“We basically had two records running simultaneously, and it just depended on how you input the name and the other information as to which records you got,’ Ms Greenwood told the site”
I guess the administrators were not sure which of his names to use when searching the records.
Love a good old fashioned computer error to explain away those pesky system bugs.
Soo, guess who reckons being raped after drinking is somehow analogous to causing a car accident after drinking?
Same person says they’d forgive a friend who did this, so that they could forgive themselves ( & we’re talking about forgiving the person who got raped here, not the person who caused a car accident).
Same person says they would have words with a male friend from the situation too, telling them it would be wiser to keep it zipped.
Hint: they get media play as social policy expert.
In an election in a Japanese prefecture with a nuclear power plant which is due to be restarted. The anti nuclear candidate Mukohara came second to the winning incumbent Ito.
> The election was the first in a prefecture hosting a nuclear plant since the July 1 restart of a reactor at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, the first reactivation since the last of Japan’s 50 commercial reactors was suspended in early May in the aftermath of the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
>
> Ito was backed by the local chapters of major parties, including the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, while Mukohara was supported by antinuclear activists and the Japanese Communist Party.
Japanese Prefectures have no legal say in the restart of Nuclear power stations in their areas. This is all decided by central government. However in the restart of the Oi reactor the central government, due to the sensitivity of the issue, were forced to seek the approval of the local governor before they were able to let it be restarted.
All nuclear power stations in Japan are privately owned and the decision to open them is usually done on the vote of the shareholders whose main considerations are commercial, and who are presently facing huge losses on their investments if the plants cannot be reopened. Most of these shareholders also do not live in the areas where the plants are sited and so do not share the concerns of the locals. In this way the democratic say by prefectures over nuclear power plants in their areas has been removed.
However Central Government has a regulatory role and can approve or deny any attempt by the private owners for a restart.
The winning pronuclear incumbent Ito, has promised that if any restart is attempted, he will demand that the government use their regulatory powers to hold the owners of the plant to the highest levels of safety.
It is clear from this, that in the case of the central government not receiving a mandate from local prefecture leaders, or even outright opposition. That in practice, central government power to approve the restart of nuclear plants would be in serious doubt.
Currently a nationwide petition calling for a referendum on the future of nuclear power generation has gathered well over 7 million names and is still going strong.
Whatever the success they have in opening any more plants, the privatised Japanese nuclear industry has suffered a serious setback from which it is unlikely to ever recover, and is a seriously risky investment.
But you don’t support the massive increases in coal and fuel oil that Japan has had to burn since shutting down their nuclear plants, right? They go with a permanent nuclear ban, and that increase in fossil fuel usage will stay.
I think either way we are fekked…..the embedded use of carbon building and operating nuclear plants is immense (the fuel used to mine and refine uranium and iron ore, to melt the metal rods and make concrete etc etc. There are arguments that the EROEI for nuclear is marginal when all inputs are considered, and like all other fossil fuels nuclear depends upon a depleting uranium supply etc. These however are minor points but they do mitigate against nuclear being any less carbon friendly than fossil fuels, and makes nuclear more of a battery than a generator.
The single biggest reason we should avoid conventional nuclear is simply waste management over time. The waste remains dangerously radioactive over 000s of years and requires active management. When the economic argument of cost of nuclear energy is made this cost is never considered. If this cost was added to the equation we would never contemplate nuclear as a viable option. As it is the nuclear industry is very similar to miner who leave ponds of toxic cyanide sludge and walks away…the hazard and cost truly externalised for short term gain.
Given the above if we are going to do anything with the carbon fuel supplies remaining the emphasis should be upon building long term renewable infrastructure. Its a trade off with carbon emissions and requires a rational debate that is not market supply and demand centric.
We are better off with climate change then nuclear radiation. Burning coal and oil has a limited life now, whereas the problems of nuclear power plants and nuclear waste will be massive once we don’t have cheap oil. Better to shut down nuclear now while we still can relatively safely.
“We are better off with climate change then nuclear radiation. Burning coal and oil has a limited life now, whereas the problems of nuclear power plants and nuclear waste will be massive once we don’t have cheap oil. Better to shut down nuclear now while we still can relatively safely.”
