What are you saying? Not wanting third world employment conditions in New Zealand deserves a knighthood? Besides I am pretty sure that he was not being rewarded for his contributions to workers rights.
RNZ’s article suggests he was….
Amazing they don’t report the other side of his treatment of workers.
‘Mr Talley is a joint managing director of Talleys Group Limited, one of New Zealand’s leading producers of primary food goods.
He has spent his lifetime promoting the employment of New Zealanders in the fishing industry, including attempts to place Foreign Charter Vessels under the control of New Zealand labour laws.’
He only has money to make charitable donations because he rips his workers off. No different to that bloke that makes those arse-achingly overlong fantasy films in Wellington.
My first question is how did he borrow the money, investors are treated differently to first home owner-occupiers. Have banks changed their rules on loans to investors? Last I heard a first time investor needed around 35% for a deposit, it was only existing investors who could get low deposit loans by using their equity as collateral.
Looks like he’s the LEECH of the family, live rent free, and then what? Hit them up as Guarantor. When’s he going to fix them up for the ‘free’ rent life he’s enjoyed?
“that today’s first-home buyers needed to make sacrifices.”
Or their Parents do. Another half written Advertorial (Can’t call that crap an article) from the Granny
‘He was adamant the nondescript one-storey brick house he now owns would not be his last, and echoed sentiments expressed by Barfoot & Thompson director Peter Thompson that today’s first-home buyers needed to make sacrifices.’
Presumably as it’s a “first home” he only needed 20% deposit by glossing over the fact he’ll never live there. His parents may also have given him money or acted as guarantors.
But the key thing which the article keeps trying to hide under phrases like “through hard work and modest living” is that he worked a 40-hour week while living rent-free at his parents’ place. This is simply impossible for the majority of people, and not because they don’t “work hard”.
Not to mention he was fortunate enough to have lecturers who were okay with him recording and listening to lectures later rather than participating in class.
I don’t want to hate on a guy I know next to nothing about, but having the Herald portray him as some kind of everyman who proves you can ~do anything if you want it enough~ is repugnant.
“Presumably as it’s a “first home” he only needed 20% deposit by glossing over the fact he’ll never live there. ”
That was my first thought too Stephanie but banks are pretty tough on that and since he was granted an interest-only loan it suggests the bank knew they were lending on an investment property (the usual home loan is a table mortgage)
“His parents may also have given him money or acted as guarantors.”
Yeah that’s a more likely scenario, I’d expect to find a sugar-daddy in there somewhere. His $45k is only a 15% deposit and I’ve not heard of banks making commercial loans like that. Commercial property, which is what investment properties are, usually requires a 35-40% deposit or at least guarantees amounting to the same.
I strongly recommend you all go to werewolf.co.nz to read the critique of the convention centre cult we have going. Gordon Campbell drives a bus through the Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Queenstown business cases, showing them to be worse than our sports stadium cult of the 1990s. They are no substitute for an economic development plan from governments local or Central. And they suck hard earned money out of our pockets for dubious benefit. With thanks to Tussock:
“The name’s Lanley, Lyle Lanley. And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest -Aw, it’s not for you. It’s more a Shelbyville idea.
Mayor: Now, wait just a minute. We’re twice as smart as the people of Shelbyville. Just tell us your idea and we’ll vote for it.
“All right, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll show you my idea. I give you the Springfield Convention Centre!”
(Everyone gasps!)
“I’ve sold convention centres to Brockway, Ogdenville, and Noth Haverbrook, and, by gum, it put them on the map!
Well, sir, there’s nothin’ on earth like a genuine, bond fide, hotel-attached, 3,000 seat, convention centre!
What’d I say?”
Obviously a very dishonest article which is published in the knowledge that its dishonesty can never be challenged in a degree commensurate with its reach. And thus the cargo cult and its devotees are further aggrandised.
I can think of an example, not an article. But Boag g bringing up free trade and the greens aren’t for free trade, on the nation or q&a, and it is dishonesty on several levels. Firstly she did not specify what the Greens failure was, does Boag not get that the Greens are for global trade in carbon, for fair international trade, and implicitly want uniform global governance to save the planet. National are even opposed to tax reform to bring us into alignment with oz, distortions create opportunities where there was none. So how dishonest on Boag to keep bringing up an issue that National are weaker on, Saudi business get special treatment, so much for free trade. And its a theme with Boag, she does not have to be all that smart if she keeps to the prepackage attack that the other guest spend time deconstructing when that’s what its designed to do undermine the TV shows purpose talk about issues of the day, not mislead us into believing National are free traders, they are not. Free trade requires governance to create a fair trading system where all agents get to compete on similar merits. National hate that, they want distortion how else are the wealthy to stare down the newer brighter leaner smarter new competitors.
