Yes this drivile is disturbing when we dont see our regional news reported any more except if you are an auckland resident eh?
HB/Gisborne does not even have a RNZ reporter after two years now so we are largely ignored down here, and this is so very disturbing when now we have a labour lead government who needs to get the issues outnthere to sell their new ‘regional policies’ and why our rail is now so vitial to our regions export potential else we will just conitue to wither and die.
Come on Labour!!!!!!!!! – bring back a ‘true regional TV seven type channel’ “publc affairs” media for the public benefits of having a voice finally again.
Many thanks to Shane Jones for his idea of work for the dole. I would rename it as that is not a appealing name and the goal is to make this idea appealing to our youth for this to work. Yes there will be training need I say have a career map for these people driving licence right up to class 5 digger operators ECT and a pathway to the forestry harvesting as these jobs in forestry are hard work and one does not want to be doing these jobs when the gray hair STARTS to show I don’t think that punishing our youth who can work is the right way to make this successfull. What will make this successful will be to make it appealing to our youth so they all want to join this venture. Getting to work in the forestry one gets picked up and dropped of at ones house. If it is really successful no other government will scrap it. As what has happened in the past pep scheme.
Happy birthday Hillary. Ka pai
Is this like Golriz Ghahramen, where unless every statement about employment specifically condemns wage-slavery, the author must be a wage-slavery denier?
In the SME where I do some part time hours, alongside my boss, who gets paid less than me (I know this because I do the accounts), I’m quite happy to do a bit of work for someone else.
Meanwhile, the point about work-for-the-dole was what again?
Presumably you endorse the idea of people being coerced into work if a wage is paid. I don’t.
In the interview given by Jacinda Ardern she was pretty clear (in spite of her general penchant to waffle herself away from making any definitive statements) that WINZ sanctions would remain in place and apply to those presented with the scheme.
At present, if you are claiming unemployment benefit and turn down work that WINZ deems “suitable”, you are sanctioned (ie – you lose money). Those sanctions will remain and apply to those who are offered placement on the “Ready for Work” (or whatever it’s called) scheme.
Ditching the sanction that kicked in around unnamed fathers isn’t in any way related to work readiness sanctions.
Sure. If the “very serious changes that are going to be made to the principles of the Social Security Act” are inadequate or discriminatory (and hey, it’s the NZLP so I think that’s ‘possible’), then I intend to beat Labour about the head with them.
I’m still not going to jump to conclusions on the say-so of Guyon Espiner and Shane Jones.
The PM (not Jones or Espinar) made a pretty clear indication that those sanctions that already exist will remain and be applied.
If they were removed, there would be much, much less to prevent workers exercising a bit of power and walking away from bullshit employers to live on the dole until they found a decent employer.
The principle (ie – “mission statement”) can change all it wants. But will that likely amount to much more than “feel good” twattery? Probably not.
Hey. We’ll see. But I have a good collection of 2x4s and you can borrow one when the time comes.
so is the tax payer now responsible to pay the wages for private industry in order to entice private industry to hire?
Also, what if the work place one is placed is an abusive work place? Can you leave or will your dole sanctioned? If your work for the dole is a pick up and drop of at your home place job and your boss is abusive how could you leave and get a way? Or do you just have to put up with a bit of abuse, sexual harrasment (as i witnessed this week at a Countdown where a bloke berated a young girl collecting funds for the SPCA until my partner, two security guards and I stepped in and ended up calling the Police!) until your driver comes to get you home? What if your driver is the one who abuses the ‘worker for the dole”.
Also, what if a work place fires their employees – McDo, KFC, etc come to mind – to hire the tax payer funded crew – cause nothing is cheaper then a worker who can’t complain lest he / she ‘gets sanctioned’.
IS that really the only thing this country can come up with to find work places for their young ones, or is this again just another way to show some that you don’t count, and if you complain we ‘take away your ‘dole’.
There is so much wrong with this scheme its not funny anymore. How about making sure that private businesses start training again for their own needs? Heck in Europe they call this ‘Apprentice program’ not working for the dole. OH, its in the too hard basket. Lets just bash some young people for not having a job rather then bash businesses for not hiring young ones and training them.
If I was government….I’d levy a specific tax on large employers and use it to fund dole payments. How long then before unemployment levels “miraculously” hit 5/8ths of f.a. I wonder?
And with full employment, all that power accruing to employees again. What’s not to like about that? 😉
but yeah, lets provide a tax payer funded workforce to our large employers who otherwise would not hire as it would affect the share holders value or other such bullshit.
PM Ardern clarifies.
“If it goes ahead, the scheme will differ to past ‘work-for-the-dole’ programmes says Ms Ardern, because participants will actually get paid at least the minimum wage.
“The fact there will be a legal wage attached to it distinguishes it from some of those schemes in the past,” she told The AM Show on Monday.”
The release press from Shane Jones announcing the four schemes stated “at least the minimum wage.” Critics missed this.
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
Hopefully connected will be the Labour commitment to increasing the minimum wage to being a living wage.
Details are needed, but this sounds a lot better than having young people hike around all day leaving their CV’s with employers who wouldn’t hire them anyway.
So now we are funding the employers to hire the people they don’t want to hire cause they would have to pay wages?
Great, how much more taxes can you afford to pay in higher taxes to pay the wages for the local McDo to hire these ‘slaves for the dole”? And of course the dole will be taxed, so the poor slaves fund their own slavery program. Whats not to like ey?
btw, there are a lot of ‘non’ young people that are on the dole. This program will then apply to these too. I am so looking forward to getting served by some 64 year old at the local fast food joint, working for the dole until retirement hits. Yei! Us!
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones wants welfare payments to be cut if beneficiaries refuse to take part in his new Government work programme, which will look to plant trees and build up a railway network for tourists.
I cannot see how Labour and the Greens could agree with this, it’s the complete opposite of what Labour and the Greens are all about.
The fact the NZ First knows this and is still pushing a compulsory work for the dole scheme does rather demonstrate where all the power lies in this government.
There are plenty of Labour people who would support it.
We are at below 5% in overall unemployment, and we need all hands on deck if we are going to see trees planted.
Government choking off immigration is also going to bring rest home workers into very high demand.
Personally I want to see overall unemployment come down to 3%, and immigration choked, so that employers are forced to pay higher wages. So high that that there’s a much clearer step from benefit to wage and abatement triggers are less needed.
My only caveat to Jones’ policy idea is that I would want both worker and employer to commit to 6 months minimum employment, with an option for a further 6 month rollover.
“below 5% in overall unemployment” – is that with, or without, the government’s massaging of unemployment figures to ignore people who aren’t looking for work, people who have insecure casual work, or are otherwise unemployed without being in the official numbers?
None of the global entities like the World Bank, OECD, etc use unemployment figures from countries as a measure of unemployment anymore due to the high level of inaccuracy from using erroneous methodology.
Are you mis-representing the facts yet again here eh BM,
mac1
2.4
4 December 2017
Maci said on 2.4. this;
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
Just listening to Guyon Espiner interviewing Jacinda. Oh. My. God. By the look of things, the next three years is going to consist of the media spending the entire length of every interview trying to foot trip Jacinda Ardern on a matter of semantics in relation to the coalition so they can triumphantly scream “DIVISION IN THE GOVERNMENT!”
It is a depressing. A cynical obsession with horse racing politics and it seems to be one shared by both the MSM and the National party.
Espiner spent nine years constantly saying “the minister declined our invitation…” Now he can get to talk to the PM, instead of the obsequious toadying we got whenever he interviewed Key we get a hectoring bully splitting hairs over taxonomy. White male syndrome strikes again.
In six months, Espiner will again be droning saying “the minister declined our invitation…” and he’ll probably wonder why.
The reason why will be Jacinda will get sick of lazy yellow journalism playing desperate word games to try and trump up divisions in the government. All we want is an informed journalist politely but firmly asking relevant questions about the pertinent issues of the day.
That seems all to hard for the MSM in NZ these days.
I saw this also on TV3 with the “hypoventilating” Duncan Garner!!!!
A discussing display he showed with our new PM Jacinda!!!!
It was disturbing also, as Garner was gunning at the last part of the inverview on “The AM show” as garner was hammering the issue of the so called “33 page agreement between Labour and NZF” as he kept saying; are you lying’, are you lying, are you lying” until Jacinda settled him down from having a potential heart attack.
Hi Cleangreen (4.1) … Acting on a complaint (not hard to guess from who that might be), the Ombudsman has been called in, re the release of the Labour/NZF 33 page coalition negotiation agreement.
So it seems when a vindictive, bitter political party is unable to accept it lost the election and get its own way in the future, it will run to a higher power! That particular political party has now resorted to tittle tattling …. scum politics at its worst!
I hope that same political party is forced to release details of its own negotiations!
Well said Sanctuary.
Espiner is more interested in petty point scoring than in providing listeners with what should be a more balanced view of the subject. I’m not sure whether his rude, argumentative, interruptive and totally unethical mode is due to strongly political bias or sheer incompetence. Maybe it’s sexist but, as you so rightly say, more time was spent trying to trip Jacinda up rather than on eliciting information.
His interview ( ? ) with the Prime Minister of New Zealand this morning was an absolute disgrace by any standard.
PM Jacinda Adern handled the interview well so Guyon will need to be better prepared if he wishes to ruffle her going by that performance….it appears that the strategy for dealing with opposition promoted dissent within the coalition is to allow a range of views but control the policy…and I think those outside the ‘beltway’ are accepting of that provided it causes no major issues…if they are taking any notice at all, after all its only 20 days until xmas.
FFS, stop with the knee-jerk racism and sexism. Every time a person happens to be white and male, this bullshit gets spouted without thought.
