On supporting the Rugby World Cup

Written By: - Date published: 1:16 pm, June 2nd, 2011 - 113 comments
Categories: music, Satire, youtube - Tags: ,

I seem to vaguely remember hearing in the last couple of days that John Key was calling for people to support the RWC (and his reelection campaign). I could be mistaken because I can’t find it or alternatively that news item has sunk like the expected number of people employed on the cycleway. But I figured I should show my support for the event.

The only problem is that I really don’t have a lot of support to offer, in fact I have a lot of anti-support.

When I was a kid, I played almost every game that was prevalent at the time – including club rugby. But that was something that I did because of the pleasure of doing it, and because my parents appreciated the effects on my growth. I stopped when I was able to do more interesting things like university, being in the army, work, and generally being a adult.

But I’m afraid I’ve never quite grasped the point of having lard-arses who are not playing sitting around squealing with vicarious childish excitement as other people do all of the work. Mostly I look at them and wonder if the supporters are just having a new age moment. Does assiduously watching others exerting effort will somehow transfer its effects to themselves?

Certainly this appears to be the main focus of advertisers where they seem to suggest that I will get the body odor effects of hard exercise from the All Blacks? It doesn’t seem to work for me. I get those effects when I exercise myself rather than having the All Blacks do it for me. When I just sit around watching TV or sitting at a event, I usually just put on weight.

Sure I realize that it is entertainment rather than being anything more serious, but it is also particularly dumb entertainment. And then there are real world effects of others obsessions that I can’t flick off with the remote..

The main thing I notice about the Rugby World Cup is that has been intruding into my life in a noisy and irritating way. It feels rather like having some religious crazy trying to sell me on faith in a book that I’d already read before they were born.

Moreover, Eden park is just over the gully from home, so we’ve been living with the effects of the traffic and construction activity for a while. But in Auckland that is almost background noise. What is annoying are the supporters whose minds have clearly never been exercised by the sport, but whose mouths clearly get far too much exercise – both imbuing and yabbering idiotically at high volumes.

Unfortunately I also live just down from some of the entertainment in Ponsonby and we’re already having the drunken arguments outside the house at 2am about the respective teams. It is a change from the occasional soap operas as boy postures for girl that is our other early morning fare. But at least that is interesting as a soap. Sports commentary by drunks isn’t. I’m expecting to have far more of this both outside my home and from the morons called sports commentators in the media.

So I offer no support for the RWC, and I hope that the damn thing is over sooner rather than later.

But getting to the point of the post. This comedic opinion provided by the Dead Cat Bounce has been the most interesting thing that I’ve seen about rugby in decades.

113 comments on “On supporting the Rugby World Cup ”

  1. Anthony 1

    My main gripe is the amount of people being kicked out of their flats so the landlords can make some money off the RWC.

    The 42 day ‘landlord moving back in’ notices seem to be flavour of the month.

    Because of the rental market they will have no trouble getting tenants afterwards.

  2. John D 2

    That video is brilliant!

    • ianmac 2.1

      +1 🙂

      • John D 2.1.1

        ” ball shaped like a giant testicle” it says in the song

        I am getting worried now. Are they supposed to be that shape?

        • Bunnykinz 2.1.1.1

          You could always ask Bob Clarkson so give you a quick squeeze to make sure they’re the right shape. I have heard he is something of an expert on the subject.

    • marsman 2.2

      A funny video. Gay men will laugh, I know.
      After paying for the RWC hooha tax-payers are now urged to get behind it. What are the returns? Less than zilch it seems, but that’s NAct all over.

      • Jim Nald 2.2.1

        Thanks to National’s incompetence and mismanagement, the losses and debt from this and their other failed policies that may result would be their legacy of a Brokeback Mountain for Kiwi taxpayers to climb.

        • Chris 2.2.1.1

          I’m all for criticizing politicians when they’re shut but I’m not sure how national have mismanaged this? When they came to power it was already pretty set what was happening.

          Not saying that means labour mismanaged either. From a political perspective I don’t see that it has been mishandled.

          • Colonial Viper 2.2.1.1.1

            The mismanagement has come from throwing good public money after bad, subsidising private interests each step of the way with tax cuts etc, and pretending that there will be a pay off for NZ at the end by labelling the money spent as an “investment”.

            This at a time the public is being told to tighten its belt and to expect public services and public sector staffing to be slashed.

      • Morrissey 2.2.2

        True enough, marsman—but let’s not forget it was a Labour government that went all out and actually secured the enormous debt tournament.

        • Jim Nald 2.2.2.1

          When Labour went out to secure the tournament, it was not an inevitable debt but it would, with competence and good management (and a RWC minister who hasn’t been caught napping), have been an opportunity to make some profit and use the event to leverage off many spin-off projects and initiatives.

          McCully’s and co’s handling at many steps of the way have been poor and, quite frankly, really dismal. The eye-rolling “cloud” and tupperwaka have been symptomatic of how not to manage your way through and deliver a significant event. The inertia in deciding and announcing the move of fixtures from Christchurch was badly handled and wasted the time of travel agent and visitors who were trying to plan.

          Oh great, looks like “Kiwi taxpayers face a loss of close to $100 million” – so we have about 90 days lead up to RWC and what will be done to turn things round? (I’m in two minds whether to suggest or generate urgency here .. should Nats be left to wallow in their RWC tomb?) So Nats are good with business? Whose business? What business?

          Let’s await the report card on the government come post-RWC. Labour, Winston, Greens and Mana – are you making notes?

  3. happynz 3

    I quite like to watch sport (not all sport mind you – especially not soccer nor excruciatingly boring motor-racing). I also participate in sport to the extent that my physical ineptness allows me. Work can be grim and boring at times so a little bit of entertainment doesn’t go amiss.

    The media’s ‘call to arms’ to get behind the Rugby World Cup does make me cringe a bit. I’m not the flag-waving sort.

