Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step right up to the mike…
Each day that passes with the TPPA negotiations is another day in which the horrendous future outlined in the excellent novel
, Jennifer Government comes to pass. Western countries are states of America with smaller nations being ‘sponsored’ by conglomerates. For example, NZ is the NRA determined nation state. Monopolies run the government and no new businesses start up unless approved by Mattel, Nike and McDonald’s. Terrible future, but coming soon no doubt.
You do realise we get very very few new pharmaceuticals funded at the moment ?
While I’m sitting on the fence regarding the TPPA until it finally comes about (or doesn’t) I can’t really see how anything will change for the better or worse in relation to PHARMAC a QANGO which both of the major parties support because they actually always stay within their given budget and keep a very tight lid on access to new pharmaceuticals and take every opportunity to get savings from changing the availability from one brand to another.
[lprent: Moved to OpenMike as not being in-topic. ]
“You do realise we get very very few new pharmaceuticals funded at the moment “
Removing Pharmac’s ability to negotiate down prices of new and expensive drugs means there will be even fewer drugs available to fewer people that there are now. Because what they do get will be costlier therefore the perceived benefit to the health budget costs will be less.
What is available now has such huge hurdles for some patients to go through that only the very, very badly off (instead of just the very badly off) get them. For some diseases it’s not just swapping between brands, it’s that some drugs allow life changing improvements without side effects, whereas similar drugs do not. But I suspect you know that.
I’m quite interested to see what comes out of Pharmac’s decision criteria review [.pdf] and what sort of effect that will have on the consent for new pharmaceuticals, along with budget implications and how that works with any TPPA provision that takes away Pharmac’s negotiating position.
Sorry for the late reply Miravox these posts had been moved for some weird reason.
“Removing Pharmac’s ability to negotiate down prices of new and expensive drugs means there will be even fewer drugs available to fewer people that there are now.”
The only thing that could be removed would be PHARMAC’s exemption under the commerce act, as I said before one of PHARMAC’s most effective methods for keeping the drug budget down is stoping funded access to new medicines, this will be even more effective now that they have taken over hospital pharmaceutical purchasing. As you say we often only get access to new medicines now under very extreme restrictions when there are many less extremely unwell patients who could also benefit. quite of few ‘new’ medicines we only get access to after their patent has expired and cheaper generics are available from India or Europe.
We also have the situation where we have very limited access to different medicines within the same therapeutic area as only one or two are funded compared to the many iterations overseas and even after the patent is gone we are very unlikely to see them in NZ as the cost of registering will be prohibitive for generic suppliers.
Consent for pharmaceuticals has nothing to do with PHARMAC it is handled by the Ministry of Health. PHARMAC is only charged with purchase of subsidised pharmaceuticals by the DHBs, anyone can still purchase whatever pharmaceuticals they want (if you have a Rx) from the pharmacist – it’s just that it will have a horrendous markup on top off the full price.
this may sound like i’m having a go at PHARMAC – but not at all I think they do a fabulous job at managing the drug bill and getting lower prices out of off patent medicines compared to our neighbours across the Tasman and will do the same in coming years to equipment such as hip joints etc but they do tend to limit access to medicines which could benefit many patients and have taken the decision about what’s best out of the hands of the health professional to too great an extent in my opinion.
Last time I looked PHARMAC was staffed by health professionals.
The thing is, we don’t need access to all of the drugs available – just the ones that do the job. Having a “choice” about medicines, like much else really, just makes things more expensive.
PHARMAC is staffed by health bureaucrats not health professionals.
I don’t think anyone suggests we need access to all medications available however a wider availability would be quite beneficial across a population both in terms of increased compliance and ability to minimise side effects and tailor the best medications to individual patients.
Semantics. I’m sure many of them are trained-health professionals. It is the same inside the Ministry of Health. Technically they’re all civil servants but last time I was there, there were trained nurses, doctors, psychologists, pharmacists, pediatricians and podiatrists, etc. contributing to policy and the various programmes being run by the Ministry.
Don’t confuse PHARMAC with the other Ministry of Health entities although they report to the Minister they are quite removed with quite different objectives to many of the other departments you’d find within the MoH.
There is considerably less input from the medical (drs, nurses and pharmacists) profession both internally and externally into PHARMAC’s decisions than there is from pure functionaries (bureaucrats) and the pharmaceutical industry.
Well, that’s what I’d expect.
Pharmac is a purchasing agency, not a treatment agency. I’d imagine a medical consultation group, but surely the bulk of staff would be funders&planners and purchasing officers?
Yes absolutely in relation to the bulk of the staff.
In relation to the medical consultation group these are co-opted in by PHARMAC not employed by them and do tend to be a bit stacked in their favour although not quite as badly as ACC.
seems to be a reasonable organisational design, then.
Leave doctors to the doctorin’. Functionaries aren’t paid as much.
From what I gather the funding decisions are based on a cost/QALY calculation, so changing the model would seem to be a deviation away from the ideal outcome.
Although I must say I’m leaning towards the (Labour?) idea of a separate “low occurrence / high consequence / high cost” funding agency as a supplemental body – I can see how strict bulk “cost/QALY” analyses might have some of the faults common to purely utilitarian ethics, e.g. the “lynch an innocent man to prevent a riot” scenarios.
In relation to the QALY issue it is very complex and does tend to be used by PHARMAC in a rather negative manner compared to comparable health funders in other jurisdictions such as the UK and Australia.
More often than not to gain access to a new medication in NZ it has to pass the test of incremental benefit compared to projected cost of existing medications into the future. This is why we are increasingly only getting access to medications years after they’re available overseas and when they are just about to have there patents expire.
Still as I have said above the do a very good job with the taxpayer dollar in terms of the subsidised pharmaceutical spend – although that’s of cold comfort if you’re a patient suffering from a side effect that another medicine could remove or can’t afford to pay for a medicine that is not subsidised that could improve your condition. What’s for certain is that with an growing and ageing population there’s not going to be any let up in the rationing of access to health services and governments looking to save money wherever they can… except in election year of course !
yeah, well everyone in govt’s on a squeeze.
Personally, I reckon the government should get more income from higher earners, that way more than just Pharmac will be able to do what they do better.
“The thing is, we don’t need access to all of the drugs available – just the ones that do the job. Having a “choice” about medicines, like much else really, just makes things more expensive.”
Sometimes there are conditions where the efficacy of a drug wears off and another of a class (or brand) of that drug is required to do the job. Same with side effects – one drug will cause side effects that are serious enough for the drug not to be used by some patients, yet another in a similar class won’t cause those side effects in that patient. Pharmac processes doesn’t recognise this very well.
“Consent for pharmaceuticals has nothing to do with PHARMAC it is handled by the Ministry of Health. PHARMAC is only charged with purchase of subsidised pharmaceuticals by the DHBs”
I should have been clearer – I meant consent in terms of MoH subsidisies not consent as in the drug is safe and can be used.
“The only thing that could be removed would be PHARMAC’s exemption under the commerce act”
If that is what gives Pharmac it’s negotiating power then that’s exactly the problem – we don’t know if Pharmac’s purchasing power will be curtailed (it’s exemption removed) under the TPPA. I reckon Pharmac will make the hurdles even higher for people to access some expensive meds to make up for the higher prices. This is also one of the reasons why I’m interested in the decision criteira review – specifically whether the responders think Pharmac
should take into account the whole cost to the government of not providing a drug, rather than only the cost to the health system (e.g. will providing an expensive drug enable a patient to work).
I agree with you about limiting access is a serious issue in some cases/ for some conditions. There’s a trade-off between cost and access to new medicines and Pharmac tend to miss the importance of a variety of options to treat some conditions. I guess because Pharmac works on a ‘whole population with condition x’ basis rather than tailoring to individual needs like a medical practitioner can. This, in itself can be a cost to the health system as the efficacy of some drugs wear off and other drugs are not accessible that could prevent a patient deteriorating, and/or prevent side-effects.
And if you were actually keeping up with drug discovery and development, you’d know that the R&D companies have been hitting the wall when it comes to finding new and actually effective drugs, that have a better cost/benefit ratio to currently available ones. Along with occasional fuck ups on the clinical trials side or long term issues (hello Vioxx) that don’t show up in Phase III and so take monitoring in the population of users to pick up. Combine this with the very high price of new drugs, it’s rather rational for Pharmac to check each new drug, especially as well already have a large suite of drugs, surgical interventions and physical/mental therapies available that may end up being more cost effective than newer drugs.
I thus suggest you start keeping an eye on http://pipeline.corante.com or doing some refresher courses @uni to build yourself a better knowledge base on drug R&D.
