When putting the link for a particular comment: You get it by clicking and copying the date and time of the comment you want, which you will copy from the URL address at the top (I call it the header line). With that you paste it in your comment so that you place it within a sentence. See below.
Thanks for the help we get with wrangling our computers and getting control of the pesky things so we can produce a finished comment without getting wiped out!
Cool, I didn't know that pasting within a line of text avoided the bug.
the other way for TS links, if you want the link below text, is to once you have copied the URL, click on the Link button just above the Comment text box, and the past the URL into the popup
(if you just paste straight into the text box below text) the bug will revert the URL to the post link not the comment link).
annoying for people like me who like to separate out things by line, but I'm guessing that many here just paste the URL after whatever they've just typed.
Please have a look at weka's post from yesterday about what we can do to progress the ideas of dealing with our problems of climate change etc. It is something we could keep adding to, keep at the front of our minds. It is good to be keyboard warriors, how can we transfer the energy of our minds to our own actions, or if unable to assisting others in action in some ways, perhaps getting information for them, arranging venues – doing support work. Below is the link to take you straight there.
I heard some weeks ago the NZ Council of the Labour Party meet this week-end. I don't know for sure if it is true, but assuming it is:
My pick is, they will be examining the findings of the sexual harassment report against a Labour Party staffer. If so, we can expect those findings to be released in the next few days. Whatever they are, we can also expect Simon Bridges and co. to distort, twist and infer negative connotations that don't exist.
Will Labour forcefully respond and call them out for lying and cheating this time?
Simon is a sideshow in this and a hypocrite. I’d focus on the important stuff such us how to prevent similar things from happening in future and improve things that they can (and must) improve. Simon will still be barking at cars so let him bark and throw him a little bone every now and then to keep him happy.
[Please don’t use capitals for your username, as Weka has already asked you. Please read the replies to your comments, the moderation notes addressed to you, and respond to acknowledge these, as Weka has already asked you to do. Failing to do so will result in you getting blacklisted (AKA banned) – Incognito]
" If so, we can expect those findings to be released in the next few days."
If anything at all is released I would say that it will not be until after Parliament rises for the year. Your best bet would be 5pm on 24 December.
On the other hand you may not see anything at all, at least officially. The PM said that "The third-party review into Labour's processes would be made public on the condition that participants wanted that."
Quite right. A competent Comms team should certainly be able to do that.
A good one would make sure that there was nothing in the report to embarrass them. It would be pretty easy to shut the complainants down. Just threaten them with treatment like one of the girls in the youth camp affair got. The defendant's lawyer came out in Court saying that of course it wasn't a sexual assault. After all the lawyer claimed that "she wanted it".
Or threaten them they will get the treatment that Winston is dishing out to the former President of his Party, and one that the Labour and Green Parties are happily going along with. Tell anyone who won't shut up that you will accuse them of having mental health problems.
Then you can get a total whitewash as anyone who knows it is false will be too cowed to speak up.
Strike me down with a feather, Alwyn shows his bias again with a ridiculous comment attacking Labour and his buddy Winston Peters.
If a case goes to Court, it is a whitewash, obviously.
The defendant’s lawyer is not a member of Labour or Labour’s comms team, but he (I assume it is a “he”) might as well be if you take Alwyn’s silly comment at face value.
The context of alleged lawyer’s claims in Court is missing, of course. Context and nuance is for mugs, obviously.
Alwyn knows that the Labour and Green Parties are happily going along with anything Winston Peters says or does. No link required, of course, because Alwyn knows.
Now, I’m sure that Alwyn can produce a link in which Winston Peters tells anyone who won't shut up that he will accuse them of having mental health problems. Alwyn would only be too happy to oblige, wouldn’t he? I can sense his glee already.
The lawyer was actually a "she". With your enormous skills in using a search engine that you talked about here recently I am sure you could have found that out.
If you were the parent of a teenage girl who was the complainant of a sexual assault, would you tell her that she should go ahead with the complaint and get attacked by the defendant's lawyer in Court or would you suggest that she simply forget the matter and pretend that it never happened? It isn't a question of who employed this particular lawyer. It is the fact that it pretty routinely happens and I am told it is one of the reasons that so few complaints actually get to Court. It simply isn't worth it.
As far as Winston's attacks on his former party President is concerned there is a very easily found link here
All the Labour members on the Committee voted against having them appear before it. The would no doubt have embarrassed Winston. The Green Party, although supposedly wanting to clean up the anonymous and undeclared donations to Political Parties in New Zealand have remained very, very quiet. Surely correcting what appear to be very doubtful activities by New Zealand First should be of interest to them?
Perhaps you can produce some evidence whar the Green Party opposed something that Winston has asked for. Did they push for a Kermadec sanctuary perhaps?
Now for a challenge to you. You claim that Winston is my buddy. Perhaps you can produce a skerrick of evidence for your ridiculous claim. I think he is a disgrace to New Zealand politics and every other party in the house should treat him as a pariah. Unfortunately the only party leaders who have ever done so were Jenny Shipley after she took over from Bolger, and, most notably, John Key prior to the 2008 and 2011 elections.
In 2008 he said he would not work with Winston because he said, as I remember it, "I cannot trust him". In 2011 he said that "If Winston Peters holds the balance of power it will be a Phil Goff-led Labour government,".
Unfortunately he didn'r say the same before the 2014 election Neither did any party say it before the 2017 election. Shame on them.
I presume you will be happy to show me your evidence that Winston is my buddy? I'm sure you don't want to try and perpetuate such a foolish, and fallacious, claim.
The lawyer is irrelevant but what he/she said in Court is not. What happened in Court is not under the control of Labour or the Labour comms team. You created a strawman and I don’t need a search engine to notice that.
Your link does not support your assertions that “the Labour and Green Parties are happily going along with [it]” [my italics]. In fact, it states that it was “closed business” and you have no knowledge of what went on behind closed doors. So, you’re making up shit again. FYI, using my famous search skills I found that there are no members of the Green Party on the Justice Committee https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/scl/justice/tab/mp Never mind, Alwyn.
As to Peters telling people about having mental health problems, he has already mentioned it so this is now an empty threat and not what you alleged @ 3.2.1.1. Are you having problems comprehending your own comment?
Oh, the buddy issue 🙂
We all know how much you love to hate Tsar Winston and the Green Party, for example, and you can’t help yourself telling lies about them due to your negative bias towards them. You have just provided the evidence (again) so it is QED for you, Alwyn. If you want more: you have used that silly juvenile term 35 times here on TS. I’m happy to provide all 35 links but then I’ll have to ban you for life. Your call, Alwyn, I’m more than happy to oblige.
You see, Alwyn, it is perfectly ok to criticise but it is not ok to make up shit to ‘prove’ your point, or rather your opinion, and you’re making a bit of habit of it.
I haven't used it on a single occasion in the last four and a half months. I repeat "I haven't used it on a single occasion in the last four and a half months". Why don't you just accept that I did what I said I would? Why are you the person who brings it up again? Why do you feel the need to use the term if you dislike it so much?