  4. vto 4

    lprent that is a bit disappointing. Imagine if similar had been posted about some gay outfit bazaar. Or perhaps the gaggle of gays comment by O’Connor recently. Or similar about Otara Markets. Or… the list goes on. Smells bigoted. It is reverse red-neckism. Sheesh.

    I thought the left were all about tolerance for their fellow manwoman no?

    • lprent 4.1

      Bearing in mind my behavior pattern not only of banning people but also attempting to humiliate them when their behavior causes me too much effort moderating this site. And you still think that I’m a tolerant person?

      I’m tolerant of people arguing a position. I’m not tolerant of idiot behavior and I’m not shy of saying so.

      That doesn’t mean that I either have to agree with a position partially or fully. I will make up my own mind on everything after I have looked at whatever material is going. You should look closely about what I say about people like Damien O’Connor (nothing as I recall). On some things I will express my opinion quite strongly (Chris Carter for instance). I get regular complaints about it.

      In this case it means that I will respect my brother who is a bit of a sports maniac and makes a living from it. It doesn’t mean that I think it is a particularly good idea being a sports spectator like he sometimes is. I will tolerate him talking about it in the same way that he will tolerate me talking about science or computers.

      But I’m afraid that I draw the line at drunken idiots talking about rugby in the street at 2am. I think that is bad behavior – don’t you? That is the position I’m arguing, and I’m attributing it to the boorish behavior that seems to be associated with a lot of rugby supporters. You’re welcome to disagree.

      And the video is just funny….

      • vto 4.1.1

        Yea partly. The video is funny… in the same way that people make jokes about other races and genders and religions and sexual orientations. And look how upset those various groups get when the mickey is taken out their arses. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for pulling people’s tits. It’s just that so many people seem to get upset at tit pulling yet laugh their own tits off when such humour is directed at people other than them. Hypocrisy of a type.

        And yep anyone yelling in the streets at 2am is a cock-sucker. (may as well get into the swing of things).

        Just pushing the double-standard button that’s all. Doesn’t worry me – get into it I say. Just don’t complain when some other group of people get the mickey taken out of them.

        And on that note… have you heard the one about the maori gaybo riding a horse down Queen Street?

        • stever 4.1.1.1

          Making fun of other people’s free choices and opinions (religion-if it IS a free choice-, sport, dining habits) is OK—might not be popular, or appropriate at some times, or comfortable, but the things we freely choose to do and say (as competent adults) are fair game for criticism and ridicule.

          Things we have no choice over (where we’re born, our orientation, some disability, the colour of our skin, or gender) when ridiculed or argued against in some way is wrong for a competent adult, and such behaviour is rightly criticised.

          Why is it wrong? Because it’s cruel and harmful.

          A video about rugby is surely in the former category.

    • Carol 4.2

      Actually, I thought the video is taking the p**s out of the hard man rugby attitude that uses gay as a term of ridicule -. I’ve seen gay men run a similar line in send-up.

    • felix 4.3

      Haha “reverse red-neckism” v?

      Is that like “reverse stupidity”?

      You must hate those bloody firefighters too v. After all it’s just “reverse arson”.

    • vto, if you think through your position through then the equivalent video clip would involve playing the public’s suspicions of latent heterosexuality at the Big Gay Out (or something) for laughs.

      The problem is that I’m not sure it would get many laughs – and there are a number of reasons for that. Those reasons show why your point doesn’t really ‘scan’.

      I get your sentiment but, by the same token, we shouldn’t make fun of corporate executives who claim they’re innocently running their companies to ‘help society’ or ‘save the environment’. But the fact is that we can (successfully) parody them because of the suspicion that that isn’t their real motive. That’s what so much satire depends upon.

    • Morrissey 4.5

      vto, what the HELL do you mean by “reverse red-neckism”?

      You need to read this…

      http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17052011/#comment-331423

  5. ianmac 5

    The ultimate rugby players are the Golden Oldies. Never before, apart from kids games, have I watched such huge pleasure expressed by big old men plodding around the paddock. When one gets a bit puffed he drags off his jersey and hands it over to someone, anyone standing on the sideline. In the first match a brittle old chap fell, wasn’t pushed, and broke his forearm. One of the team rushed off to the sideline, kicked a beercrate to bits, and rushed back on ready to make a splint. They did get proper medical help for him, the injured him I mean.
    So I think the people to be admired are those who play the game at whatever level, and find the manic spectator hard to figure. The few times that I went to watch a “big match” I spent most of my time just watching the watchers. Fascinating.

  6. I wont be supporting the RWC either.

    One of the reason is the lies coming out the media about how global this thing is.

    The other is in my personal exoperience, Rugby fans dont support other sports.

    Its always the rugby fan that is homophobic and calls a soccer fan a poofter.

    Its always the rugby fan that knocks league.

    Its always the rugby fans that knocks basketball.

    I have never heard a feild hocky fan knock another sport.

    I have never heard a netball fan knock another sport.

    But rugby fans tend to do this, perhaps they have some sort of chip on their shoulder??

    So rugby fans enjoy your rwc, but dont exopect non rugby fans to get behind it, because you guys dont get behind our sports.

    • The Voice of Reason 6.1

      Nicely put, Brett. I like to regularly remind my few rugby head friends that NZ are currently World and Four Nations Champions in league and that was acheived against the odds without massive media/government/industry sponsorship. And that Rugby Union is just a pension enhancing option for league players who can’t hack it anymore.
       
      The facts are straightforward. Rugby has ceased to be a significant player sport in NZ, most rural and provincial clubs are amalgamating or folding, bugger all money comes from on high down to the grass roots and if it wasn’t endlessly on the telly, it would quickly whither and die.
       