Not that all new drugs are poo mind you, some show extremely good promise: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/73/16/5169.full
Though this particular family of compounds might not work on chemo resistant cancers, as they have high expression/copy numbers of anti-oxidant proteins that protect those cell lines from oxygen radical-triggered apoptosis :/
“Along with occasional fuck ups on the clinical trials side or long term issues (hello Vioxx)”
I think the problem with vioxx was they hadn’t realised was that other NASIDs that have been in use since way back when also caused heart problems. Vioxx is allowed back on the market but Merck won’t do it, I guess the brand is toxic now.
I’m not suggesting vioxx is good – but now we have patients stuck on long-term NSAIDs that with probably cause stomach problems and may have cardiovascular risk and no alternative like vioxx that may causes heart problems but not stomach problems. It’s all quite unfortunate for people who need a NSAID because they can barely function without it but their stomach is not coping, and Pharmac hasn’t funded a med that will actually resolve the condition that is creating the need for the NSAID.
Lucky Pharmac funds omeprazole to be handed out like expensive lollies ae? 😉
Well, we could just legalise medical pot 😛 Far less side effects than COX-2 targeting NSAIDs.
Though I’d love to see some movement on cannabinoid receptor type 2 antagonists as they’re more suitable for people who are still working. But they don’t seem to have really gone past animal models.
Yes almost as cute as your little yellow chaps, not really age bias though just a bias against persons who think they know it all.
If you’re really interested in anything other than tr0lling perhaps you might like to look into the recent pharmaceutical advances in hepatitis C medications, biologics for lymphoma and B cell proliferative disorders for a start and then consider the utility of combination therapies and long acting formulations which we don’t have access to in NZ which would all positively impact on compliance.
Yes indeed cannabis and its derivatives look to be quite useful in the treatment of many ailments.
We already have Sativex (Cannabidiol, Tetrahydrocannabinol 27mg/mL = Cannabis sativa extract 38mg-44mg) registered and available on prescription in NZ for patients with NZ.
… and yes fair point in relation to the university lecturer thing, the 30 odd years clinical practice might be a bit more relevant…. but then again there’s people around with that amount of experience that I wouldn’t trust to look after me ……
PEOPLE – time to stand up and say “NO NO NO !” to the cruel disgrace that is ACC –
AE MARIKA! – A column published in the Northland Age by Hone Harawira MP for Te Tai Tokerau – 08 OCT 2013
” When the chairwoman of the Accident Compensation Corporation, Paula Rebstock, announced that ACC had made a $4.9 billion surplus from “better performance by its rehabilitation services returning claimants to fitness” and that ACC was in its “best shape ever” I almost cried, because of the horror stories I have heard since National decided to privatise ACC and reduce what was once a world-leading accident compensation system to a corporate entity where profits have become more important than people.
I recall a couple of years ago, helping a guy in Kaikohe after an ACC doctor had recommended he be sent back to work.
This chap, a married man with children, had suffered a serious head injury in an accident while working in the forestry. He’d been laid up for months, he’d lost much of his co-ordination, he couldn’t drive any more, he’d lost touch with his workmates, he struggled to complete even the most simple of tasks, and he’d become seriously depressed. He’d been working through rehabilitation but often got frustrated and angry with those around him when he couldn’t do what his mind said he should be able to do.
National’s new ACC focus “on investment returns on $24.6 billion reserves, higher interest rates to reduce the current value of the future cost of claims, and new investment strategies” however, meant that this poor bugger was about to get a real shock.
ACC hired private medical consultants charged with “reviewing claimant histories” who had determined (without even the decency of discussing the case in depth with his doctor, or his therapist, or his family), that although this poor chap would never be able to return to full-bodied employment, he was fit for certain types of work and therefore he could be returned to the workforce.
But what sort of work was this guy now suitable for? Carpark Attendant. Carpark Attendant … in Kaikohe for god’s sake!! Except there are no jobs for Carpark Attendants in Kaikohe – or Kaitaia, or Taipa, or Kerikeri, or Kawakawa, or Dargaville, or Whangarei, or Wellsford or Warkworth for that matter.
ACC of course, didn’t care. They’d made their assessment, the guy was “fit for work”, and he should move to where he could find work.
Great … the guy’s struggling to cope with the basics of life and they expect him to up his family and move to Auckland – pull the kids from school and away from the friends and the community they grew up with, try to sell the house, pay off any outstanding debts, organise a removal truck, find a house in Auckland they can afford to rent (yeah right), find a school for the kids, find a therapist, find out where the Carpark Attendant jobs are … and then get in line with the thousands of others lining up for the same job!
Under the 1972 Accident Compensation Act New Zealanders gave up the right to sue for personal injury, in return for a government-funded 24-hour, no-fault insurance programme, paid for by all taxpayers and employers. 40 years later, Kiwis still aren’t allowed to sue, so how come government can walk away from their part of the deal?
AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at http://www.mana.net.nz. ”
QUESTION – Is it churlish to ask how much Rebstock is paid to play National’s social terrorism games ?
Thank you for sharing the article North. Like Hone I almost cried when I heard about the ACC surplus. It’s vulgar that there should be a surplus when ACC isn’t in the business of being a profit centred organisation.
I know first hand about the loss of service within ACC since National came along and fucked it up. I’ve been left with an un-diagnosed foot injury for almost two years now. They gave up on me fairly early on and my only option is to have steroid injections for the pain. Eventually the steroid breaks down the bone so you will be left with an injury with more damage than when you started. The injury has affected my fitness levels and enjoyment of living. No more long bush walks or dancing.
I’ve heard the horror stories from others too, people whose experiences are far worse than mine, who have lost mobility due to being turned down for absolutely necessary surgery. You can only hope that National and Co will lose the election next year and that service and a client centred focus will be restored to ACC, once again. Once again because almost every time National get in they come along and mess with ACC (remember the early ’90’s?) because they can’t handle that it isn’t (yet) a fully privatised provider. They are ideologically opposed to the concept of ACC and aint bovvered if people suffer while they try and dismantle it.
Once again because almost every time National get in they come along and mess with ACC (remember the early ’90′s?) because they can’t handle that it isn’t (yet) a fully privatised provider. They are ideologically opposed to the concept of ACC and aint bovvered if people suffer while they try and dismantle it.
QFT
National are always the worst thing to happen to NZ. They concentrate on destroying government service so that the private profiteers, who can’t actually compete with government efficiency, can make a profit as people lose faith in government and so move on to private providers.
Even when ACC was reasonably good, it was very much a parson’s egg situation. I waited 15 years for back surgery and then had to pay half the cost myself, which came from money I managed to save from a student loan. During that time, I knew three people who mutilated themselves expressly to get lump sum payouts, which they received relatively quickly. It never worked as well as it was intended to.
Oh, thanks, North. I usually just look at the Mana website for the latest press releases. I hadn’t realised the articles were on the site. Links down the bottom left under “Recent Pānui”
Thats easy to answer: If he loses the next election he’ll stand down/get fired
Now about Mallard not being at the labour meeting in Dunedin when everyone else was, does this mean hes close to getting the shaft and if so what will his reaction be?
Oh well in that case my socialist mates tell me Cunliffe has weeks rather than months until hes knifed especially if he continues making amateur stuff ups
@ Puckish Rogue……..what’s this smirky Shouty Hootonesque mock-pregnant crap about ? –
“So how long before T. Mallard gets his marching orders…and will there be any fallout ?”
Very tired stuff as a distraction I guess from the ludicrous spectacle of The Little Churchill ShonKey Python stroking himself as Barack Obama’s alter ego.
I tried responding twice to Jenny’s latest rant on TDB open mike today. I tried to provide some added links to add to her selective linkings, and show explanations have already been given, so why give more? Both my comments disappeared.
I may be a awful author of posts because I only seem to write text when annoyed. But at least my comments on TDB don’t get moderated. I can’t see any comments from you there unless you’re using a different handle. There are 13 sitting in moderation.
I don’t know what happened. I’m logged in. I typed, with links, clicked on post comment – long delay, finally resulting in a blank web page & know backwards recovery of what I typed.
I was trying to add these links to balance Jenny’s selective TS links:
Hmmm. I replied (politely) to Jenny’s comment this morning on TDB’s Open Mike and went to moderation, presumably because it was my first ever comment there. The comment now seems to have vanished into the ether.
Just as an aside, TDB has an awful layout. It’s a very difficult site to read and navigate. And hiding the Open Mike post down the page also strikes me as (unintentionally?) undemocratic. If TDB wants input from readers they need to publicise the fact.
All TDB comments go through moderation. But you still should be able to see your own comments while they are waiting for moderation.
