Free speech hate speech

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, May 13th, 2011 - 49 comments
Categories: human rights, racism, racism - Tags: ,

The free speech / hate speech boundary is always a difficult call. I’m glad to live in a country that tries to err on the side of the former. Even so, this shit really rankles:

Anti-Chinese leaflets spark fear and anger

A far-right Christchurch group has been condemned for circulating flyers in Auckland claiming an “Asian invasion” is taking place.

The group, which calls itself the Right Wing Resistance, has distributed “Stop the Asian Invasion” leaflets in suburbs with high Asian populations, including Pakuranga, Howick and Northcote.

Police are concerned that the campaign could lead to “racially motivated violence”, says police Asian liaison officer Raymond Wong.

The group is headed by former National Front leader Kyle Chapman. It started the campaign in Christchurch last year.

What if it escalates and someone gets hurt?

Call for calm after Asians vent anger online over racist leaflets

A senior Chinese community leader is calling for calm as emotions run deep over race-attack pamphlets and plans by a far-right Christchurch group for an anti-Asian rally. …

Thousands of Chinese have taken their anger to the allegations online, and some have suggested that it is time to strike back. Many local ethnic newspapers have also published the anti-Asian campaign as headline news.

As for the argument that migrants are taking jobs (continued from above):

The Department of Labour says new migrants contribute $1.9 billion to the economy every year, and tourists and international students a further $2.9 billion in foreign exchange. …

The Immigration Service says if immigration stopped, by 2021 New Zealand’s population would drop by 9.6 per cent, GDP would fall by 11.3 per cent, available labour would drop 10.9 per cent and the export sector would decline 12.9 per cent.

Time for the “Right Wing Resistance” to be laughed out of existence.

49 comments on “Free speech hate speech ”

  1. Lanthanide 1

    When questioned, Chapman repeatedly says that “membership numbers are not important”. In other words, it’s only a very small group, probably 30-40 people.
     
    At the same time, he says that he’s dropping leaflets so as to increase membership.
     
    Either membership matters, or it doesn’t.

    • lprent 1.1

      If they do a rally in Auckland, then I’m sure that I can help to organize a substantial heckle crew to exercise their free speech.

      I’d suggest that the placards and commentary should concentrate on the RWR’s self-evident lacks and ask what they are trying to compensate for.

  2. todd 2

    I put their numbers at five… Strangely Cameron Slater agrees.

    • terryg 2.1

      its a bit of a misnomer to call them “far right” – the corect term is White Supremacists, aka Neo Nazis. they deny it in public, but their regalia is replete with nazi symbolism, and they link to the Aryan Brotherhood, the KKK and other bastions of extremely inbred fuckwits. They might be white, but are as far from supreme as it is possible to get.

      Cameron Slater is a RWNJ. Thats like comparing someone with parking fines to a serial killer.

      Aside: I wonder how many of his idiot brigade even have jobs, let alone the sorts of qualifications asian Immigrants require to gain entry to NZ. I’ll leave filling in the blanks as an exercise for the astute reader.

      • todd 2.1.1

        Likewise it’s wrong to call it free speech, when there’s a definite cost to their public display of racism.

  3. Oleolebiscuitbarrell 3

    “Time for the “Right Wing Resistance” to be laughed out of existence.”

    Which is kind of why we err on the side of free speech.

  4. Here, have some political hate speech (from 2004): http://imgur.com/y1vb6

  5. Draco T Bastard 5

    The Immigration Service says if immigration stopped, by 2021 New Zealand’s population would drop by 9.6 per cent, GDP would fall by 11.3 per cent, available labour would drop 10.9 per cent and the export sector would decline 12.9 per cent.

    Considering real physical limitations this is bad how?

  6. terryg 6

    dui bu qi, zhongguo xinxilanren.

    Kyle Chapman (ye ta de pengyoumen) zongshi shuo de fei hua.

    mei banfa….. tamen mei you nao.

    duoshi xinxilanren xiang tamen tai ben dan ren.

    danshi tamen bu hui zhuzui

    (duibuqi, wode zhongwen xie de bu hao – wo man man xue)

    Sorry, Chinese New Zealanders.

    Kyle Chapman (and his mates) always talk shit. cant be helped – they are brainless.

    most kiwis think they are extremely stupid.

    but they are unable to shut up.