      It’s a dangerous, ridiculously complex and desperately boring game, mostly played by people who aren’t hard enough for league or bright enough for football. And speaking of football, god spare us from the thugby fans who think they know about the game they play in heaven. There are more teams than Chelsea or Man U, you dimwitted tools and no, you don’t know the offside rule.
       
      I’ve decided to get out of NZ for the whole thing. I’m moving to Abbottabad, Pakistan in late October for a month or so just to avoid the whole World Cup circus. Doing a home swap with a nice bloke with a rather distinctive Saudi accent. Mind you, he hasn’t been in touch recently … hope there’s nothing wrong?

      • Morrissey 6.1.1

        The Voice of Reason: So you don’t like football. That’s fine. Just say it, but leave out the ridiculous, tortured rationale.

        • The Voice of Reason 6.1.1.1

          I love football, Mozza. Played it all my life and and I’m West Ham Till I Die. It’s rugby union I don’t like.

          • Morrissey 6.1.1.1.1

            You don’t like football. This is New Zealand, my friend. Your reasons are unconvincing, by the way. How much do you know about rugby? Not much, judging by your comments.

            Perhaps you’re a rugby journalist?

            • The Voice of Reason 6.1.1.1.1.1

              Ha, I’d make a great rugby journo. I’d be the only honest one in the press room for a start and the only one not grovelling to the RFU. It amazes me how anything the TV commentators say can be understood, what with their tongues so firmly lodged in Graham Henry’s arse. I’d still eat the free tucker and drink the sponsors product, though, but only out of contempt.
               
              Speaking of Henry, in football, he would have been shown the door years ago with a record that awful. Hell, even having a good season doesn’t always save you from being sacked. You’ve got to actually deliver meaningful silverware not promises.
               
              Is it too late to cancel the whole thing? The rest of the world won’t care, because they don’t know it’s happening anyway.

              • Morrissey

                Why do you think the commentators support Henry? Their comments after the last RWC were extraordinarily vitriolic, and ignorant, just as they were before and after the 1999 tournament.

                Speaking of Henry, in football, he would have been shown the door years ago with a record that awful.

                Henry is “in football”. I’m intrigued about this: would you insist on calling soccer “football” if you were in the United States?

                • The Voice of Reason

                  I think they support Henry because their jobs rely on it. To be fair, though, I’m sure there was criticism after the last RWC when they felt safe to comment because they expected him to be sacked. But they would have returned to type as soon as they realised he was staying on.
                   
                  The language is interesting. I don’t know anyone bar you who refers to rugby as football anymore, though there are plenty in football here who still call that game soccer. Footie in Oz is Rules if you live in Victoria, League if you live on the East Coast. And, of course football is Gridiron in the states. NZ Football has made a conscious effort to go with FIFA’s preferred usage and I think it’s only the States that still formally stick to soccer in their national organisation’s name.
                   
                  One of the great things about football is that you don’t need to know what it’s called or indeed even share a language to play the game. It’s such a simple concept and with only only 11 primary rules compared to Rugby’s labrynthine mess it’s no wonder it remains the world’s favourite game. One of my favourite sporting memories was playing in a Moscow park in a pick up game between two sets of students. Russia vs the Rest of the World (mainly Africa) and I didn’t understand a word anyone said from either team, but still managed to slot into the game without difficulty. Fantastic!

                  • Morrissey

                    The language is interesting. I don’t know anyone bar you who refers to rugby as football anymore..
                    Nonsense. You need to get out more.

                    Footie in Oz is Rules if you live in Victoria…
                    No, it’s football. “Footie” is a puerilization.

                    And, of course football is Gridiron in the states.
                    No, football is football. The gridiron is a slang term for the field.

                    NZ Football has made a conscious effort to go with FIFA’s preferred usage…
                    Actually, that stems from a directive by John “Possumhead” O’Neill. Until then, NZ Football had called itself Soccer New Zealand.

                    Your other comments (about rules, etc.) are all very interesting, and I endorse them wholeheartedly.

                    • Samuel Hill

                      You old fellas might still call rugby “football”, but history and the rest of the world will absolve that.

    • Morrissey 6.2

      Its always the rugby fan that is homophobic and calls a soccer fan a poofter.

      Nonsense. I’m a rugby fan and I have never said that, or thought that, about a soccer fan. Same goes for most rugby fans I know. They are far more informed and generous than you say they are.

      Of course, there are certainly halfwits like Andy Haden, who publicly taunted the dying Lew Pryme as a “mincing poofter”, recently slammed rape victims as “sluts” and told lies about the Canterbury Crusaders having a quota policy for Polynesians. The fact is: some rugby fans and players are like that, and unfortunately a disproportionately large number of rugby commentators certainly say demeaning and ignorant things about all manner of things.

      I’ve snipped the rest of your ridiculous comments.

      By the way: you’ve mis-spelled it’s all the way through your splenetic and untruthful rant.

      • Brett Dale 6.2.1

        I go by my own experiences, the amount of times I have been verbally abuse for liking another sport that isn’t rugby, the amount of times I have heard a rugby fan has been ripping into another sport must be in the hundreds.

        I have yet to hear fans of other codes do this, it seems to be ina rugby fan’s mindset to do this.

        • Pascal's bookie 6.2.1.1

          Certainly Rugby fans in NZ can be pricks about it, but it’s the same all over with dominant sports. In Britain football fans deride minority sports, rugby is a ‘poofters game’ etc. To say that it’s particular to some sort of rugby mindset is just showing the exact behaviour yourself.

          To ask the obvious question, what preparations have been made to stem the expected tide of rugby hooligans, in comparison with a FIFA event?

          —————————

          I stopped playing several years ago, and I don’t watch as much as I used to. I don’t like many of the new rules, as they seem to have changed the game from one that was basically all about a contest for possession, (genuinely contested scrums, lineouts, rucks, and mauls) to one about field position where the rules do most of the protection for you and you only lose possesion through fucking up. It’s a faster game to watch, but it’s a fundamentally different game from what it was. I’m finding the contests to be boring in the way that I find league to be boring. Which is not to say that others can’t like it.

