Open mike 01/02/2015

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, February 1st, 2015 - 185 comments
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185 comments on “Open mike 01/02/2015 ”

  1. Paul 1

    People in Britain are hearing about greedy, bully boy and culture less government.
    Eleanor Catton has shone a light on its crassness.
    Good on her.

    http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/30/eleanor-catton-blasts-critics-jingoistic-national-tantrum

    And a good article explains how Key and Plunket have proved the point Catton was making.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11394725

  2. Paul 2

    Europe in revolt.

    ‘Tens of thousands rally in Madrid demanding end to austerity
    Inspired by events in Greece, support grows for Podemos and its call for a new political order.’

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/31/podemos-spain-austerity-rally-madrid-syriza

  3. (gratified to see my milk-health-concerns seeping thru into the mainstream/corporate-media.)

    “..Milk does the body good? – A look at science..

    ..RECENT QUESTIONS:

    Some scientists have begun to question previous statements about milk’s benefits.

    For example – some researchers have noted low fracture rates in Asian countries where little milk is consumed-

    – and questioned whether there is enough evidence to support the federal milk consumption recommendations.

    What’s more – some studies have linked milk to risk of ovarian and prostate cancers–

    – though many scientists believe more research is needed before drawing conclusions about milk as a cause.

    THE SWEDISH STUDY

    Last year a Swedish study published in a British medical journal –

    – found women who drank three or more glasses a day died at a nearly twice the rate of those who drank less than one glass a day.

    Broken bones were more common in women who were heavy milk drinkers – too..”

    (cont..)

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/65631672/milk-does-the-body-good-a-look-at-science

    • weka 3.1

      In the Swedish study, they’re differentiating between milk, and fermented products like cheese and yoghurt.

      “Further analysis showed a positive association between milk intake and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation.

      In contrast, a high intake of fermented milk products with a low lactose content (including yoghurt and cheese) was associated with reduced rates of mortality and fracture, particularly in women.”

      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141028214051.htm

      I would posit two things here. One is that modern diets are high in refined sugars and so eating another high sugar food like milk is probably overloading people into earlier deaths from things like Syndrome X (via insulin resistance). This is true for big populations that have been studied like the US. I don’t know what the usual diets are like in Sweden.

      The other is that traditional diets all over the world have prioritised fermented milk over unfermented. They also drink milk raw. These are crucial differences.

      That article you link to has a pretty misleading and narrow visioned public health control approach to raw milk, so I wouldn’t take anything it says too seriously. It also fails to point out that the Swedish researchers say there is a correlation but no proven causation between milk consumption and early death, and completely ignores that the findings for fermented dairy were the opposite. This is typical of much superficial health reporting, and it’s also grossly negligent IMO. You need to go to professional medical and health journalists if you want to understand the research and what it means.

      The Asian thing is a different story, because most people in east Asian countries are not genetically adapted to eating milk (although I’m curious about the cross overs between India/Tibet/Nepal etc and East Asia and where dairy stops being a traditional staple). The low fracture rate can also be attributed to other things in the diet rather than absence of milk.

    • tricledrown 3.2

      Moderation is thr mantra.
      Cheese yes cheese has been shown to be the most Dangerous food when it comes to strokes.
      Those with a high consumption of cheese are the most likely to die of strokes.
      High in fat and very high in salt!
      are the reasons.

  4. Paul 4

    With our government about to hack into state housing, we will soon be in the state London is in.

    ‘Thousands gather in London to protest against lack of affordable housing
    The March for Homes brings together campaigners, tenants and trade unionists to demand building of council homes and curbing of private rents.’

    http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/31/hundreds-gather-london-march-for-homes-protest-city-hall-affordable-housing

  5. North 5

    Here’s the guts of it by Paul Little –

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11394725

    Bears repeating my earlier comment on “Eleanor Catton responds” –

    “Deep inside Plunket squirms with embarrassment because he KNOWS he’s been OWNED by Eleanor Catton. Deliciously it’s all his own work.”

    Is this a genuine John Key “muppet” or what ?

  6. LynWiper 6

    Never thought I’d recommend a Rodney Hide column but this is interesting reading.

    “Little spoke of reducing inequality. Good. And even here he was interesting: he says the spin-off of reducing inequality is better growth. That, too, would be better for business and farmers.

    Jobs and growth are his focus. And small business. That sets him apart from Key who, in his deals with Warner Bros, SkyCity and Rio Tinto, is tied to the big end of town.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11394722

    • b waghorn 6.1

      What !! a labour leader who mentioned farmers ‘well I never’
      Angry greenys In 321…

      • phillip ure 6.1.1

        short-listed for silly-comment-of-the-day..?

        ..and so early in the day..!

        ..and did you miss the serial blowing of reassuring-kisses from norman to the cow-folk..?

        • b waghorn 6.1.1.1

          Cool to use a dog trial term ” I hope I’m still on the board at the end of the day “

        • b waghorn 6.1.1.2

          Yes I missed Normans comments? Look I support the greens I have voted for them once it’s the tarring us all as ecological destroyer s that I will attack at every chance.
          Just yesterday weka said something about farmers pouring shit into the rivers and that is a lie on the odd occasion a farmer gets caught literally doing that the book gets thrown at them and rightly so.
          I let it pass and I shouldn’t have.

          • BassGuy 6.1.1.2.1

            Before dismissing it as an occasional event, you should watch the documentary River Dog

            In short, it’s about a number of farmers in a region who regularly graze their cattle on a stretch of river and the lack of action by the authorities.

            [Link fixed – MS]

          • phillip ure 6.1.1.2.2

            so..waghorn..

            ..if the farmers aren’t doing it…

            ..who is making most of our rivers unswimmable/polluted..?