You’ve got shit dribbling down your chin sanctuary
[“Every time a person happens to be white and male”. No, it’s when behaviours associated with the dominant class are observed they get named (whether that gets over used or not is another matter). Your hyperbole is inflammatory. Please rethink how to express your points here – weka]
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate 🙂
Haven’t seen that personally. Can you please link to an example?
As for “racist”, I’ve seen Bill advance that argument, and make a pretty good case for it. I’m not sure when his view was declared “approved and pure” though.
Nice strawman but. Will you be beating it up yourself or will you let vto have a go too?
Yeah it’s quite an interesting argument, if I recall it correctly. I actually lean towards it, but not to the point of being absolutely convinced, if you know what I mean.
I lean towards it just enough to STFU whenever I feel the urge to yelp “help, help, I’m being oppressed”. Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.
“Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.”
Well put.
Some groups in our society have a much longer history of oppression than others. Some imagine they are oppressed but confuse it with angry or disappoindte that things are not how they used to be for them.
not sure what you are meaning by doxing there but it’s rare for people here to try and out other commenter’s RL IDs, including around gender. It happens occasionally and gets moderated.
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate
You said on October 16,
And out of respect for my fellow authors and moderators, and because this topic clearly causes far too much disruption … I commit to absolutely never saying anything on any gendered topic ever again.
One day you will have equality mate. Keep up the good fight. Equal pay, pay for voluntary care work, even an honorary seat at the council table is just around the corner for white men.
You do not need to rise above it, anyone in the category of white male has had residence in the privileged towers looming over us all for thousands of years. The residence hasn’t changed it’s just people are knocking on the door asking to be let in rather than staying silent as the dogs are loosed.
I didn’t hear the interview and probably won’t listen to it.
Truth be told, almost all political interviews these days are a dance performed by true believers. They may disagree on the exact steps or the precision of the moves, but both interviewer and interviewee are dancing to the exact same tune.
No-one questions ‘Why this music?’, ‘Why this dance?’ ‘What are we doing this for?’
When political ideology becomes as crystalline as it is now, there is nothing much left to discuss or debate. And so we are subjected to word games and opinions on what clothes are worn – all passed off as critical analysis and measures of accountability or what not.
It’s when the crystal shatters under the stress of its own internal forces – that’s when things get interesting. And the crystal always shatters.
When someone is being as evasive as Jacinda Ardern is in that interview, what would you have an interviewer do Sanctuary? Accept ambiguity and avoidance as upfront and informative responses?
Many thanks to all the Maori organisation joining together to give us a better say in our future. And To hold the government’s accountable for there actions that have oppressed Maori. We need positive news about Maori we need positive Maori leaders and role models. I bet that if I had the money I could find and shape some one into a Maori superstar music artist. Be proud of OUR Maori culture and heritage. Kia kaha
“He’s either being deliberately provocative or ignorant, but probably both.”
Well that’s all he’s got left in life really.
I’ll be sending him dead flowers, but I’m sure HdPA won’t forget to put roses on his rotting corpse
Eugenie Sage will be very pleased.
Nick Smith has now seen the desirability of something that the Green Party has been proposing. https://home.greens.org.nz/bills/kermadec-ocean-sanctuary-establishment-bill
I expect that Nick’s bill will be very close to the Green Party proposal.
With a combination of the Green Party votes and those of the National Party we should see the sanctuary implemented when Nick’s bill gets drawn and passed.
Let us hope it comes up very quickly in the ballot.
We have been waiting far to long.
It’s a smart wedge from Smith, and good pressure on Sage to crack a deal.
The 9 year Key-English government was the worst for conservation in generations, with no new national parks formed, catastrophic biosecurity hits, and spectacular falls in wildlife populations whether tree, sea or airborne.
Sage needs to deliver real goods on conservation, and now she gets to draft her own bill on the Kermadecs and pull the rug on Smith by guilting him into supproting the government on his own concept.
It was always National policy. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm-announces-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary
Easy-peasy. Just pass the bill with National and Green support.
If Sage thinks she can do it with her own bill she will have to get Winston to agree and that is not likely to be forthcoming.
He doesn’t have any control over a Private member’s bill though.
too sad that Nick Smith would not dare to come up with it when National was in power. Cause surely, if it would have protected the environemnt the Greens would have even then supported the policy. OH, but this is not about the environment?
That is no longer a problem of course so that National can go back to do what they had always wanted.
I’m sure that the Green Party will support it. We have been told that they have the ability to support things they are strongly for without being affected by anything like Cabinet collective responsibility as they don’t have any Cabinet members.
Won’t be any problem there then and there needn’t be any problems like National had.
The problem they had was that they couldn’t get Maori Party support…
They couldn’t get Maori Party support for unilaterally removing part of a Treaty settlement? Gosh, I wonder why that was? What could the Maori Party have had against it? I guess it’s a mystery that will outlast humanity’s time on earth. Those damn Maori!
Tame and Faitaua: Language Enforcers on the Job!
TVNZ1 Breakfast, Monday 4 December 2017, 8:05 a.m.
The sports news features a remarkable clip of an Italian goalie rushing up during a corner kick and heading in the winner. The goal engenders delight and approval in the studio. Then this happens….
HILLARY BARRY:[enthusiastically] I LOVE soccer when it’s like that!
DANIEL FAITAUA:[playfully stern] Football.
JACK TAME:[smiling, apologetic] Football.
Hillary Barry, bullied into silence, obviously wants to respond but thinks better of it.
…The programme limps on in its uninspired way….
Now, you could safely bet Bill O’Reilly’s monthly whoring budget that neither Faitaua nor Tame actually calls soccer “football” in their normal off-camera conversations, and you could also safely bet that virtually none of their acquaintances does either. Yet this enforced charade continues on TVNZ, the result of a management decree from 2005 that soccer must henceforth be called “football”, in spite of what the plebs in the audience think. This decree is being increasingly abandoned and disrespected—for example, nearly all RNZ National commentators, including newsreaders, call it “soccer” in line with common usage when they are not actually required to read from a script. As Jim Mora complained in 2010: “Do we HAVE to call it ‘football’ now?”
Of one thing we can all be certain: during his time as a U.S. correspondent based in New York, Tame never, ever, ever admonished (playfully or otherwise) any of his American colleagues for saying “soccer”. And you can bet he dutifully called that game “played” with helmets, where most “players” are not allowed to kick the ball, or indeed even TOUCH it, “football”.
Could be a major issue for the National Party to beat her with. I note they have nothing else in their armoury, other than attacking young defence lawyers for actually doing their job, and constantly repeating that Jacinda looks like a horse….
I like how its the United States Soccer Federation and that how it’s always soccer there.
I like how in Australia their national soccer team is called the Socceroos.
I like it how when I call that sport “soccer” some people get angsty and want me to call it football. If it was such a foreign word they would’t even know what I was talking about.
I’m still waiting for me to say soccer and the upset listener to fall on the ground and roll around clutching their leg appealing for a penalty!
When Hilary was growing up, and my generation it was soccer. Why? Because Rugby was what people thought of as football and footy, so maybe the youngsters could get a bit of context and a smidge of humility
The Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA; French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association).
In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). In 1892, after charges of professionalism (compensation of team members) were made against some clubs for paying players for missing work, the Northern Rugby Football Union, usually called the Northern Union (NU), was formed. The existing rugby union authorities responded by issuing sanctions against the clubs, players, and officials involved in the new organization. After the schism, the separate clubs were named “rugby league” and “rugby union”.
Ultimately where there is another football code that is dominant e.g. NZ, Ireland, South Africa, Australia then soccer will be used. Where association football is the dominant football game then football will be used.
I suspect that some of the push to convince NZer’s and Australians to use football is based partly around an anti-rugby sentiment, partly around snobbery and anti-Americanism and partly around traditional soccer connotations of being “poofters” etc. The first and second not a good reason, the third I think highly pertinent – changing language can change responses and values.
Alternatively you could just wait for the generations who made such negative connotations about soccer to die off.
The comments about the PM on RNZ and the Garner show point to something to recognise.
Every week the PM ‘has to’ appear in as many media spots as possible. She is there to be visible, to be held to account, to be seen to be available and accessible. The world has got to that stage, it’s what the people demand.
Things of import to be discussed of course. What’s of importance? Everything, now it is everything.
Here is the news: I do not need the Prime Minister in my home every day. I learned to turn the radio off when John Key came on zb and Radiosport. He came on so he could be ordinary John in our house, be one of the mates, be reassuring, bat away gentle questions about significant issues and not have to face a grilling about significant contentious issues. I never once heard anyone suggest he was a liar.
He came onto RNZ when it was to his advantage. When it wasn’t, he was ‘unavailable.’
Hosking was Key’s mate. Ardern is not. Ardern is Hosking’s enemy. As much as he was there to make Key look good, he is there to make Ardern look bad. Same as the Richardson fellow (Dick is it?) on Garner’s thing.
But she has to appear, that is New Zealand the Way We Want it.
We’ve had years of lying scumbags, we’ve the spectacle now of those like Simon Bridges being even less rational now than when he was a minister but know they’re all sitting at their tvs and radios hoping for the leg trips and any morsel they can use.
We definately need TVNZ channel even back again now seriously if Labour coalition is to sell its policies to the electorate.
Heres why; National lied then about the lack of popularity of TVNZ Seven then.
Quote; “This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman”
TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to launch two additional channels.[2] The channel went to air just after 10am on 25 March 2008 with a looped preview reel. The channel was officially launched at noon on 30 March 2008 with a special “kingmaker” political debate held within the Parliament building and featuring most of the elected minor party leaders. The channel went off air at midnight on 30 June 2012 to the Goodnight Kiwi.
