Very sad. Wanky media think it’s funny duping ordinary workers. I’ve had to deal with a few incidents of media (sometimes via politicians, employers and sadly a time or two by other benefit advocates) putting everyday people in unnecessary spotlight and seen terrible consequences there as well – not far away from this.
That whole notion that came through in the 80’s that staff were simply a resource and no longer people is one of the reasons this sort of crap happens.
People don’t even think about the consequences of humiliating a resource.
Perhaps this tragedy will begin the demise of the tabloid culture in broadcasting that has gone unbridled since the advent of “pirate radio” – where disc jockeys have masqueraded as commentators with opinions of some worth. Ratings driven please-the-advertisers-justification drivel.
It’s all a symptom of the Murdoch type world.
And we have a government here who would like to commercialise RNZ. Just the way they have stuffed Television New Zealand.
It is sad. But it’s sad because, this nurse, doing one of the most important jobs for society, only became known to us because of her association with royals.
It’s sad that the royal pregnancy has got saturation coverage in the NZ media, while the MSM largely ignore a far more important event going on right under their noses: the international TPPA negotiations going on this week at Sky City in Auckland.
From the above linked article:
The nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, was a 46-year-old mother of two.
I hope Jacintha is now at peace. She made an important contribution to this world as a nurse and parent.
Simply a symptom of the break down of society, the dumbing down of the masses.
The sensationalism and tabloid culture the entertainment factor of journalism these days is simple in response to this.
Not only tragic and appalling for all the individuals involved; but serves crystal clear notice to the media industry that it’s long past time for a complete cleanout of all the venal, slimy, craven lack of professional journalistic standards that have become the accepted norm.
If journalism wants to survive as a profession it needs to take a very long hard look at itself. Self-righteous defensiveness and posturing no longer cuts mustard.
Perhaps this tragedy will begin the demise of the tabloid culture in broadcasting that has gone unbridled since the advent of “pirate radio” – where disc jockeys have masqueraded as commentators with opinions of some worth. Ratings driven please-the-advertisers-justification drivel.
It’s all a symptom of the Murdoch type world.
Such will only happen if the particular station gets done for causing the death.
And we have a government here who would like to commercialise RNZ. Just the way they have stuffed Television New Zealand.
That’s National and Act and UF to the core. Sell everything into private ownership so that the private owners get to control everything. Capitalism is just another form of dictatorship.
Commercialising Radio New Zealand isn’t going to make things worse. The National program is pretty well down in the dregs already.
I was listening to Jim Mora’s program on Thursday with his “panel” of Jock Anderson and Josie McNaught. A chunk of the fake call was played and the three of them certainly didn’t see anything wrong with doing it. If anything they appeared to regard it as funny and certainly nothing to worry about. There was mild sympathy with the nurse who was fooled but certainly no concern for the invasion of Kate’s privacy.
alwyn
That’s silly. Public National Radio is important. Complain if there is some program you want to change or improve but don’t talk about throwing it away in favour of commercialisation.
(I see I have to give up my? pseudonym Vindow Viper – some clever clogs always has thought of it first!)
If you re-read what I said, I didn’t actually call for National Radio to be commercialised, or privatised.
What I said was that they were just as appalling in their approach to this story as most of the commercial radio stations probably were (I didn’t hear anything they were playing so I can’t say).
I think we are entitled to rather better behaviour from National Radio than the juvenile giggling they did turn on. It was a gross invasion of privacy and it should NOT have been repeated in their broadcasts.
alwyn
I find the responses from Jim Mora’s guests very variable.
And that some of them would find the prank amusing is not surprising, they can be pretty vapid.
Of course it was not foreseen then that this poor lady would be soon dead.
Yes alwyn I agree with you. I turned the radio off in disgust because of the flippant attitude they were exhibiting. We are entitled to much better behaviour from the only non commercial radio station we have in NZ.
As someone who was a victim of a number of vicious hoaxes in the distant past (not from the media in my case) I know the feeling of embarrassment, humiliation, fear and most of all… the violation of one’s privacy.
When malice and violation of privacy is involved, it should automatically become a criminal offence. The police approached my complaints with such a cavalier attitude, they might as well have told me what they were clearly thinking: ” Oh, you must have asked for it”. I still have a low opinion of the NZ Police as a result of that experience and probably always will have.
fender/same sentiment less eloquent Viper 1.1.1.4.1.3
If you listen to RNZ often you will know there’s often a right-wing panel one day and a left-wing panel the next. I think they should be commended for trying to be fair and balanced, but I’ll always be down on them for banning Bomber when all he did was tell the truth.
While I agree with the theory, the plain simple reality is the right wing manufacturing of slogan should have seen a much more balanced Moro being able to counter them.
Take the kid in the corner, he basically allowed one of his guests to say it was all okay, because civics taught by religion classes was a social good. Have these people not been anywhere in the last 500 years, religion is death – to culture, to learning, to people, its prescriptivist nature has long been the enemy of the people.
It’s all part of the me generation that seeks pleasure and amusement and to hell with other considerations. Paul Holmes, Paul Henry, fun-loving types playing merry japes from Oz or NZ. Sociopathic at base. A proud hardworking ambitious medico may have felt her reputation and future had been fatally marked as she was being censured.
In the wake of these very sad events, hopefully we will witness the passing of the age of the boorish insensitive media shock jock?
Maybe the coarse laddish cheap and nasty reactionary humour of the John Tamiheres’ and Paul Henrys’ of this world, with behaviour previously excused, as “Ladish Fun” will no longer be considered acceptable behaviour for media broadcasters?
We can only hope that this is the case.
Boorish and reactionary, often misogynist and racist, radio and TV announcers are no longer funny, if they ever were.
Populuxe1 1.2
Tedious shock jocks not media? If they are broadcasting from a position of employment then every comment they distribute is part of their media presentation, including tweets and facebook.
They aren’t “tedious Australian shock jocks” – they’re victims.
We’re seriously concerned about their welfare and we’re doing whatever we can to help them…This is a tragic event that could not have been reasonably foreseen and we’re deeply saddened by it.
You seem to be implying they should be held responsible for their behaviour this tragic event or something.
Bwana Dave Shearer attempting to brush a few Labour crumbs off of the table in the Greens direction,
I see nothing to be gained by the Greens in accepting a ‘nothing’ position such as Deputy Prime Minister, the position in terms of coalition politics is simply ‘a bauble’ of office which would leave the incumbent powerless but tarred with the brush of having to accept the policies of the larger partner in the coalition while also being held to account for policy not of it’s own making by the electorate,
I would hope that the Greens are giving some thought this far out from 2014 to some bottom lines in policy where they can show the electorate specific gains to be made from soiling themselves in any coalition Government,
There may be far more to gain in terms of electoral support for the Greens to allow Labour as a minority Government with Green confidence and supply votes while extracting from Labour a specific set of goals via legislation within a stated time-frame…
Aha, the worry here is that the Greens could wind up in coalition with Labour while holding specific portfolio’s such as Conservation and then find their Ministries hamstrung by a Labour strangle-hold on the Finance Ministry,
I am sure that the Green Party is well up with this concern and would seek iron-clad budget guarantees as part of any coalition negotiations,
There is nothing i would like to see more in politics than a strong Green presence in a New Zealand Government, the codicil to that of course would have to be the careful balancing of the gains to be made by having that Cabinet representation as opposed to being able to extract the same gains from a confidence and supply agreement without the negative political effects that most junior coalition party’s suffer…
FFS I’m with Karol on this one.
Memo to the Left. Women vote for you in large quantites. Women have taken a pounding under Nact [along with young people, children, those on social assistance etc etc].Most voters aren’t rich white males.
There is no need for tokenism you have plenty of competent women, use them.
Why isn’t the greens other co leader being considered for deputy PM? Maybe even a shared deputy PM.
“Finance is obviously the most important role in a government and that would go to the party with the greatest proportion of votes, and that’s what people in New Zealand would expect,” Mr Shearer said.
No Mr Shearer, I’d expect it to go to the person most suited to the role within the ruling coalition.
He would like Labour to be above 40 per cent, but whatever the Greens scored “we’ll work it out from there”.
Will Russel Norman become the Nick Clegg of New Zealand
And destroy his party in the process?
David Shearer appears to be weighing up his options for deputy prime minister between Green co-leader Russel Norman and NZ First leader Winston Peters as he looks for ways to reward support partners without letting go of the key finance portfolio.
For Russel Norman to accept a high cabinet position while Labour oversees a huge expansion in coal mining and oil drilling, would be to take a poisoned chalice for the Green Party. While Russel Norman may personally profit, like Nick Clegg in the the UK his party would be destroyed. Especially as looks likely the Labour Party will be committed to the strip mining of coal of West coast coal at Denniston and deep sea oil drilling and fracking all of which the Greens oppose.