I think the likes of Jenny don’t realise that a blog that allows instant commenting, like TS, requires some moderation of potential diversions, tr0lling, flaming etc. That’s not about “free speech” or ‘censorship”, but about maintaining a blog where discussion is possible. TDB goes for blanket moderation – easier for the blog managers, but acts as a dampener to discussion.
TS keeps a good balance, IMO.
Discussion in a democracy is a two-way interaction and requires some effort to understand what other people have written and to present credible and verifiable evidence for your views. That is what communication is about. The notion of individualistic, unrestrained “free speech” is overly simplistic and ignores the complexities of the real kind of dialogue that is necessary for democratic process.
It took a bit of work (and a few years) to develop a system that didn’t require people to login, mostly avoided having to enter a captcha, still caught and killed the spam, and tended to hold up for human perusal new commenters and the few comments that looked suspect.
The other side was to develop a culture where people don’t exhibit behaviours that make moderators warn of ban them.
Generally it works pretty well with a fairly light workload (except when the systems jam).
I’d expect over time that TDB will tend to loosen up as they develop their style. But as it is at present too many trolls just like attacking Martyn
To TRP: Apologies for repetition. One of the main reasons I stopped commenting on TDB was the fact that every time I would go into moderation for hours. The fastest time I have got a comment posted in was an hour. One time I was in moderation for over 7 hours. I did contact them a few times to ask why the moderation – I would like to know if I genuinely had been outside the policy – but I never got a response. In the end I couldn’t bothered mucking around.
Maybe your comment will come up in a while……check back later.
As far as I can tell everyone goes through moderation (it’s nothing to do with content), and I guess each post gets released when Bradbury or whoever has the time to read it and release it.
Hi, Rosie, it’s up now. But the delay kinda ruins the point of Open Mike, imho. It’d be much better if they allowed comments to go up immediately, then moderate en masse.
One advantage is that you don’t end up with the same person grabbing the first comment every day and posting things that create long boring threads of tedious refutal, accusation and eventually personal attacks 😉
Well as few are posting comments on TDB, Jenny is starting to claim it as her territory (see today’s open mike on DTB). Fine. Nothing wrong with putting her case re-climate etc. And less spamming and attacks going on here.
“Just to be clear, Jenny didn’t get banned from the standard for talking about Climate Change or politics. She got banned for ignoring multiple moderation warnings about her behaviour.
If anyone wants to know more detail, feel free to pop over to the standard and I’m sure that any number of Standardistas who are thoroughly sick of Jenny’s antics will be happy to point out what the issues were 🙂 (can’t see the point of getting into it here, not least because I don’t wish the same level of drama onto TDB’s new Open Mike).”
I generally find comments that I make on TDB released from moderation within 15 minutes; there have been occasional exceptions, yet no complaints from me. 😎
My page has reverted to normal without half of it being in bright blue and underlined but I notice a long time to get to my chosen place when I click on anything on the site especially if I want to look back on past comments. How long should I be waiting 10,20,30 seconds? Often I give up and can’t finish a piece or get information.
IRD setting up mega system and making it so big that NZ companies can’t compete. Everything must go global to get cheap except for the people running the outfit. NZ may get some small tasks thrown their way. I can’t see how these people in power think that they will have anything much of an economy to run and tax when they do this. Perhaps the idea is to run it all down and then apply for foreign aid which will be channelled through whatever government is in power. Hey I had a thought – we have something like that now.
Internal Affairs (they’re gut wrenching) have put passport controls on line and are closing more offices. Now I feel so happy that we are going to get this modern streamlined service so efficiently, just like Novopay. And so easy to tap into for Big Brother, which despite the name, hasn’t any kindly family feelings.
Hmmm. i see that Grey Lynn residents are protesting about the proposed building of a Bunnings Warehouse in their hood. I am also aware that some New Lynn residents are not happy that a Bunnings Warehouse is going to be built in new Lynn – they say that there are better uses for the land.
Shale Chambers of the Waitemata Local Board and councillor Mike Lee addressed the crowd at the edge of Aotea Square, expressing support.
Lee said Auckland had a secretive planning process where about 98 per cent of resource consent applications were non-notified.
Lee asked whether planners were public servants.
[…]
At the hearing, Alan Webb, acting for the residents, said they had not expected such an intense commercial activity on such a massive scale.
Roads would be used as Bunnings’ own private service lane, he told the independent hearing commissioners.
Webb said residents had been regarded as “little more than irritants to get around rather than having their legitimate concerns taken seriously.”
Great North Rd could become one of Auckland’s great boulevards and the residents wanted a liveable city.
The pictures of hornet stings are horrific and they are very large insects and extremely aggressive. Their venom can dissolve tissue and can produce anaphylactic shock. People have bullet wound size wounds that look as if they are necrotised. Kidneys can shut down and death occurs. Hospitals have said come in if you have more than ten stings so one imagines that they are really stretched to manage the outbreak.
The crisis has exhausted Gong Zhenghong, the spiky-haired mayor of Hongshan township in rural Ankang. Since September, Gong has spent nearly every night wandering the township exterminating nests. He says there are 248 hornet nests in Hongshan, with 175 close to schools and roads.
Gong and his team survey nests by day; once the sun sets, they dress in homemade anti-hornet suits made from rain jackets and canvas, and burn the nests with spray-can flamethrowers. “They don’t fly around at night,” he said. Sometimes the team begins work in the late evening and doesn’t finish until 2am. “We’d normally send the fire squad to do this, but this year there were too many nests….
In southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a swarm of hornets attacked a primary school in mid-September, injuring 23 children and seven adults. The teacher, Li Zhiqiang, told pupils to hide under their desks and tried to fight the creatures off until he lost consciousness, state media reported….
The Ankang government says it has removed 710 hives and sent 7m yuan (£707,000) to help affected areas. “We’re doing everything we can, but there’s only so much we can do,” says Deng Xianghong, the deputy head of the Ankang propaganda department. “God has been unfair to us.”
And set this against the news of the trilion debt that the USA owes to China. The Chinese have not been able to apply the good practices that came from Communism together with the money that has come from capitalism to helping the farmers as was a chief communistic goal. There would have been more organisation to prevent such a high nest situation. They would be hard to eradicate but severe limitation could be achieved.
And the similar thing in the USA you can bet. They have problems that wealth should be able to deal to, but chooses not to.
Silly silly Dunajtschik, if you buy a heritage building or one that could fall under being a heritage protection, you’re buying something that you have an obligation to do work on.
Instead, he’s just going to let it rot, and another slice of NZ’s architectural will likely fall and be replaced with another glass, steel and concrete monolith.
And only a tory cabinet minister could call the owner of a multistorey central-city property (derelict or otherwise) ” this poor guy”.
And one thing I’ve thought should have been done years ago is compel owners of heritage buildings to maintain the structures. If the fuckers want to knock something down and build a utilitarian block of cubby-holes, they shouldn’t buy our heritage.
$10 mil to do up? On a building that has rates of $250k/yr?
It’s called an “investment”.
Canada has launched a direct assault on the authority of the Commonwealth secretary general, attacking him as a stooge for a Sri Lankan regime it accuses of serious human rights abuses.
On Tuesday Hugh Segal, Canada’s special envoy to the Commonwealth, accused Kamalesh Sharma of “acting as a shill [a stooge] for the Sri Lankan leadership, defending their every mistake”.
His remarks intensified the row over the Commonwealth’s decision to host its biennial heads of state meeting in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo next month. Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, announced on Monday that he would boycott the summit because of alleged human rights abuses by Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government, which until 2009 was engaged in a brutal civil war.
Meanwhile, Keys shows where human rights is situated in his priority list…
John Key, New Zealand’s prime minister, confirmed his attendance last month at a meeting in which he also asked for Sri Lanka’s support in its bid for a seat on the UN security council.
Unfortunately Stephen Harper’s swipe at Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth has little to do with human rights abuses in Sri Lanka and a lot to do with his travails at home – falling poll ratings, a reinvigorated Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau and a rapidly escalating scandal around spying involving Canada’s version of the GCSB (any of this strangely familiar?). Add to that the fact that there is around a quarter of a million Tamil voters in the Greater Toronto area.
I bet you do.
Editing Judith Collins’ face over The Captain’s when he says it would be your way of combining your preferred public policy with grade-A stroke material.
Somehoe I think you missed the point of CHL in much the same way as you missed the point of 1984.
TPPA: NZ makes it into The Guardian for all the wrong reasons
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), warmly backed by Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and New Zealand, is just the latest example of US client states allowing US multinationals far too much influence in their markets in a futile attempt to challenge ever-increasing Chinese business ties in Asia.