            ..the tooth-fairy..?

            • b waghorn 6.1.1.2.2.1

              I have no doubt that that over stocking, use of urea and over irrigation is degrading rivers but as for pouring shit into the river, not happening and if any knows were it is they should report it.

              • r u not just fussing over a mostly irrelevant point..?

                ..the facts r..the rivers r fucked..farmers did it..

                ..any questions..?

              • Draco T Bastard

                I have no doubt that that over stocking, use of urea and over irrigation pouring shit into rivers is degrading rivers but as for pouring shit into the river, not happening and if any knows were it is they should report it.

                FTFY

                It’s not just that farmers are pouring shit into the rivers but that we have far too much land as farms. We need to decrease the amount of farms to be enough to feed us and that’s it.

                • I’ll say it again – let farmers get their drinking and house water from the river below their farms. If they want to drink shit water they can.

                  • b waghorn

                    As long as all you’r water comes from below you’re town/city that’s fine

                    • I don’t live in a town or city but rain is good so I get mine downstream from the clouds.

                      I would never say there are no good farmers – hell I know a few – but the bad ruin it for everyone – the good farmers have to tidy up their sandpit (farmers) rather than just hold their hands up pleading ignorance – they derive their profit from the commons and i think they are responsible to the commons too. And the same for cityfolk.

                  • b waghorn

                    I’ve suggested to 3 bosses and two neighbours in the sheep n beef industry that they had a few creeks that would be easy to fence off it didn’t achieve much .
                    It’s going to take laws to make a change unfortunately.

          • weka 6.1.1.2.3

            I didn’t say farmers pour shit into rivers. I said NZers think it’s ok to pour shit into rivers. And I think it was obvious from the conversation that I didn’t mean this literally, but that we allow our rivers to be polluted by farming, mostly dairy farming. That’s not actually in dispute. Do you need a link?

            I think you will also find that I’m one of the ones that’s been arguing recently for not lumping all farmers into one evil group and that it’s better to name the ones that are causing problems.

            As for the GP, I suggest that you stop reading the spin via the media and go directly to the GP and see what they have to say about farming. They’re actually very supportive and progressive. You can look at their policy, which you may or may not agree with, but it’s not anti-farmer. You probably remember that Jeanette Fitzsimons was a farmer before during and after she was an MP and co-leader of the GP, and I see a lot of her influence in GP attitudes.

            • b waghorn 6.1.1.2.3.1

              http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30012015/#comment-960150 This link would say other wise re cow shit and water

              • weka

                Yes, I know what you were referring to and I know what I said. I’ve just given you a detailed explanation of that. Did you even read it? How about you respond to my points?

                edit, and just to make it really fucking clear, here’s what I said,

                but these people are just getting on with doing the right thing by the land while NZ still thinks it’s acceptable to clear native ecosystems and pour cow shit into the water.

                That’s not a statement about farmers, it’s a statement about NZers. As I explained.

            • phillip ure 6.1.1.2.3.2

              then of course there are the green party bbq’s..

              ..where they show their support for the ‘industry’..

              ..in the most sincere/practical of ways..

      • weka 6.1.2

        “What !! a labour leader who mentioned farmers ‘well I never’
        Angry greenys In 321…”

        What does that mean?

        • b waghorn 6.1.2.1

          Its very rear that labour appears to think about the rural sector IMO.
          The next bit was a we poke/joke

          • weka 6.1.2.1.1

            Yeah, I don’t get it. Do you mean the greenies will be angry that Labour mentioned farmers? Bit subtle for me I’m afraid.

            btw, I don’t think Little was talking about farming in his speech. He was talking about Fonterra, and the context was business productivity and worker rights. He did mention something about payouts but again, it was in the context of how the unions and Fonterra worked together.

        • phillip ure 6.1.2.2

          i think that he was expecting u to come and grumble/grump at him..

          ..ready..?..3..2..1..

    • Murray Rawshark 6.2

      I think it’s important to read as a warning that Little still intends to let business run the show. The planet cannot afford growth any more. We have to discover how to live without it.

      When Rodney Hide likes something, I worry even more. It’s quite possible they can see Key is on a downward slope and are grooming a right wing successor. Little already caved on squirrel powers. What is he going to give away without a fight next?
      FJK and FAL.

      • I disagree with your interpretation, I think Hide is just doing what all the other rightwingers have done in the wake of the state of the nation.

        Farrar and Hooton instantly jumped on the talk about small business to say “oh, but if you really cared about small business you’d scrap the policy to abolish 90-day trials!”

        Now Hide is trying to goad Labour into doing something stupid by “praising” Little as a non-leftwing leader. Look at the way he wilfully quotes “it’s important to create wealth before you can share it” then re-writes it one sentence later as “it’s important to create wealth before you can spend it.” It’s the same old rightwing claptrap about Labour being a terrifying tax-and-spend party. He’s dogwhistling to the right on one hand and trying to unsettle the left with the other.

        • weka 6.2.1.1

          +1 So many whistles, it might be a dog trial.

          He also pushed the divide between Labour and the crazy Greens who can’t be trusted.

          Fairly typical Hyde, hard to see it as anything other than PR for NACT.

        • Karen 6.2.1.2

          +1 Stephanie

    • North 6.3

      Hard case that Rodney Hide believes the best way to find out what politicians are about is to listen to what they say – see opening line of the article.

      By his own example that’s hardly good advice. Remember ThePerkBuster of yore ?
      Again and again and again he said he was a straight-up, rort-hating type of guy.

      Many people listened and believed that he was indeed what he said. Then it turns out that all along he was as bad a free-loading rorter, trougher, junketer, hypocrite as anyone. So no, listening doesn’t inform, particularly in respect of the Right.