Under the last Labour administration environmentalists were getting illegally spied on and arrested for protesting such things. No doubt under Shearer this will continue and Russel Norman will be seen to be a party to it.
Far better for the Greens to stay out of formal coalition with Labour and be captured. As happened with the Alliance, as happened to the Maori Party with National, as happened to the British Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives. And all see their votes collapse. Better to keep fighting for
your principles rather than trade them away.
Started work friday at 8am finished at 11pm so a very very long day for me.
Weekend will be groceries, gardening weeding veg garden, looking after baby naps and then back to work on Monday.
ACT leader John Banks wants to be excused from appearing in court over the Dotcom donations saga.
A judge summoned the Epsom MP to appear in Wellington District Court next week, after retired accountant Graham McCready launched a rare private prosecution on a charge of knowingly filing a false election return
Jones is asking if Banks can be excused and instead represented by a lawyer.
Poor Morrissey – Sexual problems? You’re just jealous of smoothy Bill Clinton. There’s too much interest in the ordinary sex habits of pollies. Leave them alone until they do it in the street and frighten the horses.
You could not be more wrong. Clinton has a history of foolish and reckless sexual behaviour, but then so do many politicians.
And, take my word for it, he’s welcome to his ghastly wife—and to the pathetic matrons who threw themselves at him in Queenstown and Auckland when he was here in 1999.
7.3 magnitude quake off the coast of Miyagi prefecture yesterday. Miyagi prefecture is right next to Fukushima prefecture. So, no tsunami or what not. But haven’t seen any reports about Fukushima-Daiichi Unit 4. Anyone?
And if you’re reading this but are unaware of the importance of Unit 4, then….last I heard (from the fairewinds website some months back), its walls were bulging due to quake damage and the fear was that a good sized aftershock could cause it to split or collapse.
And if Unit 4 loses its water and the cooling rods are exposed to air they will, apparently, ignite and it will not be possible to extinquish the resulting highly radioactive fire. And the release of radiation would exceed the culmutive radiation from all nuclear tests.
So, given the potential for an absolutely unprecedented disaster scenario if Unit 4 is compromised, I’ve have expected news reports of a major aftershock to carry specific info on the integrity of that cooling pool. (ie, something more detailed or focussed than some Tepco mouthpiece issuing a blanket – ‘It’s all A-OK at all of our plants’ – type statement.)
I’d like to buy a badge to wear to all Labour Party meetings with the words:
“I am Colonial Viper!”
This would be a great fund raiser for the Dunedin South Labour party. I’d pay $10 for one (incl P&P and GST).
They could use half the proceeds for the Hillside families and the other half to fund a better election campaign in 2014.
Maybe they are vetting the applications for left wing bloggers hence the time delays.
How about CV for Dunedin South. Replace a twit tweeter with a Activist blogger.
Reply to Lenore at 41 in the ‘Just how wrong…’ thread.
I instinctively wanted to argue with your comment.
But it reminded me of a blog-post of Chris Trotter’s from way back, in which he lamented that gatherings of the left seem more rancorous, cliquey, unfriendly, and sometimes downright nasty, on a personal level, than similar groups on the right. And sadly, that has largely been my experience of left-wing activism too.
Even allowing for my own ineptness in group settings, memories of being quite outrageously patronised, feeling deliberately excluded much more often than I felt included, of cliquiness not otherwise seen outside of adolescence, and of personalised belittling, backstabbing, and malicious gossip completely unrelated to any idealogical differences, do tend to predominate.
I don’t see activism as a social outlet, or expect “fun”, and I think I understand that the left is diversity by definition, and solidarity in diversity is much harder work than I imagine a National Party fundraising dinner would be. Fighting oppression will never be a smooth ride, and so in that respect I do understand and share your trepidation at rejoining the fray.
But hey, the Labour Party isn’t particularly left-wing, so you might be pleasantly surprised….
I’d suggest that this lack of sociability among left-wing activists has it’s roots in the idea that most of us are fundamentally introverted personalities. In a world that largely values and celebrates extroversion it’s very difficult for us to learn constructive ways to assert ourselves, because for much of our lives we experience exclusion and marginalisation everywhere.
Put a bunch of us face to face in a room we find it all a bit intense, hard work, and it’s not so very surprising that it’s a more than a little dysfunctional. It’s also why if you let us remove ourselves back to the privacy of our own homes … we can often connect quite successfully with each other on the net.
I was active for a while in the dim dark past but well my local party was geared up as anti newbie and very very focused on power plays and knife tossing. Little real activity and organisational skills. Now ten years on all focused around the sitting MP support core from the culled woman’s branch.
I remember my first LEC meeting after doing a review of the leaflet drop zones, the red neck affiliate rep judged me as ” great another fucking homo”, the feminist urban renewal supporter sniffed and exclaimed “I don’t need a man to accompany me doing canvassing”, the regional rep mumbled and stumbled shyly stating ” I don’t do public speaking”, and th sitting MP hinted at dark economic tidings on the horizon.
Anyway long live the revolution within the party and membership rights.
LOL
I could tell a few funny stories of a similar ilk – but not without identifying myself and potentially offending fellow activists – who as individuals were good people. (I always imagined one particular group as a satirical tv show).
And yes, shoot me right now and get it over with, identity cliques, including feminist cliques seem to naturally occur, gain powerbases, start playing power games….
Understandable in many ways, and there can be an element of overcompensating once we “identities” find our voices.
In reply to Bill, I think changes to the ways we organise ourselves could help ameliorate the problem, but I don’t think hierarchical structures are the only cause. There are a whole lot of factors at play I think.
And Vindow Viper – I find it hard to believe that the majority of left-wingers can be introverted because introversion is a minority trait. We are probably disproportionately represented though. Another part of the jigsaw is differences in how the working classes are socialised (compared to the ruling classes). Unconsciously, many of our parents prepared us to be “good workers” – rather than the smooth social operators the ruling class tend to train their kids to be.
I think the places like TS can help overcome the problem, not just because many of us are shy, but because conversations can develop over time. So often in real world setttings we can’t get past action and reaction, to actually listening to each other.
Unconsciously, many of our parents prepared us to be “good workers” – rather than the smooth social operators the ruling class tend to train their kids to be.
IMO there’s two parts. Socialisation needs to be taught but the majority of families fail to actually teach it and so children are left to pick up socialisation from the people around them which is, more often than not, other children in places such as school. So the majority of people grow up with failed socialisation.
The part where you say prepared us to be “good workers” is exactly that – the parents, used to nothing other than working themselves, tell their children that they need to have a job. It’s all they’ve known. Other families teach their children how to be successful within the present hierarchical paradigm which really isn’t about having a job but about having the right social connections and having others work for them.
Interesting idea Draco, that there can be an absence of teaching socialisation which sees kids scratching around picking up what they can from their peers who might also be largely untaught. That rings true to me.
My whole group are what you call elites…take last new years one fly in by his own helicopter for the party but my point thru education and self or taught drive and determination either through group socialisation or individual drive etc we should all be elites. Further to this is that even the multi millionaire is a worker basically just more cleverer or more socialised connected or had a better start so therefore all workers given the right or left tools should be the same.
We can’t all be elites. That is a contradiction in terms.
The idea that through hard work, and determination, blah blah blah……. is a prevalent right-wing meme which is not founded in reality.
Similar to “we can all be winners”. If we were all winners there would be no winners because there can be no winning without others losing. Good for keeping us in aspirational la-la land though.
It’s called a rule change if you don’t like the rules stand up and change them just don’t sit it out.
First step…power to the party i.e members
Two.. Plan and organise in the long term
Three. Promote key identifiers into position of change.
Four. Disseminate ideas of change to the masses.
Five. Systematically create change or await an event that fosters the right environment for change….big bang or crunch will do nicely.
Hmm. Meetings. In not very democratic settings, all the nasty, cliquey, power tripping shit gets free reign. So quieter or shyer people get excluded, options or opinions sidelined if they are not ‘in tune’ with the dominant suggestion (which is usually framed as a yes/no, agree/disagree ‘decision’). Even the agenda for what is/isn’t to be discussed is set from ‘on high’…by ‘the committee members, the clique etc, ie those with more access to information and by extention, ability to excercise power.
There are fairly simple ways around all of that. In a word: democracy.
Level the environment where the decisions are going to be made. No permanently appointed or elected committees, chairpeople or whatever to preside over meetings. Revolving position of facilitators whose main task is identify what the group is actually saying, ensure or encourage input from those who are less dominant in group settings, see to it that all opinions are canvassed and not casually dismissed ‘just because’, deny the opportunity to dominate…etc, etc, etc.
