What’s going on in the National Party is nothing short of a purge.
Anyone who won’t have the stomach for the extreme right-wing blitzkrieg the central committee has planned for the third term is out, and will be replaced by obedient, subservient little Randian ideologues and proto-fascists who owe their entire career to the leadership.
And don’t forget to mention not too bright – I don’t know whether to laugh or cry that Simon Bridges signed over a national park in pristine condition to the oil drillers and then cheerfully announced he’d never heard of the park in question before!
The Nats are starting to expose their hubris to an astonishing degree – more astonishing are the number of twerps in Aotearoa who are just not getting it!
Though, alternately the right may figure they don’t actually want to grind away at another 3 years in power and figure they will have legislated a sufficient number of our rights away to be able to carry on without us by September – let Labour etc. try and unpick the mess, probably to no real avail as too many evils will have escaped from Pandora’s box. We live in interesting times (read Chris Trotter’s latest offering in Bowally Road)
“Though, alternately the right may figure they don’t actually want to grind away at another 3 years in power and figure they will have legislated a sufficient number of our rights away to be able to carry on without us by September”
Don’t believe it for a moment Jan.
The Nats want another term, and if they get it the hammer is coming down hard.
That nasty centre left National government that presides over economic freedom and a giant welfare safety net will send us plummeting in the rankings. Oh the humanity.
“A United Nations Human Rights Council report says New Zealand needs to do more to combat issues such as child poverty, domestic violence and racial crimes.
It’s just the second time New Zealand has been included in the report, which is issued every four years and provides recommendations on global human rights issues.
This year’s document contains 155 recommendations for New Zealand, up from to 64 four years ago.”
United Nations Human rights Council members
Algeria
Argentina
Austria
Benin
Botswana
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Chile
China
Congo
Costa Rica
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
Czech Republic
Estoni
Ethiopia
France
Gabon
Germany
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Maldives
Mexico
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Sierra Leone
South Africa
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United States of America
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Viet Nam
HRC Membership
Do you really think anyone cares what sort of report come out of that nest of appalling regimes.
The United Nations only has something useful about to say about NZ if Helen Clark or some other Labour retread is saying it, anything else is lies, damm lies.
Good grief – there are no New Zealanders who do not have their “basic needs” met. You seem so miserable and angry that nothing will please you. No evidence will change your mindset. Everything is doomed, when all evidence points to the exact opposite. You are very strange.
Yep. Trying to incrementally undo bits and pieces of the damage done (e.g. using the Employment Relations Act to moderate the Employment Contracts Act) is a useless centrist approach.
Even if Labour and its mates were to accidentally win the election (and they wont as the caucus would hate to admit that Cunliffe was the right man for the job so wont help him) then you are working on the false assumption that the Labour Caucus would actually WANT to change anything.
Look at history – apart from Roger Douglas, there have been stuff all major changes in economic policy brought about by a change of Government in the past forty years.
Even Helen Clarks first Government didnt reverse Ruth Richardsons welfare “reforms”
And in foreign fields, the French Presidential candidate Hollande spoke the big words about not being bullied into austerity by the Germans and the banks, and once elected, within weeks changed his words 100% and eventually morphed into a poodle.
Whatever makes you think a Cunliffe led government will be any different?
Whatever makes you think a Cunliffe led government will be any different?
Nothing which is why I’m not a Labour supporter. Still, they could always listen to what I say and the Greens, whom I do somewhat support, will be there as well and so we may get some needed legislative reform.
‘subservient little Randian ideologues and proto-fascists..’ Bridges, JLR, Guy, Foss, Adams etc.
Bill’s on the list to make a quick exit should one be required, watch for others swapping out in this manner as it’s effectively preparing for a departure as you just slip away and another sock puppet comes in off the list, no by-election.
+100
That sums it up absolutely felix. It is the conclusion that makes sense of all that is going on in NACT. It reminds me of once when I had to coat my kitten with lindane to get rid of the fleas years ago. They fell off in staggering amounts, it was definitely a purge.
The downward slide continues on Morning report. More of Oscar Pistorius crying, complete with long pauses. As a special treat we got a story about a married US politician no one here has ever heard of, apologising for a video showing him kissing another women, apparently he ran on a platform of ‘family values’, oh the irony! Of course we have the royal playdate and at 6.30am traffic congestion as a result of earthquake repairs in Christchurch made the bulletin. Who else left when Geoff retired? Is the programme being produced by year 12 media students or what?
Today he said he heard a window in the bathroom, panicked. he said he yelled to Reeva to get under the bed, yelled at her to call the police, yelled at the intruder, then he heard the toilet door close…
My partner suggested that reeva, hearing him, not knowing she was the alleged intruder, took refuge in the toilet. He then proceeded tot he toilet door and shot…
That doesn’t explain any calls tot he person behind the toilet door, warnings to them etc which would have alerted reeva to the fact she was the alleged intruder that bothered him.
It’s one explanation.
Also we need to recall that even those who commit awful violence on their partners are often remorseful very soon after…
Is this an all or nothing charge for the Crown? Or if it is not premeditated murder, it’s still murder or manslaughter?
It is a concern that Morning Report seems to have descended into repetition and trivia. Maybe it is just another slow news day – again. Guyon and Susie seem to be struggling with what they are given but who is giving them the material and who is standing over them to make sure that the program fades away during election year?
Tomorrow will be better perhaps.
Oh come on we re so lucky to now have ‘Gyro’ Espiner frantically trying to sound like a commercial station every time he speaks. If we do get a left party in power again then a thorough overhaul of Radio and Television is a must and it should be done in a way that it cannot be easily undone without a solid proportion of NZ voting to change it.
plus 100. i switched to radio live (after guyon talking about how ‘lucky’ the babies who were going to meet the royals were, blurgh!) but hit their sport panel (double blurgh!) so i listened to some mp3s instead…aphrodites childs ‘666’ mega epic psychedelic greek rock!!!!
I have noticed the Radionz News fascination with the endless Oscar piss stories. And his crying. Specially brought to you the educated listener to inform you about what important things are happening in the world. He should get an ‘Oscar’ all right. And a boot up his bum. It sounds to me like a Special Boy who has been fated and feted to get everything that he wants.
An underlying learning that comes from those two examples is that girls have to watch their boyfriends aren’t actually boyfiends. Watch your spelling ladies, or your mistake could mean your death.
Then as Corokia says the USA Christian who was Sooooo Sorry that he kissed another woman besides his wife and has stepped down from something political. And not only do we give him a brief report in our news, we get USA feed giving us the rundown on it. The excitement of it all. Someone has got something sexual, a touch, a kiss, a brush of the bodies, nooky or something.
Heaven help us. Can we get people and our heretofore respected Radionz who respect our need for real news, and not some tripe suitable for the tripey women’s magazines or the defunct Truth newspaper. No wonder it had to close down. It’s erstwhile readers are so well served by all the latest Titbits and Tittle-tattle, it couldn’t compete. Why don’t we have some page 3 nudes, both men and women. Let’s have real pictures of real bodies and be honest that we like that some of the time. And the rest of the time we can stop having little everyday indecency blown up into major news. And hear some of the important news that is presently sidelined so we can share in the horror of an illegitimate kiss.
At the offices of Cosmopolitan magazine, however, the staff seemed to forget that Ms Geldof had a life and career. In fact they seemed to forget altogether that she was a real, flesh and blood woman with friends and family who are shocked and grieving, and decided that their “tribute” to her would be this:
as designed Adrian, not one everyone is privvy to except probably Griffin the other nat cronies on the RNZ board so they all chirp as one along with the nact backers who provided the design.
Of course why am I not surprised that you would choose that right wing rag The Economist. A magazine that still hides the names of its reporters, probably because we might recognise their names in the Tory register.
One could do so much better reading a reputable news publication.
Yep. Much better to listen to some uplifting Mahler or Lesbians on Ecstasy on your morning commute. Or a Podcast of The Economist.
srylands
The Standard must be the main post of your life, that keeps you upright, your mainstay. You poor old person who has to sit on your hill and make snide remarks at the hoi pollio down below.
Why don’t you do something useful now. You have no doubt acquired money over your life, sticking one of your tentacles to the lifeblood of the right wing institutions that you have belonged to. Now you are so empty, you can only fill yourself by writing critical remarks about people who are trying to do something.
Have you ever said anything positive, offered a positive and effective comment to ideas expressed on this blog that would help carry NZ forward keeping in mind its financial and other difficulties and the long mismanagement of the economy? I think you would have to look hard to find it. I wonder if you can bother to.
From yesterdays question time, Bill English asked a question by David Parker about superannuation, an attempt to skewer English with the news story of the mega-billions that would have been in a previous superannuation fund if an incoming National Government had not cancelled it,
English retorted, fishing or with inside knowledge???, that Labour currently had an unspoken of plan to ‘means test’ all superannuation payments which certainly got Parker looking like He had just pee’d on an electric fence,
My view is that English was simply using a bullshit line to avoid actually answering the question, i doubt Labour have a ‘plan’ to means test superannuation at all, why would they promote such an electorally kneecapping policy when they already have a perfect ‘turn off’ to 2–5% of voters with the ‘plan’ to raise the age of entitlement to 67,
If anything should Labour gain the numbers in the Parliament to actually further this policy, i would suggest an impossibility unless they commit electoral suicide and use National to ram such Legislation through,after individual compulsory superannuation savings Legislation will come a future ‘imperative’ to raise the age of entitlement to 70,
Given the current state of political polls it is not unreasonable to suggest that NZFirst will be a feature in the next Parliament which would make the Labour plan to raise the age of entitlement basically null and void and it is beyond me to understand why Parliamentary Labour continue to push this vote losing policy,
The fact that David Cunliffe cannot ‘see’ this has me questioning whether He is as smart as we are lead to believe…
Oh, he’s as smart as we were led to believe. His problem is that he still believes in the economic paradigm that has been throttling NZ for the last thirty years. In fact, he’s well and truly indoctrinated in it.
