Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step right up to the mike…
National’s lazy, loutish junior cabinet ministers and back-benchers
Lack of talent is really starting to hurt the Government
Yesterday (Thursday 7 November 2013) it was revealed that police were lying when they claimed that they had not received any complaints from victims of the notorious West Auckland rape club the Roastbusters. If you watched parliamentary question time yesterday, you saw a clearly stressed Police Minister Ann Tolley struggling (during Question No. 2) to defend this latest instance of police calumny and/or corruption and/or incompetence and, even worse, the failure of the Government to do anything about it. As the ashen-faced Tolley struggled on, viewers’ attention would have been captured not by her substandard performance, but by what was going on in the seat behind her. A vacant-looking young man was nodding his head sedulously. Throughout Tolley’s halting performance, he continued to mug and to grin and to nod vigorously. It was an extraordinary dumb-show, a forlorn display of obedient partisanship for a lost cause. It stood out because the rest of Tolley’s beleaguered National colleagues had assumed expressions of blankness and embarrassment.
The obedient, vacant young man was actually the Rt. Hon. Simon Bridges, and his extraordinary display was just the first of a forlorn procession yesterday of the National Party’s long tail of under-performers and non-performers.
After Tolley was taken off the rack, it was time for Question No. 3—-a patsy asked by another National nonentity, Paul Goldsmith. Followers of parliament will realize that asking patsy questions is all that Paul Goldsmith has been allowed to do during his ignominiously obscure time as a List MP who got there only because he allowed himself to be the stooge or ghost candidate in Epsom, where National’s obedient supporters had been instructed not to vote for him, but for the ACT lout John Banks instead. (Party orders, you see—you don’t earn a nice house in Epsom by not doing what you’re told.)
Goldsmith’s lowly ranking in the National caucus, and his humble role as patsy question asker, is interesting—and it indicates a lot about the National Party. Paul Goldsmith is actually one of the few National Party members with a sharp intellect—he wrote an excellent history of New Zealand tax law a few years ago—but he has languished in the lowest ranks of the caucus, while a dullard like Simon Bridges has been made a cabinet minister.
A little later, I tuned in to the debate and heard Labour’s Rajan Prasad make a very effective speech. He was followed by another of National’s long tail of benchwarmers, Mike Sabin, whose speech consisted of a sarcastic remark about Prasad, a vague and insincere tribute to the members of a parliamentary committee—and nothing else.
Sabin was followed by Labour’s Sue Moroney. She spoke clearly and forcefully—but throughout her speech she was subjected to loud, sarcastic barracking by….yes, you guessed it—-Simon Bridges. The Member for Tauranga’s constant stream of rude comments was neither robust nor witty, merely sarcastic and bumptious.
Any honest observer of parliament will admit that the gulf in front-bench talent between National and Labour is stark. The commanding performance in the House by the new Labour leader David Cunliffe, and by his Green colleagues, has underlined the superiority of the liberal left.
And at the lower reaches, where the likes of Mike Sabin, Paul Goldsmith, Louise Upston, David Bennett and Tim McIndoe are snoozing and doing nothing other than shouting out inane interjections, there is simply no contest.
He’s not nodding assiduously here; like the rest of his National colleagues, he stares at the floor blankly, obviously dying inside. Steven Joyce must have told him to liven up his act for the next day’s Question Time (yesterday’s), when he was much more animated—-embarrassingly so.
Well, its been 5 (long) years since we last had a Labour government. On the 8th of November, 2008, on a sunny day just like this, New Zealand tossed out Helen Clark and brought in John Key. And the way some people carried on, it was like the Berlin Wall falling all over again, and, to add insult to injury, Roger Douglas returned to Parliament…
Other memories of that night included Hooten carrying on like a kid in a candy store, and trying to assure everyone who cared to listen that this government would be ‘very moderate’, while also warning everyone of people from Treasury and Reserve Bank knocking on Key’s door with bad news, Roger Douglas warning us all that there will be a lot of pain ahead, and it is our fault because we wanted free stuff, and Helen Clark stepping down, an entirely nessesary action if Labour was to return to power any time soon, too bad there was no obvious candidate to replace her, so Goff was chosen. TVNZ 7 (remember that?) showed footage of the 84 election, too bad the government got rid of both those channels — could have been the basis for a new era in PSTV..
We never really did find out what was in that mini-budget…its an open secret that some of the posters on here are Labour insiders, anyone has any info? Rumor had it that the Marsden Point rail link was in there…
Im not going to go into detail in regards to the “achievements” of the Fifth National government (have been over them so many times), but I note that in my town at least, the local polytech used to run a slather of ACE classes — since the government cut the funding (by 90%), there is nothing.
And the voodoo economics has been around awhile. The last time the government created money directly in this country was, IIRC, the 1st Labour government. We’ve been borrowing at interest and going deeper in debt ever since.
I would rather have Muldoon than Key — Sir Robert had our backs against the corporates. Growing up during the Great Depression gives people a sense of perspective that the likes of Simon Bridges and Jami-Lee Ross will never have.
Yep. One of the things that they learned was that socialism was necessary to keep society functioning. The pure capitalism that resulted in The Great Depression taught many lessons – lessons that we’ve forgotten to our cost.
Not sure what you mean by “make it accessible”. It’s not like you’d be able to make this medicine at home. Any legitimate business that wants to manufacture this medicine would be able to apply for a license or permission to do so – of course they’d have to prove that it wasn’t going to be used for illicit purposes, which would increase costs, but fundamentally there shouldn’t be anything stopping them from manufacturing if they meet the required conditions.
WINZ “Designated Doctors”, at least some of them known to be “hatchet doctors”, knocking many sick and disabled off benefits, and doing the “dirty work” for Paula Bennett and her MSD top dogs, here is some crucial reading and studying for you:
This is a comprehensive summary (with many links to resources for more information, with some selected PDF files containing sensitive information) that shines light on what has been going on, and what is going on in the “welfare area”!
It was already all started under the National governments in the 1990s, was quietly continued under Labour, although in a more moderate form, but has been escalated since National came back into power in 2008.
Dr David Bratt is the “Dark Knight” overseeing it all, and has apparently led to a “culture change” at WINZ, when it comes to medical assessments, now highly reliant on the bizarre “bio psycho-social model” that Professor Mansel from the UK “perverted” to design it to best suit governments, ACC and insurers, for the purpose of “off loading” sick and disabled from claims.
See also this interesting link to older info, which shows what the result of ‘Work Capacity Assessments’ was in the late 1990s, when the National government and MSD ran a first “trial” then:
David Bratt’s smug argument: “Doctors used to recommend people smoked” Excuse Me Son – are you saying your evidence is as compelling as the evidence against smoking? Or are you saying don’t trust medical orthodoxy, aren’t you trying to push a new orthodoxy, son?
Maybe people have bad health when on a benefit because
1. The benefit levels are barely survivable, no proper food or healthcare
2. The stress of dealing with WINZ
3. Social stigma and discrimination
And the fact that not having enough money to live on is often only one of many stressful factors in their lives, but one which makes every other one much worse.
“David Bratt’s smug argument: “Doctors used to recommend people smoked””
Yeaah! I thought the same gorj! Here Bratt goes on about “absurd” advice that doctors once supposedly gave to some people, and then he thinks he gets away with telling us, that work is “therapeutic” and the “best medicine” to get well from ill health and even disability!?
By the way, I have in my whole life time never heard of, nor ever met a doctor, who recommended that smoking is good for your health.
Maybe Bratt realises he is standing in a corner, has no “compelling evidence”, and now sees a need to distract from his own nonsense, by making such bizarre comments?
I’d say to him: It is time to retire, mate! The same applies to Mansel Aylward, who looks rather sickly also, same as Bratt, as their work seems to be doing little good for their health!
I am pro physical and mental activity, pro work, where it fits a person’s true capabilities, skills and interests, and where it is offered on fair, reasonable conditions and decent pay, but that is NOT, what they are on about! Work should also not be “forced” on sick or disabled, and that is what they are doing, although they claim exactly the opposite at WINZ. Only an inclusive, constructive and supportive application of welfare policies to assist sick and disabled into work is acceptable.
I think originally in the Americas, people there saw it as having medicinal qualities.
In 1571, a Spanish doctor named Nicolas Monardes wrote a book about the history of medicinal plants of the new world. In this he claimed that tobacco could cure 36 health problems.
[..]
Tobacco as a commercial product first arrived in the Ottoman Empire in the late 16th century.[14]
When tobacco first arrived in the Ottoman Empire, it attracted the attention of doctors[15] and became a commonly prescribed medicine for many ailments.
I read somewhere recently that doctors in the 19th century UK used to often prescribe tobacco for some ailments. Maybe here.
But whatever… I wouldn’t trust how Bratt uses such information. How is he still being listened to by authorities?