      The rest of his article – faint praise he can invoke later on to claim objectivity and balance. He remains an extreme right wing fantasist who’ll engage DP at will. Not to be trusted. Especially not on the score of what he says.

      • John Shears 6.3.1

        I never read Roddy’s columns why would I he is a non event politically and a certified failure.
        Try NOT reading them a save your bloodpressure.

        His last task of any note was throwing the carefully studied and thought out
        plan for Auckland City into the rubbish bin and coming up with his version in a matter of months. Enough said.

        Just another Herald hack.

  7. Pete George 7

    And there’s more from NZH where they report on a 3 News/Reid Research poll and asks Has Key met his match?

    A 3 News Reid-Research poll has revealed 55 per cent of voters think Little is potentially a better match for Prime Minister John Key than his Labour Party leader predecessors.

    3 News political editor Patrick Gower said the poll result was a huge boost for Little.

    “It means more than half of voters think he can do a better job than Phil Goff, David Shearer or David Cunliffe,” Gower said.

    “And the fact that it’s over half shows it’s well and truly beyond the people who vote for Labour normally and into centre voters and probably some National voters as well.”

    It’s too soon to tell, and Labour’s recovery will take more than Little to step up a few notches, but this poll result looks promising for Little’s prospects.

    Little said the poll result was “nice” but he wouldn’t be taking any false hope from it.

    “Things like this kind of go up and down. You’re in favour and you’re out of favour … it’s nice to have the kind of start that I’ve had. But we’ve got a long way to go yet and a lot of work to do so I’m focused on that.”

    Little sounds realistic about where he’s at now.

    So this is promising for Little but more important for Labour will be the party poll result, which will be revealed on 3 New tonight at 6 pm.

    • weka 7.1

      Pretty shifty there Petey. After yesterday’s all out troling, a pretty much unanimous cry from participants to stop, including being being told off by a moderator, you’ve picked a topic that all the lefties here might agree with and will want to talk about despite it meaning having you in the conversation.

      It would be nice to think you learnt something yesterday, but I think the thread showed that the community had learnt something instead.

      I think you have a lot of bridges to mend before you can expect to take part here in any genuine way.

    • Skinny 7.2

      How about these idiot pollsters actually run polls on topic’s that people care about. Who gives a toss about dead beat former Labour leaders like Goff, Shearer, and too a lesser extent DC.

      How about polling the U turn on further asset sales, given John Key wearing his National leaders hat categorically stated ‘no more asset sales’ during the last election campaign.

      The Aussies in Queensland just threw the Tories out for the sheer mention of asset sales.

      Did you vote for National to further sell public assets?

      A public march protesting selling off state housing should be on the cards. Might see what can be arranged for up at Waitangi. Bit of a focus on asset sales might make the Nats visit that little bit more unpleasant.

    • tricledrown 7.3

      Petty George.
      Your Wikipedia stats don’t match up to stats nz or treasury numbers.
      Quite often wikipedia is historically inaccurate as it is a popularity contest.
      And often Right wing spuriously funded insitutes Spam Wikipedia to alter historical facts!

    • All this does is clearly display the dismal level of political reporting in New Zealand.

      The article tells me absolutely nothing of any import.
      I want the 20 seconds of my life I wasted reading the article back!!

  8. Murray Rawshark 8

    Yeeha! Good news from Queensland. The toxic little imitation of a man, Campbell Bjelke-Newman, has gone. Now I’m hoping for a reconstituted Crime and Misconduct Commission to put a few of the corrupt inbreds in prison.

    • that is an astonishing turn-around..

      ..i think labour were down to about 7-9 mp’s after the last election..

      ..where they were whupped for promising not to sell-assets..

      ..and then selling assets..

      ..(much like key is doing here with state houses..and whatever upcoming/still-secret nasty-surprises he has lined up..)

      ..labour have again promised not to sell-assets..

      ..and they will likely keep their word this time..

    • tc 8.2

      That and reversing newmans gutting of the party donations legislation Anna Bligh rolled out so they could do as has been done here.

      Unlike here Newman couldn’t own the MSM and had the bad luck / karma of getting on the wrong side of Alan jones over a mine in his home area. Jonesy paid out on him big time.

      That and the perception that Campbell comes across as an arrogant bullying establishment twat.

      • Murray Rawshark 8.2.1

        Jones works in NSW. The LNP does pretty much run the Queensland media. The Courier Mail, Brisbane’s only daily, is a piece of Murdoch trash. It makes Whalespew look balanced.

        • tc 8.2.1.1

          Jones was raised in Acland, west of Brisbane where a coal mine expansion isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

          Yes he works in Sydney, most of the top shock jocks do but they treasure their Aussie battler image, good for the ratings etc and Newman went up against that.

  9. Shane Le Brun 9

    A return to work thanks to the pain relief effects of Cannabis, here in NZ, cost savings abound.
    http://yournz.org/2015/01/31/medicinal-cannabis-and-the-return-to-work/

    Alternate address
    https://mmj4chronicpain.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/medicinal-cannabis-and-the-return-to-work/

    • as you are a running-dog/fellow-traveller with the beige-one..

      ..r u able to confirm 4 us the beige safari-jacket/perma-press polyester-trousers/ elastic-sided ‘loafers’ rumours..?

    • weka 9.2

      That’s such a great write up Shane, thanks. Her story covers so many important points, esp about the failures of legal meds and the problems when medical staff get stuck in their prejudices about pain syndromes. Very good to hear the success too, and the details on how she figured out what to do.

      btw, your blog is looking good. Nice layout, uncluttered, easy to read and access, all of which is important for people in pain. The only thing I’d suggest is changing the header texts to a dark colour as the white is hard to read.