You will also see, if you read this carefully that what I said about Peters is that he might threaten OTHER people with the sort of attack that he has mounted on the former President of his own party. He doesn't have to put it into words. People merely have to worry that he might lash out wildly at them, when they have no way to properly respond.
You will also see that I never even hinted that the lawyer was part of the Labour Party "Comms" team. I merely said that people who might be among those with complaints are going to worry about having this sort of accusation hurled at them. It is why many women will not proceed with complaints about sexual harassment. They are the ones who end up in the firing line and it just isn't worth it.
You also tell me that there are no Green members on the Committee. I know that. I never claimed there were. I said only that the four Labour members of the committee wouldn't allow them to testify. I also said that the Green Party never commented on this even though it appears to be something they claim to be interested in.
When Nick Smith moved an amendment to the silly bill Andrew Little pushed though under urgency that would have treated the New Zealand First Foundation donations as being donations to New Zealand First the Green Party voted against the amendment. Hardly following a practice that will provide openness and transparency about donations is it?
Meanwhile I will point out that I don't "lie" about the Green Party. I point out occasions when they don't seem to be following the practices they say the would like to see;.I quite happily confess I don't jump into the fray about the occasional good thing they do but there are plenty of people contributing to this site who will do that ad nauseam. I merely try and provide a little balance.
Finally of course are you willing to state that you are completely unable to find anything that supposedly demonstrates that Winston is my buddy? Then you will have removed a slur you have cast on my character.
… slowly withering in the dark and evil contrivance that invented it, realising it is merely a chiffon-esque drapery invented to conceal the soulless abyss that would use any form of human suffering to gain meaningless pretended advantage in an online debate. Sad, shrivelled, and hollow, it eventually rots into the pool of ichor that that had originally given it a perverted facsimile of life.
You really sound unbearably depressed.I think my view of myself is a much happier one than your self portrait of your own existence. You poor chap. How dreadful must be your life with only misery and darkness to look forward to.
Please don't do anything that you cannot reverse. Things will get better. They certainly can't get any worse for you, can they?
Can I suggest you splurge on a good cigar. That is sure, providing you can forget the obscene taxes that are levied in New Zealand, to cheer you up.
A good cigar, a good night's rest and the world will seem a much more cheerful place in the morning.
At least I hope it will be better tomorrow. I am getting sick and tired of the incessant wind and rain we seem to be getting in Wellington. I think I will move to Hawke's Bay
The sketches are part of a report entitled “How America Tortures,” which was put together by Denbeaux and his students at Seton Hall Law. The sketches are a trip through hell; Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times. He was left in “stress positions” for days at a time, and confined, shackled, in a tiny crate for the same length of time. Americans did this. The American government sanctioned it. And the American people haven’t given enough of a damn about it to hold its monsters accountable.
Mr. Zubaydah, who is not known to have formal art training, drew himself in a hood, shackled in the fetal position and tethered by a chain to a cell bar to constrict his movement. In granting the C.I.A. approval to use a technique similar to this, Jay S. Bybee, a former assistant attorney general, noted in an 18-page memo dated Aug. 1, 2002, that “through observing Zubaydah in captivity, you have noted that he appears to be quite flexible despite his wound.” He also noted in the authorization, addressed to the C.I.A.’s acting general counsel at the time, John A. Rizzo, that the agency asserted that “these positions are not designed to produce the pain associated with contortions or twisting of the body.”
Bybee now has a lifetime appointment as a judge on a federal court of appeals. Rizzo is a fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Jeremy Corbyn made waves recently when he released documents showing the NHS is currently on the table in discussions for a UK/US trade deal. Now the Labour leader has just done it again. He’s revealed details from a confidential government report on Brexit.
The last two Colmar Bruntons suggest National and ACT currently "have the numbers to scrape together a Government". This is, of course, predicated on the idea that NZF will fall below the 5% threshold.
How likely is this ?
The latest Colmar Brunton was conducted at the 25 month mark.
Here I compare current NZF poll ratings with their Colmar Brunton stats (at the same point in the electoral cycle) during their last two times in Govt.
NZF in Colmar Bruntons:
2019
CB at 25 month mark (Dec 2019) = 4.3%
Average over previous 12 months = 4.18%
Range over previous 12 months = 3.3 – 5.0
1998
CB at 25 month mark (Nov 1998) = 2%
Average over previous 12 months = 1.96%
Range over previous 12 months = 1 – 3
Subsequent Election 1999 GE = 4.26% (up 2.26 points on 25 month mark CB / up 2.3 points on previous 12 month average)
2007
CB at 25 month mark (Oct 2007) = 1.9%
Average over previous 12 months = 2.28%
Range over previous 12 months = 1.9 – 2.9
Subsequent Election 2008 GE = 4.07 (up 2.17 points on 25 month mark CB / up 1.79 points on previous 12 month average)
So … the Winnie Brigade are roughly 2 points more popular than they were at the same point during their previous two stints in Govt … & the historic pattern is a 2 point lift for the Party by Election Day.
It's also true, of course, that in both cases (1999 & 2008 GEs) they fell below the 5% threshold. National-aligned doomsayers have focussed on the 4% Party Vote NZF received at both of those Elections … (implying it's some sort of Iron Law of NZ Electoral Politics that the Peters Party will always fall to 4% when in Govt), … whereas I'm inclined to place greater emphasis on the roughly 2 point boost they enjoyed at each of these elections (99 / 08) & to highlight their better performance in recent Polls compared to post-1996 & post-19992005. [correction entered by Moderator]
Also note (given recent events) that NZF received this 2 point boost despite being embroiled in controversy during those previous periods in Govt (including a well-organised media campaign against the Party in 2008).
To be sure, the context differs a little … in its previous two stints in Govt, NZF had opted to join ailing Third Term Administrations … this time, of course, it's a fresh First Termer … & yes you have to be careful about relying too much on historic precedent … but the best reading of the entrails is that NZF will take around 6% of the Party Vote in 2020.
Minor correction: End of third-to-last paragraph should, of course, read: " … to highlight their better performance in recent Polls compared to post-1996 &post-2005". (not 1999).
Do you think that the 1998 Poll numbers from November are really meaningful?
The poll would have been done about 2 months after Jenny Shipley had sacked Winston from the Cabinet and his party had fissioned under him. There were just over half his members who stuck with him and just under half who stayed with the then Government. I would have thought that this would have been the dominant factor in whatever the results of the poll in November were.
However I can't find the other CB results for that year. Was this November one an oddity or did it match any poll taken in say July of 1998? The sacking took place on 14 August 1998. I can't really remember that much about the lead-up to the event and whether it was a surprise to the general public.
If it is a real oddball it renders the calculations rather uncertain. There would only be a sample of one in previous sessions on NZF in power..
Have another look at the 1998 stats I set out in my earlier comment, alwyn.
