Whoah, Jude that was one hell of a tanty you threw yesterday, and guess what Lady, its’ not the media’s fault Williamson lost his job, it’s Williamsons’ fault he lost his job.
Thanks Phillip … and do you think Oravida is derived to mean Golden Life, or Life of Gold ?
And in the same interview with Sabin, Collins was so avariciously callow in dismissing any concerns about the swamp kauri pillage in Northland as her husband’s company stores $50 million worth until price increases further .. Crusher is crashing, and it can’t come soon enough.
Talk of people looking like each other, the reporter at the center of ‘Crusher’s’ latest piece of verbal ugliness bares an uncanny resemblance to the Mana Parties Sue Bradford…
What I found ironic about Collins’ interview last night – apart from her bizarre behaviour – was that she was being interviewed by Brook Sabin (son of National MP Mike Sabin) and puts the boot into another offspring of a former MP.
Ironic is the wrong word, but cannot think of the right one.
Thanks for the education this morning vv – I had been wondering about the Sabins as well!
Yes, well ironic alright. Her rage must be so blind that she will lash out at anyone including the son of her comrade so to speak, or maybe she see’s the son’s challenge of her a betrayal of code. Who knows. She certainly has let the Ban- Shidhe out from under the hills though.
“age weathers us all” thanks phillip, love it. i have seen people from my past after not seeing them since their teens/early 20s & i think ‘jaysus, they got old!”, then i look in the mirror and & laugh at myself for being a bit of a dick.
Yes, it’s high time people knew that animal testing is more about profit than safety. There’s also no excuse to use to use household cleaners, make up and skin care that has been tested on animals when there is an excellent selection of such products on the market, all very good quality and many of them made in NZ.
re JB’s Camelot restaurants……yes i think they specialised in steak and chip wedges and had things like shrimp cocktail entrees…also I remember they had folksy stained glass lampshades hung low over the tables
rats are very nice intelligent creatures…and sensitive…we used to have pet rats kept in a cage in the laundry …when they died of old age i really missed them…they had a psychic presence which lingered….the kids used to keep rats in their pockets….my Mother used to keep another grandson’s pet rat in her kitchen too…although i rather drew the line at that
Being a cynic, my take is that Key has had some polling done and now finds that he cannot stick with his original comment that rats OK; rabbits and dogs, not OK.
The interview with John Banks on Morning Report was priceless! Much as I cannot stand the man as a politician, I know through personal experience that Banks has been longterm dedicated advocate for animal rights. But his take on Key’s backdown in this interview had me rolling on the floor laughing. “He looked deep into Moonbeam’s eyes ….”
Phillip,
goes to show that Cunliffe/Labour called it right in terms of their position on the issue. And yes it is a good opportunity to extend the debate.
Labour has made a number of good calls lately on policy and political positions.
Steven Joyce is hiding the figures on how much money he is funnelling to his mates through his department.
The NBR has been chasing it and so far all the department has said is that it paid out $231 million total in 2012/13 and another $97 million in 2013/14. MBIE is refusing to say how much is forecast or how the decisions are made.
“The data on MBIE handouts excludes the nearly $400 million Mr Joyce’s New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) will hand out in corporate welfare in John Key’s first three terms, and the $140 million a year handed out by the government’s Callaghan Innovation agency. There is also at least $50 million a year spent subsidising the tourism industry’s international marketing. God knows how much the Ministry of Primary Industries hands out to the farming sector. This all adds up to billions.” See http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/joyce-blocks-answers-corporate-welfare-bd-155317
Bad12 always refers to our PM as “Slippery the prime minister”.
If ever Bad needed confirmation of that description I suggest he listen to the Morning Report interview with Guyon Espiner.
Mumble,mumble,obfuscation,change the suject,etc. It was all there. Slippery even went to the extreme of declaring that Judith Collins ‘is a human being’ !
In my book, Collins is facing a stiff dose of “chickens coming home to roost”. She has been one of the Nacts most vicious bullies especially when she was in Opposition. Now under pressure she, like all bullies, is folding.
And a further item is currently on air with an interview with Grant Robertson on the further MFAT emails that have now been released on Collins’ “Oravita Tour”. It gets more and more clear that this was not just a cup of tea on the way to the airport.
From that interview – and earlier short mentions on Morning Report – the emails released by MFAT are providing a lot more indepth details of the discussions on the ‘private dinner’ prior to it taking place that indicate that it was anything but a private dinner with friends and friends of friends.
vv, I wonder if it’s going to be one of those weeks where one reaches for the popcorn.
Several weeks ago on the regular Thursday morning Radio Active interview with Grant Robertson and Alistair Thompson, Robertson said there was more to be uncovered in the Collins – Oravida affair and he really has kept up the pressure on her since then. Alistair Thompson’s view was it a case if when, not if, in regard to Collins resigning. (My words not his, I’m paraphrasing and condensing the message).
It certainly has got the feeling of a ‘popcorn’ week. Fingers crossed etc etc. Despite the grey Wellington day, I am feeling more positive on the political front than for months – hence the myriad of comments this morning! PG’s return had put me off coming here, but decided not to allow him to achieve that and just ignore him.
Must google that Radio Live Interview. My instincts tell me that the Oravida affair has a lot more legs – and that appears to be the case this morning/
I understand the PG reaction, but glad that you can rise above it – it’s the best way. I have to admit that when Greywarbler suggested to move my Open Mike domestic violence comment on to Stephanie Rodgers article on Saturday I did plan to and then saw it was a PG maelstrom so chose not to.
That interview btw, was on Radio Active and they don’t have their interviews available to listen to on line. they broadcast on line as well as on 88.6FM but that’s it.
I should imagine this Thursday should be a very interesting discussion. They are usually on between 8.15am and 8.45am and the interview lasts up to 20 minutes. Just bear in mind it won’t be a RNZ format type interview. The facilitator is a DJ first and foremost (and an excellent one)
“She has been one of the Nacts most vicious bullies ….” Yes Wyndham. Hard to feel sympathy to a White Hawk Down, given the spite that she was pleased to dish when she was “up.”
Thanks Drax and Warbs for your replies over the weekend to my comment about neighbours not calling 111 as Sarwen Lata was being murdered, on 25th November last year and apologies for the late response. (You’d be surprised at how busy the unemployed can be).
You both made suggestions as to why folks might be disinclined to help a neighbour in crisis. I thought they were good points. It also made me think of the contrast in neighbourhood behaviour in a suburb where a friend lives. Everyone knows everyone and despite the area being a higher crime area, crimes are solved quickly as neighbours keep their eyes and ears open to activities in the street.
Then this morning there was this article in the Dom Post which encourages migrant women to seek help but doesn’t discuss the importance of neighbours, and indeed family, friends and workmates keeping an eye on a potential victim of domestic violence. No woman should feel she is alone when she is feeling so unsafe.
It’s going to be hard to top Todd Barclay in this week’s edition of “Dodgy Nat Candidate Watch” but new to the list is Brett Hudson, who was selected for Ohariu, last week. Here he is displaying the stunning ignorance that only a Nat can:
““National is working hard and delivering real progress for New Zealand families,” said Mr Hudson.”
This could actually be the lefts answer to the citizens of Epsoms cynical election of ACT…..vote the seat to National to keep United Fuckwit out…..splendid.
Yep, there is at least one commenter here at the Standard that has said She/he will be campaigning in the Epsom electorate to get the National Party candidate elected,
My bones wont allow me the luxury of letterbox stuffing otherwise i would print up a pile of ‘electorate vote Hudson for Ohariu’ pamphlets for that electorate,
Neither Epsom or Ohariu are likely to favor a Labour candidate so some reverse tactics are probably the best means of ensuring National do not win in September…
Nat electorate vote in Epsom I understand bad, but Ohariu? And who would do that organising work to promote a vote for Hudson? Would it not be better to focus on the party that came closest last time?
Hudson btw, a previous sales rep for Oracle. (actually they call them “ambassadors” now, lol) I know a guy who worked for that company and in the same role. Was on about 200K. This Hudson dude wouldn’t have a clue about what happens in the real world, all those guys in that industry are running in a status race, the house, the cars, the troty wives etc. Never has there been a truer stereotype.
Rosie, whilst I don’t disagree that Oracle sales people are overpaid and would probably not have a clue about real people, but there is another story here.
In my company nothing moves unless somebody sells something. No sales means no delivering, lots of “expertise” in downtime mode costing a fortune. Everybody is valuable and some of that “expertise” due to supply and demand, restrictive practices etc get paid much more than the humble sales person. Yet the sales person is expected to keep the cash coming in, gets pressured, and has no job security unless that happens.
To me (much to pretty much everybody else s disgust) sales people are the Gods of commerce. Nasty, materialistic collectors of flash cars and trophy wives maybe. But as they don’t get thanked greatly, for doing the hardest job they take the cash instead, (and I suspect vote National to rub it in).
Hi Ennui. I should declare that I have spent many years working as a sales rep previously, although my salary was $40K, not 200K, I should add!
I do understand the vital role they play in keeping the company not only afloat but profitable. And yes indeed it is a thankless role and one that can tear the rep in two directions between customer and boss, if there isn’t enough support coming from above.
I was being rather caustic about Brett Hudson but I do know his type and I don’t trust them one bit. I’ve no problem with people making money and lots of it. My problem is either how they obtain it, or how they display it, or how they use it as a power lever.
That-person-I -know, he falls into the latter two categories. What is kind of annoying too, is the fact that he’s not particularly talented or intelligent in the realm of real life and social interaction (he’s shallow, dour and lacks a sense of humour) but he can sell, that’s where his skill lies.
I’m sure he’ll know Hudson as they would have worked in the same office around about the same time (although I do need to check time lines) The funny thing is, this-person-I know once showed me photo’s of his colleagues property that he had for sale (excessively large and full of poor taste items) and accused him of the same, being shallow, whilst we sat there in his McMansion.
Rosie, nice observations, you speak from experience. When you get to the cogs of commerce it is all rather basic and boring….I don’t know how anybody can study it, glorify it etc as anything other than transactions and dollars. The business pages drive me to distraction, economists seem to know nothing of what really goes on….all so dull. I hope you are enjoying better whatever you do today.
“I hope you are enjoying better whatever you do today.”
I really am laughing, as I am currently unemployed! I have gone for a couple of sales reppy type interviews but I felt myself glaze over as soon as they started with the corporate speak and knew my heart wasn’t in it. I can’t really bear flogging stuff any more. Also, pay and conditions have reduced for reps as a reflection of the retail market being so tight now. Many companies have removed a portion of the mileage allowance and I refuse to subsidise company costs by covering their fuel costs.
All I’ve really wanted to do is to be able to help others and what little formal education I have in this area, a community studies cert and a health psychology diploma isn’t even adequate for entry level work in the fields I’m interested in.
What I am enjoying doing with my “spare time” is helping out where I can with political activities here in Ohariu and looking after the abundance of wild ducks that hang around at my house.
Being the plant he is he doesn’t sound like he has any intention of seeking the electorate vote and said he would pursue the party vote.
I do recall your suggestion and reasoning for a push for a Nat electorate vote but I think Charles Chauvel lost out by just approx 1800 ish votes last time so perhaps if enough hard work is done, Virginia Anderson can win it??? I’m feeling so cautiously confident of this that I’d be willing to put a 50 cent bet on it! (it would be more but I can’t afford it lol)
Did you see that surprisingly good editorial from the right wing Romanos in the Wellingtonian last week? It was beaut. A hole proof argument for the resignation of Dunne. If the heat on Dunne keeps up it may be an easier job to unseat him than we’d expect.