Stephen Franks lost for words twice in one hour
Stopped in his tracks during anti-Māori rant The Panel, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 9 October 2013
Jim Mora, Stephen Franks, Chris Wikaira
Extreme right wing Hastings journalist Mike Butler is a crony of the notoriously racist National Party activist John Ansell. This disreputable pair has been active on the fringes for a long time, publishing virulent anti-Treaty, anti-Māori diatribes in some of the scruffier provincial papers. Occasionally Ansell, being a National Party heavyweight, manages to get his ugly mug onto television; earlier this year he enjoyed several uninterrupted minutes on TV1’s Breakfast show to inform viewers why he has no respect for Māori tradition, Māori haka or Māori language. Butler, on the other hand, has largely remained under a rock, but for some reason his latest diatribe was been featured in today’s edition of the Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/276231/opinion-ngai-tahu-should-pay-crown
Butler and Ansell are shunned by serious and moral people and their views are not respected or taken seriously by anyone with a lick of common sense. But that didn’t stop Jim Mora’s producers from hauling their foulness on to Radio New Zealand National’s Panel this afternoon. With the guests being the right wing ACT/Sensible Sentencing activist Stephen Franks and the National Party-aligned Chris Wikaira, the producers must have figured it would be another easy demolition job. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the quality of the discussion, they evidently failed to consider two complicating factors about Chris Wikaira: although he might be a member of the National Party, he (a) is Māori and (b) has a brain….
JIM MORA: I’ll be interested to get your thoughts on THIS story: Hastings journalist Mike Butler claims the Crown should receive a refund from Ngai Tahu rather than having to pay out more and more. This is a story that is gaining more attention, particularly in the southern papers—- CHRIS WIKAIRA:[sardonically] Now THERE’s a surprise! MORA:[nervously] Ha ha ha! Yeah but he has a point, surely. Whatever happened to this idea of “full and final settlements”? STEPHEN FRANKS: Well this is what happens with these things. It never ends. The Tainui claim was settled by an emotional minister— MORA: Doug Graham. FRANKS: Yes, an emotional minister who didn’t give them something meaningful like land, but instead gave them “co-ownership” of the rivers and lakes, so that now the only way they can make their presence felt is to irritate people and make a NUISANCE of themselves whenever you want to do anything.
[As usual, Mora sits blankly and says nothing during this wandery and spurious rant. Then again, he was the one who encouraged the rant by citing the ridiculous Mike Butler article in the first place. Chris Wikaira, on the other hand, is not prepared to put up with such truculent ignorance any longer….]
CHRIS WIKAIRA: The facts are completely contrary to what you are saying. Ngai Tahu land was taken under false pretences by the government and sold to settlers without permission of the Ngai Tahu owners. Ngai Tahu were coerced into signing agreements.
……[Extended awkward silence]….
MORA: Okay, so it wasn’t all fair and above board and not everybody was happy—
CHRIS WIKAIRA: And you do know, don’t you, that all of the Treaty settlements put together amount to less than one point four billion dollars, which is a fraction of one per cent of the government’s expenditure for one year.
Mora begins to say something light-hearted then thinks better of it. Franks, chastened into silence, says nothing more. Interestingly, earlier in the program, Franks was unable to counter Duncan Webb’s forceful but polite demolition of some derogatory comments he (Franks) had made about the New Zealand decision to dispense with Privy Council appeals.
By politely and firmly speaking the truth in the face of one flippant and one obstinate enemy of the truth, Duncan Webb and Chris Wikaira showed us all an important truth: we should always challenge and stand up to bullies, including self-important and pompous lawyers who speak in soft voices; their outward show of power and authority is usually a flimsy covering for nothing more than pure wind.
Ansell is a sad little man, beset by sick fantasies. I was interested to note that he thanked Vinny Eastwood, of something called Guerrilla Media, for help with filming his Bay of Islands rubbish. It seems that eventually all the bullshit merchants coalesce into one putrid mass.
Love your work Morrissey. The air must be good on Northcote Point.
“…….self-important and pompous lawyers who speak in soft voices…….”
Says it all about Extreme-Right-Wing-Fantasist-Lawyer-Franks. Well, actually no Morrissey. You failed to mention the condescending cocktail party grimace “smile” which usually accompanies his generally mad utterances.
Except it’s all bullshit from Moz. Nothing in the ‘transcript’ has anything but a passing resemblance to the truth. Ok, Moz gets the names of the participants correct, but the rest is made up.
A great heap of pathetic shit from some second rate jonolist. Focused on a first rate, indeed truly phenomonal athlete, Sonny Bill Williams. I’ve no particular brief for him, admiration for his rare talents yes, but no particular brief.
What has me take up a brief, quite wholeheartedly actually, is the extraordinary bleating and clutching of the pearls as in this article when Williams starts reflecting Big Sport. Good onya Williams. Likewise the young Samoan World Cup player who basically told the IRB they’re a bunch of using, racist old dorks. And got disciplined for it. I prefer both of them to a bunch of fucked, dictatorial old fogeys sitting on the International Rugby Board in London. Also their equivalents in other codes.
Yes this is league but that’s irrelevant. I’m talking about the various oligarchies that comprise Big Sport, and the Monday morning quarterbacks of the so called sports press. Nothings trying to be something.
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
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Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
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Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
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Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
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TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
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Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
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Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
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Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
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Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
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Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
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The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
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Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
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Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
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New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
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April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
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With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
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Each day that passes with the TPPA negotiations is another day in which the horrendous future outlined in the excellent novel
, Jennifer Government comes to pass. Western countries are states of America with smaller nations being ‘sponsored’ by conglomerates. For example, NZ is the NRA determined nation state. Monopolies run the government and no new businesses start up unless approved by Mattel, Nike and McDonald’s. Terrible future, but coming soon no doubt.
Chooky Another mark against Jennifer!
For those who haven’t heard of this book about dystopian world (welcome to our world,)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Government
A McDonald’s Degree?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11137075
Drive thru and begin future-proofing your NZQA records today! (complimentary dipping sauce).
Interesting article by David Byrne, lamenting the impact of the ever widening gap in wealth in New York as it relates to art and culture.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/07/new-york-1percent-stifles-creative-talent
Ahh the old PHARMAC bogey again.
You do realise we get very very few new pharmaceuticals funded at the moment ?
While I’m sitting on the fence regarding the TPPA until it finally comes about (or doesn’t) I can’t really see how anything will change for the better or worse in relation to PHARMAC a QANGO which both of the major parties support because they actually always stay within their given budget and keep a very tight lid on access to new pharmaceuticals and take every opportunity to get savings from changing the availability from one brand to another.
[lprent: Moved to OpenMike as not being in-topic. ]
Yes, the old Pharmac bogey…
“You do realise we get very very few new pharmaceuticals funded at the moment “
Removing Pharmac’s ability to negotiate down prices of new and expensive drugs means there will be even fewer drugs available to fewer people that there are now. Because what they do get will be costlier therefore the perceived benefit to the health budget costs will be less.
What is available now has such huge hurdles for some patients to go through that only the very, very badly off (instead of just the very badly off) get them. For some diseases it’s not just swapping between brands, it’s that some drugs allow life changing improvements without side effects, whereas similar drugs do not. But I suspect you know that.
I’m quite interested to see what comes out of Pharmac’s decision criteria review [.pdf] and what sort of effect that will have on the consent for new pharmaceuticals, along with budget implications and how that works with any TPPA provision that takes away Pharmac’s negotiating position.
Sorry for the late reply Miravox these posts had been moved for some weird reason.
“Removing Pharmac’s ability to negotiate down prices of new and expensive drugs means there will be even fewer drugs available to fewer people that there are now.”
The only thing that could be removed would be PHARMAC’s exemption under the commerce act, as I said before one of PHARMAC’s most effective methods for keeping the drug budget down is stoping funded access to new medicines, this will be even more effective now that they have taken over hospital pharmaceutical purchasing. As you say we often only get access to new medicines now under very extreme restrictions when there are many less extremely unwell patients who could also benefit. quite of few ‘new’ medicines we only get access to after their patent has expired and cheaper generics are available from India or Europe.
We also have the situation where we have very limited access to different medicines within the same therapeutic area as only one or two are funded compared to the many iterations overseas and even after the patent is gone we are very unlikely to see them in NZ as the cost of registering will be prohibitive for generic suppliers.
Consent for pharmaceuticals has nothing to do with PHARMAC it is handled by the Ministry of Health. PHARMAC is only charged with purchase of subsidised pharmaceuticals by the DHBs, anyone can still purchase whatever pharmaceuticals they want (if you have a Rx) from the pharmacist – it’s just that it will have a horrendous markup on top off the full price.
this may sound like i’m having a go at PHARMAC – but not at all I think they do a fabulous job at managing the drug bill and getting lower prices out of off patent medicines compared to our neighbours across the Tasman and will do the same in coming years to equipment such as hip joints etc but they do tend to limit access to medicines which could benefit many patients and have taken the decision about what’s best out of the hands of the health professional to too great an extent in my opinion.