”Desperado wont you come to your senses part 3”,In news fresh from RadioNZ National Peter ‘the hairdo’ Dunne is said to definitely be standing in the Ohariu seat again whilst begging Slippery the Prime Minister to support His bid for another term, the PM has indicated that even He,(after 5 years of doing deals that reek), couldn’t bring Himself to stand such a stench,
Expect that tho to change when orders come down from on high from National Party HQ as their nerves become more frayed as November 2014 approaches,
The laughter is about to reach gut busting proportions here as Te Ururoa Flavell from the Maori Party is set to address this weekends United Future Party conference in what appears to be a picture of the rats holding hands as the ship sinks,
There is no indication yet as to where ‘the conference’ will be held but you can bet it will be somewhere really really small…
Chooky, that is the type of observations which I was alluding to. MB has operated as a hatchet, there is no doubt in my mind about that.
The venom and insults from the self styled on these boards, while unfortunate is exactly why there is unlikely to ever be a turn around in the fortunes of the majority if inhabitants of Aotearoa, they are simply incapable of accepting that the systems/services, and people controlling those systems/services, are actively killing our fellow Kiwis, allowing them to be maimed, raped, beaten and so forth, and what concerns me most of all, is that these self styles pass comment and carry on as if that same system is somehow going to turn around and change its operating strategy.
To make change, will require acceptance that there are horrible truths which people will have to accept sooner or later. because it should be very clear by now that conventional thinking or rationale is no longer applicable to deciphering the reasons for the decline of our country, no matter how many times people wish it away, many can sense there is something much more sinister involved.
@ Karol fyi, my comments were never intended to thread jack, thats your interpretation, not my intention. You use the term, core issues, but are not aware of what those core issues actually are, yet you pour scorn upon another perspective of where the core issues could exist, but you interpret and decide are they could not possibly be relevant.
@ Murray Olsen, while not familiar with the references that J90 or yourself make (seems you have read some material), my neighbour for many years was the mother of Maria Jungowska, she recently passed away, and there are some very odd circumstances which were explained, so while I am not aware of what else you may have read, I have heard some things which would raise eyebrows.
[karol: muzza, it’s perfectly legitimate to raise wider issues about general systems on other threads. For that reason I’m moving this to open mike (from the sound of dragging feet thread), because it does look like a thread jack. if you don’t want it to look like a thread jack – provide specific evidence of how it relates to the issues addressed by my post.
You seem unwilling to discuss issues related to the core ones addressed in my post, about the conduct of police with respect to rape and sexual assault, and relevant ministerial oversight.
I do also have some concerns about the overall workings of our government and systems – but that’s another topic.]
Yes this topic belongs over here Muzza, I have butted out of the rape culture commentary. I like your comment what concerns me most of all, is that these self styles pass comment and carry on as if that same system is somehow going to turn around and change its operating strategy. Hundred percent. There are huge events afoot that will make todays debate pale into insignificance because they are so inconceivably large. And todays “solutions” that don’t work wont do any better then.
Actually I am rather bored, ennuied out with the way contributors here are caught up in their own paradigms, unable to envisage other possibilities. I am presented with left libertarian dogma, marxist thought, Fem101 and rape culture etc etc as things I must accept or be deemed wrong. Goodo I will be wrong, to err is human. The last cop who batoned me was human too, he bought me a beer a few years later.
Just wondering aloud, thinking will my great grand daughter ask her mother what things like Marxism and feminism were? And be answered, Oh just Utopian ideals that did not survive our role back into subsistence serfdom in formerly Antarctic climes….
You know the answer..good music..great lyrics….gonna hum Dire Straits Romeo on the way home as an antidote the malaise…the widespread inability to imagine romance.. roasters try and imagine that!
I just have very little time to even do the basics like scan and moderate comments. Writing posts.. Pah!
Last nights post was written late at night while I was preparing and upgrading the server system again. It is now running on two (actually n) webservers, one pico server with the file system, one database server, a memcache on a different system, and the content distribution network for the graphics etc..
If you think I’m a bit worried about scalability (and dispersion) coming into the election next year – then you’d right. Pretty freaky how you can disperse systems across nets these days and still have them running fast.
Anyway, I wish I had your time to indulge in ennui…
Just wondering aloud, thinking will my great grand daughter ask her mother what things like Marxism and feminism were? And be answered, Oh just Utopian ideals that did not survive our role back into subsistence serfdom in formerly Antarctic climes….
aha, Cassandras box and Enlightenment ideas… once out of the box you can never get them back in. Dangerous items unless used wisely. As my mother says, “All things in moderation….”
Ennui, the irony as I see it, is these so called lefties are as much a lead weight to meaningful change as the right wing, neoliberals they proclaim to detest, yet are cut from different shades of the same cloth.
Very little of funtional use can come from the self styled on these boards, few of them have anything of practical value by way of opinions or original thought which offers encouragement for the future.
Muzza, nice summary. I am reminded of Carl Yung on this one….” We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”
And that, is the asteroid crater comment which ends civilisation. Well done Ennui. Please make sure no one’s delicate sensibilities are hurt en passant.
@ muzza….I dont think you deliberately hijacked the thread….and I found it very interesting….and continued with it….but I guess the core posted topic was rape and police culture…and this issue could have got sidetracked by our discussion
…you perceptively were remembering and pointing to wider systemic issues about who conducts inquiries for the government and in particular the inquiry led by Bazley into police and sex abuse/rape issues…..indicating that, maybe given her history…her inquiry was lacking ( in depth or real solutions)and that there were serious systemic issues which have not been addressed……these are good points…and obviously this is the case!
….but to nail this issue, someone either has to do a lot of research or be an expert in the field of policing and law and womens/girls rights to point out where MB’s inquiry failed …it could be a very important subject of another post
(….because clearly at the moment, police ‘solutions’ of waiting until the ‘evidence’ is acceptable for a court case ….(and/or the victims come forward prepared for court ordeals) … are not solutions at all….and more crimes are being committed against vulnerable young girls…and the abusers are getting away with their vile crimes….eg why didnt the police pro-actively follow the evidence…by wiring up undercover agents the way they do with drug offenses?…and why werent parents and schools and young girls warned about this rapist gang?)
Chooky, you have interpreted my comments, as they were intended, cheers. Good to know that someone else on here is cognizant of the hack jobs which MB has been at the head of, leading to more or less everything she has been involved with, broken, failing and in steady decline.
At what point might the discussion about rape culture, cross paths with pedophile culture, and what level of influence might it be having alongside,rape culture which clearly exists, should further evidence of a cover up, and some indicators as to why there was a cover up, start to filter out.
St John’s has a terrible history including recent cases of statutory, so what is going inside these so called pillar institutions which are supposed to provide support, safety, protection and indeed life giving services.
@ Ennui, agreed, acceptance is necessary! Understanding or being aware what one is accepting would be beneficial if possible. In absence of clearer understanding, general acceptance that the cogs of the existing machinery never being the vehicles of salvation, would be a bloody good start.
That is his usual refrain. I usually don’t release the trackbacks as part of my usual anti-link-whoring defaults. But in this case, it needs to be a wide debate on the police force. It isn’t something that gets dealt with in parliament. The police aren’t listening to the IPCA or the courts. They clearly haven’t implemented the results of the Bazley report.
There is no other effective route for the public to voice their concerns except through social media and to a lesser extent through the more myopic mass media.
Like what? Reforming certain aspects of police culture appears to be something that hasn’t been successfully accomplished in 20-30 years. What else would you like time and effort to be spent on? What is the root cause of organisational cultural dysfunction in the police in your view.
I remember that some of Billy T’s comic situations revolved around trying to get served in pubs while heavily drunk, and an entire episode of the rural sitcom (“Rabbiter’s Rest”?) revolved around how the drunk punters were going to evade the mean traffic cop who was sitting outside the pub carpark to arrest the drunk drivers – everyone in the bar.
So in 20 or 30 years, things have changed significantly. There’s a long way to go in both issues, but I guess I’m an optimist about humanity at heart. 🙂
Absolutely. That was around a very specific and identifiable behaviour. Poorer, brown, females are still at very
It was accomplished by implementing widespread educational programmes, advertising campaigns and strictly regulating commercial activities like advertising and packaging.
Maybe something similar and comprehensive needs to be done.
“Maybe something similar and comprehensive needs to be done.”
Yes, which begs the question of why it isn’t. When you have a society largely in denial about rape culture, then it makes sense that it can’t form good social and health policy around rape cessation. That’s why this past week is so astonishing. It’s the first time I remember that NZ has stood up and acknowledged rape culture and said ‘enough!’. Reading the term ‘rape culture’ in the NZ MSM is revolutionary. It opens the way, slightly, for policy makers to start talking about this now too.
So in 20 or 30 years, things have changed significantly. There’s a long way to go in both issues, but I guess I’m an optimist about humanity at heart. 🙂
Yes the binge drinking/preloading happens at home now.
urrgh, a friend of mine bought a flagon of Cream Sherry yesterday. I’m fascinated about the markets there are for the wide range of alcoholic beverages available. The range is huge, yet when I asked a retailer recently, he said, “It all sells”. Flicking over to this programme Street Hospital while Coro ads on, the levels of public intoxication and the impairment of behaviour is astounding. ( I feel less personal shame now 😉 )
ps. I do not believe programmes like Police 10-7 help public perceptions of police, or the offenders profiled at all.
reply to rogue trooper, th reply tag is gone. “it all sells”, my mate that runs a liquor shop, told me what sells the most is the fill your own vodkas, sherry & gin, he has to keep refilling those all the time. cheap & cheerful.