1998
CB at 25 month mark (Nov 1998) = 2%
Average over previous 12 months = 1.96%
Range over previous 12 months = 1 – 3
So, as you can see, NZF's support in Colmar Bruntons over the previous 12 months (ie the immediate 12 months before Nov 1998) ranged from 1 to 3% … and averaged 1.96% … so their November rating was pretty much bang on the average.
The implosion of the National-NZF Govt made no discernable difference to the Peters Party's ratings.
Sorry. I didn't read it carefully enough. I got very interested in the question of the NZF blow-up and didn't think through your published numbers clearly.
No effect at all, is there. I am surprised. I would have thought it would have had a significant effect.
Out of curiosity are these numbers available on line? I hunted quite hard but couldn't find a record of polls going back to the ones for the period before the 1999 election.
Have you got a reference or have you got a private set of the numbers from an offline source.
The latter … & pretty much like David Farrar I'm inclined to greedily keep them very close to my chest … gives both of us a certain added value, as it were.
.
Took quite some time to track all the data down more than a decade ago …right back to the first National Research Bureau Polls of late 1969 (& a few very early NZ Gallup polls from the first half of the 60s) … so might as well get a wee reward for all the effort, I guess.
Then again, I do like to think I have a few democratic instincts as well … so eventually might look at making them widely available by setting all the poll numbers out on my blog right back to 69 (for Herald-NRB) & 74 (for TVNZ-Heylen / Colmar Brunton).
Incidentally, I gave a very brief overview of NZ's early polling history in a comment on Chris Trotter's Bowalley Road here:
Thank you. I tried very hard to find that data but getting back past the 2002 election was beyond my skills. At least it wasn't just my inability to manipulate Google that meant it wasn't showing up.
From the 2002 election you can find the polls on Wikipedia of course.
My God though. Getting all that ephemeral data right back to '69 is truly impressive. Ah, those were the days. National never, at least so I was told a long time afterward by one of their very senior MPs, never expected to win that one. One of their Ministers built a new house before the election so that he would have somewhere to move to after he had to leave his Ministerial residence. Then they won and he could stay on in the house he was supplied with.
I won't waste your time asking for the Poll numbers that might have convinced them they were going to lose though.
Thank you for the information. I don't feel bad about not finding it myself now.
Sad to disagree Stephen. I was involved with the IHC Sheltered Workshops years ago. Those Intellectually Handicapped people rolled up each day with enthusiasm and socialised with like minded folk. They were paid at less than half the lowest average pay but the daily relationships were a delight. The interactions were worth far more than the pay.
It was a very sad day when a Government ruling meant that the Workshops were closed down.
And the people no longer had anything to look forward to. Days empty and lonely.
That is interesting to hear ianmac. I had heard that the sheltered workshops had been enjoyed and that they could earn their own money and have a job they could manage made them proud and content.
But the preachy women and some men who decide everything from a point of view that is totally middle class, materialistic with a bit of spirituality thrown in and most of all, are pedantic, pompous and righteous. Their opinion oif what is right rules the day, and the opinions of those affected by their decisions are irrelevant; 'those' people don't understand the range of possibilities available to give them fairness and equity. This may not be what you think but it is observable very often and is something that often occurs in 'consultations'.
were incomes additional to a benefit? Seem to recall the change had something to do with minimum wage regs…if that was the case you would expect some better law could be drafted
They needed to be on a benefit for their security of care, and their working pay should have had an option to be at a rate that was less than minimum pay. This was the welfare system being undone, and everyone being treated the same – equality rather than equity. The fact is ignored, that some relationships don't fit the SWelfs narrow formula, ie a parent being officially paid by the mentally handicapped child, as she works caring for him, therefore he is officially her employer!
The problem has also been of the state setting minimum rates for things that should be able to be decided on an informal basis with an appeal process if felt too low. Also affects babysitting which used to be done by students for pocket money.
"The IHC applauded. It too had been ideologically captured. Over opposition from many of its bewildered members, the IHC seized the opportunity to shut down 76 workshops and "business units".
Part of the problem was that the IHC itself had changed radically. From an organisation run largely by parents and volunteers, it had evolved into a government-funded Wellington bureaucracy led by disability-sector careerists."
I was very peripherally involved. A friend had a son who was employed there and the closure of them meant he was now basically at home all day driving his mother crazy. I had no direct involvement with the workshops though and can only go on what they said, then, about them.
I remember a very moving interview published at the time with the mother of another person who worked there and who was now unemployed. She said that he was paid about a dollar an hour and that was all his work was really worth. She got a benefit that provided for his actual living costs but the money he received was really his pocket money but was something he was very proud of.
Why the IHC was so keen on getting rid of them was beyond her and why the then Government went along with the idea made no sense. I have seen comments that it was caused by the IHC administration being taken over by careerist civil servants in Wellington. I have no idea if that was true.
There was quite a bit of abusing the low wages going on in some of those workshops in order to keep the wages low. I had family working in some of them and standing up against this.
Some examples – a women with an intellectual disability employed by the IHC to do receptionist work for 12 years. Carried out the role as well as any other receptionist paid well below rate at a few dollars a day. Did everything from phones/reception/typing.
Each year there was supposed to be a productivity assessment that worked out the appropriate below rate pay rate for each person. A family member in this instance assessed the rate for each person based on the number of widgets at the correct quality they produced. This lift in wages for many workers was deemed by management to be too expensive (after all they had just bought all the managers new cars and were going on a trip to China) and so they buried her assessment and got an unqualified person to assess them at unsurprisingly the same rate as it had been previously. The labour inspector responsible for signing off on this previously worked for the trust involved.
The IHC has a strong resistance in it's ranks at all levels to any client in it's care earning more than the limits prescribed by WINZ for benefit purposes. It's not that the IHC gets any less money it's that the mix changes – the benefit portion which the IHC gets reduces and the DHB portion increases. The client gets to keep all extra earnings so it is in their interests to earn more. Part of another family member's jobs was finding good quality work for people with disabilities. The IHC did not like the extra paperwork that comes with earning over the exemption and so she used to get told off for having people earn more.
This is an organisation that used to keep clients money in their own coffers til they were forced to set up individual trust accounts, that took peoples disability allowance to supply finding employment services they often never supplied (friend of ours fought very hard to stop this for her intellectually disabled sister), who often colluded with poly-techs to run profit making employment courses for clients to put them somewhere for the day, that is "Idea Services" to reduce stigma most of the time but IHC when it comes to fund-raising, that for many years paid a pittance to staff working all night and so on.
I would argue that the careerist civil servants had been colluding with the IHC administration for many, many years to keep paying disabled people low wages, to profit off their work and training and to support the IHC to keep people institutionalised for as long as possible.
In reality much of the institutionlisation was a loss of freedom for the disabled.
Robert Martin gives a good insight into life before and after.
"he said that he was paid about a dollar an hour and that was all his work was really worth."
Parents are part of the problem – so many undervalue their own children and have such low expectations. Particularly the generation that institutionalised the majority of the disabled – out of sight out of mind.
Compounded by the reforms of the public service to replace effectiveness (e.g. giving people with disabilities a decent paid job because overall it is good for society) versus efficiency (it's only about productivity).