Last time I looked PHARMAC was staffed by health professionals.
The thing is, we don’t need access to all of the drugs available – just the ones that do the job. Having a “choice” about medicines, like much else really, just makes things more expensive.
PHARMAC is staffed by health bureaucrats not health professionals.
I don’t think anyone suggests we need access to all medications available however a wider availability would be quite beneficial across a population both in terms of increased compliance and ability to minimise side effects and tailor the best medications to individual patients.
Semantics. I’m sure many of them are trained-health professionals. It is the same inside the Ministry of Health. Technically they’re all civil servants but last time I was there, there were trained nurses, doctors, psychologists, pharmacists, pediatricians and podiatrists, etc. contributing to policy and the various programmes being run by the Ministry.
Don’t confuse PHARMAC with the other Ministry of Health entities although they report to the Minister they are quite removed with quite different objectives to many of the other departments you’d find within the MoH.
There is considerably less input from the medical (drs, nurses and pharmacists) profession both internally and externally into PHARMAC’s decisions than there is from pure functionaries (bureaucrats) and the pharmaceutical industry.
Well, that’s what I’d expect.
Pharmac is a purchasing agency, not a treatment agency. I’d imagine a medical consultation group, but surely the bulk of staff would be funders&planners and purchasing officers?
Yes absolutely in relation to the bulk of the staff.
In relation to the medical consultation group these are co-opted in by PHARMAC not employed by them and do tend to be a bit stacked in their favour although not quite as badly as ACC.
seems to be a reasonable organisational design, then.
Leave doctors to the doctorin’. Functionaries aren’t paid as much.
From what I gather the funding decisions are based on a cost/QALY calculation, so changing the model would seem to be a deviation away from the ideal outcome.
Although I must say I’m leaning towards the (Labour?) idea of a separate “low occurrence / high consequence / high cost” funding agency as a supplemental body – I can see how strict bulk “cost/QALY” analyses might have some of the faults common to purely utilitarian ethics, e.g. the “lynch an innocent man to prevent a riot” scenarios.
Yes it is the correct design.
In relation to the QALY issue it is very complex and does tend to be used by PHARMAC in a rather negative manner compared to comparable health funders in other jurisdictions such as the UK and Australia.
More often than not to gain access to a new medication in NZ it has to pass the test of incremental benefit compared to projected cost of existing medications into the future. This is why we are increasingly only getting access to medications years after they’re available overseas and when they are just about to have there patents expire.
Still as I have said above the do a very good job with the taxpayer dollar in terms of the subsidised pharmaceutical spend – although that’s of cold comfort if you’re a patient suffering from a side effect that another medicine could remove or can’t afford to pay for a medicine that is not subsidised that could improve your condition. What’s for certain is that with an growing and ageing population there’s not going to be any let up in the rationing of access to health services and governments looking to save money wherever they can… except in election year of course !
yeah, well everyone in govt’s on a squeeze.
Personally, I reckon the government should get more income from higher earners, that way more than just Pharmac will be able to do what they do better.
I agree.
“The thing is, we don’t need access to all of the drugs available – just the ones that do the job. Having a “choice” about medicines, like much else really, just makes things more expensive.”
Sometimes there are conditions where the efficacy of a drug wears off and another of a class (or brand) of that drug is required to do the job. Same with side effects – one drug will cause side effects that are serious enough for the drug not to be used by some patients, yet another in a similar class won’t cause those side effects in that patient. Pharmac processes doesn’t recognise this very well.
“Consent for pharmaceuticals has nothing to do with PHARMAC it is handled by the Ministry of Health. PHARMAC is only charged with purchase of subsidised pharmaceuticals by the DHBs”
I should have been clearer – I meant consent in terms of MoH subsidisies not consent as in the drug is safe and can be used.
“The only thing that could be removed would be PHARMAC’s exemption under the commerce act”
If that is what gives Pharmac it’s negotiating power then that’s exactly the problem – we don’t know if Pharmac’s purchasing power will be curtailed (it’s exemption removed) under the TPPA. I reckon Pharmac will make the hurdles even higher for people to access some expensive meds to make up for the higher prices. This is also one of the reasons why I’m interested in the decision criteira review – specifically whether the responders think Pharmac
should take into account the whole cost to the government of not providing a drug, rather than only the cost to the health system (e.g. will providing an expensive drug enable a patient to work).
I agree with you about limiting access is a serious issue in some cases/ for some conditions. There’s a trade-off between cost and access to new medicines and Pharmac tend to miss the importance of a variety of options to treat some conditions. I guess because Pharmac works on a ‘whole population with condition x’ basis rather than tailoring to individual needs like a medical practitioner can. This, in itself can be a cost to the health system as the efficacy of some drugs wear off and other drugs are not accessible that could prevent a patient deteriorating, and/or prevent side-effects.
I mentioned pharmac as an example of a minor legislation that would require changing. If you want to argue about that, then you can do it in OpenMike.
The post is about the procedure of passing treaties rather than particular minor sections and aspects.
🙄
And if you were actually keeping up with drug discovery and development, you’d know that the R&D companies have been hitting the wall when it comes to finding new and actually effective drugs, that have a better cost/benefit ratio to currently available ones. Along with occasional fuck ups on the clinical trials side or long term issues (hello Vioxx) that don’t show up in Phase III and so take monitoring in the population of users to pick up. Combine this with the very high price of new drugs, it’s rather rational for Pharmac to check each new drug, especially as well already have a large suite of drugs, surgical interventions and physical/mental therapies available that may end up being more cost effective than newer drugs.
I thus suggest you start keeping an eye on http://pipeline.corante.com or doing some refresher courses @uni to build yourself a better knowledge base on drug R&D.
Not that all new drugs are poo mind you, some show extremely good promise:
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/73/16/5169.full
Though this particular family of compounds might not work on chemo resistant cancers, as they have high expression/copy numbers of anti-oxidant proteins that protect those cell lines from oxygen radical-triggered apoptosis :/
“Along with occasional fuck ups on the clinical trials side or long term issues (hello Vioxx)”
I think the problem with vioxx was they hadn’t realised was that other NASIDs that have been in use since way back when also caused heart problems. Vioxx is allowed back on the market but Merck won’t do it, I guess the brand is toxic now.
I’m not suggesting vioxx is good – but now we have patients stuck on long-term NSAIDs that with probably cause stomach problems and may have cardiovascular risk and no alternative like vioxx that may causes heart problems but not stomach problems. It’s all quite unfortunate for people who need a NSAID because they can barely function without it but their stomach is not coping, and Pharmac hasn’t funded a med that will actually resolve the condition that is creating the need for the NSAID.
Lucky Pharmac funds omeprazole to be handed out like expensive lollies ae? 😉
Actually PHARMAC is now thinking of funding celecoxib now that the patent has expired.
You’re also absolutely correct in relation to rofecoxib in relation to older NSAIDs.
Well, we could just legalise medical pot 😛 Far less side effects than COX-2 targeting NSAIDs.
Though I’d love to see some movement on cannabinoid receptor type 2 antagonists as they’re more suitable for people who are still working. But they don’t seem to have really gone past animal models.
Thanks for the tip Nic, however, I do think that the lectures I give at uni probably require me to be reasonably up to date in this area.
And yet your post showed rather a lot of ignorance on the current state of the drug market.
And judging by yours you’re expecting to get pubic hair sometime soon.
🙄
Say something ignorant, expect to get the #cluebat and perhaps you’d like to try a more substantial reply or is that just a mite to hard for your ego?
And the age bias is oh so “cute”.
Yes almost as cute as your little yellow chaps, not really age bias though just a bias against persons who think they know it all.
If you’re really interested in anything other than tr0lling perhaps you might like to look into the recent pharmaceutical advances in hepatitis C medications, biologics for lymphoma and B cell proliferative disorders for a start and then consider the utility of combination therapies and long acting formulations which we don’t have access to in NZ which would all positively impact on compliance.
why is it either/or doc..?
..i am a recent beneficiary of those advances in hep c cures..(thank you very much..)
..and as you lecture @ university..on this subject..?
..surely you must be aware of the advances on so many fronts in research into the medical uses for cannabis..?
..you aren’t just stuck up a narrow intellectual alleyway are you..?
..and i was lectured to by so many idiots when @ university..(hi steve..!..)
..that the title of university-lecturer doesn’t easily fill me with respectful/deferential awe..
