See Issac Davison’s article from teh Herald this morning. The Herald has gone from just regurgitating press releases to cut and pasting from Wikipedia (the last 9 paragraphs are lifted directly without attribution)
Yup, the Herald is a dreadful rag and clearly biased in favour of the National Party’s re-election. Their continued publicity of the ACT Party and its policies suggests the Herald’s owners only hope for a more right wing set of policies.
The left wing wing should therefore be wary of this Williamson story, especially as the Herald broke it.
First up it distracts from the Collins story.
Secondly, it frees up a safe Auckland seat, which can be used by the ACT Party, to promote Jamie Whyte’s Libertarian viewpoints and get extra seats into power. The Herald is already pushing for Williamson to resign as a MP. This will provide a back up to Epsom just in case the folk of Remuera get sick of being taken for fools again.
Thirdly, it allows the media to play the line of Key being decisive, which clears him from the mess of the Collins fiasco.
The opposition must not let this story get ahead of the Collins Oravida affair as the latter drags down the PM and shows even more the corrupt nature of this government.
On Stuff, Vernon Small spinning for the corporate media and trying some damage control for his masters. Just wait to to see the tr*lls on this site copying one or more of these slavish lines.
Look at this just as one miserable example of the content of his woeful article.
“His pre-sacking resignation was handled cleanly and swiftly by Prime Minister John Key and it was hard not to hark back for comparison to the dog’s breakfast Labour made of Shane Jones’ recent departure.”
Vernon Small..another disgraceful excuse for journalism.
Maurice Williamson fallout will colour perceptions
A gloomy, grey cloud has replaced the big gay rainbow that Maurice Williamson rode to stardom during the marriage equality debate.
But the questions and potential fallout don’t end there.
That opens the door to the perception of a different standard for the big investor over the average Joan Public; that “economic importance” could be a factor in the way the police go about their business.
National’s critics are already drawing parallels with Judith Collins’ links to exporter Oravida – also headed by rich donors – and “that” dinner in China.
It all feeds in to the Opposition parties’ narrative that the Government helps its “rich mates”.
Small doesn’t mention the apparent ignorance of Williamson about the line he clearly crossed, that doesn’t look good for Williamson.
But Small does address the bigger issue, the growing ‘perception’ that National’s relationships with Chinese business people are crossing a line. Unless more damaging details emerge Williamson’s fall will probably fade quickly but the spotlight on National’s ‘rich mate’ relationships will keep the pressure on them, and so it should.
The interesting issue heading into the election will be can John Key and his backroom boys force Williamson out of contesting his electorate seat for National? He has flatly refused to go on RNZ this morning.
This will cause the dilemma of Key-National bleeding votes. But what Key is up against is if Williamson can hold enough support within his electorate committee, and give the middle finger to the PM, and still get away with it. He must fancy his chances of going it alone, probably figuring he can replace Dunne as a cabernet minister, if National squeak back in.
Make no mistake Williamson has a history as a renegade MP, and with the comfort of knowing he is a very popular electorate MP, with a very healthy 13,000 majority at the last election, he can afford to give the solo option a real good crack.
It all feeds in to the Opposition parties’ narrative that the Government helps its “rich mates”.
I noticed this line on the News.
This sentence turns what is occurring in NZ with our government into a ‘narrative’ suggesting ‘perceptions’ viewing blatant corruption are ‘simply an election strategy’.
What about the possibility that Opposition parties’ ‘line’ is not a ‘narrative’, that they are stating things as they are?
If you thought that was limp – try this exercise in … ( I was going for a colourful metaphor, but it’s not worth wasting my dignity on …)
The handling of Maurice Williamson’s cloddish attempts to intervene in a police investigation was textbook.
Key axed his statistics minister with ruthless efficiency.
As he admitted this morning, he had little choice. Williamson had crossed the line where careers can be saved.
After Judith Collins’ questionable dalliances with Chinese company Oravida, National could not afford another whiff of cronyism.
….
Until Williamson announced he would seek re-election in September.
By voicing that intention, it instantly became clear that neither he or his boss really believe he has done wrong.
Like stalwart Nick Smith, who also resigned for trying to throw his weight around, Williamson will serve his penance until this unpleasant episode has faded from public memory.
Cynical of course, but you’ve got to hand it to National – Williamson’s exit was nowhere near as messy as Shane Jones’ resignation last week.
Of course Ms Vance has pointedly failed to traverse the tricky little question of exactly how long “Mr Well Done PM” has known about Williamson’s errors of judgement.
The do work quite meticulously to shield Key, I wonder if it is a sycophantic toady thing where journalists like Vance actually believe what they write, or whether it is a more cynical manipulation of public opinion, maybe a little of A a little of B.
They don’t believe it.
They write it to further their own careers as the only way up in organisations like Fairfax is to write unquestioning paeons to the dear leader.
I disagree – I think these guys DO believe what they write. I also think they think they are far more talented and smart than they actually are. The press gallery is so out of touch (the likes of Armstrong have been there far, far to long) and they have been so comprehensively bullied by Ede and Key that they have all developed a journalistic case of Stockholm syndrome. Their intoxication at their proximity to power combined with their arrogance and ego could never allow them to admit they are Ede’s pets – They are opinion shapers! They are the press gallery! They are players! – so instead they accept a warped interpretation of their warped reality of their relationship with the ninth floor, and regurgitate opinion that whenever it is exposed to critical examination in the real world (i.e. the Labour leadership contest) is shown as reflecting the received wisdom of about 50 people.
Me thinks Ms Vance got a bit of a talking to after she accidentally did some real journalism re Mr Hair Do and the “Affair of the Prematurely Leaked Report” last year – and she’s still in ‘make-up sex’ mode.
Other comments with high positive votes.
Looks lime a lot of people are getting sick of media bias.
Time for Labour, the Greens and Mana to go on the offensive about media bias. People can see it.
PeteryBab
“Wow….just wow. I think I just threw up a little bit.
What can I say but that it appears the cronyism goes further than just government ministers and millionaires….”
Bronagh
“Extraordinary! A story about National Party corruption and you praise Key and criticise Cunliffe. Your bias is astounding.
I think Williamson resigned rather than Key sacking him…………Also the most important question is when did Key first find out about this? And why did it take the outing of Williamson by the Herald for anything to happen.”
Robby
“Williamson will serve his penance until this unpleasant episode has faded from public memory. ”
You know what, Andrea, it only disappears because you and your mates ignore it.
As for the Jones departure – that was only messy because you and your mates went nuts over it. Compare that to this episode “well done Mr Key”. I am REALLY tired of you and your Tory media mates.”
And the only reason why Jones’ resignation was messy was because a) the MSM beat it up and b) Jones himself being a dick. Obviously, the MSM are trying to bury the fact that a National minister got caught being corrupt.
Paul, I think that you might be making some leaps of faith about Vernon Small. He writes within limits set by his editors no doubt, his allegiances are probably a long way from your description. I recall him in Christchurch many years ago as a very devoted Labour Party person. What he is now, who knows, maybe it is a case of shooting the messenger because the story doesn’t suit the reader.
Paul/
Small’s comments are typical of Crosby -Textor managment .
This dangerous .influencial group manage a number of Right -Wing parties .They win elections by what ever means they can and this includes manipulating the news media . Money and influence something the Left does not have,
Exactly it’s part of the same narrative that is actually going to gain traction because blood is in the water now, trying to separate the two now is laughable – it’s too late. Will also play into all the backroom deals that National likes so much such as Skycity and Warners.
Excellent news.
Labour and rest of opposition must maintain the link.
It stops any narrative of Key being decisive, shows up overall corruption and keeps Collins and her motley crew under pressure.
Her supporters don’t seem to have arrived on this site yet. Maybe receiving orders on their new spin line. Must be getting harder that one.
plagiarism’s a serious issue – have they changed the online version? It doesn’t seem to be a direct copy any more (although at least one paragraph was circulating on the interwebz in 2010).
Thinking about it, that article actually shows that we could get better governance by using Loomio and everyone talking than we can using representatives. Hierarchy really is a waste of time.
also hierarchy too often get in the way of progress/change..