Facilitator = potentially poisoned chalice of being King/ Queen/dictator/ diplomat (depending on their approach/skill level)….for a few hours. And next time around they are just one of the unwashed like everyone else and somebody else gets to fill those shoes. Which aren’t very pleasant btw…it can be bloody hard work and usually involves a very steep learning curve. And is utterly disempowering on the level that the facilitator does not actually engage in terms of input to whatever decisions are up for consideration.
Could LEC meetings run along those lines? I’d love to hear any excuses as to why they couldn’t or shouldn’t…or any arguments that would attempt to justify why such meetings should be considered as ‘special cases’ allowed to practice ‘less than democratic’ meeting procedures.
So, vulture capitalists. I hadn’t paid much attention before, just another lot of financiers ripping people off with derivatives, bonds, currency trading an the like. But it’s worse than that when they can:
– Impound a frigate of a sovereign state and get a court order from some country or another (in this case Ghana) to hold it until the State pays the vultures the debt they bought up for a song
… A few months ago, the Argentine frigate Libertad, which ironically means freedom in Spanish, was seized in Ghana after a local judge ruled in favour of Elliott Capital Management. …
…Elliott Capital Management, a vulture fund based in the tax haven Cayman Islands owned by conservative financier Paul Singer (a big donor to the Romney campaign), refused to accept the terms of the debt restructuring that was accepted by more than 92% of bondholders in 2005 and 2010. It has demanded payment in full, and has actively pursued its case in different courts across the world
– Buy up debt from a defaulting sovereign state, get a court ruling from some country (in this case the U.S.) to force a country who had defaulted to pay billions, with interest – at the expense of debtors who agreed to take less to facilitate the default and without any concern whatsoever for the citizens of the country, or the economic recovery that has made the demand for payment viable.
The ruling also contradicts US internal bankruptcy laws, which force minority creditors to confirm to deals accepted by 70% of creditors. If this ruling is supported in the higher courts (both Argentina and other creditors have already appealed) it will create an unviable situation for global bond markets. Creditors will only be making one-way bets if no possibility of restructuring is accepted, making the only options all (full payment) or nothing (complete default)…
…Ironically, this may turn out to be counterproductive. It is not just that these recent moves are deeply unjust and anti-democratic – it is also that they threaten the global financial system itself. Allowing vulture funds to get precedence over other bondholders that accept restructuring undermines any possibility of renegotiating debts, without which no credit system can function.
Big issues here for how the Greek, Spanish and Portugese debt is handled, and maybe something of the reason for the convoluted drawn out process in managing Greek debt.
There must be something going on behind the scenes to get rid of these people. Surely even the eyes at the top of the financial tree can see there is a massive risk of it crashing to the ground.
Yep this means the whole idea of partial write-downs of debt will be out of the window. But the finacial elite don’t care – they have their interests nicely protected
What I find amazing is that while the super-rich have always been able to bend ‘justice’ to their will in the name of obscene profiteering, they now believe they have the power to take on an entire nation – impounding a frigate!
Maybe the feisty Cristina Kirchner should consider formally declaring war on Paul Singer and all the interests of Elliot Capital Management
So what explains all the downgrading and undermining of the country in financial markets and the media?
The real reason may lie in the very success of the country’s economy after its default and forced debt restructuring process. After 2002, Argentina reversed the austerity measures promoted by the IMF, renationalised key productive sectors like aviation, pensions and most recently oil, increased social protection and income transfers to the poor, and reduced poverty substantially. Real wages have increased, and wage inequalities have been reduced.
Yep, as far as the capitalists go it’s proof that their preferred financial method doesn’t actually work and they can’t have that as people will break the bonds that the capitalists have spent centuries putting in place.
Good on you, you’re making your point. Those who would censor take note.
If you’re joining the viper army, however, a reminder that the first comment under a new name goes into moderation. Once the new name is cleared, away you go as usual. But in the weekend moderation can take a while sometimes…
(I can see the headlines now – The Standard is a nest of vipers!)
No, I was answering your question about why.
The “look it up” was sarcastic (apologies) because I thought the reasons we “vipers” are trying to offer our support, were quite obvious. Did you read yesterday’s open mike?
I did read the article, but it does not make sense from what has been discussed.
I would have thought that as CV self proclaimed does not work, and apparantly does not have to, that he would be in an ideal position to really get stuck into the system, so to speak.
Being a prolific poster on blogs is not enough to have to take cover from blogging, if it can have no blow back – Perhaps it about his family as opposed to him, which would be understandable.
Looking for some more details, in a generalist sense as to what else could have triggered this, as it sounds like its overblown to me.
Sure there might be more to it in the background, but the posts do not tell that.
Solidarity is great, but so is some information, above what has been given.
Oh for olde petes sake….a song coched in old lost language.
Old farmer will had a farm, sheep dogs and pigs and an old work horse called one left shoe. Now on that farm there was a mouse called Micky…..Micky mouse had a friend called pig man E N G O and that’s what his name is NGO NGO loud and shrill but solid and kind who walked and talked until he was red deep red in the face….poor old NGO.
Me-thinks the latest attempt to muzzle internet comment on the Labour Party leadership is an attempt to silence those in the Party who support Cunliffe as leader,
The intent of such would seem to be a view that a challenge can be fore-stalled in February if such activists within the Party can be silenced,
To me Labour and the Shearer faction and supporters in the Party, (if there are in fact many, any ???), have gone about this all arse about face,
Perhaps the Shearer faction ‘knows’ that should a vote be triggered in February they don’t have the numbers, but, putting that aside for now most of us, (an assumption), would have found it to be the mark of a real leader if the Shearer camp had of from the moment the Conference re-wrote the rules on leadership selection openly stated that it would be they, (the Shearer faction), who would trigger that vote by the wider party in February,
Complaining about and threatening Party members for voicing their opinions on websites such as the Standard is at the least weak,
Further to that i believe that Labour as a Party should not rest on it’s laurels as far as having added the ‘democratic’ element to it’s choice of leadership and the same voting system could anbd should be extended in the future to selecting future Labour Cabinets with the Parliamentary Leader allocating the relevant portfolios…
Yes that much is clear, but is it more about the outing of the real identity as a way of trying to quiet the blogging community as a whole, or does CV have a specific role as member of the LP which would seem to make sense to the person alledged to be putting the heat on?
Does CV have a blog site, or a role inside the membership which would explain this attention?
Does CV have a blog site, or a role inside the membership which would explain this attention?
Not to my knowledge except he has shown himself to be a very effective communicator. I suspect that was the sin he committed.
[Some details deleted. r0b] While there may be some other incidences of bullying going on, I don’t think its a campaign on the part of the Labour caucus to stamp out criticism or dissent. I hope not.
I will give you an example that happened a few months ago. The MP in question ‘outed’ one of The Standard’s most well known (and highly regarded) commenters… on Red Alert. I doubt the person in question was too phased because he’s never made any attempt to hide his real identity anyway. What I’m saying is: she has a history of this kind of silly behaviour.
If it’s not an LP campaign, then it’s a further example of Shearer’s poor control over his caucus – he’s heavy handed with MPs he, or his leadership team see as a threat, but lets his supporters get away with actions that undermine the principles of a left wing party.
PS: Is it possible that the repressive approach of the leadership team to MPs in the Labour caucus, is causing lone MPs to act pre-emptively against LP members, in order to preserve their own standing with the caucus leaders?
Muzza, you seem to be saying a) What’s so special about Colonial Viper?
and b) you question the importance to CV of his pseudonymity, and believe you have a right to know his reasons and have the right to judge whether his reasons are “valid.”
You do get that CV is a commenter on a blog, and you have no right to know anything about his “real” life? Any more than I have a right to any information about yours. That CV has been silenced (albeit temporarily I hope) by Labour management shows his right to privacy is very important to him. And CV is one of us.
And we know, because it has been discussed here extensively, that some, maybe many, would not be able to participate at all, or would have their right to freedom of speech significantly curtailed without this protection.
Labour management is silencing dissent by bullying its own members (who are, it’s worth noting, its (unpaid) workforce). If you don’t see this as important enough to warrant a rallying of support from this community, and/or don’t see CV as ‘important” enough, I’d be kind of interested in your criteria.
Who would be important enough?
What would be important enough?
Muzza, you seem to be saying a) What’s so special about Colonial Viper?
Thats not what I’m saying
and b) you question the importance to CV of his pseudonymity, and believe you have a right to know his reasons and have the right to judge whether his reasons are “valid.”
Everyone who wants to remain anonymous should be able to expect that is maintainable, whether or not that becomes maintainable will depend on how out there they put themselves, and the type of people they are putting themselves out there with/against. Politics is theatre, the media is theatre, and the people inside the political theatre are low quality, as we see by the state of NZ.