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
Yes indeed cannabis and its derivatives look to be quite useful in the treatment of many ailments.
We already have Sativex (Cannabidiol, Tetrahydrocannabinol 27mg/mL = Cannabis sativa extract 38mg-44mg) registered and available on prescription in NZ for patients with NZ.
… and yes fair point in relation to the university lecturer thing, the 30 odd years clinical practice might be a bit more relevant…. but then again there’s people around with that amount of experience that I wouldn’t trust to look after me ……
PEOPLE – time to stand up and say “NO NO NO !” to the cruel disgrace that is ACC –
AE MARIKA! – A column published in the Northland Age by Hone Harawira MP for Te Tai Tokerau – 08 OCT 2013
” When the chairwoman of the Accident Compensation Corporation, Paula Rebstock, announced that ACC had made a $4.9 billion surplus from “better performance by its rehabilitation services returning claimants to fitness” and that ACC was in its “best shape ever” I almost cried, because of the horror stories I have heard since National decided to privatise ACC and reduce what was once a world-leading accident compensation system to a corporate entity where profits have become more important than people.
I recall a couple of years ago, helping a guy in Kaikohe after an ACC doctor had recommended he be sent back to work.
This chap, a married man with children, had suffered a serious head injury in an accident while working in the forestry. He’d been laid up for months, he’d lost much of his co-ordination, he couldn’t drive any more, he’d lost touch with his workmates, he struggled to complete even the most simple of tasks, and he’d become seriously depressed. He’d been working through rehabilitation but often got frustrated and angry with those around him when he couldn’t do what his mind said he should be able to do.
National’s new ACC focus “on investment returns on $24.6 billion reserves, higher interest rates to reduce the current value of the future cost of claims, and new investment strategies” however, meant that this poor bugger was about to get a real shock.
ACC hired private medical consultants charged with “reviewing claimant histories” who had determined (without even the decency of discussing the case in depth with his doctor, or his therapist, or his family), that although this poor chap would never be able to return to full-bodied employment, he was fit for certain types of work and therefore he could be returned to the workforce.
But what sort of work was this guy now suitable for? Carpark Attendant. Carpark Attendant … in Kaikohe for god’s sake!! Except there are no jobs for Carpark Attendants in Kaikohe – or Kaitaia, or Taipa, or Kerikeri, or Kawakawa, or Dargaville, or Whangarei, or Wellsford or Warkworth for that matter.
ACC of course, didn’t care. They’d made their assessment, the guy was “fit for work”, and he should move to where he could find work.
Great … the guy’s struggling to cope with the basics of life and they expect him to up his family and move to Auckland – pull the kids from school and away from the friends and the community they grew up with, try to sell the house, pay off any outstanding debts, organise a removal truck, find a house in Auckland they can afford to rent (yeah right), find a school for the kids, find a therapist, find out where the Carpark Attendant jobs are … and then get in line with the thousands of others lining up for the same job!
Under the 1972 Accident Compensation Act New Zealanders gave up the right to sue for personal injury, in return for a government-funded 24-hour, no-fault insurance programme, paid for by all taxpayers and employers. 40 years later, Kiwis still aren’t allowed to sue, so how come government can walk away from their part of the deal?
AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at http://www.mana.net.nz. ”
QUESTION – Is it churlish to ask how much Rebstock is paid to play National’s social terrorism games ?
Government Mercenaries home and imported –
1 Paula Rebstock
2 Margaret Bazley
3 David Caygill
4 All ACT
Others? Can’t recall names just now.
Thank you for sharing the article North. Like Hone I almost cried when I heard about the ACC surplus. It’s vulgar that there should be a surplus when ACC isn’t in the business of being a profit centred organisation.
I know first hand about the loss of service within ACC since National came along and fucked it up. I’ve been left with an un-diagnosed foot injury for almost two years now. They gave up on me fairly early on and my only option is to have steroid injections for the pain. Eventually the steroid breaks down the bone so you will be left with an injury with more damage than when you started. The injury has affected my fitness levels and enjoyment of living. No more long bush walks or dancing.
I’ve heard the horror stories from others too, people whose experiences are far worse than mine, who have lost mobility due to being turned down for absolutely necessary surgery. You can only hope that National and Co will lose the election next year and that service and a client centred focus will be restored to ACC, once again. Once again because almost every time National get in they come along and mess with ACC (remember the early ’90’s?) because they can’t handle that it isn’t (yet) a fully privatised provider. They are ideologically opposed to the concept of ACC and aint bovvered if people suffer while they try and dismantle it.
QFT
National are always the worst thing to happen to NZ. They concentrate on destroying government service so that the private profiteers, who can’t actually compete with government efficiency, can make a profit as people lose faith in government and so move on to private providers.
Even when ACC was reasonably good, it was very much a parson’s egg situation. I waited 15 years for back surgery and then had to pay half the cost myself, which came from money I managed to save from a student loan. During that time, I knew three people who mutilated themselves expressly to get lump sum payouts, which they received relatively quickly. It never worked as well as it was intended to.
Nobody says that it was perfect but commercialising it has made it worse.
Oh, thanks, North. I usually just look at the Mana website for the latest press releases. I hadn’t realised the articles were on the site. Links down the bottom left under “Recent Pānui”
Here’s the link to the article above.
I regularly get Hone stuff, press releases, articles etc by email. Can’t recall how I subscribed. Sign-up’s probably available on the Mana website.
/shudder
Bring on the court cases and the harrowing of the minister responsible for this shit.
So much for our loving liberation of Libya.
thanks 4 the link..
..i’ll use it tomorrow morn..
..what fucken america..(with the support of far too many local leftists..)
..what america destroyed..
..america..that sick/corrupt dystopia…
..phillip ure..
So how long before T. Mallard gets his marching orders…and will there be any fallout?
DFTT
Good call, Paul. A different matter and far more relevant if PR had asked ‘how long before John Key gets his marching orders …’
Thats easy to answer: If he loses the next election he’ll stand down/get fired
Now about Mallard not being at the labour meeting in Dunedin when everyone else was, does this mean hes close to getting the shaft and if so what will his reaction be?
That’s not what my Tory mates tell me. Weeks, rather than months. That noise you hear is knives being sharpened.
Oh well in that case my socialist mates tell me Cunliffe has weeks rather than months until hes knifed especially if he continues making amateur stuff ups
Gotta be true
Yeah, leaders always get the boot when they’re rising in the polls 🙄
@ Puckish Rogue……..what’s this smirky Shouty Hootonesque mock-pregnant crap about ? –
“So how long before T. Mallard gets his marching orders…and will there be any fallout ?”
Very tired stuff as a distraction I guess from the ludicrous spectacle of The Little Churchill ShonKey Python stroking himself as Barack Obama’s alter ego.
“I AM Kaiser Bill’s Bat(Shit)Man !” Hahaha.
Its too early to be drinking
I tried responding twice to Jenny’s latest rant on TDB open mike today. I tried to provide some added links to add to her selective linkings, and show explanations have already been given, so why give more? Both my comments disappeared.
Maybe it’s for the best.
I may be a awful author of posts because I only seem to write text when annoyed. But at least my comments on TDB don’t get moderated. I can’t see any comments from you there unless you’re using a different handle. There are 13 sitting in moderation.
Oh – there are a couple from earlier today.
I don’t know what happened. I’m logged in. I typed, with links, clicked on post comment – long delay, finally resulting in a blank web page & know backwards recovery of what I typed.
I was trying to add these links to balance Jenny’s selective TS links:
http://thestandard.org.nz/rob-gilchrist-on-sunday/#comment-706150
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-061013/
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-05102013/#comment-705913
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07102013/
http://thestandard.org.nz/policy/#banning
PS: You mean a couple from me?
Oh sorry. You’re right – they have older dates. I did a comment seach at the backend on TDB for “karol”
Hmmm. I replied (politely) to Jenny’s comment this morning on TDB’s Open Mike and went to moderation, presumably because it was my first ever comment there. The comment now seems to have vanished into the ether.
Just as an aside, TDB has an awful layout. It’s a very difficult site to read and navigate. And hiding the Open Mike post down the page also strikes me as (unintentionally?) undemocratic. If TDB wants input from readers they need to publicise the fact.
All TDB comments go through moderation. But you still should be able to see your own comments while they are waiting for moderation.
I think the likes of Jenny don’t realise that a blog that allows instant commenting, like TS, requires some moderation of potential diversions, tr0lling, flaming etc. That’s not about “free speech” or ‘censorship”, but about maintaining a blog where discussion is possible. TDB goes for blanket moderation – easier for the blog managers, but acts as a dampener to discussion.
TS keeps a good balance, IMO.