        • Morrissey 6.2.1.2

          I go by my own experiences, the amount of times I have been verbally abuse [sic!] for liking another sport that isn’t rugby, the amount of times I have heard a rugby fan has been ripping into another sport must be in the hundreds.
          I suspect these “hundreds” of people were “ripping into” you and your absurdly bloviated sense of injustice.

          I have yet to hear fans of other codes do this, it seems to be in a rugby fan’s mindset to do this.
          Nonsense. Utter nonsense. Just looking at some of the resentful anti-rugby comments on this thread blows your ridiculous excuse for an argument out of the water.

    • Deadly_NZ 6.3

      not only That Brett you forgot the biggest lie from the media: It’s going to be exciting. Yeah right who effing cares???? it has to be the most boring game, so full of Prima donna’s it’s starting to make English soccer seem more blokey..

      I will be so glad when it’s over and we can get back to sanity with league and cricket.

      how do you make Rugby interesting????

      6 tackles then kick or chase!

      • Morrissey 6.3.1

        how do you make Rugby interesting????
        Good point, my friend. I think for a start, all kicks at goal should be drop-kicks, and a team should not be rewarded for putting the ball out of play, as happens now. Quick throw-ins, and quick KICK-ins as well, in any direction.

        6 tackles then kick or chase!
        That’s not the answer. For all its faults, and there are many, Rugby Union is far more spectacular than Rugby League.

  7. Jim Nald 7

    Wasn’t that a high tackle there ?

    • lprent 7.1

      I thought it was more of a fondle…. 😈

      I tell you what though – that is good comedy.  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at rugby in quite the same way after watching that clip.

      • Jim Nald 7.1.1

        fondle? lemme watch again …

        • Jim Nald 7.1.1.1

          Hmm .. ok, that could be an ambiguous fondle/tackle.

          The best part of the video is the two guys who, unlike the guys playing rugby, are openly kissing: about 1’45”.

          • prism 7.1.1.1.1

            Perhaps we have the opportunity of spawning a new word to ‘fonkle’. Only the in-people who congegrate on The Standard will know this one, and all the rugby types will be bewildered and confused.

      • Bob 7.1.2

        Have you seen the clip that Dead Cat Bounce made on Golf , just as amusing . They are very funny.

        • lprent 7.1.2.1

          Yep. But that is better visually than in the song.

          Even better in the song is the one about the driving instructor with little kids being viewed as obstacles to learning how to drive.

  8. Carol 8

    I thought it was Murray McCully calling for getting beind the RWC.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/5082817/Get-in-behind-Rugby-World-Cup-boss-urges

    One hundred days out from New Zealand’s biggest international event, and after a year overshadowed by tragedy and recession, Rugby World Cup organisers and the Government are uniting in a call to Kiwis to get behind the tournament.

    • Jim Nald 8.1

      Sounds like he has been caught napping until now and was just suddenly being nudged awake. Yesterday.

    • lprent 8.2

      Could have been.

      There was also some travelling troupe that the RWC organizers had wandering the country that Key was involved in.

      It was something on the TV news background noise that I wasn’t paying attention to. At least not until I woke up and started fuming while I was debating leaving the nice warm bed to hurl abuse on the spectator yobs (they staggered off before I decided – the bed was warm).

  9. randal 9

    all the local tory boys on the dole are rooting for ozzy becuz they know if the AB’s lose then the gnats will be zapped.

  10. Maui 10

    lprent: you have my sympathy. I lived through the RWC in Sydney. It turned out that some of the English tourists I met were a lot better behaved than many of the locals – although in Sydney rugby is generally the game of well-bred private schoolboys while aspiring working-class boys play league.

    This too shall pass.

    What worries me is that the next election seems to hang on the fate of the NZRFU national team.

    • lprent 10.1

      I think that is more the political commentators being their usual simplistic selfs. This kind of stuff works well a long way out from the election in the same manner that sports commentators fill the airwaves with idiotic blather when they are in dead time.

      The reality is that voters tend to firm up markedly close to an election when they actually make up their minds and their minds won’t be swayed by minor trivia unless they don’t think that there is much choice (the united future result in 2002 comes to mind as an example of the latter).

      • Maui 10.1.1

        “The reality is that voters tend to firm up markedly close to an election when they actually make up their minds and their minds won’t be swayed by minor trivia unless they don’t think that there is much choice (the united future result in 2002 comes to mind as an example of the latter).”

        Yes, except that this election date is soon after the end of the RWC when emotions may still be high in various swinging electorates.

        How soon ? I’m frankly not sure. Does anyone have the dates ?

      • Treetop 10.1.2

        Key just wants rugby to be an escape from reality. The problem is when the rugby is gone the reality has to be faced.

      • Morrissey 10.1.3

        sports commentators fill the airwaves with idiotic blather when they are in dead time.

        Correction: Sports commentators fill the airwaves with idiotic blather ALL of the time.

  11. M 11

    Lynn

    LMFAO almost ROFLMAO but not quite although my office chair was groaning in protest. Just the pick me up I needed after a hard out day at work – will be forwarding to friends, thank you.

    ‘But I’m afraid I’ve never quite grasped the point of having lard-arses who are not playing sitting around squealing with vicarious childish excitement as other people do all of the work. Mostly I look at them and wonder if the supporters are just having a new age moment. Does assiduously watching others exerting effort will somehow transfer its effects to themselves?’

    Magic words those and they echo my sentiments exactly – the new age thing, priceless!