The joys of being able to walk into a government department if you had Downs syndrome for instance and be able to see someone like you in the workplace need to be welcomed back. Sheltered workshops should stay in the historical institutional past.
I read that and the immediate thought that came to mind is he must drop some seriously floaty ones. Maybe he should stop snacking on the polystyrene boxes his favourite meals come in.
Polystyrene? Is that what gives him that peculiar hair colour? However he does seem to have a very full head of hair for a man of his age so it might seem worth it to him.
Combover yes, but definitely not professional. Apparently it's all his own work. No professional has ever admitted to having anything to do with it (that I know of, anyway). Be honest, do you think anyone with any kind of self-esteem whatsoever would ever confess to an abomination like that?
I know his words actually have no meaning whatsoever beyond hinting at whatever spiny bug up his ass is wriggling at that particular moment, but the nerdy pedant in me can't help pointing out that environmentally friendly bulbs actually de-emphasise orange and red.
That's because LEDs have proportionately very little output in red and orange compared to daylight and especially compared to incandescents (including halogens). Check out these spectra for the comparison.
I dunno. Seems to me things people don't have immediate direct control over need to be treated with respect. But actual voluntary direct choices are fair game.
So a choice to go for a dayglo hue of fake-bronze spraytan is a legit target of mockery, but the moobs are prob'ly best left alone. (the image looks suspiciously like a fake to me, tho)
Similarly chubby legs and baldness should be off-limits. Hair implants are tricky because they were a long-ago decision that's not readily reversible and may be a different choice today.
The lack of a fucking haircut is definitely fair game if that matters to anyone. Although he'd probably lose half his support if he did go and get it tidied up, it's a big part of his maverick outsider aura.
Y'know, we really should be appreciative of the way he's expanded our vocabularies. Until he used the word, I never knew a bunch of fastfood chain budget range burgers left to go cold and congealed then stacked in a big pile was actually called a hamberder.
Anderton and Cullen gave the voting public the better option of forming our own bank – Kiwibank – as an option that consumers could freely take up.
However with about 4% of market share, it's just barely achieving its nationalistic vision. It is perfectly within the power of the government to tilt the procurement table and get Kiwibank to do all of its banking. That move alone would quadruple its power.
Orr has given our banking system greater safety, for which he should be applauded.
But so far I don't detect any political appetite from anyone to re-nationalise anything or indeed make any move of a structural nature that Cullen and Anderton did.
Kiwibank. Doing what their customers want. Well that seems to be what they claim.
Meanwhile they are, in just a couple of months going to completely get rid of cheques.
"After 30 September 2019 Kiwibank won’t issue cheque or deposit books.
After 28 February 2020 cheque deposits will not be accepted into a Kiwibank customer account; other banks may stop accepting Kiwibank cheques.
After 28 February 2020 Kiwibank will stop providing bank cheques."
I know one or two , typically elderly, people who still use cheques. The don't want to have to do Internet banking. Well tough luck if you have been with Kiwibank, supposedly the pensioners friend.
Tell me again why we have the bank? If you want a New Zealand owned bank why don't you go the the popular, and well regarded by their customers, TSB or The Co-Operative Bank.
Consumer found them to have far higher satisfaction ratings than Kiwibank or any of the majors. In 2019 Co-Op got 87%, TSB 83% and Kiwibank 66%. The big ones were lower. TSB were top in 2017 and 2018.
Incidentally the big four will have higher Capital ratios than the minnows. On the basis of Orr's arguments the big ones will be safer that than the smaller ones.
Bill Clinton was impeached on the 19th of December, 1998.
/
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called out House Democrats for trying to impeach President Donald Trump “on the eve of Christmas” during an interview with Fox News, Friday.
[…]
“And really, on the eve of Christmas it is really sad to see the dishonesty and the partisanship that the House Democrats are displaying,” he concluded.
“If they took sexual harassment as seriously as they take petty theft, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” says UNITE industrial officer Duncan Allen of the raft of harassment complaints he has helped lodge.
UNITE has had complaints from employees at other companies – but nothing like Restaurant Brands, which Allen says appears to have a deep-rooted issue with its company culture.
“Far more energy (is) put into protecting the alleged harasser than there is about investigating properly and fixing things.”
He believes there’s a pattern of employees leaving their jobs because laying a complaint is made too difficult, with the company demanding specific evidence – including exact dates and times – before they will agree to look into allegations.
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It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
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Have a look at Fireblades posts (2) at the end of yesterday's Daily Review (6 December).
Identifies the hypocrisy of Opposition. Wish I knew how to copy them and paste.
This should take you to one of Fireblade's on Daily Review for Friday 6.12 – https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-06-12-2019/#comment-1671358 – and then above it is the other. Good stuff with images.
When putting the link for a particular comment: You get it by clicking and copying the date and time of the comment you want, which you will copy from the URL address at the top (I call it the header line). With that you paste it in your comment so that you place it within a sentence. See below.
It may need to have a word in front and at end and a full stop and space to ensure it appears in full – https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-06-12-2019/#comment-1671358 FYI.
Thanks for the help we get with wrangling our computers and getting control of the pesky things so we can produce a finished comment without getting wiped out!
Cool, I didn't know that pasting within a line of text avoided the bug.
the other way for TS links, if you want the link below text, is to once you have copied the URL, click on the Link button just above the Comment text box, and the past the URL into the popup
(if you just paste straight into the text box below text) the bug will revert the URL to the post link not the comment link).
True. System must only auto-embed the link (as a clickable block rather than text) if it is the only thing in a paragraph.
annoying for people like me who like to separate out things by line, but I'm guessing that many here just paste the URL after whatever they've just typed.
Please have a look at weka's post from yesterday about what we can do to progress the ideas of dealing with our problems of climate change etc. It is something we could keep adding to, keep at the front of our minds. It is good to be keyboard warriors, how can we transfer the energy of our minds to our own actions, or if unable to assisting others in action in some ways, perhaps getting information for them, arranging venues – doing support work. Below is the link to take you straight there.
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-risk-of-climate-tipping-points-is-upon-us/
Thx
I heard some weeks ago the NZ Council of the Labour Party meet this week-end. I don't know for sure if it is true, but assuming it is:
My pick is, they will be examining the findings of the sexual harassment report against a Labour Party staffer. If so, we can expect those findings to be released in the next few days. Whatever they are, we can also expect Simon Bridges and co. to distort, twist and infer negative connotations that don't exist.
Will Labour forcefully respond and call them out for lying and cheating this time?
Simon is a sideshow in this and a hypocrite. I’d focus on the important stuff such us how to prevent similar things from happening in future and improve things that they can (and must) improve. Simon will still be barking at cars so let him bark and throw him a little bone every now and then to keep him happy.
I agree incognito
[Please don’t use capitals for your username, as Weka has already asked you. Please read the replies to your comments, the moderation notes addressed to you, and respond to acknowledge these, as Weka has already asked you to do. Failing to do so will result in you getting blacklisted (AKA banned) – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 2:07 PM.