..often largely for reasons of preservation/enhancement of their personal status quo
From what I could make out of political history that’s actually the reason we have representative democracy. To prevent the changes that the rich don’t like.
“From what I could make out of political history that’s actually the reason we have representative democracy. To prevent the changes that the rich don’t like.”
I think reason would be because organising millions of people to vote on every bill presented to parliament would be akin to herding cats.
OK, that doesn’t change the fact that getting millions of people to vote for every bill would be a disastrous exercise.
And your quote doesn’t really seem all that relevant but if you want to play argument by quote:
“The effect of [a representative democracy is] to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of the nation….”
– James Madison
OK, that doesn’t change the fact that getting millions of people to vote for every bill would be a disastrous exercise.
I understand that as well.
“The effect of [a representative democracy is] to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of the nation….”
– James Madison
Which backs up exactly what I originally said. You don’t get the choice of the people but the choice of the representatives who’ve been bought by the rich.
How many electorates around New Zealand have National Party Billboards strategically positioned?
West Auckland has had Hekia Parata and currently Paula Bennett smiling at us since the beginning of the year and the Northland electorate has Mike Sabin’s. They are disguised as announcements of public meetings. The important words are in reflective material that shine clearly in headlights – The MPs name and the party.
Sorry, don’t have that expertise, but Waikumete, Lincoln Road, Te Atatu interchange, Swanson, for Bennett and variously along State Highway 1 for Sabin. (Would be interesting to know what the Penguin would make of it.)
…thanks Freedom. The general question is “how are the Nats getting away with this?” considering the outcry by the Penguin and others when the review of the Electoral Reform Act came up. I understood that there are restrictions to electioneering in election years. I am wondering how many other Nat. politicians appear to be doing it. I have identified three.
I understood that there are restrictions to electioneering in election years.
Not any more. National put it back to the original 6 weeks before the election. You’ll also note that those advertisements are for actual public meetings of the MPs which can be considered part of their job which is why they have the parliamentary seal on them. We get to pay for Nationals advertising.
Thanks DTB. You have to ask why they use reflective paint for the billboards though. The details of the meetings a lost in the dark. And, furthermore, why in hell aren’t the other political parties doing it?
BG. We all enjoy a degree of anonymity on this site. I understand uploading a picture can carry of a lot of extra information with it. (… this is a distraction from the original question).
There’s long been billboards with Bennett’s face on it in the Waitakere electorate – eg along the Great North Road leading to Henderson. Maybe just standard practice for her. Likes to mar the experience of travelling around west Auckland
There is usually one on Universal Drive also. There has been a few different versions over the last year or two. I have stopped looking though, doesn’t do any good for my mood.
It’s still Mayday where I am – In the early summer sun, there are parades, protests, speeches in the civic square and picnics in the park and at the Social Democrats HQ.
Amazing how the corporate media spins this story as a positive tale.
The foreign takeover of a NZ company is a good news story.
I guess the media believes this because they themselves are owned by foreign interests.
30 years of neoliberalism has brought us to this…celebrating our serfdom.
From wiki.
“Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia’s largest diversified media companies. The group’s operations include newspapers, magazines, radio and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John Fairfax Holdings. The Fairfax family lost control of the company in December 1990. It was renamed from John Fairfax Holdings to Fairfax Media in 2007.”
Your comments should be directed at the owners of the business, and not have a belief that all NZ private business have to stay in NZ ownership. You could start your own business, make it successful and when Microsoft comes knocking turn them down.
Before Williamson fades from the headlines, what about asking Tolley a few pointed questions.
Such as – why did senior officers scurry around at Williamson’s behest, and not simply give him the brush-off? An ongoing criminal investigation…easy as….’sorry Minister, that’s just not on’.
According to Winston Peters on Morning Report just now, Anne Tolley knew about the Williamson police interference on the 4th April – so when did John (Dunno)Key actually know about it?
brilliant piece by a kiwi comedienne i have never seen before on tv1 breakfast show. did a wicked imitation of judith collins talking about mw resignation. i dont know how grant robertson kept a straight face. i know i didnt. comedy gold.
Maybe it’s about time to cast a closer spotlight on other National Party donors.
What is their price for supporting the National and ACT Party?
Looks like a group of individuals prepared to feather their nests at the expense of the independence of New Zealand and our economic sovereignty.
Collins ….. Oravida
Banks…..Sky City
Williamson …Donghua Liu
Paul I don’t believe these are isolated incidents, nor that the wider party is not involved.
Simon Lusk alleges that National MPs “trade on” their time in Parliament “to build a lucrative business career”, and he should know: he’s trained enough of them for the role.
It seems that for some, they can’t wait to leave Parliament to get on with it. Although someone should tell John Key that he is unlikely to earn as much as a model – even for Oravida – as he can designing exciting new financial instruments to hoover up money.
But what they do as individuals pales by comparison to the behaviour of the wider party, which more or less sells audiences and indulgences and by the looks of it, justice too.
The Prime Minister’s diary includes a meeting with SkyCity’s Chief Executive on 14 May 2009, which was one of a series of meetings that day with Auckland business leaders. SkyCity confirmed that this meeting took place. Neither participant can recall the discussion, and think that it was probably just an opportunity for them to meet rather than for any particular purpose…
Yet SkyCity knew, from its earlier meetings with other Ministers, that the Government did not want to fund the construction of a convention centre at all and would look at alternative ways of making a centre viable, including regulatory reform to provide a potential provider with an enhanced revenue stream.
Although the Prime Minister met with other business leaders and potential providers in the months before the EOI process, we have seen no evidence that this kind of discussion took place with any other potential submitter.
I thought ministers, especially the PM, were followed around by note takers to take down their every utterance so that such meetings were properly recorded.
xox
good to see Suzie and Guyon holding Labour to account for the Bill Luis episode, on Natz Radio this morning. Oh, it was supposed to be about Maurice.
Yes Espiner is particularly biased. Pity Russell Norman was on very early. His analysis was excellent and very penetrating re wealth and increasing political interference by the National Party This was rapidly shut down by Espiner.
Sod’em, Bomber has done a great service with the Daily Blog which far outweighs the machinations of the various stoner factions. The ‘Public Address’ type luvvies sneer at him too, and sure Bomber often uses a double headed viking axe where other writers might use a stiletto, but that is why some of us like his style.
At one point, I started writing him little messages asking how his day was when he started censoring my comments that were even agreeing with the author of the post (but disagreed with him).
i think the censoring-regime @ the daily blog has lessened somewhat…
..i have posted some reasonably harsh/critical pieces/comments there..
..and i see others getting thru that wouldn’t have previously..
..i don’t know if this has been a deliberate move..
..or has happened by a process of osmosis..
..but it is a definite improvement..and now they are there..i am puzzled they still don’t allow instant-comment-posting..as this would drive up their comment-traffic..
..i do see value in their comment-grading by readers system tho’..
..i find it adds nuance to any evaluations of moods around issues..
..and also provides more engagement/involvement by the reader..(and there is a degree of satisfaction to be had from up-ticking something you like..and down-ticking something you don’t..
..and this is particularly satisfying when the likes of neo-lib fanboy stuart nash post some drivel..get hammered in comments-thread..
..and then be silly enough to try to defend his spin/whatever in that comments thread..and then to get down-ticked right out the door..heh..!
..and each one of those down-tickers can feel a part of that clear message back at/to nash..he’d have to have the awareness of a rock not to take it as a major put-down/reality-check..
..there is empowerment/democracy to be had for the reader from that..i reckon..
..and that is a good thing to have going on..)
(and a rating system would seem to be particularly suited to things of humour..like reader-captioning-posts..?)
I’ve tried to like Bomber, and used to, but I’m no longer even sure his heart’s in the right place.
Dude attacks allies all the time, for self serving reasons; doesn’t disclose connections he has which directly relate to things he writes about; desperatly wants to be a left wing whaleoil.