Lolz, if you do soil yourself in such a manner ask PG whether the ‘Leader’ has got a squizz at any of the little leaflets doing the rounds over in Ohariu about the ‘Hairdo’s’ crimes…
Check out BLiP’s roll of dishonour (#23) on the headline post, the blue bellies seem to be own goal experts without needing the assistance of troublesome bloggers.
Got a taste of power-down life last night out here in Auckland’s west. No power from 6.30pm to 11pm. Thank gods for books. Don’t know how I’d cope without batteries though.
Every house should have its own backup battery supply so at least a limited functionality of power is kept, ie lighting, basic food heating, refrigeration, medical equipment, etc, it could be charged by solar panels or something.
Though, I wish some Business managers were a bit more assertive and would withdraw funding from RadioLive altogether and not just the JT & WJ show. RadioLive is protecting these rape apologists and inappropriate role models.
“But RadioLive would like to reiterate that we in no way condone the actions of the ‘Roast Busters’ or any violence against women,” it said.
“We apologise unreservedly for any offence or distress caused to listeners, clients or others by Willie and JT’s interview with Amy.”
Still waiting for them to apologise for their employees being such arseholes, and to apologise for broadcasting that crap. As long as they keep allowing WJ and JT to keep being rape apologists on air, then they are condoning violence against women. Rape enablers rather than bystanders at this point. If they really wanted to do the right thing they would give some air time to people who can talk intelligently about rape culture, without having to contend with WJJT. I’m sure they could even find someone who relates to their target audience.
well, it was looking fairly toxic for them in last nights MSM;
The contrasting statements of Tolley ( picture Tolley, picture my mother )within a minute when interviewed over the IPCA investigation
-“…the media this week has not been well-handled…” (ricochet the messengers)
followed by
-“[the Police] don’t give New Zealand families enough confidence this process has been well-handled.”
and Brownlee on requesting an inquiry into the “Do Not Survey” notifications EQC made about, and to, clients in Canterbury…”…one of those things that goes to the heart of confidence…”
New Zealanders are losing confidence in this NAct charade of a government.
Comment from Chris Trotter on on Bowalley Road 6/11 Two Out of Three Ain’t Enough about the years 1980s to now and the legacy of loss of good left political decisions. http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
Observing the party closely since the departure of Helen Clark in 2008 has been a little like watching Rip Van Winkle rousing himself from twenty long years of slumber.
The radicalism which had built up such a head of steam in the Labour Party following the 1981 Springbok Tour, and which helped to generate the record 93.7 percent voter turnout at the 1984 snap election, was brought to a shuddering halt by Rogernomics……
Which leaves only the third component in Labour’s machine – the Caucus. At the conference just concluded a distressingly large number of Labour MPs put on a display of childish pique that bodes very ill for the party’s future.
This surly, sulking behaviour is driven by the fact that the caucus’s understanding of itself and its role has proved to be the most difficult legacy of Rogernomics to eradicate.
Before Rogernomics, Labour’s caucus arose almost organically from the party organisation: its values and the party’s values being both consistent and compatible. But the imposition of neoliberalism from within the framework of a left-wing political party radically recast the caucus’s role. Rogernomics required Labour MPs to overawe and repress the rank-and-file. Far too many Labour MPs still see their role as bringing the membership into line with their views.
I had an interesting conversation about the living wage proposal with a guy who currently earns (I guesstimate from our convo) around $20-$21PH. He absolutely hates the idea of a living wage. To quote: “why should someone earn almost as much as me for cleaning a shithouse? I went and got qualified. I might as well clean toilets. If they get an extra $5 and then I should get $5 an hour more as well”.
This is a common reaction amongst lower paid people, and it reminds me of a piece of dialogue from the 1988 movie Mississippi Burning:
“Anderson: You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old Negro farmer lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was, uh, – well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my Daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. Now, my Daddy hated that mule, ’cause his friends were always kiddin’ him about oh, they saw Monroe out plowin’ with his new mule, and Monroe was gonna rent another field now they had a mule. And one morning that mule just showed up dead. They poisoned the water. And after that there was never any mention about that mule around my Daddy. It just never came up. So one time, we were drivin’ down the road and we passed Monroe’s place and we saw it was empty. He’d just packed up and left, I guess. Gone up North, or somethin’. I looked over at my Daddy’s face – and I knew he’d done it. And he saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and he said: ‘If you ain’t better than a nigger, son, who are you better than?’ …He was an old man just so full of hate that he didn’t know that bein’ poor was what was killin’ him.”
great movie, and a great illustration Sanctuary; the politics of envy overlaying the politics of entitlement, overlaying plain old personal insecurity. My upbringing and the majority of my employment occurred among our Redneck brethren…too ignorant by choice to know any better.
“Wonderful people everywhere
The way they comb their hair
[…]
Boys ‘n’ girls with new clothes on
You can Shake 😎 it to me all night long
Hey hey
It’s not for me
It’s a Beautiful World” -Devo
“She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean… “
“Colonial Viper 11.2.1.3.1
31 December 2010 at 7:04 pm
In that case I suggest a wager of NZ$500 to go to a major NZ charity of the winner’s choice tsmithfield. Specifically, I wager you that NYMEX Crude will break US$200 per barrel before the end of 2015. Offer good for 48 hours from now :D”
Are you interested in reviving that wager made back here?
Fascinating. As it turns out, ongoing economic decline with no recovery in the industrial economy has meant that demand growth has been low even as more expensive sources of oil have been developed.
Agreed. My changed stance is that price increases are not required to make oil more unaffordable; national income deflation is accomplishing the same thing.
BTW – a bit cheeky to try and revisit a bet more than half way through the horse race 😛
The triumph of neoliberalism continues in the land of the free to be greedy and the free to be needy and destitute, the U$$$$$$$$$ with endless bailouts for the greedy banks where the Washington consensus began and the Chicago school with Milton Friedman. The wretched land our RWNJ pollies love to copy: Especially destruction of the Commonwealth for privatised wealth gain.
‘Which America Do You Live In? – 21 Hard To Believe Facts About “Wealthy America” And “Poor America” ‘
#1 The lowest earning 23,303,064 Americans combined make 36 percent less than the highest earning 2,915 Americans do.
#5 According to numbers that were just released this week, 49.7 million Americans are living in poverty. That is a brand new all-time record high.
#8 According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.
#19 Approximately one out of every five households in the United States is now on food stamps.
#20 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today.
#18 Today, the United States actually has a higher percentage of workers doing low wage work than any other major industrialized nation does.
(Isn’t that one of the NATZ’s goal for us? Unless you’re a CEO or top of the pile exec where you can only be motivated to work harder by paying yourself more and more with outrageous termination packages?)
I am extremely disappointed with JT and Willie, as they were about the only ones I ever listened to on Radio Live. I am surprised though that there has not been more scrutiny put onto the truly “Nat mate” and right wing journo or presenter Sean Plunket. He is a difficult one, I know, he can present himself rather well and “independently” like on “The Nation”, but his spot on Radio Live is appalling, when it comes to talk back. He has himself been so chauvinistic repeatedly, it is not funny. But it must have gone below the radar here, as nobody would bother listening to him for a start. I feel that he deserves more criticism than Willie and JT, and I am sorry to offend people here, as I know that both made some inappropriate and stupid comments this week.
I believe that at least one, if not both, have daughters, and I expect them to be taken to task at home for sure.
Personally I expect an apology from both, to come clean.
Calling Rhinocrates ….
PLEASE don’t be listening to “The Panel”! (in particular that SF who I had to witness slipping up the MT Vic Hill the other day)
it’s an exercise in listening to the pithy – or rather the pissy.
The nicest man on Earth is absent, but one of the RW guest’s is trying to do his best to replace him, whilst the other is just trying (Hard)
Simon Pound taking the gloves off today!
ACT/SS thug on the ropes
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 8 November 2013
Paul Brennan, Stephen Franks, Simon Pound
Stephen Franks is a former ACT MP, which means he was a parliamentary colleague of the disgraced identity thief and doctor-assaulter David Garrett, as well as the notorious perk-taker Rodney Hide. He is also a “legal counsel” with that notorious gang of knife-killing enthusiasts, Garth the Knife McVicar’s S.S. Trust. All of which should make it surprising to hear Franks pontificating today, in relation to the Roastbusters/Police failure scandal, about “the boundaries of morality.” He has just intoned: “We have a society which doesn’t know where the bounds of behaviour are….”
But people familiar with this fellow will not be surprised to see him contradicting himself like this; they know just what a canting hypocrite he is. As you listen to Franks talking about morality—his key word during these lectures is “wickedness”—bear in mind that he was a colleague of David Garrett and Rodney Hide, and works closely as a “legal counsel” with that notorious gang of knife enthusiasts, the S.S. Trust.
So far Simon Pound has challenged him robustly. He has poured scorn on Franks’ lame defence of police inaction, and was even more contemptuous of Franks’s idiotic attempt to suggest that reading Fifty Shades of Grey was somehow equivalent to raping a thirteen-year-old. Pound is showing an entirely unexpected strength of character.