    (sorry about my bad mandarin, I’m slowly learning)

  7. joe90 7

    To deny the losers any traffic here’s the google cache of their site.

    • Lanthanide 7.1

      Bandwidth costs them money. If they’re on a free account, they could blow their bandwidth and get the site disabled. If they pay, they could go over their limit and be charged excess. So it’d be better to link directly to their site – at the cost of giving them a hit/publicity, though.

  8. Of the $1.9 billion mentioned by Dr. Coleman in his speech yesterday roughly $0.5 billion came through investment and $1.4 billion of that was contributed by skilled workers carefully selected for their rare skills and allowed in to NZ to fill skill shortages.

    This is an important source of income for local NZ businesses because these newcomers buy cars, furniture and loads of other stuff to set up their new home. They are healthy, police checked and cost little by way of services.

    Coleman says immigration is important for our economy. Of course with so many skilled kiwis leaving for Australia it’s also important to bring in a controlled number of young families to counter an ageing workforce.

    So why have numbers been cut?

    Quotas for permanent residence have been fixed since 2000/01, but in Jan 2009 Dr. Coleman quietly cut the number of applications accepted from skilled workers by 30%. So far there have been 20% less residency applications approved for skilled workers through this year compared to the same period last year.

    That translates to a loss of around $935 million through the first three quarters of the immigration year that hasn’t gone straight into local businesses employing New Zealanders. These drops are not because of a lack of interest in New Zealand which I can assure you has been high.

    So, over a billion dollars we didn’t get and increasing skill shortages affecting NZ businesses and services (which will be that much harder to fill when Australia creates half a million jobs as promised).

    Now interest in New Zealand immigration is starting to fall as migrants realise risks in moving here have significantly increased (get sick, pregnant or ask to renew your visa and you’ll find out), while reasons for coming here have fallen (wages, employment security, clean and green country). Many globally mobile workers who were interested in NZ are instead asking about Australia.

    Is this good immigration policy?

    Mike
    move2nz.com

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1

      You’re obviously in need of an education so here you go.

      • So educate me by addressing the points and evidence raised.

        • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1

          This is an important source of income for local NZ businesses because these newcomers buy cars, furniture and loads of other stuff to set up their new home. They are healthy, police checked and cost little by way of services.

          Trying to produce economic growth by finding new, imported consumers, is helpful to some degree, but at the end of the day its not what NZ needs. Which is the creation of new high employment, high pay industries.

          Further, you never addressed how long these skilled workers actually stay in NZ.

          For a good proportion of them, long enough to get their NZ citizenship and then move to Australia to collect 30-40% higher pay, I’d wager.

          We can’t even keep our own professionals in this country.

          Let me put it another way – in your world, ordinary people in NZ get rich by making this country a haven for international multimillionaires.

          Doesn’t happen, hasn’t happened, won’t happen. In any country that I know of (except maybe Monaco and Switzerland).

          • Mike - move2nz 8.1.1.1.1

            New Zealand’s population is ageing and like most 1st world countries has a negative birth rate. I agree that creating new high-paid industries is vital, but what would happen over time if migration was stopped?

            New Zealanders would still leave for Australia and other pastures new because of the opportunities. People tend to vote with their feet if they can (i.e. semi-skilled and skilled people do) and numbers heading offshore are already at record numbers.

            Do you agree that a natural result would be a reduction over time of working people, skill levels and internal customers for business?

            Do you agree that there would likewise be an increased burden on the remaining gradually reducing number of active workers to support the ageing population, infrastructure and services?

            I believe that this would create a time bomb where at some point down the track New Zealand would cease to be viable in it’s current state unless some major change was introduced such as forcing a higher birth-rate or blocking requests to leave.

            Careful management of immigration could stop this and ensure New Zealand grows. 

            How long people stay depends on what New Zealand needs them for. The current system works on skill shortages. Some skills we only need for a short while, some we need permanently. By carefully working out which is which (and applying very high standards for health, language, qualifications etc.) NZ gets the best of both worlds.

            But this system has been broken by the current Minister. Immigration no longer uses the skill shortage lists (one for temporary, one for permanent) and instead is using the WINZ database against all applications.

            Retention
            Keeping hold of our professionals and those we attract from overseas is vital. I actually spent three years of my life creating, funding and running a free migrant ‘walk-in’ centre in Christchurch aimed at raising rates of retention and integration. It was wildly successful outperforming government ideas by 17:1 and costing a fraction.