    • Carol 11.1

      I enjoy watching some rugby on TV, though I’ve lost interest lately. But to me sport is more like watching a live drama unfold. Sometimes I watch it while working out on the exercise machine – so not everyone is sitting & non-active while watching. I gave up going to matches many decades ago. I grew up in a rugby playing & watching family. In my younger days I spent quite a bit of time socialising with rugby players & spectators. As a teenager, I found much of the misogynistic attitudes, and other expressions of conservatism quite offensive.

      I think all the hype and political maneuvering over the RWC has been putting m off rugny generally lately. I enjoy watching some sports matches on TV, but I am not interested in all the pre- & post match hype & discourse. I dislike the way sport has become extensively commodified & usually am not interested in watching those extravagant opening & closing ceremonies – what a massive waste of money that could best be spent elsewhere!

    • lprent 11.2

      Thanks, I think I was inspired by sleep deprivation…

  12. Dr John Robinson on Radio NZ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uRJXcchOWI&feature=channel_video_title

    World Cup don’t come campaign http://ibwswrc.blogspot.com/
    RUGBY WORLD CUP – DON’T COME
    AN ISLAND BAY WORLD SERVICE CAMPAIGN

    At the 2010 ECO AGM a motion was passed “that Island Bay World Service inform ECO member bodies of its Rugby World Cup, don’t come campaign”. Here is that information, introducing the campaign.

    Rugby fans across the world must stay home and watch the games on television, and thus refuse to waste valuable oil and produce tonnes of greenhouse gases just for a game. That unambiguous call will send a clear message to the world to announce that we understand, we care and we are taking action.
    http://ibwswrc.blogspot.com/

  13. burt 13

    lprent

    Great post lprent, and love the clip. I was just explaining to a person reasonably new to kiwiana a few days ago I’m not a Rugby supporter so I’m not really excited about the World cup. For a Kiwi male it’s like coming out of the closet (I imagine) admitting you don’t really give a toss about Rugby.

    • Lanthanide 13.1

      “For a Kiwi male it’s like coming out of the closet (I imagine) admitting you don’t really give a toss about Rugby.”

      Having done both, they really are nothing alike. Sorry.

    • lprent 13.2

      It was a pretty amusing clip. They do have some other good clips out there as well.

      I enjoyed playing rugby when I was playing it. But that was about as far as it went. The RWC just leaves me totally bored with the inanity of the marketing and that just annoys me to active hostility.

      But I have exactly the same feelings about all sport. Enjoy doing it, bored with spectating, and as hostile to marketing it to me as I am to door to door religionist dogma.

      Bu I have always been like that. It was not that much of a hassle even inside my largely sport mad relatives or being a barman in the equally sport crazy public bars of Hamilton

  14. chris73 14

    Yep looking forward to the RWC (less then 100 days now!) but each to their own I say

  15. Zaphod Beeblebrox 15

    For a professional sport Rugby gets a huge amount of taxpayer support. The Auckland and Dunedin ratepayers are shelling out stadiums which will be controlled by non-public entities. Given the poor state of crowds we get for rugby in this country- you can guarantee these stadiums will need further public support unless you could guarnatee them 1/2 a dozen All-Black tests a year.

    You can see the NZRU are heading for big financial problems after the RWC since they simply can’t get enough people to come to games. Pretty sure the government can’t keep propping up the old boys club. Whats the solution? They need to amke the game more fan friendly and acessible IMO- how about a few S15 day games? You can’t take kids to sport in the dark and rain.

    • Morrissey 15.1

      They need to make the game more fan-friendly and accessible IMO- how about a few S15 day games?

      Hear, hear! In fact, how about nearly EVERY game being played in daylight? And certainly no night games after the end of April.

      You can’t take kids to sport in the dark and rain.
      I don’t really think the intellectuals morons running the game even care about the fans. Or the players, who hate the night games.

      • J Mex 15.1.1

        Hmmm, I’m pretty sure the timing of games has more to do with the enormous European television market, and would have been a condition of our bid.

        We would never have won if the UK viewers had to get up at 3am to watch games.

        Commercial/Commercials reality.

        • Morrissey 15.1.1.1

          You’re right, J Mex. Mind you, in balmy October, night games will come across well.

          The real sin against the players and spectators is night games in the middle of winter.

  16. Sam 16

    Didn’t Helen Clark secure New Zealand the rugby world cup? It’s not rugby’s fault that John is using the RWC to hide his shitty policies and shitty government.

    • lprent 16.1

      She did indeed, at considerable effort. Well she was not always right.

      • McFlock 16.1.1

        ” Well she was not always right.”
        bzzt…bzzt…a.Standard.moderator.does.not.100%.support.everything.HC did… bzzt…tory.brain.melting…bzzt…does.not.compute…bzzt…*pop*

        • lprent 16.1.1.1

          There are some who like things simplistic, and definitely prefer not to deal with reality.

          I worked with Helen in her electorate for about 17 years. We always disagreed at some level on most things because our backgrounds and skills were so different. But she was worth supporting, and evidentially I must have been doing a good job. I wound up targeting the local campaigns for much of that period with good results.

          It was always amusing watching the RWNJ’s with their idiotic ideas about her.

      • Morrissey 16.1.2

        In fact, she was often utterly wrong. Remember how she and her party went into panic mode after the Orewa speech by Don Brash? She listened to some genius of a strategist (Paul Holmes’ ex-classmate Mike Williams perhaps?) and swiftly moved to dissociate Labour from too close an association with Maori, lest Labour suffer pillorying from the likes of Leighton Smith, Michael Laws and Paul Holmes. Hence the abolition of “Closing the Gaps”, and unleashing the likes of Trevor Mallard to make demeaning public comments about “overlong and boring” Maori ceremonies. Then she contemptuously dismissed the ensuing Maori protests.

        Have you forgotten her foul and dishonest treatment of refugee Ahmed Zaoui?

        And perhaps most disgustingly of all, she sat back and grinned as Michael Cullen, Mallard and her friend Winston Peters casually and cynically defamed Keith Locke in the House.