It featured TVNZ News Now updates every hour from 6 am–11 pm, with a specialised rolling 10-minute bulletin ‘zone’ between 8 am and 9 am, throughout which six bulletins were aired. TVNZ 7 also featured an hour-long bulletin, TVNZ News at 8, at 8 pm each night. It was hosted on weeknights by Greg Boyed and on weekends by Miriama Kamo.
While it was originally reported to be a ‘rolling news channel’, similar to Sky News and CNN Headline News, Eric Kearley, head of TVNZ’s Digital Launch team, stated about 70% of the schedule would be “factual variety” programming – a mix of local and overseas documentaries, and programmes that discuss current events and sport, with the remaining 30% being the news updates. A full schedule was released on 28 February 2008.
The channel was relaunched on 1 March 2011, taking some programming from TVNZ 6, another Freeview-based digital channel, when TVNZ decided to transform into an interactive broadcast station TVNZ U.
On 6 April 2011, it was officially announced that TVNZ 7 cease broadcast in June 2012.
This was confirmed when Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman stated on behalf of the government that they would not extend further funding for the channel due to low ratings.[3] This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman.[4] In March 2012, Television New Zealand confirmed this decision and announced there would be no eleventh-hour reprieve for TVNZ7.[5]
TVNZ 7 was replaced on 1 July 2012 by TV One Plus 1, a timeshift channel of TV One.
You are right, Steven Joyce is NZ equivilent to a dicator who likes to contol the media voices of ‘alternatuive views’.
Other countries like Turkey, China and other free press repressive counties often get bad rap by shutting down public media that questions governments.
But in our case NZ was not challenged by shutting down of the popular TVNZ 7 channel sadly.
So Labour please bring back TVNZ 7 again – for your political platform, and our collective benefit too please.
I wonder what is happening in Turkey as lovely keen experienced determined journalist’s death is being investigated. Yasmine Ryan 34. News says that it is not thought that her death was suspicious. It was a stressful job that she had, someone that does such stuff needs a haven I think to take a break and retreat for a while.
A GiveALittle page set up by Jacinta Forde, who works at the University of Waikato with Ryan’s father Tom, said he had “left on the first plane to Turkey last night to bring her back home to New Zealand”.
So far more than $11,000 has been raised. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952232
The sad thing is, we have jobs that need filling but society and private businesses don’t want to pay for.
Our infrastructure needs updating, our hospitals need nurses, nurse aids and other carers, same for our elderly homes, our berms need mowing, our streets need cleaning etc etc etc..
We have a severe lack of tradies of all sorts. Instead of throwing out incentives for Businesses to hire apprentices – and pay them a little – we are again putting the blame on unemployed for not finding a job in a society that refuses to hire, train and pay an honest day wage for an honest day of work.
Yeah, let Shane Jones pass judgment on people who are at the lowest step of our society for not finding a job in this ‘rock star’ economy of ours.
URGENT ATTENTION ALL ANTI-TPPA ACTIVISTS
By Prof Jane Kelsey
“We discovered less than a week ago that MFAT is hosting ‘consultations’ around the country, with David Parker, this week on the TPPA-11. It appeared to be a last-minute decision to do something before Xmas, and somehow they forgot to send invitations to critics who have attended previous ‘consultations’. Presumably the business sector was given priority notice. There is no information on the MFAT website, but we know at least about these:
Dunedin: Monday 4 December, 5:15pm – 7:15pm, Otago Southland Employers Association, 16 McBride Street, South Dunedin: Register now
Auckland: Tuesday 5 December, 6.00 to 7.30pm, Europe House, Auckland University of Technology, 56 Wakefield Street – Register now
Tauranga: Wednesday 6 December, 8:45am – 10:45am: Smart Business Centre, Bay Central Shopping Centre, 65 Chapel Street Register now
Hamilton: Thursday 7 December, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, PWC Building, Level 4, 109 Ward Street Register now
The obvious reaction is WTF? There’s no urgency to do this, as the ministers are apparently not now going to meet during the Buenos Aires WTO ministerial on 10-13 December. That suggests the government has been running focus groups or polling which tells them that people are not buying their spin on the old/new TPPA-11 (please let’s NOT call it the CPTPP). Or that they still hope to get a deal they can settle the remaining four issues and sign in February or March. Consulting now would mean the government could do this, claiming it has consulted, and not try to rush something over January which would create more of an outcry. Then they will have the proper ‘consultation’, when it’s too late to do anything.
No wonder business leaders see themselves as messiahs and critics like Kelsey as pariahs… and now the new govt is feeding the same bullshit. Great news everyone. Business as usual but with a smile and an empathetic nod and donation.
Thanks savenz, ; so they are holding secret meetings to get their support to rush the TPP11 (or whatever it’s called for now) WTF @#$%^&*()_
Bloody irresponsible of them to go behind our backs when they said & promised after comming back from Veitnam, they would take time to get the public input!!!!!!!
No No No they lied there!!!!
So start the ball rollimg, we need some finger pointing here now starting with David Parker. Shit they just had the water tax thing blow up in their faces and still are rushing to sign the blooody thing.@#$%^&*(()
Never trust politicians we learned that today here.
Good to see that the 33 pages of a “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development” and “directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”. (according to the depuity PM)
or “notes” according to the PM
has been seen by the Ombudsman and he has written to Jacinda. A response is due in 5 days.
No idea what he said of course – but if he recommends it being released – its going to be a very bad look not to do so.
I’d like to see those Nat notes; they’d show how ethical and honest the Party may or may not be. It’d be a great thing if they released their notes, you know, in the spirit of transparency and honesty. National are both of those things, aren’t they? Shouldn’t they show the people of New Zealand just how straight is the bat they play with? Hmmmmm?
‘Cause National are such honest folk, James? Wouldn’t “forget, misremember, accidentally erase, refuse to speak etc, etc, etc?
You’re right, of course, honest as the day is long, Key’s crew! And Bill! Taken up John’s torch! Protected Toddy the way Key protected him – that’s National; for you – Team All NZ Black (Inc), bro!
As I remember, Billshit when asked if he would release such documents refused to do so because of a confidentiality agreement that applied to all parties negotiating. Strangely enough, Double Dipper Billshit now seems to have forgotten about that confidentiality.
James (14) … and I take it National will also release its negotiation details with Winston Peters/NZF. You know, good enough for one, good enough for the other, even more so if the complaint has come from National.
Why? National isn’t in government, those notes aren’t worth jack.
On the other hand, the NZFirst/Labour notes are because they are in government and what’s in them should be known to the NZ public as they will no doubt be on the receiving end of whatever arrangments are within these notes.
You do realise that this is an awful look for the government and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
For a government that proclaimed they are going to be the most transparent government ever this is just bullshit and undermines their credibility terribly.
Thing is the media won’t let this go, they smell something dodgy and will keep digging away until they get what they want.
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
tl;dr: David Farrar is so full of shit it’s overflowed into BM.
Official Information Act S9(2)g:
Other reasons for withholding official information:
(g)
maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through—
(i)
the free and frank expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation or officers and employees of any department or organisation in the course of their duty; or
(ii)
the protection of such Ministers, members of organisations, officers, and employees from improper pressure or harassment.
BM (14.3.1) …
Ah but the Natz were government during the negotiations with Winston Peters weren’t they? So as such, they have some responsibility for releasing their negotiations with NZF. Don’t you think?
You know that National do not have to – as they are not ministers you see. The whole good for one is good for the other dosnt work – the government have a whole lot of things that they have to abide my that opposition does not.
Of course that may also be the view of the Ombudsman regarding Labour – time will tell.
BUT if it says they are to be released – Will Jacinda? – or will she go against him.
Yes, of course we made notes during the course of those discussions including further areas that we may undertake some work…some issues will see the light of day and at that point we’ll make sure that people are absolutely clear that that was part of our conversation with NZ First but others may not.
Which ties in with what Boshier says about ‘provocative’ advice and ‘blue sky’ discussions: once an idea becomes a policy commitment and then legislation, that is the appropriate time for public scrutiny and comment.
I love how you correct me for something I didn’t say. I never said he could order them.
You sill making shit up person you. I can only assume in your hurry to be clever – you just had to make shit up.
As for your second lie about National always ignoring it – he states in the link already provided “It’s very rare that my decision is not complied with.”
So I guess it’s all made up.
But hey if he says release it and if labour don’t – then they will deserve the pasting they will get.
Personally how rabid some on here are about it – I reckon you guys are scared about what’s in it.
Did you forget to take Matty H’s instructions today @James?.
I think the RNZ still has a podcast up.
It was Matty H that pointed out (as DtB has above) that Bling and Choice were actually government Ministers at the time of negotiations (and leading them), and as such there is more of an onus on them (if not an equal one) to produce their ‘minutes’
Those docs must not be too flattering given even Hooten is saying the new Govt should not need to release what is effectively a political negotiating document not a public interest one… strange bedfellows on this one.
If pre agreement negotiations are to be released as public interest, the TPP negotiation discussiondocuments must be due soon too?
But like I said we used an Ombudsman in a case and he awarded in our case but the government said they didnt agree with the ombudsmans views and ignored his advise and the ombudsman wrote and said his rulinng is not binding it is only advisory.
Same thinf with Commissioners like the Parliamentary commissioer for the Environment, he ruled in our case but the government ignored his ruling too.
This is national playing games just to spook us and dont take the bait.
When will Bill English release the text messages he sent to Glenys Dickson around the Todd Barclay “debarcle” and those he received from her? Not presenting them for scrutiny is a very bad look, don’t you think, James?
Hi Robert
While you are looking at TS perhaps you would let me know if you ever got a copy of the Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig that was talked about earlier this year? It is a great story, a turn-around on the status quo, by Eugene Trivizas, and inspiring to read to one’s grandkids. I’m interested if you managed to get hold of it.