Yes Rosie, Charles Chauval lost by 1646 electorate votes in 2011, that was as a high profile Labour Party politician, in fact Pathetic Dunne’s majority went up by 640 votes from the 2008 result where Chauval came within 1006 votes of Dunne,
National’s Katrina Shanks actually made those numbers look good for Chauval in those two elections and i doubt the relatively unknown Labour candidate will have the same amount of success as Charles Chauval did,
From the Party Votes recorded it is easy to see that National Party supporters are fully conversant with ‘tactical voting’ splitting their party votes off to National while electorate voting for Dunne,
my view is that the only slight chance for the Labour candidate to have any chance is to ensure,(if possible), that Hudson the National Party candidate gets a higher amount of the electorate vote,
Whichever way i look at the Ohariu electorate that will be the decisive factor, in a large part of the electorate it may be easier to convince the ‘blue rinsers’ to vote National than to go against everything the ‘silver spoon’ they have supped from since birth has ingrained in them and vote Labour,
A high turnout of the Electorate vote for both National and Labour may well see us rid of Dunne, a high turnout of the electorate vote for Labour alone tho i doubt will create enough of a swing to unseat him…
Thanks bad, that a helpful analysis. Yes, I had a look at the voting patterns for 08 and 11 a while ago and saw that the voters of Ohariu, like Epsom sure do know how to use MMP to suit their purposes.
From Memory Shanks came a fairly poor third the last two times, so I can see how it would be ideal if those blue rinsers you speak of gave their vote to the sales rep and weaken Dunnes chances. Maybe this will happen naturally as Dunne becomes increasingly less popular in the electorate, purely for conservative moral reasons rather than political.
Stephanie Rodgers said something once here on TS about being involved in the Labour campaign for Ohariu. Maybe she would like to offer her thoughts, I’m sure they would be welcome.
I am indeed involved in the Ohariu campaign – but it’s a complex topic! Virginia Andersen is a great candidate for Ohariu and I know we’re all working hard to win the electorate vote. No one expected National to field a particularly strong candidate for the obvious reasons. And a lot has happened for Peter Dunne since 2011.
Hi Stephanie and thanks. I bet it is a complex topic! And I’m assuming you may not be able to show the party’s hand, too much.
Although I didn’t meet Virginia Anderson I did listen to what she had to say at a recent meeting PPO hosted in J’Ville to discuss the Employment Relations Amendment Act. She comes across as very intelligent, sharp and strong. I am impressed by her.
Great to hear the campaign team has the wind in their sails – we’ll have you all to thank if we do it, if we turn this electorate red! Hey, what a party that would be, unseating Dunne after 30 years!
Lobbying for a Tobacco company doesn’t necessarily mean you are attempting to encourage smoking. It is also not illegal. Frankly this smacks of the sort of witch hunting that used to be happen around membership of the Communist party in people’s youth. Just as I think it is ridiculous to focus on that I think it is ridiculous to castigate a potential candidate based on who he preciously worked for.
BTW the linked to article and associated graphic doesn’t makes the point you are suggesting it does or at least not in a clear an unequivical manner.
I think it is a matter of the National party members of the electorate to decide whether he is a suitable candidate or not. It then becomes a matter for the voters of the electorate to decide if they think he is a suitable MP. Some left wing person on a blog has little influence over this.
you said that promoting the business of phillip morris didnt mean he was encouraging smoking, dont change it to occupations dont preclude people from being mps.
Take the example of the Prostitutes Collective. Someone working for this organisation does not mean they necessarily encourage the use of prostitutes or at least that more people should use one. There is a lot of issues you can advocate for without expanding the take up of what you advocate on.
More to the point, why are you accusing Barclay of not contributing to his corporate employer’s bottom line? Are you saying that he was a fraud in the job or just lazy?
I have no idea if he did or didn’t. I don’t particularly like many organisations but I don’t condemn people based on the fact people may have once worked for them. I understand that people are employed to do a job not to agree with the ideas or views expressed by the organisation they are part of.
So you believe that Barclay probably had no moral qualms about accepting big tobacco money? I wonder what the principled burghers of Clutha Southland are going to make of a National Party who gave them such a poorly suited candidate.
This is obviously a golden opportunity then for a candidate of a left leaning party to win in Clutha Southland at the upcoming election. Do you want to have a wager on whether this will happen?
Well, National should pull the tobacco lobbyist from their candidate list, and give the people of Clutha Southland a serious choice, a candidate who knows about the issues of the electorate and understands farming, instead of sliding in a Big Tobacco lobbyist who is wholly unsuitable.
I’d suggest this is up to the National party and the members of the Clutha Southland electorate and not a hard core leftist like yourself to decide. Nice to see you so concerned about who should represent right leaning people. I myself would like left leaning people being represented by morons. Luckily for me that seems to be the case more often than not 😉
no-one said otherwise – so again your inventing a point that was never mentioned in order to distract and derail
we are all entitled to say and discuss what ever we feel like (unless your some jack boot statist of course – are you?) – and the eyebrows raised about that particular appt was as much about his age, connections to certain party members, overall work and life experience and the fact that the revolving door relationship between politics and industry lobbyists is usually considered a less than desirable situation – regardless of left or right
it was never exclusively about phillip morris in and of itself
either you know this and are playing your usual bullshit or your shooting your mouth off without knowing the issue
one makes you a bit of a pain in the ass – the other makes you look like an idiot
Lobbying for a tobacco company, given the outcomes for those who take up the dreaded weed, gives an indication that the person is unable to link personal actions to community and social responsibility.
As a potential government representative for all demographics, who all need to have a long-term view of policy effects this is an “experience” that indicates a severe skill deficiency.
Cannabis has the potential to cause the same sort of physical harm as Tobacco AND additional harm via long term psychological damage (especially when taken frequently at a young age). Don’y try and act like Cannabis is some life preserving wonder drug. We are not all as stupid as you might be.
Why do you think Barclay accepted a job with a Big Tobacco corporate? After all, Philip Morris’ products have caused millions of deaths worldwide over the last 50 or more years. Do you think Barclay considered that before he started accepting money from Philip Morris?
The same could be argued for any number of companies from Pharmaceutical distributors through to Confectionary manufacturers. Yes Tobacco is harmful to you but so is Homeopathy if you use it instead of proper medicine. I don’t think that should rule out people from becoming an MP if they worked as a Homeopath or in the industry just as i don’t think working as a lobbyist for a tobacco company carrying out their business in a legal manner should rule you out from public office.
So did Barclay experience moral doubts about accepting Big Tobacco corporate cash, or do you think that he was paid enough by Philip Morris that he found that he could ignore any minor moral qualms that he may have had?
Tobacco distribution is not illegal in this country. Therefore Mr Barclay has done nothing wrong working for a company involved in this sector. You might not like it but I suspect you won’t be involved in deciding if he is elected to parliament.
Tobacco distribution is not illegal in this country. Therefore Mr Barclay has done nothing wrong working for a company involved in this sector.
No, he has merely avoided doing anything illegal.
Although it’s revealing that you should confuse the two. Especially if we remember that, legally speaking, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Which means that (in your worldview) if one can get away with murder one has done nothing wrong…
Only in your perverted view of the world. Someone can get away with murder if they think they are acting in self defence though so in essence you do raise an interesting, if irrelevant, point. What this has to do with Mr Barclay’s previous job is unclear though.
You said it was not illegal therefore it is not wrong.
Murder is illegal, but proving it is another matter.
And murderers are innocent until proven guilty under the law.
Someone can get away with murder if they think they are acting in self defence though
You’re an idiot. If it’s self defense, it’s not murder. According to the law, anyway (cf: s160 and s48 of the same Act).
The point I’m getting at is that your definition of “wrong” rests solely on legality. It’s almost as if you have no internal set of ethical principles which guide your actions, legal or otherwise. I.e. completely amoral.
“The effects of cannabis on health have not been studied anywhere near as much as those of tobacco smoking. However, a review has concluded that the airways of cannabis smokers have changes that indicate cancer risk , for example, “chronic inflammatory” and “pre-cancerous changes”.
This review also found one well-designed study that suggested that cannabis smoking caused cancer in the upper airways of young adults, and that the risk was highest in the most frequent users.”
Therefore there is evidence that it does have the potential to cause the same sort of physical harm as smoking Tobacco. You may disagree the risk is as high or that the evidence is not compelling but there is no doubt evidence.
What you are stating is you disagree with the conclusion of that review. That is fine. You don’t have to believe it. Just as some people don’t agree with lots of scientific conclusions. You can’t deny that there is some evidence linking the use of Cannabis and increased risk of cancer though. It exists.
Phil said what I would’ve if I’d returned earlier.
Marijuana normalisation is advocated mostly by those who will not benefit from changing the legislation, using studies to back up their claims.
Tobacco lobbyists are highly paid liars who do benefit from continued use and whose employers suppressed for many years scientific studies that showed devastating and ongoing harm from the use of their products.
Also, ignore the fact that nicotine was added specifically to make it addictive thereby ensuring the continuation of use for the whole of their customer’s shortened life.
I’d suggest this is based purely on your own personal prejudices and not on any evidence supporting the view that everyone who works as a lobbyist for a Tobacco company is a liar. If you can provide evidence that Mr Barclay knowingly lied during his time working for the Tobacco company in question though you will have won the argument. Have you such evidence?
The focus on the discussion is what excatly? Is it that Tobacco use is bad for you and society generally and therefore anyone who has worked for a company involved in that sector is bad and therefore is not fit for public office? As I pointed out that is a ridiculous position to hold.
Barclay lobbied on behalf of Big Tobacco, against the Government’s “attempts” to restrict the harmful effects of smoking on New Zealanders. Now, he plans to join the Government on the other side of the argument. Comfortable about that, are you? It doesn’t have to be illegal to be wrong. Remember “legal highs/synthetic cannabis”?
There are other ways of measuring right and wrong. Barclay chose to side with the pedlars of nicotine and now he wants to govern us. His background will worry many people, especially those who have lost family members to the various cancers cigarette smoking causes.
Do you have evidence of what his current views on Tobacco usage are and that he will be pushing the Tobacco company point of view forward if he becomes an MP?
We know he supported the actions of Philip Morris – unless of course, he was dishonest with them and they paid him under false pretences. If he didn’t support their kaupapa, he’s a hypocrite – not the sort of person you’d want representing you in Parliament. If he did side with the tobacco pedlars, he was actively working against the best interests of new Zealanders – not the sort of person you’d want representing you in Parliament.
Not the sort of person you’d want to represent you in parliament – Are you a resident of the Cluth Southland electorate then?
By the way, even assuming he was a big supporter of increased tobacco usage (there doesn’t seem to be any evidence supporting this though) he can change his mind. I believe a number of politicians may have had radically different views when younger. Phil Goff springs to mind.
I’ve lived in Southland for 28 years. The Southlanders I’ve spoken with on this issue are disgusted that the National Party have served up this tobacco lobbyist. None will vote for him.
edit: Different views when he was younger!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
!
He resigned from Philip Morris last week!
It’s always been said that a fence-post would win Clutha/Southland for National (been proved true too). Your comment/wager has no bearing on the quality of the tobacco lobbyist/candidate or his ethical standards, which are being described around here as non-existent.
‘So not enough people in the Clutha Southland electorate care enough about the issue to vote for an alternative candidate then. Case closed.’
Not enough people care about the issue?
Nonsense statement from Gosman. The election has not taken place yet, so you can’t know.
The ‘case’ is far from closed.
Case wide open and looking less than secure for what might have been an easy-win for a candidate who hadn’t recently quit a job in an industry that most people regard as odious. Let’s remember, it’s “most people”, not you, Gosman, who will decide whether Barclay is suitable for representing Southlanders in parliament. I’m hearing a lot of, “Hell no!”
Tobacco lobbyists in order to sell their product by necessity are “economical with the truth” ( admittedly my definition of a liar, perhaps not yours ) or they are a really ineffective lobbyist, one who would be fired fairly quickly.
