The Trevor and Shearer thing! God give us patience!
Shearer (correctly) complains that he should be consulted on the selection of a New Speaker.
Then Shearer back’s Trevor’s attempt to become speaker by the ruse of hoping the other side are not there to vote because they are not aware he is running.
Let us for one moment imagine Trevor had won via this childish ruse. What message about Labour would it have sent to country?
That we are clever dicks who can sneak around procedure?
That we say on thing and do the opposite?
That we can win and bugger the consequences?
We have seen in these pages some of Trevor’s proxies and Mike Smith put forward procedural reasons why the Leadership Selection should not go the the Members and Unions. We will see more of this nonsense.
Stupid is what stupid does. What little credibility Trevor had has now been flushed away. And this man is our Leader’s Chief Strategist!
No wonder we can’t budge our poll number despite Key and his mob’s antics.
It’s certainly symptomatic of a serious disconnect.
It reminds me of when the ministerial “perks” were revealed to the public. The leadership team (and many on here) never really ‘got’ what those receipts revealed about the Labour Party to the public, and the damage done.
They never got that Labour is supposed to be different. Labour ministers living ‘lifestyles of the rich and famous, feeling completely entitled, endlessly explaining and whining and feeling aggrieved that National doing the same weren’t getting anywhere near the stick for it. Well newsflash, National troughers were being completely true to their actual values, and everyone knew it. Labour was and is supposed to be representing something different. Something better actually.
” Labour was and is supposed to be representing something different. Something better actually”
Spot on, Just Saying. Certainly “symptomatic”!
There is a small group that just does not get it. Their removal is critical for the party to get out of the rut is is in. Roll on a member and union engagement in the leadership selection. Only that “hui” will lance the boil.
My bog-Irish Gran born into what was little more than a mud hut in County Clare bless Her soul admonished me as a child never to speak ill of the dead,
So i wont, but believe me i have to overcome some strong internal urges to stay true to what She taught me…
I was taught that as well but I’ve never really understood why. If some one was an arsehole then obviously it would be better to accept that truth than to try to hide from it.
After Jock Hobbs died, everyone went on about how he was such a great rugby player, blah blah blah. Narry a mention of his shady business dealings, from wikipedia:
He was also a director of finance company Strategic Finance, which was placed in receivership in March 2010. The Financial Markets Authority is investigating the records of this company.[4] The Financial Markets Authority stopped its probe into Mr Hobbs role after medical information provided on behalf of Mr Hobbs disclosed the extent of his illness; the investigation into other living parties involved with Strategic Finance continues.
What a hypocrite Lanthanide, you are so quick to correct people here yet have no trouble slandering someone else ‘now dead’ with unsubstantiated allegations.
Being under investigation doesn’t happen to just anyone, you know. A lot of people lost money by investing in the company he was a director of.
Did he have any personal culpability? Looks like we’ll never know for sure, since they called off the investigation in his dealings, although it continues for the other directors.
Compare the complete lack of mention of this about Jock Hobbs with the 4-minute recap I saw on Holmes last night, where they played the audio of him calling Kofi Annan a cheeky darkie. The treatment of Holmes was balanced, the treatment of Jock was not.
“Being under investigation doesn’t happen to just anyone, you know.”
There you go again, what’s that meant to mean? if your under investigation your guilty? or must be you know?
All I know is your slandering a dead man that can no longer defend himself, throwing stones at people that can’t defend themselves is cowardly.
And talking about Balance in the media is also a joke, who pays the medias wages? The marketers/advertisers thats who, what do they want? Consumers to buy their products, but first they need there attention, how do they get there attention. Sensationalism not balance.
It’s a timing thing, I reckon. Mostly because the family needs a bit of time to grieve for the person they loved before having people start up with the negative.
Ah, in the small closed village atmosphere of my Gran’s time word of what you had said would quickly spread and you would be in danger of making enemies among the family of the deceased where befor you only had friends,
My Gran was full of interesting takes on historical events which She would impart freely after a few gins in Her thickest of Irish accents,
Included among these pearls of wisdom was Her swearing oaths that the current Royal family has in it’s fairly recent gene pool the off-spring born from the loins of an Irish chamber maid, brought into such ‘service’ because a particular Queen seemed unable to deliver to the King a son,
Who would have thunk it, the descendants of an Irish ‘piss-pot emptier’ sitting on the Royal throne of all the Britt’s…
Ah, in the small closed village atmosphere of my Gran’s time word of what you had said would quickly spread and you would be in danger of making enemies among the family of the deceased where befor you only had friends,
Dunno why. I would have said exactly the same thing before they died. And that is the point: Why say something different after they died? That just comes across as dishonest and craven.