" If so, we can expect those findings to be released in the next few days."
If anything at all is released I would say that it will not be until after Parliament rises for the year. Your best bet would be 5pm on 24 December.
On the other hand you may not see anything at all, at least officially. The PM said that "The third-party review into Labour's processes would be made public on the condition that participants wanted that."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12268112
I'm sure that they can find at least one of the participants who will object.
If that party's comms team are doing their job, yes. No point in offering up a free hit.
Quite right. A competent Comms team should certainly be able to do that.
A good one would make sure that there was nothing in the report to embarrass them. It would be pretty easy to shut the complainants down. Just threaten them with treatment like one of the girls in the youth camp affair got. The defendant's lawyer came out in Court saying that of course it wasn't a sexual assault. After all the lawyer claimed that "she wanted it".
Or threaten them they will get the treatment that Winston is dishing out to the former President of his Party, and one that the Labour and Green Parties are happily going along with. Tell anyone who won't shut up that you will accuse them of having mental health problems.
Then you can get a total whitewash as anyone who knows it is false will be too cowed to speak up.
Fortunately they can be competent without being arseholes.
Strike me down with a feather, Alwyn shows his bias again with a ridiculous comment attacking Labour and his buddy Winston Peters.
If a case goes to Court, it is a whitewash, obviously.
The defendant’s lawyer is not a member of Labour or Labour’s comms team, but he (I assume it is a “he”) might as well be if you take Alwyn’s silly comment at face value.
The context of alleged lawyer’s claims in Court is missing, of course. Context and nuance is for mugs, obviously.
Alwyn knows that the Labour and Green Parties are happily going along with anything Winston Peters says or does. No link required, of course, because Alwyn knows.
Now, I’m sure that Alwyn can produce a link in which Winston Peters tells anyone who won't shut up that he will accuse them of having mental health problems. Alwyn would only be too happy to oblige, wouldn’t he? I can sense his glee already.
The lawyer was actually a "she". With your enormous skills in using a search engine that you talked about here recently I am sure you could have found that out.
If you were the parent of a teenage girl who was the complainant of a sexual assault, would you tell her that she should go ahead with the complaint and get attacked by the defendant's lawyer in Court or would you suggest that she simply forget the matter and pretend that it never happened? It isn't a question of who employed this particular lawyer. It is the fact that it pretty routinely happens and I am told it is one of the reasons that so few complaints actually get to Court. It simply isn't worth it.
As far as Winston's attacks on his former party President is concerned there is a very easily found link here
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12291423
All the Labour members on the Committee voted against having them appear before it. The would no doubt have embarrassed Winston. The Green Party, although supposedly wanting to clean up the anonymous and undeclared donations to Political Parties in New Zealand have remained very, very quiet. Surely correcting what appear to be very doubtful activities by New Zealand First should be of interest to them?
Perhaps you can produce some evidence whar the Green Party opposed something that Winston has asked for. Did they push for a Kermadec sanctuary perhaps?
Now for a challenge to you. You claim that Winston is my buddy. Perhaps you can produce a skerrick of evidence for your ridiculous claim. I think he is a disgrace to New Zealand politics and every other party in the house should treat him as a pariah. Unfortunately the only party leaders who have ever done so were Jenny Shipley after she took over from Bolger, and, most notably, John Key prior to the 2008 and 2011 elections.
In 2008 he said he would not work with Winston because he said, as I remember it, "I cannot trust him". In 2011 he said that "If Winston Peters holds the balance of power it will be a Phil Goff-led Labour government,".
Unfortunately he didn'r say the same before the 2014 election Neither did any party say it before the 2017 election. Shame on them.
I presume you will be happy to show me your evidence that Winston is my buddy? I'm sure you don't want to try and perpetuate such a foolish, and fallacious, claim.
Very well said Alwyn, the most open and transparent government we have ever had !~ //
The lawyer is irrelevant but what he/she said in Court is not. What happened in Court is not under the control of Labour or the Labour comms team. You created a strawman and I don’t need a search engine to notice that.
Your link does not support your assertions that “the Labour and Green Parties are happily going along with [it]” [my italics]. In fact, it states that it was “closed business” and you have no knowledge of what went on behind closed doors. So, you’re making up shit again. FYI, using my famous search skills I found that there are no members of the Green Party on the Justice Committee https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/scl/justice/tab/mp Never mind, Alwyn.
As to Peters telling people about having mental health problems, he has already mentioned it so this is now an empty threat and not what you alleged @ 3.2.1.1. Are you having problems comprehending your own comment?
Oh, the buddy issue 🙂
We all know how much you love to hate Tsar Winston and the Green Party, for example, and you can’t help yourself telling lies about them due to your negative bias towards them. You have just provided the evidence (again) so it is QED for you, Alwyn. If you want more: you have used that silly juvenile term 35 times here on TS. I’m happy to provide all 35 links but then I’ll have to ban you for life. Your call, Alwyn, I’m more than happy to oblige.
You see, Alwyn, it is perfectly ok to criticise but it is not ok to make up shit to ‘prove’ your point, or rather your opinion, and you’re making a bit of habit of it.
I presume you count of 35 refers to T*** Peters.
You told me you didn't like it and asked if I would stop. At 1.32pm on 22 July I said "OK Just for you I'll do it.".
Here it is, just in case you can't find it.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-07-2019/#comment-1639279
I haven't used it on a single occasion in the last four and a half months. I repeat "I haven't used it on a single occasion in the last four and a half months". Why don't you just accept that I did what I said I would? Why are you the person who brings it up again? Why do you feel the need to use the term if you dislike it so much?
You will also see, if you read this carefully that what I said about Peters is that he might threaten OTHER people with the sort of attack that he has mounted on the former President of his own party. He doesn't have to put it into words. People merely have to worry that he might lash out wildly at them, when they have no way to properly respond.
You will also see that I never even hinted that the lawyer was part of the Labour Party "Comms" team. I merely said that people who might be among those with complaints are going to worry about having this sort of accusation hurled at them. It is why many women will not proceed with complaints about sexual harassment. They are the ones who end up in the firing line and it just isn't worth it.
You also tell me that there are no Green members on the Committee. I know that. I never claimed there were. I said only that the four Labour members of the committee wouldn't allow them to testify. I also said that the Green Party never commented on this even though it appears to be something they claim to be interested in.
When Nick Smith moved an amendment to the silly bill Andrew Little pushed though under urgency that would have treated the New Zealand First Foundation donations as being donations to New Zealand First the Green Party voted against the amendment. Hardly following a practice that will provide openness and transparency about donations is it?
Meanwhile I will point out that I don't "lie" about the Green Party. I point out occasions when they don't seem to be following the practices they say the would like to see;.I quite happily confess I don't jump into the fray about the occasional good thing they do but there are plenty of people contributing to this site who will do that ad nauseam. I merely try and provide a little balance.
Finally of course are you willing to state that you are completely unable to find anything that supposedly demonstrates that Winston is my buddy? Then you will have removed a slur you have cast on my character.
I really thought that incognito might have responded to this.