He did not mention that he was a bad lobbyist – so I am also assuming he was fairly competent in the role.
But you are right Gosman – just because I don’t have a transcript of all his commercial utterings I cannot prove that he lied (even by my definition) in any specific incident.
Just as I cannot prove that any baker has put active yeast into all his bread products – but if he didn’t, his failure would be fairly noticeable.
Or it could be that Johnny No-Mates has given up on trying to get Colin Craig into Auckland and has told the Conservatives to have a scout around the churches in Clutha to see if there’s a potential candidate down there. After all, if Todd the Toddler loses the seat it will be no great loss to the Nats as long as they get a Conservative in his place…
I’ve managed to locate the words to National’s “Party” song.
It was heard being sung at the end of their recent conference while they were eating Hors d’oeuvres and clinking champagne flutes. Feel free to join in.
It goes like this………eeeerm….eeeerm.
It’s time to play the music
It’s time to light the lights
It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight.
It’s time to put on makeup
It’s time to dress up right
It’s time to raise the curtain on the Muppet Show tonight.
Why do we always come here
I guess we’ll never know
It’s like a kind of torture
To have to watch the show
Chorus
And now let’s get things started
Why don’t you get things started
It’s time to get things started
On the most sensational Aspirational celebrational Muppetational
This is what we call the Muppet Show!
Instrumental Break
[MC]To introduce our guest star
That’s what I’m here to do
So it really makes me happy
To introduce to you (drum roll)
Shonnnnnnnn Keyyyyyyyyy!!!
Chorus
And now let’s get things started
Why don’t you get things started
It’s time to get things started
On the most sensational Aspirational celebrational Muppetational
This is what we call the Muppet Show!
That is a bit of a head-scratcher isn’t it, Hooton talking of David Shearer as the leader of the Labour Party,
Perhaps this is a re-print of something wee Matty previously wrote, a little trumpet blow in Hooton’s direction to show how clever Matty is at seeing the future,
What will drive more than a few out of ‘rental investments’ is the Labour plan to plug the loophole where such ‘investors’ get to right off any losses incurred on the property against other taxable income,
i don’t know the numbers of people who piled into ‘rental investments’ based upon the taxes on ‘other income’ they could write off against the properties but the numbers i would suggest are high and the closing of this tax loophole will force more than a few to divest themselves of rental properties…
Thanks for replying Matthew, I think you would agree it is very sloppy presentation of information. Especially for a publication of the NBR’s stature. Would you be so kind as to mention this to your editors?
You could imagine the kerfuffle if PG tried to use it to establish a fact. He is bound to try to establish a fact one day, and I would hate for something like a publishing date to trip him up.
“You could imagine the kerfuffle if PG tried to use it to establish a fact. He is bound to try to establish a fact one day, and I would hate for something like a publishing date to trip him up.”
John Armstrong has emerged from the shadows…. “But Key’s reference to the length of the conversations has to be regarded as another way of him saying he canvassed various options with respect to her immediate future as a minister.
For Key not to have offered Collins some much-needed respite from the intense scrutiny that she has been under for weeks would have been neglectful of not just National’s interests, but of Collins’ as well.
Clearly Collins is very much in the wrong place mentally right now. That is plainly evident after she lashed out at TVNZ’s Katie Bradford yesterday, only to to subsequently issue a public apology to the political reporter.
Key this morning described Collins’ outburst at the press gallery journalist as being “completely inappropriate”. He added that Collins would be “very careful going forward”.
The trouble is every time Collins moves one step forward, her reputation takes five steps back. Rather than endeavouring to close down the whole farrago prompted by her highly-questionable dealings with the milk exporting company Oravida, Collins says or does something to further inflame matters……” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11249704
The real problem is that Slippery Key moves the goalposts after she gaffes.
Firstly he says she’s on her last warning then when she fucks up he says the warning was for a different topic! Opening the door for a “three strikes” wet bus ticket for all of his ministers every time there’s a screw up screwing up.
Perhaps what we are seeing is a cathartic civil war in the National Party.
Joyce, with all the gifts of MBIE to help him win support among business backers of National, is getting aid from McCully (fast OIA responses) and others to weaken Collins.
Collins, with the gift of self-belief and popularity among grass-root Nats, is willing to risk all, including the election, to gain control.
Labour should leave them space on the front pages!
Groser has helped trip up Collins also. The short wee mon is very traditional and would NOT cope with having a woman, Collins, as his boss. He is definitely in the Joyce Camp now.
The short wee mon will also be getting it in the ear from Fonterra. Fonterra will also have been chatting with John Key and Bill English.
Imagine how Fonterra are feeling: Collins goes into bat for another trader who wants to make hay in China from Fonterra’s botulism crises! Fonterra spent a few $100m opening the market and Oravida wanted to sneak in via the back door!
Collins has pissed off Fonterra, the biggest lobbyist in Parliament.
Therefore Collins has pissed off Federated Farmer, the second biggest lobbyist in Parliament.
If those two go public with their annoyance every Fonterra shareholding farmer will see Collins as a TRAITOR.
She is so close to going. Key must be afraid of how she will behave if she is fired.
If the Mongrel Mob activities are legal then there is nothing wrong with belonging to them. It is only when people carry out illegal activities under the Mongrel mob banner that belonging to them becomes an issue.
That also makes you culpable in terms of being a citizen of one of those governments.
Do you claim that culpability or do you acknowledge that personal control of those organisations to which we all belong plays a part in our guilt by association?
I don’t think one automatically leads on to the other. For example in war a nation can carry out some dreadful actions like the fire bombings of Dresden and Tokyo or the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That does not mean all citizens of the nations making up the Allies in the war are culpable for these decisions or that the war itself is suspect because of them.
Gosman, do you believe the 23 year old, Todd Barclay, who has only ever worked in Government Minister’s offices and lobbied for a tobacco firm has enough life experience to be an MP where his job is to represent the full cross-section of the electorate?
He is not looking at becoming a list MP but an electorate one. It is not for me to decide if he is suitable or not as I don’t live in his electorate. If the people of his electorate decide to vote for him who am I to quibble about his supposed lack of experience.
I don’t think freedom was asking you to decide Barclay’s political fate (you can’t, as you point out) but, instead, was inviting you to express what you believe about his life experience in relation to the tasks of an electorate MP.
The beauty of democracy is we leave it up to the voters to decide the suitability or otherwise of a candidate. As for if I would vote for him. I don’t know a lot about him or his opponents. He does seem a little on the young and inexperienced side but that does not necessarily preclude you from being a good electorate MP. Certainly the fact he worked as a lobbyist for a Tobacco company doesn’t rule him out as far as I am concerned.
The beauty of democracy is we leave it up to the voters to decide the suitability or otherwise of a candidate.
So you believe that the principled burghers of Clutha Southland should have been given a choice of decent National Party candidates, instead of having a tobacco industry lobbyist served to them from Wellington on a blue platter?
Is the way Mr Barclay is being selected as a candidate outside National party rules on candidate selection? If the answer to that is no then what is the problem here again? If the National party voters in the electorate don’t like the candidate they are free to vote for a candidate of another party. This seems to me to be a perfect opportunity for other candidates to take advantage of. Assuming of course the majority of voters in the electorate care enough about the issue. Do you think they will vote for another candidate?
I’d like to see who else in the National Party put their hand up for the job of candidate for Clutha Southland; you can bet there would be a few amongst them who would make our inexperienced tobacco lobbyist look properly shallow in comparison.
It’s not that I care so much (and I actually do know a lot of voters who live in the Clutha Southland), it’s that I am amazed that you care so little about the appalling Big Tobacco choice of candidate that National HQ has served up on a plate to that electorate.
I have not said a word about voting Gosman. I was clearly pointing to the candidate selection process. I just find it funny when supposedly intelligent people defend a candidate selection system where the members’ views are deemed irrelevant and yet these same people are somehow represented, by submitting to an arbitrary decision by their Party leaders that they, the members, had no input into.
Good thing I gave up trying to understand National voters a long time ago, even the ones I love. Some might say you should never fully understand your friends, or your family, it takes away all the mystery.
National is by far and away the most successful political party in NZ since the end of the second world war. You might not understand their internal processes or why people support them but you can’t deny that it seems to work for them. I am sure they don’t give two hoots what a bunch of largely hard core leftists think of them.
“I don’t think one automatically leads on to the other.”14.1.1.1.1 “It is only when people carry out illegal activities under the Mongrel mob banner that belonging to them becomes an issue.14.1
A bit of a contradiction there. But I do agree with your statement at 14.1.1.1.1 because fundamentally, regardless of whether you are a member or not, – your personal input or control of the decisions made by that organisation – make up a large part of whether you are responsible for those decisions or not. Mongrel Mob member, MP or democratic citizen.
Unfortunately, some of these organisations are set up to look like you have equal power to another but in actuality do not deliver.
Gosman – for some reason I can’t reply to your comment above regarding National’s electoral success in the post-world war 2 era? You are, strictly speaking, right though much of that success comes from exploiting the FPP gerrymander. In the MMP era National and Labour so far have 3 terms each.
Morally I think selling Homeopathy or most other types of CAM products/remedies is reprehensible. Does that mean people involved with this sector should be denied the opportunity of becoming an MP?
first home owners in auckland, based on neither owner having bought a home before or held a mortgage before, are paying $200 a week more than counterparts outside auckland.
but they dont get $200 a week more from similar jobs to counterparts.
This is what you get for having more than 30% of the country’s population squashed into less than 0.3% of the country’s land area.
As an added benefit, it depopulates and economically degrades all the other regions of the country. You would have thought given these facts that just a little teensy bit of central planning might be in order to even things out a bit, but no, every political party seems determined to make Auckland even bigger and denser than it is now.
Despite badgering me for weeks whilst I was on sick leave, and on three occasions questioning the veracity of my Doctor’s certificates, after my disciplinary hearing on Monday, at 5.58 pm on Friday, I finally got confirmation through I was sacked.
Not surprised at the outcome, but still gutted none the less. Cancelled my wff payments so I don’t get overpaid, booked up my ‘working for me seminar’ at winz, and ready to do what I can to get back in to work.
I don’t know what options I have, other than full hearing and more costs I can’t pay or walk away and take the hit, but I’ll decide after consultation with the brief later today. It appears a pervy old man can’t buy my silence, but can buy protection for his reputation.
That also makes you culpable in terms of being a citizen of one of those governments.
Do you claim that culpability or do you acknowledge that personal control of those organisations to which we all belong plays a part in our guilt by association?
Really sorry to hear of the outcome for you The AIlen. Good luck for your post consultation decision making on what to do next and all the best for your next move.
It really is disheartening how dodgy employers get away it, again and again. I’ve seen it happen so many times to others and have been the victim of dodgy bosses twice in a row – its so wrong that your experience is not uncommon.
Hope you find something nice to treat yourself to today.
+1. I was trying to find the right words of support for you, the Al1en; but Rosie has said it much better. I am thinking of you, as I am sure many others here are. I have been through similar but the fact that others have been down the same road does not make it any easier at the time. But you will get through. It has been obvious to me reading your posts on this issue. Kia Kaha. Keep us up to date.
Take the high road Al1en, it has better views and it’s always best to avoid the hassle of stumbling over messed up riverbeds. As you say, there does not appear to be any rewards in battling further. Do remember though, you can now freely offer advice to people as to whether they should use that particular business or not. There are lots of legal ways to adjust someone’s business reputation. I am not a spiteful person but have certainly had the unquestioning generosity of my youth sorely tested these past few years.