LOLZ luckily you didn’t come across the old girl in Her prime then, according to my Mother (who had first hand experience) the Gran could and did brawl like a man and would happily go toe to toe with anyone, insinuating that She was craven or dishonest to Her face would have been to run the risk of Her inflicting some serious damage to your’s…
Well in my initial comment above, I certainly didn’t contradict anything I have said or thought previously about Holmes. I think there is a time for criticism, and right now is the time for his friends and family.
s I get older, I am very aware of more and more people dying who are younger than me, – Holmes was a fraction younger than me. It kind of shocks me, and makes me feel sad when people go relatively young (Steve Jobs, Whitney Houston, various teenagers killed in car crashes, over doses, natural disasters, etc.)
It also reminds me we all live under a death sentence.
For a public personality or achiever who I respected and valued, I would have been more likely to write a post commemorating their life, rather than just express condolences. Very often, it is what is not said that is significant.
“I was taught that as well but I’ve never really understood why.”
Exactly! To me, it’s just hypocrisy. It was my Scottish mother who taught me the same, but her hypocrisy made me vomit at my father’s funeral – “No, we never had a cross word” she said in a syrupy voice. I think everyone present knew differently.
Paul Holmes was not a great guy. I am sorry that he’s dead at such a young age, but that doesn’t suddenly make him a plaster saint.
With Labour’s leadership vote due to happen on Monday, I’ve been thinking about writing to my local MP. I realise this is a touchy subject, and I don’t want my lobbying to be counter-productive, so it will need to be customised. I find it all the more difficult knowing that he and his colleagues consider people like me to be extremist nutters, and this will colour his reception of my words.
When I wrote to him previously on another matter, his first response was to ignore me. I recently reread that whole correspondance with a view to doing better in the future. Although by email number three he was no longer simply trying to fob me off, I came away from reviewing the emails feeling angry that it was so hard to engage him in the first place. My original (ignored) email was polite, self-disclosing, and heart felt. I told him how I had been hurt by the issue at hand. He never should have ignored it, and I wonder how I could have gotten him to listen – not necessarily agree, but to hear me out. It feels a little bit like trying to communicate with a family member who has joined a closed cult, in the sense that having closed ranks against people like me, any effort I make could be so easily elicit a counterproductive defensive rearguard re-action.
just saying – without going into all the details I have every reason to empathise with your personal and painful experience. It is these so-called “little matters” that really count in the end.
john key told Shearer to put a bell on Cunliffe so he can hear him coming(much mirth from the girls and boys in blue) methinks he should do the same to s joyce who seems to be making himself over.Less condescension,less snarling,perhaps a hair style change(hard to tell that one but it looks a little different) maybe lost a little weight,engaging in conversation on radio instead of shooting down etc. Dunno,he just seems different.Going for the statesman persona? Listen for the bell key!
Gotta agree with you Chris, i thought after seeing Joyce on tv that he had softened his
know all attitude and intimidating ways to one of smoking a peace pipe elequently in so
far as actually listening to what people say with regards to the happless novapay saga.
I wouldn’t like to be in the shoes of those idiots inside the nact govt that signed it off,
knowing full well it was a broken system and a dog,according to Joyce.
The ministers that signed it off should pay for the cost of fixing it or establishing a new system,deduct their salaries,or fire them.
Joyce next Nact leader then ?
yep, is my guess. I reckon sometime this year or early next, to try and reinvigorate the nats before the next election. They’re sinking and they need a flotation device.
Nats going to feel some real pain soon re Novopay the twitasphere is digesting the infodump released today. Alas i feel Mr Key will swear in public soon and poof its all gone…
Many murderers do not serve out their sentence, dying in
prison, many do not lose all kin, many do not lose
all wealth, many do not lose the opportunity to have
kids when young, but David Bain has lost all that,
and more, publicity will dog him for the rest of his
life, but worse, he was also found NOT GUILTY.
Key panders to the nastiness in all of us, Key is making
us a nastier nation, Key has no conscience. The principle
is clear, a civil standard does not attract a prison sentence.
Justice Binnie declare David Bain innocent on balance.
Justice Minister has obviously allowed her own political
needs to infer in my opinion, and the opinion of many.
Even Rodney Hide points out 12 errors in the Police
collection of evidence. The idea that any freedom loving
country could jail someone for that long, without a fail trial,
frustrate in their appeals, and now hounded even more some
modest compensation – has Key seen the prices of housing!!!
want to play. Blind Mans’ Bluff mice
read ’em and weep around those deckchairs
Magogs and Golgothas cross swords once more
earwigs around The Faraway Tree
thread the Stradavarian bow
beneath those Nikau charms of doubtful sounds
know our Peking pedigree. Hells Bells.suite
The Judge is standing at the door;
that’s a guarantee. No no no Leppard
He’s a pinball Wizard, there has to be a trick
I have a question for the more financially literate out there. Is the value of the New Zealand dollar based on the amount of currency in circulation OR the amount of currency in total? eg: hypothetically $1 Billion in circulation, OR $500 million in circulation + $500 million in reserve.
If it is the 500 + 500 version, what is to stop the government printing money to drive the value down, but not putting it into circulation?