Should people be outed, or threatened to be outed, no, but is that likely to happen, yes of course!
If en masse people, following some vague details and a blogger saying he needs to check out for a while, want to show outward solidarity, thats great, and I understand the positions people are taking.
So far as having a right to know, no, not at all, just the right to ask questions (answered ot not), and form my own opinions based on what makes sense from the little info available!
You do get that CV is a commenter on a blog, and you have no right to know anything about his “real” life? Any more than I have a right to any information about yours. That CV has been silenced (albeit temporarily I hope) by Labour management shows his right to privacy is very important to him. And CV is one of us.
Again, I do not want/expect/have rights to anything, and yes he is as far as I am aware, a commentator on a blog, and seemingly LP member. Would that in its own right be enough to attact that sort of attention, unless the MP involved has lost the plot, ot there ir more to the story than has come across the posts – I suspect much of both. –
If CV has been silenced that is his choice to allow, or not, and if the threat of being outed has lead to the silencing, that is unfortunate, but again, its his choice. Do I agree with outing, absolutely not, but see my comment above about who/how much people involved themselves.
And we know, because it has been discussed here extensively, that some, maybe many, would not be able to participate at all, or would have their right to freedom of speech significantly curtailed without this protection.
Actually i think there may be a bigger agenda at play, in so far as the *freedom of the net/speech* is concerned, and perhaps this might be a trigger. Hard to say though as its all rather under the radar from what I can tell.
Labour management is silencing dissent by bullying its own members (who are, it’s worth noting, its (unpaid) workforce). If you don’t see this as important enough to warrant a rallying of support from this community, and/or don’t see CV as ‘important” enough, I’d be kind of interested in your criteria.
I see the LP having been taken over decades back, and woudl consider this alledged behaviour as another example of the takeover of politics, which has allowed the takeover of NZ, in case no one else noticed!
Yes its important, but I’m not the blond support/cheer leader type – CV is one of the many commentators here which can be enjoyed, and if he is being harrassed, that is out of order.
Support takes many forms, not always the outwardly obvious!
a) Yeah, all the world is a stage. And?
b)Are you familiar with the concept of victim-blaming?
c)What, exactly, do you imagine is flying under what radar?
d)Support and victim-blaming are mutually exclusive as far as I’m concerned.
What the heck are you talking about. Threatening to expose someone when they’ve used a pseudonym to debate on blogs is bullying at best and blackmail at worst.
This issue is not “political theatre”, nor is it just “harassment”, it is both a personal attack on an individual’s rights, and total contempt for the premise which gives bloggers the freedom to question the means and ends of those in power without having their livelihood threatened by bullies.
Outed
What kind of word is that? To me it suggests that you equate the threat of damaging someone by releasing their private information to an inevitable act of ‘bringing something out into the open’
And do you really think CV would be receiving this degree of support if it were purely based on “Following vague details”
Over the last two days reliable contributors have corroborated information that blackmail/bullying is happening. But keep on asking your questions…..and forming your opinions.
Haven’t ‘vipered’ me name. But have quietly wondered what the effect would be if every person simply posted under the name ‘colonial viper’ instead of variously x,y or z viper. A lot of the discussion around psuedonyms was that it potentially gave more power to the idea being expressed rather than the person expressing it.
Everyone under the same posting name = absence of recognisable personality. Just wonder what it could do for enhancing debate/discussion of ideas?
Anyway…wasn’t here yesterday. And just want to say that I’m more than just a little pissed off and angry that a commentator of the quality of CV has been (temporarily?) silenced.
Just about forgot, a small spot of praise from an unlikely quarter directed at a just as unlikely recipient,
Fonterra have just celebrated it’s one year of ‘milk in schools’ program in low decile schools in the Far North, reports are that milk consumption, (apparently off of the back of the ‘milk in schools), has risen markedly in the North and reports from the education sector say that after the daily dose of the white stuff the kids are showing definite rises in levels of both happiness and concentration,
Fonterra should (a), be congratulated for the ‘milk in schools’ initiative, and, urged to take the ‘trial’ further and roll it out across the country….
Has Cunliffe been allowed back into the fold again? he was speaking in parliament the other
day,also there was an economic meeting in Invercargill last night, from all media releases
on it he was confirmed to attend,while the local MP, Roy, declined, there were others confirmed as well including Winston,Turei, i can’t find anything on the meeting at all today.
CV, your fight is our fight for democracy,we stand together.
Hmmmm Internet is simple words and words have power. More likely it’s who control the flow of words and there meaning that have the power…or not as words are free
Interesting interview by Kim Hill of Rebecca Watson, sceptic and feminist on, among other things, attempts at censorship of women by intimidation and cyberbullying:
“What happens is not too surprising: the economy very fast chews up the environmental resources, depletes those reservoirs, resulting in a significant amount of environmental damage,” Werner said during his talk. He is still finishing up the model, so no details on the inputs and the final simulations are available. Still, I asked him afterward to clarify if his model had answered his baseline question. Is Earth fucked? “More or less,” he said.
It’s the stupid economy. It’s very nature must result in all resources being used up as fast as possible which must result in the collapse of the environment.
Hard to take seriously some guy who dresses like he rides a unicycle around the big tent.
Actually he looks like he fire dances to Goa trance on ‘rooms till dawn and has those uber ketch psuedo mystical psychedelic posters plastered all over his bedroom wall ( his mum won’t let him put them up in the TV room )
Predictably, he blames everything on Capitalism and wants us to shift to some notion he has about an anarchic never-never-land, Romantic pre industrial society – which was oh so full of loving kindness and harmony with nature.
Is it really practical or even possible for the 30 million + inhabitants of Tokyo to just walk away from their skyscrapers back into the forests and fields, picking wild berries and digging up roots?
“And how do you think that’s working out? Social, economic and environmental collapse starting to unravel before your eyes … and you will not see.”
I’m not claiming that Capitalism is perfect. But I’m not some extreme anti capitalist pushing some Rousseau Romantic “civilisation is decadent lets take all our clothes off and go back to nature” la la land nonsense either.
You would be wise to remember that the Left help build a balance between Democracy, social rights and Capitalism.
“Only old white guys in suits get taken seriously.”
You forgot to be heterophobic and chuck “straight” into that too. At least you got ageist, sexist and racist covered, 3 out of 4, not bad.
No doubt like all the rest of the little PC foot soldiers around here, you believe being sexist, racist, heterophobic and ageist is all ok when the target is the sworn enemy.
k_p, you just proved that you’re a fucken idiot. Given the data and the argument you then attacked the person rather than the data and the argument, i.e, you advanced a typical ad hominem attack characteristic of the terminally stupid.
I didn’t say you weren’t allowed, I just said you showed your stupidity by doing so. And yes, I thought the same about the article for doing so as it had nothing to do with his point.
It’s one thing for an MP and one presume on behalf of the leadership clique, to have a private chat regarding some kind of perceived dissent but surely one is allowed to be vocal in expressing opinion.
To go further and give a stop or expulsion order is borderline dictatorial and surely runs counter to the very principles of Labour. The double standard vs CV and JT is staggering…and the crux ban ban ban lets ban blogging.
David ” stalin” Shearer lived by his action and deeds now he must back off or fall come feb.
I think time for the real leader in the pack to step up,.
Grant Robertson this is your time, early but necessary and please please take cunliffe with you, not as finance but economic development and policy. Dull Parker can host out treasury.
As far as I can see Robertson is part of the current leadership team that is causing all the divisions and ruthless repression. The LP needs another leadership team to step up. An Cunliffe would be the best person for finance.
Michael Bassett writes – I’m not sure that it’s much comfort to anyone to know that the post-Covid surge in violent crimes, gang activity, ram raids, random shootings, thuggery and stabbings is occurring in other countries as well as New Zealand. These days, wagging school, out-of-control welfare and ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
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 ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
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It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
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The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
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The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
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Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
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Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
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The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
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Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
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Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
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Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
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By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
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Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/8054196/Nurse-who-took-Middleton-prank-call-found-dead
Very sad. Wanky media think it’s funny duping ordinary workers. I’ve had to deal with a few incidents of media (sometimes via politicians, employers and sadly a time or two by other benefit advocates) putting everyday people in unnecessary spotlight and seen terrible consequences there as well – not far away from this.
That whole notion that came through in the 80’s that staff were simply a resource and no longer people is one of the reasons this sort of crap happens.
People don’t even think about the consequences of humiliating a resource.
Bastards.
Terrible terribly sad poor poor woman.
Perhaps this tragedy will begin the demise of the tabloid culture in broadcasting that has gone unbridled since the advent of “pirate radio” – where disc jockeys have masqueraded as commentators with opinions of some worth. Ratings driven please-the-advertisers-justification drivel.