Look after yourself, and when jumping the WINZ hoops, breath deep and let the pointless busywork ahead be a positive challenge. There is a job out there. I keep getting told there is. Problem seems to be WINZ are talking to us all about the same job 😉
Mediation costs nothing and there is absolutely no reason to be represented by a lawyer. If you choose to be represented by a lawyer, then they can claim costs as a part of any confidential settlement.
I didn’t get a call back from my guy, so haven’t heard his considered opinion yet, but hope to tomorrow. The worst thing about the outcome is knowing I didn’t really do anything wrong, got victimised and then assaulted, and have been dismissed on the ‘evidence’ of witnesses I know weren’t present at the time.
Realistically, without being Rumpole of the Bailey, I know I can’t rip the truth out from these people. I couldn’t even get my ex boss to speak during the kangaroo court. Two and a half hours and he said nothing, just stared in to any space except my eye line.
I am full of contempt for this tool, but still bound by confidentiality, so naming and shaming isn’t an option as yet. I do have the privacy commission to fall back on, which is free to apply to, so that will probably be my next move, but first to get that job.
Soon people will be so good at managing their finances benefits won’t be needed at all. If fact, I’m surprised Bennett isn’t saying something like “we really want to support people manage their money so well that there’s even some left over each week they can pay back to the government as a contribution to the benefit system overall.”
Bennett says the funding “will ensure the services are able to keep up with demand”. What she doesn’t say is that that demand is increasing because it’s compulsory when people apply to Work and Income for special needs grants and advances, which people need to apply for because main benefit levels are so ridiculously low. Bennett, this government and Labour have absolutely no idea.
Is Maurice Williamson really a ventriloquists dummy, i had that thought as Williamson was manhandled out of TV3’s ‘the Nation’ studio on the weekend, perhaps Maurice had just filled his incontinence pants and couldn’t bring Himself to perambulate after such a dramatic event,
Maurice having just had the silver spoon rudely ripped from His over privileged mouth should face further questioning over His story,
Claiming that it wasn’t Donghua Liu who asked Him for help after putting the bash on both wife and mother-in-law Williamson claimed that it was a member of the police force who gave Him the information that Liu was in trouble for the incident,
i don’t believe Williamson’s explanation for a moment, But, if he was being truthful the plod who shared this information with Him should face discipline for giving out such information…
Ah, bad, on reading the transcript, I don’t think that’s how it went down. The final bit of the interview, Williamson is explaining why he mentioned Liu’s business interests in NZ when talking on the phone to the police.
So could you clarify for me why you told the police that he was – why you thought it was necessary to tell the police that he had all that money?
I’ve had a think about the phone call and I think the way it came about, and of course it’s hard to remember back to January the exact wording, but what I think happened is the police officer speaking to me said the assault actually took place in the Boulevard Hotel, which this Mr Liu owns. And I said ‘yes that’s right he owns it’. And I said ‘he actually owns a big chunk of land around it as well’. He said ‘that’s right, but he owns the hotel where it occurred’. It wasn’t like ‘cause he’s so rich, don’t do anything’. But I wasn’t even asking whether they could do anything or not. I was asking ‘are you going to proceed?’
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
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Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
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For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
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There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
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Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
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Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
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Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
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Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
‘
Is Judith Collins Rob Muldoon’s love child?
I’m not sure, but I think she and Key share a top drawer as well as nasty friends and an uncanny likeness to the man.
The photo of Key in your link really shows him in a different light to most of his photos! Warts and all…
…and that ridiculous rug…
do you think hes been reading slater yesterday and today.
well..he did put it about a bit…
Whoah, Jude that was one hell of a tanty you threw yesterday, and guess what Lady, its’ not the media’s fault Williamson lost his job, it’s Williamsons’ fault he lost his job.
hey jude..!..don’t take it bad…
..take a milk-spill…and make it better..
..remember…to keep that rage-lid on tight..
..and will you now go dairy-free..?..go vegan..?
..to make it better ..better..better..oowww!!!!
..la-la-la-lalala-lah..la-la-lah…hey jude..!
..hey jude..!..don’t send that txt..!
..and stop threatening – to piss on the media..
..the only dirt – we want to see..
..is the name of that official…was it mr lee..?
..hey jude…yr in a hole..
..shouldn’t you really..stop digging..?
..we know …it’s getting under yr skin..
..but you deserve nothing better..
..sitting in yr oravida-sin-bin..
…i really doubt you’ll be able to make it all..
… better..better..better..etc..
A round of applause! Lol, and an earworm for the morning.
Thanks Phillip … and do you think Oravida is derived to mean Golden Life, or Life of Gold ?
And in the same interview with Sabin, Collins was so avariciously callow in dismissing any concerns about the swamp kauri pillage in Northland as her husband’s company stores $50 million worth until price increases further .. Crusher is crashing, and it can’t come soon enough.
@ yeshe..it means ‘gold of the collins’…
chrs 2 u rosie..yr ‘jude’ was the trigger…
another ‘song for judith’…?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AwXKJoKJz4
(something about ‘milkshakes’..?..’boys’..?..’yard’..?..)
or maybe kings of leon..?
..doing ‘milk’..?
..with its’ evocative (for judith) cry from the heart:
..’staayyy..for meeee..!’..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoQA2iyH8-Q
BLip….lol!…she does look a bit like him and he did play around a bit!
Talk of people looking like each other, the reporter at the center of ‘Crusher’s’ latest piece of verbal ugliness bares an uncanny resemblance to the Mana Parties Sue Bradford…
Sue’s daughter.
Oh is she? I thought she had a remarkable resemblance to Sue. Thanks for the info.
What I found ironic about Collins’ interview last night – apart from her bizarre behaviour – was that she was being interviewed by Brook Sabin (son of National MP Mike Sabin) and puts the boot into another offspring of a former MP.
Ironic is the wrong word, but cannot think of the right one.
Thanks for the education this morning vv – I had been wondering about the Sabins as well!
Yes, well ironic alright. Her rage must be so blind that she will lash out at anyone including the son of her comrade so to speak, or maybe she see’s the son’s challenge of her a betrayal of code. Who knows. She certainly has let the Ban- Shidhe out from under the hills though.
Seriously bad? Actually she is prettier than her mum.
Just testing to see who is wide awake this morning…
unnecessary comment, seriously, ianmac.
@ ianmac..
not if you saw/knew her mother at that age..
..age weathers us all..
..tho’ i do think my son has it much more together than me at his age..
..on/in most levels/areas..
..(but then again..that’s a low bar..)
“age weathers us all” thanks phillip, love it. i have seen people from my past after not seeing them since their teens/early 20s & i think ‘jaysus, they got old!”, then i look in the mirror and & laugh at myself for being a bit of a dick.
really ianmac???
Hate-child.
key has announced there will be no testing of legal-highs on animals..
..not rats..not rabbits..not dogs..
(..nice to see some traction on what has been an outlier-issue..)
..now we should really look at all the other unnecessary-testing on animals..
..animals tortured/killed to test fucken dishwashing-liquids/make-up etc..
..everyone is ‘relaxed’ about that..?
..and the reasons these torturing-scum don’t use the computer-modelling tests available to them..
..instead of these horrible torturings/killings of animals..
..is ‘cos of cost..
..it is cheaper to torture the animals instead…
..how fucken sick is that..?
Yes, it’s high time people knew that animal testing is more about profit than safety. There’s also no excuse to use to use household cleaners, make up and skin care that has been tested on animals when there is an excellent selection of such products on the market, all very good quality and many of them made in NZ.
+100 phillip and Rosie…and all in the name of ‘Science’
….and looks like John Banks has come up trumps on this one too….he is very very good on Morning Report
”Rats should be treated with dignity and respect”–Banks, sounds like another piece of self serving bullshit from the head rat Himself…
+1
its humans he doesnt give a rats arse about.
nah..!..i have been head of the queue to pour buckets of shit over banks..
..on numerous occaisons/for numerous reasons..
..but on this issue..
..him being the only one to actually vote against animal-testing..
..(instead of just mouthing against it..then doing a neck-injury-threatening volte-face..
..and actually voting for it..eh..?..)
..banks is the only one standing tall..
..everyone else voted to torture/kill animals..
..to test legal-highs..
..the record stands..
Didn’t JB he make his millions in the food and booze business?
dunno..i’m not according him sainthood..
..he still eats them…
..(and seems to have a wee bit of a blind spot there…
..no to testing..yum!-yum! to eating them..)
..you will find that many of those 40,000 who signed that no-testing on animals petition..
..also have that banks’-mote in their eyes..
and speak of the banks’-mote..
..russel norman is cooking dinner for john campbell..
..chicken..
..they no doubt tutt-tutted over animal testing..
..as they ate that chicken..
..eh..?
yes i think he had a chain of restaurants called Camelot…never saw any ratatouille on the menu though
@ chooky..
..heh..!
re JB’s Camelot restaurants……yes i think they specialised in steak and chip wedges and had things like shrimp cocktail entrees…also I remember they had folksy stained glass lampshades hung low over the tables
rats are very nice intelligent creatures…and sensitive…we used to have pet rats kept in a cage in the laundry …when they died of old age i really missed them…they had a psychic presence which lingered….the kids used to keep rats in their pockets….my Mother used to keep another grandson’s pet rat in her kitchen too…although i rather drew the line at that
Animal testing of cleaners and cosmetics is in the name of profit, not of science.
@ Murray Olsen
‘Science’ and ‘Profit’ are very much intertwined
…atomisation, dissection, reductionism, experimentation, objectification, materialism = Science and scientific method …ever since Francis Bacon
Very lucid, but how will that work when he is in court and his first words are “I don’t recall that”.
Being a cynic, my take is that Key has had some polling done and now finds that he cannot stick with his original comment that rats OK; rabbits and dogs, not OK.
The interview with John Banks on Morning Report was priceless! Much as I cannot stand the man as a politician, I know through personal experience that Banks has been longterm dedicated advocate for animal rights. But his take on Key’s backdown in this interview had me rolling on the floor laughing. “He looked deep into Moonbeam’s eyes ….”
Key’s MR interview on animal testing
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2594687/key-rules-out-using-animals-in-legal-high-safety-tests
The must hear Banks one
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2594698/no-animal-testing-for-herbal-highs
Oh I always thought the cat was called moonshine, but if Key ever did look at it or play with it I am sure it would open him up.
Phillip,
goes to show that Cunliffe/Labour called it right in terms of their position on the issue. And yes it is a good opportunity to extend the debate.
Labour has made a number of good calls lately on policy and political positions.
Steven Joyce is hiding the figures on how much money he is funnelling to his mates through his department.
The NBR has been chasing it and so far all the department has said is that it paid out $231 million total in 2012/13 and another $97 million in 2013/14. MBIE is refusing to say how much is forecast or how the decisions are made.
“The data on MBIE handouts excludes the nearly $400 million Mr Joyce’s New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) will hand out in corporate welfare in John Key’s first three terms, and the $140 million a year handed out by the government’s Callaghan Innovation agency. There is also at least $50 million a year spent subsidising the tourism industry’s international marketing. God knows how much the Ministry of Primary Industries hands out to the farming sector. This all adds up to billions.” See http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/joyce-blocks-answers-corporate-welfare-bd-155317
nice.
The story is by Hooton. Perhaps Collins has pointed him to some of the skeletons in Joyce’s cupboard. She is desperate to shift the focus.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/right-risks-revolting-dc-p-155645
Hooton says that the Collins and Williamson corruption stories put National’s lead in the polls at risk.
i hope no one is paying him to state the obvious
@ wynham..
..collins is threatening all and sundry..
..that she will go postal if she is fired..
..and that there will be few left standing..
..and key certainly won’t be amongst those still vertical..
Bad12 always refers to our PM as “Slippery the prime minister”.
If ever Bad needed confirmation of that description I suggest he listen to the Morning Report interview with Guyon Espiner.