I have to leave now, unfortunately, but I would appreciate it if someone could transcribe the remainder of what has so far been a complete and utter ass-whuppin’ for a real villain.
Oh Bugger Morrissey – I meant you (see post above, rather than Rhino). It was intended as cyber community service bulletin in an attempt to save you heartache and reduce the need for a beta blocker or two 😉
Never mind though – the weight of his smugness means you can see him struggling to get up the hill (Hawker Street) sometimes.
Thanks Tim. I tuned in later to the show just in time to hear Franks indulge in another one of his trademark rants: this time it was against the “parasitic art culture”, whatever that means. I suspect Franks himself has not thought seriously about it, and if challenged would have had to back down or substantially qualify his bizarre statement. Rather than being challenged, or asked to clarify, however, he went on to praise artists who did not belong to the “parasitic art culture”. His exemplar for these paragons of individual enterprise was “Sir” Peter Jackson.
Clearly, in the fertile mind of Stephen Franks, Downstage Theatre accepting a small government grant is parasitic, but accepting more than $100 million of government subsidy, plus the government collaborating with Warner Bros. to destroy the local actors’ union is heroic individualism.
“A police raid of an Auckland storage unit linked to the Hells Angels has turned up six firearms, including military-style assault rifles”
– An assault rifle IS a military rifle so why would they say military-style assault rifles? They’ve basically said military-style military rifles which is redundant…just bugs me is all
Yeah, sure they did. That’s why you’ll be able to provide an example. Come on, a Labour or Green press release re-printed verbatim by a main stream news outlet. Just one.
A redundant adjective tells you that NZ might not be as well served by the MSM as it could be?
Wow.
The constant updates on charlotte dawson and other celebs of the week did that for me years ago. Not to mention headlines that are contradicted in their story, or front-page photos of disorderly youths recycled from two years previously (ODT did that one).
It’s pretty much pointless at any time as the term itself is so broad as to be meaningless. A hunters rifle with a scope on it could be well within its meaning as well as a handgun.
No, IMO, it’s scare mongering i.e, ZOMG they have military weapons as if a 308 cal bullet is more deadly from and assault rifle than from a hunters rifle.
Yeah that’s or very well and do if they have been caught with MSA Rifles. But do those Muppets know and understand the 4 principles of marksmanship to use them effectively?
Part of the problem – some of the shots fired into a house in the last few days went into the kids’ bedroom. A bullet is effective regardless of whom it hits.
It looked to me that he was very distracted, seemed to be in disagreement with something that both National and Labour were agreed on, “how many people will die because of this bill” was way otp…his whole performance just looked wrong (for lack of a better term) like it wasn’t the Mallard I’m used to seeing
Craigs Investment Partners upset foreigners might not be able to suck as much money out
”If this sort of thing becomes standard, overseas investors will look at our sharemarket and say it’s too difficult to invest and give it a wide berth.
”If they cannot get certainty, they will go away. Now, they have to look at a company, how it makes money, whether it reports a profit and pays dividends. The uncertainty around the regulatory regime will cause concerns about the companies being able to carry on their business in a normal way,” Mr Timms said.
Fuck, the idea of having to do some work and research around your multi-million dollar investments is simply unrealistic it seems.
What foreign investors in the NZX apparently want is the ability to clip the ticket with “certainty.”
What foreign investors in the NZX apparently want is the ability to clip the ticket with “certainty.”
That’s what the capitalists have always wanted. IMO, It’s what brought about limited liability, the Fire at Will Bill, union busting and a whole lot more laws.
I post stuff I observe or experience. Its others who give it a label.
human experience can be a mirror. Some cringe at the sight some gaze for ages but dont really see and so on.
I live in hope that people will speak out against the status quo regardless of self interest. The young woman shot for demanding education for girls. But in reality I hope for that spark of courage to ignite people off their couches to sometimes say “enough”.
I will march on 16 october because I want anyone who has been abused to speak up and know that many people will support them.
Agree, it is disgraceful and criminal what goes on in Sri Lanka, but the NZ media , again, report NADA, as if nothing ever happened. And PM Key behaves just the same, he should bury his head in total SHAME!
“Sixteen I fell in love with a girl as sweet as could be
Only took a couple of days ’til she was rid of me.
She swore that she would be all mine and love me to the end,
But when I whispered in her ear I lost another friend…”
Despite the growing evidence that corporate sovereignty clauses in international treaties pose considerable risks to nations that sign them, such “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) mechanisms are present in both TPP and TAFTA/TTIP — at least as far as we know: it’s hard to be sure given the obsessive secrecy surrounding them.
South Africa has experienced first hand the reality of those bland-sounding systems and the behind-closed-doors tribunals that implement them. Here’s what happened when it set about transforming the country after apartheid, as this column on the South African Independent Online site explains:
We’re finding out just how bad it can be when corporations are allowed to sue countries when the countries pass laws to make their citizens better off.
I wonder if what we need is to separate the police from prosecution and hand all prosecution over to a separate organisation. The police would be responsible for detection and apprehension the Prosecutors office would be responsible for ensuring police gather evidence needed for a successful case.
It seems that there is too much vested interest involved when police both detect and decide when to prosecute.
Any thoughts?
Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe have it so that instead of complainants going to the police they go to the prosecutors office who then directs the police to gather evidence.
Such an office would have to staffed with lawyers and not from police ranks.
This is what we need in NZ, a NZ version of Camilla Vallejo, a true Leader and passionate speaker, there are other good examples. Kiwis are peaceful, a bit too docile, and this is what the elite capitalist regime here exploits, same as their media lackeys, you are all held at ransom by those forces.
Wake up, think, ask, challenge and more, it is YOUR power, that is you, el pueblo. por favor, good luck.
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
start the day with some humour..eh..?
http://www.alternet.org/video/watch-jimmy-kimmel-how-tell-if-your-mayor-smoking-crack
phillip ure..
National’s lazy, loutish junior cabinet ministers and back-benchers
Lack of talent is really starting to hurt the Government
Yesterday (Thursday 7 November 2013) it was revealed that police were lying when they claimed that they had not received any complaints from victims of the notorious West Auckland rape club the Roastbusters. If you watched parliamentary question time yesterday, you saw a clearly stressed Police Minister Ann Tolley struggling (during Question No. 2) to defend this latest instance of police calumny and/or corruption and/or incompetence and, even worse, the failure of the Government to do anything about it. As the ashen-faced Tolley struggled on, viewers’ attention would have been captured not by her substandard performance, but by what was going on in the seat behind her. A vacant-looking young man was nodding his head sedulously. Throughout Tolley’s halting performance, he continued to mug and to grin and to nod vigorously. It was an extraordinary dumb-show, a forlorn display of obedient partisanship for a lost cause. It stood out because the rest of Tolley’s beleaguered National colleagues had assumed expressions of blankness and embarrassment.
The obedient, vacant young man was actually the Rt. Hon. Simon Bridges, and his extraordinary display was just the first of a forlorn procession yesterday of the National Party’s long tail of under-performers and non-performers.
After Tolley was taken off the rack, it was time for Question No. 3—-a patsy asked by another National nonentity, Paul Goldsmith. Followers of parliament will realize that asking patsy questions is all that Paul Goldsmith has been allowed to do during his ignominiously obscure time as a List MP who got there only because he allowed himself to be the stooge or ghost candidate in Epsom, where National’s obedient supporters had been instructed not to vote for him, but for the ACT lout John Banks instead. (Party orders, you see—you don’t earn a nice house in Epsom by not doing what you’re told.)
Goldsmith’s lowly ranking in the National caucus, and his humble role as patsy question asker, is interesting—and it indicates a lot about the National Party. Paul Goldsmith is actually one of the few National Party members with a sharp intellect—he wrote an excellent history of New Zealand tax law a few years ago—but he has languished in the lowest ranks of the caucus, while a dullard like Simon Bridges has been made a cabinet minister.
A little later, I tuned in to the debate and heard Labour’s Rajan Prasad make a very effective speech. He was followed by another of National’s long tail of benchwarmers, Mike Sabin, whose speech consisted of a sarcastic remark about Prasad, a vague and insincere tribute to the members of a parliamentary committee—and nothing else.
Sabin was followed by Labour’s Sue Moroney. She spoke clearly and forcefully—but throughout her speech she was subjected to loud, sarcastic barracking by….yes, you guessed it—-Simon Bridges. The Member for Tauranga’s constant stream of rude comments was neither robust nor witty, merely sarcastic and bumptious.
Any honest observer of parliament will admit that the gulf in front-bench talent between National and Labour is stark. The commanding performance in the House by the new Labour leader David Cunliffe, and by his Green colleagues, has underlined the superiority of the liberal left.
And at the lower reaches, where the likes of Mike Sabin, Paul Goldsmith, Louise Upston, David Bennett and Tim McIndoe are snoozing and doing nothing other than shouting out inane interjections, there is simply no contest.
Nice work mozza.
Is there a link where we can get a visual on Bridges ?
Would like to write him some commentary to go with a link to his performance. Maybe ask him what he is looking for in life’s journey!