Lolz, Espiner on RadioNZ National nailing the Conservatives Colon Craig to a cross of Craig’s own making, having Mr loony tunes admit that He happily breaks the law when beating ‘His’ children,
Here’s a self confessed criminal offender happily boasting about His crimes to anyone listening, where’s a cop when you need one,(perhaps a flood of complaints to the plods might see them take some action against this self confessed law breaker)…
?thats what we need, journalists taking to task people not yet in parliament while giving many there, representing us, a free ride and making up the excuses for them.
xox
Yes, Guyon set CC up. And Colin walked straight into it, AND didn’t even blink. Says a lot about CC’s chin. I have noticed that Guy on likes to set traps for the politicians. Sneaky and unprofessional. Low and counterproductive.
and his voice gives him away when he is prowling and about to pounce
his speech flattens in its emotive tone and noticeably speeds up in sentence delivery
All that just says we need more intelligent politicians, while not defending anything any of the press does or doesn’t do,(some of Espiner’s stuff i like and some i loath), it is up to those who except His invitation to be interviewed to deal with how Espiner frames such interviews….
There have been many high quality posts on TDB by writers other than Bomber. Never been ‘censored’ by BB myself, and I have disagreed with him, and really if people go to the effort of keeping a blog running like Lprent does at The Standard they get to make the rules.
“The freedom of the press belongs to them that owns the presses” as the pre digital old truism went. Easy enough to start your own blogs.
The analysis was lacking in many places, putting the debt problem at the feet of just the boomers ignores the fact that a large segment of the population use credit as a means to compensate for low wages. Consumption fuelled by debt isn’t solely a ‘rich boomer buying boats’ problem, that everyday, often vital consumption like groceries and bills are being covered by debt is far more of a problem.
It also fails to understand the structure of our inflation problems while doing a Pete George by claiming that the whole 9% is coming out of employee wages and that this would happen immediately which is completely disingenuous when we know it will be a gradual introduction.
It’s also not a stand alone policy in looking to correct structural problems with our economy.
Yep Disraeli, Susan St John gets to the heart of the matter, it is the workers in the bottom of the economy, those who earn $40,000 a year or lower who will be punished by this Labour policy,
While readers are over at the Daily Blog having a read of the linked to article check out Chris Trotter’s article on the same subject for a contrasting view,
To me, Chris only sees this as a positive, i assume, choosing to simply ignore the glaringly obvious negative effects on the lives of the working poor,
Any criticism seems to be glossed over with a bit of spin, ” would you rather give your money to the foreign owned trading banks or save it for your retirement”,
That is a totally false argument, you only have to look at which demographics actually are the most indebted in our economy to understand this,
The ”poor”, working or otherwise, in the main do not carry large debt loadings nor live their lives off of credit cards, the ”poor”, working or otherwise are restricted in their access to such debt by dint of their low earnings,(simply borrowing a couple of hundred bucks once will usually destroy the economy of poor families for months),
It isn’t the domain of the ”poor” working or otherwise to be mortgaged, signed up to hire purchase agreements of expensive goods, living off of credit cards, operating business or farming debt,
In fact, most of ”the poor”, working or otherwise, have no such debts that interest rates effect in any way, so it is not ”the poor” that will benefit from ‘being used’ as tools to keep interest rates low for those above them in the monetary pecking order…
As well as have their pension payments tested against both assets and income Karol, at this point there doesn’t seem to be such proposals in the air for the pension here in New Zealand,
Once compulsion has been with us for a year or three tho i will expect ”novel” imperatives to be brought forward claiming ”there is no alternative” to such measures lest super become unaffordable etc etc etc…
“The NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden should testify to the New Zealand intelligence committee on the influence the US spy agency has over its local partner, says Green Party co-leader Russel Norman.”
Now wouldn’t that be interesting and informative. Can you imagine Mr Key agreeing to that? Me neither. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11247904
Seamus Milne has written some excellent pieces on the Ukraine.
This is the story we aren’t hearing about the conflict. It is worrying to say the least.
As I’ve written here and on the Daily Blog, I do not like Labour’s new Kiwisaver policy. However, I feel that there’s a very real and good policy just lurking under the surface.
I’d like to see the variable saving rate implemented but keep Kiwisaver voluntary. Therefore, over half the country who are already in Kiwisaver, experience the change. However, if you don’t feel secure enough in your financial situation, you don’t have to join Kiwisaver.
For people with mortgages, it’s a big win. It also encourages people to join Kiwisaver since they can increase their savings rather than paying higher interest rates. And for people without mortgages struggling, it’s a win because you don’t have to join.
If Parker was to come out on that policy then that single handily undermines National’s fake concern about the poor, the Left’s genuine concern about the poor and makes the policy so much stronger.
Would such an approach work? I don’t think that undermines Labour’s goal of using Kiwisaver as a monetary tool. It still helps to keep inflation down by lowering income on the section of society that has disposable income ready to spend. I don’t think the poor who are struggling each month or lower-middle income families who are just getting by are contributing to inflation much.
Things are getting strange when we agree with each other Disraeli, it is those with the most debt in the economy that are most adversely effected by rising interest rates and my opinion is that it is they that should suffer the negative effects of attempts to keep those interest rates low,
You have to though fully believe that David Parker has announced this policy with all honesty, politically it is a far better look to say that everyone(except the self employed strangely excluded), will have to pay into a kiwi-saver account which will then be used to help control interest rates than have it linked to raising the age of pension entitlement,
Paul the Plumber, Bob the Builder, and, Fred the Farmer must all love the idea that the Parliaments cleaners will be paying outta their thin pockets to pay to keep interests rates low…
I see colin craig leering all over the telly last night about how he is going to contest Morris Williamsons seat but no mention of his suit against Russel Norman. Wassamatter colin? Did god tell you you weren’t going to win?
Williamson gone for being stupid (and getting caught) is a good thing but yeah as for looking for a silver lining National don’t have to worry about fitting in McCully, Bennet and Craig into 2 electorates
so hopefully John Key can convince Williamson to not stand at the next election
A number of others will have been given the message it’s time to move on, or face being shunted out on the party list. Those that have a ‘sticking around’ card to play will, that’s politic’s. Their are some in the similar position as Williamson, popular and or in safe seats. This is the pity, they remain because it’s hard to win over enough internal support to challenge them successfully with the votes to remove them.
This thought-provoking article by Dr Vadana Shiva indicates why it is absolutely imperative that NZ does not sign the TPPA.
“At a time when the world needs to recognise that life forms, including seeds, are not an invention and the US should correct its laws to be more in alignment with the Rights of the Earth and with human rights, the US government is threatening India with trade retaliation to force us to change our patent laws yet again and introduce the unethical, unscientific and anti-human laws of patent monopolies on seed and medicine.” https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/30-9
When Vadana speaks the whole world should listen: she is one of the greatest minds on the planet today. Her advocacy for the environment, the poor and women has marked her as a great champion for the oppressed and a great opponent of what is unjust. What she says here is spot on.
Justice Minister Judith Collins’ office initially asked for a foreign affairs briefing before a controversial dinner in China with Oravida representatives and an unnamed border official.
…
An October 15 email from her office noted:
“On Sunday, October 20, the minister will be having a dinner that will include (redacted name). He has agreed to meet with the minister arranged by Mr Stone Shi, Oravida. The minister would like ambassador Carl Worker and his wife to attend this dinner. A briefing from Mfat will be required.”
“On Sunday, October 20, the minister will be having a dinner that will include (redacted name).
The ambassador was invited to an official meeting so it was not private after all. Maybe the ambassador could see the risks and so backed out. Collins V Williamson?
First the ‘cup of tea on the way to the airport’. Next, the supposedly ‘private’ dinner.
Of course the real purpose of the trip was to deliver the preachy-teachy lesson to the Chinese on ‘Corruption’. As Minister of Justice, of course…maybe the NZ taxpayer could study this little gem and see how it’s done?
OIA reply from Minister of Justice Judith Collins dated 2 May 2014:
re: name of the mysterious Chinese border official and agency for whom he worked, at the Beijing ‘private dinner’ stacked with key Oravida personnel.
Judith Collins reply:
“The dinner was a private dinner and not in my capacity as Minister of Justice.
Therefore I am declining your request under section 2(1) of the Act as it does not meet the definition of Official Information.”