Hi greywarshark -= thanks for the reminder. I just read it online and enjoyed it for sure. I was reminded of the story of Ferdinand the Bull – do you know it? Flowers feature there too, and peacefulness 🙂 This link is to the 1938 Disney version which is very good, imo.
As this is such an important issue to you, the transparency of government formation agreements and prior negotiations, can you post a link to the previous 3 coalition notes of negotiations involving the Nats and their coalition parties. I have looked and cannot find them anywhere. Thank you in advance.
Ah but Key also promised greater transparency and honest than the Clark government… there is a recording on youtube of his interview in 2008 with Henry. he probably was lying though, which, apparently, is ok.
Just Water CEO Tony Falkenstein says job hunters failing to show.
“We just cannot get people to even turn up for jobs, let alone apply,” he said.
I understand his feelings. Can he understand the feelings of people who put their heart and soul into applying for job, dream of getting it and how it will change their life then not even hear back from the employer when their application is unsuccessful in their application?
I didn’t hear the interview with Leighton Smith. Since it was with Smith I wouldn’t be surprised if the tenor was one of “lazy a’hole unemployed.” And would be surprised there was any “lazy, unprofessional, a’hole employers.”
Unfortunately Leighton Smith is not retiring until the end of next year (2018) not this year/month. Kerre McIvor will be taking over from him in 2019 under current plans.
God that is awful. You wonder what possesses people to do these things sometimes. I know life in Somalia is no garden of eden existence – and brutality is almost everywhere – but even so.
We need to ignore all the side issues like Ombudsman crap, and the bulllshit press stuff.
We need to concentrate on our task to assist labour to make the right desisions here, and now we need to tell them to rush their good policies for us through under urgency.
We need to strongly tell labour we are not interested in their TPP 11 (or whatever it is called for now) – and tell them not sign that abortion right now until we all agree to the terms that benefit us and our rights first.
And even that is a mere tickle to an itchy scratch on the surface.
As you said @JC yesterday: INZ need a rocket.
I’m holding my breathe because I’m hoping Iain Lees-Galloway is up to it.
So far I think he is, and I’m hoping he’s aware of the potential for his ‘officials’ to spin and bullshit like never before – and that some of them have become so used to it, they’ll do it straight-faced.
‘This piece is about one of the biggest taboos of our times. About a truth that is seldom acknowledged, and yet – on reflection – cannot be denied. The truth that we are living in an inverse welfare state.
These days, politicians from the left to the right assume that most wealth is created at the top. By the visionaries, by the job creators, and by the people who have “made it”. By the go-getters oozing talent and entrepreneurialism that are helping to advance the whole world…..’
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
We get but one birthday a year – why not make it last as long as possible by scheduling as many meals with friends and family as you can? This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. How do you celebrate your birthday? Do you celebrate at ...
A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
Hospitals around the country are not allowed to make a single hiring decision without the approval of Te Whatu Ora's head office, including for cleaners and administration staff. ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
On International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi and the wider union movement are celebrating the proud history of the labour movement during a tough time for working people. ...
From bills to beards, a walk through the former Green co-leader’s time in politics. After close to a decade in politics, James Shaw is preparing to bid farewell to parliament. Tonight will see the former minister deliver his valedictory address, certain to be a speech filled with Shaw’s trademark wit ...
Two months ago, MPs unanimously voted to give themselves a week off in Efeso Collins’ honour. On Tuesday, most were too busy to give even an hour of their time. The day Fa’anānā Efeso Collins died, parliament felt different. In a building that operates at a breakneck pace, everyone stopped ...
India’s election involves hundreds of millions of people and is a months-long affair. Here’s how voting works and what’s at stake.The biggest-ever election in world history started on April 19, with more than 10% of the world’s population eligible to vote. Elections in India, the world’s most populous country ...
After the Christchurch earthquake, the then-national civil defence boss compared his experience to “putting a team on the rugby field who have never ever played together before”. Now, eight years later – and following a damning inquiry into the emergency response of cyclones Gabrielle, Hale and the Auckland anniversary weekend floods – ...
“I had just come off the end of a major robbery case which I had been working on for six months when I got a call on the afternoon of September 1, 1992, that some remains had been found at a building site in Devonport, so I drove over with ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 1 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Comment: Journalists are very good at telling other people’s stories, but they fall well short when writing about their own profession. Perhaps that is why it is so undervalued. Every successive poll on the public’s attitude toward journalism is more alarming than the last. In the last month we have ...
Opinion: A young Māori woman and her Pacific partner arrive at their local hospital by ambulance. She has gone into labour at just under 24 weeks, but the couple haven’t recognised the symptoms – and don’t know the risks of premature birth for their baby. By the time they arrive, ...
Behind closed doors, NZ First will be arguing fiercely against any watering down of the ministerial decision-making powers in the Bill The post Bishop backtracks after fast-track backlash appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Emotional scenes played out in the Invercargill courthouse on the first two days of the coronial inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones, in which the boy’s mother was accused of disposing of her son’s body. The second season of Newsroom’s award-nominated podcast The Boy in the Water ...
Opinion: The impression from the carpark is very inviting. The area is well fenced but barred so there is easy visibility of loved ones. Inside, the spaces are welcoming and clean and staff are friendly and clearly comfortable. I am greeted by ‘Kim’. She has worked here for three years, ...
‘Why does the media give these voices so much air’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/345304/why-does-the-media-give-these-voices-so-much-air
Good Morning Ed,
Yes this drivile is disturbing when we dont see our regional news reported any more except if you are an auckland resident eh?
HB/Gisborne does not even have a RNZ reporter after two years now so we are largely ignored down here, and this is so very disturbing when now we have a labour lead government who needs to get the issues outnthere to sell their new ‘regional policies’ and why our rail is now so vitial to our regions export potential else we will just conitue to wither and die.
Come on Labour!!!!!!!!! – bring back a ‘true regional TV seven type channel’ “publc affairs” media for the public benefits of having a voice finally again.
Many thanks to Shane Jones for his idea of work for the dole. I would rename it as that is not a appealing name and the goal is to make this idea appealing to our youth for this to work. Yes there will be training need I say have a career map for these people driving licence right up to class 5 digger operators ECT and a pathway to the forestry harvesting as these jobs in forestry are hard work and one does not want to be doing these jobs when the gray hair STARTS to show I don’t think that punishing our youth who can work is the right way to make this successfull. What will make this successful will be to make it appealing to our youth so they all want to join this venture. Getting to work in the forestry one gets picked up and dropped of at ones house. If it is really successful no other government will scrap it. As what has happened in the past pep scheme.
Happy birthday Hillary. Ka pai
100% eco maori;
Spot on there.
Nothing wrong with work for wages.
Yes there is. It’s called wage slavery and is an affront to human dignity.
Is this like Golriz Ghahramen, where unless every statement about employment specifically condemns wage-slavery, the author must be a wage-slavery denier?
In the SME where I do some part time hours, alongside my boss, who gets paid less than me (I know this because I do the accounts), I’m quite happy to do a bit of work for someone else.
Meanwhile, the point about work-for-the-dole was what again?
Presumably you endorse the idea of people being coerced into work if a wage is paid. I don’t.
In the interview given by Jacinda Ardern she was pretty clear (in spite of her general penchant to waffle herself away from making any definitive statements) that WINZ sanctions would remain in place and apply to those presented with the scheme.
edit – (from about 2:58 through 3:06) http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018624024
I endorse no such thing. When in doubt, ask.
Carmel Sepuloni has specific responsibility for that portfolio:
Labour to ditch sanctions that ‘punished’ mothers…
But Shane Jones runs his mouth therefore the NZLP and Minister Sepuloni must do as he says? Pfft.
At present, if you are claiming unemployment benefit and turn down work that WINZ deems “suitable”, you are sanctioned (ie – you lose money). Those sanctions will remain and apply to those who are offered placement on the “Ready for Work” (or whatever it’s called) scheme.
Ditching the sanction that kicked in around unnamed fathers isn’t in any way related to work readiness sanctions.
Sure. If the “very serious changes that are going to be made to the principles of the Social Security Act” are inadequate or discriminatory (and hey, it’s the NZLP so I think that’s ‘possible’), then I intend to beat Labour about the head with them.
I’m still not going to jump to conclusions on the say-so of Guyon Espiner and Shane Jones.
The PM (not Jones or Espinar) made a pretty clear indication that those sanctions that already exist will remain and be applied.
If they were removed, there would be much, much less to prevent workers exercising a bit of power and walking away from bullshit employers to live on the dole until they found a decent employer.
The principle (ie – “mission statement”) can change all it wants. But will that likely amount to much more than “feel good” twattery? Probably not.
Hey. We’ll see. But I have a good collection of 2x4s and you can borrow one when the time comes.
another nail in the coffin there.
so is the tax payer now responsible to pay the wages for private industry in order to entice private industry to hire?
Also, what if the work place one is placed is an abusive work place? Can you leave or will your dole sanctioned? If your work for the dole is a pick up and drop of at your home place job and your boss is abusive how could you leave and get a way? Or do you just have to put up with a bit of abuse, sexual harrasment (as i witnessed this week at a Countdown where a bloke berated a young girl collecting funds for the SPCA until my partner, two security guards and I stepped in and ended up calling the Police!) until your driver comes to get you home? What if your driver is the one who abuses the ‘worker for the dole”.
Also, what if a work place fires their employees – McDo, KFC, etc come to mind – to hire the tax payer funded crew – cause nothing is cheaper then a worker who can’t complain lest he / she ‘gets sanctioned’.