      • phillip ure 9.2.1

        heh..!..and there is some more of that passive-aggression..g.p.-style..

        .’cos..y’see..that weka has done nothing but serially-sneer at my efforts/postings in support of medical-cannabis..

        ..and then you come along..and she falls over herself in her fawning…

        ..v.funny..!

        ..and so so obvious..it sticks out like a vegan at a green party bbq…

        • weka 9.2.1.1

          Hang on, did you just say that I’m having a go at you by commenting positively to someone else when you’re not even in the conversation??

          I’ve not serially sneered at your efforts/postings on dak. I’ve said I can’t read your comments because you insist on posting illiterately. Apart from you being pro-cannabis, I don’t actually know much about your position.

          You’ve done this before phil, confused my critiques of your position on veganism with my non-critiques of your views on cannabis. I suggest from now on you link to show what you are talking about, otherwise I’ll just be telling you to fuck right off.

          • phillip ure 9.2.1.1.1

            oh..!..i must have missed yr fawning-support for all the med-pot pieces i have posted..

            ..my bad..!

            • One Anonymous Bloke 9.2.1.1.1.1

              Did you read what Weka said, Phil? Make any attempt to understand it?

              • did you miss my point..?..(selective-fawning..)

                ..(the ‘point’ that still stands..)

                “..Make any attempt to understand it?..”

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  Like Weka, I find your comments unreadable.

                  However, in this case, I think the spectacle of a grown man whining that someone else is getting attention is a little…Petty, to say the least.

                  • that’s ‘petey’..

                    ..and no..’whine’-free..i am laughing @ the inconsistancies/blatant-biases/passive-aggression of the weka..

                    ..i really couldn’t give a fuck..otherwise..

                    ..and that wd also go for yr also being ‘unable to read’..

                    ..go and stand in the corner..next to her…

                    ..share yr ignorance..

                    • One Anonymous Bloke

                      😆

                      Keep telling yourself that Phil.

                    • yr..right..!..

                      ..i really just want weka/you to love me..!

                      ..i lie awake at nite – tossing and turning..(that’s ‘toss’ in its’ rolling-over meaning..but not always..)

                      ..sob..!

                      ..heh..!

                      ..you’ll get comedian-of-the-day – if yr not careful..

                    • “.i really couldn’t give a fuck”

                      funny you’re making plenty of comments like you actually do give a fuck – you know, often the trailblazer doesn’t get the recognition they covert but that doesn’t mean the contribution wasn’t valuable

                    • interesting/amusing typo..

                      ..and arguing for med-pot in the 60’s might have been ‘trailblazing’..

                      ..hardly now..

                      ..and i am pointing out a knowledge-asset to a (welcomed) new campaigner in that cause..

                      ..who seem to believe i have done ten yrs of bong-reviews..

                      ..and that his ‘rational’-arguments will be like a tsunami in a desert..(more than a whiff of hubris there/in that..)

                      ..and when general-polling shows 87% of new zealanders favour ending prohibition..

                      ..is he targeting that recalcitrant 13% of right/left-wingers/non-thinkers..?

                      ..to my mind the arguments have been made/won..

                      ..it is the politicians who are the problem..

                      ..not the proving/arguing of the ‘rational’ evidence..

                    • no typo 🙂

                      but seriously – what’s the point?

                      ahh I see you added the point – seems a bit more to it than that but whatever

            • weka 9.2.1.1.1.2

              phil,

              I DON’T READ YOUR POSTS ON YOUR BLOG, OR 95% OF YOUR COMMENTS ON TS.

              Grow the fuck up.

          • phillip ure 9.2.1.1.2

            “..I’ve said I can’t read your comment..”

            ..yet..u seem to be able to..

            ..does someone translate 4 u..?

        • Shane Le Brun 9.2.1.2

          I know your supportive Phil, my POV is from the middle using rational arguments, I haven’t read your work, but If you are a sufferer yourself, you may not be looking at things from the other side of the fence? this post was to appeal to Tory concerns of cost etc, one less person a sickness benny, but there are many more like her.

          • phillip ure 9.2.1.2.1

            yes..that is one of many facets i cover/have covered..

            ..I don’t just do bong-reviews..in fact i have never done a bong-review..

            ..what i have done is cached ten yrs worth of material/evidence in support of that cause..

            ..maybe you need to read not so much /’my work’..

            ..but the small mountain of evidence from others..

            ..that i have collected/collated/cached..

            http://whoar.co.nz/?s=medical+marijuana+cannabis

            (and i don’t wanna go all sub-editor on you..

            ..but i wd tweak the end of yr intro..

            (in my ‘teaser’ i inserted another word..did the edit for you..)

            (and we are all ‘sufferers’..it’s the human-condition..)

            • Shane Le Brun 9.2.1.2.1.1

              thanks, will keep that as a bookmark to go through, thanks for the repost. (I assume it was you)

            • Shane Le Brun 9.2.1.2.1.2

              thanks, will keep that as a bookmark to go through, thanks for the repost. (I assume it was you)

        • Murray Rawshark 9.2.1.3

          Get over yourself, FFS. There was no passive aggression in weka’s comment. There was in your one about PG’s clothing. You should just be happy that someone is pushing something that you agree with. Try it.

      • Shane Le Brun 9.2.2

        yeah I know, unpaid one wont let me change the color, 🙁

        • phillip ure 9.2.2.1

          that’s a bit harsh on petey..!

          ..does he insist on pastels..?

        • weka 9.2.2.2

          bummer. WordPress went more towards paid in recent years. You used to be able to get themes with lots of control for free. The theme you are using is very nice otherwise though.