Its a damn shame that Boat is never pressed and expose or the intellectual fraud she is.
…”An objective look at US interests in the region paint an entirely different picture. The Americans seek to maintain absolute hegemony in the Mideast, even as they exit costly military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their primary interests are 1) access to low cost oil and gas, 2) propping up Israel, and more recently, 3) undermining Russian (and Chinese) influence in the region…
And I read today that ISIS/ISIL/Daesh got hold of 2,300 US built Humvees when Iraqi forces fled Mosul, as well as many, many other items of US made military equipment.
“The AFL-CIO was blunt in the call that went out to Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat who represents San Diego: Vote yes on fast-track authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, people familiar with the conversation recall, and they’d spend a million dollars to knock him out in next year’s primary. If he managed to win, they’d drop another million against him in the general election.”
Some good reads about US Democrats, TPP, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton.
Australia’s capacity to tackle important public issues – such as climate change, growing inequality, tax avoidance, budget repair, an ageing population, lifting our productivity and our treatment of asylum seekers – is diminishing because of the power of vested interests, with their lobbying power to influence governments in a quite disproportionate way.
Lobbying has grown dramatically in recent years, particularly in Canberra. It now represents a serious corruption of good governance and the development of sound public policy
It had taken just fifty-three days from the announcement of the government’s mining tax proposal to the overthrow of its author, the prime minister. No election, no vote in parliament, no public debate. Greens leader Bob Brown said the mining companies spent $27 million on their lobbying campaign and saved themselves $10 billion when Gillard restructured the tax package
[lprent: Be careful about using too much shouting in conversation. ]
In just 24 hours, Wyden and five of those Democratic holdouts – Michael Bennet of Colorado, Dianne Feinstein of California, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington, and Bill Nelson of Florida – caved and voted for fast-track. Bennet, Murray, and Wyden – all running for re-election in 2016 – received $105,900 between the three of them. Bennet, who comes from the more purple state of Colorado, got $53,700 in corporate campaign donations between January and March 2015, according to Channing’s research.
Almost 100% of the Republicans in the US Senate voted for fast-track – the only two non-votes on TPA were a Republican from Louisiana and a Republican from Alaska
[lprent: Be careful about using too much shouting in conversation. ]
EU moves to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility were shelved following pressure from US trade officials over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal, newly released documents show.
Draft EU criteria could have banned 31 pesticides containing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). But these were dumped amid fears of a trade backlash stoked by an aggressive US lobby push, access to information documents obtained by Pesticides Action Network (PAN) Europe show.
[lprent: Be careful about using too much shouting in conversation. ]
Received Andrew Little’s latest monthly newsletter to members and he talks about the budget of course. However he also had the following to say:
In the last week there has been some talk
about Labour and means testing of NZ
Super. This has been a bit of mischief from
the government and some other quarters,
but I’d like to make it very clear that Labour
will not be considering means testing of NZ
Super while I am leader. Universal
superannuation is a cornerstone of a
progressive society.
A bit of mischief sounds like an understatement and it highlights what a bunch of wholesale bastards this government and sections of the media are proving to be. Dirty Politics rolls on and on…
Craig H gave us a good idea what really happened over Little’s original comment and I hope that in future Labour and Little will stop taking this crap and sue the bastards if necessary.
There may also be a growing realisation that this government is not helping those on the breadline as they claim… or maybe more and more people are finding themselves on the breadline…
What makes you think that Winston would go left? In the past he has ( I think gone with the largest party. Also Winston has a very blue seat. This will be part of his thinking. And then would Winston want to play second fiddle to the Greens,
Personally I doubt Winston will never go into a coalition with the greens. He will go withnNational. I have no doubt about that
As far as I can tell the same (as in: the first poll after Budget Day) One News Colmar Brunton Poll in May 2014 showed a 4.0% increase for National and a 1.0% drop for Labour.
This year’s budget supposedly left the Left for dead and we see National dropping one percentage point and Labour staying steady. Interestingly, the fraction of undecided voters rose 4 points to 13%.
National is playing a very strategic game so I would not read too much into this result.
Maybe but it’s a bit deceptive trying to apply margin of error to only select parts of the Poll. But agree the next poll will be defining for Andrew Little and Labour.
Yes, and that is because he is largely invisible these days. I don’t know whether this is intentional and he is quietly gathering momentum in the ‘provinces’ which won’t show through in the polls yet, or whether he has run out of steam for some reason. Its time he again started to show the mettle we saw late last year.
Because it always seems to take longer to show through jester. That is something that was well known back in the 70s and 80s (when I was first involved in politics) and I don’t think it has changed much despite improved technical methods.