IS that really the only thing this country can come up with to find work places for their young ones, or is this again just another way to show some that you don’t count, and if you complain we ‘take away your ‘dole’.
There is so much wrong with this scheme its not funny anymore. How about making sure that private businesses start training again for their own needs? Heck in Europe they call this ‘Apprentice program’ not working for the dole. OH, its in the too hard basket. Lets just bash some young people for not having a job rather then bash businesses for not hiring young ones and training them.
Right.
The inner details of Shane Jones’ “thoughts” aren’t worth the effort. Wait and see what changes the government proposes to the Social Security Act.
That will either provide reassurance or solid ammunition.
If I was government….I’d levy a specific tax on large employers and use it to fund dole payments. How long then before unemployment levels “miraculously” hit 5/8ths of f.a. I wonder?
And with full employment, all that power accruing to employees again. What’s not to like about that? 😉
i like your idea. This could actually work.
but yeah, lets provide a tax payer funded workforce to our large employers who otherwise would not hire as it would affect the share holders value or other such bullshit.
I think it’s not an idea that will be getting discussed at “the cabinet table” any time soon 😉
Far easier to keep on throwing society into the chopping blades of commerce for the benefit of the few. It’s a fine arrangement to be sure.
i enjoy working for my wages , cant be bothered running a buiseness and hate being poor
Thank you for pointing that one out.
The dole is for people who can not work due to unemployment, sickness, care for parents/children etc.
Wages are for people who work.
Punishing people for not working comes from the age old (and wrong) idea that people need to be forced to work.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/12/work-for-the-dole-plans-actually-work-for-minimum-wage-ardern.html
PM Ardern clarifies.
“If it goes ahead, the scheme will differ to past ‘work-for-the-dole’ programmes says Ms Ardern, because participants will actually get paid at least the minimum wage.
“The fact there will be a legal wage attached to it distinguishes it from some of those schemes in the past,” she told The AM Show on Monday.”
The release press from Shane Jones announcing the four schemes stated “at least the minimum wage.” Critics missed this.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952429
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
Hopefully connected will be the Labour commitment to increasing the minimum wage to being a living wage.
So the Taxpayer will pay the full minimum wage for the staff that private businesses refuse to hire otherwise?
Can we call it ‘getting the dole for not hiring’ ?
Details are needed, but this sounds a lot better than having young people hike around all day leaving their CV’s with employers who wouldn’t hire them anyway.
So now we are funding the employers to hire the people they don’t want to hire cause they would have to pay wages?
Great, how much more taxes can you afford to pay in higher taxes to pay the wages for the local McDo to hire these ‘slaves for the dole”? And of course the dole will be taxed, so the poor slaves fund their own slavery program. Whats not to like ey?
btw, there are a lot of ‘non’ young people that are on the dole. This program will then apply to these too. I am so looking forward to getting served by some 64 year old at the local fast food joint, working for the dole until retirement hits. Yei! Us!
So, um, given that Shane Jones says that in his “thoughts” they’ll be working for at least minimum wage…?
“Yes there will be training need I say have a career map for these people driving licence right up to class 5 digger operators ….”
Like this….?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952639
I don’t normally watch the videos…but this one is seriously worth it.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones wants welfare payments to be cut if beneficiaries refuse to take part in his new Government work programme, which will look to plant trees and build up a railway network for tourists.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952429
I cannot see how Labour and the Greens could agree with this, it’s the complete opposite of what Labour and the Greens are all about.
The fact the NZ First knows this and is still pushing a compulsory work for the dole scheme does rather demonstrate where all the power lies in this government.
Jones stressed that his preference of removing welfare entitlement still needed to be endorsed by Cabinet.
Which demonstrates where all the power lies, and also that BM lies.
Rubber stamping more like.
This compulsory work for the dole scheme no doubt makes up part of that 33-page document of dead rats Ardern refuses to release.
We’ll see. When we do, it will turn out that you have been lying.
BM = always lies.
BM=BuM
Thanks Nick;
In this tense time, you made me laugh thanks for that.
There are plenty of Labour people who would support it.
We are at below 5% in overall unemployment, and we need all hands on deck if we are going to see trees planted.
Government choking off immigration is also going to bring rest home workers into very high demand.
Personally I want to see overall unemployment come down to 3%, and immigration choked, so that employers are forced to pay higher wages. So high that that there’s a much clearer step from benefit to wage and abatement triggers are less needed.
My only caveat to Jones’ policy idea is that I would want both worker and employer to commit to 6 months minimum employment, with an option for a further 6 month rollover.
Unemployment down, NEET numbers down, wages up, security up. productivity up. Yes.
And to train up NZers skills rather than relying upon importing them.
“below 5% in overall unemployment” – is that with, or without, the government’s massaging of unemployment figures to ignore people who aren’t looking for work, people who have insecure casual work, or are otherwise unemployed without being in the official numbers?
Yeah, true that. 0-3% of regular unemployment is pretty much job churn, but with 1hr a week or month counting as “employed”? Who knows.
None of the global entities like the World Bank, OECD, etc use unemployment figures from countries as a measure of unemployment anymore due to the high level of inaccuracy from using erroneous methodology.
BM,
Are you mis-representing the facts yet again here eh BM,
mac1
2.4
4 December 2017
Maci said on 2.4. this;
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952429
So you misrepresented him. as saying ” build up a railway network for tourists.”
So why did you deliberately signal only ‘rail for tourists’ and not freight?
Mac1 said nothing about just for tourists’.
Do you represent the road freight industry?
Suspiously sounds like it.
Just listening to Guyon Espiner interviewing Jacinda. Oh. My. God. By the look of things, the next three years is going to consist of the media spending the entire length of every interview trying to foot trip Jacinda Ardern on a matter of semantics in relation to the coalition so they can triumphantly scream “DIVISION IN THE GOVERNMENT!”
It is a depressing. A cynical obsession with horse racing politics and it seems to be one shared by both the MSM and the National party.
Espiner spent nine years constantly saying “the minister declined our invitation…” Now he can get to talk to the PM, instead of the obsequious toadying we got whenever he interviewed Key we get a hectoring bully splitting hairs over taxonomy. White male syndrome strikes again.
In six months, Espiner will again be droning saying “the minister declined our invitation…” and he’ll probably wonder why.
The reason why will be Jacinda will get sick of lazy yellow journalism playing desperate word games to try and trump up divisions in the government. All we want is an informed journalist politely but firmly asking relevant questions about the pertinent issues of the day.
That seems all to hard for the MSM in NZ these days.
Yes Sancuary,
I saw this also on TV3 with the “hypoventilating” Duncan Garner!!!!
A discussing display he showed with our new PM Jacinda!!!!
It was disturbing also, as Garner was gunning at the last part of the inverview on “The AM show” as garner was hammering the issue of the so called “33 page agreement between Labour and NZF” as he kept saying; are you lying’, are you lying, are you lying” until Jacinda settled him down from having a potential heart attack.
“Give it up Michael” (credit to Vogel bread ad)
Are these ‘anchors’ on drugs or someting?
Reminds me,Vogels bread special today,28c for every second loaf.You buy the first one.
Hi Cleangreen (4.1) … Acting on a complaint (not hard to guess from who that might be), the Ombudsman has been called in, re the release of the Labour/NZF 33 page coalition negotiation agreement.
So it seems when a vindictive, bitter political party is unable to accept it lost the election and get its own way in the future, it will run to a higher power! That particular political party has now resorted to tittle tattling …. scum politics at its worst!
I hope that same political party is forced to release details of its own negotiations!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952737
SO when will the NATZ release their negotiation paper then?
100% mary-a.
Yes nationals agreements with NZF and ACT also it would be fun to see what they signed up to eh?
I think these ‘anchors’ are probably on something called ‘National Party pills’ .
Well said Sanctuary.
Espiner is more interested in petty point scoring than in providing listeners with what should be a more balanced view of the subject. I’m not sure whether his rude, argumentative, interruptive and totally unethical mode is due to strongly political bias or sheer incompetence. Maybe it’s sexist but, as you so rightly say, more time was spent trying to trip Jacinda up rather than on eliciting information.
His interview ( ? ) with the Prime Minister of New Zealand this morning was an absolute disgrace by any standard.
PM Jacinda Adern handled the interview well so Guyon will need to be better prepared if he wishes to ruffle her going by that performance….it appears that the strategy for dealing with opposition promoted dissent within the coalition is to allow a range of views but control the policy…and I think those outside the ‘beltway’ are accepting of that provided it causes no major issues…if they are taking any notice at all, after all its only 20 days until xmas.
“White male syndrome strikes again”
FFS, stop with the knee-jerk racism and sexism. Every time a person happens to be white and male, this bullshit gets spouted without thought.
You’ve got shit dribbling down your chin sanctuary
[“Every time a person happens to be white and male”. No, it’s when behaviours associated with the dominant class are observed they get named (whether that gets over used or not is another matter). Your hyperbole is inflammatory. Please rethink how to express your points here – weka]
What? Are you offended by it? Stop being so PC.
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate 🙂
or sexist
Haven’t seen that personally. Can you please link to an example?
As for “racist”, I’ve seen Bill advance that argument, and make a pretty good case for it. I’m not sure when his view was declared “approved and pure” though.
Nice strawman but. Will you be beating it up yourself or will you let vto have a go too?
Yeah it’s quite an interesting argument, if I recall it correctly. I actually lean towards it, but not to the point of being absolutely convinced, if you know what I mean.
I lean towards it just enough to STFU whenever I feel the urge to yelp “help, help, I’m being oppressed”. Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.
“Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.”
Well put.
Some groups in our society have a much longer history of oppression than others. Some imagine they are oppressed but confuse it with angry or disappoindte that things are not how they used to be for them.