Mumble,mumble,obfuscation,change the suject,etc. It was all there. Slippery even went to the extreme of declaring that Judith Collins ‘is a human being’ !
In my book, Collins is facing a stiff dose of “chickens coming home to roost”. She has been one of the Nacts most vicious bullies especially when she was in Opposition. Now under pressure she, like all bullies, is folding.
Here is the link to Espiner’s interview with Key
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2594684/pm-john-key-on-judith-collins
And this is Brent Edwards’ take on the interview and Collins
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2594685/collins-feeling-the-pressure
This earlier Morning Report item is also related and worth listening to.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2594677/judith-collins-faces-further-pressure.
And a further item is currently on air with an interview with Grant Robertson on the further MFAT emails that have now been released on Collins’ “Oravita Tour”. It gets more and more clear that this was not just a cup of tea on the way to the airport.
Thanks Veuto – – – my computer savvy is limited !
So is/was mine – but I am getting good at links!
Here is the interview with Grant Robertson on Morning Report I referred to above.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2594696/labour-says-collins-oravida-ties-too-close
From that interview – and earlier short mentions on Morning Report – the emails released by MFAT are providing a lot more indepth details of the discussions on the ‘private dinner’ prior to it taking place that indicate that it was anything but a private dinner with friends and friends of friends.
An old adage has just come to mind : “Follow The Money.”
No more needs to be said really.
+100 veutoviper …..Grant Robertson was superb on Morning Report…..GO Labour!
vv, I wonder if it’s going to be one of those weeks where one reaches for the popcorn.
Several weeks ago on the regular Thursday morning Radio Active interview with Grant Robertson and Alistair Thompson, Robertson said there was more to be uncovered in the Collins – Oravida affair and he really has kept up the pressure on her since then. Alistair Thompson’s view was it a case if when, not if, in regard to Collins resigning. (My words not his, I’m paraphrasing and condensing the message).
It certainly has got the feeling of a ‘popcorn’ week. Fingers crossed etc etc. Despite the grey Wellington day, I am feeling more positive on the political front than for months – hence the myriad of comments this morning! PG’s return had put me off coming here, but decided not to allow him to achieve that and just ignore him.
Must google that Radio Live Interview. My instincts tell me that the Oravida affair has a lot more legs – and that appears to be the case this morning/
I understand the PG reaction, but glad that you can rise above it – it’s the best way. I have to admit that when Greywarbler suggested to move my Open Mike domestic violence comment on to Stephanie Rodgers article on Saturday I did plan to and then saw it was a PG maelstrom so chose not to.
That interview btw, was on Radio Active and they don’t have their interviews available to listen to on line. they broadcast on line as well as on 88.6FM but that’s it.
I should imagine this Thursday should be a very interesting discussion. They are usually on between 8.15am and 8.45am and the interview lasts up to 20 minutes. Just bear in mind it won’t be a RNZ format type interview. The facilitator is a DJ first and foremost (and an excellent one)
Lolz, i need no such confirmation, Slippery was attached as a handle to the current Prime Minister around here even befor He assumed the position….
“She has been one of the Nacts most vicious bullies ….” Yes Wyndham. Hard to feel sympathy to a White Hawk Down, given the spite that she was pleased to dish when she was “up.”
Thanks Drax and Warbs for your replies over the weekend to my comment about neighbours not calling 111 as Sarwen Lata was being murdered, on 25th November last year and apologies for the late response. (You’d be surprised at how busy the unemployed can be).
You both made suggestions as to why folks might be disinclined to help a neighbour in crisis. I thought they were good points. It also made me think of the contrast in neighbourhood behaviour in a suburb where a friend lives. Everyone knows everyone and despite the area being a higher crime area, crimes are solved quickly as neighbours keep their eyes and ears open to activities in the street.
Then this morning there was this article in the Dom Post which encourages migrant women to seek help but doesn’t discuss the importance of neighbours, and indeed family, friends and workmates keeping an eye on a potential victim of domestic violence. No woman should feel she is alone when she is feeling so unsafe.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/10007821/Migrant-women-urged-to-seek-help-to-stay-safe
It’s going to be hard to top Todd Barclay in this week’s edition of “Dodgy Nat Candidate Watch” but new to the list is Brett Hudson, who was selected for Ohariu, last week. Here he is displaying the stunning ignorance that only a Nat can:
““National is working hard and delivering real progress for New Zealand families,” said Mr Hudson.”
From http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1405/S00003/national-selects-brett-hudson-as-ohariu-candidate.htm
I guess he’s “comfortable” with being Nat’s puppet for Ohariu
Lolz, rid Ohariu of ‘the Hairdo’ Pathetic Dunne and electorate vote Hudson to change the Government should be the message…
This could actually be the lefts answer to the citizens of Epsoms cynical election of ACT…..vote the seat to National to keep United Fuckwit out…..splendid.
Yep, there is at least one commenter here at the Standard that has said She/he will be campaigning in the Epsom electorate to get the National Party candidate elected,
My bones wont allow me the luxury of letterbox stuffing otherwise i would print up a pile of ‘electorate vote Hudson for Ohariu’ pamphlets for that electorate,
Neither Epsom or Ohariu are likely to favor a Labour candidate so some reverse tactics are probably the best means of ensuring National do not win in September…
Nat electorate vote in Epsom I understand bad, but Ohariu? And who would do that organising work to promote a vote for Hudson? Would it not be better to focus on the party that came closest last time?
Hudson btw, a previous sales rep for Oracle. (actually they call them “ambassadors” now, lol) I know a guy who worked for that company and in the same role. Was on about 200K. This Hudson dude wouldn’t have a clue about what happens in the real world, all those guys in that industry are running in a status race, the house, the cars, the troty wives etc. Never has there been a truer stereotype.
Rosie, whilst I don’t disagree that Oracle sales people are overpaid and would probably not have a clue about real people, but there is another story here.
In my company nothing moves unless somebody sells something. No sales means no delivering, lots of “expertise” in downtime mode costing a fortune. Everybody is valuable and some of that “expertise” due to supply and demand, restrictive practices etc get paid much more than the humble sales person. Yet the sales person is expected to keep the cash coming in, gets pressured, and has no job security unless that happens.
To me (much to pretty much everybody else s disgust) sales people are the Gods of commerce. Nasty, materialistic collectors of flash cars and trophy wives maybe. But as they don’t get thanked greatly, for doing the hardest job they take the cash instead, (and I suspect vote National to rub it in).
We live in a strange world!
Hi Ennui. I should declare that I have spent many years working as a sales rep previously, although my salary was $40K, not 200K, I should add!
I do understand the vital role they play in keeping the company not only afloat but profitable. And yes indeed it is a thankless role and one that can tear the rep in two directions between customer and boss, if there isn’t enough support coming from above.
I was being rather caustic about Brett Hudson but I do know his type and I don’t trust them one bit. I’ve no problem with people making money and lots of it. My problem is either how they obtain it, or how they display it, or how they use it as a power lever.
That-person-I -know, he falls into the latter two categories. What is kind of annoying too, is the fact that he’s not particularly talented or intelligent in the realm of real life and social interaction (he’s shallow, dour and lacks a sense of humour) but he can sell, that’s where his skill lies.
I’m sure he’ll know Hudson as they would have worked in the same office around about the same time (although I do need to check time lines) The funny thing is, this-person-I know once showed me photo’s of his colleagues property that he had for sale (excessively large and full of poor taste items) and accused him of the same, being shallow, whilst we sat there in his McMansion.
A strange world indeed.
Rosie, nice observations, you speak from experience. When you get to the cogs of commerce it is all rather basic and boring….I don’t know how anybody can study it, glorify it etc as anything other than transactions and dollars. The business pages drive me to distraction, economists seem to know nothing of what really goes on….all so dull. I hope you are enjoying better whatever you do today.
“I hope you are enjoying better whatever you do today.”
I really am laughing, as I am currently unemployed! I have gone for a couple of sales reppy type interviews but I felt myself glaze over as soon as they started with the corporate speak and knew my heart wasn’t in it. I can’t really bear flogging stuff any more. Also, pay and conditions have reduced for reps as a reflection of the retail market being so tight now. Many companies have removed a portion of the mileage allowance and I refuse to subsidise company costs by covering their fuel costs.
All I’ve really wanted to do is to be able to help others and what little formal education I have in this area, a community studies cert and a health psychology diploma isn’t even adequate for entry level work in the fields I’m interested in.
What I am enjoying doing with my “spare time” is helping out where I can with political activities here in Ohariu and looking after the abundance of wild ducks that hang around at my house.
I hope your chooks are well and happy.
Being the plant he is he doesn’t sound like he has any intention of seeking the electorate vote and said he would pursue the party vote.
I do recall your suggestion and reasoning for a push for a Nat electorate vote but I think Charles Chauvel lost out by just approx 1800 ish votes last time so perhaps if enough hard work is done, Virginia Anderson can win it??? I’m feeling so cautiously confident of this that I’d be willing to put a 50 cent bet on it! (it would be more but I can’t afford it lol)
Did you see that surprisingly good editorial from the right wing Romanos in the Wellingtonian last week? It was beaut. A hole proof argument for the resignation of Dunne. If the heat on Dunne keeps up it may be an easier job to unseat him than we’d expect.
Yes Rosie, Charles Chauval lost by 1646 electorate votes in 2011, that was as a high profile Labour Party politician, in fact Pathetic Dunne’s majority went up by 640 votes from the 2008 result where Chauval came within 1006 votes of Dunne,
National’s Katrina Shanks actually made those numbers look good for Chauval in those two elections and i doubt the relatively unknown Labour candidate will have the same amount of success as Charles Chauval did,
From the Party Votes recorded it is easy to see that National Party supporters are fully conversant with ‘tactical voting’ splitting their party votes off to National while electorate voting for Dunne,
my view is that the only slight chance for the Labour candidate to have any chance is to ensure,(if possible), that Hudson the National Party candidate gets a higher amount of the electorate vote,
Whichever way i look at the Ohariu electorate that will be the decisive factor, in a large part of the electorate it may be easier to convince the ‘blue rinsers’ to vote National than to go against everything the ‘silver spoon’ they have supped from since birth has ingrained in them and vote Labour,
A high turnout of the Electorate vote for both National and Labour may well see us rid of Dunne, a high turnout of the electorate vote for Labour alone tho i doubt will create enough of a swing to unseat him…
Thanks bad, that a helpful analysis. Yes, I had a look at the voting patterns for 08 and 11 a while ago and saw that the voters of Ohariu, like Epsom sure do know how to use MMP to suit their purposes.
From Memory Shanks came a fairly poor third the last two times, so I can see how it would be ideal if those blue rinsers you speak of gave their vote to the sales rep and weaken Dunnes chances. Maybe this will happen naturally as Dunne becomes increasingly less popular in the electorate, purely for conservative moral reasons rather than political.
Stephanie Rodgers said something once here on TS about being involved in the Labour campaign for Ohariu. Maybe she would like to offer her thoughts, I’m sure they would be welcome.
I am indeed involved in the Ohariu campaign – but it’s a complex topic! Virginia Andersen is a great candidate for Ohariu and I know we’re all working hard to win the electorate vote. No one expected National to field a particularly strong candidate for the obvious reasons. And a lot has happened for Peter Dunne since 2011.
Hi Stephanie and thanks. I bet it is a complex topic! And I’m assuming you may not be able to show the party’s hand, too much.
Although I didn’t meet Virginia Anderson I did listen to what she had to say at a recent meeting PPO hosted in J’Ville to discuss the Employment Relations Amendment Act. She comes across as very intelligent, sharp and strong. I am impressed by her.
Great to hear the campaign team has the wind in their sails – we’ll have you all to thank if we do it, if we turn this electorate red! Hey, what a party that would be, unseating Dunne after 30 years!