            When I invited the Minister to visit he said it was ‘not necessary’. When I invited the Associate Minister she said ‘thank you for your concerns’.

            That centre, helping 7,000 families a year, was forced to close in 2009 after I criticised immigration policy on TV3 news.

            In my world
            No, you’re wrong. In my world people who love New Zealand, want to live and work here, want to invest everything they have and bring up their children here get to help enrich this country. They pay taxes, buy NZ made items and help grow NZ business with their skills, expertise and overseas contacts. This creates jobs for New Zealanders, adds to an environment where wages can grow and we can increase retention of our own talented young.

            I disagree with the Minister’s fixation on investors – most of the profits head offshore anyway and the numbers are falling despite his best efforts. Profits from migration should stay in NZ.

            Instead I concentrate on people who value what NZ is and has. People who aspire to being New Zealanders (rather than just living here or using it as a stepping stone), love the culture, people and add value to our economy.

            Let me know what you think about these comments.

            • millsy 8.1.1.1.1.1

              Mike, I am not anti immigration, but the fact is, that over the past 20 years, governments and employers have chosen to put the interest of immirgants over the interests of New Zealanders

              1) businesses have been employing immigrants instead of training and upskilling our own people, and also employing migrant labour to keep wages down.

              2) Educational instiutions have put the needs of international students ahead of domestic students.

              Opening the immigration floodgates have kept wages down, and forced up house prices and accomodation costs, and also helped to drive down wages and conditions in the workplace. Instead of training our young people, we are just hiring immigrant labour and letting then rot on the dole, or in low wage jobs, and it is also the reason why the ‘dumb’ kids are being quitely pushed out of our schools to make them look good for international students.

              It is because of the unwillingness by all major parties (except NZ First) to confront these realities, that wanna-be Nazis like Chapman are gaining ground.

              • Hi Millsy,

                Thanks for your comments. What I was saying is why immigration is important for New Zealand.

                It is vital that immigration is managed properly to better New Zealand. NZ workers should come foremost and I was very dis-heartened to see the apprenticeships cut, adult education cut and pressure placed on universities and students.

                Sadly over the past two years the information being given to prospective migrants is so muddled and incorrect that many people who should not have come here have been encouraged to while the people we really need have had bureaucratic barriers lumped in their way.

                What you must understand is that immigration is a useful tool in the box but does not operate in isolation. It must be used in conjunction with and beside sensible policies which create opportunities to upskill New Zealanders and give them a reason to stay.

                Many of the issues you are talking about are not caused by immigration policy but by other issues.

                For example, if there is a case where employers are undercutting local labour with foreign workers this is an employment issue and a decision by an NZ business. Immigration can be used alongside this to fend people off we don’t need, but this will only work with effective protection for employees such as minimum wages, unions, mediation etc.

                Media love negative migration stories and rarely print positive ones. If they do they rarely point out the person is a migrant. Don’t believe all you read.

                The same with education. If educational establishments are taking overseas students instead of local ones why is this? Is there a financial need where the schools are not being properly funded?

                Through effective management of the educational system local students can be protected, schools can be protected and a service can be given on top of this to foreign students as a way of enriching the education of our youth.

                Opening the immigration floodgates
                I often meet the perception that there is a flood of migrants coming into this country. Net migration is actually low – an average of 11,900 per year across the entire country between 1990 and 2009. The tests migrants have to meet are extremely high.

                Immigration has complete control over numbers which have actually been falling over the past two years. The drop in this year alone has cost NZ $935 million as I have pointed out.

                There is however certainly a difference between high skill and low skill temporary workers, but I have seen no proof that medium and high skilled migrant workers push down wages. Many have to take pay cuts to work here. For example, you may not realise that for a chef to get through immigration they need five years experience, two of those as a Sous Chef. These are highly skilled and highly paid.

                House prices have been shown to be more affected by returning kiwis than migrants.
                Confronting the problems
                There are serious problems around immigration, but carefully managed and implemented policy should fill skill shortages and train NZ workers, open opportunities for new business, introduce new practices and technologies and open new markets to NZ business.

                The reason I am posting about this is because of the poor management of immigration over the past decade and most especially the last two and half years.