CO2 lasts in the atmosphere for up to 500 years. The radiation around Chernobyl is expected to be back down to safe levels after about 200 years. It is quite easy to choose not to live in the area around Chernobyl, however it is pretty much impossible to choose not to be affected by climate change in at least some capacity (as distribution chains and commodity prices are now global).
Now, there are types of radiation that are much worse than those let loose at Chernobyl, but the situation is a bit different to how you portrayed it.
Broken reactors like Chernobyl are not the issue, as you say the radiation released diminishes faster than carbon in the atmosphere. The issue is the retention and storage of spent fuel for 000s of years.
As I pointed out above, nuclear gives us bugger all carbon savings because of the embedded fossil fuel use building and supporting nuclear…for a little more energy we put as much carbon in the air. We might as well burn the fossils directly.
Lanth, what happens to those reactors, and the stored waste, in a post-peak oil world esp one where the economies collapse and tech support is lost? I understand the differences from a science pov. I was thinking that rising sea levels, and things like increases in major weather events are going to be easier to deal with than the effects of radiation poisoning on humans and our food sources. There is nothing inherently dangerous about the sea or weather, whereas radiation is damaging.
It is quite easy to choose not to live in the area around Chernobyl, however it is pretty much impossible to choose not to be affected by climate change in at least some capacity (as distribution chains and commodity prices are now global).
Sorry, that’s completely idiotic! The whole of Europe was and is affected by radiation from Chernobyl. “Choose not to live there”, my oh my, how would you like my suggesting that you ‘choose not to live in Christchurch’ and stop complaining about the earthquake?
I think CV that you should have more faith in people.
The citizens of the most creative, industrious and technologically sophisticated society on earth, upon crushing a modern monolith like the nuclear industry, are unlikely to be content to settle with another Frankenstein’s monster.
I’m not talking about where faith comes from, I’m talking about where GJ come from.
And if not nuclear, where? Actually, Japan has already answered that question loud and clear. Japanese NG imports surged 74% and coal imports surged 26%, year on year.
I should say, I subscribe to Greer’s idea that energy depletion presents an insoluble predicament for human civilisation. There is no solution to it apart from (hopefully, a controlled and socially considered) economic and technological decline.
CV you need to put more store in people’s intelligence, and creativity. Especially when that creative power is unleashed by political action.
The citizens, of arguably, the most industrious, rich and technologically sophisticated society on earth, upon crushing a modern monolith like the nuclear industry, as I said before are unlikely to be content to settle for another Frankenstein’s monster.
Japan is the first world society better positioned than any other to take advantage of the hi tech silicon revolution. Japan with it’s huge industrial capacity, could crank out solar power and wind generation on a truly monumental scale, if it chose to.
All that is missing, as in the rest of the world, is the political will.
For a grass roots movement empowered by a victory over Big Nuclear, the next logical target will be creating that political will.
After all, a green revolution, would sit far better with Japan’s traditional cultural heritage than either coal or nuclear.
Japan could become the engine room of the world in implementing it.
*Apologists are worse than deniers. Intelligent enough to know that climate change is a real problem and a real danger to humanity. Yet continually make all sorts of excuses for doing nothing. The apologists are now more dangerous to humanity than the deniers who have retreated to the margins in the debate around climate change. The debate has moved on.
To take action, or not has become the central challenge.
Presently the apologists lead the charge to continue business as usual.
We have assumed that most fossil-fuel heating (as well as ovens and stoves) can be replaced by electric systems and that most fossil-fuel transportation can be replaced by battery and fuel-cell vehicles.
Did you read these assumptions at the start of the article you quoted?
Do you really believe that these assumptions will hold and are achievable over say a 15 year timeframe?
Presently the apologists lead the charge to continue business as usual.
You’re a fantasist.
I’m not advocating for BAU. I’m merely stating that BAU is going to continue for the foreseeable future, just like the sun and the moon are going to keep rising and setting.
Why?
Because at 36MJ of energy completely safely stored inside a 1L container of diesel, no other energy system comes close in terms of:
1) Energy density
2) Cost
3) Convenience and ease of transport and storage.
4) Usage flexibility
5) Existing infrastructure and technology
Against these advantages, do you really believe that the majority of NZ freight and passenger transport is going electric and hydrogen fuel cell over the next 15 years?
Time to wake up, Jenny. Time to put your energy into ways ahead which might actually be achievable.
ha ha ha, that is very funny. $1.9million saving over 25 years on a $110million capital cost.