Discussion in a democracy is a two-way interaction and requires some effort to understand what other people have written and to present credible and verifiable evidence for your views. That is what communication is about. The notion of individualistic, unrestrained “free speech” is overly simplistic and ignores the complexities of the real kind of dialogue that is necessary for democratic process.
My comment, and a few others, have just been published. I guess I’m just used to the immediacy of TS.
It took a bit of work (and a few years) to develop a system that didn’t require people to login, mostly avoided having to enter a captcha, still caught and killed the spam, and tended to hold up for human perusal new commenters and the few comments that looked suspect.
The other side was to develop a culture where people don’t exhibit behaviours that make moderators warn of ban them.
Generally it works pretty well with a fairly light workload (except when the systems jam).
I’d expect over time that TDB will tend to loosen up as they develop their style. But as it is at present too many trolls just like attacking Martyn
To TRP: Apologies for repetition. One of the main reasons I stopped commenting on TDB was the fact that every time I would go into moderation for hours. The fastest time I have got a comment posted in was an hour. One time I was in moderation for over 7 hours. I did contact them a few times to ask why the moderation – I would like to know if I genuinely had been outside the policy – but I never got a response. In the end I couldn’t bothered mucking around.
Maybe your comment will come up in a while……check back later.
As far as I can tell everyone goes through moderation (it’s nothing to do with content), and I guess each post gets released when Bradbury or whoever has the time to read it and release it.
Hi, Rosie, it’s up now. But the delay kinda ruins the point of Open Mike, imho. It’d be much better if they allowed comments to go up immediately, then moderate en masse.
Yeah, everyone was writing as if there were no other comments, but now there are. Weird.
wtf’s the point of having an Open Mike (sic) post where all of the comments are moderated?
One advantage is that you don’t end up with the same person grabbing the first comment every day and posting things that create long boring threads of tedious refutal, accusation and eventually personal attacks 😉
You dear weka, are obviously a climate change denier 😈
Ach, been found out at last!
Well as few are posting comments on TDB, Jenny is starting to claim it as her territory (see today’s open mike on DTB). Fine. Nothing wrong with putting her case re-climate etc. And less spamming and attacks going on here.
first in, first served 😉
Yes well. If you remember r0b started Open Mike several years after starting the site…. I damn near dumped it to moderation a few times since then.
Here you go 08/10/09
47 pages of it
http://thestandard.org.nz/media/the-standard-media/open-mike/page/47/
http://thestandard.org.nz/media/the-standard-media/open-mike/page/46/
http://thestandard.org.nz/media/the-standard-media/open-mike/page/45/
…
lol – there were some great comments back in those days and great to see many of the same people back there still here today.
There seems to be something wrong with the thumbs up/down on TDB. It gives a +1 for a thumb down, and -1 for thumb up.
Those thumbs up/thumbs down, I find them so…………teen-aged.
+1
Sorry, couldn’t help myself
I’ve posted there now too.
“Just to be clear, Jenny didn’t get banned from the standard for talking about Climate Change or politics. She got banned for ignoring multiple moderation warnings about her behaviour.
If anyone wants to know more detail, feel free to pop over to the standard and I’m sure that any number of Standardistas who are thoroughly sick of Jenny’s antics will be happy to point out what the issues were 🙂 (can’t see the point of getting into it here, not least because I don’t wish the same level of drama onto TDB’s new Open Mike).”
Here’s the thread if anyone else wants to follow it
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/10/09/open-mike-wednesday-9th-october
Well said, weka. And the other commenters. Thanks. Better than my lost comments.
I generally find comments that I make on TDB released from moderation within 15 minutes; there have been occasional exceptions, yet no complaints from me. 😎
My page has reverted to normal without half of it being in bright blue and underlined but I notice a long time to get to my chosen place when I click on anything on the site especially if I want to look back on past comments. How long should I be waiting 10,20,30 seconds? Often I give up and can’t finish a piece or get information.
IRD setting up mega system and making it so big that NZ companies can’t compete. Everything must go global to get cheap except for the people running the outfit. NZ may get some small tasks thrown their way. I can’t see how these people in power think that they will have anything much of an economy to run and tax when they do this. Perhaps the idea is to run it all down and then apply for foreign aid which will be channelled through whatever government is in power. Hey I had a thought – we have something like that now.
Internal Affairs (they’re gut wrenching) have put passport controls on line and are closing more offices. Now I feel so happy that we are going to get this modern streamlined service so efficiently, just like Novopay. And so easy to tap into for Big Brother, which despite the name, hasn’t any kindly family feelings.
not Calling Me Lissa Lee
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11137350
Why are you pointing us to a film about ACT voters?
Calling Don Brash?
Wooah – the comments are something else though.
Hmmm. i see that Grey Lynn residents are protesting about the proposed building of a Bunnings Warehouse in their hood. I am also aware that some New Lynn residents are not happy that a Bunnings Warehouse is going to be built in new Lynn – they say that there are better uses for the land.
So what’s going on? The NZ Herald article on Grey Lynn protests, says:
http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/privy-council-accepts-media-argument-that-overturning-lundy-conviction-would-provide-much-needed-news-event/?utm_source=feedly
– Hes quite clever this guy
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/03/world/asia/hornet-attack-china/index.html
Shaanxi in China is in the news with about 42 recent deaths. Climate change is having an effect on large hornets which are breeding more rapidly without cold winters to control them.
The pictures of hornet stings are horrific and they are very large insects and extremely aggressive. Their venom can dissolve tissue and can produce anaphylactic shock. People have bullet wound size wounds that look as if they are necrotised. Kidneys can shut down and death occurs. Hospitals have said come in if you have more than ten stings so one imagines that they are really stretched to manage the outbreak.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/04/killer-hornets-chinese-city-living-in-fear
A Chinese mayor ans his local helpers are true humanitarians and heroes.
The crisis has exhausted Gong Zhenghong, the spiky-haired mayor of Hongshan township in rural Ankang. Since September, Gong has spent nearly every night wandering the township exterminating nests. He says there are 248 hornet nests in Hongshan, with 175 close to schools and roads.
Gong and his team survey nests by day; once the sun sets, they dress in homemade anti-hornet suits made from rain jackets and canvas, and burn the nests with spray-can flamethrowers. “They don’t fly around at night,” he said. Sometimes the team begins work in the late evening and doesn’t finish until 2am. “We’d normally send the fire squad to do this, but this year there were too many nests….
In southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a swarm of hornets attacked a primary school in mid-September, injuring 23 children and seven adults. The teacher, Li Zhiqiang, told pupils to hide under their desks and tried to fight the creatures off until he lost consciousness, state media reported….
The Ankang government says it has removed 710 hives and sent 7m yuan (£707,000) to help affected areas. “We’re doing everything we can, but there’s only so much we can do,” says Deng Xianghong, the deputy head of the Ankang propaganda department. “God has been unfair to us.”
And set this against the news of the trilion debt that the USA owes to China. The Chinese have not been able to apply the good practices that came from Communism together with the money that has come from capitalism to helping the farmers as was a chief communistic goal. There would have been more organisation to prevent such a high nest situation. They would be hard to eradicate but severe limitation could be achieved.
And the similar thing in the USA you can bet. They have problems that wealth should be able to deal to, but chooses not to.
I heard about this at the weekend on the radio. The hornets are 5 cm long, just awful.
David Cunliffe speaking to the Combined Trade Unions Conference today,
”Immediately raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour”,
”Support the ‘Living Wage”,
”Paid Parental Leave up from 14 weeks to 26”
”Scrap all National’s unfair employment law changes within 100 days”,
”A RED Labour Party rather than a pale blue one”,
Gleaned from the Herald online,(there is probably a live stream somewhere)…
good start
Thanks. Found it. Will add it to my insecure work/precariat post.
Yeah and NO post on here about what he said and even more noticeable is NO mention at all on Prime/Skynews.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9262148/Cunliffe-lays-out-Labours-plans
Lolz, bit of a ‘jenny ses’ there…
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/jubilation-and-dismay-historic-building-saved-5624286
/sigh
Silly silly Dunajtschik, if you buy a heritage building or one that could fall under being a heritage protection, you’re buying something that you have an obligation to do work on.
Instead, he’s just going to let it rot, and another slice of NZ’s architectural will likely fall and be replaced with another glass, steel and concrete monolith.
And only a tory cabinet minister could call the owner of a multistorey central-city property (derelict or otherwise) ” this poor guy”.
And one thing I’ve thought should have been done years ago is compel owners of heritage buildings to maintain the structures. If the fuckers want to knock something down and build a utilitarian block of cubby-holes, they shouldn’t buy our heritage.