Here he is on Wednesday……
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re_CsKIh1qo&feature=c4-overview&list=UU3A_NzK_nFHkFmJu-TLHUFg
He’s not nodding assiduously here; like the rest of his National colleagues, he stares at the floor blankly, obviously dying inside. Steven Joyce must have told him to liven up his act for the next day’s Question Time (yesterday’s), when he was much more animated—-embarrassingly so.
Well, its been 5 (long) years since we last had a Labour government. On the 8th of November, 2008, on a sunny day just like this, New Zealand tossed out Helen Clark and brought in John Key. And the way some people carried on, it was like the Berlin Wall falling all over again, and, to add insult to injury, Roger Douglas returned to Parliament…
Other memories of that night included Hooten carrying on like a kid in a candy store, and trying to assure everyone who cared to listen that this government would be ‘very moderate’, while also warning everyone of people from Treasury and Reserve Bank knocking on Key’s door with bad news, Roger Douglas warning us all that there will be a lot of pain ahead, and it is our fault because we wanted free stuff, and Helen Clark stepping down, an entirely nessesary action if Labour was to return to power any time soon, too bad there was no obvious candidate to replace her, so Goff was chosen. TVNZ 7 (remember that?) showed footage of the 84 election, too bad the government got rid of both those channels — could have been the basis for a new era in PSTV..
We never really did find out what was in that mini-budget…its an open secret that some of the posters on here are Labour insiders, anyone has any info? Rumor had it that the Marsden Point rail link was in there…
Im not going to go into detail in regards to the “achievements” of the Fifth National government (have been over them so many times), but I note that in my town at least, the local polytech used to run a slather of ACE classes — since the government cut the funding (by 90%), there is nothing.
That’s what happens when Labour doesn’t adequately Tory Proof progressive enterprises. Its like shooting fish in a barrel for the Nats.
Don’t you mean 38 “long” years since the last Labour Government?
Labour was voted out and Muldoon got in, in 1975.
Then there was the first ACT Government.
Then 9 years of continued National light, benny bashing and voodoo economics.
+1
And the voodoo economics has been around awhile. The last time the government created money directly in this country was, IIRC, the 1st Labour government. We’ve been borrowing at interest and going deeper in debt ever since.
I would rather have Muldoon than Key — Sir Robert had our backs against the corporates. Growing up during the Great Depression gives people a sense of perspective that the likes of Simon Bridges and Jami-Lee Ross will never have.
Yep. One of the things that they learned was that socialism was necessary to keep society functioning. The pure capitalism that resulted in The Great Depression taught many lessons – lessons that we’ve forgotten to our cost.
http://www.alternet.org/marijuana-miracle-5-exciting-new-discoveries-about-pot
(excerpt:..)
“..The discovery of pot’s astonishing medical potential –
– is the most compelling new reason for legalizing the plant.
Cannabidiol (CBD) – a nonpsychoactive component of the cannabis plant – is generating quite a buzz among medical scientists and health professionals.
Nothing else is able to help treatment-resistant epileptic children with Dravet syndrome and related disorders.
On August 11 2013 Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s nationally televised report on CNN discussed the astonishing transformation of Charlotte Figi –
– a 7-year-old epileptic who had 300 “tonic-clonic” seizures a week – until she ingested a CBD-infused tincture.
She has been nearly seizure-free since her parents began giving her a daily dose of CBD.
Nor is Charlotte an isolated case:
– dozens of families with children suffering from intractable epilepsy are reporting dramatic results with cannabidiol. .”
(cont..)
phillip ure..
Er, you don’t need to legalise joints in order for a medicine to be made from the plant.
Just like how you can get medical cocaine and obviously morphine.
“Er, you don’t need to legalise joints in order for a medicine to be made from the plant.”
You do if you want to make it accessible.
In fact, in this country, it’s an offence to just grow the plant. Let alone harvest it or do anything with it.
I know that Canterbury University psychology department routinely uses cocaine and other addictive, otherwise-illegal drugs in their studies on rats.
yeah, though I think a more respectful term for freshers should be used if possible.
***just kidding***
Not sure what you mean by “make it accessible”. It’s not like you’d be able to make this medicine at home. Any legitimate business that wants to manufacture this medicine would be able to apply for a license or permission to do so – of course they’d have to prove that it wasn’t going to be used for illicit purposes, which would increase costs, but fundamentally there shouldn’t be anything stopping them from manufacturing if they meet the required conditions.
What constitutes an “illicit purpose” exactly?
WINZ “Designated Doctors”, at least some of them known to be “hatchet doctors”, knocking many sick and disabled off benefits, and doing the “dirty work” for Paula Bennett and her MSD top dogs, here is some crucial reading and studying for you:
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/15463-designated-doctors-%e2%80%93-used-by-work-and-income-some-also-used-by-acc/
This is a comprehensive summary (with many links to resources for more information, with some selected PDF files containing sensitive information) that shines light on what has been going on, and what is going on in the “welfare area”!
It was already all started under the National governments in the 1990s, was quietly continued under Labour, although in a more moderate form, but has been escalated since National came back into power in 2008.
Dr David Bratt is the “Dark Knight” overseeing it all, and has apparently led to a “culture change” at WINZ, when it comes to medical assessments, now highly reliant on the bizarre “bio psycho-social model” that Professor Mansel from the UK “perverted” to design it to best suit governments, ACC and insurers, for the purpose of “off loading” sick and disabled from claims.
See also this interesting link to older info, which shows what the result of ‘Work Capacity Assessments’ was in the late 1990s, when the National government and MSD ran a first “trial” then:
http://www.dol.govt.nz/publication-view.asp?ID=45
Cheers xtasy,
Watch Aylward from 2:14 in Getting Better at Work video, chilling stuff..
Link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPNqBJ4n-x0#t=154
Thoughts..
David Bratt’s smug argument: “Doctors used to recommend people smoked” Excuse Me Son – are you saying your evidence is as compelling as the evidence against smoking? Or are you saying don’t trust medical orthodoxy, aren’t you trying to push a new orthodoxy, son?
Maybe people have bad health when on a benefit because
1. The benefit levels are barely survivable, no proper food or healthcare
2. The stress of dealing with WINZ
3. Social stigma and discrimination
And the fact that not having enough money to live on is often only one of many stressful factors in their lives, but one which makes every other one much worse.
“David Bratt’s smug argument: “Doctors used to recommend people smoked””
Yeaah! I thought the same gorj! Here Bratt goes on about “absurd” advice that doctors once supposedly gave to some people, and then he thinks he gets away with telling us, that work is “therapeutic” and the “best medicine” to get well from ill health and even disability!?
By the way, I have in my whole life time never heard of, nor ever met a doctor, who recommended that smoking is good for your health.
Maybe Bratt realises he is standing in a corner, has no “compelling evidence”, and now sees a need to distract from his own nonsense, by making such bizarre comments?
I’d say to him: It is time to retire, mate! The same applies to Mansel Aylward, who looks rather sickly also, same as Bratt, as their work seems to be doing little good for their health!
I am pro physical and mental activity, pro work, where it fits a person’s true capabilities, skills and interests, and where it is offered on fair, reasonable conditions and decent pay, but that is NOT, what they are on about! Work should also not be “forced” on sick or disabled, and that is what they are doing, although they claim exactly the opposite at WINZ. Only an inclusive, constructive and supportive application of welfare policies to assist sick and disabled into work is acceptable.
“Doctors used to recommend people smoked””
That was way back at the beginning of the 19th century, or earlier.
I think originally in the Americas, people there saw it as having medicinal qualities.
I read somewhere recently that doctors in the 19th century UK used to often prescribe tobacco for some ailments. Maybe here.
But whatever… I wouldn’t trust how Bratt uses such information. How is he still being listened to by authorities?
karol – thank you so much, you prove to me, Bratt lives in the “dark ages”, yet more evidence against his “(un)compelling evidence”, thank you!
”Desperado wont you come to your senses part 3”,In news fresh from RadioNZ National Peter ‘the hairdo’ Dunne is said to definitely be standing in the Ohariu seat again whilst begging Slippery the Prime Minister to support His bid for another term, the PM has indicated that even He,(after 5 years of doing deals that reek), couldn’t bring Himself to stand such a stench,
Expect that tho to change when orders come down from on high from National Party HQ as their nerves become more frayed as November 2014 approaches,
The laughter is about to reach gut busting proportions here as Te Ururoa Flavell from the Maori Party is set to address this weekends United Future Party conference in what appears to be a picture of the rats holding hands as the ship sinks,
There is no indication yet as to where ‘the conference’ will be held but you can bet it will be somewhere really really small…
Chooky, that is the type of observations which I was alluding to. MB has operated as a hatchet, there is no doubt in my mind about that.
The venom and insults from the self styled on these boards, while unfortunate is exactly why there is unlikely to ever be a turn around in the fortunes of the majority if inhabitants of Aotearoa, they are simply incapable of accepting that the systems/services, and people controlling those systems/services, are actively killing our fellow Kiwis, allowing them to be maimed, raped, beaten and so forth, and what concerns me most of all, is that these self styles pass comment and carry on as if that same system is somehow going to turn around and change its operating strategy.