And I betcha that $1.9million could be pulled apart and blown away int eh slightest breeze. Would love to see the detail – especially around any renting required to be done by the schools from the private entity.
This lot are absolute fools.
Just like it was suggested that the private sector could outperform ACC provided that premiums were raised to make room for private profit.
ha ha ha ha ha ha – pretty soon now everyone will realise that the emperor has no clothes.
The unfunny side of course is that all of this rorting leads directly to less $20 notes in people’s wallets at the end of each and every week.
So true the peoples dollars diminish. And so do business dollars as a consequence. The whole thing is as Mickey points out doctrinaire rubbish BUT it hides another agenda. That is to allow private capital to take a stake in “property” and to take a rental return. Its good old fashioned “rentier” behavior against which Adam Smith himself objected vociferously as a form of parasitism.
Just to explain, if we build a school that costs $10 dollars, pays $8 themselves and allows the private sector to invest $2 dollars the government will pay (via taxes) the interest on $8 for their share. They will also pay rent on the $2 to the private investor. Unsurprisingly the government gets better interest rates…but pays higher rent on the $2 than they would on $2 interest. The taxpayer pays the difference, either way it costs more.
In my business I would describe this as total folly. And as National supporters support business the whole thing must be both doctrinaire and self seeking at the expense of the tax payer.
In England, where they have the same ilk of Shonkey scamming arseholes running the country, PPP’s are going to cost 12 times what the same asset would have cost if established with only Public Funds. Am betting the same will be true here.
I see two major issues with the Waitangi Tribunal water rights claim.
1. How can anyone claim ownership of something as globally fluid as water? In principle and as a practical exercise I don’t see how it can be claimed by any individual, group or country.
2. The timing of this claim and some statements made about it can easily lead to the perception that this is an extorion attempt, to try and force Government into giving preferential treatment with the MOM share floats.
Some parties may use it as a convenient anti asset sale weapon – if Labour do that they may end up regretting the monster it could create.
Long as I remember the rain been comin’ down
Clouds of mystery pourin’ confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages tryin’ to find the sun.
And I wonder still I wonder who’ll stop the rain.
Hey Pete, are you saying that the water in every pond or lake bounded by a freehold farm fence is not the property of that farmer …? Good luck on that one.
I don’t think he’s even got that far into it. He’s probably still trying to find a way to support Peter Dunne’s promise to protect these water assets while simultaneously supporting National’s plan to sell them.
For the last 8 months you’ve been pointing us to the pedantic minutae of what Dunne said in order to avoid a conflict between what he does and what the voters expected. Now, when it comes to water, he was suddenly speaking so loosely that only some lakes count as “water”, even though they’re all fed by the same rivers, springs and clouds.
You know what? If private investors want to make a profit off the water flowing through the rivers, then they should pay the owners for the privilege. It’s that simple. As soon as you take “public” out of “public good”, it becomes a dog-eat-dog world of commerce and fuckwits all working to shaft each other.
Both you and Dunne should have known that before you advocated for his selling out of the nation.
I expect National to be evil fuckwits. I actually gave Dunne’s desire for self-preservation a reasonable chance of overcoming his toadying nature. Shame I was wrong.
Your link presents – as evidence that Dunne hasn’t done a u-turn on water assets – a quote from (wait for it) Peter Dunne from after the coalition deal.
You fucking idiot, you’re just reinforcing the criticism that his promises before the election don’t match his actions afterward.
felix you’re a lone futile voice on this, here’s another today from out there:
Peter Dunne – The Power of One
by Tim Watkin
Dunne, as leader of United Future, has copped a lot of flak recently for his support of the mixed ownership model.
He’s been entirely consistent in his views – partial sales ok, so long as they’re not TVNZ, RNZ, KiwiBank or water rights. There’s no suggestion of u-turns.
But what’s new is that his decisions are starting to count for a lot more.
Ah yes I remember it now. Those U.F. ads with Dunne saying “We will never support the sale of Kiwibank, Radio NZ, or our Water – except for the Waikato River water and most of the water in the South Island”.
For the record, I completely agree with felix on Dunne being a slippery wanker who kept his “promises” very, very specific so that apologists like Petey G could try to excuse his desperate grab for power-baubles later on.
I just don’t harp on about it ’cause felix is doing such a tremendous job holding Mr Linkspam to account.