It’s all a symptom of the Murdoch type world.
And we have a government here who would like to commercialise RNZ. Just the way they have stuffed Television New Zealand.
It is sad. But it’s sad because, this nurse, doing one of the most important jobs for society, only became known to us because of her association with royals.
It’s sad that the royal pregnancy has got saturation coverage in the NZ media, while the MSM largely ignore a far more important event going on right under their noses: the international TPPA negotiations going on this week at Sky City in Auckland.
From the above linked article:
The nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, was a 46-year-old mother of two.
I hope Jacintha is now at peace. She made an important contribution to this world as a nurse and parent.
Simply a symptom of the break down of society, the dumbing down of the masses.
The sensationalism and tabloid culture the entertainment factor of journalism these days is simple in response to this.
Not only tragic and appalling for all the individuals involved; but serves crystal clear notice to the media industry that it’s long past time for a complete cleanout of all the venal, slimy, craven lack of professional journalistic standards that have become the accepted norm.
If journalism wants to survive as a profession it needs to take a very long hard look at itself. Self-righteous defensiveness and posturing no longer cuts mustard.
Such will only happen if the particular station gets done for causing the death.
That’s National and Act and UF to the core. Sell everything into private ownership so that the private owners get to control everything. Capitalism is just another form of dictatorship.
Commercialising Radio New Zealand isn’t going to make things worse. The National program is pretty well down in the dregs already.
I was listening to Jim Mora’s program on Thursday with his “panel” of Jock Anderson and Josie McNaught. A chunk of the fake call was played and the three of them certainly didn’t see anything wrong with doing it. If anything they appeared to regard it as funny and certainly nothing to worry about. There was mild sympathy with the nurse who was fooled but certainly no concern for the invasion of Kate’s privacy.
Its called bullying, and when the whole world is watching it should be a crime.
Just what happens when she has a miscarriage, am I to be blasted by news about
how great Moro and the Media in bringing us more vomit?
alwyn
That’s silly. Public National Radio is important. Complain if there is some program you want to change or improve but don’t talk about throwing it away in favour of commercialisation.
(I see I have to give up my? pseudonym Vindow Viper – some clever clogs always has thought of it first!)
If you re-read what I said, I didn’t actually call for National Radio to be commercialised, or privatised.
What I said was that they were just as appalling in their approach to this story as most of the commercial radio stations probably were (I didn’t hear anything they were playing so I can’t say).
I think we are entitled to rather better behaviour from National Radio than the juvenile giggling they did turn on. It was a gross invasion of privacy and it should NOT have been repeated in their broadcasts.
alwyn
I find the responses from Jim Mora’s guests very variable.
And that some of them would find the prank amusing is not surprising, they can be pretty vapid.
Of course it was not foreseen then that this poor lady would be soon dead.
Yes, well, when has the media ever concerned itself with going to far.
Yes alwyn I agree with you. I turned the radio off in disgust because of the flippant attitude they were exhibiting. We are entitled to much better behaviour from the only non commercial radio station we have in NZ.
As someone who was a victim of a number of vicious hoaxes in the distant past (not from the media in my case) I know the feeling of embarrassment, humiliation, fear and most of all… the violation of one’s privacy.
When malice and violation of privacy is involved, it should automatically become a criminal offence. The police approached my complaints with such a cavalier attitude, they might as well have told me what they were clearly thinking: ” Oh, you must have asked for it”. I still have a low opinion of the NZ Police as a result of that experience and probably always will have.
If you listen to RNZ often you will know there’s often a right-wing panel one day and a left-wing panel the next. I think they should be commended for trying to be fair and balanced, but I’ll always be down on them for banning Bomber when all he did was tell the truth.
While I agree with the theory, the plain simple reality is the right wing manufacturing of slogan should have seen a much more balanced Moro being able to counter them.
Take the kid in the corner, he basically allowed one of his guests to say it was all okay, because civics taught by religion classes was a social good. Have these people not been anywhere in the last 500 years, religion is death – to culture, to learning, to people, its prescriptivist nature has long been the enemy of the people.
It’s all part of the me generation that seeks pleasure and amusement and to hell with other considerations. Paul Holmes, Paul Henry, fun-loving types playing merry japes from Oz or NZ. Sociopathic at base. A proud hardworking ambitious medico may have felt her reputation and future had been fatally marked as she was being censured.
In the wake of these very sad events, hopefully we will witness the passing of the age of the boorish insensitive media shock jock?
Maybe the coarse laddish cheap and nasty reactionary humour of the John Tamiheres’ and Paul Henrys’ of this world, with behaviour previously excused, as “Ladish Fun” will no longer be considered acceptable behaviour for media broadcasters?
We can only hope that this is the case.
Boorish and reactionary, often misogynist and racist, radio and TV announcers are no longer funny, if they ever were.
Tedious Australian shock jocks are hardly “media”.
Populuxe1 1.2
Tedious shock jocks not media? If they are broadcasting from a position of employment then every comment they distribute is part of their media presentation, including tweets and facebook.
They aren’t “tedious Australian shock jocks” – they’re victims.
You seem to be implying they should be held responsible for
their behaviourthis tragic event or something.Yes, like we should hound them, like they were royalty…
All hail the Menz Party! Not impressed with the retrograde leadership of this party from a by-gone era.
Hope you’re having a good weekend Mr Viper & regathering your energy for future struggles to democratise this lost caucus.
Despite similar polling problems, the Aussie Labor party is actually growing its membership. There may be some lessons to be learned for NZ Labour.
There may be some lessons to be learned for NZ Labour.
Such as total and utter subjugation to the diktats of the Imperial Master….
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/backbench-revolt-overturns-pm-on-un-palestine-vote/story-fn59nm2j-1226524953437
Bwana Dave Shearer attempting to brush a few Labour crumbs off of the table in the Greens direction,
I see nothing to be gained by the Greens in accepting a ‘nothing’ position such as Deputy Prime Minister, the position in terms of coalition politics is simply ‘a bauble’ of office which would leave the incumbent powerless but tarred with the brush of having to accept the policies of the larger partner in the coalition while also being held to account for policy not of it’s own making by the electorate,
I would hope that the Greens are giving some thought this far out from 2014 to some bottom lines in policy where they can show the electorate specific gains to be made from soiling themselves in any coalition Government,
There may be far more to gain in terms of electoral support for the Greens to allow Labour as a minority Government with Green confidence and supply votes while extracting from Labour a specific set of goals via legislation within a stated time-frame…
bad 12 I agree with you.
Aha, the worry here is that the Greens could wind up in coalition with Labour while holding specific portfolio’s such as Conservation and then find their Ministries hamstrung by a Labour strangle-hold on the Finance Ministry,
I am sure that the Green Party is well up with this concern and would seek iron-clad budget guarantees as part of any coalition negotiations,
There is nothing i would like to see more in politics than a strong Green presence in a New Zealand Government, the codicil to that of course would have to be the careful balancing of the gains to be made by having that Cabinet representation as opposed to being able to extract the same gains from a confidence and supply agreement without the negative political effects that most junior coalition party’s suffer…
Did the fledgling Labour Party seek coalition with the Liberals?
No they stood their ground and refused to water down their principles.
What happened. As the Labour Party vote grew the ersatz enemies of the Country Party and the Liberals collapsed together to form National.
bad12 +1
Old Labour could be a lame duck party and Greens could get a reputation of being a bunch of quacks if joined at the hip to Old Labour.
FFS I’m with Karol on this one.
Memo to the Left. Women vote for you in large quantites. Women have taken a pounding under Nact [along with young people, children, those on social assistance etc etc].Most voters aren’t rich white males.
There is no need for tokenism you have plenty of competent women, use them.
Why isn’t the greens other co leader being considered for deputy PM? Maybe even a shared deputy PM.
No Mr Shearer, I’d expect it to go to the person most suited to the role within the ruling coalition.
/snigger
Will Russel Norman become the Nick Clegg of New Zealand
And destroy his party in the process?
David Shearer appears to be weighing up his options for deputy prime minister between Green co-leader Russel Norman and NZ First leader Winston Peters as he looks for ways to reward support partners without letting go of the key finance portfolio.
Vernon Small Fairfax News
For Russel Norman to accept a high cabinet position while Labour oversees a huge expansion in coal mining and oil drilling, would be to take a poisoned chalice for the Green Party. While Russel Norman may personally profit, like Nick Clegg in the the UK his party would be destroyed. Especially as looks likely the Labour Party will be committed to the strip mining of coal of West coast coal at Denniston and deep sea oil drilling and fracking all of which the Greens oppose.