Well we could use all the help we can get – so if you know anyone who wants to lend a hand, they can sign up on the Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/virginia.andersen.ohariu
Speaking of the young tobacco lobbyist, have you seen this yet?
http://porcupinefarm.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/suck-on-this-suckers.html
Lol. Brilliant.
What is your point?
I think the point is the lad saying he doesn’t encourage smoking, while lobbying for Phillip Morris.
Lobbying for a Tobacco company doesn’t necessarily mean you are attempting to encourage smoking. It is also not illegal. Frankly this smacks of the sort of witch hunting that used to be happen around membership of the Communist party in people’s youth. Just as I think it is ridiculous to focus on that I think it is ridiculous to castigate a potential candidate based on who he preciously worked for.
BTW the linked to article and associated graphic doesn’t makes the point you are suggesting it does or at least not in a clear an unequivical manner.
are you ms collins chief political advisor?
“Lobbying for a Tobacco company doesn’t necessarily mean you are attempting to encourage smoking.”
HA HA HA – good one gossamer
” I think it is ridiculous to castigate a potential candidate based on who he preciously worked for.”
then you havent been paying attention at all have you – who he worked for is but one facet of the argument of why hes not fit for selection
I think it is a matter of the National party members of the electorate to decide whether he is a suitable candidate or not. It then becomes a matter for the voters of the electorate to decide if they think he is a suitable MP. Some left wing person on a blog has little influence over this.
you said that promoting the business of phillip morris didnt mean he was encouraging smoking, dont change it to occupations dont preclude people from being mps.
two seperate issues.
Take the example of the Prostitutes Collective. Someone working for this organisation does not mean they necessarily encourage the use of prostitutes or at least that more people should use one. There is a lot of issues you can advocate for without expanding the take up of what you advocate on.
Sophistry in extremis
More to the point, why are you accusing Barclay of not contributing to his corporate employer’s bottom line? Are you saying that he was a fraud in the job or just lazy?
Are you stating lobbying on behalf of the Prostitutes collective means you are encouraging the use of Prostitutes?
I have no idea of the work Mr Barclay did for the company. Do you?
Do you believe that young Barclay esq. felt any moral twangs about accepting tens of thousands of dollars from big Tobacco corporate Philip Morris?
Or do you believe that he slept easy the whole time, which is why he is such a good fit for the National Party?
I have no idea if he did or didn’t. I don’t particularly like many organisations but I don’t condemn people based on the fact people may have once worked for them. I understand that people are employed to do a job not to agree with the ideas or views expressed by the organisation they are part of.
So you believe that Barclay probably had no moral qualms about accepting big tobacco money? I wonder what the principled burghers of Clutha Southland are going to make of a National Party who gave them such a poorly suited candidate.
This is obviously a golden opportunity then for a candidate of a left leaning party to win in Clutha Southland at the upcoming election. Do you want to have a wager on whether this will happen?
christ your an idiot gossamer
“Are you stating lobbying on behalf of the Prostitutes collective means you are encouraging the use of Prostitutes?”
well when the prostitutes collective starts selling prostitutes then your can compare them to phillip morris
the prostitutes collective advocates for their members – phillip morris sells t-backy
What is it that the members of the Prostitutes collective sell? I’d suggest advocating on their behalf is giving tacit support to what they do.
Well, National should pull the tobacco lobbyist from their candidate list, and give the people of Clutha Southland a serious choice, a candidate who knows about the issues of the electorate and understands farming, instead of sliding in a Big Tobacco lobbyist who is wholly unsuitable.
I’d suggest this is up to the National party and the members of the Clutha Southland electorate and not a hard core leftist like yourself to decide. Nice to see you so concerned about who should represent right leaning people. I myself would like left leaning people being represented by morons. Luckily for me that seems to be the case more often than not 😉
sheesh gossy..!..
..just going on yr pot-prohibition-‘views’ in this thread..
..you get the ‘moron’-gong today..
..eh..? (insert-smiley..)
Well I think we should give Gosman the benefit of the doubt.
After all he’s here advocating on behalf of the National Party – when clearly he doesn’t actually believe in a thing they stand for.
No.
The difference is like that between a lawyer and a fence. Your tobacco lobbyest is more like the latter.
But then a person who’s cool with prostitution is doing nothing wrong, as well as nothing illegal.
I don’t think you understand what the Prostitutes Collective does, Gosman.
no-one said otherwise – so again your inventing a point that was never mentioned in order to distract and derail
we are all entitled to say and discuss what ever we feel like (unless your some jack boot statist of course – are you?) – and the eyebrows raised about that particular appt was as much about his age, connections to certain party members, overall work and life experience and the fact that the revolving door relationship between politics and industry lobbyists is usually considered a less than desirable situation – regardless of left or right
it was never exclusively about phillip morris in and of itself
either you know this and are playing your usual bullshit or your shooting your mouth off without knowing the issue
one makes you a bit of a pain in the ass – the other makes you look like an idiot
Lobbying for a tobacco company, given the outcomes for those who take up the dreaded weed, gives an indication that the person is unable to link personal actions to community and social responsibility.
As a potential government representative for all demographics, who all need to have a long-term view of policy effects this is an “experience” that indicates a severe skill deficiency.
Really? So people who advocate for Marijuana normalisation would be in a similar boat in your mind I presume.
slight difference there gossy..
..tobacco kills..
..in many cases..cannabis heals/helps…
Cannabis has the potential to cause the same sort of physical harm as Tobacco AND additional harm via long term psychological damage (especially when taken frequently at a young age). Don’y try and act like Cannabis is some life preserving wonder drug. We are not all as stupid as you might be.
Why do you think Barclay accepted a job with a Big Tobacco corporate? After all, Philip Morris’ products have caused millions of deaths worldwide over the last 50 or more years. Do you think Barclay considered that before he started accepting money from Philip Morris?
The same could be argued for any number of companies from Pharmaceutical distributors through to Confectionary manufacturers. Yes Tobacco is harmful to you but so is Homeopathy if you use it instead of proper medicine. I don’t think that should rule out people from becoming an MP if they worked as a Homeopath or in the industry just as i don’t think working as a lobbyist for a tobacco company carrying out their business in a legal manner should rule you out from public office.
So did Barclay experience moral doubts about accepting Big Tobacco corporate cash, or do you think that he was paid enough by Philip Morris that he found that he could ignore any minor moral qualms that he may have had?
Tobacco distribution is not illegal in this country. Therefore Mr Barclay has done nothing wrong working for a company involved in this sector. You might not like it but I suspect you won’t be involved in deciding if he is elected to parliament.
No, he has merely avoided doing anything illegal.
Although it’s revealing that you should confuse the two. Especially if we remember that, legally speaking, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Which means that (in your worldview) if one can get away with murder one has done nothing wrong…
Only in your perverted view of the world. Someone can get away with murder if they think they are acting in self defence though so in essence you do raise an interesting, if irrelevant, point. What this has to do with Mr Barclay’s previous job is unclear though.
You said it was not illegal therefore it is not wrong.
Murder is illegal, but proving it is another matter.
And murderers are innocent until proven guilty under the law.
You’re an idiot. If it’s self defense, it’s not murder. According to the law, anyway (cf: s160 and s48 of the same Act).
The point I’m getting at is that your definition of “wrong” rests solely on legality. It’s almost as if you have no internal set of ethical principles which guide your actions, legal or otherwise. I.e. completely amoral.
could you plse give some evidence/links of cannabis causing cancer…?
..and yr ‘ long term psychological damage’..?
here is mine..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=medicinal+marijuana+
(..and here is an excerpt from one..)
“..“..Any day now – Alabama – which was ranked the most conservative state in the country by Gallup last year –
will become the first state in the South to legalize a type of medicine derived from marijuana.
When “Carly’s Law” or Senate Bill 174 – arrived in the state House of Representatives at 2 a.m. on March 21-
politicians on both sides of the aisle reportedly stood up and began chanting for the bill to pass.
The measure – which received unanimous support in both chambers –
will fund a $1 million study at the University of Alabama –
on the effectiveness of cannabidiol in treating seizure disorders.
But the “Heart of Dixie” isn’t the only Southern state opening up to the possibility that cannabis may have medicinal value.
Here are some others fighting to pull back the veil on medical weed:..”
(‘carly’ is a young girl who used to suffer hundreds of seizures a year..
..and no conventional medicines worked to ease that..
..but cannabis oil does..)
..and i see you never went to a waste-station during yr absence..
..you’re still full of waste-material..eh..?)
http://www.cancernz.org.nz/assets/files/smokefree-resources/IS_TC_Cannabis&Cancer_9Sept2010.pdf
“The effects of cannabis on health have not been studied anywhere near as much as those of tobacco smoking. However, a review has concluded that the airways of cannabis smokers have changes that indicate cancer risk , for example, “chronic inflammatory” and “pre-cancerous changes”.
This review also found one well-designed study that suggested that cannabis smoking caused cancer in the upper airways of young adults, and that the risk was highest in the most frequent users.”
Therefore there is evidence that it does have the potential to cause the same sort of physical harm as smoking Tobacco. You may disagree the risk is as high or that the evidence is not compelling but there is no doubt evidence.
correction..those ‘hundreds of seizures every year’..
..should read ‘every day’…
gosman..yr bullshit claims are blown away by the fact that we now have a great many people who have smoked a lot of cannabis for a long time..
..but there is no blip in lung cancers etc..from these people..
..the same with yr ‘psychological-harm’..rubbish..
..pot makes you schitzo! has long been the prohibitionist-claim/lie the likes of you peddle..
..yet once again..the facts/stats blow that one away too..
..’cos as with those decades of heavy cannabis use not showing cancer-outcomes..in those users..
..the ‘schitzo’-levels in the population are about the same now..
..as they were before the wholesale uptake of cannabis in the 60’s..
..you really are just blowing hot-air..aren’t you..?
What you are stating is you disagree with the conclusion of that review. That is fine. You don’t have to believe it. Just as some people don’t agree with lots of scientific conclusions. You can’t deny that there is some evidence linking the use of Cannabis and increased risk of cancer though. It exists.
Phil said what I would’ve if I’d returned earlier.
Marijuana normalisation is advocated mostly by those who will not benefit from changing the legislation, using studies to back up their claims.
Tobacco lobbyists are highly paid liars who do benefit from continued use and whose employers suppressed for many years scientific studies that showed devastating and ongoing harm from the use of their products.
Also, ignore the fact that nicotine was added specifically to make it addictive thereby ensuring the continuation of use for the whole of their customer’s shortened life.
Are you able to distinguish differences or do you need a return to basics?
I’d suggest this is based purely on your own personal prejudices and not on any evidence supporting the view that everyone who works as a lobbyist for a Tobacco company is a liar. If you can provide evidence that Mr Barclay knowingly lied during his time working for the Tobacco company in question though you will have won the argument. Have you such evidence?
notice how your avoiding the substance of all discussion with you in order to focus on hair splitting?
The focus on the discussion is what excatly? Is it that Tobacco use is bad for you and society generally and therefore anyone who has worked for a company involved in that sector is bad and therefore is not fit for public office? As I pointed out that is a ridiculous position to hold.
what’s to lie about..?
..he’s/they’re just peddling death..
..they are in a dirty/death-peddling-addiction-industry..
..surely you aren’t denying that fact..?
..heroin dealers don’t need to lie either..
..their product does all the talking for them…
..it’s that captive-addict-audience they both service..
..and there..the addiction is all..
There is evidence that pure Heroin is not that physically harmful to you. It is the adulturated substance that causes problems.
i agree it is the adulterants that fuck junkies up..
..if they were able to register as heroin addicts..and get pure-product..
..the harm-minimisation results would be significant..
.this is what switzerland does..
..heroin addicts pick up one dose on the way to work..
..and another on the way home..