+100
Plenty here try doxxing by framing commenters as CIS-dominant or white male.
And of course, to show examples of that is to reverse doxx.
Better rather if people make sure they have really good citations before making sweeping group-identity comments, of any kind.
not sure what you are meaning by doxing there but it’s rare for people here to try and out other commenter’s RL IDs, including around gender. It happens occasionally and gets moderated.
Lots of words but fuck all meaning.
@RedLogix,
You’ve said today,
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate
You said on October 16,
And out of respect for my fellow authors and moderators, and because this topic clearly causes far too much disruption … I commit to absolutely never saying anything on any gendered topic ever again.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16102017/#comment-1400748
You also reiterated this in the back end on October 16.
weka
You probably misunderstood what RL meant. I have had that problem before, apparently.
+ 1
One day you will have equality mate. Keep up the good fight. Equal pay, pay for voluntary care work, even an honorary seat at the council table is just around the corner for white men.
lol
Touche
VTO, keep standing up against the hypocrisy..
None of it is necessary..
You will likely get abused for standing up and pointing it out
Rise above it..thus showing the way to the hypocrites..
You do not need to rise above it, anyone in the category of white male has had residence in the privileged towers looming over us all for thousands of years. The residence hasn’t changed it’s just people are knocking on the door asking to be let in rather than staying silent as the dogs are loosed.
Nice one.
I didn’t hear the interview and probably won’t listen to it.
Truth be told, almost all political interviews these days are a dance performed by true believers. They may disagree on the exact steps or the precision of the moves, but both interviewer and interviewee are dancing to the exact same tune.
No-one questions ‘Why this music?’, ‘Why this dance?’ ‘What are we doing this for?’
When political ideology becomes as crystalline as it is now, there is nothing much left to discuss or debate. And so we are subjected to word games and opinions on what clothes are worn – all passed off as critical analysis and measures of accountability or what not.
It’s when the crystal shatters under the stress of its own internal forces – that’s when things get interesting. And the crystal always shatters.
And that’s particularly well expressed Bill!
It’s a bit like watching all five days of a test match, absorbing, diverting and sometimes dramatic … but don’t ask ‘what does it all mean’?
Thank you Red. I should probably only ever comment over morning coffee. Things degenerate from here on out 🙂
Bill,
Change of topic, but this one got my attention big time. Look at those crazy sea temp anomalies. Six degC on the West Coast.
What this may suggest is the deep cold oceanic current that surfaces along the Coast may have shut down. That could have big consequences …
Yes Bill that was sheer brilliance expressed there.
So well expressed. Thank you.
Okay. I listened to it.
When someone is being as evasive as Jacinda Ardern is in that interview, what would you have an interviewer do Sanctuary? Accept ambiguity and avoidance as upfront and informative responses?
Many thanks to all the Maori organisation joining together to give us a better say in our future. And To hold the government’s accountable for there actions that have oppressed Maori. We need positive news about Maori we need positive Maori leaders and role models. I bet that if I had the money I could find and shape some one into a Maori superstar music artist. Be proud of OUR Maori culture and heritage. Kia kaha
Barely Sober calls Winston Peters ‘white’ in his latest shock-jock piece.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952064
He’s either being deliberately provocative or ignorant, but probably both.
Barfly soaker.
“He’s either being deliberately provocative or ignorant, but probably both.”
Well that’s all he’s got left in life really.
I’ll be sending him dead flowers, but I’m sure HdPA won’t forget to put roses on his rotting corpse
Eugenie Sage will be very pleased.
Nick Smith has now seen the desirability of something that the Green Party has been proposing.
https://home.greens.org.nz/bills/kermadec-ocean-sanctuary-establishment-bill
I expect that Nick’s bill will be very close to the Green Party proposal.
With a combination of the Green Party votes and those of the National Party we should see the sanctuary implemented when Nick’s bill gets drawn and passed.
Let us hope it comes up very quickly in the ballot.
We have been waiting far to long.
Your concern for the environment is heartwarming. As for Smith’s mischief-making ….
It’s a smart wedge from Smith, and good pressure on Sage to crack a deal.
The 9 year Key-English government was the worst for conservation in generations, with no new national parks formed, catastrophic biosecurity hits, and spectacular falls in wildlife populations whether tree, sea or airborne.
Sage needs to deliver real goods on conservation, and now she gets to draft her own bill on the Kermadecs and pull the rug on Smith by guilting him into supproting the government on his own concept.
It was always National policy.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm-announces-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary
Easy-peasy. Just pass the bill with National and Green support.
If Sage thinks she can do it with her own bill she will have to get Winston to agree and that is not likely to be forthcoming.
He doesn’t have any control over a Private member’s bill though.
Yeah – they were just too arrogant in their implementation of it, and so stuffed it up bigly.
Alwyn – strange how easy-peasy rhymes with sleazy.
And greasy.
Hi Ad, nick smith doesn’t do guilt. He only does Bullshit.
too sad that Nick Smith would not dare to come up with it when National was in power. Cause surely, if it would have protected the environemnt the Greens would have even then supported the policy. OH, but this is not about the environment?
It was always National Party policy.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm-announces-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary
The problem they had was that they couldn’t get Maori Party support and that made it impractical as it would have disrupted the Government.
That is no longer a problem of course so that National can go back to do what they had always wanted.
I’m sure that the Green Party will support it. We have been told that they have the ability to support things they are strongly for without being affected by anything like Cabinet collective responsibility as they don’t have any Cabinet members.
Won’t be any problem there then and there needn’t be any problems like National had.
The problem they had was that they couldn’t get Maori Party support…
They couldn’t get Maori Party support for unilaterally removing part of a Treaty settlement? Gosh, I wonder why that was? What could the Maori Party have had against it? I guess it’s a mystery that will outlast humanity’s time on earth. Those damn Maori!
LOL
There’s such a long distance between National Party policy and Nick Smith’s capacity to deliver anything though, isn’t there Alwyn?
Sage as a fly will not be tempted into Smith’s web .
I’m sure you don’t have to be reminded of the spectacular mess that Smith made of Key’s United Nations grandstanding proposal three years ago?
Sage need only read out loud in Parliament Smith’s record on the matter, for his initiative to be seen for the mere game that it is.
oh my goodness, they could not get their partner to work with them?
bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha National, useless at working with its “partners”.
National, really good at excuses for not getting anything done.
I must be really getting at there egos A they are swarming me with marked cars like water off a ducks back now Ana to kai
Tame and Faitaua: Language Enforcers on the Job!
TVNZ1 Breakfast, Monday 4 December 2017, 8:05 a.m.
The sports news features a remarkable clip of an Italian goalie rushing up during a corner kick and heading in the winner. The goal engenders delight and approval in the studio. Then this happens….
HILLARY BARRY: [enthusiastically] I LOVE soccer when it’s like that!
DANIEL FAITAUA: [playfully stern] Football.
JACK TAME: [smiling, apologetic] Football.
Hillary Barry, bullied into silence, obviously wants to respond but thinks better of it.
…The programme limps on in its uninspired way….
Now, you could safely bet Bill O’Reilly’s monthly whoring budget that neither Faitaua nor Tame actually calls soccer “football” in their normal off-camera conversations, and you could also safely bet that virtually none of their acquaintances does either. Yet this enforced charade continues on TVNZ, the result of a management decree from 2005 that soccer must henceforth be called “football”, in spite of what the plebs in the audience think. This decree is being increasingly abandoned and disrespected—for example, nearly all RNZ National commentators, including newsreaders, call it “soccer” in line with common usage when they are not actually required to read from a script. As Jim Mora complained in 2010: “Do we HAVE to call it ‘football’ now?”
Of one thing we can all be certain: during his time as a U.S. correspondent based in New York, Tame never, ever, ever admonished (playfully or otherwise) any of his American colleagues for saying “soccer”. And you can bet he dutifully called that game “played” with helmets, where most “players” are not allowed to kick the ball, or indeed even TOUCH it, “football”.
More Jack Tame idiocy…
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26082015/#comment-1062913
And Daniel Faitaua, that vacuous lump, should be doing some reading instead of badgering Hillary Barry about nothing….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13102016/#comment-1244029
Has anyone contacted the PM for her thoughts on this important issue?
Could be a major issue for the National Party to beat her with. I note they have nothing else in their armoury, other than attacking young defence lawyers for actually doing their job, and constantly repeating that Jacinda looks like a horse….
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_4_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2091710
I like how its the United States Soccer Federation and that how it’s always soccer there.
I like how in Australia their national soccer team is called the Socceroos.
I like it how when I call that sport “soccer” some people get angsty and want me to call it football. If it was such a foreign word they would’t even know what I was talking about.
I’m still waiting for me to say soccer and the upset listener to fall on the ground and roll around clutching their leg appealing for a penalty!
When Hilary was growing up, and my generation it was soccer. Why? Because Rugby was what people thought of as football and footy, so maybe the youngsters could get a bit of context and a smidge of humility
Both rugby and soccer are football.
Rugby football and Association football.
Rugby and soccer.
Not rocket science.
Doesn’t make your brain hurt.
Wikipedia references explain thus:
The Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA; French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association).
In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). In 1892, after charges of professionalism (compensation of team members) were made against some clubs for paying players for missing work, the Northern Rugby Football Union, usually called the Northern Union (NU), was formed. The existing rugby union authorities responded by issuing sanctions against the clubs, players, and officials involved in the new organization. After the schism, the separate clubs were named “rugby league” and “rugby union”.
Ultimately where there is another football code that is dominant e.g. NZ, Ireland, South Africa, Australia then soccer will be used. Where association football is the dominant football game then football will be used.
