pubs”
Not what he said, Craig. It’s toward the end of the speech. The slice of the sentence you quote gives a false impression of what was a quite inclusive statement.
The only things we left off were “the Marae, wherever”. The Marae was Maori-inciusive, but the whole, especially the first 3, shows a particular chacterisation indicating Shearer’s (dated) view of “ordinary kiwis”.
Kiwiana from the 1960’s and 1970’s.
So in your view New Zealanders now do not go to the beach, do not go to pubs and are not involved in sports clubs, I am really curious here, where do you think they go.
Some of us don’t really. I usually avoid crowded beaches – prefer them in winter when they are fairly empty. I haven’t been swimming in decades. I don’t know anyone who belongs to clubs very much anymore. I rarely visit pubs. I go to local parks, people’s places, movies, bushy kind of walks, restaurants etc. I really don’t enjoy places full of crowds, although I have been on a demonstration or 2 in recent years.
I think young people go more to nightclubs and concerts than the kind of clubs my dad used to belong to.
LOL, you avoid crowded beaches in summer, is that because there are people there? Maybe that is the rather obtuse (to you) point he was making. Many people go the beach, many people are involved in clubs and a lot of people go to pubs. Just beacuse you dont Carol does not mean this is a bad ideaif he does want to connect with people that have not voted or who have voted blue.
Campaiging advice from a right winger how sweet.
Oh well what ever, just keep assuming that they are not there and are not worth talking to. Also CV nice label, again great assumption . Noob.
By the way, have you ever been to Piha Beach on a summers day. It is NZ in all its multicultural glory.
The mind boggling thing about this whole post is that you dont even know that.
Hey mate, just calling what I’ve seen in your previous posts.
My mistake, Rob. I answered where I go, not where I think other people go.
Actually, I think maybe Shearer could take a tip from Len Brown as to where he goes to talk to people for his Mayor in the Chair sessions, in order to try to engage with a cross section of the (admitttedly urban) public. I believe his first session was in Aotea Square, and I know he’s done sessions in local libraries. It wouldn’t surprise me if he also did sessions in public spaces in shopping centres and in community centres.
Shearer, as I understand it, is all about building a narrative and image that connects with Kiwis. Yet the first places he talks about engaging with them conjures for me an image of 50s-60s NZ, rather than Len Brown’s more contemporary public and community spaces. I understand community centres attract people from diverse kinds of local communities. And Brown has spent some time on Auckland trains where he talks to commuters. Much more creative than Shearer’s stodgy old image of Kiwis.
Look hoenstly I appreciate your comments, I just feel that he (Shearer) is on the right track trying to connect with people in places where people are..
Also I would like to say that I dont like comming over as being overtly agressive.
Your talking crap Voice of Reason he was talking about connecting with NZ. It was the same rhetoric that he gave in Auckland my comment stands which is in context. I have listen three times to his speech, the more I listen to him try and speak the more I realize its Phil Goff with a new face, but its the same shit.
“…Shearer doesn’t really connect with me so far, and going to “the beaches, the clubs and pubs” is not where he will find me…”
and
“…“the beaches, the clubs and pubs” more crap publicity bullshit and he is only just started so much for freshness! Shearer should try building a decent LEC…”
So, can one of you two pretentious tossers explain to me again why only one in five kiwis voted for us not three weeks ago?
So, can one of you two pretentious tossers explain to me again why only one in five kiwis voted for us not three weeks ago?
Who is “us”? I voted Green as I have done the last 2-3 elections. Labour lost me a while back after it turned it’s back on Maori. Pretentious? Does wanting party leadership that reflects, connects with, and generally shows some understanding of issues for women in their diversity make me pretentious? Greens have more to offer here, as does Mana.
Pubs, clubs and beaches reminds me of my parents, back in the days when my dad belonged to a load of clubs. Shearer’s looking a lot like my dad’s generation. Can he connect with diverse people much younger than both of us?
That’s not what he said, Carol. Let’s leave the muckraking and meme making to the righties, eh?
VOR. I tell it as it strikes me. Shearer doesn’t connect with me. And it seems to me a very dated, and masculinist, view of Kiwis. Should I lie about my perceptions?
I’m not asking you to lie. Just the opposite, in fact. So why do you think marae are dated and masculinist?