When Paddy G interviewed DC on The Nation and the issue of lifting the retirement age was raised by Gower, I got a strong feeling from DC’s response that he was pretty luke warm about it. He was very emphatic in all his other answers and what he did say was he thought there should be a cross party agreement on the issue. This is how I remember it anyway.
Unfortunately a ”pretty lukewarm response” from David Cunliffe on the superannuation question does not necessarily mean that He is ‘against’ raising the age of entitlement,
Such a ”lukewarm response” might have simply been His response to a question He found it easier to equivocate over than give a straight answer, especially if that answer would have entailed confirming the Labour plan to raise the age of entitlement,
From RadioNZ News, both on radio and online it appears that Labour have contingency plans when it comes to the question of mining if the Green party refused to support any future mining initiatives during a Labour/Green Government,
It appears that the mining lobby group Straterra held ,(paid for), a function in the Parliaments Grand Hall a couple of days ago at which Andrew Little represented the Labour Party,
Spoken to after this function Little is quoted, presumably full of the wine of Straterra’s human kindness, as saying that should the Green Party in a future coalition with Labour refuse to support any future mining Legislation granting new license to mine Labour would then rely on the support of the National Party to pass such Legislation in the House,
So how far astray are those who see exactly the same ‘tactic being used to pass Legislation through the House on the raising of the age of superannuation question,
i realize that we all want rid of Slippery the Prime Minister and this shoddy corrupt Government, BUT, rid of them at what cost, i for one cannot continue to promote ”unity” of the left when Labour look every bit the ‘other’ National Party masquerading at the ball…
Raising the age to 67 is inevitable. It is happening all over the OECD. There is no alternative. Take a look at the long term fiscal outlook Treasury put out last year. If you don’t do this, there will be no money for health expenditure growth. You choose. You need to look at this in the context of all fiscal pressures to 2040.
Labour could win the election by promising a phased increase in super eligibility to 70 years. Another useful reform would be to unlink it from wage growth and chanage it to CPI. Do thiose two things and things will look much sweeter. Ultimately both WILL happen because there is no alternative. Labour might as well take the credit. Because the next National Government led by J Key’s successor will do it.
Raising the age to 67 is inevitable. It is happening all over the OECD. There is no alternative.
Odd then that the US Federal Reserve can print $80B a week in interest free money for the big banks?
Odd then that the US and the EU can instantly come up with multi-billion dollar bail outs and loan guarantees for their preferred government in Ukraine?
Odd then that the 0.1% have stashed away several trillion dollars in tax havens and high value assets like gold?
Where is all this money coming from for these special pet projects?
Why do you say that austerity for the 99% is inevitable when there is clearly so much money being printed and stashed away by the 0.1%?
srylands,
statements like that suggest your thought process is not qualified to strain week old soup, let alone create the banquet of circumstance required to grow a healthy society
The usual Nazi rubbish from SSLands, still choosing i see to vomit an absolute pile of excrement without a shred of fact into the debate,
Here is the ACT Party view of this supposed ‘crisis in superannuation:
”Since 1980 the number of people over the age of 65 has doubled”. ”StatisticsNZ predicts this age group will double again by 2036”. ”In that time the cost of NZ Super is projected to increase from 9 billion dollars a year to 20 billion dollars a year”.unquote.
So, shock horror where exactly is the problem, doesn’t the rise in the cost of superannuation from the present 9 billion dollars to 20 billion dollars in 2036 just have you all shaking at the knees,
There is no problem with superannuation as has been shown by the ability to pay for a doubling of the number of superannuation payments from 1980 to the present day,
In 1980 GDP was 22,967 billions of dollars
In 2012 GDP was 208,688 billions of dollars,
This GDP growth was achieved through any number of financial and economic crisis, if we apply the same rate of growth to expected GDB in 2036 an entirely different picture of shock horror emerges,
The estimated GDP in 2036 394,400 billions of dollars
plus the contents of the Cullen Super fund now at 24 billion dollars and rising,
Estimated GDP 418,400 billions of dollars,
So using the exact same growth rate for the years 1980—2012 in billions of dollars we can estimate the growth in the GDP from 2012–2036 to arrive at a figure of,(adding in the Cullen Super fund), 418,400 billions of dollars doubling the present 2012 figure of GDP,
Crisis what Crisis, by 2036 the number of superannuation payments will have doubled as will the the growth of GDP,(based upon historical fact),which will simply mean that the Government will have doubled its income from taxation of that doubled GDP so where exactly is this crisis…
Firstly, there is no such thing as this is “happening all over the OECD”. The age for many mainland Euro countries is 60 to 65 years with Ireland 66 years. These are facts, so no stories please.
Secondly, if a state pays a benefit it has to be contributed to. So why not link it to the years worked rather then age reached. Lets say the tax contribution years of each person is 40 years – and please note this is based on individual contribution, no couples or diminishing into the wall paper if you are married.
This would mean that if you are at university slouching off for years on end it will not get you the good life. Equally if you start working young or in an apprenticeship that often means physical work, one would retire earlier. Thus the system would be fairer. If one chooses to continue working and is able it should not be a problem.
There is still a cap of the working age, lets say 67, by which time everybody would be entitlement to at least a minimum pension as it is paid now. The difference is that in the case of having the full 40 years contributed the pension is set at the average income of the last few years of work.
You might say that this is a good incentive to a/ not stay on the dole, b/ go from benefit to benefit without ever contributing anything and lastly everybody knows that they are not a drain on the next person. This can be run like any other pension scheme and does not need extensive set up costs, privatization with money being paid to shareholders instead of the retiree. The question is, is the average person out there ready to take responsibility?
And this is why most Euro countries have minimum pensions for women reaching the age of 60 and this is paid on an individual basis and not as the women being the left foot of a man.
Really, an incentive to get a job???what a load of fucking shit, there are not enough jobs in the economy so other than rotational employment everyone cannot work…
In several European countries it’s below 60 for men and lower than men by a couple of years for women. In the OECD only Japan and South Korea have an effective retirement age that is quite a lot older than the official retirement age.
Most Euro countries do not peg against reaching a certain age but rather on years of contribution to the retirement fund. Hence the age varies. However, 60 -65 is the minimum age by which one can get minimum retirement money without the nominal time of contributions. Yes, the effective retirement age is often lower. I know this first hand as my younger siblings are already retired whilst I have to put some considerable years into it here in NZ before I get some peanuts.
The super surcharge was, in effect, a method of means testing National Super, and I think that was introduced originally by Labour. Perhaps that was what English was referring to.
My guess from this is that Labour intend to have a means tested superannuation at 65 and non means test at 67 as a way of allowing those who wish/need to retire at 65 to be able to access superannuation if they are of limited means. Personally, I’d rather see more money being spent on those living in poverty than being paid out to 65 year olds who are still in full-time work earning over $100,000 a year.
The super for those on such high incomes would largely be lost in taxes. And having applied for NZ Super – it’s a trial – requires verification of identity, documented evidence of all income, all savings, etc as well as of all assets (whether than can be swapped for money or not) – it’s a bugger of a form to complete. For those who will lose the super gain in taxes anyway, it may not be worth the effort – though I guess they’d have accountants to do it for them.
That’s true, Karol – I was working full time when I first received Super and I was paying quite a bit more in taxes than I was getting back (and I wasn’t earning $100,000 either!) You have to pay secondary tax on either your income or your Super, so the tax payments are quite high
And after paying secondary tax you then fill in the correct forms and get the over paid tax back. You still end up paying the same amount of tax on income.
”Fixer” would be a better descriptive, but please, do tell us all more,(with proof or asked as a question),
Most English gangster clans have a ”Fixer” which saves the elite of such from having to dirty their hands,
i must hunt out the story i read,(online), that alleges that one particular ‘Woyal’ suffering from irreversible brain damage far from ‘falling’ to His death from the step of the particular remote mansion/castle He had been hidden away in, went over a nearby cliff allegedly with the help from another Sir in the form of a ‘Woyal Fixer’…
Go to the post. You will find all the proof you need. I never put anything out unless I can link to proof or I put it in a question. Hence the link in the comment. By the way calling someone a piece of work isn’t what you might call libelous is it?
Sorry book signed travellerev, i missed that one word in Blue reading your comment at speed on the first go round, yep have had a read and He is as you say he is…
Thanks, interesting. So Sir David Manning was involved in preparing that dossier of mis-information in support of the UK joining the US in the 2003 attack on Iraq – misinformation about WMDs.
A million excess deaths in Iraq in the years since the Blair/Bush led war. Yes, that’s war criminal level activity right there, regardless of whether or not Blair was a Saint on every other day of the week.
And that’s also ignoring how Blair further increased the political capture exercised by the City of London bankers.
One day I think and hope the Standardistas are going to look at your comments and think he is getting more and more blatant in his shill behavior by the day. You’re not even pretending anymore!
Cheers, Ev, as usual you haven’t got a clue. I’m not defending Blair, but pointing out an interesting, if contrarian, opinion piece. Not everything is an conspiracy, you know.
From TV3 News last night. Simon (the moron) Bridges opens up 450,000 hectares of conservation land for oil and gas exploration including Victoria Forest Park, described by DOC as “pristine and untouched” and has no idea it exists or where it is. You have to watch this.
Yes, lots of jokes on Twitter last night at Bridge’s expense. Is it me, or is Bridge’s usual bad-John-key-imitation of mangled speech less noticeable than usual in that vid? – His more natural speech coming out when caught on the back foot?