  17. jackal 17

    I think this is a particularly difficult topic to gain traction on. There’s the unfortunate effect of sower grapes in attacking National over their obvious electioneering a sporting event. It creates a juxtaposition in that such a widely supported event will be predominantly accepted despite the political taint of corruption. That’s why the left has to be careful on this issue; any criticism could be easily utilized against them.

    Hang on a sec, the neighbors nutting off again. 😈 Now where was I?

    Like yourself lprent, I played rugby and league and was pretty damn good at it, if I do say so myself. However unlike you I enjoy watching a good rugby game. I like to set the bar pretty high on the politics VS sport conundrum, as there are vast benefits to having a sporting nation. There are vast benefits to being principled as well of course.

    What I really don’t enjoy is the huge amounts of commercialisation that has largely overtaken any enjoyable experience available from these sporting events. That’s where I take the bar down again and feel like smacking a few National politicians and media moguls about the head. They have commercialised the RWC for their own purposes effectively making sport play second fiddle to the almighty dollar. National has paid for that whoring with around $500 million taxpayer dollars, removing employment laws, importing cheap labour and generally doing the dirty all over our Natioanl sport.

    The publics going to lap it up… Be sure that you don’t tell them its poison before they start feeling sick.

    • Colonial Viper 17.1

      There’s the unfortunate effect of sower grapes in attacking National over their obvious electioneering a sporting event.

      No real need for the Left to be labelled as “good sports” this election year. Especially when the only families who can go to RWC All Black games in our own country need to be willing and able to spend many hundreds of dollars on tickets alone to do so.

      Ordinary NZ’ers being priced out of eating, living and playing in our own country, why pretend that we like it?

      • jackal 17.1.1

        After reading the comment of PeteG below, I tend to side with your analysis there CV. “The gloves are off.” Perhaps PeteG thinks that a kinder gentler form of fascism is acceptable, or that the some $500 million dollars that taxpayers are stumping up for the RWC is OK! In my book, when you rob the poor to pay for a sporting event for the wealthy, that’s a line in the sand that should not have been crossed. I’m not saying that flower bombing is appropriate in these circumstances, but a good dose of reality in the form of anger might be just what the hobbits need to wake the fuck up!

        • higherstandard 17.1.1.1

          Go for it [name deleted], I look forward to you protesting outside the All Blacks games during the cup………. especially if they lose the game.

          • terryg 17.1.1.1.1

            nice implied threat there.

            last year I went to the AB-vs-dont_gice_a_shit_who game in Hong Kong – my SIL and her husband are mad keen rugby fans. the game was OK, although I cant recall who won.

            Afterwards, however, the behaviour of the drunken hordes of fuckwits (AKA “spectators”) made me truly ashamed to be a kiwi. boorish doesn’t even begin to describe it.

            Having watched that most hilarious video above, I can now posit a hypothesis explaining the aggressive behaviour – its all due to the internalisation of angst over their own repressed homosexuality. this would also nicely explain the rampant, overt homphobia of rugby fans, as evinced by the frequent usage of “faggot” etc. as insults.

            I cant help but wonder how many current or former all blacks have permanent name suppression for violently assaulting their spouses? Its fun to ask that of rugby-heads, but look out for violent responses 🙂

            wrt the RWC itself – fuck the RWC. I cant not support it as I’m, a taxpayer and we’re coughing up the bulk of the dosh (for no aparent reward), but I do hope NZ gets knocked out in the quarter-finals.

            And I’m still confused as to why the 2nd Mangere bridge was required for the RWC – I can only presume the influx of RWC tourists is expected to include their vehicles as well.

            • higherstandard 17.1.1.1.1.1

              No I’m not threatening [name deleted] – but I admit it would be a laugh to see him get a good kicking and have a cry.

              • The Voice of Reason

                Too late, HS, you should have been here yesterday!

                • higherstandard

                  I did have a titter thanks to yours and Eve’s efforts.

                • J Mex

                  “No real need for the Left to be labelled as “good sports” this election year. Especially when the only families who can go to RWC All Black games in our own country need to be willing and able to spend many hundreds of dollars on tickets alone to do so” – CV

                  That will be a winning strategy for the left – Come out against the Rugby world cup.

                  First, Peter Jackson
                  Second, Rugby World Cup

                  Third? Maybe diss the Memory of Sir Ed Hillary?

                  You need to be in the strategy brains trust mate.

    • PeteG 17.2

      I’m a keen rugby supporter too, and also don’t care for the overdose of commercialism, but unfortunately that’s part of any high profile game these days, in any sport.

      I’m interested in the RWC and I’ll follow it keenly, but I haven’t decided if I will see any games live yet, even though I live not far from the new Dunedin stadium.

      Whether you like rugby or sport or commercialism or not, the RWC (as an event) is very important for New Zealand, financially and image-wise.

      As much as I don’t like the commercialism, I detest the attempted politicising of it. If Labour was still in government I bet they would be pushing it as much as they could – or at least they should. It’s not yet another great RW conspiracy.

      It’s coincidental that it happens to be in the same year as an election. The timing of the election is logical and very much as expected and as it should be. Get over it.

      The RWC won’t defeat Labour. They are making a good job of doing that themselves.

      And I – and I expect many others – will be very very pissed off if the RWC is disrupted and adversely affected by political opportunists. It would be like kicking trying to kick the country in the guts. (Reasonable peaceful non-disruptive protest is ok)

      • lprent 17.2.1

        I haven’t seen Labour politicizing the RWC? I wish that they would.

        As far as I’m concerned the state should not be putting ANY money into most sports (as sports) outside of the school-kid level (which does serve some social purpose). There are a few adult sports that do also perform a useful social need – for instance the ones for surf-guards.