Even if only to admit that his complaints about references to T*** Peters were rather off course.
Oh well. I suppose it is just another example that hope springs eternal in the alwyn breast, and that it then remains unrequited.
… slowly withering in the dark and evil contrivance that invented it, realising it is merely a chiffon-esque drapery invented to conceal the soulless abyss that would use any form of human suffering to gain meaningless pretended advantage in an online debate. Sad, shrivelled, and hollow, it eventually rots into the pool of ichor that that had originally given it a perverted facsimile of life.
@flockie.
You really sound unbearably depressed.I think my view of myself is a much happier one than your self portrait of your own existence. You poor chap. How dreadful must be your life with only misery and darkness to look forward to.
Please don't do anything that you cannot reverse. Things will get better. They certainly can't get any worse for you, can they?
All of that to receive an "I know you are but what am I" response?
I don't mind you being an unregenerate lying tory mouthpiece, it's the fact that you're a cut-rate one I can't abide.
Can I suggest you splurge on a good cigar. That is sure, providing you can forget the obscene taxes that are levied in New Zealand, to cheer you up.
A good cigar, a good night's rest and the world will seem a much more cheerful place in the morning.
At least I hope it will be better tomorrow. I am getting sick and tired of the incessant wind and rain we seem to be getting in Wellington. I think I will move to Hawke's Bay
Thanks grey /open-mike-07-12-2019/#comment-1671388 it works.
That's my Chrissie present to you – and it works! Probably more useful than others I am giving. But I'll give you A Marvellous Toy too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLYefZkOMB0
Thanks. Takes me back a way!
'Murica.
https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1202963986515410944
The sketches are part of a report entitled “How America Tortures,” which was put together by Denbeaux and his students at Seton Hall Law. The sketches are a trip through hell; Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times. He was left in “stress positions” for days at a time, and confined, shackled, in a tiny crate for the same length of time. Americans did this. The American government sanctioned it. And the American people haven’t given enough of a damn about it to hold its monsters accountable.
Bybee now has a lifetime appointment as a judge on a federal court of appeals. Rizzo is a fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Monsters.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a30148805/cia-torture-program-abu-zubaydah-sketches/
A change to the U.K and its parliamentary rules mooted by Jeremy Corbyn.
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2019/12/05/jeremy-corbyn-makes-a-stunning-proposal-that-could-fix-british-politics-for-good/
And this uncovering of Tory intentions:
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2019/12/06/jeremy-corbyns-brexit-bombshell-blows-tories-entire-election-strategy-to-pieces/
How will the bbc bury it?
With a cone of silence.
Go after the messenger AKA attack is the best form of defence: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50699168
General election 2019: Source of UK-US trade document leak must be found – PM
If Donald Trump has any lead left in his orange pencil, Muhammad would be a popular name for his new baby boy.
Muhammad makes the list of top 10 baby names in the US for the first time.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/muhammad-breaks-top-10-popular-baby-names-2019-191206064945493.html
Not the boy's teddy bear though.
The last two Colmar Bruntons suggest National and ACT currently "have the numbers to scrape together a Government". This is, of course, predicated on the idea that NZF will fall below the 5% threshold.
How likely is this ?
The latest Colmar Brunton was conducted at the 25 month mark.
Here I compare current NZF poll ratings with their Colmar Brunton stats (at the same point in the electoral cycle) during their last two times in Govt.
NZF in Colmar Bruntons:
2019
CB at 25 month mark (Dec 2019) = 4.3%
Average over previous 12 months = 4.18%
Range over previous 12 months = 3.3 – 5.0
1998
CB at 25 month mark (Nov 1998) = 2%
Average over previous 12 months = 1.96%
Range over previous 12 months = 1 – 3
Subsequent Election 1999 GE = 4.26% (up 2.26 points on 25 month mark CB / up 2.3 points on previous 12 month average)
2007
CB at 25 month mark (Oct 2007) = 1.9%
Average over previous 12 months = 2.28%
Range over previous 12 months = 1.9 – 2.9
Subsequent Election 2008 GE = 4.07 (up 2.17 points on 25 month mark CB / up 1.79 points on previous 12 month average)
So … the Winnie Brigade are roughly 2 points more popular than they were at the same point during their previous two stints in Govt … & the historic pattern is a 2 point lift for the Party by Election Day.
It's also true, of course, that in both cases (1999 & 2008 GEs) they fell below the 5% threshold. National-aligned doomsayers have focussed on the 4% Party Vote NZF received at both of those Elections … (implying it's some sort of Iron Law of NZ Electoral Politics that the Peters Party will always fall to 4% when in Govt), … whereas I'm inclined to place greater emphasis on the roughly 2 point boost they enjoyed at each of these elections (99 / 08) & to highlight their better performance in recent Polls compared to post-1996 & post-
19992005. [correction entered by Moderator]Also note (given recent events) that NZF received this 2 point boost despite being embroiled in controversy during those previous periods in Govt (including a well-organised media campaign against the Party in 2008).
To be sure, the context differs a little … in its previous two stints in Govt, NZF had opted to join ailing Third Term Administrations … this time, of course, it's a fresh First Termer … & yes you have to be careful about relying too much on historic precedent … but the best reading of the entrails is that NZF will take around 6% of the Party Vote in 2020.
Minor correction: End of third-to-last paragraph should, of course, read: " … to highlight their better performance in recent Polls compared to post-1996 & post-2005". (not 1999).
Ok now?
Cheers.
Do you think that the 1998 Poll numbers from November are really meaningful?
The poll would have been done about 2 months after Jenny Shipley had sacked Winston from the Cabinet and his party had fissioned under him. There were just over half his members who stuck with him and just under half who stayed with the then Government. I would have thought that this would have been the dominant factor in whatever the results of the poll in November were.
However I can't find the other CB results for that year. Was this November one an oddity or did it match any poll taken in say July of 1998? The sacking took place on 14 August 1998. I can't really remember that much about the lead-up to the event and whether it was a surprise to the general public.
If it is a real oddball it renders the calculations rather uncertain. There would only be a sample of one in previous sessions on NZF in power..
Did you read the last paragraph or maybe even just the last sentence?
It was the right thing to include the 1998 data, for the sake of completeness, if nothing else.
Have another look at the 1998 stats I set out in my earlier comment, alwyn.
So, as you can see, NZF's support in Colmar Bruntons over the previous 12 months (ie the immediate 12 months before Nov 1998) ranged from 1 to 3% … and averaged 1.96% … so their November rating was pretty much bang on the average.
The implosion of the National-NZF Govt made no discernable difference to the Peters Party's ratings.
Sorry. I didn't read it carefully enough. I got very interested in the question of the NZF blow-up and didn't think through your published numbers clearly.
No probs.
For the record:
NZF's CB average in the 8 polls immediately before Winnie's sacking = 1.95%
NZF's CB average in the 3 polls immediately after Winnie's sacking = 2.00%
(= 11 Polls over the year up to & including the Nov 1998 25 month CB)
No effect at all, is there. I am surprised. I would have thought it would have had a significant effect.