For the Minister to approve this without even knowing it raises serious questions about his competence and that of his Ministry. Was he advised about it? If so, and he ignored it, then he’s a total muppet. OTOH, if he wasn’t, it suggests serious problems with MoBIE’s economic development unit, which the Minister is ultimately responsible for. And either way, its crystal clear that National has no commitment whatsoever to conservation or our environment; if it can be bulldozed for profit, they’ll sign off on it.
…I have to agree with Martin Bradbury that “If the Greens are serious about being the main part in a Labour led Government, they have to start finding bridges to build with Winston.”
“Is Kennedy Graham the Green’s secret weapon and are they getting rid of him too soon?”
i have to wonder which Labour Party ‘Bomber’ is referring to when He says that ”285,000 kids growing up in poverty and a climate damaged enviroment can’t afford blah blah blah”,
In light of my comment (7.2.1) above it appears that Labour will happily indulge in climate damaging mining and if the Green component of any Labour/Green Government objects to this the Labour Party as Andrew Little is quoted by RadioNZ National News will happily seek the votes of National to pass any needed Legislation,
As far as addressing child poverty i have yet to see a labour Party policy that in any way addresses such poverty, as by the time all these jobs,jobs,jobs, which appears to be the sum total of the ‘plan’ materialize those kids will have lived their whole childhoods in that poverty and suffer the consequences of it for the remainder of their lives…
It would cost about 1.5% of GDP (=$3B p.a.) to totally eradicate child poverty from NZ. And of course, it’s not a “cost” it’s an investment in the future of New Zealand.
Funny how no political party seems to be giving us what we need.
We can safely abandon the doctrine of the eighties, namely that the rich were not working because they had too little money, the poor because they had much.
Crim Dot Con says that he has an electorate MP (Not Hone) agreed to sign up to the Internet party
If this is true then there is a current electorate MP who is lying to his electorate and party now because every single one has denied being in the Crim’s pocket. There is no electorate MP who could survive as an MP having lied and deceived the public like that.
Crim Dot Con is a liar desperate to avoid extradition and jail time.
Will Mana ignore their principles and take his thirty silver coins.
If so they have no mana.
I thought Dotcom talked of an “elected MP”. That is not necessarily the same thing as an electorate MP. Bearing in mind his first language is not English, then its possible he was referring to an MP elected by the voters to be an MP which would include list MPs elected via the party vote.
I am reading an old Simenon story first published in 1954. It’s about a French village and called Maigret Goes to School.
This is a quote that took my fancy, describing the Deputy Mayor –
“The expression on his face combined the cunning self-assurance of the peasant with that of the politician skilled in juggling with the village elections.”
And the postman, who has lost a hand which has been replaced with a hook, complaining about the forms he has to deliver from the government:-
To begin with, there are the ex-servicemen. That I can understand. Then there are the widows’ pensions. The the health insurance, the large family allowances. And the allowances for…
Can you sort them all out? I sometimes wonder whether there’s a soul in the village who doesn’t draw something from the government…. And I’m certain some of them have kids just for the sake of the children’s allowance.
Simenon has Maigret think –
It seemed to be an obsession. He must draw a pension himself, for his arm. He was paid by the government. And it infuriated him that other people benefited as well. In fact, he was jealous.
Simenon is an observer of the human character. He notes that a war veteran who ostensibly was fighting for his fellow citizens and country and the wellbeing of the whole country, can then turn at the end of the war and resent his fellows their life and the efforts to go forward in an improved way with a new life and children for the future.
So thinking about oneself and resenting others getting help with the duties of their roles and consideration for their situation is not new. And that applies to war veterans needing help and not getting it also.
”Two thirds of the way through the current financial year the ‘tax take’ is now 1.1 Billion Dollars below estimates”,
Shortfalls:
GST down by 3.2%,
Business taxes down by 6.8%,
We were told when the ‘tax take’ was light by 500 million dollars that this was due to ‘slower than usual’ tax payments from the business sector,
Considering that hole in the Government revenue stream has now more than doubled to 1.1 Billion Dollars we can only view such an excuse as bullshit, more lies form this National Government, it would appear from such a sizable hole in that Government revenue stream that ‘business’ has found a new means of tax avoidance and considering the doubling of the amount that business has not paid in due taxation it would appear that more of those in business are using such a ‘loophole’ to avoid paying due taxation,
Considering the ‘upward trend’ in non-compliance from the business sector to pay due taxation the estimate for the full year of increase in tax avoidance/evasion will leave the Government income for the year 1.7 –2 billion dollars less than what the GDP growth would suggest is due…
The board of kiwirail didn’t know their ferry was using significant amounts of lubrication, above the norm, and let the ferry sail!@#@ Inevitably leading to a failure costing millions to fix…!!!
Tax revenues down. Key ideological delusion thought lowering tax would raise revenue.
Sad, really sad, that Key actually thinks neo-liberal deregulate actually creates growth.
No. The growth of the last thirty years has been due to year on year falls in the cost
of energy. The glut of cheap high density petroleum.
And now that’s over, the way to increase govt revenue, create more jobs, a more efficient economy, is to pull back on government largess to industries and tax payers, and let manage the economy so the most have the best opportunity to compete and innovate. And you don’t do that by giving relief to those who have already ensconced themselves and use the tax cut to solidify their positions (as they have). Innovation comes from stress, Key’s soft on industrial approach is naive now, was naive for the last thirty years, since it hands an easy ride, and so boost the financial sector. We don’t generate new science by dictate to scientist what they can research, we don’t generate new ideas and new products, new innovations by helping those who have a systemic interest in keeping the status quo.
For thirty years we have dropped the ball, and been lied to by the self proclaimed geniuses of high finance. It was just one giant right wing monetary scam.
Just the indignity of having to explain to a government official that your child has died and you need to travel aboard to keep getting basic income assistance to eat. This when Collins, paid for by tax payers, to fly, to live it up in hotels, to get free feeds, can have a private dinner (not so private she didn’t have to inform the ambassador about). I mean its the same abuse surely, using tax payers money to do with it for some purpose that you shouldn’t. In a beneficiary were to travel overseas, wined and dined because of who their husband is, because of their husbands company, Ms Bennett would be out drolling how she saved money, but should that person be a minister!!!
. There is a disconnect between the rhetoric of a “rock star economy” promoted by a writer at the NZ Herald, and more than 40 people turning up at an information evening for a probation officer position in Wellington a few days ago.
who read the dinkum oil by chalkie in todays dompost. “how the forex traders fixed the market”. Ithink I heard that around here lately too. good job if you can get it.
As an increasingly greater number of people within my social and work circles have been saying, as I have heard many times in recent months, some Labour MPs would prefer to be in control of a losing Labour Party than not be in control of a winning Labour Party.
Power is shifting: to places in which we have no voice or vote. Domestic policies are forged by special advisers and spin doctors, by panels and advisory committees stuffed with lobbyists. The self-hating state withdraws its own authority to regulate and direct. Simultaneously, the democratic vacuum at the heart of global governance is being filled – without anything resembling consent – by international bureaucrats and corporate executives. The NGOs permitted, often as an afterthought, to join them intelligibly represent neither civil society nor electorates. (And please spare me that guff about consumer democracy or shareholder democracy: in both cases some people have more votes than others, and those with the most votes are the least inclined to press for change).
I simply want to express how pissed off I am that Labour’s caucus have rejected a formal coalition with the Greens – as reported on the tv news tonight.
I am unlikely ever to vote Greens for a whole bunch of reasons. I also delivered and donated for them at the last election.
There is little to be gained by Labour for doing this – it is abundantly clear that there will be little shifting of the major blocs (at least those visible to public polling) leading up to election. In fact Labour’s David Cunliffe has admitted as much by stating regularly that it will not be fresh voters that win Labour the election, but instead it will be those who already have a predisposition to vote Labour anyway but who simply chose not to vote last time.
We have also heard regularly on television and on sites such as this that the vast majority of those who vote Labour would prefer a Labour-Green coalition. Like my wife and I.
The rump end of Labour’s caucus are simply chickenshit conservative egotists who think they can go it alone until the very end, but in fact are signalling that they would prefer not to have to deal with the Greens at all.
The Greens could quite well determine that there is less to be gained by being pushed around and excluded like they were last time Labour was in power, and decide it’s better not to have a progressive government if it means having to be relentlessly done over by Labour’s bullying thugs.
We met these hard-assed ugly caucus members head on when we changed the rules to force the Labour membership to have a say in the leader. We met them again when we campaigned successfully to get David Cunliffe to be leader of the Labour Party. They were bitter fights, but on the surface at least unity was re-established in order to gain re-election.
And now we get to meet them again, that same sad bitter old rump without courage or whit to get another job (while National completely clears house for the next generation). They are a pathetic excuse for a caucus if they explicitly slap down a generous and constructive coalition offer from the Greens. Labour’s caucus could not generate a united political vision throughout the entire leadership debate, and have just made Cunliffe go on television and state it in black and white.
I am in complete despair at the coldness and meanness of the Labour caucus response. I noted Cunliffe’s careful wording. However the optimism and youth of the Greens look a whole lot more attractive right now.
“I simply want to express how pissed off I am that Labour’s caucus have rejected a formal coalition with the Greens – as reported on the tv news tonight.”
Well, it’s a good thing that’s not what happened, eh. All that actually has happened is that Labour has decided against using coalition style language prior to the election (and before the negotiations that will form the Labour led Government). It’s not my preference, as a supporter of explicit pre-election blocs, but it ain’t the end of the world.
Labour had better figure out how people are reacting to such lack of cooperativeness – because yes it isn’t the end of the world – but I could see Labour becoming a minor party if they persist in competing with the other main (biggest) party of the left.