          • phillip ure 9.2.2.2.1

            ‘should i break out the doilies..?..cup of tea..?..’

            • One Anonymous Bloke 9.2.2.2.1.1

              How about a nice cold cup of sour grapes? 😆

            • Stephanie Rodgers 9.2.2.2.1.2

              Jesus phil, if you’re trying to convince us that you really don’t care about weka paying someone else positive attention you’re going about it all wrong.

              • r u seriously saying u cannot see the incongruities i highlighted..?

                ..the sneer/fawn-contrast..(and weka suddenly finding an inner pot-warrior..?..whoar..!..colour me pot-surprised..!)

                ..i actually find it filed under ‘funny’..

                ..along with being ‘unable to read comments’..but seeming able to do so..

                ..when it is so desired..

                ..no amusing-pattern available there 4 u..?

                ..nothing of any note..?

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  Unreadable prose
                  Or unread erudition
                  Meh I scroll along

                • weka

                  Last time phil did this, in the Spring, it was the claim that while he was on his ban I’d “pumped out yr (un-cited/footnoted) prohibitionist/anti-pot bullshit while i wasn’t here”.

                  I tried to point out that wasn’t true and eventually posted this comment, which is a search engine result for the time period in question, of weka +cannabis. The results show that I am pro-use and pro-decriminalisation (which I am).

                  http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24112014/#comment-930382

                  What I didn’t say in that thread was that while phil was on his ban I posted some critical comments about vegan diets when they are presented as the one true way for all humans (I would link but the search still doesn’t go back past 35 pages. 35 pages of phil’s comments only takes us back to the end of Dec).

                  I think phil has gotten confused between his two pet projects and is now set in his head that I am anti-pot. I’m not even anti-vegan except where it’s presented as the one true way or as a quick fix for CC/the environment.

                  Phil, I haven’t said I can’t read your comments, I’ve said they are difficult for me to read so I don’t usually bother. Please don’t distort what I say. It’s starting to look like you are making up another lie about me.

                  Now, unless you can link to back up your assertions about me, I’m just going to keep linking back to this comment and the link above to demonstrated what you are more than happy to tell lies about someone even when you’ve been proven wrong (twice).

                • Categorising weka’s response as “fawning” because she gives a few simple compliments on a new blogger’s work is a sad little tactic.

                  You have outright lied about weka’s past behaviour and comments in order to fabricate a “pattern” to justify your harassment.

                  I’m also in the club of people who, 95% of the time, scroll past anything you say because it’s rarely worth the effort of interpretation. But when I see you having a personal go at someone just because they liked someone else’s work and didn’t kiss your ass sufficiently to your liking, I make the effort.

  10. Once was Tim 10

    Question:
    Does NZ still have some sort of press club – as in 4th Estate?
    Back in the 70’s there used to be a primitive sort of thing in Hobson Street where various journalists went to get pissed as newts – even then nothing like the Australian Press Club that provides a venue where journalists and jonolists can have politicians give speeches and call them to account.

    • tc 10.1

      Oh there’s a club alright, but not as you’ve described it.

      • Skinny 10.1.1

        A long list of media hacks in club national too.

        • tc 10.1.1.1

          Henry, hoskings, Sabin, Simpson, young, hide etc as one subset of them with public declarations of support for national and or family connections before we start on the ones who play the impartial commenter role.

          All that and DP thrown in for good measure, relentlessness and effective is what it has grown into while the sheeple graze on gazing at their house values thinking all is well in my world.

      • Once was Tim 10.1.2

        as I imagined then. One where they all go to get pissed and feed off each others egos. Where is it? The TVNZ caf, or Backbenches, or Mermaid’s possibly? Or maybe Barry and Heather’s basement?

        • Skinny 10.1.2.1

          They rotate venues think it’s Hoskings or Smiths, correction it’s a BBQ on the back lawn at Garner and boyfriend Gowers place.

  11. Morrissey 11

    “Shoot him in the back of the head.”
    The BBC’s comedy crisis is now more than just a sick joke.

    Since it was effectively spavined following its brief deviation into the reporting of facts that exposed government crimes in 2003 [1], the BBC has turned into nothing much more than the propaganda arm of the British government. In the rare event that a dissident, no matter how brilliant and respected, appears on a show like HARDtalk, he or she is almost inevitably hectored and ceaselessly interrupted, [2] in stark contrast to the virtually open forum accorded the continual stream of paid government, corporate and military spokespeople who appear.

    The BBC has moved to censor, curb and/or ban its own “unacceptable” and critical voices too: clever and thoughtful talents like Frankie Boyle are systematically excluded from its increasingly anodyne comedy panel shows. Even the hilarious—and nonpolitical—Jack Dee was recently in danger of being censored by the mediocracy in charge of the modern BBC, [3] while crude, racist, unfunny but government-friendly louts like Jeremy Clarkson are indulged repeatedly. [4]

    And now the BBC, which has given the world such immortal comedy-writing teams as Galton and Simpson, Croft and Perry, Esmonde and Larbey, Jay and Lynn, Clement and La Frenais, Curtis and Atkinson—to name only a few at random from a stratosphere of brilliance—has commissioned a team of “comedy” writers to make light of the British government’s persecution of the dissident journalist Julian Assange. I say “make light of” advisedly, because in case anyone harboured any lingering hope that the BBC might extend even a hint of fair treatment to Cabinet Enemy No. 1, consider this grim fact: the writer of this new “comedy” once called for the police to publicly shoot the Wikileaks founder in the head.