Under the last Labour administration environmentalists were getting illegally spied on and arrested for protesting such things. No doubt under Shearer this will continue and Russel Norman will be seen to be a party to it.
Far better for the Greens to stay out of formal coalition with Labour and be captured. As happened with the Alliance, as happened to the Maori Party with National, as happened to the British Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives. And all see their votes collapse. Better to keep fighting for
your principles rather than trade them away.
Started work friday at 8am finished at 11pm so a very very long day for me.
Weekend will be groceries, gardening weeding veg garden, looking after baby naps and then back to work on Monday.
Banksy’s Christmas card
That’s Banksy the brilliant artist, not the corrupt politician….
https://twitter.com/johncusack/status/276448960099528707/photo/1
AND I see “I have nothing to hide” Banks, wants to send his lawyer to court!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8051774/Banks-seeks-Dotcom-court-excuse
ACT leader John Banks wants to be excused from appearing in court over the Dotcom donations saga.
A judge summoned the Epsom MP to appear in Wellington District Court next week, after retired accountant Graham McCready launched a rare private prosecution on a charge of knowingly filing a false election return
Jones is asking if Banks can be excused and instead represented by a lawyer.
I bet Bill Clinton’s weekly whoring budget that Banks will not appear in court.
Poor Morrissey – Sexual problems? You’re just jealous of smoothy Bill Clinton. There’s too much interest in the ordinary sex habits of pollies. Leave them alone until they do it in the street and frighten the horses.
You’re just jealous of smoothy Bill Clinton.
You could not be more wrong. Clinton has a history of foolish and reckless sexual behaviour, but then so do many politicians.
And, take my word for it, he’s welcome to his ghastly wife—and to the pathetic matrons who threw themselves at him in Queenstown and Auckland when he was here in 1999.
7.3 magnitude quake off the coast of Miyagi prefecture yesterday. Miyagi prefecture is right next to Fukushima prefecture. So, no tsunami or what not. But haven’t seen any reports about Fukushima-Daiichi Unit 4. Anyone?
And if you’re reading this but are unaware of the importance of Unit 4, then….last I heard (from the fairewinds website some months back), its walls were bulging due to quake damage and the fear was that a good sized aftershock could cause it to split or collapse.
And if Unit 4 loses its water and the cooling rods are exposed to air they will, apparently, ignite and it will not be possible to extinquish the resulting highly radioactive fire. And the release of radiation would exceed the culmutive radiation from all nuclear tests.
So, given the potential for an absolutely unprecedented disaster scenario if Unit 4 is compromised, I’ve have expected news reports of a major aftershock to carry specific info on the integrity of that cooling pool. (ie, something more detailed or focussed than some Tepco mouthpiece issuing a blanket – ‘It’s all A-OK at all of our plants’ – type statement.)
But hey. Maybe my expectations are just too high?
5.8 in NZ
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10852726
The only real certainty about Unit 4 Bill, like the entire episode at Fukishima, is that the wall of lies are thick.
This should be front page news every day of the bloody week!
Bill
I heard a mention of a 1 metre tsunami up there.
I’d like to buy a badge to wear to all Labour Party meetings with the words:
“I am Colonial Viper!”
This would be a great fund raiser for the Dunedin South Labour party. I’d pay $10 for one (incl P&P and GST).
They could use half the proceeds for the Hillside families and the other half to fund a better election campaign in 2014.
Yep, the members now have the power. A concerted effort is required to take the party back from these autocratic bullies.
How do you change the name you post under? Do you re-register or something?
If you don’t log-in, you can comment under any name you like.
Thanks. Here goes!
Aha, just clocked-in to TS on another post and was wondering… who the hell is Olsviper? 🙂
🙂
Brilliant ….tshirt are getting printed as we speak lol
Long live CV
Please send a link so we can purchase t-shirts as soon as they are available. Will be great for the summer BBQ season.
Perhaps the Wellington head office could run the the “I’m Colonial Viper” fund raiser.
Use the money to pay for additional staff to process the flood of membership renewals. There seems to be some delays at present…….
Maybe they are vetting the applications for left wing bloggers hence the time delays.
How about CV for Dunedin South. Replace a twit tweeter with a Activist blogger.
Reply to Lenore at 41 in the ‘Just how wrong…’ thread.
I instinctively wanted to argue with your comment.
But it reminded me of a blog-post of Chris Trotter’s from way back, in which he lamented that gatherings of the left seem more rancorous, cliquey, unfriendly, and sometimes downright nasty, on a personal level, than similar groups on the right. And sadly, that has largely been my experience of left-wing activism too.
Even allowing for my own ineptness in group settings, memories of being quite outrageously patronised, feeling deliberately excluded much more often than I felt included, of cliquiness not otherwise seen outside of adolescence, and of personalised belittling, backstabbing, and malicious gossip completely unrelated to any idealogical differences, do tend to predominate.
I don’t see activism as a social outlet, or expect “fun”, and I think I understand that the left is diversity by definition, and solidarity in diversity is much harder work than I imagine a National Party fundraising dinner would be. Fighting oppression will never be a smooth ride, and so in that respect I do understand and share your trepidation at rejoining the fray.
But hey, the Labour Party isn’t particularly left-wing, so you might be pleasantly surprised….
I’d suggest that this lack of sociability among left-wing activists has it’s roots in the idea that most of us are fundamentally introverted personalities. In a world that largely values and celebrates extroversion it’s very difficult for us to learn constructive ways to assert ourselves, because for much of our lives we experience exclusion and marginalisation everywhere.
Put a bunch of us face to face in a room we find it all a bit intense, hard work, and it’s not so very surprising that it’s a more than a little dysfunctional. It’s also why if you let us remove ourselves back to the privacy of our own homes … we can often connect quite successfully with each other on the net.
+1 good point.
VindowViper … hehe.
I was active for a while in the dim dark past but well my local party was geared up as anti newbie and very very focused on power plays and knife tossing. Little real activity and organisational skills. Now ten years on all focused around the sitting MP support core from the culled woman’s branch.
I remember my first LEC meeting after doing a review of the leaflet drop zones, the red neck affiliate rep judged me as ” great another fucking homo”, the feminist urban renewal supporter sniffed and exclaimed “I don’t need a man to accompany me doing canvassing”, the regional rep mumbled and stumbled shyly stating ” I don’t do public speaking”, and th sitting MP hinted at dark economic tidings on the horizon.
Anyway long live the revolution within the party and membership rights.
LOL
I could tell a few funny stories of a similar ilk – but not without identifying myself and potentially offending fellow activists – who as individuals were good people. (I always imagined one particular group as a satirical tv show).
And yes, shoot me right now and get it over with, identity cliques, including feminist cliques seem to naturally occur, gain powerbases, start playing power games….
Understandable in many ways, and there can be an element of overcompensating once we “identities” find our voices.
In reply to Bill, I think changes to the ways we organise ourselves could help ameliorate the problem, but I don’t think hierarchical structures are the only cause. There are a whole lot of factors at play I think.
And Vindow Viper – I find it hard to believe that the majority of left-wingers can be introverted because introversion is a minority trait. We are probably disproportionately represented though. Another part of the jigsaw is differences in how the working classes are socialised (compared to the ruling classes). Unconsciously, many of our parents prepared us to be “good workers” – rather than the smooth social operators the ruling class tend to train their kids to be.
I think the places like TS can help overcome the problem, not just because many of us are shy, but because conversations can develop over time. So often in real world setttings we can’t get past action and reaction, to actually listening to each other.
IMO there’s two parts. Socialisation needs to be taught but the majority of families fail to actually teach it and so children are left to pick up socialisation from the people around them which is, more often than not, other children in places such as school. So the majority of people grow up with failed socialisation.
The part where you say prepared us to be “good workers” is exactly that – the parents, used to nothing other than working themselves, tell their children that they need to have a job. It’s all they’ve known. Other families teach their children how to be successful within the present hierarchical paradigm which really isn’t about having a job but about having the right social connections and having others work for them.
Interesting idea Draco, that there can be an absence of teaching socialisation which sees kids scratching around picking up what they can from their peers who might also be largely untaught. That rings true to me.
Is it socialisation or rise of individualism or both maybe.
It’s certainly the rise of the individual, as taught to the kids of the elite. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
My whole group are what you call elites…take last new years one fly in by his own helicopter for the party but my point thru education and self or taught drive and determination either through group socialisation or individual drive etc we should all be elites. Further to this is that even the multi millionaire is a worker basically just more cleverer or more socialised connected or had a better start so therefore all workers given the right or left tools should be the same.
We can’t all be elites. That is a contradiction in terms.
The idea that through hard work, and determination, blah blah blah……. is a prevalent right-wing meme which is not founded in reality.