NB the value of the NZD is not overly driven by supply, it is driven mostly by speculative expectations and (non trade) demand.
Forgive my ignorance, but how will not putting the currency in circulation make any impact on the value of the currency?
It’s a psychology thing – if people know that a flood of supply might be released shortly, it will suppress pricing.
Like the Government announcing an immediate build of 100,000 houses. House prices can be suppressed before earth for the 1st house is even broken. (As long as the build announcement is credible of course).
Ok, the NZ$ is based upon our exports which have now taken the place of gold as the standard,one of it’s problems is that as a small currency it is not pegged to the major currencies of the major economies a situation brought about by Sir(spit)Roger Douglas in all His Neo-Liberal wisdom,(none evident),
The NZ$ is thus a free floating dollar which besides being valued as per what the link above says is also valued by ‘demand’, so, as most of what we export is sold into the international markets on the basis of US$,s to bring this money back to New Zealand it must be then converted to NZ$,s,
In step the international Banksters who when demand for NZ produce goes up and prices of that produce rise have already got in first and bought up NZ$,s and as demand for them increases the price NZ producers must pay to convert US$,s to NZ$,s rises, thus the international banking cartels ‘clip the ticket’ of all our exports via the free floating NZ$,
The same banking cartels, as much of this trade in produce is bought and sold on ‘forward contracts’ also get to play with such produce on the demand side by simply bidding up the price of such produce six months or a year ahead of it’s actual production such cartels then have the inside knowledge of what the demand for the NZ$ will be in 12 months time and only need wait for a dip in the price of the NZ$,s by as little as 1 cent to make millions of dollars from both the actual purchase of future production and by purchasing the right amount of NZ$,s well ahead of the actual production having taken place,
The NZ$ is hence the 10th most traded currency of all the worlds currencies and there seems to be only 2 solutions apparent, the first being to ‘fix’ the value of the NZ$ against the worlds major currencies, or, print and spend into the local NZ economy amounts of money which gradually increase the supply of NZ$,s by producing assets such as housing that remain in NZ as opposed to attempting to produce even more product for sale on the international markets which would simply lead to more of the same,
Such dilution of the NZ$ could easily be accomplished by simply diluting the NZ$ by the spending of printed monies into the NZ economy at such a rate so as to hold inflation within the Reserve Banks inflationary target band of 1 to 3% inflation in any given year, not rocket science for the bean counters….
not wanting to speak ill of dead cows yet when I grazed the cheapest supermarket this week for some protein, the cheapest beef that was unprocessed (other than mince) was stir-fry at 19-something dollars a freakin kilo: I went with free range eggs, 3 meals from a dozen!
Interesting. My boss and his wife have just come back from a holiday in Vanuatu where one of their biggest exports is beef. Now, we constantly get lectured how we must ‘pay the international price’ for things like dairy products and met, so I was wondering just how my boss got away with paying $19/kg for fillet steak?
Not discounted. Normal supermarket price.
In fact, ALL the meat was well below the prices we pay here in NZ.
LOLZ you been robbed bro, Pack and Slave where i did the weekly on Wednesday had 1.1KG of corned beef for $6.80 and along with that i got a 500gram prime beef rolled roast for 11 bucks,
That’s about the day i listened to the bloke from the Fed say that farmers in Canterbury and the East coast of the North Island were de-stocking in the face of drought conditions,
ill spoken of dead cows seems to be wherever you are uncalled for wishing the same fate upon the owners of said market would seem to be more to the point…
Welcome, just as a afterthought, the scale of the field upon which this little money go round is played is easily ‘seen’ when we consider that the total export market is some 40 billion dollars a year,
I havn’t got the figures for current values/volumes of dairy products on hand but even if that were half of total exports you can then see how easy for the banking cartels it is to insinuate themselves into the middle of the equation to make a buck from essentially doing nothing,
Just one of them Goldman Saches (sacks of gold man) has a reported 100 billion languishing in the tank in the basement on any given day…
When you say “value of the NZ dollar” do you mean locally or in relation to other currencies. A dollar will always be worth a dollar locally, but how much you can buy with that dollar will depend on inflation. However the value in terms of other currencies, or the3 “exchange rate” depends on the supply and demand for NZ dollars and may bear no relation to its local value.
Well since the vote hasn’t actually been held yet claims of a 100% vote are of course speculative.
Nevertheless, the secret ballot held after Conference last year gave Shearer 100% support (how did that number get out?), and nothing dramatic has changed since then.
Its because blubber boy pads his numbers with guns, and dirty girls , and bullshit stories about BK, in the search engines. Most normal people run screaming for the shower, after reading one page of his vitriol, and hate mongering.
so why do you have to tout and linkwhore for him?
Methinks you doth protest to much.
Best case, the tory blogsites are indeed using stats consistent with reality, but you have such low self esteem you need to wander of here and swing your dick around.