                I lobbied Cunliffe and Cosgrove to put some of the $11 million migrant levy collected every year into retention of skilled workers attracted here because we were losing 24% of them needlessly. No one listened.

                Changes made in 2005 were a step in the right direction, but I have been trying to feed back the effect of policy changes – what is really happening at the ‘coal face’ to no avail. No one wants to listen.

                Once we agree that migration is necessary for New Zealand we need to get on with making it an effective and positive process in conjunction with other portfolios to better the position of the New Zealand people.

                Look forward to your comments.

  9. grumpy 9

    Why do the Auckland media constantly refer to this as a “Christchurch” group? I find that bloody insulting, typical Auckland holier than thou bullshit.
    How about “Act, an Auckland based political party”????

  10. Unfortunately, the old home town (mine) does have a depressing record in spawning groups of this kind, although thankfully, they’ve declined since the nadir of the seventies and early eighties. Even so, the Nationalist Workers Party/National Front/Right Wing Resistance is an annoying microscopic buttock blemish. However, they’re based on derivative overseas UK neofascist models. And ironically enough, their hate speech outbursts signify that they have neither the education or sophistication to behave in a more pragmatic or electorally viable manner, unlike the French Front National or British National Party.

    As a person of happily polyglot origins, fortunately I don’t meet their ghastly ‘purity’ criteria. Boohoo. It’s all that Indian immigrant and Ngai Tahu ancestry in my genes.

    [Craig – can you try posting test comments that vary your name, email address, website, and (if possible) IP address, to try and identify the factor that triggers our moderation on every comment you make? Use Open Mike, I’ll delete the tests later on. I’d like to fix it so you don’t get stuck in moderation every time. — r0b]

  11. However, the fact is that most white supremacists usually have criminal convictions for assault, dysfunctional upbringings, alcohol and drug problems and gravitated toward a subculture that reinforces their disturbed families of origin and violent responses to life’s problems. Hence, they feel the need to lash out at economically prosperous and yet ambiguously accepted ethnic communities ie New Zealanders of East Asian origin or descent. Fortunately, the rest of us come from mainstream multicultural Aotearoa/New Zealand.

  12. My email to Kyle

    Hi Kyle
    Good on ya, placing yourself up for attack yet again.
    BUT … always a but
    It is all immigration that should be stopped, including selling NZ to the USA etc, yeah bringing up the Asian invasion stuff presses buttons in the mind of the pig ignorant masses, but the real issue is that NZ is over populated now (and has been since 1800, when Maori started running out of food and had to eat each other)
    We see 100s of poms (etc) escaping GB and coming over here with their pounds, forcing home prices out of reach of the first home buyers etc, I know been going on for years.
    As I was saying back when the Foreshore and Seabed was being proposed, we needed to close the border and place machine gun posts at 100 meter spaces around our coast, give every Kiwi ‘out’ there 6 months notice then thats it, you are in or you are out.
    But then I want having children band, and any child born (after say 10 months from the ban starting), to be made a ward of the state, and the parents sterilized and made to support the child for 18 years, but without ever seeing it, that would make idiot breeders wake the fuck up)

    Robert

    • rosy 12.1

      *shakes head* and you wonder why you’re not taken seriously. So much disregard for people in such a little space.

      • terryg 12.1.1

        methinks ’tis a poe*

        *poe = piss take of idiotic position. good poes are almost indistinguishable from the real dickheads

    • Colonial Viper 12.2

      we needed to close the border and place machine gun posts at 100 meter spaces around our coast

      Overkill.

      An M249 LMG has an effective range close to 1km, for instance.

      I suggest that every 400m would be ample, as long as you had clear lines of fire.

      • Mac1 12.2.1

        Brilliant. Solves the unemployment problem. 15000 km of coastline at 1 machine gun per 400 metres times crew numbers times three shifts- quarter of a million, no sweat.

        Then there’s the guns, the uniforms, the admin, the infrastructure- pillboxes, searchlights, generators, barbed wire, minefields, notices for same………

        Plus access to each machine gun post would take care of John Key’s cycleway.

        End of poaching. End of illegal fishing, drug-running, smuggling, immigration.

        Fortress New Zealand. CV, you’re brilliant.