My worry is that Little is getting sucked into the perspective of the inward looking Thorndon Bubble, exactly as Cunliffe did by the end of his first 6 months as leader.
Labour has to aggressively rebrand and reposition itself to put daylight between it and National. It is running out of time to do so convincingly before 2017.
He did bring out the call for means tested Super, and since that has been shot down he might be a bit gun shy for a while longer yet. I’m hoping to see some more passion from him, I think that’s what people want to see, something to break steady as she goes Key.
Little had a bad couple of weeks leading up to and during this poll, while the Nats, superficially, looked as if they were actually doing something about Auckland’s housing problems and child poverty. I am actually really relieved that it didn’t support that last Roy Morgan poll.
I notice there are a large percentage of refused and don’t knows (13% in total). I suspect there are a lot of people not that interested at this stage. I’d expect the Greens to get a boost in the next poll because of having a new co-leader and the extra media coverage that provides.
As far as Labour and Little go, there won’t be any dramatic increases, but hopefully there will be some slow steady progress once the policy reviews have concluded. I’m also hoping Labour and the Greens can get some joint policy ideas out there as that would help both parties I think.
Agree Karen but I think Little needs to up the ante now. He’s slipping out of people’s minds and leaves himself vulnerable to a DP type perception campaign that… he hasn’t got what it takes. Those of us who have met and heard him know that he has – in dollops – but once that perception is allowed to set in, he’s in big trouble.
Correct IMO. ‘Waiting for policy to be finalised’ is exactly the wrong strategy. Policy is irrelevant. And Little must avoid being sucked into the Thorndon Bubble perspective which will be the death of his leadership. Cunliffe started off strongly as well but the moment he let himself slip into the Thorndon Bubble perspective he was stuffed.
Being forthright, trust worthiness on working class values and willing to stand up and speak plainly about how the current socioeconomic paradigm is screwing ordinary NZers and how he stands for change is 100x more important.
“Yes, and that is because he is largely invisible these days. I don’t know whether this is intentional and he is quietly gathering momentum in the ‘provinces’ which won’t show through in the polls yet, or whether he has run out of steam for some reason. Its time he again started to show the mettle we saw late last year”
I agree, although I don’t think he is the sort of guy to run out of steam. He is a quality person with integrity, with his head and heart in the right place. And he has good genuine values unlike Key who is simply untrustworthy and a very good deceptive actor in my opinion. I will trust Andrew Little any day over Key, English, Joyce, McCully and Bridges combined. That is for sure!
I also think once the Labour review is completed and the party decides on the major new policies and direction, Andrew Little will begin to get more and more visible and thus increase his preferred PM ‘popularity’. Key has been known to the public for the last 14 years from 2001 to 2015, while Winston has been in politics and is known by the public for over 37 years, from 1978 to 2015.
Whereas, Andrew Little has come from obscurity, from being an unknown in politics to be the leader of the Labour party and the leader of the opposition. He has been in this position for only about 7-8 months. Compare that to Key and Peters tenure of 14 & 37 years!
When Key first appeared on the popularity stage (In Aug, 2006, after being in parliament for 5 years) his initial popularity was 8.5, while at the same time Helen Clark’s preferred PM rating was 52.4.
Herald–DigiPoll[13] 31 August 2006 [nb 1] HC=52.4 Key= 8.5
Herald–DigiPoll[16] 22–24 September 2006 HC=50.8 Key =9.2
But Key did climb up quickly after the ‘under class’ speech in parliament about McGehan Close where Key met 12 year old Aroha and invited her to accompany him to Waitangi celebrations. After his noble act (or stunt) Key’s popularity soared. [Incidentally, Aroha left NZ within 3 years, and while in Australia, she made scathing remarks in an interview about Key, referring to him as an ‘ ‘arsehole’, who has done really nothing for the poor. He is just making every thing better for the high earners’, she said. However this did not diminish Key’s popularity]
Hopefully, Little’s preferred PM rating will grow little by little as time goes by.
Little’s popularity as PM will only go up if both he and Labour can demonstrate a direct understanding and cultural connection with the NZers they are supposed to represent.
Otherwise, its not a rational expectation to hope that Little’s popularity amongst voters will go up as a result of this or that other Labour Party internal process being conducted.
That IS what Labour is about. Check out their social, economic ans environmental policies from before the last election. Don’t get suckered in by the nasty tactics of our enemies and supposed friends as well as by the RW BS, dirty politics, lies and spin.
Hey CV, did you see the bit in Shaw’s speech about if the GP want to govern the country they need to be representative, and that people vote for who they feel a connection with? I thought of you 🙂
I do agree with you CR, that Little needs to be front footing a lot more during the policy review and he needs to talk more emphatically about growing inequality and the damage it is doing to NZ.