Worst case, the stats are full of shit or comparing the popularity of actual debate with tory tripe.
Best case, the tory blogsites are indeed using stats consistent with reality, but you have such low self esteem you need to wander of here and swing your dick around.
– Jealousy will get you nowhere
Worst case, the stats are full of shit or comparing the popularity of actual debate with tory tripe
-There seems to be something about lefties and not accepting poll results if they go against them…
Just pointing out that people who have a low level of self-esteem sometimes compensate by gloating about a perceived superiority over others.
Going “ha ha, we’re on the winning team” at kiwiblog would be one thing. Coming here suggests that we’re not the only people you’re trying to prove a point to.
“like the Right have 5x the page views of The Standard.”
Maybe it’s because The Standard is so good at driving people away! (I am back for the 1st time in 5 months, since QoT banned me temporarily. I discovered then how much more peaceful I felt without the daily nastiness here.)
Now I am back, I am not staying!
It’s as if no time has passed – everyone still hates Shearer, and everyone is still so relentlessly middle class.
Please don’t lie, Vicky. You are specifically banned from my posts only. You were banned for the sum total of a week by lprent back in November for posting a series of childish comments on my posts.
I’m guessing WhaleSpew gets so many clicks because it puts everything in very simple terms, offers absolutely no analysis, and makes anyone who posts more than three consecutive words feel like a mental giant. His contributions are all cut and paste, with a bit of gun porn thrown in, and some crap now and then about how tough he is. Usage of insults like “cocksmoker” also goes down well with his audience, as do calls to be tougher on crims, bring back the death sentence, and calling anyone he disagrees with a “dud root”. His political philosophy is about as sophisticated as Forrest Gump’s, except that in his case the “wisdom” comes from daddy. In fact, he reminds a lot of a Forrest Gump who took up eating instead of running. In short, it’s a place for keyboard warriors to air their prejudices now that they might get called on it in wider society. It’s not as easy to spout off about mowrees, queers, dykes, and boongers in public bars as it used to be, and thank Cloacina for that.
The Standard, on the other hand, has some very thoughtful and well constructed posts, with not much cutting and pasting at all. Even though most of the posters here are a bit to my right, I can always make sense of what they post and appreciate the thought that’s gone into their contribution. Then there are Chris73 and King Kong, probably both dud roots and/or cocksmokers, to put it in language they’d understand.
I suspect it is simply because we don’t bother just pushing pages and especially images to overseas audiences. We have a almost entirely and steadily growing NZ audience of humans.
I just find it curious that WO got about 800k page views in December, and then suddenly in the slowest month in the year; Jan; he gets a 20% increase? FFS the humans in NZ are somnolent f most of the month and barely near a computer.
It could happen I guess if you spent time pushing stuff on Digg or something similar to an overseas audience. But who could really be bothered pushing NZ politics though the SEO
I suppose WO is more concerned with pushing the advertising revenue than anything else. By it is meaningless otherwise.
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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track 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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
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The Trevor and Shearer thing! God give us patience!
Shearer (correctly) complains that he should be consulted on the selection of a New Speaker.
Then Shearer back’s Trevor’s attempt to become speaker by the ruse of hoping the other side are not there to vote because they are not aware he is running.
Let us for one moment imagine Trevor had won via this childish ruse. What message about Labour would it have sent to country?
That we are clever dicks who can sneak around procedure?
That we say on thing and do the opposite?
That we can win and bugger the consequences?
We have seen in these pages some of Trevor’s proxies and Mike Smith put forward procedural reasons why the Leadership Selection should not go the the Members and Unions. We will see more of this nonsense.
Stupid is what stupid does. What little credibility Trevor had has now been flushed away. And this man is our Leader’s Chief Strategist!
No wonder we can’t budge our poll number despite Key and his mob’s antics.
It’s certainly symptomatic of a serious disconnect.
It reminds me of when the ministerial “perks” were revealed to the public. The leadership team (and many on here) never really ‘got’ what those receipts revealed about the Labour Party to the public, and the damage done.
They never got that Labour is supposed to be different. Labour ministers living ‘lifestyles of the rich and famous, feeling completely entitled, endlessly explaining and whining and feeling aggrieved that National doing the same weren’t getting anywhere near the stick for it. Well newsflash, National troughers were being completely true to their actual values, and everyone knew it. Labour was and is supposed to be representing something different. Something better actually.
Crikey
http://www.smh.com.au/world/just-217-left-in-the-bank-as-zimbabwe-faces-crisis-20130131-2dnnv.html
Now that really is a crooked ruling elite.
That’s interesting, coz it seems Mugabe himself may be worth over $1B….seems someone has been taking from the country’s till?
http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/22422
And I read somewhere else that Mugabe and the Chinese are co-operating in a hundred billion dollar diamond mine in Zimbabwe. Where’s the moolah going?
Funny, I read Mugabe and the Chinese had developed a multi-hundred billion dollar diamond mine.