        • terryg 12.2.1.1

          can I also suggest adopting a modern form of cannibalism? we’ll have quite a bit of red meat going spare as a result of this, and we have all those useless eaters. So instead of benefits or food banks, we can provide food parcels…..Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease will inevitably result, leading to an exponential decrease in useless eaters.

  13. Samuel Hill 13

    We need immigration. Badly. We lack the skills required for economic revival. The Baby Boomers as a whole aren’t helping anyone. Many are too selfish to pass on their skills. Where are all the male teachers? Pathetic.

    • Carol 13.1

      We lack the skills required for economic revival. The Baby Boomers as a whole aren’t helping anyone. Many are too selfish to pass on their skills

      Eh?
      Signed: One of many babyboomer teachers, who has taught on vocational & academic courses.

    • Colonial Viper 13.2

      We need immigration. Badly. We lack the skills required for economic revival.

      The first choice of most skilled migrants is to get work in Australia. More jobs and better pay. Higher quality of managers and supervisors.

      If they come to NZ it’s commonly because they were rejected by Australia. We are their fall back choice.

      They come to NZ, get their citizenship here, and then use that to go to Australia.

      Serious. I mean, we can’t even keep our own people here.

      • Samuel Hill 13.2.1

        Thats very true CV. Thats why we have to invest in education. We need to tick up the biggest loan in world history. Let them come. Build our country. We should be a haven for new ideas. Let them do whatever they like, just don’t pollute us.

        Or will Australia just buy our country in 15 years?

        • Colonial Viper 13.2.1.1

          Cheaper to take it over by political subterfuge and buying out a few dozen key people.

          • Jim Nald 13.2.1.1.1

            Yup. By that stage, Ozzies can take almost all the talent and Kiwis can keep most of the trash.
            That’s when the country can rebrand as New Trashland Inc.

  14. Samuel Hill 14

    The Baby Boomers as WHOLE. As in, those who have run our country for the last 20 years. I don’t mean to make those who do a good job feel bad – I’m sure you do an excellent job, Carol.

    But I see too many of that age who simply enjoyed the fruits of the good times, and now in the bad times it is expected that the youth and the poor, who have already been dealt massive costs from economic de-regulation, will bear the burden of the costs again. There are many baby boomers who DO care and aren’t selfish. But there are those who sold our country down the drain. The ones who signed those laws. The ones who created a system where somebody like John Key is our example of success. We desire greed and ‘freedom’ over love and community. The West is dying.

    • Carol 14.1

      I understand you don’t mean all boomers, Samuel. But why single out boomers at all, when there are as many differences within generations as between them. Many of us boomers have agitated and voted most of our working lives for social justice, fair pay for a fair days work, a decent living income and living/working conditions for all…. education, healthcare etc.

      And there are many self-centred, apolitical, middleclass consumerists in all generations. Consider this: Brash and Roger Douglas are too old to be boomers; many who support neoliberal consumerist society are too young to be boomers eg: I’m pretty sure this includes National MP Chris Tremain who has Hollowman Lusk as a campaign manager (see Mallard on Red Alert today), Matthew Hooton, Whaleoil, David Farrah, Jamie Lee Ross etc. And I see many middleclass people of younger generations who are more interested in their latest shiny consumerist toys than thinking about politics or those struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile there are also boomers from diverse ethnic groups who have struggled all their lives on low incomes.

      Why single out one generation at all, when the problem is people who actively support and/or benefit from the inequalities generated by free-market capitalism – adults across all generations at the expense of some other people from all generations?

      Yes Key, Clark, Goff etc are boomers, and they have/had much power….. but others will follow, some pollies trying to make a fairer society, while others (like JL Ross & C Tremain), will be working for the better off classes.

      • Carol 14.1.1

        Oh, and to get back on thread, I would think Kyle Chapman is too young to be a boomer too.

        But, yes, some skilled younger immigrants will probably have more to contribute positively to NZ society & economy than Chapman is doing.

      • Robert Atack 14.1.2

        Yeah it isn’t any particular group that is responsible, it is the system that has been handed down for last 2,000 years or so.
        It is kinda fuelled by the general dumb public’s apathy, no matter when they/we were born, Hitler used it, I’m sure the Romans used it, people just don’t see the writing on the wall until it is to late.
        We all think ‘it will never happen to us’ that is partly why we have so many road deaths etc.
        In the end we are just bacteria, and we behave exactly the same, we have grown our population until the test tube is full.
        We with computers are the elite now, we are at the top of the food chain, and like bacteria we don’t have a conscience, we just want more of our fair share, we don’t care about the 4 billion who don’t have computers, enough food to eat, or fresh water, we are right Jack.
        We are no smarter than Easter Island stone cavers.