    The Corporation’s comedy crisis, which was already painfully obvious, is now an unmitigated embarrassment. We are now accepting from the BBC the kind of anti-dissident ridicule that spewed out of Moscow in the 1930s and ’40s, and out of Peking in the 1960s and 70s. I would not be surprised at all to see some vicious moron like A.A. Gill appear on a special broadcast some time soon and start ranting from his prepared script: “It is our aim to expose and criticize the ways in which the political swindler Julian Assange made use of reactionary trends and reactionary schools of thought to attack the proletariat, so that we can fight more effectively against such swindlers.”

    And they say the AMERICANS have no sense of irony…

    Fury over BBC writer’s ‘kill Assange’ tweet
    Chortle, 30 January 2015

    The writer of the BBC’s new comedy inspired by Julian Assange once called for the police to publicly shoot the Wikileaks founder in the head.

    Supporters of Assange say tweets Thom Phipps posted about him were ‘shocking’ and ‘dangerous’ – and make him unfit to write about the issue. BBC Four’s new three-part sitcom Asylum is inspired by the controversial figure’s enforced stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He took refuge there in June 2012 to escape extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges, which he fears will pave the way for him to be sent to the US to face an espionage trial.

    Two months after Assange was given political asylum, Phipps posted: ‘If the met [police] want to regain my trust they should drag Assange out the embassy + shoot him in the back of th head in the middle of traf square.’ Phipps now says: ‘It was something I tweeted over two years ago and it was clearly a joke.’

    However, backers of Assange took the issue more seriously, and have complained to the BBC over its ‘shameful’ decision to employ Phipps. One of them, Emmy Butlin, said Phipps ‘advocated for the public extrajudicial assassination’ of the Wikileaks founder and queried why the corporation would ’employ someone with extreme views’ to write the comedy.

    She is also angry that the show is to air as part of the BBC’s Taking Liberties season to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, saying: ‘Mr Phipps has called for Mr Assange’s assassination, going against the most fundamental principals.’

    On her blog she also highlighted another tweet Phipps made in 2012, saying: ‘its cool to imagine assange as a spartacus figure cuz that means he’s going to be forcibly nailed to a piece of wood at one point.’

    Another blog, Domestic Empire, complained that the ‘writer chosen to write Assange-inspired comedy advocates murder over democratic free speech’.

    Butlin complained to the Corporation saying: ‘I find it offensive that Mr Phipps who has publicly incited violence and propagated the murder of Mr Assange, has been employed by the BBC’ and calling for action…..

    Read more….

    http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2015/01/30/21744/fury_over_bbc_writers_kill_assange_tweet

    [1] http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2004/07/butl-j16.html
    [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B00qgKnz-uU
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNAKWF1uQ08
    [3] http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jun/20/jack-dee-threatens-to-leave-im-sorry-i-havent-a-clue
    [4] http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2011/sep/15/day-the-festival-dream-died

    • weka 11.1

      Morrisey, I can’t tell if those are your words or someone elses. Didn’t we have this conversation?

      • Morrissey 11.1.1

        Sorry, weka. My words are the first four paragraphs, and then I cite the article from Chortle. Maybe I should just give the link in future after my preamble.

        • weka 11.1.1.1

          You obviously know how to use html tags. Is there some reason you won’t use blockquotes? Or italics?

          • Morrissey 11.1.1.1.1

            Actually, I don’t know how to do the blockquotes technique. I don’t use italics except for emphasis and titles.

            What do you have to mark up to get blockquotes?

            • weka 11.1.1.1.1.1

              Instead of bold /bold write blockquote /blockquote

              http://thestandard.org.nz/faq/#simple_tags

              Most people on ts are using either blockquote or italics to quote, or if it’s very short, “double quotes”. It’s a kind of informal house style. Not saying you have to use these, you may find another way, but it’s that same thing of making comments accessible and respecting the readers enough to make it clear what you are saying, and what is something else’s words (that’s respect for the other writers too).

    • swordfish 11.2

      Interesting to see the way Frankie Boyle’s been given the cold shoulder over the last couple of years.

  12. weka 12

    Short but crucial reading for anyone wanting to understand more about the role of women in Islam in the US context. I think there are also things here for the West to learn about the value of gender specific spaces, and how culture affects that.

    http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82686764/

    • Weepus beard 13.1

      Yep. According to David Seymour, it seems perversion is the point at which a teacher becomes unsuitable.

      Any other dodgy behaviour?

      In fine ACT tradition, no worries.

      • freedom 13.1.1

        David Seymour is reported as saying “The worst thing I could do is to prejudge it if there isn’t anything perverse,”

        So he was saying perversion is the point at which they can be prejudged, which might be unwelcome news by any who have been falsely accused of a crime.

  13. Reddelusion 15

    Is weka the most bat shit crazy contributor on this site

    Discussion

    [r0b: I will let this comment through, but I strongly suggest not feeding the troll]

  14. weka 16

    Murdoch on the differences between Norman’s resignation and Sabin’s (also GP leadership and National).

    https://twitter.com/domesticanimal/status/561632145433559042

  15. This battleground between indigenous people and projects designed to maintain the extravagant western lifestyles is HOT and will continue to heat up.

    The LA Times indicates, we are at a “Flashpoint” between competing value-systems. Bodies have been exhumed, and geoglyphs destroyed, in an area that is a long-term indigenous settlement.

    “Who Are My People?” depicts how the world’s energy firms like Solar Millennium, have met their match in a small group of Native American elders, in the hottest desert on the planet.

    The film takes us behind the scenes of two of the largest solar projects in the world,
    “fast tracked” by US renewable energy policies.

    http://whoaremypeople.com/

    What price progress? Who pays that price?

    • weka 18.1

      This.