Peters Groupie how can any one claim ownership of land because its just dust in the wind “Kansas’
the God particle proves it.
Funny Pontificating Guile Stephen Franks said last night on national radio that the National party opened the door by giving Maori rights under the treaty of Waitangi back in 1996.
So Maori doe have rights to the water!
He and his right wing mates are pissed off that their own party gave Maori their rights back.
Peter’s Groupie .
You have no creadance to use a song to propagandize your view on clear water.
Maori had alot of justice denied over the last 170 years now they are sticking up for their rights given to them as british citizens.
I smell the politics of envy.
How can anyone claim ownership of something as globally fluid as water?
Funny but I get water bills to pay all of the time. And when I go into a garage to get a bottle of water it costs moolah.
perception that this is an extorion attempt, to try and force Government into giving preferential treatment with the MOM share floats
Utter rubbish. Maori have been complaining about Treaty of Waitangi issues since the first breach. This current application is hot on the heels of the Supreme Court decision in Paki v Attorney General which was filed years ago. Unfortunate timing for the Government but definately not an extortion attempt.
Funny but I get water bills to pay all of the time
You are paying for the maintence of having running water to your house – the water itself isn’t “owned”
And when I go into a garage to get a bottle of water it costs moolah. You are paying for the bottling and the convenience
I think what PG means is free running lake/river water not pumped to your house or bottled water
“You are paying for the maintence of having running water to your house – the water itself isn’t “owned”
Cool, so I can just pay the portion for the maintenance and ignore the per litre charge. Excellent news. I’ll do the samewith my electricity bill and pay the lines co. portion while ignoring the per MWhr part. Thanks, Contrarian, you saved me a packet.
“I think what PG means is free running lake/river water not pumped to your house or bottled water”
Then presumably he means not pumped into a hydro-electric power generation network either.
Forgive me if I am wrong but I don’t think the council claims ownership of the water
As per wikipedia (obviously not the most acedemic of sources.,but anyway)
‘Water and wastewater tariffs are not charged for water itself, but to recover the costs of water treatment, water storage, transporting it to customers, collecting and treating wastewater, as well as billing and collection.’
This is what I meant water rates are for. Not because the Council owns the water
Bit awkward how the link to the article on water pricing was in the same paragraph that he selected his quote from.
He must’ve seen it while copy/pasting, it was right there. Which is a a bit embarrassing as it almost looks as if he deliberately avoided linking so as to mislead the forum.
At least one NZ council seems to think it might be an issue:
The council was proposing to start a process to revoke the 2001 Rural Water Supply Bylaw and replace it with a new bylaw covering technical issues, including theft of water.
oh wow, here’s an actual criminal case for theft of water:
An Oamaru man who allegedly stole water from the Waitaki District Council by tampering with his water meter is being dealt with by diversion through the Oamaru District Court.
You see, outside of your (McFlock) and Felix’s hilarious double act of snide and sneering scorn although hilarious, you are not actually helpful. I am trying to ascertain whether the council claims to own the water itself and thereby charge you for it as opposed to the maintenance, pipes and containment which is how it is generally understood.
Nah, you were caught out selectively quoting part of an article in such a way as to demonstrate that councils don’t charge for water, when the article actually said nothing of the sort.
Bit late for the innocent act now pal.
Also, if you really believe the council isn’t charging you for water then stop paying them per litre and see if they keep delivering it.
‘Property rights can arise through law, custom/tradition and use. However the State defined and enforced property rights represent a useful starting point for an analysis of rights in water. In legal terms [This section largely summarises the property rights aspects of the Milne and Mooar (2002) report. This report should be read for more detail of water allocation and property rights.] regional councils are empowered under the RMA to grant water permits which allow the holder to take, use, dam or divert water subject to availability. Consents are not required for water takes in some limited circumstances (e.g. domestic use, stock water, fire fighting), and consents cannot be granted for in stream use.
Water is not owned, but the rights to use the water in various ways are owned. Some of these rights the State alienates to individuals, and others it effectively retains in its ownership. In practice the retained rights to water represent those which various other stakeholders in society have an interest – such as the ecological values, the fishery, amenity values etc.
Property rights of Maori are less clear. As noted above they would appear to have aboriginal title to water under customary use, but how this translates in practice is not well established. Kaitiakitanga is protected as a section 7 matter, giving it equal status to a number of other matters including development.’