To make change, will require acceptance that there are horrible truths which people will have to accept sooner or later. because it should be very clear by now that conventional thinking or rationale is no longer applicable to deciphering the reasons for the decline of our country, no matter how many times people wish it away, many can sense there is something much more sinister involved.
@ Karol fyi, my comments were never intended to thread jack, thats your interpretation, not my intention. You use the term, core issues, but are not aware of what those core issues actually are, yet you pour scorn upon another perspective of where the core issues could exist, but you interpret and decide are they could not possibly be relevant.
@ Murray Olsen, while not familiar with the references that J90 or yourself make (seems you have read some material), my neighbour for many years was the mother of Maria Jungowska, she recently passed away, and there are some very odd circumstances which were explained, so while I am not aware of what else you may have read, I have heard some things which would raise eyebrows.
[karol: muzza, it’s perfectly legitimate to raise wider issues about general systems on other threads. For that reason I’m moving this to open mike (from the sound of dragging feet thread), because it does look like a thread jack. if you don’t want it to look like a thread jack – provide specific evidence of how it relates to the issues addressed by my post.
You seem unwilling to discuss issues related to the core ones addressed in my post, about the conduct of police with respect to rape and sexual assault, and relevant ministerial oversight.
I do also have some concerns about the overall workings of our government and systems – but that’s another topic.]
Yes this topic belongs over here Muzza, I have butted out of the rape culture commentary. I like your comment what concerns me most of all, is that these self styles pass comment and carry on as if that same system is somehow going to turn around and change its operating strategy. Hundred percent. There are huge events afoot that will make todays debate pale into insignificance because they are so inconceivably large. And todays “solutions” that don’t work wont do any better then.
Actually I am rather bored, ennuied out with the way contributors here are caught up in their own paradigms, unable to envisage other possibilities. I am presented with left libertarian dogma, marxist thought, Fem101 and rape culture etc etc as things I must accept or be deemed wrong. Goodo I will be wrong, to err is human. The last cop who batoned me was human too, he bought me a beer a few years later.
Just wondering aloud, thinking will my great grand daughter ask her mother what things like Marxism and feminism were? And be answered, Oh just Utopian ideals that did not survive our role back into subsistence serfdom in formerly Antarctic climes….
What may be done to retain your interest and balance of contributions Ennui (great final para by the wayside).
You know the answer..good music..great lyrics….gonna hum Dire Straits Romeo on the way home as an antidote the malaise…the widespread inability to imagine romance.. roasters try and imagine that!
“You shouldn’t come around here singing up at people like that, anyway, what ya gonna do about it…” 😉
“yeah Romeo, you know, I used to have a scene with him”
“Juliet, the dice were loaded from the start
And there’s a place for us, you know the movie song”
“When are you gonna realise, it was just that the time was wrong”
almost selected that line myself. Excellent.
Then you picked your handle well…
I just have very little time to even do the basics like scan and moderate comments. Writing posts.. Pah!
Last nights post was written late at night while I was preparing and upgrading the server system again. It is now running on two (actually n) webservers, one pico server with the file system, one database server, a memcache on a different system, and the content distribution network for the graphics etc..
If you think I’m a bit worried about scalability (and dispersion) coming into the election next year – then you’d right. Pretty freaky how you can disperse systems across nets these days and still have them running fast.
Anyway, I wish I had your time to indulge in ennui…
Just wondering aloud, thinking will my great grand daughter ask her mother what things like Marxism and feminism were? And be answered, Oh just Utopian ideals that did not survive our role back into subsistence serfdom in formerly Antarctic climes….
And yet, feminist ideas have been around for centuries – lots of greats back in the (reverse) grand child line).
Feminism said to have been coined by Charles Fourier (1772-1837) anti-poverty, pro-homosexuality, pro women’s rights.
aha, Cassandras box and Enlightenment ideas… once out of the box you can never get them back in. Dangerous items unless used wisely. As my mother says, “All things in moderation….”
Ennui, the irony as I see it, is these so called lefties are as much a lead weight to meaningful change as the right wing, neoliberals they proclaim to detest, yet are cut from different shades of the same cloth.
Very little of funtional use can come from the self styled on these boards, few of them have anything of practical value by way of opinions or original thought which offers encouragement for the future.
Muzza, nice summary. I am reminded of Carl Yung on this one….” We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”
And that, is the asteroid crater comment which ends civilisation. Well done Ennui. Please make sure no one’s delicate sensibilities are hurt en passant.
@ muzza….I dont think you deliberately hijacked the thread….and I found it very interesting….and continued with it….but I guess the core posted topic was rape and police culture…and this issue could have got sidetracked by our discussion
…you perceptively were remembering and pointing to wider systemic issues about who conducts inquiries for the government and in particular the inquiry led by Bazley into police and sex abuse/rape issues…..indicating that, maybe given her history…her inquiry was lacking ( in depth or real solutions)and that there were serious systemic issues which have not been addressed……these are good points…and obviously this is the case!
….but to nail this issue, someone either has to do a lot of research or be an expert in the field of policing and law and womens/girls rights to point out where MB’s inquiry failed …it could be a very important subject of another post
(….because clearly at the moment, police ‘solutions’ of waiting until the ‘evidence’ is acceptable for a court case ….(and/or the victims come forward prepared for court ordeals) … are not solutions at all….and more crimes are being committed against vulnerable young girls…and the abusers are getting away with their vile crimes….eg why didnt the police pro-actively follow the evidence…by wiring up undercover agents the way they do with drug offenses?…and why werent parents and schools and young girls warned about this rapist gang?)
Chooky, you have interpreted my comments, as they were intended, cheers. Good to know that someone else on here is cognizant of the hack jobs which MB has been at the head of, leading to more or less everything she has been involved with, broken, failing and in steady decline.
At what point might the discussion about rape culture, cross paths with pedophile culture, and what level of influence might it be having alongside,rape culture which clearly exists, should further evidence of a cover up, and some indicators as to why there was a cover up, start to filter out.
St John’s has a terrible history including recent cases of statutory, so what is going inside these so called pillar institutions which are supposed to provide support, safety, protection and indeed life giving services.
@ Ennui, agreed, acceptance is necessary! Understanding or being aware what one is accepting would be beneficial if possible. In absence of clearer understanding, general acceptance that the cogs of the existing machinery never being the vehicles of salvation, would be a bloody good start.
Eeeww, I just about commented on PG’s blog (he thinks Bomber and Lynn are being mean to teh Police).
That is his usual refrain. I usually don’t release the trackbacks as part of my usual anti-link-whoring defaults. But in this case, it needs to be a wide debate on the police force. It isn’t something that gets dealt with in parliament. The police aren’t listening to the IPCA or the courts. They clearly haven’t implemented the results of the Bazley report.
There is no other effective route for the public to voice their concerns except through social media and to a lesser extent through the more myopic mass media.
Yes police culture has to change, but their behaviour is a symptom of a wider malaise.
Like what? Reforming certain aspects of police culture appears to be something that hasn’t been successfully accomplished in 20-30 years. What else would you like time and effort to be spent on? What is the root cause of organisational cultural dysfunction in the police in your view.
Political will would be a start. Can’t leave it to the police themselves.
Rape Culture
NZ can’t even deal with binge drinking culture, and this is far deeper and more endemic.
I disagree – it’s just that progress is slow.
I remember that some of Billy T’s comic situations revolved around trying to get served in pubs while heavily drunk, and an entire episode of the rural sitcom (“Rabbiter’s Rest”?) revolved around how the drunk punters were going to evade the mean traffic cop who was sitting outside the pub carpark to arrest the drunk drivers – everyone in the bar.
So in 20 or 30 years, things have changed significantly. There’s a long way to go in both issues, but I guess I’m an optimist about humanity at heart. 🙂
you old softie 😀
We’ve changed smoking culture significantly in the last 30 years.
Absolutely. That was around a very specific and identifiable behaviour. Poorer, brown, females are still at very
It was accomplished by implementing widespread educational programmes, advertising campaigns and strictly regulating commercial activities like advertising and packaging.
Maybe something similar and comprehensive needs to be done.
“Maybe something similar and comprehensive needs to be done.”
Yes, which begs the question of why it isn’t. When you have a society largely in denial about rape culture, then it makes sense that it can’t form good social and health policy around rape cessation. That’s why this past week is so astonishing. It’s the first time I remember that NZ has stood up and acknowledged rape culture and said ‘enough!’. Reading the term ‘rape culture’ in the NZ MSM is revolutionary. It opens the way, slightly, for policy makers to start talking about this now too.
Yes the binge drinking/preloading happens at home now.
It always did. Maybe supermarket prices have displaced the prblem away from bars somewhat, but flagons aren’t as common as they used to be.
And drink-driving is now massively unacceptable in large sectors of society, rather than being endemic across the board.
urrgh, a friend of mine bought a flagon of Cream Sherry yesterday. I’m fascinated about the markets there are for the wide range of alcoholic beverages available. The range is huge, yet when I asked a retailer recently, he said, “It all sells”. Flicking over to this programme Street Hospital while Coro ads on, the levels of public intoxication and the impairment of behaviour is astounding. ( I feel less personal shame now 😉 )
ps. I do not believe programmes like Police 10-7 help public perceptions of police, or the offenders profiled at all.