He also needs to do speak a lot louder, or get a phone that enhances his voice. I always have to turn the radio up when he is speaking on National Radio in order to hear what he is saying. This has been the case since he got elected. Am I the only one who has noticed this?
Nasty little incident right at the start of Seven Sharp
Television One, Monday 1 June 2015
Mike Hosking’s away tonight, but the nastiness quotient has not abated one little bit on this travesty of a show. I’m sure I was not the only viewer to have enjoyed the following bit of cattiness from the smiling assassin/attack dog/cat Pippa Wetzell. Meeeow….
PIPPA WETZELL: Hey you’re a dog… person aren’t you?
….[Slight but significant pause]….
NADINE CHALMERS ROSS: I like dogs, yes. More doggy discourse later in the program. PIPPA WETZELL: First up, though….
Anybody with a brain, however, will be watching Road Cops over on TV3— it’s much funnier and has more thoughtful people on it.
I got sick of explaining over and over again about the Green Party and James Shaw’s position on forming government with National (tl;dr, they won’t), so I wrote a synopsis, with quotes and links, that can be linked to whenever people are confused or when the NACT spinners are out and about (great quote about the spinners from Anarkaytie at the end).
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. 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 ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
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This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
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My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
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 ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
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. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
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One of the bloody Tally brothers received a knighthood for in reality services to the National Party by way of donations …
I never, ever buy Talleys at the supermarket.
Me too. They’re on the same list as Shell, McDonalds, and the Eagles.
nor do I
Never mind that he was responsible for ensuring that overseas fishing fleets fell under NZ labour laws, or that he donates to many charities, aye?
What are you saying? Not wanting third world employment conditions in New Zealand deserves a knighthood? Besides I am pretty sure that he was not being rewarded for his contributions to workers rights.
No, it’s you being a cock by saying that it’s only because of his “services to the National Party by way of donations” that got it.
Are you saying that the largesse that Talley displayed to a number of National MPs’ campaign funds was totally irrelevant?
RNZ’s article suggests he was….
Amazing they don’t report the other side of his treatment of workers.
‘Mr Talley is a joint managing director of Talleys Group Limited, one of New Zealand’s leading producers of primary food goods.
He has spent his lifetime promoting the employment of New Zealanders in the fishing industry, including attempts to place Foreign Charter Vessels under the control of New Zealand labour laws.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/275089/nz's-newest-knights-and-dames
He only has money to make charitable donations because he rips his workers off. No different to that bloke that makes those arse-achingly overlong fantasy films in Wellington.
“No different to that bloke that makes those arse-achingly overlong fantasy films in Wellington.”
I have heard a lot of descriptions about the crap Jackson makes, but that beats them all. Excellent.
Typical rightwing approach, give all the credit to the individual motivated by personal profit and none to the collective motivated by protecting the workers …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8540637/Talleys-and-unions-decry-slave-ships
How many holes can people find in this story?
Student becomes property investor
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11457713
My first question is how did he borrow the money, investors are treated differently to first home owner-occupiers. Have banks changed their rules on loans to investors? Last I heard a first time investor needed around 35% for a deposit, it was only existing investors who could get low deposit loans by using their equity as collateral.
“he could while living a modest life rent-free at his parents’ home.
He only has a 15% deposit.
And no real income
He must have guarantor.
Looks like he’s the LEECH of the family, live rent free, and then what? Hit them up as Guarantor. When’s he going to fix them up for the ‘free’ rent life he’s enjoyed?
“that today’s first-home buyers needed to make sacrifices.”
Or their Parents do. Another half written Advertorial (Can’t call that crap an article) from the Granny
Article paid for by the BNZ and Barfoots.
‘He was adamant the nondescript one-storey brick house he now owns would not be his last, and echoed sentiments expressed by Barfoot & Thompson director Peter Thompson that today’s first-home buyers needed to make sacrifices.’
‘He is now working full-time for BNZ….’
“And no real income”
It does say near the bottom he’s now working full-time for BNZ. I’m wondering if that job includes some perks on borrowing money.
Good on him for getting those 2 properties, but he should credit his parents for helping him at least.
Typical appalling Herald story with an overt dishonest agenda.
Presumably as it’s a “first home” he only needed 20% deposit by glossing over the fact he’ll never live there. His parents may also have given him money or acted as guarantors.
But the key thing which the article keeps trying to hide under phrases like “through hard work and modest living” is that he worked a 40-hour week while living rent-free at his parents’ place. This is simply impossible for the majority of people, and not because they don’t “work hard”.
Not to mention he was fortunate enough to have lecturers who were okay with him recording and listening to lectures later rather than participating in class.