I suspect that some of the push to convince NZer’s and Australians to use football is based partly around an anti-rugby sentiment, partly around snobbery and anti-Americanism and partly around traditional soccer connotations of being “poofters” etc. The first and second not a good reason, the third I think highly pertinent – changing language can change responses and values.
Alternatively you could just wait for the generations who made such negative connotations about soccer to die off.
Tame is awful.
The comments about the PM on RNZ and the Garner show point to something to recognise.
Every week the PM ‘has to’ appear in as many media spots as possible. She is there to be visible, to be held to account, to be seen to be available and accessible. The world has got to that stage, it’s what the people demand.
Things of import to be discussed of course. What’s of importance? Everything, now it is everything.
Here is the news: I do not need the Prime Minister in my home every day. I learned to turn the radio off when John Key came on zb and Radiosport. He came on so he could be ordinary John in our house, be one of the mates, be reassuring, bat away gentle questions about significant issues and not have to face a grilling about significant contentious issues. I never once heard anyone suggest he was a liar.
He came onto RNZ when it was to his advantage. When it wasn’t, he was ‘unavailable.’
Hosking was Key’s mate. Ardern is not. Ardern is Hosking’s enemy. As much as he was there to make Key look good, he is there to make Ardern look bad. Same as the Richardson fellow (Dick is it?) on Garner’s thing.
But she has to appear, that is New Zealand the Way We Want it.
We’ve had years of lying scumbags, we’ve the spectacle now of those like Simon Bridges being even less rational now than when he was a minister but know they’re all sitting at their tvs and radios hoping for the leg trips and any morsel they can use.
We definately need TVNZ channel even back again now seriously if Labour coalition is to sell its policies to the electorate.
Heres why; National lied then about the lack of popularity of TVNZ Seven then.
Quote; “This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVNZ_7
TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to launch two additional channels.[2] The channel went to air just after 10am on 25 March 2008 with a looped preview reel. The channel was officially launched at noon on 30 March 2008 with a special “kingmaker” political debate held within the Parliament building and featuring most of the elected minor party leaders. The channel went off air at midnight on 30 June 2012 to the Goodnight Kiwi.
It featured TVNZ News Now updates every hour from 6 am–11 pm, with a specialised rolling 10-minute bulletin ‘zone’ between 8 am and 9 am, throughout which six bulletins were aired. TVNZ 7 also featured an hour-long bulletin, TVNZ News at 8, at 8 pm each night. It was hosted on weeknights by Greg Boyed and on weekends by Miriama Kamo.
While it was originally reported to be a ‘rolling news channel’, similar to Sky News and CNN Headline News, Eric Kearley, head of TVNZ’s Digital Launch team, stated about 70% of the schedule would be “factual variety” programming – a mix of local and overseas documentaries, and programmes that discuss current events and sport, with the remaining 30% being the news updates. A full schedule was released on 28 February 2008.
The channel was relaunched on 1 March 2011, taking some programming from TVNZ 6, another Freeview-based digital channel, when TVNZ decided to transform into an interactive broadcast station TVNZ U.
On 6 April 2011, it was officially announced that TVNZ 7 cease broadcast in June 2012.
This was confirmed when Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman stated on behalf of the government that they would not extend further funding for the channel due to low ratings.[3] This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman.[4] In March 2012, Television New Zealand confirmed this decision and announced there would be no eleventh-hour reprieve for TVNZ7.[5]
TVNZ 7 was replaced on 1 July 2012 by TV One Plus 1, a timeshift channel of TV One.
TVNZ7 was starting to get some momentum so of course National had to kill it off.
Yes Grey Area,
You are right, Steven Joyce is NZ equivilent to a dicator who likes to contol the media voices of ‘alternatuive views’.
Other countries like Turkey, China and other free press repressive counties often get bad rap by shutting down public media that questions governments.
But in our case NZ was not challenged by shutting down of the popular TVNZ 7 channel sadly.
So Labour please bring back TVNZ 7 again – for your political platform, and our collective benefit too please.
I wonder what is happening in Turkey as lovely keen experienced determined journalist’s death is being investigated. Yasmine Ryan 34. News says that it is not thought that her death was suspicious. It was a stressful job that she had, someone that does such stuff needs a haven I think to take a break and retreat for a while.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/99478813/memorials-held-for-kiwi-journalist-yasmine-ryan-after-her-death-in-turkey
A GiveALittle page set up by Jacinta Forde, who works at the University of Waikato with Ryan’s father Tom, said he had “left on the first plane to Turkey last night to bring her back home to New Zealand”.
So far more than $11,000 has been raised.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952232
https://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/12/04/tribute-to-a-nz-media-mentor-how-yasmine-ryan-taught-me-how-to-write/
Incidentally there has been a memorial day started for journalists who lose their lives while doing their job – it is November 19 each year.
The sad thing is, we have jobs that need filling but society and private businesses don’t want to pay for.
Our infrastructure needs updating, our hospitals need nurses, nurse aids and other carers, same for our elderly homes, our berms need mowing, our streets need cleaning etc etc etc..
We have a severe lack of tradies of all sorts. Instead of throwing out incentives for Businesses to hire apprentices – and pay them a little – we are again putting the blame on unemployed for not finding a job in a society that refuses to hire, train and pay an honest day wage for an honest day of work.
Yeah, let Shane Jones pass judgment on people who are at the lowest step of our society for not finding a job in this ‘rock star’ economy of ours.
+++repost+++
URGENT ATTENTION ALL ANTI-TPPA ACTIVISTS
By Prof Jane Kelsey
“We discovered less than a week ago that MFAT is hosting ‘consultations’ around the country, with David Parker, this week on the TPPA-11. It appeared to be a last-minute decision to do something before Xmas, and somehow they forgot to send invitations to critics who have attended previous ‘consultations’. Presumably the business sector was given priority notice. There is no information on the MFAT website, but we know at least about these:
Dunedin: Monday 4 December, 5:15pm – 7:15pm, Otago Southland Employers Association, 16 McBride Street, South Dunedin: Register now
Auckland: Tuesday 5 December, 6.00 to 7.30pm, Europe House, Auckland University of Technology, 56 Wakefield Street – Register now
Tauranga: Wednesday 6 December, 8:45am – 10:45am: Smart Business Centre, Bay Central Shopping Centre, 65 Chapel Street Register now
Hamilton: Thursday 7 December, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, PWC Building, Level 4, 109 Ward Street Register now
The obvious reaction is WTF? There’s no urgency to do this, as the ministers are apparently not now going to meet during the Buenos Aires WTO ministerial on 10-13 December. That suggests the government has been running focus groups or polling which tells them that people are not buying their spin on the old/new TPPA-11 (please let’s NOT call it the CPTPP). Or that they still hope to get a deal they can settle the remaining four issues and sign in February or March. Consulting now would mean the government could do this, claiming it has consulted, and not try to rush something over January which would create more of an outcry. Then they will have the proper ‘consultation’, when it’s too late to do anything.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/04/urgent-attention-all-anti-tppa-activists/
No wonder business leaders see themselves as messiahs and critics like Kelsey as pariahs… and now the new govt is feeding the same bullshit. Great news everyone. Business as usual but with a smile and an empathetic nod and donation.
Thanks savenz, ; so they are holding secret meetings to get their support to rush the TPP11 (or whatever it’s called for now) WTF @#$%^&*()_
Bloody irresponsible of them to go behind our backs when they said & promised after comming back from Veitnam, they would take time to get the public input!!!!!!!
No No No they lied there!!!!
So start the ball rollimg, we need some finger pointing here now starting with David Parker. Shit they just had the water tax thing blow up in their faces and still are rushing to sign the blooody thing.@#$%^&*(()
Never trust politicians we learned that today here.
sign of the times…
Pollution stops play at Delhi Test match as bowlers struggle to breathe
Sri Lanka say conditions in smog-hit Indian capital left players vomiting, and some of them took to field wearing face masks….
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/03/pollution-stops-play-at-delhi-test-match-as-bowlers-struggle-to-breathe
Good to see that the 33 pages of a “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development” and “directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”. (according to the depuity PM)
or “notes” according to the PM
has been seen by the Ombudsman and he has written to Jacinda. A response is due in 5 days.
No idea what he said of course – but if he recommends it being released – its going to be a very bad look not to do so.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952737
Not a moment for coy embarrassment from Ardern doing a little defensive dance on semantics.
It can’t be part of the “full and frank” exclusions because they weren’t Ministers yet.
Get it out there.
So James the Natz will or have? released their negotiation notes?
They do need to – its pretty obvious that they are not ministers.
I’d like to see those Nat notes; they’d show how ethical and honest the Party may or may not be. It’d be a great thing if they released their notes, you know, in the spirit of transparency and honesty. National are both of those things, aren’t they? Shouldn’t they show the people of New Zealand just how straight is the bat they play with? Hmmmmm?
How about you write to the Ombudsman and ask him?
He will give a reply and advise – exactly the same as he did to Labour.
I’m confident if they were told to release they would – cannot say the same about Jacinda.
‘Cause National are such honest folk, James? Wouldn’t “forget, misremember, accidentally erase, refuse to speak etc, etc, etc?
You’re right, of course, honest as the day is long, Key’s crew! And Bill! Taken up John’s torch! Protected Toddy the way Key protected him – that’s National; for you – Team All NZ Black (Inc), bro!
As I remember, Billshit when asked if he would release such documents refused to do so because of a confidentiality agreement that applied to all parties negotiating. Strangely enough, Double Dipper Billshit now seems to have forgotten about that confidentiality.
James (14) … and I take it National will also release its negotiation details with Winston Peters/NZF. You know, good enough for one, good enough for the other, even more so if the complaint has come from National.
Why? National isn’t in government, those notes aren’t worth jack.