Where’s all the money?
hawaii?
” Labour was and is supposed to be representing something different. Something better actually”
Spot on, Just Saying. Certainly “symptomatic”!
There is a small group that just does not get it. Their removal is critical for the party to get out of the rut is is in. Roll on a member and union engagement in the leadership selection. Only that “hui” will lance the boil.
Sir Paul Holmes; gone.
Condolences to his family and friends.
RIP, Sir Paul. He certainly had an impact on NZ.
My bog-Irish Gran born into what was little more than a mud hut in County Clare bless Her soul admonished me as a child never to speak ill of the dead,
So i wont, but believe me i have to overcome some strong internal urges to stay true to what She taught me…
I was taught that as well but I’ve never really understood why. If some one was an arsehole then obviously it would be better to accept that truth than to try to hide from it.
Agreed.
After Jock Hobbs died, everyone went on about how he was such a great rugby player, blah blah blah. Narry a mention of his shady business dealings, from wikipedia:
What a hypocrite Lanthanide, you are so quick to correct people here yet have no trouble slandering someone else ‘now dead’ with unsubstantiated allegations.
Being under investigation doesn’t happen to just anyone, you know. A lot of people lost money by investing in the company he was a director of.
Did he have any personal culpability? Looks like we’ll never know for sure, since they called off the investigation in his dealings, although it continues for the other directors.
Compare the complete lack of mention of this about Jock Hobbs with the 4-minute recap I saw on Holmes last night, where they played the audio of him calling Kofi Annan a cheeky darkie. The treatment of Holmes was balanced, the treatment of Jock was not.
“Being under investigation doesn’t happen to just anyone, you know.”
There you go again, what’s that meant to mean? if your under investigation your guilty? or must be you know?
All I know is your slandering a dead man that can no longer defend himself, throwing stones at people that can’t defend themselves is cowardly.
And talking about Balance in the media is also a joke, who pays the medias wages? The marketers/advertisers thats who, what do they want? Consumers to buy their products, but first they need there attention, how do they get there attention. Sensationalism not balance.
It’s a timing thing, I reckon. Mostly because the family needs a bit of time to grieve for the person they loved before having people start up with the negative.
Ah, in the small closed village atmosphere of my Gran’s time word of what you had said would quickly spread and you would be in danger of making enemies among the family of the deceased where befor you only had friends,
My Gran was full of interesting takes on historical events which She would impart freely after a few gins in Her thickest of Irish accents,
Included among these pearls of wisdom was Her swearing oaths that the current Royal family has in it’s fairly recent gene pool the off-spring born from the loins of an Irish chamber maid, brought into such ‘service’ because a particular Queen seemed unable to deliver to the King a son,
Who would have thunk it, the descendants of an Irish ‘piss-pot emptier’ sitting on the Royal throne of all the Britt’s…
Dunno why. I would have said exactly the same thing before they died. And that is the point: Why say something different after they died? That just comes across as dishonest and craven.
LOLZ luckily you didn’t come across the old girl in Her prime then, according to my Mother (who had first hand experience) the Gran could and did brawl like a man and would happily go toe to toe with anyone, insinuating that She was craven or dishonest to Her face would have been to run the risk of Her inflicting some serious damage to your’s…
If she couldn’t say the same thing about a person before and after that person died then the brawling would just show how weak she was.
LOL only to the effete…
Exactly. There’s a whole dimension to human relationships here that go beyond the rational.
Well in my initial comment above, I certainly didn’t contradict anything I have said or thought previously about Holmes. I think there is a time for criticism, and right now is the time for his friends and family.
s I get older, I am very aware of more and more people dying who are younger than me, – Holmes was a fraction younger than me. It kind of shocks me, and makes me feel sad when people go relatively young (Steve Jobs, Whitney Houston, various teenagers killed in car crashes, over doses, natural disasters, etc.)
It also reminds me we all live under a death sentence.
For a public personality or achiever who I respected and valued, I would have been more likely to write a post commemorating their life, rather than just express condolences. Very often, it is what is not said that is significant.
We are all born under a death sentence. Usually with no knowledge whatsoever of when it will be carried out.
“I was taught that as well but I’ve never really understood why.”
Exactly! To me, it’s just hypocrisy. It was my Scottish mother who taught me the same, but her hypocrisy made me vomit at my father’s funeral – “No, we never had a cross word” she said in a syrupy voice. I think everyone present knew differently.
Paul Holmes was not a great guy. I am sorry that he’s dead at such a young age, but that doesn’t suddenly make him a plaster saint.
I shed a tear on the passing of Sir Paul Holmes. There is a family link of sorts.
My deepest and sincere condolence to his immediate and extended family.
With Labour’s leadership vote due to happen on Monday, I’ve been thinking about writing to my local MP. I realise this is a touchy subject, and I don’t want my lobbying to be counter-productive, so it will need to be customised. I find it all the more difficult knowing that he and his colleagues consider people like me to be extremist nutters, and this will colour his reception of my words.