Out of curiosity are these numbers available on line? I hunted quite hard but couldn't find a record of polls going back to the ones for the period before the 1999 election.
Have you got a reference or have you got a private set of the numbers from an offline source.
The latter … & pretty much like David Farrar I'm inclined to greedily keep them very close to my chest … gives both of us a certain added value, as it were.
.
Took quite some time to track all the data down more than a decade ago …right back to the first National Research Bureau Polls of late 1969 (& a few very early NZ Gallup polls from the first half of the 60s) … so might as well get a wee reward for all the effort, I guess.
Then again, I do like to think I have a few democratic instincts as well … so eventually might look at making them widely available by setting all the poll numbers out on my blog right back to 69 (for Herald-NRB) & 74 (for TVNZ-Heylen / Colmar Brunton).
Incidentally, I gave a very brief overview of NZ's early polling history in a comment on Chris Trotter's Bowalley Road here:
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/12/driving-us-up-poll.html?showComment=1575636685912#c5315993626022830853
Thank you. I tried very hard to find that data but getting back past the 2002 election was beyond my skills. At least it wasn't just my inability to manipulate Google that meant it wasn't showing up.
From the 2002 election you can find the polls on Wikipedia of course.
My God though. Getting all that ephemeral data right back to '69 is truly impressive. Ah, those were the days. National never, at least so I was told a long time afterward by one of their very senior MPs, never expected to win that one. One of their Ministers built a new house before the election so that he would have somewhere to move to after he had to leave his Ministerial residence. Then they won and he could stay on in the house he was supplied with.
I won't waste your time asking for the Poll numbers that might have convinced them they were going to lose though.
Thank you for the information. I don't feel bad about not finding it myself now.
The Nasty Party.
https://twitter.com/GSpellchecker/status/1202905814874370048
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/06/tory-candidate-sally-ann-hart-defends-low-pay-people-learning-disabilities
Sad to disagree Stephen. I was involved with the IHC Sheltered Workshops years ago. Those Intellectually Handicapped people rolled up each day with enthusiasm and socialised with like minded folk. They were paid at less than half the lowest average pay but the daily relationships were a delight. The interactions were worth far more than the pay.
It was a very sad day when a Government ruling meant that the Workshops were closed down.
And the people no longer had anything to look forward to. Days empty and lonely.
So not a bad idea to reopen Workshops eh?
That is interesting to hear ianmac. I had heard that the sheltered workshops had been enjoyed and that they could earn their own money and have a job they could manage made them proud and content.
But the preachy women and some men who decide everything from a point of view that is totally middle class, materialistic with a bit of spirituality thrown in and most of all, are pedantic, pompous and righteous. Their opinion oif what is right rules the day, and the opinions of those affected by their decisions are irrelevant; 'those' people don't understand the range of possibilities available to give them fairness and equity. This may not be what you think but it is observable very often and is something that often occurs in 'consultations'.
were incomes additional to a benefit? Seem to recall the change had something to do with minimum wage regs…if that was the case you would expect some better law could be drafted
They needed to be on a benefit for their security of care, and their working pay should have had an option to be at a rate that was less than minimum pay. This was the welfare system being undone, and everyone being treated the same – equality rather than equity. The fact is ignored, that some relationships don't fit the SWelfs narrow formula, ie a parent being officially paid by the mentally handicapped child, as she works caring for him, therefore he is officially her employer!
The problem has also been of the state setting minimum rates for things that should be able to be decided on an informal basis with an appeal process if felt too low. Also affects babysitting which used to be done by students for pocket money.
hmmmm..
"The IHC applauded. It too had been ideologically captured. Over opposition from many of its bewildered members, the IHC seized the opportunity to shut down 76 workshops and "business units".
Part of the problem was that the IHC itself had changed radically. From an organisation run largely by parents and volunteers, it had evolved into a government-funded Wellington bureaucracy led by disability-sector careerists."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/79045618/closing-sheltered-workshops-did-more-harm-than-good-for-intellectually-disabled
I was very peripherally involved. A friend had a son who was employed there and the closure of them meant he was now basically at home all day driving his mother crazy. I had no direct involvement with the workshops though and can only go on what they said, then, about them.
I remember a very moving interview published at the time with the mother of another person who worked there and who was now unemployed. She said that he was paid about a dollar an hour and that was all his work was really worth. She got a benefit that provided for his actual living costs but the money he received was really his pocket money but was something he was very proud of.
Why the IHC was so keen on getting rid of them was beyond her and why the then Government went along with the idea made no sense. I have seen comments that it was caused by the IHC administration being taken over by careerist civil servants in Wellington. I have no idea if that was true.
There was quite a bit of abusing the low wages going on in some of those workshops in order to keep the wages low. I had family working in some of them and standing up against this.
Some examples – a women with an intellectual disability employed by the IHC to do receptionist work for 12 years. Carried out the role as well as any other receptionist paid well below rate at a few dollars a day. Did everything from phones/reception/typing.
Each year there was supposed to be a productivity assessment that worked out the appropriate below rate pay rate for each person. A family member in this instance assessed the rate for each person based on the number of widgets at the correct quality they produced. This lift in wages for many workers was deemed by management to be too expensive (after all they had just bought all the managers new cars and were going on a trip to China) and so they buried her assessment and got an unqualified person to assess them at unsurprisingly the same rate as it had been previously. The labour inspector responsible for signing off on this previously worked for the trust involved.
The IHC has a strong resistance in it's ranks at all levels to any client in it's care earning more than the limits prescribed by WINZ for benefit purposes. It's not that the IHC gets any less money it's that the mix changes – the benefit portion which the IHC gets reduces and the DHB portion increases. The client gets to keep all extra earnings so it is in their interests to earn more. Part of another family member's jobs was finding good quality work for people with disabilities. The IHC did not like the extra paperwork that comes with earning over the exemption and so she used to get told off for having people earn more.
This is an organisation that used to keep clients money in their own coffers til they were forced to set up individual trust accounts, that took peoples disability allowance to supply finding employment services they often never supplied (friend of ours fought very hard to stop this for her intellectually disabled sister), who often colluded with poly-techs to run profit making employment courses for clients to put them somewhere for the day, that is "Idea Services" to reduce stigma most of the time but IHC when it comes to fund-raising, that for many years paid a pittance to staff working all night and so on.
I would argue that the careerist civil servants had been colluding with the IHC administration for many, many years to keep paying disabled people low wages, to profit off their work and training and to support the IHC to keep people institutionalised for as long as possible.
In reality much of the institutionlisation was a loss of freedom for the disabled.
Robert Martin gives a good insight into life before and after.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Martin_(disability_rights_activist)
https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Becoming_a_Person.html?id=zjXYoAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y#:~:targetText=Becoming%20a%20Person%20is%20the,suffered%20neglect%2C%20abuse%20and%20violence.
"he said that he was paid about a dollar an hour and that was all his work was really worth."
Parents are part of the problem – so many undervalue their own children and have such low expectations. Particularly the generation that institutionalised the majority of the disabled – out of sight out of mind.