Similar to “we can all be winners”. If we were all winners there would be no winners because there can be no winning without others losing. Good for keeping us in aspirational la-la land though.
It’s called a rule change if you don’t like the rules stand up and change them just don’t sit it out.
First step…power to the party i.e members
Two.. Plan and organise in the long term
Three. Promote key identifiers into position of change.
Four. Disseminate ideas of change to the masses.
Five. Systematically create change or await an event that fosters the right environment for change….big bang or crunch will do nicely.
Hmm. Meetings. In not very democratic settings, all the nasty, cliquey, power tripping shit gets free reign. So quieter or shyer people get excluded, options or opinions sidelined if they are not ‘in tune’ with the dominant suggestion (which is usually framed as a yes/no, agree/disagree ‘decision’). Even the agenda for what is/isn’t to be discussed is set from ‘on high’…by ‘the committee members, the clique etc, ie those with more access to information and by extention, ability to excercise power.
There are fairly simple ways around all of that. In a word: democracy.
Level the environment where the decisions are going to be made. No permanently appointed or elected committees, chairpeople or whatever to preside over meetings. Revolving position of facilitators whose main task is identify what the group is actually saying, ensure or encourage input from those who are less dominant in group settings, see to it that all opinions are canvassed and not casually dismissed ‘just because’, deny the opportunity to dominate…etc, etc, etc.
Facilitator = potentially poisoned chalice of being King/ Queen/dictator/ diplomat (depending on their approach/skill level)….for a few hours. And next time around they are just one of the unwashed like everyone else and somebody else gets to fill those shoes. Which aren’t very pleasant btw…it can be bloody hard work and usually involves a very steep learning curve. And is utterly disempowering on the level that the facilitator does not actually engage in terms of input to whatever decisions are up for consideration.
Could LEC meetings run along those lines? I’d love to hear any excuses as to why they couldn’t or shouldn’t…or any arguments that would attempt to justify why such meetings should be considered as ‘special cases’ allowed to practice ‘less than democratic’ meeting procedures.
So, vulture capitalists. I hadn’t paid much attention before, just another lot of financiers ripping people off with derivatives, bonds, currency trading an the like. But it’s worse than that when they can:
– Impound a frigate of a sovereign state and get a court order from some country or another (in this case Ghana) to hold it until the State pays the vultures the debt they bought up for a song
– Buy up debt from a defaulting sovereign state, get a court ruling from some country (in this case the U.S.) to force a country who had defaulted to pay billions, with interest – at the expense of debtors who agreed to take less to facilitate the default and without any concern whatsoever for the citizens of the country, or the economic recovery that has made the demand for payment viable.
Big issues here for how the Greek, Spanish and Portugese debt is handled, and maybe something of the reason for the convoluted drawn out process in managing Greek debt.
There must be something going on behind the scenes to get rid of these people. Surely even the eyes at the top of the financial tree can see there is a massive risk of it crashing to the ground.
Yep this means the whole idea of partial write-downs of debt will be out of the window. But the finacial elite don’t care – they have their interests nicely protected
What I find amazing is that while the super-rich have always been able to bend ‘justice’ to their will in the name of obscene profiteering, they now believe they have the power to take on an entire nation – impounding a frigate!
Maybe the feisty Cristina Kirchner should consider formally declaring war on Paul Singer and all the interests of Elliot Capital Management
Yep, as far as the capitalists go it’s proof that their preferred financial method doesn’t actually work and they can’t have that as people will break the bonds that the capitalists have spent centuries putting in place.
Calling all Vipers…
Good on you, you’re making your point. Those who would censor take note.
If you’re joining the viper army, however, a reminder that the first comment under a new name goes into moderation. Once the new name is cleared, away you go as usual. But in the weekend moderation can take a while sometimes…
(I can see the headlines now – The Standard is a nest of vipers!)
What is it that CV has actually been doing which would attract this kind of attention?
He’s not a regular author on the site, prolific poster sure, but thats not enough to cover it off…
No specific details required, in generalistic terms it would be helpful to get some sort of context, otherwise this just all seems a little, dramatic!
Solidarity.
Look it up.
So making an enquiry is to go against “solidarity”!
It doesn’t work like that….
Grow up!
No, I was answering your question about why.
The “look it up” was sarcastic (apologies) because I thought the reasons we “vipers” are trying to offer our support, were quite obvious. Did you read yesterday’s open mike?
Hmmm, digital communications distortion..
I did read the article, but it does not make sense from what has been discussed.
I would have thought that as CV self proclaimed does not work, and apparantly does not have to, that he would be in an ideal position to really get stuck into the system, so to speak.
Being a prolific poster on blogs is not enough to have to take cover from blogging, if it can have no blow back – Perhaps it about his family as opposed to him, which would be understandable.
Looking for some more details, in a generalist sense as to what else could have triggered this, as it sounds like its overblown to me.
Sure there might be more to it in the background, but the posts do not tell that.
Solidarity is great, but so is some information, above what has been given.
Oh for olde petes sake….a song coched in old lost language.
Old farmer will had a farm, sheep dogs and pigs and an old work horse called one left shoe. Now on that farm there was a mouse called Micky…..Micky mouse had a friend called pig man E N G O and that’s what his name is NGO NGO loud and shrill but solid and kind who walked and talked until he was red deep red in the face….poor old NGO.
Me-thinks the latest attempt to muzzle internet comment on the Labour Party leadership is an attempt to silence those in the Party who support Cunliffe as leader,
The intent of such would seem to be a view that a challenge can be fore-stalled in February if such activists within the Party can be silenced,
To me Labour and the Shearer faction and supporters in the Party, (if there are in fact many, any ???), have gone about this all arse about face,
Perhaps the Shearer faction ‘knows’ that should a vote be triggered in February they don’t have the numbers, but, putting that aside for now most of us, (an assumption), would have found it to be the mark of a real leader if the Shearer camp had of from the moment the Conference re-wrote the rules on leadership selection openly stated that it would be they, (the Shearer faction), who would trigger that vote by the wider party in February,
Complaining about and threatening Party members for voicing their opinions on websites such as the Standard is at the least weak,
Further to that i believe that Labour as a Party should not rest on it’s laurels as far as having added the ‘democratic’ element to it’s choice of leadership and the same voting system could anbd should be extended in the future to selecting future Labour Cabinets with the Parliamentary Leader allocating the relevant portfolios…
CV has been bullied and threatened by a Labour MP who has apparently acquired (by one means or another) his actual identity.
The above comment was meant to be in reply to Muzza at 9.1
Hi Anne,
Yes that much is clear, but is it more about the outing of the real identity as a way of trying to quiet the blogging community as a whole, or does CV have a specific role as member of the LP which would seem to make sense to the person alledged to be putting the heat on?
Does CV have a blog site, or a role inside the membership which would explain this attention?
Does CV have a blog site, or a role inside the membership which would explain this attention?
Not to my knowledge except he has shown himself to be a very effective communicator. I suspect that was the sin he committed.
[Some details deleted. r0b] While there may be some other incidences of bullying going on, I don’t think its a campaign on the part of the Labour caucus to stamp out criticism or dissent. I hope not.
Hi Anne,
It doesn’t stack up for me at this stage, but something’s to look into in any case.
I will give you an example that happened a few months ago. The MP in question ‘outed’ one of The Standard’s most well known (and highly regarded) commenters… on Red Alert. I doubt the person in question was too phased because he’s never made any attempt to hide his real identity anyway. What I’m saying is: she has a history of this kind of silly behaviour.
If it’s not an LP campaign, then it’s a further example of Shearer’s poor control over his caucus – he’s heavy handed with MPs he, or his leadership team see as a threat, but lets his supporters get away with actions that undermine the principles of a left wing party.
PS: Is it possible that the repressive approach of the leadership team to MPs in the Labour caucus, is causing lone MPs to act pre-emptively against LP members, in order to preserve their own standing with the caucus leaders?
Muzza, you seem to be saying a) What’s so special about Colonial Viper?
and b) you question the importance to CV of his pseudonymity, and believe you have a right to know his reasons and have the right to judge whether his reasons are “valid.”
You do get that CV is a commenter on a blog, and you have no right to know anything about his “real” life? Any more than I have a right to any information about yours. That CV has been silenced (albeit temporarily I hope) by Labour management shows his right to privacy is very important to him. And CV is one of us.
And we know, because it has been discussed here extensively, that some, maybe many, would not be able to participate at all, or would have their right to freedom of speech significantly curtailed without this protection.
Labour management is silencing dissent by bullying its own members (who are, it’s worth noting, its (unpaid) workforce). If you don’t see this as important enough to warrant a rallying of support from this community, and/or don’t see CV as ‘important” enough, I’d be kind of interested in your criteria.