When I wrote to him previously on another matter, his first response was to ignore me. I recently reread that whole correspondance with a view to doing better in the future. Although by email number three he was no longer simply trying to fob me off, I came away from reviewing the emails feeling angry that it was so hard to engage him in the first place. My original (ignored) email was polite, self-disclosing, and heart felt. I told him how I had been hurt by the issue at hand. He never should have ignored it, and I wonder how I could have gotten him to listen – not necessarily agree, but to hear me out. It feels a little bit like trying to communicate with a family member who has joined a closed cult, in the sense that having closed ranks against people like me, any effort I make could be so easily elicit a counterproductive defensive rearguard re-action.
just saying – without going into all the details I have every reason to empathise with your personal and painful experience. It is these so-called “little matters” that really count in the end.
john key told Shearer to put a bell on Cunliffe so he can hear him coming(much mirth from the girls and boys in blue) methinks he should do the same to s joyce who seems to be making himself over.Less condescension,less snarling,perhaps a hair style change(hard to tell that one but it looks a little different) maybe lost a little weight,engaging in conversation on radio instead of shooting down etc. Dunno,he just seems different.Going for the statesman persona? Listen for the bell key!
Snigger
The question is though how long does John Key actually want the job? More likely is he is helping groom Joyce to take over.
Gotta agree with you Chris, i thought after seeing Joyce on tv that he had softened his
know all attitude and intimidating ways to one of smoking a peace pipe elequently in so
far as actually listening to what people say with regards to the happless novapay saga.
I wouldn’t like to be in the shoes of those idiots inside the nact govt that signed it off,
knowing full well it was a broken system and a dog,according to Joyce.
The ministers that signed it off should pay for the cost of fixing it or establishing a new system,deduct their salaries,or fire them.
Joyce next Nact leader then ?
yep, is my guess. I reckon sometime this year or early next, to try and reinvigorate the nats before the next election. They’re sinking and they need a flotation device.
Nats going to feel some real pain soon re Novopay the twitasphere is digesting the infodump released today. Alas i feel Mr Key will swear in public soon and poof its all gone…
http://t.co/M6KMYfAU summary of info of NOVOPAY
Many murderers do not serve out their sentence, dying in
prison, many do not lose all kin, many do not lose
all wealth, many do not lose the opportunity to have
kids when young, but David Bain has lost all that,
and more, publicity will dog him for the rest of his
life, but worse, he was also found NOT GUILTY.
Key panders to the nastiness in all of us, Key is making
us a nastier nation, Key has no conscience. The principle
is clear, a civil standard does not attract a prison sentence.
Justice Binnie declare David Bain innocent on balance.
Justice Minister has obviously allowed her own political
needs to infer in my opinion, and the opinion of many.
Even Rodney Hide points out 12 errors in the Police
collection of evidence. The idea that any freedom loving
country could jail someone for that long, without a fail trial,
frustrate in their appeals, and now hounded even more some
modest compensation – has Key seen the prices of housing!!!
want to play. Blind Mans’ Bluff mice
read ’em and weep around those deckchairs
Magogs and Golgothas cross swords once more
earwigs around The Faraway Tree
thread the Stradavarian bow
beneath those Nikau charms of doubtful sounds
know our Peking pedigree. Hells Bells.suite
The Judge is standing at the door;
that’s a guarantee. No no no Leppard
He’s a pinball Wizard, there has to be a trick
(been weeding. Whats for lunch.Dock? dandelion roots tea)
from the Ark Ives- http://www.storytime.net.nz/product/66998-TeRongoaMaoriMaoriMedicine-9780143011361.
-pre Fab sprout (ride the 3:10 to Yuma)
0bit
gone gently into that good night
fashionably flying at speed by light
seven pointed bulletin filed in Time
I have a question for the more financially literate out there. Is the value of the New Zealand dollar based on the amount of currency in circulation OR the amount of currency in total? eg: hypothetically $1 Billion in circulation, OR $500 million in circulation + $500 million in reserve.
If it is the 500 + 500 version, what is to stop the government printing money to drive the value down, but not putting it into circulation?
Forgive my ignorance, but how will not putting the currency in circulation make any impact on the value of the currency?
NB the value of the NZD is not overly driven by supply, it is driven mostly by speculative expectations and (non trade) demand.
It’s a psychology thing – if people know that a flood of supply might be released shortly, it will suppress pricing.
Like the Government announcing an immediate build of 100,000 houses. House prices can be suppressed before earth for the 1st house is even broken. (As long as the build announcement is credible of course).
OK now your asking for a lecture, but, rather than me sit here typing for the next 3 days read this link below 3 or 4 times very slowly,
http://www.rualnewsgroup.co.nz/…news/why-does-the-new-zealand-dollar...