We were talking about whether or not local councils charged you for the water (as product) or the system of delivery, maintenance and other devices used in supplying water.
How does this relate to whether or not councils charged you for water or the system of delivery, maintenance and other devices used in supplying water?
Nah, you’re only going to make a smartarse remark about how the whole conversation is beneath you, how you don’t care whether water is charged for anyway (despite arguing for ages that it isn’t), and how you could totes “win” the argument if you really wanted to ‘cos you know all this other stuff but you just can’t be bothered explaining it ‘cos we’re all too stupid to get it, and then fuck off for the night to return tomorrow and pretend the whole conversation never happened.
“that this is an extorion attempt” well you got that right just the wrong way round – tangata whenua are taking the claim and even though the PRIME MINISTER said he could disregard any findings anyway – how’s that for a smack in the face eh – most would wither at that step but tangata whenua are staying the course. They are doing it for themselves and for us. That is courage. That is integrity and that is honour. You know nothing pete george but i’m sure that won’t stop you turning it all around so you can talk about yourself.
They are doing it for themselves. You might not be so supportive when you start getting the bills or have to pay to swim in a river, etc?
Rhetorical question – when is NZ going to get over this apartheid stuff and all start moving forward instead of always looking in the rear view mirror?
1. I don’t think it’s a very hard concept at all. We live in a world where ideas can be owned for goodness sake and electronic frequencies, and lord knows what all else.
2. The timing is based on the fact that the government is seeking to sell. Should they wait untill after that is done?
On extortion; isn’t that word usually used when someone threatens someone with unpleasent consequences unless they hand over something that is rightfully theirs?
For example, if someone was to say hint that there might be terrible things unleashed if a group of people didn’t give up their claim to, for example, water rights. Would that create a ‘perception’ of extortion?
Personally, I think you, and the PM, should be careful lest you create a situation where it is difficult not to percieve that you are a bunch of race baiting pricks prepared to unleash a racial shitfight, and deprive NZ citizens of their legal rights, in order to get their way politically.
And Labour needs to be very careful they don’t help unleash a racial shitfight, and deprive NZ citizens of their legal rights, in order to get their way politically.
Siding with water rights action for perceived short term political gain on asset sales may make things very tricky for Labour – and for New Zealand – if the water rights get traction. They’re unlikely to be solved quickly, and quite possibly Labour will lead Government while it is being addressed.
Since you are so sage and generous with your opinions, why are you so afraid of answering in an adult and direct manner the few simple questions that are regularly put to you ?
Could it have something to do with you falling apart like a toddler whose broken their toy and wants to blame it on their younger sibling every time your sycophantic party-lines are shown up for the misanthropic toxins they are?
1. Accept the Treaty of Waitangi is an important constitutional document
2. Accept that it preserved to Maori their Taonga?
3. Accept that unless stolen or confiscated or sold thest Taonga remain in the ownership of Iwi?
Just asking.
And nasty smear. Labour has not declared a position. If you are looking for good old dog whistling red neck rascism look no further than the Government you support.
But ownership of water, like air, can’t be pinned down. The water that was in New Zealand in 1840 could be anywhere now. The water that’s here today came from the Tasman Sea, the tropical Pacific, the southern ocean. That in turn came from elsewhere in an endless cycle.
Do you accept that rain that falls doesn’t have accompanying deeds of ownership?
The claims are as much about the river beds as the water. Just like local Councils can charge for their pipes and the supply of water it seems to me that Maori have certainly a very arguable case that as they own the riverbeds they should be permitted to exercise some rights over the water that flows through those riverbeds.
Limiting the discussion to water idiverts the argument away from what the application is actually about.
That’s what the courts will be deciding Pete. For myself, I can’t see why it’s any more problematic that owning ideas, which are much more ephemeral things than water flows.
Now hos about you adress this idea about extortion.
How can iwi be extorting NZers if they are are asking the courts to rule on whether or not the crown extinguished their rights?
If you can’t explain that, then would you agree that claiming they are extorting people is unhelpful to say the least?
The Co-leader of the Maori Council says he’s confident the Council’s water right claim will derail the Government’s plan for State asset sales.
The Co-leader of the Maori Council says he’s confident the Council’s water right claim will derail the Government’s plan for State asset sales.