Humans get further cooperating with their associates. If they want to compete – how about they focus on National and Act as their targets to compete against? (…now there is a novel idea)
I am having a similar reaction – the only clause out for Labour in my book, is that if this was reported in a manner that made it look particularly bad for Labour – One News is usually fairly fair (unlike 3News) – however I am suspending drawing firm conclusions until I find out more via other sources.
The items that were mentioned by One News that the Greens had presented to Labour sounded sensible and very workable. I agree with Russel Norman’s comment – that people wish to see the future government and how these parties will work together.
If this item is confirmed accurate – Labour have managed to lower their chances of a vote from me – they will just have to access how many others will react in a similar way ( – because obviously just one person being put off matters very little 🙂 ) I am sorry for the members who did a wonderful job of getting their voices heard in changing the Leadership rules and let’s be very clear if Labour was going to get my support it would be due to these members’ efforts. yet now after hearing this news, I am unlikely to vote Labour.
This lack of cooperation and particularly not providing a decent reason for this choice by Labour, simply makes Labour look really pathetic and power-trippy in my view. A cooperative, ‘can do’ attitude is needed on this matter of the parties they are most likely going to be working with – not a misaligned cupidity toward power they may not even get if they don’t start showing some cohesion with their peers and assertiveness toward issues that matter to people. Or at least explaining where they are coming from.
This looked pathetic Labour just pathetic is my initial reaction – final conclusions, as mentioned earlier, are pending.
On the surface it doesn’t look great does it. You’d think that a united Left coalition would stand in positive contrast to National which is essentially on its own.
Maybe Labour have some strategic reason?? Dunno.
I guess that the floating centre vote may not switch to Labour is there was a formal coalition with the Greens. Although no formal coalition may send some floating Lab/Green votes to the Greens it’s not going to hurt the overall left-ish vote. I think Labour have made the correct decision here.
This was one of the thoughts I had too – however Winston is likely to have captured this market of these types of voters and what about the issue of people who don’t see Labour ‘as being any different from National’? – from my point of view this perception is wrong – Labour governments are a lot different to National because they invest in people and people issues that bear fruit in the future – however perceptions count for a lot with elections and if Labour made some sort of clear stand that would counter such perceptions it would be excellent. It may be that this defining of Labour as different to National is more of an issue – it is certainly the comment I hear most regularly.
Instead of making clear statements, however Labour choose to go all woolly about parties that they are going to have to work with. It would have been good to have a clear explanation of why it was that Labour rejected this coalition plan and a positive comment re the Greens whilst doing so. Instead we are just left in the dark – left to guess – why Labour wouldn’t find some common ground with the Greens. What are the chances of Labour getting enough votes to be in Government without them?
It’s not inconsistent with the goal of turning out the disenfranchised vote. I’m generally a Labour voter (not sure this year), but I’m not concerned about where the left vote goes in terms of left-ish parties – as long as it goes somewhere – maybe the outrage will send a few more people to the ballot box to vote Greens or Mana?
BL – Labour and the Greens have both been pretty clear about what they agree on. I guess from a personal perspective I know a few people that are thinking about switching from Nat to Lab, but won’t have a bar of the Greens. Whereas people who are going vote left will do so anyway.
I think rejecting a coalition with the Greens is a safe strategy for the left generally, maybe there are many who would prefer Labour to be bold… Interesting that this is leading the news, not Simon Bridges, because it’s not news at all, imo. When was the formal proposal put forward? It’s talked about before and I don’t think there has ever been an indication that Labour would agree to such a deal if it was proposed.
If the concern is that being explicit will turn centrists off, then the make up of the left wing block is important.
Voters who won’t vote Labour ‘because of the Greens’, will be at least as aware of what sort of coalition they will need to form as anyone else.
If Labour keep distancing themselves from the Greens in order to woo ‘centrists’, and this causes left voters to switch to the greens, then those centrists will notice that.
Labour can’t help anyone by pretending. there are people who really don’t want a left wing government. They are called tories, and they vote for National, and Labour should stop trying to woo them. They should woo the people who are likely to be wooed.
I largely think the athe blue/green thing is a myth. They are far more blue, than green, but if there is a block of Nat voters labour should target, it’s them. Those voters don’t vote green because of whatever reason, but Labour is far closer to those voters than the Greens are.
I respect what you’re writing, but I can’t really see a downside for the left block in general due to Labour’s position. Although I can see a downside for Labour. Lab voters who prefer an alliance with the Greens, are very unlikely to move to the right if they’re annoyed with Labour. I do agree it’s not going to necessarily maximise the Labour vote, but I doubt it will damage the left vote.
I definitely think there are disaffected National voters who will vote Labour if they think Labour is not ‘giving in’ to the Greens. I’m not calling for Labour to go after that vote, far from it, I just think the Left might lose more than it gains by explicitly agreeing to a coalition with the Greens.
As for the Blue-Greens, yes, I agree they are an almost extinct species. I reckon their environmental perspective is likely to be a consumerist one, not a social one. I think that if they exist they’re unlikely to vote Green, but are even more unlikely to vote a Green party explicitly coalescing with Labour. The Greens recognised that last election when they refused to ‘rule out’ National (I think they found that the Blue-Greens are mostly blue, but).
Seems like such an arrangement would benefit the Greens more than Labour both in potential votes and subsequent power in a coalition government. If such a coalition failed to take the treasury benches they’d have far more MP’s, perhaps even nearing a parity with Labour. A cynical play by the Greens, Labour are smart to reject it, they’d be signing the death warrant of the party.
I can certainly see your point, however I see the Green’s proposal as more in touch with the voters than Labour’s position on this one (and quite a few other issues too). i.e if 70% of left wing voters would like to see a working relationship between Labour and the Greens – the Greens proposal delivers that and also gives us voters something very defined to base our decisions on – i.e if we want a more Labour flavour it makes it clear to vote Labour and if we want Greens to have that much influence – we vote Greens. This is still the case – yet the Green’s proposal emphasises this – and this doesn’t necessarily mean that more people would vote Greens.
Labour could have responded by putting forward some limits i.e. no finance portfolios (for example) and then the ball would be in the Green’s court.
“Seems like such an arrangement would benefit the Greens more than Labour both in potential votes and subsequent power in a coalition government”
Can you explain your reasoning? I know a few voters who currently say they’ll vote Green simply to force Labour to work with them. They feel burned by Labour’s constant pandering to soft tories like Winston and Dunne. They don’t agree with the Greens on a lot of things, prefer Labour on many, but would simply rather Labour be negotiating with the Greens than with Winston or Dunne.
This announcement is likely to have confirmed they’ll be voting Green. 68% of Labour voters said they’d rather Lab work with the Greens than with Winston in a CB poll late last year. Those are Labour voters at risk of voting Green to force that party to do what they want. A deal like that proposed would leave them comfortably red.
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Hands up who feels sorry for Tau Henare? – if you choose to swim with sharks …
Hell NO
What’s going on in the National Party is nothing short of a purge.
Anyone who won’t have the stomach for the extreme right-wing blitzkrieg the central committee has planned for the third term is out, and will be replaced by obedient, subservient little Randian ideologues and proto-fascists who owe their entire career to the leadership.
National is transforming into ACT on steroids.
And don’t forget to mention not too bright – I don’t know whether to laugh or cry that Simon Bridges signed over a national park in pristine condition to the oil drillers and then cheerfully announced he’d never heard of the park in question before!
The Nats are starting to expose their hubris to an astonishing degree – more astonishing are the number of twerps in Aotearoa who are just not getting it!
Though, alternately the right may figure they don’t actually want to grind away at another 3 years in power and figure they will have legislated a sufficient number of our rights away to be able to carry on without us by September – let Labour etc. try and unpick the mess, probably to no real avail as too many evils will have escaped from Pandora’s box. We live in interesting times (read Chris Trotter’s latest offering in Bowally Road)
I’ve posted the Bridges TV3 clip below JanM. A must see.
“Though, alternately the right may figure they don’t actually want to grind away at another 3 years in power and figure they will have legislated a sufficient number of our rights away to be able to carry on without us by September”
Don’t believe it for a moment Jan.
The Nats want another term, and if they get it the hammer is coming down hard.
+1
Oh yes the hammer. Does that mean that we will no longer be the number 1 ranked country in the world for social freedom and choice?
http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/document/pdf/201414/progress.pdf
That nasty centre left National government that presides over economic freedom and a giant welfare safety net will send us plummeting in the rankings. Oh the humanity.
What a load of crap.
This is a conversation about NZ matters.
It has nothing to do with you.
do you also accept this recent report?
“A United Nations Human Rights Council report says New Zealand needs to do more to combat issues such as child poverty, domestic violence and racial crimes.
It’s just the second time New Zealand has been included in the report, which is issued every four years and provides recommendations on global human rights issues.
This year’s document contains 155 recommendations for New Zealand, up from to 64 four years ago.”
United Nations Human rights Council members
Algeria
Argentina
Austria
Benin
Botswana
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Chile
China
Congo
Costa Rica
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
Czech Republic
Estoni
Ethiopia
France
Gabon
Germany
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Maldives
Mexico
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Sierra Leone
South Africa
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United States of America
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Viet Nam
HRC Membership
Do you really think anyone cares what sort of report come out of that nest of appalling regimes.
Come on dude , keep up
The United Nations only has something useful about to say about NZ if Helen Clark or some other Labour retread is saying it, anything else is lies, damm lies.
Austria and Ireland have appalling regimes? Please explain.
How did we go on basic needs, ecosystem sustainability, or clean waterways?
Oh, but we’re free to choose – choose australia, like you did.
Good grief – there are no New Zealanders who do not have their “basic needs” met. You seem so miserable and angry that nothing will please you. No evidence will change your mindset. Everything is doomed, when all evidence points to the exact opposite. You are very strange.