..criminals aren’t in the picture..
..and of course there is no crime needed to be committed by those addicts to feed a blackmarket-addiction..
..the purity-thesis is also confirmed by doctors who get hooked on their product..ie pure morphine..whatever..
..yes..they get the addiction..
..but they don’t suffer the physical-wasting junkies relying on blackmarket-supplies do..
..but we are a long way from any such outbreak of sanity here..
..where/when the most conservative southern states in america are unanimously passing such a law..for pot..
..and yet here we can’t even get fucken medical-marijuana over the line..
..let alone sane policies around other drugs/addiction-issues..
..our political leaders are both clowns..and fools..
..’scared’ little people..
yet we have this harmful/legal-high crap coming out our ears..
..and the most harmful drug of all..alcohol..
..normalised/peddled in ads on television..
..aarrgghh!!
..the lunatics have taken over the asylum..
..and of course..some of the most strident opponents to ending cannabis prohibition..
..are those who ‘own’ dung…the booze-pushers..
..they well know that decriminalised-cannabis will see a major move away from their dangerous/addictive ‘product’..
..it’s all about ‘preserving-market’ for them..eh..?
..and ‘their men’ dung/key etc..
..as always..when seeking the/any real story..
..follow the money..
Barclay lobbied on behalf of Big Tobacco, against the Government’s “attempts” to restrict the harmful effects of smoking on New Zealanders. Now, he plans to join the Government on the other side of the argument. Comfortable about that, are you? It doesn’t have to be illegal to be wrong. Remember “legal highs/synthetic cannabis”?
There are other ways of measuring right and wrong. Barclay chose to side with the pedlars of nicotine and now he wants to govern us. His background will worry many people, especially those who have lost family members to the various cancers cigarette smoking causes.
Do you have evidence of what his current views on Tobacco usage are and that he will be pushing the Tobacco company point of view forward if he becomes an MP?
We know he supported the actions of Philip Morris – unless of course, he was dishonest with them and they paid him under false pretences. If he didn’t support their kaupapa, he’s a hypocrite – not the sort of person you’d want representing you in Parliament. If he did side with the tobacco pedlars, he was actively working against the best interests of new Zealanders – not the sort of person you’d want representing you in Parliament.
Not the sort of person you’d want to represent you in parliament – Are you a resident of the Cluth Southland electorate then?
By the way, even assuming he was a big supporter of increased tobacco usage (there doesn’t seem to be any evidence supporting this though) he can change his mind. I believe a number of politicians may have had radically different views when younger. Phil Goff springs to mind.
I’ve lived in Southland for 28 years. The Southlanders I’ve spoken with on this issue are disgusted that the National Party have served up this tobacco lobbyist. None will vote for him.
edit: Different views when he was younger!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
!
He resigned from Philip Morris last week!
Younger!
Pathetic.
Excellent. Care to wager that National will lose the electorate then?
It’s always been said that a fence-post would win Clutha/Southland for National (been proved true too). Your comment/wager has no bearing on the quality of the tobacco lobbyist/candidate or his ethical standards, which are being described around here as non-existent.
So not enough people in the Clutha Southland electorate care enough about the issue to vote for an alternative candidate then. Case closed.
‘So not enough people in the Clutha Southland electorate care enough about the issue to vote for an alternative candidate then. Case closed.’
Not enough people care about the issue?
Nonsense statement from Gosman. The election has not taken place yet, so you can’t know.
The ‘case’ is far from closed.
Case wide open and looking less than secure for what might have been an easy-win for a candidate who hadn’t recently quit a job in an industry that most people regard as odious. Let’s remember, it’s “most people”, not you, Gosman, who will decide whether Barclay is suitable for representing Southlanders in parliament. I’m hearing a lot of, “Hell no!”
Then have the wager with me. I’ll even give you odds of 2 to 1.
what is it about tories and gambling?
Is your opinion worthless unless it gets you money?
Tobacco lobbyists in order to sell their product by necessity are “economical with the truth” ( admittedly my definition of a liar, perhaps not yours ) or they are a really ineffective lobbyist, one who would be fired fairly quickly.
He did not mention that he was a bad lobbyist – so I am also assuming he was fairly competent in the role.
But you are right Gosman – just because I don’t have a transcript of all his commercial utterings I cannot prove that he lied (even by my definition) in any specific incident.
Just as I cannot prove that any baker has put active yeast into all his bread products – but if he didn’t, his failure would be fairly noticeable.
Not likely – just 9 months in the role, he’d probably only learnt where the toilets were and what home time was.
For a new graduate a corporate affairs role takes 2-3 years to get any basic competence at, and that’s with proper mentoring.
Are you the only right winger on duty today?
What’s your view on the Collins debacle?
he’s just been bottling it up for a while. Normal destructive service will be resumed shortly 🙂
She should have resigned when this first came out. End of story.
She should only resign if it came out?
There’s that moral vacuum again.
Thought you guys had gone to ground…..
they are recovering from the national party conference this weekend. i suspect some of them have no memory of the weekend.
hehehe
and you know he sums up a few nat ministers right now,
“its just a job”
… ethics dont come into it.
Or it could be that Johnny No-Mates has given up on trying to get Colin Craig into Auckland and has told the Conservatives to have a scout around the churches in Clutha to see if there’s a potential candidate down there. After all, if Todd the Toddler loses the seat it will be no great loss to the Nats as long as they get a Conservative in his place…
I’ve managed to locate the words to National’s “Party” song.
It was heard being sung at the end of their recent conference while they were eating Hors d’oeuvres and clinking champagne flutes. Feel free to join in.
It goes like this………eeeerm….eeeerm.
It’s time to play the music
It’s time to light the lights
It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight.
It’s time to put on makeup
It’s time to dress up right
It’s time to raise the curtain on the Muppet Show tonight.
Why do we always come here
I guess we’ll never know
It’s like a kind of torture
To have to watch the show
Chorus
And now let’s get things started
Why don’t you get things started
It’s time to get things started
On the most sensational Aspirational celebrational Muppetational
This is what we call the Muppet Show!
Instrumental Break
[MC]To introduce our guest star
That’s what I’m here to do
So it really makes me happy
To introduce to you (drum roll)
Shonnnnnnnn Keyyyyyyyyy!!!
Chorus
And now let’s get things started
Why don’t you get things started
It’s time to get things started
On the most sensational Aspirational celebrational Muppetational
This is what we call the Muppet Show!
Love it!
lol
Bit of help?
This page has a clear date stamp of today… but all the comments are apparently from a year ago ???
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/wr-opening-salvo-dump-rental-properties-now-lf-133603
Is the article itself a year old, in which case where is the correct publication date NBR?
Or is NBR just being really green and recycling comments ?
That is a bit of a head-scratcher isn’t it, Hooton talking of David Shearer as the leader of the Labour Party,
Perhaps this is a re-print of something wee Matty previously wrote, a little trumpet blow in Hooton’s direction to show how clever Matty is at seeing the future,
What will drive more than a few out of ‘rental investments’ is the Labour plan to plug the loophole where such ‘investors’ get to right off any losses incurred on the property against other taxable income,
i don’t know the numbers of people who piled into ‘rental investments’ based upon the taxes on ‘other income’ they could write off against the properties but the numbers i would suggest are high and the closing of this tax loophole will force more than a few to divest themselves of rental properties…
Don’t even remember it. Must have been a while ago.
Thanks for replying Matthew, I think you would agree it is very sloppy presentation of information. Especially for a publication of the NBR’s stature. Would you be so kind as to mention this to your editors?
You could imagine the kerfuffle if PG tried to use it to establish a fact. He is bound to try to establish a fact one day, and I would hate for something like a publishing date to trip him up.
I agree with the worrying impact on Pete George and will pass on the suggestions you raise.
“You could imagine the kerfuffle if PG tried to use it to establish a fact. He is bound to try to establish a fact one day, and I would hate for something like a publishing date to trip him up.”
Wonderful – has to win as comment of the day!
@ veuto..+ 1..
..that’s funny..
Must be a glitch – if you click on ‘More articles by Matthew Hooton’ it takes you to a page of articles by David Cohen.
is hooton cohen..?
..is this ‘the story’ here..?
Judith Collins has just confirmed that she will not resign. Good!
The chances of Left coalition winning the election just skyrocketed.
i’m torn..
i want to see her gone..sacked/fired..
..but i also want her as a stinking/rotting albatross around keys’ neck..
..all the way thru to the election..
..the recycling options from/with the collins are both potent and ongoing..
John Armstrong has emerged from the shadows….
“But Key’s reference to the length of the conversations has to be regarded as another way of him saying he canvassed various options with respect to her immediate future as a minister.
For Key not to have offered Collins some much-needed respite from the intense scrutiny that she has been under for weeks would have been neglectful of not just National’s interests, but of Collins’ as well.
Clearly Collins is very much in the wrong place mentally right now. That is plainly evident after she lashed out at TVNZ’s Katie Bradford yesterday, only to to subsequently issue a public apology to the political reporter.
Key this morning described Collins’ outburst at the press gallery journalist as being “completely inappropriate”. He added that Collins would be “very careful going forward”.
The trouble is every time Collins moves one step forward, her reputation takes five steps back. Rather than endeavouring to close down the whole farrago prompted by her highly-questionable dealings with the milk exporting company Oravida, Collins says or does something to further inflame matters……”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11249704
The real problem is that Slippery Key moves the goalposts after she gaffes.
Firstly he says she’s on her last warning then when she fucks up he says the warning was for a different topic! Opening the door for a “three strikes” wet bus ticket for all of his ministers every time there’s a screw up screwing up.
Perhaps what we are seeing is a cathartic civil war in the National Party.
Joyce, with all the gifts of MBIE to help him win support among business backers of National, is getting aid from McCully (fast OIA responses) and others to weaken Collins.
Collins, with the gift of self-belief and popularity among grass-root Nats, is willing to risk all, including the election, to gain control.
Labour should leave them space on the front pages!
interesting take on it ps. espesh the mccully mfat connection to oias.
and mccully and joyce have been np strategists for some time.
its always interesting to see who says nothing at times like these.
thanks for yoyr thoughtful observation.
now, back to oriveida and something to stick to that lovely mr key.
Groser has helped trip up Collins also. The short wee mon is very traditional and would NOT cope with having a woman, Collins, as his boss. He is definitely in the Joyce Camp now.
The short wee mon will also be getting it in the ear from Fonterra. Fonterra will also have been chatting with John Key and Bill English.
Imagine how Fonterra are feeling: Collins goes into bat for another trader who wants to make hay in China from Fonterra’s botulism crises! Fonterra spent a few $100m opening the market and Oravida wanted to sneak in via the back door!
Collins has pissed off Fonterra, the biggest lobbyist in Parliament.
Therefore Collins has pissed off Federated Farmer, the second biggest lobbyist in Parliament.
If those two go public with their annoyance every Fonterra shareholding farmer will see Collins as a TRAITOR.
She is so close to going. Key must be afraid of how she will behave if she is fired.
How are Collins and Finlayson?
Finlayson does seem to be gliding through very quietly of late.
Surely our Attorney-General would be a good person for a comment on the Cabinet Rules?
Finlayson would find both Collins and Joyce odious. He would wish both of the ill, IMO.
so let’s hope some media type person ‘innocently’ gets him on record about the Cabinet Rules 🙂
thanks ps.
“Lobbying for a Tobacco company doesn’t necessarily mean you are attempting to encourage smoking.”
Being a member of The Mighty Mongrel Mob doesn’t mean you support the activities of your fellow mobsters either, does it, Gosman.
If the Mongrel Mob activities are legal then there is nothing wrong with belonging to them. It is only when people carry out illegal activities under the Mongrel mob banner that belonging to them becomes an issue.
Do you take an equivalent stance on our involvement in the Five Eyes network?