I don’t want to hate on a guy I know next to nothing about, but having the Herald portray him as some kind of everyman who proves you can ~do anything if you want it enough~ is repugnant.
This quote by the Herald’s Ayn Randian John Galt hero suggests there might be reasons to not admire the guy.
“It’s not going to stop at one. There will be another purchase – it’s just a matter of time.”
“Presumably as it’s a “first home” he only needed 20% deposit by glossing over the fact he’ll never live there. ”
That was my first thought too Stephanie but banks are pretty tough on that and since he was granted an interest-only loan it suggests the bank knew they were lending on an investment property (the usual home loan is a table mortgage)
“His parents may also have given him money or acted as guarantors.”
Yeah that’s a more likely scenario, I’d expect to find a sugar-daddy in there somewhere. His $45k is only a 15% deposit and I’ve not heard of banks making commercial loans like that. Commercial property, which is what investment properties are, usually requires a 35-40% deposit or at least guarantees amounting to the same.
He will probably end up becoming one of those fine specimens that lurk over here
I strongly recommend you all go to werewolf.co.nz to read the critique of the convention centre cult we have going. Gordon Campbell drives a bus through the Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Queenstown business cases, showing them to be worse than our sports stadium cult of the 1990s. They are no substitute for an economic development plan from governments local or Central. And they suck hard earned money out of our pockets for dubious benefit. With thanks to Tussock:
“The name’s Lanley, Lyle Lanley. And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest -Aw, it’s not for you. It’s more a Shelbyville idea.
Mayor: Now, wait just a minute. We’re twice as smart as the people of Shelbyville. Just tell us your idea and we’ll vote for it.
“All right, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll show you my idea. I give you the Springfield Convention Centre!”
(Everyone gasps!)
“I’ve sold convention centres to Brockway, Ogdenville, and Noth Haverbrook, and, by gum, it put them on the map!
Well, sir, there’s nothin’ on earth like a genuine, bond fide, hotel-attached, 3,000 seat, convention centre!
What’d I say?”
Everyone: Convention Centre!
Castles in The Square
Obviously a very dishonest article which is published in the knowledge that its dishonesty can never be challenged in a degree commensurate with its reach. And thus the cargo cult and its devotees are further aggrandised.
Which article?
I can think of an example, not an article. But Boag g bringing up free trade and the greens aren’t for free trade, on the nation or q&a, and it is dishonesty on several levels. Firstly she did not specify what the Greens failure was, does Boag not get that the Greens are for global trade in carbon, for fair international trade, and implicitly want uniform global governance to save the planet. National are even opposed to tax reform to bring us into alignment with oz, distortions create opportunities where there was none. So how dishonest on Boag to keep bringing up an issue that National are weaker on, Saudi business get special treatment, so much for free trade. And its a theme with Boag, she does not have to be all that smart if she keeps to the prepackage attack that the other guest spend time deconstructing when that’s what its designed to do undermine the TV shows purpose talk about issues of the day, not mislead us into believing National are free traders, they are not. Free trade requires governance to create a fair trading system where all agents get to compete on similar merits. National hate that, they want distortion how else are the wealthy to stare down the newer brighter leaner smarter new competitors.
Its a damn shame that Boat is never pressed and expose or the intellectual fraud she is.
A Middle Eastern woman analyst gives her opinion on how to beat ISIS
Sharmine Narwani is a commentator and analyst of Middle East geopolitics. She tweets @snarwani
‘To beat ISIS, kick out US-led coalition’
http://rt.com/op-edge/262393-isis-us-coalition-syria-iraq/
…”An objective look at US interests in the region paint an entirely different picture. The Americans seek to maintain absolute hegemony in the Mideast, even as they exit costly military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their primary interests are 1) access to low cost oil and gas, 2) propping up Israel, and more recently, 3) undermining Russian (and Chinese) influence in the region…
And I read today that ISIS/ISIL/Daesh got hold of 2,300 US built Humvees when Iraqi forces fled Mosul, as well as many, many other items of US made military equipment.
NZ troops should be pulled out NOW!
http://rt.com/news/263769-iraq-isis-humvees-weapons/
‘2,300 Humvees in Mosul alone’: Iraq reveals number of US arms falling into ISIS hands
Yep, we should never have sent our forces in to a sectarian, tribal civil war.
McKinsey ‘assessing’ Fonterra ….. again
Good fees for the McKinsey partners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/us/politics/challenging-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-gains-momentum-in-iowa.html?partner=socialflow&smid=tw-nytimes
“Challenging Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders Gains Momentum in Iowa”
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/democrats-recount-labors-pressure-tactics-118305.html
“The AFL-CIO was blunt in the call that went out to Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat who represents San Diego: Vote yes on fast-track authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, people familiar with the conversation recall, and they’d spend a million dollars to knock him out in next year’s primary. If he managed to win, they’d drop another million against him in the general election.”