      It’s why the whole green tech as saviour thing is just wrong, because it keeps us in the same belief systems, value systems and behaviours as what got us in this mess in the first place. It won’t solve CC, and even if it did we would still fuck up all the other things that are consequences of humans ruling the world.

  16. weka 19

    Am I missing something or is John Roughan actually saying something quite on to it here?

    Basic benefits have been increasing with the cost of living as measured by the consumer prices index, which was generous in the 1970s when wages could never quite catch galloping inflation.

    Since the reforms of the 80s, New Zealand has enjoyed low inflation and economic growth that has enabled wages to rise more than prices, increasing the national living standard.

    Boston and Chapple make a good case for increasing benefits by the rate of average wage rises.

    It is strange that Labour did not make this change 10 or more years ago when it had budget surpluses, National should do now. Ideally, it would backdate the increases as far as surpluses might permit, giving benefits quite a boost in the next few years.

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11394288

    • see first comment in yesterdays’ o.m..

    • Naturesong 19.2

      I find this:
      “Since the reforms of the 80s, New Zealand has enjoyed low inflation and economic growth that has enabled wages to rise more than prices, increasing the national living standard.”

      Hard to square with this:
      “child … poverty rate in recent years has been around 25%; this is almost twice the rate experienced during the 1980s, which averaged about 13%” (Perry 2012, 124)

      • weka 19.2.1

        How so? Isn’t that the discrepancy between beneficiaries and wager earners, with child poverty being weighted into the beneficiary group? I would expect the increase in standard of living just means some people are doing way better and others are doing worse ie they’re not using a very subtle measuring tool.

        • Naturesong 19.2.1.1

          I imagine he is technically correct, and the average standard of living has increased.
          Real shame that during that time the percentage of children in poverty has nearly doubled.

          Might be worth seeing if the median standard of living has increased.

          • weka 19.2.1.1.1

            Well he is of the class that has done very well out of the 80s reforms, so I expect he is blind, probable willfully blind, to the numbers of people that haven’t done well.

            I don’t know how they measure standard of living. Hopefully a boffin will post.

            • Jenny Kirk 19.2.1.1.1.1

              The child poverty increased with the Richardson black budget which slashed beneficiary rates – and these have never been increased back to the level they were at during the 1980s.

  17. Pat O'Dea 20

    Let’s all ignore climate change.

    “Why the Keystone XL Will Be Built”
    by DR. KENT MOORS | published January 30th, 2015

    “So far, the biggest hurdle has been the environmental concerns.”

    Wrong!

    By far, the biggest hurdle has been concerns about climate change.

    The Keystone XL requires an appraisal by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and approval by both Congress and the President.

    So far, the biggest hurdle has been the environmental concerns.

    Most of them have been dealt with in a preliminary DOS finding (the full report has yet to be released) and with the recent verdict by Nebraska that the pipeline poses no environmental threat.
    DR. KENT MOORS Oil and energy investor

    Why climate change is not an environmental issue

  18. joe90 21

    lol

    Plot idea: 97% of the world’s scientists contrive an environmental crisis, but are exposed by a plucky band of billionaires & oil companies.

    https://twitter.com/scottwesterfeld/status/446805144781348865

  19. One Anonymous Bloke 23

    As students prepare to return to their studies in a few weeks, many will be wondering how on earth they will be able to afford it, and survive getting a mortgage of student debt many years before the can dream of owning a home. Let’s remember that when we help the next generation to fulfil its potential, we help our whole country to be the best it can be. Labour will do a ground-up review of student loans and allowances when next in office.

    David Cunliffe on Facebook.

    I for one hope that means scrapping the student loan scheme is on the table.

    It’s time NZ started following international best practice, by making education free, rather than continuing to unthinkingly follow failed ideology. This applies to other policies too.

    Be nice to see Labour wake up from its market fundamentalist stupor.

  20. fisiani 24

    TV3 poll out tonight. Oh well. Never mind.

    • Skinny 24.1

      I wonder if they are going to announce Gerry Brownlee comes out in support of his mini me national list MP to seek the party nomination to contest the candidacy and become the next Northland MP. This comes after he failed to beat Shane Reti for the Whangarei candidacy. Brownlee is rumoured to be heading to Waitangi in an attempt to secure the nod for his mini me from party members.

      Apparently Gerrys errant boy has contacted the head chef at the Copthorpe hotel Waitangi and will be forwarding Gerrys dietary requests, including his favorite pork pie recipe.

      • phillip ure 24.1.1

        is that the one where he gets served the whole pig on a platter..?

        ..with some pastry on the sides..?

        • Skinny 24.1.1.1

          Close Phil.

          The whole 200kg pig is spit roasted and then pastry wrapped and glazed. The newbie MP’s get briefed not to get too close to Brownlee whilst eating his pork pie. Appears Gerry is well known for lashing out at the trough, guess you just have to look at Nic Smiths scarred face as proof.

          • phillip ure 24.1.1.1.1

            does anyone know how long nic smith has been a gurner..?

            ..it is one of the highlights of commentating on q-time..

            ..smith somewhere in shot..

            ..gurning his little head off..

        • Neil 24.1.1.2

          Rumor has it Gerry prefers whale blubber.

  21. what is it with the young people of today..?

    ..that lorde..and that ko…

    ..are they trying to make the rest of us feel inadequate..?

    ..or something..?

    • b waghorn 25.1

      Girls to we’ll have to left our game us blokes.

      • Colonial Rawshark 25.1.1

        Kiwi boys are doing much worse in school and university numbers these days, not that anyone cares enough to take affirmative action.

        • McFlock 25.1.1.1

          well, that went downhill quickly.

          From young people are awesome to the men’s rights brigade in three short comments.