Guess that explains why there are no New Zealanders living in cars, in garages, under bridges etc etc.
Not that you’d know, you live in Australia and know nothing about life here.
You didn’t read the report you linked to. You are very stupid.
Forget unpicking the mess – just dump the whole lot and put in complete new legislation. Especially for taxes.
Yep. Trying to incrementally undo bits and pieces of the damage done (e.g. using the Employment Relations Act to moderate the Employment Contracts Act) is a useless centrist approach.
Even if Labour and its mates were to accidentally win the election (and they wont as the caucus would hate to admit that Cunliffe was the right man for the job so wont help him) then you are working on the false assumption that the Labour Caucus would actually WANT to change anything.
Look at history – apart from Roger Douglas, there have been stuff all major changes in economic policy brought about by a change of Government in the past forty years.
Even Helen Clarks first Government didnt reverse Ruth Richardsons welfare “reforms”
And in foreign fields, the French Presidential candidate Hollande spoke the big words about not being bullied into austerity by the Germans and the banks, and once elected, within weeks changed his words 100% and eventually morphed into a poodle.
Whatever makes you think a Cunliffe led government will be any different?
Nothing which is why I’m not a Labour supporter. Still, they could always listen to what I say and the Greens, whom I do somewhat support, will be there as well and so we may get some needed legislative reform.
Noises-Off Democracy’s Stage
A powerful telling.
‘subservient little Randian ideologues and proto-fascists..’ Bridges, JLR, Guy, Foss, Adams etc.
Bill’s on the list to make a quick exit should one be required, watch for others swapping out in this manner as it’s effectively preparing for a departure as you just slip away and another sock puppet comes in off the list, no by-election.
+100
That sums it up absolutely felix. It is the conclusion that makes sense of all that is going on in NACT. It reminds me of once when I had to coat my kitten with lindane to get rid of the fleas years ago. They fell off in staggering amounts, it was definitely a purge.
I dont feel sorry for Tau…he sold his soul to the devil….really he could have been so much more
The downward slide continues on Morning report. More of Oscar Pistorius crying, complete with long pauses. As a special treat we got a story about a married US politician no one here has ever heard of, apologising for a video showing him kissing another women, apparently he ran on a platform of ‘family values’, oh the irony! Of course we have the royal playdate and at 6.30am traffic congestion as a result of earthquake repairs in Christchurch made the bulletin. Who else left when Geoff retired? Is the programme being produced by year 12 media students or what?
Opinion would say, an unkind one at that, that Oscar sure as hell deserves one for His performance in the witness box…
I don’t see why someone can’t be genuinely remorseful and upset, even if they did actually commit murder.
Agreed.
Today he said he heard a window in the bathroom, panicked. he said he yelled to Reeva to get under the bed, yelled at her to call the police, yelled at the intruder, then he heard the toilet door close…
My partner suggested that reeva, hearing him, not knowing she was the alleged intruder, took refuge in the toilet. He then proceeded tot he toilet door and shot…
That doesn’t explain any calls tot he person behind the toilet door, warnings to them etc which would have alerted reeva to the fact she was the alleged intruder that bothered him.
It’s one explanation.
Also we need to recall that even those who commit awful violence on their partners are often remorseful very soon after…
Is this an all or nothing charge for the Crown? Or if it is not premeditated murder, it’s still murder or manslaughter?
Sounds as though you could do with some background reading on sociopaths 🙂
It is a concern that Morning Report seems to have descended into repetition and trivia. Maybe it is just another slow news day – again. Guyon and Susie seem to be struggling with what they are given but who is giving them the material and who is standing over them to make sure that the program fades away during election year?
Tomorrow will be better perhaps.
Oh come on we re so lucky to now have ‘Gyro’ Espiner frantically trying to sound like a commercial station every time he speaks. If we do get a left party in power again then a thorough overhaul of Radio and Television is a must and it should be done in a way that it cannot be easily undone without a solid proportion of NZ voting to change it.
plus 100. i switched to radio live (after guyon talking about how ‘lucky’ the babies who were going to meet the royals were, blurgh!) but hit their sport panel (double blurgh!) so i listened to some mp3s instead…aphrodites childs ‘666’ mega epic psychedelic greek rock!!!!
I have noticed the Radionz News fascination with the endless Oscar piss stories. And his crying. Specially brought to you the educated listener to inform you about what important things are happening in the world. He should get an ‘Oscar’ all right. And a boot up his bum. It sounds to me like a Special Boy who has been fated and feted to get everything that he wants.
Which reminds me also of the young man whose girlfriend woke up beside him in bed only to find she was dead. The Guardian said that Emily Langley’s killer was a millionaires son. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/22/millionaire-jewellers-son-jailed-murder
An underlying learning that comes from those two examples is that girls have to watch their boyfriends aren’t actually boyfiends. Watch your spelling ladies, or your mistake could mean your death.
Then as Corokia says the USA Christian who was Sooooo Sorry that he kissed another woman besides his wife and has stepped down from something political. And not only do we give him a brief report in our news, we get USA feed giving us the rundown on it. The excitement of it all. Someone has got something sexual, a touch, a kiss, a brush of the bodies, nooky or something.
Heaven help us. Can we get people and our heretofore respected Radionz who respect our need for real news, and not some tripe suitable for the tripey women’s magazines or the defunct Truth newspaper. No wonder it had to close down. It’s erstwhile readers are so well served by all the latest Titbits and Tittle-tattle, it couldn’t compete. Why don’t we have some page 3 nudes, both men and women. Let’s have real pictures of real bodies and be honest that we like that some of the time. And the rest of the time we can stop having little everyday indecency blown up into major news. And hear some of the important news that is presently sidelined so we can share in the horror of an illegitimate kiss.
Best Looks
Sickening and disgraceful. What has the world come to if this is Cosmopolitan response. Shame on them
and describing her as a fixture… a freudian slip of sorts?
Couldn’t agree more, I never thought Morning report would end up being so lame and vacuous. And it only took a couple of days.
Going down the same drain as the Listener
as designed Adrian, not one everyone is privvy to except probably Griffin the other nat cronies on the RNZ board so they all chirp as one along with the nact backers who provided the design.
Wallace is doing a great job on Sunday though.
Yep. Much better to listen to some uplifting Mahler or Lesbians on Ecstasy on your morning commute. Or a Podcast of The Economist.
Of course why am I not surprised that you would choose that right wing rag The Economist. A magazine that still hides the names of its reporters, probably because we might recognise their names in the Tory register.
One could do so much better reading a reputable news publication.
srylands
The Standard must be the main post of your life, that keeps you upright, your mainstay. You poor old person who has to sit on your hill and make snide remarks at the hoi pollio down below.
Why don’t you do something useful now. You have no doubt acquired money over your life, sticking one of your tentacles to the lifeblood of the right wing institutions that you have belonged to. Now you are so empty, you can only fill yourself by writing critical remarks about people who are trying to do something.
Have you ever said anything positive, offered a positive and effective comment to ideas expressed on this blog that would help carry NZ forward keeping in mind its financial and other difficulties and the long mismanagement of the economy? I think you would have to look hard to find it. I wonder if you can bother to.
The Four Horsemen
Haven’t watched it yet but it will probably be of interest to those interested in economics. It’s from The Renegade Economist.
Seen it.
It’s excellent.
”They gave us the grapes that went ripe in the Sun,
That loosen the screws at the back of the tongue,
We still told nothing ’bout what was to come”,
Four Horsemen–the Clash…
It’s ok but I think it eventually advocates for a free market solution, so kinda misses the point entirely.
I thought ‘Inside Job’ was much more informative but that doesn’t advocate for any particular solution.
From yesterdays question time, Bill English asked a question by David Parker about superannuation, an attempt to skewer English with the news story of the mega-billions that would have been in a previous superannuation fund if an incoming National Government had not cancelled it,
English retorted, fishing or with inside knowledge???, that Labour currently had an unspoken of plan to ‘means test’ all superannuation payments which certainly got Parker looking like He had just pee’d on an electric fence,
My view is that English was simply using a bullshit line to avoid actually answering the question, i doubt Labour have a ‘plan’ to means test superannuation at all, why would they promote such an electorally kneecapping policy when they already have a perfect ‘turn off’ to 2–5% of voters with the ‘plan’ to raise the age of entitlement to 67,
If anything should Labour gain the numbers in the Parliament to actually further this policy, i would suggest an impossibility unless they commit electoral suicide and use National to ram such Legislation through,after individual compulsory superannuation savings Legislation will come a future ‘imperative’ to raise the age of entitlement to 70,
Given the current state of political polls it is not unreasonable to suggest that NZFirst will be a feature in the next Parliament which would make the Labour plan to raise the age of entitlement basically null and void and it is beyond me to understand why Parliamentary Labour continue to push this vote losing policy,
The fact that David Cunliffe cannot ‘see’ this has me questioning whether He is as smart as we are lead to believe…
Oh, he’s as smart as we were led to believe. His problem is that he still believes in the economic paradigm that has been throttling NZ for the last thirty years. In fact, he’s well and truly indoctrinated in it.
Well, I know for sure that DC understands very well the limitations of neoliberal/Chicago school economics and monetary policy.
Whether or not the rest of the machinery allows him much freedom to express that and act on it is another question.
When Paddy G interviewed DC on The Nation and the issue of lifting the retirement age was raised by Gower, I got a strong feeling from DC’s response that he was pretty luke warm about it. He was very emphatic in all his other answers and what he did say was he thought there should be a cross party agreement on the issue. This is how I remember it anyway.