        • Samuel Hill 14.1.2.1

          Ofcourse there are people from very differing demographs who uphold the capitalist consumer society and profit from it, I don’t deny that. Just as I agree there are many Baby Boomers who do the opposite.

          Maybe I shouldn’t say ‘Baby Boomer’.

          What I am suggesting, is that those born from 1935-1950 have overseen the growth of a system, which now lumps debt on the youth, whilst they themselves had so many governmental benefits in the past and in the future. By the time I am in my 60s there probably won’t even be a pension, yet I am taxed now at work to pay for the pensions of those 65+. Roger Douglas and Don Brash are close enough to the age of the group. They weren’t old enough to go to WW2, let alone remember it.

          It is people of this age that are running our country. Alan Gibbs, Henry Van der Heyden, Douglas Myers, Michael Fay, John Todd, Peter Cooper, John Spencer, The Goodfellow family.

          These are the people who profited from successive NZ government’s failures to invest in a diverse range of industries., and the there after de-regulation and privatization of public assets.

          It is time to change this system.

          • KJT 14.1.2.1.1

            As a boomer who has fought against this system for 35 years, and watched with despair as our assets were sold in the 80’s, Richardson gutted the country in the 90’s and successive governments had a competition to see how many jobs they could lose, wages for the skilled and productive go downhill while bludgers got megabucks and watched, mostly younger, people vote NACT in again i do not think you should say boomers.

            It is wrong to ascribe greed and stupidity to any particular generation. X and Y will benefit from assets the boomers have built up as well as having less competition for jobs and housing.

            It was the pre-boomer generation that voted themselves tax paid pensions and welfare for National party voters in the 70’s and the younger ones who vote tax cuts now having had no experience of the negative effects after 9 years of Labour.

            http://kjt-kt.blogspot.com/

            Now we see any speech against neo-Liberal madness ignored by the media while we continue to be raced headlong into disaster by mad ideologues and those who stand to gain by stripping NZ.

            The right wing do not believe in free speech. See what happens to any hard hitting, beyound token, letters you write to the newspaper.

          • Carol 14.1.2.1.2

            But we are a diverse lot. I have had some benefits from the NZ Government, but not as many as you might assume of boomers. And I am probably like many who have spent a high proportion of my adult life living overseas, consequently I have money in retirement funds in more than one country.

            I got free primary & secondary education, reasonably good healthcare etc. I did a teachers college course way back, because it would give me a grant (it wasn’t uni level then). Back then only a small proportion of people went to Uni (1-3%), and the vast majority were white men. They also could earn big money in their holidays at the freezing works – not so women. I was bonded to the education dept for 3 years or had to pay $600.00 to leave the country – a fair amount back then. After working for 2 of the years, I’d had enough from the repressive and unequal NZ society, paid back the $600.00 and headed overseas. By then I had started a BA parttime while working fulltime.

            I got various vocational & graduate qualifications in the UK, again studying parttime, mostly while working fulltime (a little bit of it parttime.) My employer paid most of my fees, but I paid for everything else. Earlier I had come back to NZ to finish my BA in one very heavy fulltime year. Student allowance didn’t quite pay my rent. The rest of my expenses I paid from my savings.

            When I came back to NZ I did a further graduate course, with student allowance sometimes – sometimes I earned too much for that, as I worked quite a bit. I also got a student loan for fees & again lived off my savings.

            Now I have paid back my student loan, and am earning, mostly part time. I get a small amount of retirement pension from the UK government, which I’m told will be deducted from my NZ entitlement, when I am of age.

            I wonder how many other boomers in NZ will be getting a high proportion of their pensions from overseas, rather than from NZ taxpayers or other NZ schemes. Kiwis have always lived a lot outside NZ. I also have a small amount of Aussie super in an Aussie fund – it was compulsory when I worked there.

            I don’t own a house – never have, and have lived very frugally most of my adult life.I have never voted for a right wing party, and have joined many leftwing poltical campaigns. Now it seems, boomers are becoming a scapegoat for all that is wrong poltically here. The problem with boomers is that there are a lot of us, but that was not anything we did. The problem is not any one generation, but those who have actively promoted and supported the whole neoliberal scam.