Maanu Paul:“Once we get a decision from the Tribunal that says, yes Māori have proprietorial interests in water – Government go and negotiate with Māori, a cost will be incurred. Immediately overnight the shares will halve.”
That sounds like trying to play one issue off against another with a threat of financial loss.
Rawiri Taonui: At the moment the Crown is trying to keep the issue of SOE sales and Māori water rights separate but we’ve seen comments from Bill English and John Key about preferential shares or buy back shares that will go to Māori and that tell us that they understand the issues aren’t separate and it’s going to be very interesting to watch.
And financial gain by leveraging one issue against another.
They either have legal water rights or they do not. If they do, then they are entitled to have them respected. The issues are linked. the link isn’t fanciful, it’s real. If they have the water right, there are consequences. Pointing out those consequences is just pointing out what the right they hold, means.
That’s not extortion Pete.
You should probably just retract the allegation if you can’t provide any basis for it.
But you won’t, even though that gives rise to an impression that your claims are all about the politics of it.
If water rights were dealt with by the Waiangi Tribunal separately on their own merits then they would stand a better chance of a fair and untainted hearing. But it has been included as a part of the asset circus. That may backfire.
It’s related to whakapapa. Several levels of heaven, the earth, the air the sea. The original Mother and Father and their Children interacted with humans and created an element of the divine in maori/humans. Just like the Angel and Mary, just like Greek gods and demi-gods. As with a western or Greek god, it doesn’t matter if a particular water molecule changes state over time, the element of the divine is still present. A god can use any molecule of matter they like, outside of reference to time. The link to the people is never broken and gaurdianship remains intact.
In modern pakeha thought processes, there is no equivalent for maori gaurdianship. So “ownership” has become the closest term for use. That there is no direct translation does not mean there is no connection that is just as strong, if not stronger than a “property” perspective, it just means we can’t name it in english concepts.
Guardianship versus ownership (title) is one of the primary reasons the Bards in western Scotland were suppressed from the time of James 1, leading eventually to the ejection of the people from their land. The bards like the Maori kept an oral tradition that referred to lineage and tradition (as opposed to paper title and property). To get rid of the bards was to get rid of customary shared title in favour of codified individual property rights sanctioned by central authority.
Sounds a bit like the Maori challenge and why the Treaty causes so much consternation.
Yep, as you illustrate, there is no excuse for not understanding the perspective via analogy, as Pete tries to do in his first question in post #6. To my eye there is no consternation necessary over “ownership” or “guardianship” terms, because these days it is a matter of power structures: One party wants to take something from the other party and would prefer not to have to feel like they don’t have total control. Simple as that. Too often pakeha don’t realise they are inter-related to maori and their world view whether they acknowledge it or not. Solution is obvious, but illuminating the solution in the minds of individuals is difficult.
By pushing back against pakeha imbalances, maori are actually saving pakeha from themselves. While pakeha fail to see this and disrespect their efforts, maori will lose whatever they do. That they make the efforts is an example of great humility and sacrifice, no matter how much money a few groups might make in the process. If they give up fighting before pakeha collectively wake up to reality, it will be the beginning of “unexpected” social troubles that we’ll blame on everything except our own doing.
Good comment uturn. Yes the interrelatedness is underrated, which is strange considering we are all in the same waka.
Ani Mikaere, during her Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture said “For pakeha to gain legitimacy here, it is they who must place their trust in Māori, not the other way around.” I hope we are moving closer to that.
Wouldn’t mind taking a few things up in them last few posts uturn and marty mars but alas no time at this time perhaps another time. In one short sentence though – it appears your comments elsewhere, pointing out that the point from which people point tends to be the most descriptive of their view, are perhaps the most applicable here.
Ani Mikaere, during her Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture said “For pakeha to gain legitimacy here, it is they who must place their trust in Māori, not the other way around.”
A link to the complete document is useful for it is useful reading.
I posted here some years ago and haven’t changed my mind since that we should have an equal number of Maori and non-maori seats in this country – it’s called a partnership.
As usual PG posted the same post (6 above) on KB as here, but he omitted the last sentence that he included in the KB one which clarifies his position further:
I think we need to stand up and speak up quickly on this, and not just moan and wait until it’s too late.
Which is exactly what the Maori Council etc are seeking to do with the urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing. The water rights issue is not a new one; it has been simmering away for years without resolution. The partial assets sale of energy assets using water for power generation has triggered the urgent action for resolution.