That is what he said its exactly what he said! Further more its just lines, its tired and its old. This is the guy who said to get more woman into Parliament we should give them more training. His lines and his thinking is totally bloody patronizing.
I don’t think that Marae are dated and masculinist. It’s the other things Shearer listed. But ignoring multicultual NZ in his attempt to be inclusive, is a bit dated too.
Really? I’m pretty sure you can find examples of multicultural NZ in pubs, clubs, beaches and marae. The point I’m making is that you and Craig misrepresented what Shearer said. That’s usually the kind of crap I associate with Cameron Slater. If you don’t like Shearer, that’s fine. But deliberately twisting his words in lieu of an intelligent argument is pretty low, in my opinion.
Me, I wanted Cunliffe to win. But I’m prepared to give Shearer a go, because the people I helped elect to Parliament believe he can lead them to a victory in the next election. I trust them, I’m prepared to give Shearer my support and I will work hard to see Labour head the next Government, whoever the leader is.
the people I helped elect to Parliament believe he can lead them to a victory in the next election.
That’s a telling point – alongside the fact that the Labour caucus didn’t have sufficient confidence that Cunliffe could achieve that. Everyone in caucus seems to have accepted the result after an unusually thorough consultation with the wider party.
Some Cunliffe supporters sound bitter, but there are likely to be more in the party who are quietly pleased and hopeful.
Dead right, Pete. And over the next few months there will be opportunities to suggest changes to internal party workings. If members want to change the way we elect our Parliamentary leaders, then that’s the forum for presenting alternatives.
Perhaps there are better ways, but I’m not sure if the way we do it now is any different to most parties of any stripe in Western democracies. But maybe we should adapt the local electorate candidate process and have the views of the members represented by a vote or votes in the caucus ballot, perhaps cast by the President on our behalf?
VOR. We’ll have to agree to disagree. I have told it as I see it – beaches, clubs and pubs, along with Shearers comments elsewhere about connecting with people while raising a few beers around the barbie, and his other reported patronising comments about women in politics, points to a dated, and usually masculinist view of NZ culture. And this is one of the main reasons I prefr the Greens and Mana.
Resorting to aggressive ad hominems by equating me with the oily one is below the belt and a diversion – it doesn’t contribute anything of relevance to the debate.
I’ve stated my case. Clearly you don’t agree. I stand by what I said. To me it’s you that’s twisting my words. Enough of this. I’m out of this little debate.
Meanwhile you’ve ignored the fact that I have commended Shearer for his focus on poverty. If his Labour Party contributes something significant in tackling poverty, I’ll be very happy to praise them.
Cheers, Carol.
Where have we ( myself or Carol) twisted or taken anything out of context.He was talking about reconnecting with NZers, he lists a bunch of places. Im saying its bullshit its just lines. You dont agree, fine but dont try and say we have taken what he said out of context when clearly anyone with year 6 comprehension can see we haven’t.
You want to pretend its all good in the Labour hood and that Shearer has got what it takes when he clearly hasn’t, thats your call. This is the same call the Labour MP’s would have us swallow, unlike you I don’t have confidence in them I have way more confidence in the collective wisdom of hard working activist many who post on this site and attended the membership meetings were Shearer spoke. It was not just his delivery that is a major concern its his content he is a complete bloody novices.
You have taken Shearer’s words out of context by extracting part of the phrase he used and claiming that the segment accurately represents his position. Comprende?
By the way, here’s me doing it back to you from your comment:
Craig Glen Eden:
“Im saying bullshit. Its just lines. we have year 6 comprehension. I don’t have what it takes, that is a major concern. I have way more confidence in the hard working novices. I swallow.”
(Hat tip to Burroughs and Gysin)
Lets see if you put your money on the right stock.
We’ll know in just 5 or 6 months.
Don’t have to wait that long, CV. I backed Cunliffe, so those stocks are shot already.
Yeah the Cunliffe bonds I bought are junk rated by many right now, but there’s always a chance for a bailout, front bench roles for both him and Mahuta is what is needed here.