$10 mil to do up? On a building that has rates of $250k/yr?
It’s called an “investment”.
Commonwealth chief is stooge of Sri Lanka regime – Canadian envoy
Meanwhile, Keys shows where human rights is situated in his priority list…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/08/commonwealth-chief-stooge-sri-lanka-claims-canada
A shinning light.
/
http://www.nwac.ca/inter-american-commission-human-rights-holds-hearing-disappearances-and-murders-aboriginal-women-and
http://www.nwac.ca/search/node/human%20rights
Indeed. Canada has much to be ashamed of, including it’s opposition to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It’s what happens when you transform into a petrostate.
I had the idea that Canada had a long-term right wing government which was settling into ‘conservatism’ rather than people friendly policies.
Indeed. As I said, it’s what happens when you transform into a petrostate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjl3kgduA3I
because it wasn’t ignoring the rights of indigenous peoples before oil was discovered?
Hey mate.
Unfortunately Stephen Harper’s swipe at Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth has little to do with human rights abuses in Sri Lanka and a lot to do with his travails at home – falling poll ratings, a reinvigorated Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau and a rapidly escalating scandal around spying involving Canada’s version of the GCSB (any of this strangely familiar?). Add to that the fact that there is around a quarter of a million Tamil voters in the Greater Toronto area.
Cameron=Harper=Key. They’re all sweet buddies and rapists of their respective fiefdoms. Wadya expect ?
“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate
Some men you just can’t reach…” -Axel
I prefer Cool Hand Luke myself…
I bet you do.
Editing Judith Collins’ face over The Captain’s when he says it would be your way of combining your preferred public policy with grade-A stroke material.
Somehoe I think you missed the point of CHL in much the same way as you missed the point of 1984.
not Long John Silver?
“Nah, calling it your job don’t make it right Boss”.
TPPA: NZ makes it into The Guardian for all the wrong reasons
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/09/mass-spying-pacific-prism
lol
http://thepointman.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/russia-2-greenpeace-1/
– An interesting view indeed
Stephen Franks lost for words twice in one hour
Stopped in his tracks during anti-Māori rant
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 9 October 2013
Jim Mora, Stephen Franks, Chris Wikaira
Extreme right wing Hastings journalist Mike Butler is a crony of the notoriously racist National Party activist John Ansell. This disreputable pair has been active on the fringes for a long time, publishing virulent anti-Treaty, anti-Māori diatribes in some of the scruffier provincial papers. Occasionally Ansell, being a National Party heavyweight, manages to get his ugly mug onto television; earlier this year he enjoyed several uninterrupted minutes on TV1’s Breakfast show to inform viewers why he has no respect for Māori tradition, Māori haka or Māori language. Butler, on the other hand, has largely remained under a rock, but for some reason his latest diatribe was been featured in today’s edition of the Otago Daily Times.
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/276231/opinion-ngai-tahu-should-pay-crown
Butler and Ansell are shunned by serious and moral people and their views are not respected or taken seriously by anyone with a lick of common sense. But that didn’t stop Jim Mora’s producers from hauling their foulness on to Radio New Zealand National’s Panel this afternoon. With the guests being the right wing ACT/Sensible Sentencing activist Stephen Franks and the National Party-aligned Chris Wikaira, the producers must have figured it would be another easy demolition job. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the quality of the discussion, they evidently failed to consider two complicating factors about Chris Wikaira: although he might be a member of the National Party, he (a) is Māori and (b) has a brain….
JIM MORA: I’ll be interested to get your thoughts on THIS story: Hastings journalist Mike Butler claims the Crown should receive a refund from Ngai Tahu rather than having to pay out more and more. This is a story that is gaining more attention, particularly in the southern papers—-
CHRIS WIKAIRA: [sardonically] Now THERE’s a surprise!
MORA: [nervously] Ha ha ha! Yeah but he has a point, surely. Whatever happened to this idea of “full and final settlements”?
STEPHEN FRANKS: Well this is what happens with these things. It never ends. The Tainui claim was settled by an emotional minister—
MORA: Doug Graham.
FRANKS: Yes, an emotional minister who didn’t give them something meaningful like land, but instead gave them “co-ownership” of the rivers and lakes, so that now the only way they can make their presence felt is to irritate people and make a NUISANCE of themselves whenever you want to do anything.
[As usual, Mora sits blankly and says nothing during this wandery and spurious rant. Then again, he was the one who encouraged the rant by citing the ridiculous Mike Butler article in the first place. Chris Wikaira, on the other hand, is not prepared to put up with such truculent ignorance any longer….]
CHRIS WIKAIRA: The facts are completely contrary to what you are saying. Ngai Tahu land was taken under false pretences by the government and sold to settlers without permission of the Ngai Tahu owners. Ngai Tahu were coerced into signing agreements.
……[Extended awkward silence]….
MORA: Okay, so it wasn’t all fair and above board and not everybody was happy—
CHRIS WIKAIRA: And you do know, don’t you, that all of the Treaty settlements put together amount to less than one point four billion dollars, which is a fraction of one per cent of the government’s expenditure for one year.
Mora begins to say something light-hearted then thinks better of it. Franks, chastened into silence, says nothing more. Interestingly, earlier in the program, Franks was unable to counter Duncan Webb’s forceful but polite demolition of some derogatory comments he (Franks) had made about the New Zealand decision to dispense with Privy Council appeals.
By politely and firmly speaking the truth in the face of one flippant and one obstinate enemy of the truth, Duncan Webb and Chris Wikaira showed us all an important truth: we should always challenge and stand up to bullies, including self-important and pompous lawyers who speak in soft voices; their outward show of power and authority is usually a flimsy covering for nothing more than pure wind.
—————————————————————————————
Have a look at this site to get an idea of the mischief Butler and Ansell get up to….
http://treatygate.wordpress.com/category/politics/treaty-of-waitangi/
Ansell is a sad little man, beset by sick fantasies. I was interested to note that he thanked Vinny Eastwood, of something called Guerrilla Media, for help with filming his Bay of Islands rubbish. It seems that eventually all the bullshit merchants coalesce into one putrid mass.
Love your work Morrissey. The air must be good on Northcote Point.
“…….self-important and pompous lawyers who speak in soft voices…….”
Says it all about Extreme-Right-Wing-Fantasist-Lawyer-Franks. Well, actually no Morrissey. You failed to mention the condescending cocktail party grimace “smile” which usually accompanies his generally mad utterances.
Cheers Muzza and important to record.
Except it’s all bullshit from Moz. Nothing in the ‘transcript’ has anything but a passing resemblance to the truth. Ok, Moz gets the names of the participants correct, but the rest is made up.
The actual recording here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2572169/the-panel-with-stephen-franks-and-chris-wikaira-part-2
Except it’s all bullshit from Moz. Nothing in the ‘transcript’ has anything but a passing resemblance to the truth.
Really? Then you will point out for us what errors there are. Thanks for that.
Ok, Moz gets the names of the participants correct, but the rest is made up.
I made up none of it, and you know it.
The actual recording here…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2572169/the-panel-with-stephen-franks-and-chris-wikaira-part-2
Thanks for that. Anybody who has the patience to sit through that dismal show will appreciate just how accurate my dramatisation is.
For the 1st time in my life (66+) I have just been polled on my landline.
Must be a new poll coming out.
It all went the Left way. Hope it helps.
A great heap of pathetic shit from some second rate jonolist. Focused on a first rate, indeed truly phenomonal athlete, Sonny Bill Williams. I’ve no particular brief for him, admiration for his rare talents yes, but no particular brief.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/is-sonny-bill-williams-really-all-that/9262391/SBW-all-style-no-substance
What has me take up a brief, quite wholeheartedly actually, is the extraordinary bleating and clutching of the pearls as in this article when Williams starts reflecting Big Sport. Good onya Williams. Likewise the young Samoan World Cup player who basically told the IRB they’re a bunch of using, racist old dorks. And got disciplined for it. I prefer both of them to a bunch of fucked, dictatorial old fogeys sitting on the International Rugby Board in London. Also their equivalents in other codes.
Yes this is league but that’s irrelevant. I’m talking about the various oligarchies that comprise Big Sport, and the Monday morning quarterbacks of the so called sports press. Nothings trying to be something.
HERES WHAT THE GUARDIAN HAS TO SAY ABOUT CREEPY KEYS SPYING AND THE TPPA:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/09/mass-spying-pacific-prism?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2&et_cid=52057&et_rid=seanrkearney@yahoo.com.au&Linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.theguardian.com%2fcommentisfree%2f2013%2foct%2f09%2fmass-spying-pacific-prism
thanks 4 the link..
.i’ll use it 2morrow morn..
phillip ure..