Unfortunately a ”pretty lukewarm response” from David Cunliffe on the superannuation question does not necessarily mean that He is ‘against’ raising the age of entitlement,
Such a ”lukewarm response” might have simply been His response to a question He found it easier to equivocate over than give a straight answer, especially if that answer would have entailed confirming the Labour plan to raise the age of entitlement,
From RadioNZ News, both on radio and online it appears that Labour have contingency plans when it comes to the question of mining if the Green party refused to support any future mining initiatives during a Labour/Green Government,
It appears that the mining lobby group Straterra held ,(paid for), a function in the Parliaments Grand Hall a couple of days ago at which Andrew Little represented the Labour Party,
Spoken to after this function Little is quoted, presumably full of the wine of Straterra’s human kindness, as saying that should the Green Party in a future coalition with Labour refuse to support any future mining Legislation granting new license to mine Labour would then rely on the support of the National Party to pass such Legislation in the House,
So how far astray are those who see exactly the same ‘tactic being used to pass Legislation through the House on the raising of the age of superannuation question,
i realize that we all want rid of Slippery the Prime Minister and this shoddy corrupt Government, BUT, rid of them at what cost, i for one cannot continue to promote ”unity” of the left when Labour look every bit the ‘other’ National Party masquerading at the ball…
Raising the age to 67 is inevitable. It is happening all over the OECD. There is no alternative. Take a look at the long term fiscal outlook Treasury put out last year. If you don’t do this, there will be no money for health expenditure growth. You choose. You need to look at this in the context of all fiscal pressures to 2040.
Labour could win the election by promising a phased increase in super eligibility to 70 years. Another useful reform would be to unlink it from wage growth and chanage it to CPI. Do thiose two things and things will look much sweeter. Ultimately both WILL happen because there is no alternative. Labour might as well take the credit. Because the next National Government led by J Key’s successor will do it.
Odd then that the US Federal Reserve can print $80B a week in interest free money for the big banks?
Odd then that the US and the EU can instantly come up with multi-billion dollar bail outs and loan guarantees for their preferred government in Ukraine?
Odd then that the 0.1% have stashed away several trillion dollars in tax havens and high value assets like gold?
Where is all this money coming from for these special pet projects?
Why do you say that austerity for the 99% is inevitable when there is clearly so much money being printed and stashed away by the 0.1%?
Actually, there’s plenty of alternatives but they absolutely trounce the status quo and so you don’t want to listen to them.
ha ha, fancy putting all this out there srylands. Your opinion is so shallow it is like talking to a child.
You think everything can and should be priced and that people on earth make decisions on the basis of self-interest.
So deluded.
@vto that’s it. you have put your finger on it. SorryLands is only 9.
“There is no alternative.”
srylands,
statements like that suggest your thought process is not qualified to strain week old soup, let alone create the banquet of circumstance required to grow a healthy society
Well said.
Anything out of slylands personal/political paradigm cannot be workable or acceptable, no matter how necessary, workable or acceptable it is.
slylands is driven by the myth of wealth = happy
as opposed to reality which is success = healthy and thriving
The usual Nazi rubbish from SSLands, still choosing i see to vomit an absolute pile of excrement without a shred of fact into the debate,
Here is the ACT Party view of this supposed ‘crisis in superannuation:
”Since 1980 the number of people over the age of 65 has doubled”. ”StatisticsNZ predicts this age group will double again by 2036”. ”In that time the cost of NZ Super is projected to increase from 9 billion dollars a year to 20 billion dollars a year”.unquote.
So, shock horror where exactly is the problem, doesn’t the rise in the cost of superannuation from the present 9 billion dollars to 20 billion dollars in 2036 just have you all shaking at the knees,
There is no problem with superannuation as has been shown by the ability to pay for a doubling of the number of superannuation payments from 1980 to the present day,
In 1980 GDP was 22,967 billions of dollars
In 2012 GDP was 208,688 billions of dollars,
This GDP growth was achieved through any number of financial and economic crisis, if we apply the same rate of growth to expected GDB in 2036 an entirely different picture of shock horror emerges,
The estimated GDP in 2036 394,400 billions of dollars
plus the contents of the Cullen Super fund now at 24 billion dollars and rising,
Estimated GDP 418,400 billions of dollars,
So using the exact same growth rate for the years 1980—2012 in billions of dollars we can estimate the growth in the GDP from 2012–2036 to arrive at a figure of,(adding in the Cullen Super fund), 418,400 billions of dollars doubling the present 2012 figure of GDP,
Crisis what Crisis, by 2036 the number of superannuation payments will have doubled as will the the growth of GDP,(based upon historical fact),which will simply mean that the Government will have doubled its income from taxation of that doubled GDP so where exactly is this crisis…
perhaps slylans is worried that the trend of falling tax revenue will continue til 2036, despite so called rockstar economy.
Firstly, there is no such thing as this is “happening all over the OECD”. The age for many mainland Euro countries is 60 to 65 years with Ireland 66 years. These are facts, so no stories please.
Secondly, if a state pays a benefit it has to be contributed to. So why not link it to the years worked rather then age reached. Lets say the tax contribution years of each person is 40 years – and please note this is based on individual contribution, no couples or diminishing into the wall paper if you are married.
This would mean that if you are at university slouching off for years on end it will not get you the good life. Equally if you start working young or in an apprenticeship that often means physical work, one would retire earlier. Thus the system would be fairer. If one chooses to continue working and is able it should not be a problem.
There is still a cap of the working age, lets say 67, by which time everybody would be entitlement to at least a minimum pension as it is paid now. The difference is that in the case of having the full 40 years contributed the pension is set at the average income of the last few years of work.
You might say that this is a good incentive to a/ not stay on the dole, b/ go from benefit to benefit without ever contributing anything and lastly everybody knows that they are not a drain on the next person. This can be run like any other pension scheme and does not need extensive set up costs, privatization with money being paid to shareholders instead of the retiree. The question is, is the average person out there ready to take responsibility?
The British system of the state pension is based on what a person pays in National Insurance while working.
But it tends to work against women because many take time out from work to look after children.
Many people want to work but can’t get jobs – so that impacts a lot on some sections of the popultaion.
And this is why most Euro countries have minimum pensions for women reaching the age of 60 and this is paid on an individual basis and not as the women being the left foot of a man.
Really, an incentive to get a job???what a load of fucking shit, there are not enough jobs in the economy so other than rotational employment everyone cannot work…
“The age for many mainland Euro countries is 60 to 65 years”
The effective retirement age is maybe more useful.
In several European countries it’s below 60 for men and lower than men by a couple of years for women. In the OECD only Japan and South Korea have an effective retirement age that is quite a lot older than the official retirement age.
Most Euro countries do not peg against reaching a certain age but rather on years of contribution to the retirement fund. Hence the age varies. However, 60 -65 is the minimum age by which one can get minimum retirement money without the nominal time of contributions. Yes, the effective retirement age is often lower. I know this first hand as my younger siblings are already retired whilst I have to put some considerable years into it here in NZ before I get some peanuts.
The super surcharge was, in effect, a method of means testing National Super, and I think that was introduced originally by Labour. Perhaps that was what English was referring to.
My guess from this is that Labour intend to have a means tested superannuation at 65 and non means test at 67 as a way of allowing those who wish/need to retire at 65 to be able to access superannuation if they are of limited means. Personally, I’d rather see more money being spent on those living in poverty than being paid out to 65 year olds who are still in full-time work earning over $100,000 a year.
The super for those on such high incomes would largely be lost in taxes. And having applied for NZ Super – it’s a trial – requires verification of identity, documented evidence of all income, all savings, etc as well as of all assets (whether than can be swapped for money or not) – it’s a bugger of a form to complete. For those who will lose the super gain in taxes anyway, it may not be worth the effort – though I guess they’d have accountants to do it for them.
That’s true, Karol – I was working full time when I first received Super and I was paying quite a bit more in taxes than I was getting back (and I wasn’t earning $100,000 either!) You have to pay secondary tax on either your income or your Super, so the tax payments are quite high
And after paying secondary tax you then fill in the correct forms and get the over paid tax back. You still end up paying the same amount of tax on income.
Just a quick update on the adviser the “royal” couple brought with them. Sir David Manning is quite a piece of work!
”Fixer” would be a better descriptive, but please, do tell us all more,(with proof or asked as a question),
Most English gangster clans have a ”Fixer” which saves the elite of such from having to dirty their hands,
i must hunt out the story i read,(online), that alleges that one particular ‘Woyal’ suffering from irreversible brain damage far from ‘falling’ to His death from the step of the particular remote mansion/castle He had been hidden away in, went over a nearby cliff allegedly with the help from another Sir in the form of a ‘Woyal Fixer’…
Go to the post. You will find all the proof you need. I never put anything out unless I can link to proof or I put it in a question. Hence the link in the comment. By the way calling someone a piece of work isn’t what you might call libelous is it?
Sorry book signed travellerev, i missed that one word in Blue reading your comment at speed on the first go round, yep have had a read and He is as you say he is…
Sorry book signed. I’m gonna keep that one in 😆
Thanks, interesting. So Sir David Manning was involved in preparing that dossier of mis-information in support of the UK joining the US in the 2003 attack on Iraq – misinformation about WMDs.
And so was our Chief GCSB boss, Ian Fletcher (working for Andrew Turnbull), ex- school buddy of John Key.
Letter to David Manning from Blair’s advisor.. – copied to Ian Fletcher.
Interesting opinion piece on why calling Tony Blair a war criminal is a distortion of history:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/08/tony-blair-labour-pride-war-criminal-iraq
A million excess deaths in Iraq in the years since the Blair/Bush led war. Yes, that’s war criminal level activity right there, regardless of whether or not Blair was a Saint on every other day of the week.
And that’s also ignoring how Blair further increased the political capture exercised by the City of London bankers.
TRP,
One day I think and hope the Standardistas are going to look at your comments and think he is getting more and more blatant in his shill behavior by the day. You’re not even pretending anymore!