Some good reads about US Democrats, TPP, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton.
Reasons to go vegetarian No94:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2015/may/29/its-time-to-wean-ourselves-off-the-fairytale-version-of-farming?fb_action_ids=958871387477189&fb_action_types=og.shares
Or to support ethical animal farming.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/how-the-rise-of-the-lobbyist-is-corrupting-australias-democracy-20150517-gh2iyw.html
Australia’s capacity to tackle important public issues – such as climate change, growing inequality, tax avoidance, budget repair, an ageing population, lifting our productivity and our treatment of asylum seekers – is diminishing because of the power of vested interests, with their lobbying power to influence governments in a quite disproportionate way.
Lobbying has grown dramatically in recent years, particularly in Canberra. It now represents a serious corruption of good governance and the development of sound public policy
http://www.mybudget360.com/financial-hunger-games-reality-tv-money-for-poverty/
TV show is The Briefcase. I can’t boycott it since I already don’t watch TV now Campbell is gone.
http://meanjin.com.au/articles/post/lobbying-for-the-dark-side/
It had taken just fifty-three days from the announcement of the government’s mining tax proposal to the overthrow of its author, the prime minister. No election, no vote in parliament, no public debate. Greens leader Bob Brown said the mining companies spent $27 million on their lobbying campaign and saved themselves $10 billion when Gillard restructured the tax package
[lprent: Be careful about using too much shouting in conversation. ]
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/27/corporations-paid-us-senators-fast-track-tpp
In just 24 hours, Wyden and five of those Democratic holdouts – Michael Bennet of Colorado, Dianne Feinstein of California, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington, and Bill Nelson of Florida – caved and voted for fast-track.
Bennet, Murray, and Wyden – all running for re-election in 2016 – received $105,900 between the three of them. Bennet, who comes from the more purple state of Colorado, got $53,700 in corporate campaign donations between January and March 2015, according to Channing’s research.
Almost 100% of the Republicans in the US Senate voted for fast-track – the only two non-votes on TPA were a Republican from Louisiana and a Republican from Alaska
[lprent: Be careful about using too much shouting in conversation. ]
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/22/eu-dropped-pesticide-laws-due-to-us-pressure-over-ttip-documents-reveal
EU moves to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility were shelved following pressure from US trade officials over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal, newly released documents show.
Draft EU criteria could have banned 31 pesticides containing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). But these were dumped amid fears of a trade backlash stoked by an aggressive US lobby push, access to information documents obtained by Pesticides Action Network (PAN) Europe show.
[lprent: Be careful about using too much shouting in conversation. ]
Received Andrew Little’s latest monthly newsletter to members and he talks about the budget of course. However he also had the following to say:
In the last week there has been some talk
about Labour and means testing of NZ
Super. This has been a bit of mischief from
the government and some other quarters,
but I’d like to make it very clear that Labour
will not be considering means testing of NZ
Super while I am leader. Universal
superannuation is a cornerstone of a
progressive society.
A bit of mischief sounds like an understatement and it highlights what a bunch of wholesale bastards this government and sections of the media are proving to be. Dirty Politics rolls on and on…
Craig H gave us a good idea what really happened over Little’s original comment and I hope that in future Labour and Little will stop taking this crap and sue the bastards if necessary.
http://thestandard.org.nz/labour-and-the-greens-2/#comment-1023166
Latest Colmar Brunton is out. National is at 48% Labour 31% Greens 10% NZ First 7%. No budget bump or maybe the budget bump was affected by Ponygate …
There may also be a growing realisation that this government is not helping those on the breadline as they claim… or maybe more and more people are finding themselves on the breadline…
Nice on the way to L 35% G15% nzf 4.5%
Still need to keep an eye on the polls over the next month or two to fully assess the impact of the Budget.
LAB + GR + NZF = 48%. Still 3% to 4% shy of forming a solid govt.
12% refused to answer or undecided. Would be good to see a margin of error analysis.
What makes you think that Winston would go left? In the past he has ( I think gone with the largest party. Also Winston has a very blue seat. This will be part of his thinking. And then would Winston want to play second fiddle to the Greens,
Personally I doubt Winston will never go into a coalition with the greens. He will go withnNational. I have no doubt about that
NZF could indeed go with National in the future, but John Key would have to be gone for that to happen.
As far as I can tell the same (as in: the first poll after Budget Day) One News Colmar Brunton Poll in May 2014 showed a 4.0% increase for National and a 1.0% drop for Labour.