Yes
Guess that is a reply to 14.1.1 above.
That also makes you culpable in terms of being a citizen of one of those governments.
Do you claim that culpability or do you acknowledge that personal control of those organisations to which we all belong plays a part in our guilt by association?
(Moved as sensibly suggested by Gosman 16.1.1.1)
I don’t think one automatically leads on to the other. For example in war a nation can carry out some dreadful actions like the fire bombings of Dresden and Tokyo or the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That does not mean all citizens of the nations making up the Allies in the war are culpable for these decisions or that the war itself is suspect because of them.
a person employed to lobby for a tobacconist is not just a citizen wandering by.
Gosman, do you believe the 23 year old, Todd Barclay, who has only ever worked in Government Minister’s offices and lobbied for a tobacco firm has enough life experience to be an MP where his job is to represent the full cross-section of the electorate?
He is not looking at becoming a list MP but an electorate one. It is not for me to decide if he is suitable or not as I don’t live in his electorate. If the people of his electorate decide to vote for him who am I to quibble about his supposed lack of experience.
Hi Gosman,
I don’t think freedom was asking you to decide Barclay’s political fate (you can’t, as you point out) but, instead, was inviting you to express what you believe about his life experience in relation to the tasks of an electorate MP.
The beauty of democracy is we leave it up to the voters to decide the suitability or otherwise of a candidate. As for if I would vote for him. I don’t know a lot about him or his opponents. He does seem a little on the young and inexperienced side but that does not necessarily preclude you from being a good electorate MP. Certainly the fact he worked as a lobbyist for a Tobacco company doesn’t rule him out as far as I am concerned.
So you believe that the principled burghers of Clutha Southland should have been given a choice of decent National Party candidates, instead of having a tobacco industry lobbyist served to them from Wellington on a blue platter?
I don’t believe I stated that at all.
ok Gosman, let’s look at Colonial Viper’s question from a different angle.
Should National Party members of Clutha-Southland be given a choice about who becomes their candidate?
Is the way Mr Barclay is being selected as a candidate outside National party rules on candidate selection? If the answer to that is no then what is the problem here again? If the National party voters in the electorate don’t like the candidate they are free to vote for a candidate of another party. This seems to me to be a perfect opportunity for other candidates to take advantage of. Assuming of course the majority of voters in the electorate care enough about the issue. Do you think they will vote for another candidate?
I’d like to see who else in the National Party put their hand up for the job of candidate for Clutha Southland; you can bet there would be a few amongst them who would make our inexperienced tobacco lobbyist look properly shallow in comparison.
Why do you care who National selects as a candidate anyway? If this wasn’t a left wing blog what you are doing would be termed concern trolling.
It’s not that I care so much (and I actually do know a lot of voters who live in the Clutha Southland), it’s that I am amazed that you care so little about the appalling Big Tobacco choice of candidate that National HQ has served up on a plate to that electorate.
I have not said a word about voting Gosman. I was clearly pointing to the candidate selection process. I just find it funny when supposedly intelligent people defend a candidate selection system where the members’ views are deemed irrelevant and yet these same people are somehow represented, by submitting to an arbitrary decision by their Party leaders that they, the members, had no input into.
Good thing I gave up trying to understand National voters a long time ago, even the ones I love. Some might say you should never fully understand your friends, or your family, it takes away all the mystery.
National is by far and away the most successful political party in NZ since the end of the second world war. You might not understand their internal processes or why people support them but you can’t deny that it seems to work for them. I am sure they don’t give two hoots what a bunch of largely hard core leftists think of them.
Actually, that’s exactly what being a democracy means.
“I don’t think one automatically leads on to the other.”14.1.1.1.1
“It is only when people carry out illegal activities under the Mongrel mob banner that belonging to them becomes an issue.14.1
A bit of a contradiction there. But I do agree with your statement at 14.1.1.1.1 because fundamentally, regardless of whether you are a member or not, – your personal input or control of the decisions made by that organisation – make up a large part of whether you are responsible for those decisions or not. Mongrel Mob member, MP or democratic citizen.
Unfortunately, some of these organisations are set up to look like you have equal power to another but in actuality do not deliver.
No contradiction at all as far as I can see. Perhaps you will explain why you think one exists.
Gosman – for some reason I can’t reply to your comment above regarding National’s electoral success in the post-world war 2 era? You are, strictly speaking, right though much of that success comes from exploiting the FPP gerrymander. In the MMP era National and Labour so far have 3 terms each.
legallity isnt part of the question captain deflection
certain types get too easily mixed up between the concepts of ‘what is moral’, and ‘what is legal.’
Morally I think selling Homeopathy or most other types of CAM products/remedies is reprehensible. Does that mean people involved with this sector should be denied the opportunity of becoming an MP?
the thing is with homeopathy..there..gossy..
..is that farmers who have vets that use it..
..see how effective it can be..
..and i don’t think animals are subject to the placebo-effect..
..(i also have seen it work wonders on dogs..)
..i’m no expert on the subject..
..but just those vet-facts/personal-experiences..
..give me pause for thought..
Who’s denying anyone the opportunity of becoming an MP?
The tobacco lobbiest is allowed to run.
So is Aaron Gilmore.
But for either to be nominated would show tory arrogance. A lot of that’s been coming to light, lately.
Only to hard core leftists like you. People like me don’t think it is arrogant.
Arrogant people don’t think arrogant people are arrogant?
Fuck me.
Ah Felix. Did you miss me? I certainly didn’t miss your usual frivolous inputs to any discussion.
frivolous? He was spot on.
Didn’t know you’d been away.
“Who’s denying anyone the opportunity of becoming an MP?”
you keep saying it and when directly confronted on the issue you go all quiet
so i will ask the same question – Who’s denying anyone the opportunity of becoming an MP?
your being really weak on this one
first home owners in auckland, based on neither owner having bought a home before or held a mortgage before, are paying $200 a week more than counterparts outside auckland.
but they dont get $200 a week more from similar jobs to counterparts.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/editors-picks/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503539&objectid=11249447
This is what you get for having more than 30% of the country’s population squashed into less than 0.3% of the country’s land area.
As an added benefit, it depopulates and economically degrades all the other regions of the country. You would have thought given these facts that just a little teensy bit of central planning might be in order to even things out a bit, but no, every political party seems determined to make Auckland even bigger and denser than it is now.
Right, a little update.
Despite badgering me for weeks whilst I was on sick leave, and on three occasions questioning the veracity of my Doctor’s certificates, after my disciplinary hearing on Monday, at 5.58 pm on Friday, I finally got confirmation through I was sacked.
Not surprised at the outcome, but still gutted none the less. Cancelled my wff payments so I don’t get overpaid, booked up my ‘working for me seminar’ at winz, and ready to do what I can to get back in to work.
I don’t know what options I have, other than full hearing and more costs I can’t pay or walk away and take the hit, but I’ll decide after consultation with the brief later today. It appears a pervy old man can’t buy my silence, but can buy protection for his reputation.
Better off out of it, but what a way to go.
Bugger.
Wishing you all the best for this next stage.
Yes
Guess that is a reply to 14.1.1 above.
That also makes you culpable in terms of being a citizen of one of those governments.
Do you claim that culpability or do you acknowledge that personal control of those organisations to which we all belong plays a part in our guilt by association?
For some reason it was appearing down here even though I replied to you above. To keep this sensible repost your question above.
Really sorry to hear of the outcome for you The AIlen. Good luck for your post consultation decision making on what to do next and all the best for your next move.
It really is disheartening how dodgy employers get away it, again and again. I’ve seen it happen so many times to others and have been the victim of dodgy bosses twice in a row – its so wrong that your experience is not uncommon.
Hope you find something nice to treat yourself to today.
Kia Ora.
+100…good luck The Allen!
+1. I was trying to find the right words of support for you, the Al1en; but Rosie has said it much better. I am thinking of you, as I am sure many others here are. I have been through similar but the fact that others have been down the same road does not make it any easier at the time. But you will get through. It has been obvious to me reading your posts on this issue. Kia Kaha. Keep us up to date.
+1 and take care of yourself Al1en.
Take the high road Al1en, it has better views and it’s always best to avoid the hassle of stumbling over messed up riverbeds. As you say, there does not appear to be any rewards in battling further. Do remember though, you can now freely offer advice to people as to whether they should use that particular business or not. There are lots of legal ways to adjust someone’s business reputation. I am not a spiteful person but have certainly had the unquestioning generosity of my youth sorely tested these past few years.
Look after yourself, and when jumping the WINZ hoops, breath deep and let the pointless busywork ahead be a positive challenge. There is a job out there. I keep getting told there is. Problem seems to be WINZ are talking to us all about the same job 😉
best of luck with the job hunt.
Mediation costs nothing and there is absolutely no reason to be represented by a lawyer. If you choose to be represented by a lawyer, then they can claim costs as a part of any confidential settlement.
Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement.
I didn’t get a call back from my guy, so haven’t heard his considered opinion yet, but hope to tomorrow. The worst thing about the outcome is knowing I didn’t really do anything wrong, got victimised and then assaulted, and have been dismissed on the ‘evidence’ of witnesses I know weren’t present at the time.
Realistically, without being Rumpole of the Bailey, I know I can’t rip the truth out from these people. I couldn’t even get my ex boss to speak during the kangaroo court. Two and a half hours and he said nothing, just stared in to any space except my eye line.
I am full of contempt for this tool, but still bound by confidentiality, so naming and shaming isn’t an option as yet. I do have the privacy commission to fall back on, which is free to apply to, so that will probably be my next move, but first to get that job.
Thanks again.
Hang in there, TA. And thanks for the update. You are not alone.
My thoughts are with you, mate.
gosman you are just being silly and throwing red herrings around. Whats his name from dipton is just a silly little twerp but you wont admit it.
Explosive new art show exposes Auckland’s revolutionary labour history: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/building-bombs.html
Good to see the government’s helping the poor live on air:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10010529/Budgeting-services-to-get-a-boost
Soon people will be so good at managing their finances benefits won’t be needed at all. If fact, I’m surprised Bennett isn’t saying something like “we really want to support people manage their money so well that there’s even some left over each week they can pay back to the government as a contribution to the benefit system overall.”
Bennett says the funding “will ensure the services are able to keep up with demand”. What she doesn’t say is that that demand is increasing because it’s compulsory when people apply to Work and Income for special needs grants and advances, which people need to apply for because main benefit levels are so ridiculously low. Bennett, this government and Labour have absolutely no idea.
+1
Talking about that:
‘Don’t ever imagine there’s not a cost’
A column by Sarah Wilson.
Is Maurice Williamson really a ventriloquists dummy, i had that thought as Williamson was manhandled out of TV3’s ‘the Nation’ studio on the weekend, perhaps Maurice had just filled his incontinence pants and couldn’t bring Himself to perambulate after such a dramatic event,
Maurice having just had the silver spoon rudely ripped from His over privileged mouth should face further questioning over His story,
Claiming that it wasn’t Donghua Liu who asked Him for help after putting the bash on both wife and mother-in-law Williamson claimed that it was a member of the police force who gave Him the information that Liu was in trouble for the incident,
i don’t believe Williamson’s explanation for a moment, But, if he was being truthful the plod who shared this information with Him should face discipline for giving out such information…
Ah, bad, on reading the transcript, I don’t think that’s how it went down. The final bit of the interview, Williamson is explaining why he mentioned Liu’s business interests in NZ when talking on the phone to the police.
to use a quaint old phrase I think Judith collins has gone “furgerko”.
Finally, after reading 14 ways a link to the entire Umberto Eco Ur-Fa**ism essay.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://pegc.us/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf&chrome=true
79 years ago today.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/john-scopes-arrested-for-teaching-evolution-may-5-1925-106325.html?