Cheers, Ev, as usual you haven’t got a clue. I’m not defending Blair, but pointing out an interesting, if contrarian, opinion piece. Not everything is an conspiracy, you know.
Hey Tau, you don’t get to call yourself a maverick. If you’re a maverick then other people will say it.
If you have to say it yourself, chances are that everyone else just thinks you’re a dick.
Sarah Palin, eh? Although in her case I think it was shorthand for “bimbo out of her depth”.
a mavrick stands up to the failed neo lib experiment they dont run toward it with their arms out stretching yelling
” me too. gimme gimme gimme”
Damn thought you were describing Hone’s love affair with Kim Schmitz there for a minute
From TV3 News last night. Simon (the moron) Bridges opens up 450,000 hectares of conservation land for oil and gas exploration including Victoria Forest Park, described by DOC as “pristine and untouched” and has no idea it exists or where it is. You have to watch this.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Minister-didnt-know-park-was-in-drilling-plan/tabid/1607/articleID/339311/Default.aspx
Yes, lots of jokes on Twitter last night at Bridge’s expense. Is it me, or is Bridge’s usual bad-John-key-imitation of mangled speech less noticeable than usual in that vid? – His more natural speech coming out when caught on the back foot?
Yes I noticed that too. His usual yokel drawl seems to be a bit of an act.
Don’t want to sound smarter than the boss, eh?
wondered about that too
Appalling political and policy illiteracy.
Minister Smith needs to require review of all such proposed decisions.
Incompetent government.
NRT on it:
my bold
I cant stand that person, he has sold his soul and tries to have everybody else doing the same. Brrr…
From the Daily Blog : interesting comment
…I have to agree with Martin Bradbury that “If the Greens are serious about being the main part in a Labour led Government, they have to start finding bridges to build with Winston.”
“Is Kennedy Graham the Green’s secret weapon and are they getting rid of him too soon?”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/04/05/is-graham-kennedy-the-greens-secret-weapon-and-are-they-getting-rid-of-him-too-soon/
i have to wonder which Labour Party ‘Bomber’ is referring to when He says that ”285,000 kids growing up in poverty and a climate damaged enviroment can’t afford blah blah blah”,
In light of my comment (7.2.1) above it appears that Labour will happily indulge in climate damaging mining and if the Green component of any Labour/Green Government objects to this the Labour Party as Andrew Little is quoted by RadioNZ National News will happily seek the votes of National to pass any needed Legislation,
As far as addressing child poverty i have yet to see a labour Party policy that in any way addresses such poverty, as by the time all these jobs,jobs,jobs, which appears to be the sum total of the ‘plan’ materialize those kids will have lived their whole childhoods in that poverty and suffer the consequences of it for the remainder of their lives…
It would cost about 1.5% of GDP (=$3B p.a.) to totally eradicate child poverty from NZ. And of course, it’s not a “cost” it’s an investment in the future of New Zealand.
Funny how no political party seems to be giving us what we need.
To be clear, I am not talking about a “Ministry of Children” with another 200 head count in Wellington.
as someone said today…
the rich deserve more money to motivate them, the poor need less.
Kenneth Galbraith
How about saving potentially billions of dollars at both local and central government level, by OPENING THE BOOKS and CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1111/S00095/wheres-nationals-corporate-welfare-reform.htm
Here’s an ACTION PLAN:
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ANTI-CORRUPTION-WHITE-COLLAR-CRIME-CORPORATE-WELFARE-ACTION-PLAN-Ak-Mayoral-campaign-19-July-2013-2.pdf
“Where the people lead – the politicians will follow?”
Penny Bright
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
AAA+++
why do so many who dont support the greens, wont vote for them, think their advice is needed?
…because they know the Greens are smart …and they themselves are dumb?….too dumb to vote Green….but smart enough to know that the Greens make sense
Crim Dot Con says that he has an electorate MP (Not Hone) agreed to sign up to the Internet party
If this is true then there is a current electorate MP who is lying to his electorate and party now because every single one has denied being in the Crim’s pocket. There is no electorate MP who could survive as an MP having lied and deceived the public like that.
Crim Dot Con is a liar desperate to avoid extradition and jail time.
Will Mana ignore their principles and take his thirty silver coins.
If so they have no mana.
fisiani are you on a mission?…to nowhere?
classic Chooky
Comedy gold
im picking Claire Curran but by the well worn trail up to the coatesville mansion it seems anyone of those clowns would sell their soul for a dollar
I thought Dotcom talked of an “elected MP”. That is not necessarily the same thing as an electorate MP. Bearing in mind his first language is not English, then its possible he was referring to an MP elected by the voters to be an MP which would include list MPs elected via the party vote.
chooky caught a fish.
hohoho.
I am reading an old Simenon story first published in 1954. It’s about a French village and called Maigret Goes to School.
This is a quote that took my fancy, describing the Deputy Mayor –
“The expression on his face combined the cunning self-assurance of the peasant with that of the politician skilled in juggling with the village elections.”
And the postman, who has lost a hand which has been replaced with a hook, complaining about the forms he has to deliver from the government:-
Simenon is an observer of the human character. He notes that a war veteran who ostensibly was fighting for his fellow citizens and country and the wellbeing of the whole country, can then turn at the end of the war and resent his fellows their life and the efforts to go forward in an improved way with a new life and children for the future.
So thinking about oneself and resenting others getting help with the duties of their roles and consideration for their situation is not new. And that applies to war veterans needing help and not getting it also.
it describes bm in yesterday’s thread about poverty.
I think National are genuinely worried. On FB they are pulling out all the stops
still, gotta be better than the alternative
i agree they are in 2011 they hid the snarl… now its snarly and smug
clever poster too.
The Rock Bottom Economy:
”Two thirds of the way through the current financial year the ‘tax take’ is now 1.1 Billion Dollars below estimates”,
Shortfalls:
GST down by 3.2%,
Business taxes down by 6.8%,
We were told when the ‘tax take’ was light by 500 million dollars that this was due to ‘slower than usual’ tax payments from the business sector,
Considering that hole in the Government revenue stream has now more than doubled to 1.1 Billion Dollars we can only view such an excuse as bullshit, more lies form this National Government, it would appear from such a sizable hole in that Government revenue stream that ‘business’ has found a new means of tax avoidance and considering the doubling of the amount that business has not paid in due taxation it would appear that more of those in business are using such a ‘loophole’ to avoid paying due taxation,
Considering the ‘upward trend’ in non-compliance from the business sector to pay due taxation the estimate for the full year of increase in tax avoidance/evasion will leave the Government income for the year 1.7 –2 billion dollars less than what the GDP growth would suggest is due…
and yet apparently 50% of businesses are feeling really great ” moving forward”.
The board of kiwirail didn’t know their ferry was using significant amounts of lubrication, above the norm, and let the ferry sail!@#@ Inevitably leading to a failure costing millions to fix…!!!
Tax revenues down. Key ideological delusion thought lowering tax would raise revenue.
Sad, really sad, that Key actually thinks neo-liberal deregulate actually creates growth.
No. The growth of the last thirty years has been due to year on year falls in the cost
of energy. The glut of cheap high density petroleum.
And now that’s over, the way to increase govt revenue, create more jobs, a more efficient economy, is to pull back on government largess to industries and tax payers, and let manage the economy so the most have the best opportunity to compete and innovate. And you don’t do that by giving relief to those who have already ensconced themselves and use the tax cut to solidify their positions (as they have). Innovation comes from stress, Key’s soft on industrial approach is naive now, was naive for the last thirty years, since it hands an easy ride, and so boost the financial sector. We don’t generate new science by dictate to scientist what they can research, we don’t generate new ideas and new products, new innovations by helping those who have a systemic interest in keeping the status quo.
For thirty years we have dropped the ball, and been lied to by the self proclaimed geniuses of high finance. It was just one giant right wing monetary scam.
but kate and wills are here!!!!
Yeah, Key could so easily have told us of the forth coming election after they leave.
Just the indignity of having to explain to a government official that your child has died and you need to travel aboard to keep getting basic income assistance to eat. This when Collins, paid for by tax payers, to fly, to live it up in hotels, to get free feeds, can have a private dinner (not so private she didn’t have to inform the ambassador about). I mean its the same abuse surely, using tax payers money to do with it for some purpose that you shouldn’t. In a beneficiary were to travel overseas, wined and dined because of who their husband is, because of their husbands company, Ms Bennett would be out drolling how she saved money, but should that person be a minister!!!
. There is a disconnect between the rhetoric of a “rock star economy” promoted by a writer at the NZ Herald, and more than 40 people turning up at an information evening for a probation officer position in Wellington a few days ago.
Hey! I have seen TWO photos of Katherine where she did not have a smile on her face. She looked quite nice.
who read the dinkum oil by chalkie in todays dompost. “how the forex traders fixed the market”. Ithink I heard that around here lately too. good job if you can get it.
Labour, National, Labour, National, Labour/Greens? (a final step to far?)
Does the National Labour Business As Usual duopoly preclude any Labour/Green government?
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/labour-rejects-green-party-coalition-offer-5898618
Is Labour’s refusal to stand up to the fossil fuel lobby behind their refusal to work with the Greens?
Yeah, after that ballsup you’ve really got to ask who’s actually running the Labour Party. It certainly isn’t the members.
As an increasingly greater number of people within my social and work circles have been saying, as I have heard many times in recent months, some Labour MPs would prefer to be in control of a losing Labour Party than not be in control of a winning Labour Party.
Good luck to Cunliffe!
Loved to Death
I simply want to express how pissed off I am that Labour’s caucus have rejected a formal coalition with the Greens – as reported on the tv news tonight.