Each to their own flavour, I guess.
As for the public intox thing, bear in mind that you’re looking at the edited “highlights” of thousands of people on a night out.
yes.
Thanks Draco, that should be required reading.
reply to rogue trooper, th reply tag is gone. “it all sells”, my mate that runs a liquor shop, told me what sells the most is the fill your own vodkas, sherry & gin, he has to keep refilling those all the time. cheap & cheerful.
been a few research articles released to the media over recent years concerning the cumulative effect of regular consumption on our population.
Lolz, if you do soil yourself in such a manner ask PG whether the ‘Leader’ has got a squizz at any of the little leaflets doing the rounds over in Ohariu about the ‘Hairdo’s’ crimes…
Check out BLiP’s roll of dishonour (#23) on the headline post, the blue bellies seem to be own goal experts without needing the assistance of troublesome bloggers.
Got a taste of power-down life last night out here in Auckland’s west. No power from 6.30pm to 11pm. Thank gods for books. Don’t know how I’d cope without batteries though.
Was probably a lightning strike.
Every house should have its own backup battery supply so at least a limited functionality of power is kept, ie lighting, basic food heating, refrigeration, medical equipment, etc, it could be charged by solar panels or something.
Actually that’s a good scheme. I’ve also often wondered about each house, or group of households having a little power-generating windmill.
a good system for emergency use is to have a 1000L tank of water on the roof which can be used to power a micro-hydro generator on demand.
Or more realistically, a 2kW portable generator and a 10L can of diesel.
Gotta love that fossil fuel convenience and energy density, nothing beats it…
Countdown, and other corporates
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11153655
Pull Advertising from Dumb and Dumber Live Radio
Excellent.
Though, I wish some Business managers were a bit more assertive and would withdraw funding from RadioLive altogether and not just the JT & WJ show. RadioLive is protecting these rape apologists and inappropriate role models.
“But RadioLive would like to reiterate that we in no way condone the actions of the ‘Roast Busters’ or any violence against women,” it said.
“We apologise unreservedly for any offence or distress caused to listeners, clients or others by Willie and JT’s interview with Amy.”
Still waiting for them to apologise for their employees being such arseholes, and to apologise for broadcasting that crap. As long as they keep allowing WJ and JT to keep being rape apologists on air, then they are condoning violence against women. Rape enablers rather than bystanders at this point. If they really wanted to do the right thing they would give some air time to people who can talk intelligently about rape culture, without having to contend with WJJT. I’m sure they could even find someone who relates to their target audience.
The only way that they could do that effectively is to fire said arseholes.
Yeah there was a facebook slam on Countdown Wall and finally after hundreds of requests of *Dump em or we go elsewhere* they listened
So a change of heart but not from the heart. May their carparks be empty this weekend and all succesive days.
The – intended Consequences of LVR’s
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11153346
-less first-home buyers.
less competition for the already wealthy as they acquire more untaxed growth potential via Property.
more Blinglish
Backlash against the NATs building.
well, it was looking fairly toxic for them in last nights MSM;
The contrasting statements of Tolley ( picture Tolley, picture my mother )within a minute when interviewed over the IPCA investigation
-“…the media this week has not been well-handled…” (ricochet the messengers)
followed by
-“[the Police] don’t give New Zealand families enough confidence this process has been well-handled.”
and Brownlee on requesting an inquiry into the “Do Not Survey” notifications EQC made about, and to, clients in Canterbury…”…one of those things that goes to the heart of confidence…”
New Zealanders are losing confidence in this NAct charade of a government.
+1
Beat me to it.
Comment from Chris Trotter on on Bowalley Road 6/11 Two Out of Three Ain’t Enough about the years 1980s to now and the legacy of loss of good left political decisions.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
Observing the party closely since the departure of Helen Clark in 2008 has been a little like watching Rip Van Winkle rousing himself from twenty long years of slumber.
The radicalism which had built up such a head of steam in the Labour Party following the 1981 Springbok Tour, and which helped to generate the record 93.7 percent voter turnout at the 1984 snap election, was brought to a shuddering halt by Rogernomics……
Which leaves only the third component in Labour’s machine – the Caucus. At the conference just concluded a distressingly large number of Labour MPs put on a display of childish pique that bodes very ill for the party’s future.
This surly, sulking behaviour is driven by the fact that the caucus’s understanding of itself and its role has proved to be the most difficult legacy of Rogernomics to eradicate.
Before Rogernomics, Labour’s caucus arose almost organically from the party organisation: its values and the party’s values being both consistent and compatible. But the imposition of neoliberalism from within the framework of a left-wing political party radically recast the caucus’s role. Rogernomics required Labour MPs to overawe and repress the rank-and-file. Far too many Labour MPs still see their role as bringing the membership into line with their views.
tweet, tweet 😉
Two Out Of Three Ain’t Enough
I had an interesting conversation about the living wage proposal with a guy who currently earns (I guesstimate from our convo) around $20-$21PH. He absolutely hates the idea of a living wage. To quote: “why should someone earn almost as much as me for cleaning a shithouse? I went and got qualified. I might as well clean toilets. If they get an extra $5 and then I should get $5 an hour more as well”.
This is a common reaction amongst lower paid people, and it reminds me of a piece of dialogue from the 1988 movie Mississippi Burning:
“Anderson: You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old Negro farmer lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was, uh, – well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my Daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. Now, my Daddy hated that mule, ’cause his friends were always kiddin’ him about oh, they saw Monroe out plowin’ with his new mule, and Monroe was gonna rent another field now they had a mule. And one morning that mule just showed up dead. They poisoned the water. And after that there was never any mention about that mule around my Daddy. It just never came up. So one time, we were drivin’ down the road and we passed Monroe’s place and we saw it was empty. He’d just packed up and left, I guess. Gone up North, or somethin’. I looked over at my Daddy’s face – and I knew he’d done it. And he saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and he said: ‘If you ain’t better than a nigger, son, who are you better than?’ …He was an old man just so full of hate that he didn’t know that bein’ poor was what was killin’ him.”
great movie, and a great illustration Sanctuary; the politics of envy overlaying the politics of entitlement, overlaying plain old personal insecurity. My upbringing and the majority of my employment occurred among our Redneck brethren…too ignorant by choice to know any better.
“Wonderful people everywhere
The way they comb their hair
[…]
Boys ‘n’ girls with new clothes on
You can Shake 😎 it to me all night long
Hey hey
It’s not for me
It’s a Beautiful World” -Devo
“She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean… “
Classic, a petty and mean-spirited individual who would rather piss and moan about others than demand more for himself.
That may be true but unless there is a political response to that sentiment it will be a real problem.
“Colonial Viper 11.2.1.3.1
31 December 2010 at 7:04 pm
In that case I suggest a wager of NZ$500 to go to a major NZ charity of the winner’s choice tsmithfield. Specifically, I wager you that NYMEX Crude will break US$200 per barrel before the end of 2015. Offer good for 48 hours from now :D”
Are you interested in reviving that wager made back here?
http://thestandard.org.nz/what-will-2011-bring/#comment-284450
BTW, the price of oil is currently US $94 per barrel and dropping.
Fascinating. As it turns out, ongoing economic decline with no recovery in the industrial economy has meant that demand growth has been low even as more expensive sources of oil have been developed.
Unluckily for me we were negotiating terms on the wager but never actually signed it off.
It looks like the world bank doesn’t see anything like $200 per barrel any time soon.
Agreed. My changed stance is that price increases are not required to make oil more unaffordable; national income deflation is accomplishing the same thing.
BTW – a bit cheeky to try and revisit a bet more than half way through the horse race 😛
The triumph of neoliberalism continues in the land of the free to be greedy and the free to be needy and destitute, the U$$$$$$$$$ with endless bailouts for the greedy banks where the Washington consensus began and the Chicago school with Milton Friedman. The wretched land our RWNJ pollies love to copy: Especially destruction of the Commonwealth for privatised wealth gain.
‘Which America Do You Live In? – 21 Hard To Believe Facts About “Wealthy America” And “Poor America” ‘
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/which-america-do-you-live-in-21-hard-to-believe-facts-about-wealthy-america-and-poor-america
#1 The lowest earning 23,303,064 Americans combined make 36 percent less than the highest earning 2,915 Americans do.
#5 According to numbers that were just released this week, 49.7 million Americans are living in poverty. That is a brand new all-time record high.
#8 According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.
#19 Approximately one out of every five households in the United States is now on food stamps.
#20 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today.
#18 Today, the United States actually has a higher percentage of workers doing low wage work than any other major industrialized nation does.
(Isn’t that one of the NATZ’s goal for us? Unless you’re a CEO or top of the pile exec where you can only be motivated to work harder by paying yourself more and more with outrageous termination packages?)
So Willie Jackson and John Tamihere accused Matthew Hooton of middle class values in being critical of their treatment of the girl who said she was a victim of the RoastBusters.
Yet it turns out one went to Green Bay High School and others to Avondale College.