I’m still waiting for a reply to THIS further OIA request:
22 April 2014
Minister for Justice
Judith Collins
‘Open Letter’ /OIA request to NZ Minister for Justice Judith Collins – what was the involvement of the NZ Ambassador to China (Carl Worker) in your ‘private’ Oravida dinner?
Dear Minister,
Please provide the following information which confirms;
1) Who invited Carl Worker, the NZ Ambassador to China, to this Oravida ‘private’ dinner?
2) Why the NZ Ambassador to China, Carl Worker, declined to attend this Oravida ‘private’ dinner.
3) Who paid for the ‘dinner’ that you ate?
4) Why was your ‘senior advisor’ Margaret Malcolm present at this Oravida ‘private’ dinner, and in what capacity?
5) In what capacity did you, Minister of Justice Judith Collins speak “.. to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
ie: As a private citizen, or as the Minister for Justice?
6) Did you, Judith Collins speak to Carl Worker in his capacity as NZ Ambassador to China, regarding this Oravida ‘private’ dinner?
7) Is it your normal ‘custom and practice’ to take notes at ‘private’ dinner meetings with ‘friends’?
8) How do you draw a ‘line in the sand’ between your rights to privacy as a citizen, and the public’s right to transparency in your public role as Minister for Justice?
“Justice Minister Judith Collins has recovered her memory after telling Parliament she could not recall whether she had briefed New Zealand’s ambassador to Beijing about her Oravida dinner.
…..
In Parliament’s last session before a two-week recess, she again refused to identify the official she dined with, said she did not know of Oravida’s difficulties in the Chinese market before the dinner, and said she could not remember whether she had briefed ambassador to Beijing Carl Worker about the dinner.
She told the Weekend Herald she didn’t believe she had spoken about the dinner to Mr Worker beyond an initial discussion beforehand when he said he would not attend.
But on Thursday evening, she said she had checked her notes and believed she had spoken to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
She said Mr Worker had asked her on the day of the dinner to just let him know if there was anything that he needed to know about.
…….”
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
………………….
…………………
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
Attendee: 2009 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2013 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate, polling 4th with 11,723 votes campaigning against corrupt corporate control of the Auckland region
She suggests that my illness and the amount of stress on me has distorted my perception of reality. I am utterly gobsmacked. A while ago I wrote about hysteria, and how it is a label given to women to belittle their experience, strip them of their rights, and silence them. This is exactly what is happening here. Yes, Paula, I am stressed. No, I am not incapable. My illness does not effect my brain, and my perception is entirely coherent.
I can’t bring myself to read that. Bennett is the worst of the worst. Completely and utterly heartless, ideologically driven to the point of being pathological, and an outright bully.
Heart-breaking yet also encouraging to see that Sarah Wilson will not be bullied. Thanks for the link.
From what I’ve seen of the evidence concerning the mental functioning of a neo-liberal like Paula Bennet, it is her and her ilk who are struggling with reality. That Paula Bennett’s first choice of action in dealing with Ms Wilson is to respond with ad homs rather than address the very valid points raised provides further evidence of the Minister of Social Development’s impaired cognitive functioning. Displaying such a vile strategy in her modelling of public dialogue also indicates a level of defensiveness bordering on the endemic psychological denial and utter lack of empathy one usually finds in the narcissistic-type personality disordered sociopath. Of course, within the John Key-led National Ltd™ Goverment such a condition would be considered an attitbute during the implentation phase of draconian legislation. Just as well for Natonal Ltd™ that John Key is super capable of emanating the full-beam charm of a true psychopath so as to detract from the sociopathic actions of his minion ministers.
I was wondering today if the NACTs have become so enthused with the idea of China being The Next Big Thing that everybody who has asperashunal ideas has gone out and got themselves a pet Chinese person or Chinese project. Williamson just didn’t massage his magic lantern the right way.
With the possibility of three ministers resigning within days of each other, I’m guessing John Key will try to convince us his government, and him personally, have any credibility left at all… In the style of a drunken cabaret singer getting over a bad hangover, mumbling the about the show having to go on.
John Key said that he called Williamson into his office and questioned him about his take on calling the police. Then accepted his resignation. OK? Shows what a good leader he is. Right?
John Key refused to call John Banks in to explain.
John Key refused to call in Peter Dunne to explain.
And I don’t think he did so to Judith Collins and left it to his secretary.
Anyone see the hypocrisy here?
. . . CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC are the most widely watched cable news networks in the U.S. Their coverage of climate change is an influential source of information for the public and policy makers alike.
To gauge how accurately these networks inform their audiences about climate change, UCS analyzed the networks’ climate science coverage in 2013 and found that each network treated climate science very differently.
Fox News was the least accurate; 72 percent of its 2013 climate science-related segments contained misleading statements. CNN was in the middle, with about a third of segments featuring misleading statements. MSNBC was the most accurate, with only eight percent of segments containing misleading statements . . .
. . . from what I can see, the New Zealand media is not quite so bad. The problem here, as I see it, is that there’s just so little news about it at all. One recent example is the visit to New Zealand by Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel J. Locklear. It was a kinda weird it was the most dastardly tory rag in the country reporting Locklear’s statement that climate change is the biggest security threat to the Pacific region. Needless to say, the comment was buried in the body of the article so as not to detract from embarassingly clumsy fawning of the obseqious scribe. Oddly enough, the NBR it was the only place I saw it reported other than at the ever reliable Scoop. Anyone else see it anywhere?
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 ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
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 ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
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 ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
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 cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“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 to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
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See Issac Davison’s article from teh Herald this morning. The Herald has gone from just regurgitating press releases to cut and pasting from Wikipedia (the last 9 paragraphs are lifted directly without attribution)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11247889
Yup, the Herald is a dreadful rag and clearly biased in favour of the National Party’s re-election. Their continued publicity of the ACT Party and its policies suggests the Herald’s owners only hope for a more right wing set of policies.
The left wing wing should therefore be wary of this Williamson story, especially as the Herald broke it.
First up it distracts from the Collins story.
Secondly, it frees up a safe Auckland seat, which can be used by the ACT Party, to promote Jamie Whyte’s Libertarian viewpoints and get extra seats into power. The Herald is already pushing for Williamson to resign as a MP. This will provide a back up to Epsom just in case the folk of Remuera get sick of being taken for fools again.
Thirdly, it allows the media to play the line of Key being decisive, which clears him from the mess of the Collins fiasco.
The opposition must not let this story get ahead of the Collins Oravida affair as the latter drags down the PM and shows even more the corrupt nature of this government.
On Stuff, Vernon Small spinning for the corporate media and trying some damage control for his masters. Just wait to to see the tr*lls on this site copying one or more of these slavish lines.
Look at this just as one miserable example of the content of his woeful article.
“His pre-sacking resignation was handled cleanly and swiftly by Prime Minister John Key and it was hard not to hark back for comparison to the dog’s breakfast Labour made of Shane Jones’ recent departure.”
Vernon Small..another disgraceful excuse for journalism.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9999687/Maurice-Williamson-fallout-will-colour-perceptions
Small doesn’t mention the apparent ignorance of Williamson about the line he clearly crossed, that doesn’t look good for Williamson.
But Small does address the bigger issue, the growing ‘perception’ that National’s relationships with Chinese business people are crossing a line. Unless more damaging details emerge Williamson’s fall will probably fade quickly but the spotlight on National’s ‘rich mate’ relationships will keep the pressure on them, and so it should.
You copy and paste so well. fact checker.
you mean photocopy Paul.
PG clearly has a photocopier in the office… ha ha ha (tip to P Ure) http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01052014/#comment-807530
will keep me in giggles all day long methinks ….
The interesting issue heading into the election will be can John Key and his backroom boys force Williamson out of contesting his electorate seat for National? He has flatly refused to go on RNZ this morning.
This will cause the dilemma of Key-National bleeding votes. But what Key is up against is if Williamson can hold enough support within his electorate committee, and give the middle finger to the PM, and still get away with it. He must fancy his chances of going it alone, probably figuring he can replace Dunne as a cabernet minister, if National squeak back in.