On the other hand, the NZFirst/Labour notes are because they are in government and what’s in them should be known to the NZ public as they will no doubt be on the receiving end of whatever arrangments are within these notes.
“National isn’t in government
Nor were Labour/greens either while negotiating.
You do realise that this is an awful look for the government and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
For a government that proclaimed they are going to be the most transparent government ever this is just bullshit and undermines their credibility terribly.
Thing is the media won’t let this go, they smell something dodgy and will keep digging away until they get what they want.
Best to release it even if it is embarrassing.
Nope.
They are notes!!!
So where are the NATZ note?
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
There fixed it BM
You say they are notes – But Winston peters calls them “directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”
Who do you think knows best?
Ok lets call them writing on paper!!
So where are the NATZ notes?
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
There fixed it BM
Sorry about double up.
Everything smells dodgy to the media, ‘cept John Key; even his manure smelled of roses, apparently!
tl;dr: David Farrar is so full of shit it’s overflowed into BM.
Official Information Act S9(2)g:
cf: what Boshier says about ‘provocative’ advice.
Thats not the argument that is being made.
I am!!
BM (14.3.1) …
Ah but the Natz were government during the negotiations with Winston Peters weren’t they? So as such, they have some responsibility for releasing their negotiations with NZF. Don’t you think?
In the interests of transparent government of course.
Actually, they’re worth the same as the coalition agreement between NZ1st and Labour and for the same reason.
We should know just what National were offering and why NZ1st said no.
BM “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” 1/ So what do you think?
2/ Is it o/k for James to say that National who want the 33 pages weren’t ministers?
“They do need to – its pretty obvious that they are not ministers.”
Doesn’t make any bloody sense!!!! Take your mate James off the drugs.
again – you seem to be confused.
You know that National do not have to – as they are not ministers you see. The whole good for one is good for the other dosnt work – the government have a whole lot of things that they have to abide my that opposition does not.
Of course that may also be the view of the Ombudsman regarding Labour – time will tell.
BUT if it says they are to be released – Will Jacinda? – or will she go against him.
Official Information Act S9(2)g as cited above. Boshier expands on this in his 9-noon interview.
Indeed. He may recommend that they are released – he may not.
time will tell. But if he does recommend that they are released – its not going to look good for labour if they refuse.
Whereas if he says they shouldn’t be released you will say it’s a bad look for the government.
no. If he says that they should not be released – I will agree that Jacinda was right and that they should not be.
What she actually said is:
Which ties in with what Boshier says about ‘provocative’ advice and ‘blue sky’ discussions: once an idea becomes a policy commitment and then legislation, that is the appropriate time for public scrutiny and comment.
Ans Winston said of the same ‘notes’ that it was a: “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development”
with
“directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”
But I guess its all moot – we just have to wait and see what happens.
But if he says it should be released – do you think that Jacinda should do so?
wrong again James,
Ombudsman cant order anything James only advise. Not a bidding order he has no legal powers silly man.
Labour should do what national always did!! just ignore his ‘advice.’
he was a National stool pigeon anyway.
he will say they should be released, so igniore the advice, & say ‘thanks but no thanks’ just as National always did. Done.
I love how you correct me for something I didn’t say. I never said he could order them.
You sill making shit up person you. I can only assume in your hurry to be clever – you just had to make shit up.
As for your second lie about National always ignoring it – he states in the link already provided “It’s very rare that my decision is not complied with.”
So I guess it’s all made up.
But hey if he says release it and if labour don’t – then they will deserve the pasting they will get.
Personally how rabid some on here are about it – I reckon you guys are scared about what’s in it.
They were ministers at the time that the negotiations happened.
Good point – perhaps you could make your own questions to get them released?
This would apply to National as well, James?
” Winston said of the same ‘notes’ that it was a: “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development”
with
“directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”
My argument would be the same as would my answer.
If they are told to release them – then they should do so.
I can see why that’s hard for you to understand
No james you are without the smarts here.
Ombudsman decision is not binding silly fella.
They told us that the ombudsman is only offered as adviose not binding see the difference here.
Remember national saying “we dont always agree with the………….”
We have our own views.
Labour should say the same thing as this was only a fucking fishing experdition to stymie Labour so they should ignore the national; playing games .
Did you forget to take Matty H’s instructions today @James?.
I think the RNZ still has a podcast up.
It was Matty H that pointed out (as DtB has above) that Bling and Choice were actually government Ministers at the time of negotiations (and leading them), and as such there is more of an onus on them (if not an equal one) to produce their ‘minutes’
In your view.
And I said – if thats the case – they could make a complaint and see what the Ombudsman says about that.
If they are told to release them – then they should do so.
Can you say the same about Labour in this instance?
again, – I think a lot are scared about what is in these “notes”
What about from 2008, 2011 and 2014?
Those docs must not be too flattering given even Hooten is saying the new Govt should not need to release what is effectively a political negotiating document not a public interest one… strange bedfellows on this one.
If pre agreement negotiations are to be released as public interest, the TPP negotiation discussiondocuments must be due soon too?
Good point Tracey,
But like I said we used an Ombudsman in a case and he awarded in our case but the government said they didnt agree with the ombudsmans views and ignored his advise and the ombudsman wrote and said his rulinng is not binding it is only advisory.
Same thinf with Commissioners like the Parliamentary commissioer for the Environment, he ruled in our case but the government ignored his ruling too.
This is national playing games just to spook us and dont take the bait.
When will Bill English release the text messages he sent to Glenys Dickson around the Todd Barclay “debarcle” and those he received from her? Not presenting them for scrutiny is a very bad look, don’t you think, James?
Or the TPP negotiation notes and briefings… they must be released too?
Hi Robert
While you are looking at TS perhaps you would let me know if you ever got a copy of the Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig that was talked about earlier this year? It is a great story, a turn-around on the status quo, by Eugene Trivizas, and inspiring to read to one’s grandkids. I’m interested if you managed to get hold of it.
Hi greywarshark -= thanks for the reminder. I just read it online and enjoyed it for sure. I was reminded of the story of Ferdinand the Bull – do you know it? Flowers feature there too, and peacefulness 🙂 This link is to the 1938 Disney version which is very good, imo.
Dang I forgot everything is on line. Will have to go out and smell the flowers.
As this is such an important issue to you, the transparency of government formation agreements and prior negotiations, can you post a link to the previous 3 coalition notes of negotiations involving the Nats and their coalition parties. I have looked and cannot find them anywhere. Thank you in advance.
Cue cries of “Yeah but Labour promised transparency! It’s the hypocrisy I’m wringing my hands and concern-trolling you over…”
Ah but Key also promised greater transparency and honest than the Clark government… there is a recording on youtube of his interview in 2008 with Henry. he probably was lying though, which, apparently, is ok.
Hey, no-one ever accused right-wing trolls of having integrity…
tracey
I believe that your comment in 14.5 above is directed at James who began this thread at 14. Is that correct?
Yes, apologies for confusion
Just Water CEO Tony Falkenstein says job hunters failing to show.
“We just cannot get people to even turn up for jobs, let alone apply,” he said.
I understand his feelings. Can he understand the feelings of people who put their heart and soul into applying for job, dream of getting it and how it will change their life then not even hear back from the employer when their application is unsuccessful in their application?
I didn’t hear the interview with Leighton Smith. Since it was with Smith I wouldn’t be surprised if the tenor was one of “lazy a’hole unemployed.” And would be surprised there was any “lazy, unprofessional, a’hole employers.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11952703
Smith is retiring this month. A woman will take is place. Forgotten her name.
Unfortunately Leighton Smith is not retiring until the end of next year (2018) not this year/month. Kerre McIvor will be taking over from him in 2019 under current plans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11952746
Well, the swimming pool ain’t getting any deeper.
Hosking.
A rent a gob for fascist interests.
This is fucking awful. The death toll from the October truck bombings in Mogadishu has topped 500, with dozens of people still missing.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/02/567985077/mogadishu-truck-bombs-death-toll-now-tops-500-probe-committee-says?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
God that is awful. You wonder what possesses people to do these things sometimes. I know life in Somalia is no garden of eden existence – and brutality is almost everywhere – but even so.
I don’t think they are possessed but rather they’re lacking something …
We need to ignore all the side issues like Ombudsman crap, and the bulllshit press stuff.
We need to concentrate on our task to assist labour to make the right desisions here, and now we need to tell them to rush their good policies for us through under urgency.
We need to strongly tell labour we are not interested in their TPP 11 (or whatever it is called for now) – and tell them not sign that abortion right now until we all agree to the terms that benefit us and our rights first.
@The Chairman and @JC – because today’s open mike can so easily become yesterday’s fish and chip wrapper,
the conversation begun yesterday from here https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03-12-2017/#comment-1421812, down,
and with reference to the latest Newsroom/Stuff effort:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99530117/immigrants-like-slaves-under-broken-system
And even that is a mere tickle to an itchy scratch on the surface.
As you said @JC yesterday: INZ need a rocket.
I’m holding my breathe because I’m hoping Iain Lees-Galloway is up to it.
So far I think he is, and I’m hoping he’s aware of the potential for his ‘officials’ to spin and bullshit like never before – and that some of them have become so used to it, they’ll do it straight-faced.
Why Society’s Biggest Freeloaders Are at the Top
‘This piece is about one of the biggest taboos of our times. About a truth that is seldom acknowledged, and yet – on reflection – cannot be denied. The truth that we are living in an inverse welfare state.
These days, politicians from the left to the right assume that most wealth is created at the top. By the visionaries, by the job creators, and by the people who have “made it”. By the go-getters oozing talent and entrepreneurialism that are helping to advance the whole world…..’
http://evonomics.com/no-wealth-isnt-created-top-devoured-rutger-bregman/