Those areas don’t strike me as being particularly working class – more middle-class areas these days, I’d have thought.
I am extremely disappointed with JT and Willie, as they were about the only ones I ever listened to on Radio Live. I am surprised though that there has not been more scrutiny put onto the truly “Nat mate” and right wing journo or presenter Sean Plunket. He is a difficult one, I know, he can present himself rather well and “independently” like on “The Nation”, but his spot on Radio Live is appalling, when it comes to talk back. He has himself been so chauvinistic repeatedly, it is not funny. But it must have gone below the radar here, as nobody would bother listening to him for a start. I feel that he deserves more criticism than Willie and JT, and I am sorry to offend people here, as I know that both made some inappropriate and stupid comments this week.
I believe that at least one, if not both, have daughters, and I expect them to be taken to task at home for sure.
Personally I expect an apology from both, to come clean.
Tweet from Lew:
😆 😈
Calling Rhinocrates ….
PLEASE don’t be listening to “The Panel”! (in particular that SF who I had to witness slipping up the MT Vic Hill the other day)
it’s an exercise in listening to the pithy – or rather the pissy.
The nicest man on Earth is absent, but one of the RW guest’s is trying to do his best to replace him, whilst the other is just trying (Hard)
Simon Pound taking the gloves off today!
ACT/SS thug on the ropes
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 8 November 2013
Paul Brennan, Stephen Franks, Simon Pound
Stephen Franks is a former ACT MP, which means he was a parliamentary colleague of the disgraced identity thief and doctor-assaulter David Garrett, as well as the notorious perk-taker Rodney Hide. He is also a “legal counsel” with that notorious gang of knife-killing enthusiasts, Garth the Knife McVicar’s S.S. Trust. All of which should make it surprising to hear Franks pontificating today, in relation to the Roastbusters/Police failure scandal, about “the boundaries of morality.” He has just intoned: “We have a society which doesn’t know where the bounds of behaviour are….”
But people familiar with this fellow will not be surprised to see him contradicting himself like this; they know just what a canting hypocrite he is. As you listen to Franks talking about morality—his key word during these lectures is “wickedness”—bear in mind that he was a colleague of David Garrett and Rodney Hide, and works closely as a “legal counsel” with that notorious gang of knife enthusiasts, the S.S. Trust.
So far Simon Pound has challenged him robustly. He has poured scorn on Franks’ lame defence of police inaction, and was even more contemptuous of Franks’s idiotic attempt to suggest that reading Fifty Shades of Grey was somehow equivalent to raping a thirteen-year-old. Pound is showing an entirely unexpected strength of character.
I have to leave now, unfortunately, but I would appreciate it if someone could transcribe the remainder of what has so far been a complete and utter ass-whuppin’ for a real villain.
Vinceremo, Simon Pound!
Oh Bugger Morrissey – I meant you (see post above, rather than Rhino). It was intended as cyber community service bulletin in an attempt to save you heartache and reduce the need for a beta blocker or two 😉
Never mind though – the weight of his smugness means you can see him struggling to get up the hill (Hawker Street) sometimes.
Thanks Tim. I tuned in later to the show just in time to hear Franks indulge in another one of his trademark rants: this time it was against the “parasitic art culture”, whatever that means. I suspect Franks himself has not thought seriously about it, and if challenged would have had to back down or substantially qualify his bizarre statement. Rather than being challenged, or asked to clarify, however, he went on to praise artists who did not belong to the “parasitic art culture”. His exemplar for these paragons of individual enterprise was “Sir” Peter Jackson.
Clearly, in the fertile mind of Stephen Franks, Downstage Theatre accepting a small government grant is parasitic, but accepting more than $100 million of government subsidy, plus the government collaborating with Warner Bros. to destroy the local actors’ union is heroic individualism.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9379185/Police-find-rifles-in-storage-unit
“A police raid of an Auckland storage unit linked to the Hells Angels has turned up six firearms, including military-style assault rifles”
– An assault rifle IS a military rifle so why would they say military-style assault rifles? They’ve basically said military-style military rifles which is redundant…just bugs me is all
They could have been even more redundant and noted that they were semi-automatic (or automatic) military-style assault rifles
Well exactly and if they get this wrong (or are they just trying to make it sound more exciting) what else are they doing…
Uncritically repeating neo-liberal gibberish as though it were somehow connected with reality?
Uncritically repeating left-wing press releases as though it were somehow connected with reality?
– Fixed it for you
Yeah, sure they did. That’s why you’ll be able to provide an example. Come on, a Labour or Green press release re-printed verbatim by a main stream news outlet. Just one.
A redundant adjective tells you that NZ might not be as well served by the MSM as it could be?
Wow.
The constant updates on charlotte dawson and other celebs of the week did that for me years ago. Not to mention headlines that are contradicted in their story, or front-page photos of disorderly youths recycled from two years previously (ODT did that one).
The term military style is just another scare tactic.
Its just pointless when assault rifle means military rifle…like saying someone was hit by an automobile-style car
It’s pretty much pointless at any time as the term itself is so broad as to be meaningless. A hunters rifle with a scope on it could be well within its meaning as well as a handgun.
No, IMO, it’s scare mongering i.e, ZOMG they have military weapons as if a 308 cal bullet is more deadly from and assault rifle than from a hunters rifle.
Yeah that’s or very well and do if they have been caught with MSA Rifles. But do those Muppets know and understand the 4 principles of marksmanship to use them effectively?
Part of the problem – some of the shots fired into a house in the last few days went into the kids’ bedroom. A bullet is effective regardless of whom it hits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE_lPaCbUIU
– Serious question here: has the cheese finally slid of T. Mallards cracker?
What in particular in that video raises such a question?
It looked to me that he was very distracted, seemed to be in disagreement with something that both National and Labour were agreed on, “how many people will die because of this bill” was way otp…his whole performance just looked wrong (for lack of a better term) like it wasn’t the Mallard I’m used to seeing
““how many people will die because of this bill” was way otp”
In what sense?
Craigs Investment Partners upset foreigners might not be able to suck as much money out
Fuck, the idea of having to do some work and research around your multi-million dollar investments is simply unrealistic it seems.
What foreign investors in the NZX apparently want is the ability to clip the ticket with “certainty.”
FFS.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/280340/fallout-chorus-may-spread-wide
That’s what the capitalists have always wanted. IMO, It’s what brought about limited liability, the Fire at Will Bill, union busting and a whole lot more laws.
I post stuff I observe or experience. Its others who give it a label.
human experience can be a mirror. Some cringe at the sight some gaze for ages but dont really see and so on.
I live in hope that people will speak out against the status quo regardless of self interest. The young woman shot for demanding education for girls. But in reality I hope for that spark of courage to ignite people off their couches to sometimes say “enough”.
I will march on 16 october because I want anyone who has been abused to speak up and know that many people will support them.
http://gpjanz.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/march-this-sat-for-boycott-of-chogm-in-sri-lanka/
This is why I’ll be marching this Sat 9 November 2013, assembling at 12 noon Britomart – calling for NZ Prime Minister to boycott CHOGM in Sri Lanka:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karunyan-arulanantham/credible-sri-lankan-war-c_b_4174819.html
Penny Bright
Agree, it is disgraceful and criminal what goes on in Sri Lanka, but the NZ media , again, report NADA, as if nothing ever happened. And PM Key behaves just the same, he should bury his head in total SHAME!
“Sixteen I fell in love with a girl as sweet as could be
Only took a couple of days ’til she was rid of me.
She swore that she would be all mine and love me to the end,
But when I whispered in her ear I lost another friend…”
And the cookie crumbles further:
We’re finding out just how bad it can be when corporations are allowed to sue countries when the countries pass laws to make their citizens better off.
Violeta Charra – de Chile, nativa, musice del pueblo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsEEwHBr2K4
Interesting stuff, if any here comprehend it perpaps. This is music from another continent and sphere, and I hope some understand and appreciate it.
I wonder if what we need is to separate the police from prosecution and hand all prosecution over to a separate organisation. The police would be responsible for detection and apprehension the Prosecutors office would be responsible for ensuring police gather evidence needed for a successful case.
It seems that there is too much vested interest involved when police both detect and decide when to prosecute.
Any thoughts?
Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe have it so that instead of complainants going to the police they go to the prosecutors office who then directs the police to gather evidence.
Such an office would have to staffed with lawyers and not from police ranks.
US system of AGs?
Don’t you mean DAs?
This is what we need in NZ, a NZ version of Camilla Vallejo, a true Leader and passionate speaker, there are other good examples. Kiwis are peaceful, a bit too docile, and this is what the elite capitalist regime here exploits, same as their media lackeys, you are all held at ransom by those forces.
Wake up, think, ask, challenge and more, it is YOUR power, that is you, el pueblo. por favor, good luck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBih0c689cI
Listen, where is “the left” in NZ, here are questions raised even in Mexico:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBih0c689cI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbC7505LTYo
This is how Che was killed!!!
This belongs on tomorrow’s open mic or weekend social or something, but let me just be the first to say, holy fuck: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9380684/John-Key-living-the-dream
*wipes bile from lips and toilet rim* What the fuck is going on with New Zealand’s news media?