            Yes things are getting tougher for many young people – though not all. Those with wealthy parents and/or high paying jobs are pretty well-off.

  15. chris73 15

    I guess the real test if you believe in freedom of speech is when you can support and defend that which you find totally repugnant

    • I know what you mean, and yeah.

      But nah, you don’t have to support and defend that which you find repugnant, you just have to defend their right to be repugnant.

      You can quite legitimately counter protest, and call them out for their repugnance, and say “we don’t want this this sort of thing here, fuck off n@zi boy” etc. Coz all of that is just free speech as well.

      The ACLU in the states, for example, has defended the free speech rights of Naz1s to march down the street when councils have tried to ban them. They have also defended the free speech rights of Sean Hannity, and the privacy rights of Rush Limbaugh.

      So in the US context I’d say that ACLU are pretty solid defenders, the right wing? Not so much.

      • chris73 15.1.1

        Based on what?

        • Pascal's bookie 15.1.1.1

          Based on the fact that the left in the US generally supports the ACLU, the membership of the ACLU tends to be liberal left, the ACLU defends the rights of people that they not only disagree with, but the rights of people that attack the ACLU. eg, Limbaugh, Hannity, Naz1s.

          The ACLU gets attacked by the right in America as, variously, a commun1st front, anti-christian, anti-conservative and lord knows what all else.

  16. Adele 16

    Teenaa koutou Katoa

    Personally, I don’t mind the Kyle Chapman’s of this world. He is highly visible and naked to the eye.

    The people that I am concerned about are those that appear egalitarian but actually have a really fucked way of thinking too. But at least, Kyle Chapman speaks clearly to his prejudices.

    Which, at least, makes him an honest man.

    • terryg 16.1

      +1.

      and all that is really needed to debunk RWR is RWR themselves. the more they open their mouths, the stupider they look.

  17. Adele 17

    Teenaa koe, terryg

    Well, yes, absolutely.

  18. Craig 18

    Paul Spoonley really needs to write an update on his fascinating work on New Zealand’s microscopic neofascist sects from back in the eighties, I think.

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  • PM announces changes to portfolios
    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 ...
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    24 hours ago
  • New catch limits for unique fishery areas
    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 ...
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    1 day ago
  • Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
    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 ...
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    2 days ago
  • Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
    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 ...
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    2 days ago
  • Overseas decommissioning models considered
    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 ...
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    2 days ago
  • Release of North Island Severe Weather Event Inquiry
    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 ...
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    2 days ago
  • Justice Minister to attend Human Rights Council
    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 ...
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    3 days ago
  • Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facility
    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 ...
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    3 days ago
  • Speech to the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective Summit, 18 April 2024
    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 ...
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    3 days ago
  • Government to introduce revised Three Strikes law
    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 ...
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    3 days ago
  • New diplomatic appointments
    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 ...
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    3 days ago
  • Humanitarian support for Ethiopia and Somalia
    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 ...
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    3 days ago
  • Arts Minister congratulates Mataaho Collective
    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 ...
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    4 days ago
  • Supporting better financial outcomes for Kiwis
    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 ...
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    4 days ago
  • Trade relationship with China remains strong
    “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 ...
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    4 days ago
  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
    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 ...
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    5 days ago
  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    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 ...
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    6 days ago
  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    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 ...
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    6 days ago
  • Judicial appointments announced
    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 ...
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    6 days ago
  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    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 ...
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    6 days ago
  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    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 ...
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    6 days ago
  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    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 ...
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    6 days ago
  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    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 ...
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    6 days ago
  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    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 ...
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    7 days ago
  • Taupō takes pole position
    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 ...
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    7 days ago
  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    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 ...
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    7 days ago
  • Government backing mussel spat project
    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 - ...
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    7 days ago
  • Government focused on getting people into work
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    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 ...
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    1 week ago
  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    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 ...
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    1 week ago
  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    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 ...
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    1 week ago
  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    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 ...
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    1 week ago
  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    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 ...
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    1 week ago
  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    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 ...
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    1 week ago
  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    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 ...
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    1 week ago
  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
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    1 week ago
  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
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    1 week ago
  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
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    1 week ago
  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
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    1 week ago

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