Make no mistake Williamson has a history as a renegade MP, and with the comfort of knowing he is a very popular electorate MP, with a very healthy 13,000 majority at the last election, he can afford to give the solo option a real good crack.
It all feeds in to the Opposition parties’ narrative that the Government helps its “rich mates”.
I noticed this line on the News.
This sentence turns what is occurring in NZ with our government into a ‘narrative’ suggesting ‘perceptions’ viewing blatant corruption are ‘simply an election strategy’.
What about the possibility that Opposition parties’ ‘line’ is not a ‘narrative’, that they are stating things as they are?
he is such a hack..
..and.. shane who..?
..is that shane-whose-phone-never-rings..?
..and what if the big pay-off/deal from his national party mates doesn’t come thru..?
..they don’t need him now/any more..so why should they..?
..he is of no more use to them now..
..now that his ‘mole’-role has been broken/surfaced..
..i am coming to the conclusion he has been so well and truly ‘played’ by mccully/the tories..
..that jones..
..and that no phones calls will be the least of his upcoming angsts..
..’regrets’..he’ll have a few..
If you thought that was limp – try this exercise in … ( I was going for a colourful metaphor, but it’s not worth wasting my dignity on …)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/9998284/Williamson-resignation-Nicely-done-Mr-PM
Of course Ms Vance has pointedly failed to traverse the tricky little question of exactly how long “Mr Well Done PM” has known about Williamson’s errors of judgement.
The do work quite meticulously to shield Key, I wonder if it is a sycophantic toady thing where journalists like Vance actually believe what they write, or whether it is a more cynical manipulation of public opinion, maybe a little of A a little of B.
They don’t believe it.
They write it to further their own careers as the only way up in organisations like Fairfax is to write unquestioning paeons to the dear leader.
I disagree – I think these guys DO believe what they write. I also think they think they are far more talented and smart than they actually are. The press gallery is so out of touch (the likes of Armstrong have been there far, far to long) and they have been so comprehensively bullied by Ede and Key that they have all developed a journalistic case of Stockholm syndrome. Their intoxication at their proximity to power combined with their arrogance and ego could never allow them to admit they are Ede’s pets – They are opinion shapers! They are the press gallery! They are players! – so instead they accept a warped interpretation of their warped reality of their relationship with the ninth floor, and regurgitate opinion that whenever it is exposed to critical examination in the real world (i.e. the Labour leadership contest) is shown as reflecting the received wisdom of about 50 people.
lol! Well said Sanctuary +1
“Try this exercise in….”
sycophancy
propaganda
It’s not even subtle, the bias.
Me thinks Ms Vance got a bit of a talking to after she accidentally did some real journalism re Mr Hair Do and the “Affair of the Prematurely Leaked Report” last year – and she’s still in ‘make-up sex’ mode.
wajoh’s comment summed it up perfectly:
Other comments with high positive votes.
Looks lime a lot of people are getting sick of media bias.
Time for Labour, the Greens and Mana to go on the offensive about media bias. People can see it.
PeteryBab
“Wow….just wow. I think I just threw up a little bit.
What can I say but that it appears the cronyism goes further than just government ministers and millionaires….”
Bronagh
“Extraordinary! A story about National Party corruption and you praise Key and criticise Cunliffe. Your bias is astounding.
I think Williamson resigned rather than Key sacking him…………Also the most important question is when did Key first find out about this? And why did it take the outing of Williamson by the Herald for anything to happen.”
Robby
“Williamson will serve his penance until this unpleasant episode has faded from public memory. ”
You know what, Andrea, it only disappears because you and your mates ignore it.
As for the Jones departure – that was only messy because you and your mates went nuts over it. Compare that to this episode “well done Mr Key”. I am REALLY tired of you and your Tory media mates.”
And the only reason why Jones’ resignation was messy was because a) the MSM beat it up and b) Jones himself being a dick. Obviously, the MSM are trying to bury the fact that a National minister got caught being corrupt.
Paul, I think that you might be making some leaps of faith about Vernon Small. He writes within limits set by his editors no doubt, his allegiances are probably a long way from your description. I recall him in Christchurch many years ago as a very devoted Labour Party person. What he is now, who knows, maybe it is a case of shooting the messenger because the story doesn’t suit the reader.
Paul/
Small’s comments are typical of Crosby -Textor managment .
This dangerous .influencial group manage a number of Right -Wing parties .They win elections by what ever means they can and this includes manipulating the news media . Money and influence something the Left does not have,
@ Paul. But as usual the comments say it all. This is a corrupt government.
They may have wished for that but I just heard Cunliffe tie the two together on the radio news.
Exactly it’s part of the same narrative that is actually going to gain traction because blood is in the water now, trying to separate the two now is laughable – it’s too late. Will also play into all the backroom deals that National likes so much such as Skycity and Warners.
Excellent news.
Labour and rest of opposition must maintain the link.
It stops any narrative of Key being decisive, shows up overall corruption and keeps Collins and her motley crew under pressure.
Her supporters don’t seem to have arrived on this site yet. Maybe receiving orders on their new spin line. Must be getting harder that one.
plagiarism’s a serious issue – have they changed the online version? It doesn’t seem to be a direct copy any more (although at least one paragraph was circulating on the interwebz in 2010).
Did you get screengrabs or a hard copy?
“..Meetings: even more of a soul-sucking waste of time than you thought..
..One company spent 300,000 hours a year on a single weekly meeting.
Shall we go round the room – and see how each of you feels about that?..”
(cont..)
http://www.theguardian.com/news/oliver-burkeman-s-blog/2014/may/01/meetings-soul-sucking-waste-time-you-thought
So, can someone please tell me why management get paid so much when they waste so much time?
Thinking about it, that article actually shows that we could get better governance by using Loomio and everyone talking than we can using representatives. Hierarchy really is a waste of time.
“..Hierarchy really is a waste of time..”
aye..that often is the case..
..also hierarchy too often get in the way of progress/change..
..often largely for reasons of preservation/enhancement of their personal status quo..
From what I could make out of political history that’s actually the reason we have representative democracy. To prevent the changes that the rich don’t like.
“From what I could make out of political history that’s actually the reason we have representative democracy. To prevent the changes that the rich don’t like.”
I think reason would be because organising millions of people to vote on every bill presented to parliament would be akin to herding cats.
Nope:
And there were other, similar, quotes from around the same time.
OK, that doesn’t change the fact that getting millions of people to vote for every bill would be a disastrous exercise.
And your quote doesn’t really seem all that relevant but if you want to play argument by quote:
“The effect of [a representative democracy is] to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of the nation….”
– James Madison
I understand that as well.
Which backs up exactly what I originally said. You don’t get the choice of the people but the choice of the representatives who’ve been bought by the rich.
Election advertising.
How many electorates around New Zealand have National Party Billboards strategically positioned?
West Auckland has had Hekia Parata and currently Paula Bennett smiling at us since the beginning of the year and the Northland electorate has Mike Sabin’s. They are disguised as announcements of public meetings. The important words are in reflective material that shine clearly in headlights – The MPs name and the party.
How do these fit with the advertising laws?
Can you photograph and/or provide links?
Sorry, don’t have that expertise, but Waikumete, Lincoln Road, Te Atatu interchange, Swanson, for Bennett and variously along State Highway 1 for Sabin. (Would be interesting to know what the Penguin would make of it.)
“Sorry, don’t have that expertise,”
there’s an easy fix for that ….
grab the nearest kid, they’ll do it blindfolded 🙂
(no offence intended)
Don’t count on that.
Kiwi kids are obviously smarter than UK kids 🙂
…thanks Freedom. The general question is “how are the Nats getting away with this?” considering the outcry by the Penguin and others when the review of the Electoral Reform Act came up. I understood that there are restrictions to electioneering in election years. I am wondering how many other Nat. politicians appear to be doing it. I have identified three.
Not any more. National put it back to the original 6 weeks before the election. You’ll also note that those advertisements are for actual public meetings of the MPs which can be considered part of their job which is why they have the parliamentary seal on them. We get to pay for Nationals advertising.