This year’s budget supposedly left the Left for dead and we see National dropping one percentage point and Labour staying steady. Interestingly, the fraction of undecided voters rose 4 points to 13%.
National is playing a very strategic game so I would not read too much into this result.
Can’t be a hit from Ponytailgate Mickey, Key’s PM popularity rises to 44. Littles popularity now even with Winston on 9%
Margin of error stuff Jester. The result is in stark contrast with the last Roy Morgan so the next poll will be interesting.
Maybe but it’s a bit deceptive trying to apply margin of error to only select parts of the Poll. But agree the next poll will be defining for Andrew Little and Labour.
No it won’t. National will throw a lot more stuff at him and this may or may not work. Politics is a medium term game.
Littles popularity now even with Winston on 9%.
Yes, and that is because he is largely invisible these days. I don’t know whether this is intentional and he is quietly gathering momentum in the ‘provinces’ which won’t show through in the polls yet, or whether he has run out of steam for some reason. Its time he again started to show the mettle we saw late last year.
Why won’t the momentum in the provinces show through in the Poll Anne?
Because it always seems to take longer to show through jester. That is something that was well known back in the 70s and 80s (when I was first involved in politics) and I don’t think it has changed much despite improved technical methods.
Q. In a world rife with data manipulation why would the polls be given even a modicum of kudos ?
My worry is that Little is getting sucked into the perspective of the inward looking Thorndon Bubble, exactly as Cunliffe did by the end of his first 6 months as leader.
Labour has to aggressively rebrand and reposition itself to put daylight between it and National. It is running out of time to do so convincingly before 2017.
He did bring out the call for means tested Super, and since that has been shot down he might be a bit gun shy for a while longer yet. I’m hoping to see some more passion from him, I think that’s what people want to see, something to break steady as she goes Key.
Little had a bad couple of weeks leading up to and during this poll, while the Nats, superficially, looked as if they were actually doing something about Auckland’s housing problems and child poverty. I am actually really relieved that it didn’t support that last Roy Morgan poll.
I notice there are a large percentage of refused and don’t knows (13% in total). I suspect there are a lot of people not that interested at this stage. I’d expect the Greens to get a boost in the next poll because of having a new co-leader and the extra media coverage that provides.
As far as Labour and Little go, there won’t be any dramatic increases, but hopefully there will be some slow steady progress once the policy reviews have concluded. I’m also hoping Labour and the Greens can get some joint policy ideas out there as that would help both parties I think.
Agree Karen but I think Little needs to up the ante now. He’s slipping out of people’s minds and leaves himself vulnerable to a DP type perception campaign that… he hasn’t got what it takes. Those of us who have met and heard him know that he has – in dollops – but once that perception is allowed to set in, he’s in big trouble.
Correct IMO. ‘Waiting for policy to be finalised’ is exactly the wrong strategy. Policy is irrelevant. And Little must avoid being sucked into the Thorndon Bubble perspective which will be the death of his leadership. Cunliffe started off strongly as well but the moment he let himself slip into the Thorndon Bubble perspective he was stuffed.
Being forthright, trust worthiness on working class values and willing to stand up and speak plainly about how the current socioeconomic paradigm is screwing ordinary NZers and how he stands for change is 100x more important.
“Yes, and that is because he is largely invisible these days. I don’t know whether this is intentional and he is quietly gathering momentum in the ‘provinces’ which won’t show through in the polls yet, or whether he has run out of steam for some reason. Its time he again started to show the mettle we saw late last year”
I agree, although I don’t think he is the sort of guy to run out of steam. He is a quality person with integrity, with his head and heart in the right place. And he has good genuine values unlike Key who is simply untrustworthy and a very good deceptive actor in my opinion. I will trust Andrew Little any day over Key, English, Joyce, McCully and Bridges combined. That is for sure!
I also think once the Labour review is completed and the party decides on the major new policies and direction, Andrew Little will begin to get more and more visible and thus increase his preferred PM ‘popularity’. Key has been known to the public for the last 14 years from 2001 to 2015, while Winston has been in politics and is known by the public for over 37 years, from 1978 to 2015.
Whereas, Andrew Little has come from obscurity, from being an unknown in politics to be the leader of the Labour party and the leader of the opposition. He has been in this position for only about 7-8 months. Compare that to Key and Peters tenure of 14 & 37 years!
When Key first appeared on the popularity stage (In Aug, 2006, after being in parliament for 5 years) his initial popularity was 8.5, while at the same time Helen Clark’s preferred PM rating was 52.4.