        Most of the sports appear to be there entirely for the entertainment industry. If there are state funds put into them, then they should compete with the rest of the entertainment industries rather than running from separate funds as they are now. The amount of state and local govt money that has been pushed into just the upgrades on Eden Park this last year or so would dwarf almost every other levels of support for any other part of the entertainment industry for decades.

        That is the type of political discussion I’d like to see.

        • higherstandard 17.2.1.1

          “Most of the sports appear to be there entirely for the entertainment industry. If there are state funds put into them, then they should compete with the rest of the entertainment industries rather than running from separate funds as they are now.”

          I agree with you completely Lynn (with the odd exception) but can you imagine the howling you’d get if you replaced ‘sports’ with ‘the arts’ ?

          • lprent 17.2.1.1.1

            I really don’t care that much if it is arts or sport or NZ on-air or film commission or whatever.

            It is the silo’ing of such funds that I object to more because of the evident inequities it causes. The amount of state funds that go into sport (including such things as state gambling) completely dwarf those that go to all other types of entertainment. The amount of money that goes into making frigging game shows and reality TV probably dwarfs what is put into airing any other on-screen programmes.

            You could argue a pretty good case that arts that examine local mores and culture have valid place for funding. For instance historical programs like Belich’s series on the Moari wars have been massively influential on our culture. Ditto for such things as museums and art galleries. But at present the silo’ing means that these things are fighting for part of a very small budget while sport takes the bulk of the entertainment money.

            • higherstandard 17.2.1.1.1.1

              “The amount of money that goes into making frigging game shows and reality TV probably dwarfs what is put into airing any other on-screen programmes.”

              I attempt not to think about such things lest I get testy (.. ….well more testy)

        • PeteG 17.2.1.2

          I haven’t seen Labour politicizing the RWC?

          Neither have I. I’m sure most Labourites aware of the importance of getting some sort of return on a major investment – for the country and for their own efforts on bringing it to NZ, without a huge (Labour) government effort it wouldn’t be happening here.

          It tends to be would be radicals on the fringes who are political opportunists, like Hone’s Mum, and the odd one on the blogs.

  18. Sookie 18

    I’ve never liked rugby and the majority of its meatheaded fanboys, and now my rates are paying for a stupid bloody white elephant of a stadium no one really wants, I REALLY don’t like it. I hope the AB’s lose, simply to deprive Smug Key all the faux feel good buzz. Go the Springboks.

  19. tc 19

    Rugby is perfect foil for the NACT, elitist with little of the ‘trickle down’ to where it’s needed to produce the next meads etc. It’s disconnected from it’s roots and has forgotten what makes a strong league/competition, tribalism.

    European football has strength and depth because it allows teams to rise and fall and they all enjoy strong local connections that see them through. In contrast to the NZRU wrecking the NPC and generally having f’all idea about how professional sport actually works.

    Carter and Mccaw are at the end of their careers in terms of being top AB’s so a 5 year contract stifles the next gen players desperately needed…..richie will be injured more often than not and DAN chokes when it matters most.

    Not selecting overseas players is a joke, Brazil has won 5 world cups because they pick their best players not just brazillian based players. I find there’s many comparisons between the incompetence of the government and the NZRU.

    This RWC is a celebration of a boys club game that isn’t global, easy to watch nor our national game IMO as the brand has been devalued by the chumps in charge and if the AB’s don’t win then they only have themselves to blame for reappointing failure in Henry
    and his yes man culture club.

    We were great when we had onfield leaders…..don’t see any leaders just Henrys yes men. Professionalism levelled the playing field and we haven’t stepped up.

    • Morrissey 19.1

      …if the AB’s don’t win then they only have themselves to blame for reappointing failure in Henry
      and his yes man culture club.

      Errr, you’ve forgotten one extremely important factor that just might have something to do with the All Blacks possibly failing to win. The opposition? You do know they have FRANCE in their pool, don’t you?

      • sean maitland 19.1.1

        Yeah but the top two teams get out of their pool anyway, so its a given that both the AB’s and France will qualify for the next round. I think Tonga will relish the chance to bash up the Frenchies and will keep them on their toes for a while, but will still end up getting well beaten. No-one else in the pool will challenge either team.

        • Morrissey 19.1.1.1

          I agree with you. Bear in mind, though, that in 1999, Tonga actually beat France, on that absurd tour which culminated in the 54-7 thrashing by the All Blacks in the last test ever at Athletic Park.

          Fools like Murray Deaker, Wynne “Sensible” Gray and Martin Devlin all seemed to think that would be how France played when they actually made an effort in the World Cup a few months later…

  20. sean maitland 20

    I’m going to 5 games in Wellington and have category A seats for the final. I love that our country is hosting such a big event, and am sure its going to be an awesome time for a lot of NZers.

    Its fine not liking it and being over the media exposure and hype (even though the hype will only increase from here), but the people having a go at it and criticising the fact that we are even having it just come across as being mean-spirited old farts who can’t enjoy themselves.

    People complaining about ticket prices are off the mark too, as the 5 games in the Wellington pool pack only cost $60 each, which is far less than you would be paying for a normal test match ticket.

    The influx of 80,000 tourists is going to be a massive boost for our economy and couldn’t have come at a better time after the proverbial crap our economy has been going through lately.

    My only major gripe is the douchebag companies (airlines, hotels etc) who have put their prices up, and the douchebags trying to rent out their accomodation for astronomical prices while kicking their tenants out for a few weeks – I hope karma comes back and hits them somehow – maybe in the form of their rental properties being trashed.

    • PeteG 20.1

      I don’t agree with trashing property, not even suggesting it, but I agree with the rest of your post.

      • Samuel Hill 20.1.1

        I think a lot of folks are gonna get a shock as to how few people actually turn up.

        • Colonial Viper 20.1.1.1

          Attending the RWC during a global recession? I dont even think that many australians will turn up – at least not as many as the rosy forecasts. Australians are saving at the moment, not spending.