          • Colonial Rawshark 25.1.1.1.1

            Like I said, few people give a shit.

            • McFlock 25.1.1.1.1.1

              That’s not actually true.
              It’s just that few people are so obsessed with whinging that they push that particular barrow at the slightest (and yes, it was very slight) excuse.

          • b waghorn 25.1.1.1.2

            Shit I was having a joke didn’t work obviously.

            • McFlock 25.1.1.1.2.1

              Depends on the audience.
              I thought it was pretty reasonable.

              And (sadly) one of the few times I could both understand and agree with ure, the thread gets zonked by someone who can’t just feel happy about recognising the success of others without turning it into a whinge-fest.

      • phillip ure 25.1.2

        that battle is well lost..

        ..tho’ lord did have little-the-ditty-maker..

        ..and ko did have that bloke-coach for all of those development yrs..

  22. Neil 26

    Just watched TV3 news & Gower was showing his bias & arse licking towards Key & was blatantly putting the knife into Andrew Little, while reporting on the latest poll. Every time I see Gower or hear his voice it makes me want to puke.
    I wondered how long it would take Gower to put the knife in to Andrew Little.
    Looks like Dirty Politics part 2 has begun

    • Colonial Rawshark 26.1

      Do you remember the poll numbers?

      • Neil 26.1.1

        I think it was 49% national & 28% labour.

      • Pete George 26.1.2

        – National 49.8% (up 2,8)
        – Labour 29.1% (up 4.0)
        – Greens 9.3% (down 1,4)
        – NZ First 6.9% (down 1.9)
        – Conservatives 2.7% (down 1.3)
        – Maori Party 1.3% (no change)
        – Internet Mana 0.6% (down 0.8)
        – ACT 0.4% (down 0.3)
        – United Future 0% (down 0.2)

        More details: http://yournz.org/2015/02/01/3-news-poll-first-for-2015/

      • fisiani 26.1.3

        NAT – 49.8% –
        LAB – 29.1 –
        GRN – 9.3
        NZf – 6.9
        CON 2.7
        MAO- 1.3%
        INT-MANA 0.6
        ACT – 0.4%
        UF – 0

        National really high and Labour cannabilising the Left

        • b waghorn 26.1.3.1

          It will be interesting to see if you’re still crowing here in 2016

        • swordfish 26.1.3.2

          Awwww, Fisi, Fisi, Fisi, why must we go through this charade every single time ?

          Reality:
          Labour cannibalising the Left, National cannibalising the Right.

        • Ovid 26.1.3.3

          National would have drawn its gains from the Cons and NZF. Labour would have made its gains from the Greens, NZF and IMP. Internet-Mana is pretty much dead (although I wouldn’t rule out Harawira making a successful run in 2017).

          NZF is the big loser in this poll. As Little continues to build his profile, he should start pulling some soft National supporters too as the year progresses.

          I also think international trends will play into 2017. We ‘re looking at a single-term LNP government in Australia and in the UK Labour are enjoying a narrow lead (with the further spoiler of UKIP likely to split the Tory vote in this year’s election). Our electoral outlook may synch up with the rest of the Anglosphere.

          • Skinny 26.1.3.3.1

            Yes the Tories have wreacked havoc in the UK, Cameron and his cronies will be sent packing as will idiot Abbott in OZ.

            Which makes things a lot easier here. Little is smart enough to either get the Left leaders out here or get on a plane and go on a visit to strengthen relationships. Key should get the cold shoulder from them.

            New Zealander’s are sheep and if the slogan ‘time for a change’ is repeated often enough they will duly oblige by voting the Nats out. The odds are Key will hand over the leadership once the worm really turns. Sabin’s hurried exit is the start of a bad year for Key and it will get worst I’m picking.

            • Paul 26.1.3.3.1.1

              I just hope you are right.
              I am worried the government will press ahead with the TPP, charter schools, destroying the RMA, and privatising health and housing further.

              • Skinny

                Key is desperate to comply with instructions from America to get the TPPA signed and our fate sealed, the EMA is all part and parcel. The Maori-Tory party should ethically cross the house as the TPPA & RMA reforms will lead to bad outcomes for Maori in particular.

                Anyway the last anti TPPA rallies were well attended, I can see huge crowds at the next round.

        • phillip ure 26.1.3.4

          fisi..never mind a silly poll..

          ..isn’t it exciting what has happened in greece..?

          ..and is about to also happen in spaim/portugal/scotland..and likely ireland..

          ..in the fairly near future..

          ..the destruction of the neo-lib paradigm..?..(i do so like writing those words..)

          ..isn’t it exciting..?

          ..and given yr political-analysis skills..

          ..how much contagion d’ya reckon will have seeped down here by ’17..?

          ..and how about that labour in that queensland..eh..?

          ..from 7 mp’s to ruling..now that is a landslide on steroids..

          ..are you at all fretting about these outbreaks of lefty-looniness all over the place..?

          ..if u aren’t..u r seriously in denial..eh..?

          ..and for us..happier days soon..eh..?

      • Colonial Rawshark 26.1.4

        Cheers fellas.

  23. Paul 27

    If only our opposition politicians dealt with our media the way Greece’s New Finance Minister handles a Newsnight Interview.

    Greece’s new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis interviewed on 30 January 2015 on BBC’s Newsnight.

    “As a fan of the BBC, I must say I was appalled by the depths of inaccuracy in the reporting underpinning this interview (not to mention the presenter’s considerable rudeness).Still, and despite the cold wind on that balcony, it was fun!” – Yanis Varoufakis

    Full interview here.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiIO4YciewU

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    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour 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
    6 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
    8 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
    9 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
    22 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
    1 day 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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
    6 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 ...
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