I think that for a lot of Labour supporters there will be a sense of relief that we have at least got to this point. There were a few persistent political memes that have been whirling around for the last 3 years, the combination of which meant that basically Labour just had to, painfully, wait it out. Those were:
1. Key is really popular and shit doesn’t seem to stick to him (teflon john)
2. Goff was unpopular and never had the ‘P.M quality’ (whatever that is)
3. It has been a very long time since any government in NZ has lasted only a single term. (I haven’t seen this one mentioned much and I think it is one of the most important factors. Something in the Kiwi psyche about giving a party a ‘fair go’ maybe?)
4. Helen Clark hangover (the corollary of 3. ie ‘ We’re all still sick of the last lot and we don’t want to see them back just yet’)
If you believe these kinds of ideas, and I think a lot of people did, then it is an
incredibly frustrating pyschological state for Labour party supporters because it implies any efforts to help Labour win will probably be a waste of time.
But now basically none of those memes carries much weight:
Key has definitely lost some cred, Phil is gone and National are on their second term.
So potentially there will be lots of pent-up optimism that can now be put to good use.
SO LET”S KICK SOME TORY ARSE! (er,.. see what I mean?)
YMMV
I would go much further than that Carol.
Ive never been a member of the Labour Party so can pass judgement on them without fear or favour.
This is a defeat for the left of Labour and all the left forces in society that have to work with Labour supporters. The old guard behind Shearer have no capacity to fight the NACTs they are tainted and demoralised by their complicity in Labour’s record. They are using him to put a new coat of high gloss dulux on the shabby centrist project of the past. Labour used Lange to front its attacks on workers in the 80s until he could no longer stomach the attacks.
The old guard around Clark and Goff never undid the major damage they did then to the working class constituency. They couldnt because they bought into the parameters of neo-liberalism. The leaders of the unions are complicit in this betrayal too because they still pretend that they can build unions when the share of workers income has been falling significantly despite their increasing productivity (and therefore exploitation). That has led the unions to near extinction.
Now as the crisis worsens and Labour has suffered two defeats because a big group of its supporters did not turn out, the reality that Labour has abandoned large elements of its natural constituency is blindingly obvious.
Cunliffe and Mahuta drew that conclusion and made it clear that they wanted to reconnect with these alienated voters. They were articulating policies to make this happen. More than that they said that these voters should elect the leaders of their party. So their defeat is a defeat for those workers.
Shearer will dumb down any serious attempt to re-connect with the roots and pull Labour further to the centre. When he talks about renewing Labour its like Blair ‘renewed’ British Labour away from the unions towards the middle class.
Labour’s rightward trajectory is the blind leading the dumb. Competing for the middle ground is the road to oblivion. The middle class is being squeezed downwards. the ‘self employed’ and small business people will be squeezed out of existence as the depression deepens.
This is creating a dangerous layer of combustible people who will find themselves downwardly mobile and see the working class either as their allies or their enemies. The Labour Party cannot reach out to them with a centrist program because it cannot counter the forces that are destroying the middle classes. It can win them over however with a radical program that promises jobs, living wages and economic security for all workers including the self-employed. Failing that, these layers will become fascist fodder as the NACT regime moves further to the right.
There aint no middle ground where the UN can rush in with the peacekeeping forces. Shearer’s expertise is irrelevant when you have to fight a class war. And there is a class war and the bosses are winning. Either Labour goes back to its working class roots or it will find itself cannibalised by the petty bourgeois NZF, Greens, and National lite at the centre and Mana and other forces on the left.
This is probably inevitable looking at the fate of Social Democracy in Southern Europe as it is replaced by the direct rule by Goldman Sachs veterans. But unless those in the Labour tribe want to go down with a whimper they should put up a fight. Instead of this mantra of a ‘caucus’ united behind a mindless centrism those on the left need to take a stand and fight for their ideas and the people behind them to regain the leadership of the Labour Party.
fucking A
I think this old class war rhetoric is outdated. I see the extremes lamenting lack of progress for their ideologies, both here and on KB. The simple fact is that most people don’t care for it and won’t buy into the “them bad, us perfect” meme.
Trying to incite a divide is selfish. The best way forward is to work together more.
Trying to incite a divide is selfish. The best way forward is to work together more.
The divide has already been incited… not by Dave Brown… but by the extreme 0.1% who have exploited their privileges to capture an immensely outsized portion of wealth. They started the class war, and pretty much they have been winning it every inch of the way.
And yes ‘working together more’ is a nice sentiment. But to what ends? We’ve been ‘working together’ quite nicely as a nation for much of the last 30 years… but look at the dark corner we have been led down.