Ok, the NZ$ is based upon our exports which have now taken the place of gold as the standard,one of it’s problems is that as a small currency it is not pegged to the major currencies of the major economies a situation brought about by Sir(spit)Roger Douglas in all His Neo-Liberal wisdom,(none evident),
The NZ$ is thus a free floating dollar which besides being valued as per what the link above says is also valued by ‘demand’, so, as most of what we export is sold into the international markets on the basis of US$,s to bring this money back to New Zealand it must be then converted to NZ$,s,
In step the international Banksters who when demand for NZ produce goes up and prices of that produce rise have already got in first and bought up NZ$,s and as demand for them increases the price NZ producers must pay to convert US$,s to NZ$,s rises, thus the international banking cartels ‘clip the ticket’ of all our exports via the free floating NZ$,
The same banking cartels, as much of this trade in produce is bought and sold on ‘forward contracts’ also get to play with such produce on the demand side by simply bidding up the price of such produce six months or a year ahead of it’s actual production such cartels then have the inside knowledge of what the demand for the NZ$ will be in 12 months time and only need wait for a dip in the price of the NZ$,s by as little as 1 cent to make millions of dollars from both the actual purchase of future production and by purchasing the right amount of NZ$,s well ahead of the actual production having taken place,
The NZ$ is hence the 10th most traded currency of all the worlds currencies and there seems to be only 2 solutions apparent, the first being to ‘fix’ the value of the NZ$ against the worlds major currencies, or, print and spend into the local NZ economy amounts of money which gradually increase the supply of NZ$,s by producing assets such as housing that remain in NZ as opposed to attempting to produce even more product for sale on the international markets which would simply lead to more of the same,
Such dilution of the NZ$ could easily be accomplished by simply diluting the NZ$ by the spending of printed monies into the NZ economy at such a rate so as to hold inflation within the Reserve Banks inflationary target band of 1 to 3% inflation in any given year, not rocket science for the bean counters….
not wanting to speak ill of dead cows yet when I grazed the cheapest supermarket this week for some protein, the cheapest beef that was unprocessed (other than mince) was stir-fry at 19-something dollars a freakin kilo: I went with free range eggs, 3 meals from a dozen!
Interesting. My boss and his wife have just come back from a holiday in Vanuatu where one of their biggest exports is beef. Now, we constantly get lectured how we must ‘pay the international price’ for things like dairy products and met, so I was wondering just how my boss got away with paying $19/kg for fillet steak?
Not discounted. Normal supermarket price.
In fact, ALL the meat was well below the prices we pay here in NZ.
LOLZ you been robbed bro, Pack and Slave where i did the weekly on Wednesday had 1.1KG of corned beef for $6.80 and along with that i got a 500gram prime beef rolled roast for 11 bucks,
That’s about the day i listened to the bloke from the Fed say that farmers in Canterbury and the East coast of the North Island were de-stocking in the face of drought conditions,
ill spoken of dead cows seems to be wherever you are uncalled for wishing the same fate upon the owners of said market would seem to be more to the point…
“not wanting to speak ill of dead cows yet when I grazed the cheapest supermarket this week for some protein”
Never have I been so happy that I don’t eat meat!
(I bought some for my son’s visit a while back only to discover that I needn’t have bothered, he doesn’t either! 🙂 )
Hi Vicky, long time no see! Good to see you commenting again. 🙂
Thanks bad, most appreciated.
Welcome, just as a afterthought, the scale of the field upon which this little money go round is played is easily ‘seen’ when we consider that the total export market is some 40 billion dollars a year,
I havn’t got the figures for current values/volumes of dairy products on hand but even if that were half of total exports you can then see how easy for the banking cartels it is to insinuate themselves into the middle of the equation to make a buck from essentially doing nothing,
Just one of them Goldman Saches (sacks of gold man) has a reported 100 billion languishing in the tank in the basement on any given day…
When you say “value of the NZ dollar” do you mean locally or in relation to other currencies. A dollar will always be worth a dollar locally, but how much you can buy with that dollar will depend on inflation. However the value in terms of other currencies, or the3 “exchange rate” depends on the supply and demand for NZ dollars and may bear no relation to its local value.
February. If I were a member of the Labour party I would be asking these questions,
1. when is the caucus leadership vote likely to happen? (a ballpark idea is ok if there is no set date)
2. what processes will be used to ensure the vote is confidential?
3. will the numbers be released to the members? The public?
Monday.
Hmmmm I think thats confidential. The President or the Gen Sec will probably be involved in the balloting process.
Uh, being a secret ballot, they’re not supposed to be made public. However, we know how this has gone in the past.
Secret ballot? How come people have been saying that Shearer will get 100% support then? (if no-one is supposed to know).
Well since the vote hasn’t actually been held yet claims of a 100% vote are of course speculative.
Nevertheless, the secret ballot held after Conference last year gave Shearer 100% support (how did that number get out?), and nothing dramatic has changed since then.