Thanks DTB. You have to ask why they use reflective paint for the billboards though. The details of the meetings a lost in the dark. And, furthermore, why in hell aren’t the other political parties doing it?
They don’t have the same sort of parliamentary budget that the government has.
ha ha ha freedom. Very good. I always feel so small when my son sorts out my computer.
But then perhaps it gives him and his generation high self-esteem which is no bad thing.
BG. We all enjoy a degree of anonymity on this site. I understand uploading a picture can carry of a lot of extra information with it. (… this is a distraction from the original question).
Yeah I first saw the Sabin State Highway 1 billboards as early as July last year.
paula bennetts are when you come off the north western at te atatu. its advertising a community meeting that happened months ago.
There’s long been billboards with Bennett’s face on it in the Waitakere electorate – eg along the Great North Road leading to Henderson. Maybe just standard practice for her. Likes to mar the experience of travelling around west Auckland
i thought theyd used the wrong picture on that one karol. i genuinely idnt think it was bennett.
There is usually one on Universal Drive also. There has been a few different versions over the last year or two. I have stopped looking though, doesn’t do any good for my mood.
shes updated it. now it refers to the meeting in lare april.
Just as an aside …
Auckland Transport is going to limit roadside billboards. The Herald picks up the story and then proceeds to support it with a photo taken north of Whangarei …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11248295
It’s still Mayday where I am – In the early summer sun, there are parades, protests, speeches in the civic square and picnics in the park and at the Social Democrats HQ.
In honour of the 51 workers who lost their lives on the job in NZ, the many injured or who lost their jobs last year a Worker’s Song
And another tech firm lost
Amazing how the corporate media spins this story as a positive tale.
The foreign takeover of a NZ company is a good news story.
I guess the media believes this because they themselves are owned by foreign interests.
30 years of neoliberalism has brought us to this…celebrating our serfdom.
From wiki.
“Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia’s largest diversified media companies. The group’s operations include newspapers, magazines, radio and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John Fairfax Holdings. The Fairfax family lost control of the company in December 1990. It was renamed from John Fairfax Holdings to Fairfax Media in 2007.”
Yeah, it’s along the lines of ZOMG, this little tech start-up was sooooo good Microsoft bought it up 111!!!11
Rather than the truth that some more NZers just became serfs to foreign overlords.
Your comments should be directed at the owners of the business, and not have a belief that all NZ private business have to stay in NZ ownership. You could start your own business, make it successful and when Microsoft comes knocking turn them down.
No, foreign ownership should be banned as it turns NZers into serfs and prevents us from making our society better.
I think you miss the point of the issue. Completely.
Completely.
Before Williamson fades from the headlines, what about asking Tolley a few pointed questions.
Such as – why did senior officers scurry around at Williamson’s behest, and not simply give him the brush-off? An ongoing criminal investigation…easy as….’sorry Minister, that’s just not on’.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11247894
Maybe ‘attempting to pervert the course of justice’ is stretching it somewhat, but Tolley could enlighten us as to why it isn’t.
According to Winston Peters on Morning Report just now, Anne Tolley knew about the Williamson police interference on the 4th April – so when did John (Dunno)Key actually know about it?
brilliant piece by a kiwi comedienne i have never seen before on tv1 breakfast show. did a wicked imitation of judith collins talking about mw resignation. i dont know how grant robertson kept a straight face. i know i didnt. comedy gold.
aye..!..that was a very funny impersonation..
..and was it a drag queen that was doing it..?
..there certainly was that vibe,.
..the helmet-hair was a bit overdone..tho’…eh..?
..a bit more ‘judith’..than even ‘judith’ usually is..eh..?
..but all in all..
..not a bad performance/impersonation..
..(and has anyone told judith that a (recently combat trained) bennett is creeping up behind her..?
..knife/garotte in hand…
..bennett senses the old tusker is mortally wounded..
..and is waiting..eyes-gleaming..
..waiting for the right moment to strike..
..the ambition runs deeper in that one than most realise..)
it was when she started talking about being former minister of police and knowing exactly where the lines were…
Is it online anywhere? If so link please.
http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news
Maybe it’s about time to cast a closer spotlight on other National Party donors.
What is their price for supporting the National and ACT Party?
Looks like a group of individuals prepared to feather their nests at the expense of the independence of New Zealand and our economic sovereignty.
Collins ….. Oravida
Banks…..Sky City
Williamson …Donghua Liu
The list might be a lot longer.
i bet oriveda isnt one of the many companies that failed to meet the new standards for china.
dont forget oil and gas to mr jones…
You are spinning so much you may fall over, Tracey.
And don’t forget Len Brown and Sky City – if we’re being consistent on CORRUPT ‘conflicts of interest’?
Penny Bright
How much did SkyCity donate to the Len Brown election campaign?
Paul I don’t believe these are isolated incidents, nor that the wider party is not involved.
Simon Lusk alleges that National MPs “trade on” their time in Parliament “to build a lucrative business career”, and he should know: he’s trained enough of them for the role.
It seems that for some, they can’t wait to leave Parliament to get on with it. Although someone should tell John Key that he is unlikely to earn as much as a model – even for Oravida – as he can designing exciting new financial instruments to hoover up money.
But what they do as individuals pales by comparison to the behaviour of the wider party, which more or less sells audiences and indulgences and by the looks of it, justice too.
Like the Hobbit Law and the Sky City Law?
Lots of meeting at which no notes were taken…
From the AG’s report into the Sky City deal:
Very interesting.
I thought ministers, especially the PM, were followed around by note takers to take down their every utterance so that such meetings were properly recorded.
Nah, the PM’s a decisive cut-through deal maker mate. Here, eat these prawns while I get a few pics.
xox
good to see Suzie and Guyon holding Labour to account for the Bill Luis episode, on Natz Radio this morning. Oh, it was supposed to be about Maurice.
Yes Espiner is particularly biased. Pity Russell Norman was on very early. His analysis was excellent and very penetrating re wealth and increasing political interference by the National Party This was rapidly shut down by Espiner.
So is someone out to smear Bomber Bradbury – and by extension the Mana and Internet parties?
Sounds like some people are just unhappy that the daily blog isn’t a soapbox for ALCP.
Sod’em, Bomber has done a great service with the Daily Blog which far outweighs the machinations of the various stoner factions. The ‘Public Address’ type luvvies sneer at him too, and sure Bomber often uses a double headed viking axe where other writers might use a stiletto, but that is why some of us like his style.
and if Bomber reduced the inexplicable comment censorsing, it would be even better.
At one point, I started writing him little messages asking how his day was when he started censoring my comments that were even agreeing with the author of the post (but disagreed with him).
i think the censoring-regime @ the daily blog has lessened somewhat…
..i have posted some reasonably harsh/critical pieces/comments there..
..and i see others getting thru that wouldn’t have previously..
..i don’t know if this has been a deliberate move..
..or has happened by a process of osmosis..
..but it is a definite improvement..and now they are there..i am puzzled they still don’t allow instant-comment-posting..as this would drive up their comment-traffic..
..i do see value in their comment-grading by readers system tho’..
..i find it adds nuance to any evaluations of moods around issues..
..and also provides more engagement/involvement by the reader..(and there is a degree of satisfaction to be had from up-ticking something you like..and down-ticking something you don’t..
..and this is particularly satisfying when the likes of neo-lib fanboy stuart nash post some drivel..get hammered in comments-thread..
..and then be silly enough to try to defend his spin/whatever in that comments thread..and then to get down-ticked right out the door..heh..!
..and each one of those down-tickers can feel a part of that clear message back at/to nash..he’d have to have the awareness of a rock not to take it as a major put-down/reality-check..
..there is empowerment/democracy to be had for the reader from that..i reckon..
..and that is a good thing to have going on..)
(and a rating system would seem to be particularly suited to things of humour..like reader-captioning-posts..?)
Nah.
I’ve tried to like Bomber, and used to, but I’m no longer even sure his heart’s in the right place.
Dude attacks allies all the time, for self serving reasons; doesn’t disclose connections he has which directly relate to things he writes about; desperatly wants to be a left wing whaleoil.