Who would be important enough?
What would be important enough?
Thats not what I’m saying
Everyone who wants to remain anonymous should be able to expect that is maintainable, whether or not that becomes maintainable will depend on how out there they put themselves, and the type of people they are putting themselves out there with/against. Politics is theatre, the media is theatre, and the people inside the political theatre are low quality, as we see by the state of NZ.
Should people be outed, or threatened to be outed, no, but is that likely to happen, yes of course!
If en masse people, following some vague details and a blogger saying he needs to check out for a while, want to show outward solidarity, thats great, and I understand the positions people are taking.
So far as having a right to know, no, not at all, just the right to ask questions (answered ot not), and form my own opinions based on what makes sense from the little info available!
Again, I do not want/expect/have rights to anything, and yes he is as far as I am aware, a commentator on a blog, and seemingly LP member. Would that in its own right be enough to attact that sort of attention, unless the MP involved has lost the plot, ot there ir more to the story than has come across the posts – I suspect much of both. –
If CV has been silenced that is his choice to allow, or not, and if the threat of being outed has lead to the silencing, that is unfortunate, but again, its his choice. Do I agree with outing, absolutely not, but see my comment above about who/how much people involved themselves.
Actually i think there may be a bigger agenda at play, in so far as the *freedom of the net/speech* is concerned, and perhaps this might be a trigger. Hard to say though as its all rather under the radar from what I can tell.
I see the LP having been taken over decades back, and woudl consider this alledged behaviour as another example of the takeover of politics, which has allowed the takeover of NZ, in case no one else noticed!
Yes its important, but I’m not the blond support/cheer leader type – CV is one of the many commentators here which can be enjoyed, and if he is being harrassed, that is out of order.
Support takes many forms, not always the outwardly obvious!
a) Yeah, all the world is a stage. And?
b)Are you familiar with the concept of victim-blaming?
c)What, exactly, do you imagine is flying under what radar?
d)Support and victim-blaming are mutually exclusive as far as I’m concerned.
What the heck are you talking about. Threatening to expose someone when they’ve used a pseudonym to debate on blogs is bullying at best and blackmail at worst.
This issue is not “political theatre”, nor is it just “harassment”, it is both a personal attack on an individual’s rights, and total contempt for the premise which gives bloggers the freedom to question the means and ends of those in power without having their livelihood threatened by bullies.
What kind of word is that? To me it suggests that you equate the threat of damaging someone by releasing their private information to an inevitable act of ‘bringing something out into the open’
And do you really think CV would be receiving this degree of support if it were purely based on “Following vague details”
Over the last two days reliable contributors have corroborated information that blackmail/bullying is happening. But keep on asking your questions…..and forming your opinions.
Except when it comes to conspiracy theories.
Haven’t ‘vipered’ me name. But have quietly wondered what the effect would be if every person simply posted under the name ‘colonial viper’ instead of variously x,y or z viper. A lot of the discussion around psuedonyms was that it potentially gave more power to the idea being expressed rather than the person expressing it.
Everyone under the same posting name = absence of recognisable personality. Just wonder what it could do for enhancing debate/discussion of ideas?
Anyway…wasn’t here yesterday. And just want to say that I’m more than just a little pissed off and angry that a commentator of the quality of CV has been (temporarily?) silenced.
Red striped viper in the green green grass.
r0b
😀
This is fun….
One more viper!
This could catch on…..
Just about forgot, a small spot of praise from an unlikely quarter directed at a just as unlikely recipient,
Fonterra have just celebrated it’s one year of ‘milk in schools’ program in low decile schools in the Far North, reports are that milk consumption, (apparently off of the back of the ‘milk in schools), has risen markedly in the North and reports from the education sector say that after the daily dose of the white stuff the kids are showing definite rises in levels of both happiness and concentration,
Fonterra should (a), be congratulated for the ‘milk in schools’ initiative, and, urged to take the ‘trial’ further and roll it out across the country….
Has Cunliffe been allowed back into the fold again? he was speaking in parliament the other
day,also there was an economic meeting in Invercargill last night, from all media releases
on it he was confirmed to attend,while the local MP, Roy, declined, there were others confirmed as well including Winston,Turei, i can’t find anything on the meeting at all today.
CV, your fight is our fight for democracy,we stand together.
Nope Clayton crosgrove took the promised spot
Yes,just found it on the side ticker,by bsprout,the best man was missing.
Here’s one for CV:
“The internet, our greatest tool of emancipation, has been transformed into the most dangerous facilitator of totalitarianism we have ever seen”
A new interview with Julian Assange in the Grauniad.
Hmmmm Internet is simple words and words have power. More likely it’s who control the flow of words and there meaning that have the power…or not as words are free
Interesting interview by Kim Hill of Rebecca Watson, sceptic and feminist on, among other things, attempts at censorship of women by intimidation and cyberbullying:
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20121208-1105-rebecca_watson_girls_and_shopping-048.mp3
About 26 minutes, 9.4 MB
LEST WE FORGET
Why the U.K./U.S. axis is determined to get Julian Assange
http://www.collateralmurder.com/
Quite a shaky eq this morning here in NZ – 5.something. Felt it rocking in Nelson at 7.25 a.m.
After extensive mathematical modeling, scientist declares “Earth is F**ked”
It’s the stupid economy. It’s very nature must result in all resources being used up as fast as possible which must result in the collapse of the environment.
Hard to take seriously some guy who dresses like he rides a unicycle around the big tent.
Actually he looks like he fire dances to Goa trance on ‘rooms till dawn and has those uber ketch psuedo mystical psychedelic posters plastered all over his bedroom wall ( his mum won’t let him put them up in the TV room )
Predictably, he blames everything on Capitalism and wants us to shift to some notion he has about an anarchic never-never-land, Romantic pre industrial society – which was oh so full of loving kindness and harmony with nature.
Is it really practical or even possible for the 30 million + inhabitants of Tokyo to just walk away from their skyscrapers back into the forests and fields, picking wild berries and digging up roots?
Typical marxist derivative Leftie nonsense.
Hard to take seriously some guy who dresses like he rides a unicycle around the big tent.
Only old white guys in suits get taken seriously.
Predictably, he blames everything on Capitalism
And how do you think that’s working out? Social, economic and environmental collapse starting to unravel before your eyes … and you will not see.
which was oh so full of loving kindness and harmony with nature.
Human beings are neither angels nor devils, but adapt their behaviour to their environment.
Typical marxist derivative Leftie nonsense.
How about saying something interesting for once?
“And how do you think that’s working out? Social, economic and environmental collapse starting to unravel before your eyes … and you will not see.”
I’m not claiming that Capitalism is perfect. But I’m not some extreme anti capitalist pushing some Rousseau Romantic “civilisation is decadent lets take all our clothes off and go back to nature” la la land nonsense either.
You would be wise to remember that the Left help build a balance between Democracy, social rights and Capitalism.
“Only old white guys in suits get taken seriously.”
You forgot to be heterophobic and chuck “straight” into that too. At least you got ageist, sexist and racist covered, 3 out of 4, not bad.
No doubt like all the rest of the little PC foot soldiers around here, you believe being sexist, racist, heterophobic and ageist is all ok when the target is the sworn enemy.
kp go back to your closet
k_p, you just proved that you’re a fucken idiot. Given the data and the argument you then attacked the person rather than the data and the argument, i.e, you advanced a typical ad hominem attack characteristic of the terminally stupid.
The bloody article itself tries to make something out of his techno stoner pink hair, so I don’t see why I’m not allowed.
I didn’t say you weren’t allowed, I just said you showed your stupidity by doing so. And yes, I thought the same about the article for doing so as it had nothing to do with his point.
Some good laughs today, courtesy of CV… Vindow Viper, and the Standard as a nest of vipers 😀
Just joining the nest of
I’m going to have to stop this………please come back CV. Just tell the bastards to get f**cked.
It’s one thing for an MP and one presume on behalf of the leadership clique, to have a private chat regarding some kind of perceived dissent but surely one is allowed to be vocal in expressing opinion.
To go further and give a stop or expulsion order is borderline dictatorial and surely runs counter to the very principles of Labour. The double standard vs CV and JT is staggering…and the crux ban ban ban lets ban blogging.
David ” stalin” Shearer lived by his action and deeds now he must back off or fall come feb.
I think time for the real leader in the pack to step up,.
Grant Robertson this is your time, early but necessary and please please take cunliffe with you, not as finance but economic development and policy. Dull Parker can host out treasury.
As far as I can see Robertson is part of the current leadership team that is causing all the divisions and ruthless repression. The LP needs another leadership team to step up. An Cunliffe would be the best person for finance.
Wheels within wheels