I am unlikely ever to vote Greens for a whole bunch of reasons. I also delivered and donated for them at the last election.
There is little to be gained by Labour for doing this – it is abundantly clear that there will be little shifting of the major blocs (at least those visible to public polling) leading up to election. In fact Labour’s David Cunliffe has admitted as much by stating regularly that it will not be fresh voters that win Labour the election, but instead it will be those who already have a predisposition to vote Labour anyway but who simply chose not to vote last time.
We have also heard regularly on television and on sites such as this that the vast majority of those who vote Labour would prefer a Labour-Green coalition. Like my wife and I.
The rump end of Labour’s caucus are simply chickenshit conservative egotists who think they can go it alone until the very end, but in fact are signalling that they would prefer not to have to deal with the Greens at all.
The Greens could quite well determine that there is less to be gained by being pushed around and excluded like they were last time Labour was in power, and decide it’s better not to have a progressive government if it means having to be relentlessly done over by Labour’s bullying thugs.
We met these hard-assed ugly caucus members head on when we changed the rules to force the Labour membership to have a say in the leader. We met them again when we campaigned successfully to get David Cunliffe to be leader of the Labour Party. They were bitter fights, but on the surface at least unity was re-established in order to gain re-election.
And now we get to meet them again, that same sad bitter old rump without courage or whit to get another job (while National completely clears house for the next generation). They are a pathetic excuse for a caucus if they explicitly slap down a generous and constructive coalition offer from the Greens. Labour’s caucus could not generate a united political vision throughout the entire leadership debate, and have just made Cunliffe go on television and state it in black and white.
I am in complete despair at the coldness and meanness of the Labour caucus response. I noted Cunliffe’s careful wording. However the optimism and youth of the Greens look a whole lot more attractive right now.
Shame on the Labour caucus.
“I simply want to express how pissed off I am that Labour’s caucus have rejected a formal coalition with the Greens – as reported on the tv news tonight.”
Well, it’s a good thing that’s not what happened, eh. All that actually has happened is that Labour has decided against using coalition style language prior to the election (and before the negotiations that will form the Labour led Government). It’s not my preference, as a supporter of explicit pre-election blocs, but it ain’t the end of the world.
Labour had better figure out how people are reacting to such lack of cooperativeness – because yes it isn’t the end of the world – but I could see Labour becoming a minor party if they persist in competing with the other main (biggest) party of the left.
Humans get further cooperating with their associates. If they want to compete – how about they focus on National and Act as their targets to compete against? (…now there is a novel idea)
I am having a similar reaction – the only clause out for Labour in my book, is that if this was reported in a manner that made it look particularly bad for Labour – One News is usually fairly fair (unlike 3News) – however I am suspending drawing firm conclusions until I find out more via other sources.
The items that were mentioned by One News that the Greens had presented to Labour sounded sensible and very workable. I agree with Russel Norman’s comment – that people wish to see the future government and how these parties will work together.
If this item is confirmed accurate – Labour have managed to lower their chances of a vote from me – they will just have to access how many others will react in a similar way ( – because obviously just one person being put off matters very little 🙂 ) I am sorry for the members who did a wonderful job of getting their voices heard in changing the Leadership rules and let’s be very clear if Labour was going to get my support it would be due to these members’ efforts. yet now after hearing this news, I am unlikely to vote Labour.
This lack of cooperation and particularly not providing a decent reason for this choice by Labour, simply makes Labour look really pathetic and power-trippy in my view. A cooperative, ‘can do’ attitude is needed on this matter of the parties they are most likely going to be working with – not a misaligned cupidity toward power they may not even get if they don’t start showing some cohesion with their peers and assertiveness toward issues that matter to people. Or at least explaining where they are coming from.
This looked pathetic Labour just pathetic is my initial reaction – final conclusions, as mentioned earlier, are pending.
On the surface it doesn’t look great does it. You’d think that a united Left coalition would stand in positive contrast to National which is essentially on its own.
Maybe Labour have some strategic reason?? Dunno.
Here’s the link to the clip
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/labour-rejects-green-party-coalition-offer-5898618
“Maybe Labour have some strategic reason??”
I guess that the floating centre vote may not switch to Labour is there was a formal coalition with the Greens. Although no formal coalition may send some floating Lab/Green votes to the Greens it’s not going to hurt the overall left-ish vote. I think Labour have made the correct decision here.
This was one of the thoughts I had too – however Winston is likely to have captured this market of these types of voters and what about the issue of people who don’t see Labour ‘as being any different from National’? – from my point of view this perception is wrong – Labour governments are a lot different to National because they invest in people and people issues that bear fruit in the future – however perceptions count for a lot with elections and if Labour made some sort of clear stand that would counter such perceptions it would be excellent. It may be that this defining of Labour as different to National is more of an issue – it is certainly the comment I hear most regularly.
Instead of making clear statements, however Labour choose to go all woolly about parties that they are going to have to work with. It would have been good to have a clear explanation of why it was that Labour rejected this coalition plan and a positive comment re the Greens whilst doing so. Instead we are just left in the dark – left to guess – why Labour wouldn’t find some common ground with the Greens. What are the chances of Labour getting enough votes to be in Government without them?
That sounds reasonable but is it in consistent with their stated goal of turning out the disenfranchised 800,000 non vote?
It’s not inconsistent with the goal of turning out the disenfranchised vote. I’m generally a Labour voter (not sure this year), but I’m not concerned about where the left vote goes in terms of left-ish parties – as long as it goes somewhere – maybe the outrage will send a few more people to the ballot box to vote Greens or Mana?
BL – Labour and the Greens have both been pretty clear about what they agree on. I guess from a personal perspective I know a few people that are thinking about switching from Nat to Lab, but won’t have a bar of the Greens. Whereas people who are going vote left will do so anyway.
I think rejecting a coalition with the Greens is a safe strategy for the left generally, maybe there are many who would prefer Labour to be bold… Interesting that this is leading the news, not Simon Bridges, because it’s not news at all, imo. When was the formal proposal put forward? It’s talked about before and I don’t think there has ever been an indication that Labour would agree to such a deal if it was proposed.
If the concern is that being explicit will turn centrists off, then the make up of the left wing block is important.
Voters who won’t vote Labour ‘because of the Greens’, will be at least as aware of what sort of coalition they will need to form as anyone else.
If Labour keep distancing themselves from the Greens in order to woo ‘centrists’, and this causes left voters to switch to the greens, then those centrists will notice that.
Labour can’t help anyone by pretending. there are people who really don’t want a left wing government. They are called tories, and they vote for National, and Labour should stop trying to woo them. They should woo the people who are likely to be wooed.
I largely think the athe blue/green thing is a myth. They are far more blue, than green, but if there is a block of Nat voters labour should target, it’s them. Those voters don’t vote green because of whatever reason, but Labour is far closer to those voters than the Greens are.
I respect what you’re writing, but I can’t really see a downside for the left block in general due to Labour’s position. Although I can see a downside for Labour. Lab voters who prefer an alliance with the Greens, are very unlikely to move to the right if they’re annoyed with Labour. I do agree it’s not going to necessarily maximise the Labour vote, but I doubt it will damage the left vote.
I definitely think there are disaffected National voters who will vote Labour if they think Labour is not ‘giving in’ to the Greens. I’m not calling for Labour to go after that vote, far from it, I just think the Left might lose more than it gains by explicitly agreeing to a coalition with the Greens.
As for the Blue-Greens, yes, I agree they are an almost extinct species. I reckon their environmental perspective is likely to be a consumerist one, not a social one. I think that if they exist they’re unlikely to vote Green, but are even more unlikely to vote a Green party explicitly coalescing with Labour. The Greens recognised that last election when they refused to ‘rule out’ National (I think they found that the Blue-Greens are mostly blue, but).
My first thought was:
party vote Green to give Labour truly green & social justice credentials, or
party vote Winston to give Labour a strong super(annuation age-retention) spine.
Labour caucus – losers; fail.
Winston? nope nope nope.
Only vote for winston if you care more about having Winston on TV, than you do about who the next PM will be.
Yes, that is true.
Seems like such an arrangement would benefit the Greens more than Labour both in potential votes and subsequent power in a coalition government. If such a coalition failed to take the treasury benches they’d have far more MP’s, perhaps even nearing a parity with Labour. A cynical play by the Greens, Labour are smart to reject it, they’d be signing the death warrant of the party.
I can certainly see your point, however I see the Green’s proposal as more in touch with the voters than Labour’s position on this one (and quite a few other issues too). i.e if 70% of left wing voters would like to see a working relationship between Labour and the Greens – the Greens proposal delivers that and also gives us voters something very defined to base our decisions on – i.e if we want a more Labour flavour it makes it clear to vote Labour and if we want Greens to have that much influence – we vote Greens. This is still the case – yet the Green’s proposal emphasises this – and this doesn’t necessarily mean that more people would vote Greens.
Labour could have responded by putting forward some limits i.e. no finance portfolios (for example) and then the ball would be in the Green’s court.
“Seems like such an arrangement would benefit the Greens more than Labour both in potential votes and subsequent power in a coalition government”
Can you explain your reasoning? I know a few voters who currently say they’ll vote Green simply to force Labour to work with them. They feel burned by Labour’s constant pandering to soft tories like Winston and Dunne. They don’t agree with the Greens on a lot of things, prefer Labour on many, but would simply rather Labour be negotiating with the Greens than with Winston or Dunne.
This announcement is likely to have confirmed they’ll be voting Green. 68% of Labour voters said they’d rather Lab work with the Greens than with Winston in a CB poll late last year. Those are Labour voters at risk of voting Green to force that party to do what they want. A deal like that proposed would leave them comfortably red.
I wonder if we will see a post on this subject at The Standard?
I wonder if I will be banned for asking this question?