Compounded by the reforms of the public service to replace effectiveness (e.g. giving people with disabilities a decent paid job because overall it is good for society) versus efficiency (it's only about productivity).
The joys of being able to walk into a government department if you had Downs syndrome for instance and be able to see someone like you in the workplace need to be welcomed back. Sheltered workshops should stay in the historical institutional past.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/06/trump-says-people-flush-the-toilet-10-times-and-seeks-solution
I bet the regulations won't apply to him.
I read that and the immediate thought that came to mind is he must drop some seriously floaty ones. Maybe he should stop snacking on the polystyrene boxes his favourite meals come in.
Polystyrene? Is that what gives him that peculiar hair colour? However he does seem to have a very full head of hair for a man of his age so it might seem worth it to him.
Ummm… implantation and daily professional comb overs alwyn. Add a dash of odourless hairspray and Bob's your uncle.
Combover yes, but definitely not professional. Apparently it's all his own work. No professional has ever admitted to having anything to do with it (that I know of, anyway). Be honest, do you think anyone with any kind of self-esteem whatsoever would ever confess to an abomination like that?
https://www.quora.com/How-does-Donald-Trump-style-his-hair
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/photos/2015/09/an-illustrated-history-of-donald-trumps-hair
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2775589/trump-hair-finasteride-ivanka-michael-wolff-twitter/
bronx orange is the go to
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1203048075759095808
https://boingboing.net/2019/12/05/buy-the-cheap-orange-foundatio.html
I know his words actually have no meaning whatsoever beyond hinting at whatever spiny bug up his ass is wriggling at that particular moment, but the nerdy pedant in me can't help pointing out that environmentally friendly bulbs actually de-emphasise orange and red.
That's because LEDs have proportionately very little output in red and orange compared to daylight and especially compared to incandescents (including halogens). Check out these spectra for the comparison.
https://www.twitter.com/defeat_gop/status/919220204881809408
Workers like that who just body-shame their clients and pst the image across the world should be fired immediately.
The supposedly woke left can now turn to discussing:
– Warren's chubby legs
– Biden's hair implants
– Booker's baldness, and
– The critical failure of Sanders to get a fucking haircut once a year.
Shame on you all. #MeToo my ass.
I dunno. Seems to me things people don't have immediate direct control over need to be treated with respect. But actual voluntary direct choices are fair game.
So a choice to go for a dayglo hue of fake-bronze spraytan is a legit target of mockery, but the moobs are prob'ly best left alone. (the image looks suspiciously like a fake to me, tho)
Similarly chubby legs and baldness should be off-limits. Hair implants are tricky because they were a long-ago decision that's not readily reversible and may be a different choice today.
The lack of a fucking haircut is definitely fair game if that matters to anyone. Although he'd probably lose half his support if he did go and get it tidied up, it's a big part of his maverick outsider aura.
But wait, there's more.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3918284/Spray-tans-porn-pageant-queens-Oval-Office-dodgy-military-regalia-glimpse-life-like-inside-Trump-White-House.html
..serious cables after all those hamberders and fries ..
Y'know, we really should be appreciative of the way he's expanded our vocabularies. Until he used the word, I never knew a bunch of fastfood chain budget range burgers left to go cold and congealed then stacked in a big pile was actually called a hamberder.
..it comes down, it's called rain..
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1203055422388736000
Chris Trotter has raised some interesting points and political mqneouvres open to us in NZ if we choose to accept them.
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/12/adrian-orr-reserve-banks-revolutionary.html
Anderton and Cullen gave the voting public the better option of forming our own bank – Kiwibank – as an option that consumers could freely take up.
However with about 4% of market share, it's just barely achieving its nationalistic vision. It is perfectly within the power of the government to tilt the procurement table and get Kiwibank to do all of its banking. That move alone would quadruple its power.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/115992087/18yearold-kiwibank-still-has-only-4-per-cent-of-the-market-whats-happened
Orr has given our banking system greater safety, for which he should be applauded.
But so far I don't detect any political appetite from anyone to re-nationalise anything or indeed make any move of a structural nature that Cullen and Anderton did.
Kiwibank. Doing what their customers want. Well that seems to be what they claim.
Meanwhile they are, in just a couple of months going to completely get rid of cheques.
"After 30 September 2019 Kiwibank won’t issue cheque or deposit books.
After 28 February 2020 cheque deposits will not be accepted into a Kiwibank customer account; other banks may stop accepting Kiwibank cheques.
After 28 February 2020 Kiwibank will stop providing bank cheques."
I know one or two , typically elderly, people who still use cheques. The don't want to have to do Internet banking. Well tough luck if you have been with Kiwibank, supposedly the pensioners friend.
https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/about-us/news-and-updates/media-releases/2019-05-16-kiwibank-go-cheque-free-from-2020/
They are also closing branches. Johnsonville, one of the largest Wellington suburbs is just losing their Branch. Only six weeks to go.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117917873/johnsonville-kiwibank-to-close-in-january-steady-decline-of-customers-cited
Tell me again why we have the bank? If you want a New Zealand owned bank why don't you go the the popular, and well regarded by their customers, TSB or The Co-Operative Bank.
Consumer found them to have far higher satisfaction ratings than Kiwibank or any of the majors. In 2019 Co-Op got 87%, TSB 83% and Kiwibank 66%. The big ones were lower. TSB were top in 2017 and 2018.
Incidentally the big four will have higher Capital ratios than the minnows. On the basis of Orr's arguments the big ones will be safer that than the smaller ones.
Bill Clinton was impeached on the 19th of December, 1998.
/
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called out House Democrats for trying to impeach President Donald Trump “on the eve of Christmas” during an interview with Fox News, Friday.
[…]
“And really, on the eve of Christmas it is really sad to see the dishonesty and the partisanship that the House Democrats are displaying,” he concluded.
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/newt-gingrich-slams-democrats-for-impeaching-trump-on-eve-of-christmas/
Andrew Johnson – the other impeached one – only held on to his job by a single vote.
https://time.com/5552679/impeached-presidents/
https://twitter.com/eve_rebecca/status/1203073439520710658
The Listening Post is doing an episode about conservative media interference in the UK election.
Live stream link below, finishes at 10pm, will post link to episode tomorrow It's a goodie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjIjKNcr_fk
This could be a teenager near you. Restaurant Brands is large enough to affect every region in NZ
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/117973819/pizza-hut-kfc-workers-break-silence-on-rape-threats-and-harassment
“If they took sexual harassment as seriously as they take petty theft, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” says UNITE industrial officer Duncan Allen of the raft of harassment complaints he has helped lodge.
UNITE has had complaints from employees at other companies – but nothing like Restaurant Brands, which Allen says appears to have a deep-rooted issue with its company culture.
“Far more energy (is) put into protecting the alleged harasser than there is about investigating properly and fixing things.”
He believes there’s a pattern of employees leaving their jobs because laying a complaint is made too difficult, with the company demanding specific evidence – including exact dates and times – before they will agree to look into allegations.