        • Morrissey 20.1.1.2

          Anti-football guy goes down on knees: “Please Lord, make them stay away from the games. I’ll never lust after Nikki Kaye again, Lord, if only you make the people keep away from the RWC. And Judith Collins too. I won’t lust after her from now on. If only you keep the people away from the games, Lord!.”

          • M 20.1.1.2.1

            Nikki Kaye? All right, but Judith Collins as an object of lust?

            The set of Jude’s mouth should serve as a warning to any potential suitor that is unless he’s planning on buying her some leathers.

            • Morrissey 20.1.1.2.1.1

              Judith Collins as an object of lust?

              Yes of course. She has that Rosa Klebb thing happening.

      • sean maitland 20.1.2

        I don’t really agree with it either – just couldn’t think of other ways karma could come back to such people.

        I don’t believe the way to run a good business is by treating clients badly and/or simply as a source of income. They need to get a good deal in return. Some people don’t have morals and/or consciences I guess.

  21. tc 21

    So we reappoint a coach who’s failed to figure out how to beat France and given the history at this tournamnet between us shouldn’t he have had a game plan specifically to counter them ….sorry I’m still not getting it Morrissey.

    Your logic suggests we’ve got france, give up now…..you pay coaches to overcome this (and there’s 3 of them !) but as I see you’ve already got the excuses lines up…..like the NZRU.

    • Pascal's bookie 21.1

      bwahahaha, not this shit again.

      Watch that game again. It’s not the AB coaches’ fault that we were getting penalised again and again and again and France wasn’t. What that means is that France played a blinder and our on-field leadership couldn’t adapt to what the ref was telling them. But criticising the blessed cantab is something the AB fan cannot do, ergo “Blame Henry!’

      Beyond that, since when does the RWC become the be all and end all of judging performance. Union is not soccor. It doesn’t have ‘friendlies’. Which is what happens if you think that winning the rwc is the only thing that counts.

      The RWC doesn’t determine who is the best. Look at the format. It’s clearly not designed to find the ‘best team’. It’s a carnival, enjoy it. If you want to judge a coach, look at their overall win/loss records. Do that, and tell me how henry stacks up.

    • Morrissey 21.2

      So we reappoint a coach who’s failed to figure out how to beat France and given the history at this tournament between us shouldn’t he have had a game plan specifically to counter them ….sorry I’m still not getting it Morrissey.

      Are you seriously trying to suggest that Henry, one of the the most technically brilliant, diligent and well organised coaches ever, didn’t have a game plan for the quarter-final? Where did you get THAT piece of intelligence from?

      Your logic suggests we’ve got france, give up now…..
      That is not what I said at all. What I said was: we’ve got France, and they should be respected. The players and coaches do, of course; the problem is with uninformed boosters posing as rugby journalists.

      you pay coaches to overcome this (and there’s 3 of them !) but as I see you’ve already got the excuses lines up…..like the NZRU.
      What an absurd statement. You’ve completely misconstrued what I wrote.

  22. tc 22

    That’d be the onfield leadership that still gets Henry’s backing as the right bloke for the job and a fat new NZRU contract.

    A real onfield leader like say mourie all those years ago being a classic with haden’s lineout dive, would as you say adjust to the ref’s performance so how do our chances look with that same structure in place from 2007.

    Agree about the format and it being a carnival to enjoy but if you stick with henry, who sticks with Mccaw then as you say it doesn’t matter as the winner’s not the best based on the format so who really cares….lets sit back and enjoy the plastic waka.

    • Pascal's bookie 22.1

      I guess my main point is that the wrc is a really hard tournament to win, and you need luck. From that. I think it is pretty funny that lots of people seem to think that winning a WRC is what we should judge a coach or a team on, rather than their record over time.

      Let’s look at Graham Mourie, rightly regarded as a top AB captain.

      http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=7010

      His performances earned him the captaincy for the tour of France later in the year, and that drawn two test series would be the first of six encounters against the Cockerels….

      ….In partnership with legendary coach Jack Gleeson, Graham orchestrated victories over all four home nations, and was named player of the tour. In 1979 the French arrived in New Zealand and were able to draw the series 1-1 with Graham blaming the second test loss on lineout problems. That game saw Mourie score the first of four test tries when he capitalised on good work by Murray Taylor near the end of the game. However, the season ended rather disappointingly when he captained the All Blacks to a 12-6 defeat in Sydney, their first loss on Australian soil for thirty years.

      Nowadays that would be considered a failure. A drawn series against france in france, and another in NZ, and a loss to the then awful aussies in Sydney.

      • sean maitland 22.1.1

        Clearly tc never actually watched Mourie play and is just pulling stuff out of a hat without thinking people might know better.

        One needs to look no further than what Clive Woodward achieved with England over two World Cups to see what investment in a coach can achieve. They have only ever beaten the AB’s in NZ twice in the history of the game and they managed it once during that purple patch.

        • Morrissey 22.1.1.1

          One needs to look no further than what Clive Woodward achieved with England over two World Cups to see what investment in a coach can achieve.

          Sean, you should take care to not over-praise Woodward. The strength of that England team was due to the leadership on the field of a small group of exceptional players—Johnson above all, and his inspiring lieutenants Dallaglio, Back, and Wilkinson. As we saw only too clearly on the Lions tour in 2005, Woodward was neither tactically astute nor particularly good at man-management.

  23. Craig 23

    Me, I only watch rugby if the Crusaders are playing (it’s genetic- I’m from ChCh originally). I’m more into Super 15 than AB stuff. And while I hate to be disloyal, what if we end up losing the forthcoming RWC, again…??? Oooh. No economic spin- oops, sorry, I meant spin *off* (although, come to think of it…) for N/ACT. Hmmmm…

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    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Funding hole for tax cuts growing by the day
    The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Luxon’s brave climate change promise
    The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles  and that ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
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