And what’s this all about?
https://twitter.com/Garner_Live/status/297204001630470146
Snigger, the word FAILURE when said in conjunction with Slippery’s National Government seems to have hit a substantial nerve,
Brownlee is so sensitive as FAILURE is a hard word to wrap some spin around…
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/02/january-2013-blog-stats/
Don’t give up guys, one day you’ll be half as popular if you keep going 🙂
Should have stayed there at Blubber-boys sewer, coming over here talking s**t is just begging for a permanent ticket to travel…
Whoa we got a tough guy over here 🙂
justin bieber is popular too…what’s your point?
More people read his views (nearly three times as many) then these ones is all I’m saying
Its because blubber boy pads his numbers with guns, and dirty girls , and bullshit stories about BK, in the search engines. Most normal people run screaming for the shower, after reading one page of his vitriol, and hate mongering.
Add Whaleoil and KiwiBlog together and it seems like the Right have 5x the page views of The Standard.
It’s probably just people clicking Refresh in an effort to make that shit make sense second time around.
Ha. Good one.
So only 2.5x the amount then…
so why do you have to tout and linkwhore for him?
Methinks you doth protest to much.
Best case, the tory blogsites are indeed using stats consistent with reality, but you have such low self esteem you need to wander of here and swing your dick around.
Worst case, the stats are full of shit or comparing the popularity of actual debate with tory tripe.
Best case, the tory blogsites are indeed using stats consistent with reality, but you have such low self esteem you need to wander of here and swing your dick around.
– Jealousy will get you nowhere
Worst case, the stats are full of shit or comparing the popularity of actual debate with tory tripe
-There seems to be something about lefties and not accepting poll results if they go against them…
Just pointing out that people who have a low level of self-esteem sometimes compensate by gloating about a perceived superiority over others.
Going “ha ha, we’re on the winning team” at kiwiblog would be one thing. Coming here suggests that we’re not the only people you’re trying to prove a point to.
“like the Right have 5x the page views of The Standard.”
Maybe it’s because The Standard is so good at driving people away! (I am back for the 1st time in 5 months, since QoT banned me temporarily. I discovered then how much more peaceful I felt without the daily nastiness here.)
Now I am back, I am not staying!
It’s as if no time has passed – everyone still hates Shearer, and everyone is still so relentlessly middle class.
Please don’t lie, Vicky. You are specifically banned from my posts only. You were banned for the sum total of a week by lprent back in November for posting a series of childish comments on my posts.
I’m guessing WhaleSpew gets so many clicks because it puts everything in very simple terms, offers absolutely no analysis, and makes anyone who posts more than three consecutive words feel like a mental giant. His contributions are all cut and paste, with a bit of gun porn thrown in, and some crap now and then about how tough he is. Usage of insults like “cocksmoker” also goes down well with his audience, as do calls to be tougher on crims, bring back the death sentence, and calling anyone he disagrees with a “dud root”. His political philosophy is about as sophisticated as Forrest Gump’s, except that in his case the “wisdom” comes from daddy. In fact, he reminds a lot of a Forrest Gump who took up eating instead of running. In short, it’s a place for keyboard warriors to air their prejudices now that they might get called on it in wider society. It’s not as easy to spout off about mowrees, queers, dykes, and boongers in public bars as it used to be, and thank Cloacina for that.
The Standard, on the other hand, has some very thoughtful and well constructed posts, with not much cutting and pasting at all. Even though most of the posters here are a bit to my right, I can always make sense of what they post and appreciate the thought that’s gone into their contribution. Then there are Chris73 and King Kong, probably both dud roots and/or cocksmokers, to put it in language they’d understand.
Lprent’s analysis from last year
http://thestandard.org.nz/too-far-3/#comment-504329
I still shudder at the idea of “people” spending 18 minutes on average on WO.
It should come as no surprise that his visitors don’t read so quick…
to be fair though felix, the drool and other fluids on their screens does make the words go all wiggly
Well it does take a long time to spell out each word, and ask mummy what they mean,
Yeah you keep telling yourself that enough times and maybe you’ll believe it yourself
I suspect it is simply because we don’t bother just pushing pages and especially images to overseas audiences. We have a almost entirely and steadily growing NZ audience of humans.
I just find it curious that WO got about 800k page views in December, and then suddenly in the slowest month in the year; Jan; he gets a 20% increase? FFS the humans in NZ are somnolent f most of the month and barely near a computer.
It could happen I guess if you spent time pushing stuff on Digg or something similar to an overseas audience. But who could really be bothered pushing NZ politics though the SEO
I suppose WO is more concerned with pushing the advertising revenue than anything else. By it is meaningless otherwise.
Alabama Drama. Five Year Old Held Hostage. Survivalist. Tea Party. Dangerous NRA Fuckwits.
Thank Christ America Has Obama. Because That Means America Is Not Totally Fascist And Insane.
More Federal whistleblowers jailed than all the other presidents put together.