Herald–DigiPoll[13] 31 August 2006 [nb 1] HC=52.4 Key= 8.5
Herald–DigiPoll[16] 22–24 September 2006 HC=50.8 Key =9.2
But Key did climb up quickly after the ‘under class’ speech in parliament about McGehan Close where Key met 12 year old Aroha and invited her to accompany him to Waitangi celebrations. After his noble act (or stunt) Key’s popularity soared. [Incidentally, Aroha left NZ within 3 years, and while in Australia, she made scathing remarks in an interview about Key, referring to him as an ‘ ‘arsehole’, who has done really nothing for the poor. He is just making every thing better for the high earners’, she said. However this did not diminish Key’s popularity]
Hopefully, Little’s preferred PM rating will grow little by little as time goes by.
Little’s popularity as PM will only go up if both he and Labour can demonstrate a direct understanding and cultural connection with the NZers they are supposed to represent.
Otherwise, its not a rational expectation to hope that Little’s popularity amongst voters will go up as a result of this or that other Labour Party internal process being conducted.
That IS what Labour is about. Check out their social, economic ans environmental policies from before the last election. Don’t get suckered in by the nasty tactics of our enemies and supposed friends as well as by the RW BS, dirty politics, lies and spin.
http://campaign.labour.org.nz/all_our_announced_policies
Hey CV, did you see the bit in Shaw’s speech about if the GP want to govern the country they need to be representative, and that people vote for who they feel a connection with? I thought of you 🙂
I do agree with you CR, that Little needs to be front footing a lot more during the policy review and he needs to talk more emphatically about growing inequality and the damage it is doing to NZ.
He also needs to do speak a lot louder, or get a phone that enhances his voice. I always have to turn the radio up when he is speaking on National Radio in order to hear what he is saying. This has been the case since he got elected. Am I the only one who has noticed this?
Nasty little incident right at the start of Seven Sharp
Television One, Monday 1 June 2015
Mike Hosking’s away tonight, but the nastiness quotient has not abated one little bit on this travesty of a show. I’m sure I was not the only viewer to have enjoyed the following bit of cattiness from the smiling assassin/attack dog/cat Pippa Wetzell. Meeeow….
PIPPA WETZELL: Hey you’re a dog… person aren’t you?
….[Slight but significant pause]….
NADINE CHALMERS ROSS: I like dogs, yes. More doggy discourse later in the program.
PIPPA WETZELL: First up, though….
Anybody with a brain, however, will be watching Road Cops over on TV3— it’s much funnier and has more thoughtful people on it.
Mozzy
“PIPPA WETZELL: Hey you’re a dog… person aren’t you?
….[Slight but significant pause]….”
“Anybody with a brain, however, will be watching Road Cops over on TV3— it’s much funnier and has more thoughtful people on it.”
This explains why you were watching seven sharp Mozzy.
Ya got me, nigela—and ya got me good!
I got sick of explaining over and over again about the Green Party and James Shaw’s position on forming government with National (tl;dr, they won’t), so I wrote a synopsis, with quotes and links, that can be linked to whenever people are confused or when the NACT spinners are out and about (great quote about the spinners from Anarkaytie at the end).
http://thestandard.org.nz/labour-and-the-greens-2/#comment-1023716
(wouldn’t mind someone proof reading it).
Short sharp shock felt here in Dunners 3 to 4 mins ago
Quake just inland from Dunedin (4.4). How rare is that?
http://geonet.org.nz/quakes/region/newzealand/2015p409380
snap CV.
edit, upgraded to a 4.7
People living out west of Dunedin are reporting it was pretty scary. Guessing there will be minor reports of damage come tomorrow morning.
I bet, shallow and felt widespread. Looks like epicentre not far off the Middlemarch Rd, between Outram and Clark’s Junction.
There’s a fault through there,
https://dunedinstadium.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/254648019.jpg
thanks for that weka…a wee bit close to home for my liking…literally
always good practice I feel 😉
I thought quakes near Dunedin would be rare, but there was a shallow 4.1 in Oct last year in pretty much the same place.
http://earthquaketrack.com/nz-f7-dunedin/recent
Did you hear it?
I did hear today’s quake coming maybe two and a half seconds off before I felt it jolt…
a few people tweeting bout the sound.
Found this too,
http://ukeq.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/dunedin-rocked-by-moderate-quake.html?m=1
wow that was a damn quick (and passably thorough) write up
edit – lol Oct 16, 2014 – thanks for the link anyways weka, very informative
sorry, that’s the 2014 one.
People are keen at reporting on Geonet, aye?
A few thousand have completed the online report in just a short space of time.
Yeah, seemed a lot very quickly.
I suppose that’s a good sign. If power and Internet went out, it would be much worse.
I keep on meaning to get a disaster kit together. I think I’ll do it this week.
esp important going into winter.