Lolz, Espiner on RadioNZ National nailing the Conservatives Colon Craig to a cross of Craig’s own making, having Mr loony tunes admit that He happily breaks the law when beating ‘His’ children,
Here’s a self confessed criminal offender happily boasting about His crimes to anyone listening, where’s a cop when you need one,(perhaps a flood of complaints to the plods might see them take some action against this self confessed law breaker)…
?thats what we need, journalists taking to task people not yet in parliament while giving many there, representing us, a free ride and making up the excuses for them.
? you would rather Colon Craig be in the Parliament then???…
does it have to be one or the other… didnt realise that.
xox
Yes, Guyon set CC up. And Colin walked straight into it, AND didn’t even blink. Says a lot about CC’s chin. I have noticed that Guy on likes to set traps for the politicians. Sneaky and unprofessional. Low and counterproductive.
Yep Guyon is a sneaky little shit thats for sure. Running obstacle courses rather than interviews.
A self promoter.
and his voice gives him away when he is prowling and about to pounce
his speech flattens in its emotive tone and noticeably speeds up in sentence delivery
in poker it is called a tell
he needs to work on that
All that just says we need more intelligent politicians, while not defending anything any of the press does or doesn’t do,(some of Espiner’s stuff i like and some i loath), it is up to those who except His invitation to be interviewed to deal with how Espiner frames such interviews….
i rather enjoyed his interview with Colin Craig
While Bomber’s reassuring himself that he’s important, there was a genuinely great post on Labour’s new Kiwisaver policy on The Daily Blog:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/02/let-them-eat-cake/
Really good analysis of why the policy is simply not good for a lot of people.
Going to have to think about it but, yeah, that is an excellent take down of Labour’s policy.
There have been many high quality posts on TDB by writers other than Bomber. Never been ‘censored’ by BB myself, and I have disagreed with him, and really if people go to the effort of keeping a blog running like Lprent does at The Standard they get to make the rules.
“The freedom of the press belongs to them that owns the presses” as the pre digital old truism went. Easy enough to start your own blogs.
The analysis was lacking in many places, putting the debt problem at the feet of just the boomers ignores the fact that a large segment of the population use credit as a means to compensate for low wages. Consumption fuelled by debt isn’t solely a ‘rich boomer buying boats’ problem, that everyday, often vital consumption like groceries and bills are being covered by debt is far more of a problem.
It also fails to understand the structure of our inflation problems while doing a Pete George by claiming that the whole 9% is coming out of employee wages and that this would happen immediately which is completely disingenuous when we know it will be a gradual introduction.
It’s also not a stand alone policy in looking to correct structural problems with our economy.
Yep Disraeli, Susan St John gets to the heart of the matter, it is the workers in the bottom of the economy, those who earn $40,000 a year or lower who will be punished by this Labour policy,
While readers are over at the Daily Blog having a read of the linked to article check out Chris Trotter’s article on the same subject for a contrasting view,
To me, Chris only sees this as a positive, i assume, choosing to simply ignore the glaringly obvious negative effects on the lives of the working poor,
Any criticism seems to be glossed over with a bit of spin, ” would you rather give your money to the foreign owned trading banks or save it for your retirement”,
That is a totally false argument, you only have to look at which demographics actually are the most indebted in our economy to understand this,
The ”poor”, working or otherwise, in the main do not carry large debt loadings nor live their lives off of credit cards, the ”poor”, working or otherwise are restricted in their access to such debt by dint of their low earnings,(simply borrowing a couple of hundred bucks once will usually destroy the economy of poor families for months),
It isn’t the domain of the ”poor” working or otherwise to be mortgaged, signed up to hire purchase agreements of expensive goods, living off of credit cards, operating business or farming debt,
In fact, most of ”the poor”, working or otherwise, have no such debts that interest rates effect in any way, so it is not ”the poor” that will benefit from ‘being used’ as tools to keep interest rates low for those above them in the monetary pecking order…
Meanwhile, in Aussie, those born after 1965 will have to work til they are 70 before they are able to get a pension.
As well as have their pension payments tested against both assets and income Karol, at this point there doesn’t seem to be such proposals in the air for the pension here in New Zealand,
Once compulsion has been with us for a year or three tho i will expect ”novel” imperatives to be brought forward claiming ”there is no alternative” to such measures lest super become unaffordable etc etc etc…
Here is another point of view
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/10000740/Bank-warning-for-Labour-KiwiSaver-plans
there is a general rule of thumb there..naki..
..if the banksters don’t like it..
..we should smile..
..(and i bet they’ll be screaming doom/gloom! when the financial transaction tax is introduced..too..)
Glad to know you’re on the banksters side, srylands.
“The NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden should testify to the New Zealand intelligence committee on the influence the US spy agency has over its local partner, says Green Party co-leader Russel Norman.”
Now wouldn’t that be interesting and informative. Can you imagine Mr Key agreeing to that? Me neither.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11247904
Yes. Saw that – Iwas torn between doing a post on that, and the one I ended up doing (just published) on NAct and the corrosive impact of big money.
German Government Blocks Ed Snowden From Testifying Before Parliament So As Not To Upset The US
.
.
.
I don’t even think a /facepalm works on that.
Seamus Milne has written some excellent pieces on the Ukraine.
This is the story we aren’t hearing about the conflict. It is worrying to say the least.
“It’s not Russia that’s pushed Ukraine to the brink of war
The attempt to lever Kiev into the western camp by ousting an elected leader made conflict certain. It could be a threat to us all.”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/30/russia-ukraine-war-kiev-conflict
The US is a threat to us all. Has been for some time.
+1
As I’ve written here and on the Daily Blog, I do not like Labour’s new Kiwisaver policy. However, I feel that there’s a very real and good policy just lurking under the surface.
I’d like to see the variable saving rate implemented but keep Kiwisaver voluntary. Therefore, over half the country who are already in Kiwisaver, experience the change. However, if you don’t feel secure enough in your financial situation, you don’t have to join Kiwisaver.
For people with mortgages, it’s a big win. It also encourages people to join Kiwisaver since they can increase their savings rather than paying higher interest rates. And for people without mortgages struggling, it’s a win because you don’t have to join.
If Parker was to come out on that policy then that single handily undermines National’s fake concern about the poor, the Left’s genuine concern about the poor and makes the policy so much stronger.
Would such an approach work? I don’t think that undermines Labour’s goal of using Kiwisaver as a monetary tool. It still helps to keep inflation down by lowering income on the section of society that has disposable income ready to spend. I don’t think the poor who are struggling each month or lower-middle income families who are just getting by are contributing to inflation much.
Which is funny because I’d like to see it made compulsory but let the individual decide how much to pay in
Things are getting strange when we agree with each other Disraeli, it is those with the most debt in the economy that are most adversely effected by rising interest rates and my opinion is that it is they that should suffer the negative effects of attempts to keep those interest rates low,
You have to though fully believe that David Parker has announced this policy with all honesty, politically it is a far better look to say that everyone(except the self employed strangely excluded), will have to pay into a kiwi-saver account which will then be used to help control interest rates than have it linked to raising the age of pension entitlement,
Paul the Plumber, Bob the Builder, and, Fred the Farmer must all love the idea that the Parliaments cleaners will be paying outta their thin pockets to pay to keep interests rates low…
I see colin craig leering all over the telly last night about how he is going to contest Morris Williamsons seat but no mention of his suit against Russel Norman. Wassamatter colin? Did god tell you you weren’t going to win?
Williamson gone for being stupid (and getting caught) is a good thing but yeah as for looking for a silver lining National don’t have to worry about fitting in McCully, Bennet and Craig into 2 electorates
so hopefully John Key can convince Williamson to not stand at the next election
Rajen Prasad will not seek reelection for Labour.
Well theres a major blow for Labour (yes tongue is firmly in cheek)
A number of others will have been given the message it’s time to move on, or face being shunted out on the party list. Those that have a ‘sticking around’ card to play will, that’s politic’s. Their are some in the similar position as Williamson, popular and or in safe seats. This is the pity, they remain because it’s hard to win over enough internal support to challenge them successfully with the votes to remove them.
Chriss.