Dave hits an exceedingly pertinent note; Failing that, these layers will become fascist fodder as the NACT regime moves further to the right. . The disspossed and alienated will eventually get angry. I’ve seen it here in NZ upfront and personal in the 80’s amongst Maori. It’s ugly and very unpredictable.
That anger is inevitable… the question is … who will harness it and to what ends?
If you keep talking it up you might get your wish. But I doubt most New Zealanders will buy into revolt as a means of achieving anything positive.
Trying to incite a divide is selfish. The best way forward is to work together more.
What? the kind of “forward” where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?
I just don’t think you understand that one groups default position is that for them to “go forward” others get left behind, there is no together in that situation.
Pay attention Pete. Your failure to comprehend what people say is very, very irritating. Nowhere did I say, imply or even hint faintly that it was my wish to see violent revolt in this country. Nowhere.
In fact the complete opposite. Such events are brutal, vile and usually wholly counter-productive. It’s the last thing any sane person would wish for.
But wishes are for childrens fairy tales Pete. Just wishing won’t stop angry alienated people from being manipulated into action. And when that happens all the pleasant sentiments in the world will mean less than nothing to the armed mob heading up your driveway….
And talking it up may encourage it.
And sticking your head up your arse will prevent it?
Besides you’ve missed the essential point.. anger can go two ways… destructive and constructive. It’s just an emotion, a motivation, but the act that follows it is what matters.
No, but working more positively and co-operatively may.
Again… we’ve been a peaceful co-operative nation since at least the 1980’s.
But that co-operation has been hi-jacked to serve the ends of a very wealthy minority. How long should we keep ‘co-operating’ with them Pete?
Until they own 80% of everything, or 90%?
We can choose not to do business with a lot of them. Tobacco. Alcohol. Fast food. ‘Entertainment’. Gadgets. Plastic mountains for kids. We all feed the machine, and much of it far from essential.
Peter Dunne chooses to do business with them, it seems.
By the way, you still don’t seem to understand the underlying psychological, oxymoronic, human reality of ‘free choice’.
Well yes I’m with you on that Pete… but I note that you left the banks off that list.
Lets see how ‘not doing business’ with them works out.
I also left pharmaceuticals off the list. Like banks they are essential, but they can be (and are) used far more than is good for us.
Pete George you really did get the number of votes you deserved. The Dunedin North electorate proved itself very generous in fact.
I agree. 800,000 of them have simply chosen to walk away instead.
You’re quite correct to identify the top 0.1% as the core culprits. Potentially even just the top 0.01%. In New Zealand that would equate to just a few hundred people. All very wealthy, company directors, partners of large firms, extremely well connected, able to direct the activity of thousands of others by simply signing an agreement, providing capital etc.
And the remainder of the top 1% are also highly complicit. The well paid henchmen and lieutenants, as it were, each benefitting from the equivalent of $150K pa of income or more.
“And the remainder of the top 1% are also highly complicit. The well paid henchmen and lieutenants, as it were, each benefitting from the equivalent of $150K pa of income or more.”
That would include all the politicians then?
and some union officials
Its pretty obvious that in many countries around the world, boundaries between banks, corporates and governments have blurred to the extent that they are hard to see.
A revolving door of senior officials between corporates, banks and governments worsens the situation.
Not all politicians, but many of those who seem to be in the UK, Italy and Greece, and certainly the ones who continue to work hard at enriching the already rich.
Is it as outdated as some people in our society earning 150 times more than other people for their working day?
No Pete, class war is not ‘outdated’, just as in NZ rheumatic fever is not ‘outdated’. Its very current indeed.
This was a good choice for Labour so I’m surprised they went for it (Labour recently have been expert at the art of shooting ones self in the foot)
However it will only work if everyone in Labour gets behind Shearer and supports him unlike what happened to Goff
Thanks very much we’ll add your name to the list of right wing commentators who approve of Shearer’s selection.
Wow I’ve been promoted, do I get a pay rise as well?
You’ll get what you deserve, there is no doubt.
Awesome, that being a white prado with grey interior of course
Wouldn’t be my choice but whatever tickles your fancy.
Well Its probably the best all rounder but each to their own I guess (I mean some people were even backing Cunliffe!)