I expect the Herald headline ” Labour in disaray , Labour finished ! blahl blah.
Renewal is a good thing, maybe some others in Labour could be persuaded
This thought-provoking article by Dr Vadana Shiva indicates why it is absolutely imperative that NZ does not sign the TPPA.
“At a time when the world needs to recognise that life forms, including seeds, are not an invention and the US should correct its laws to be more in alignment with the Rights of the Earth and with human rights, the US government is threatening India with trade retaliation to force us to change our patent laws yet again and introduce the unethical, unscientific and anti-human laws of patent monopolies on seed and medicine.”
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/30-9
When Vadana speaks the whole world should listen: she is one of the greatest minds on the planet today. Her advocacy for the environment, the poor and women has marked her as a great champion for the oppressed and a great opponent of what is unjust. What she says here is spot on.
Interesting:
From Stuff
Friendly dinner indeed!
“On Sunday, October 20, the minister will be having a dinner that will include (redacted name).
The ambassador was invited to an official meeting so it was not private after all. Maybe the ambassador could see the risks and so backed out. Collins V Williamson?
or such short notice had another engagement which probably was seen as manna from heaven by collins to talk “more freely”.
so… another lie… caught out…
its second nature it seems.
Time to go, Judith. A tangle of denial and evasion, slowly unravelling.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10002149/Mfat-briefing-requested-before-Oravida-dinner
First the ‘cup of tea on the way to the airport’. Next, the supposedly ‘private’ dinner.
Of course the real purpose of the trip was to deliver the preachy-teachy lesson to the Chinese on ‘Corruption’. As Minister of Justice, of course…maybe the NZ taxpayer could study this little gem and see how it’s done?
Really, you couldn’t make this stuff up.
”My office naturally asks for briefings for everything but it was a private dinner so it wasn’t needed.”
Hoping its something doesn’t mean it is something
Regurgitating Collins’ bullshit doesn’t make it nothing, either.
this is kinda interesting..
“..Cold War self-censorship prevented mainstream economists from diagnosing adequately the fundamental flaw in capitalism –
Thomas Piketty said in an interview with The Huffington Post..”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/01/thomas-piketty-cold-war_n_5247373.html
FYI
OIA reply from Minister of Justice Judith Collins dated 2 May 2014:
re: name of the mysterious Chinese border official and agency for whom he worked, at the Beijing ‘private dinner’ stacked with key Oravida personnel.
Judith Collins reply:
“The dinner was a private dinner and not in my capacity as Minister of Justice.
Therefore I am declining your request under section 2(1) of the Act as it does not meet the definition of Official Information.”
I’m still waiting for a reply to THIS further OIA request:
22 April 2014
Minister for Justice
Judith Collins
‘Open Letter’ /OIA request to NZ Minister for Justice Judith Collins – what was the involvement of the NZ Ambassador to China (Carl Worker) in your ‘private’ Oravida dinner?
Dear Minister,
Please provide the following information which confirms;
1) Who invited Carl Worker, the NZ Ambassador to China, to this Oravida ‘private’ dinner?
2) Why the NZ Ambassador to China, Carl Worker, declined to attend this Oravida ‘private’ dinner.
3) Who paid for the ‘dinner’ that you ate?
4) Why was your ‘senior advisor’ Margaret Malcolm present at this Oravida ‘private’ dinner, and in what capacity?
5) In what capacity did you, Minister of Justice Judith Collins speak “.. to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
ie: As a private citizen, or as the Minister for Justice?
6) Did you, Judith Collins speak to Carl Worker in his capacity as NZ Ambassador to China, regarding this Oravida ‘private’ dinner?
7) Is it your normal ‘custom and practice’ to take notes at ‘private’ dinner meetings with ‘friends’?
8) How do you draw a ‘line in the sand’ between your rights to privacy as a citizen, and the public’s right to transparency in your public role as Minister for Justice?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11240640
“Justice Minister Judith Collins has recovered her memory after telling Parliament she could not recall whether she had briefed New Zealand’s ambassador to Beijing about her Oravida dinner.
…..
In Parliament’s last session before a two-week recess, she again refused to identify the official she dined with, said she did not know of Oravida’s difficulties in the Chinese market before the dinner, and said she could not remember whether she had briefed ambassador to Beijing Carl Worker about the dinner.
She told the Weekend Herald she didn’t believe she had spoken about the dinner to Mr Worker beyond an initial discussion beforehand when he said he would not attend.
But on Thursday evening, she said she had checked her notes and believed she had spoken to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
She said Mr Worker had asked her on the day of the dinner to just let him know if there was anything that he needed to know about.
…….”
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
………………….
…………………
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
Attendee: 2009 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2013 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate, polling 4th with 11,723 votes campaigning against corrupt corporate control of the Auckland region
http://www.pennybrightformayor.org.nz
The ongoing saga of WINZ and Bennett against everyone on a benefit:
interesting article, and blog actually
I can’t bring myself to read that. Bennett is the worst of the worst. Completely and utterly heartless, ideologically driven to the point of being pathological, and an outright bully.
‘
Heart-breaking yet also encouraging to see that Sarah Wilson will not be bullied. Thanks for the link.
From what I’ve seen of the evidence concerning the mental functioning of a neo-liberal like Paula Bennet, it is her and her ilk who are struggling with reality. That Paula Bennett’s first choice of action in dealing with Ms Wilson is to respond with ad homs rather than address the very valid points raised provides further evidence of the Minister of Social Development’s impaired cognitive functioning. Displaying such a vile strategy in her modelling of public dialogue also indicates a level of defensiveness bordering on the endemic psychological denial and utter lack of empathy one usually finds in the narcissistic-type personality disordered sociopath. Of course, within the John Key-led National Ltd™ Goverment such a condition would be considered an attitbute during the implentation phase of draconian legislation. Just as well for Natonal Ltd™ that John Key is super capable of emanating the full-beam charm of a true psychopath so as to detract from the sociopathic actions of his minion ministers.
I was wondering today if the NACTs have become so enthused with the idea of China being The Next Big Thing that everybody who has asperashunal ideas has gone out and got themselves a pet Chinese person or Chinese project. Williamson just didn’t massage his magic lantern the right way.
With the possibility of three ministers resigning within days of each other, I’m guessing John Key will try to convince us his government, and him personally, have any credibility left at all… In the style of a drunken cabaret singer getting over a bad hangover, mumbling the about the show having to go on.
Getting a whiff of early election in the air.
Not to worry, that’s just National renewing itself 😉
The force field rippled slightly and then we all saw it.
Teflon, when it goes, it goes, just like that. 🙂
We should be concerned.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/vladimir-putin-ukraine-troops-withdrawal-angela-merkel
…. and on BBC and al jazeera very very worrying ….. poor old ukranians.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27250026
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/05/ukraine-forces-begin-assault-slovyansk-20145235428643470.html
Trotter’s take on how our political elite are selling away our sovereignty.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/02/a-world-of-strange-design-what-williamsons-phone-call-tells-us-about-new-zealands-political-class/
John Key said that he called Williamson into his office and questioned him about his take on calling the police. Then accepted his resignation. OK? Shows what a good leader he is. Right?
John Key refused to call John Banks in to explain.
John Key refused to call in Peter Dunne to explain.
And I don’t think he did so to Judith Collins and left it to his secretary.
Anyone see the hypocrisy here?
The Andrew Wakefield fraud.
http://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXtANMp3wok
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Interesting study carried out concerning news coverage of climate change in the United States . . .
. . . from what I can see, the New Zealand media is not quite so bad. The problem here, as I see it, is that there’s just so little news about it at all. One recent example is the visit to New Zealand by Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel J. Locklear. It was a kinda weird it was the most dastardly tory rag in the country reporting Locklear’s statement that climate change is the biggest security threat to the Pacific region. Needless to say, the comment was buried in the body of the article so as not to detract from embarassingly clumsy fawning of the obseqious scribe. Oddly enough, the NBR it was the only place I saw it reported other than at the ever reliable Scoop. Anyone else see it anywhere?
A quick one for Rogue if he’s browsing through.
I have something for you, give us a shout. 🙂