And here is my version of PG’s post at 6.6.1
And National and UF need to be very careful they don’t unleash a shitfight, and deprive NZ citizens of their legal rights, in order to get their way politically.
Opposing water rights action for perceived short term political gain on asset sales may make things very tricky for National and UF as the water rights get traction. They’re unlikely to be solved quickly, and quite possibly Labour/Greens will lead Government while it is being addressed.
No no, Pete. Refusing to even attempt to understand another person’s culture and viewpoint, as far as an outsider can, and instead quickly falling back to judgement based only on your own ignorant views is wrong. It’s the gateway to racism at worst and common dictatorial politics at best.
PG, you are thinking totally in your cultural context, pakeha with the associated history of property rights. It may surprise you that the Maori who signed the Treaty were thinking about how they perceived property and this was almost certainly a different concept to the pakeha.
It may surprise you that the Maori may be thinking that extorting water rights is wrong under the cultural concepts that they had when they signed the Treaty. As to timing the Government made the call to force the issue by attempting to sell, the objection was already on the table. As to principle, the Government and by association your buddy Dunce appear to be moving in an unprincipled manner, especially with regard to Treaty obligations.
As for Key, he benefited from Labours stance on the Foreshore and Sea Bed, if he wont see the link its not because he cant see it, it is entirely doctrinaire payback to his funders.
Time to remind PG of one of his leader’s public stances.
…
Protest calls for end to claims on foreshore
NZ Herald Tuesday July 29, 2003
More than 500 people took to the main street of Nelson yesterday in protest over the issue of Maori claims to the foreshore and seabed. Carrying placards saying “Whites have rights too”, “When do we stop giving?” and “One law for all New Zealanders”, the march left Wakatu Square shortly after noon. Protesters chanted “Foreshores for all” as they marched to the Church Steps, where they heard speeches from organisers United Future leader Peter Dunne and Nelson National MP Nick Smith.
…
There you go Petey Boy. I am sorry but the article no longer shows the grandstanding photograph of the Dunne Boy clambering into a sailing dinghy …
Good stuff logie97 and when combined with deuto at 6.6.2 shows the real agenda of the pete – racial division and anger against others – and this is not the first time the pete has done this, nor the second – shame on you the pete.
CHECK THIS OUT FOLKS! THE INFORMED AND CONSIDERED OPINION OF PROF. PREM SIKKA ON ‘THE SCANDAL-RIDDEN UK BANKING SYSTEM’!
“I have an article on the website of The Conversation. It comments on the banking scandals and argues that the UK political institutions are weak and therefore durable reforms are a long way off.
The article is titled “Durable change a long way off for scandal-ridden UK banking system” and is available at
Prem Sikka
Professor of Accounting
Centre for Global Accountability
Essex Business School
University of Essex
Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK
Office Tel: +44(0)1206 873773
Office Fax: +44 (01206) 873429
AABA Website: http://www.aabaglobal.org/
The first court case in the LIBOR (London interbank offered rate) crime wave was started in August 2011. One of the banks involved was the Bank of America where John Key has most of his paper wealth.
Here is the court paper:
Question: Why isn’t John Key fuming on behalf of us that we have been ripped of by his ex-bankster mates?
Answer: Because he is complicit in ripping us off until this very day!
Another assumption? The idea that the global isn’t warming because this would mean
south island glaciers would grow not shrink, because glaciers would grow worldwide, doesn’t
make any sense. Obviously changing patterns of rain fall, and or drought, will also means
some glaciers will retreat and some grow. But I doubt regrowth of glaciers would take place
until the greatest likely glacier of them all would have shrunk. That of the north polar sea and Greenland, which would irrevocable (for thousands of years) change the patterns of glacier growth.
We would return to a iced over europe and north Asia continent, and return to the pattern
of coastal warming that allowed the first Americians to cross from Asia into N.America.
Being an island I suspect a warmer NZ in a couple of centuries.
Being an island I suspect a warmer NZ in a couple of centuries.
I am very sorry I shan’t live to see it! Mosquitoes are a thing of the past here, (there’ve been none since 2007, flies also) and I am freezing cold for 3/4 of the year. *
As Jared Diamond pointed out in Guns, Germs and Steel, most of New Zealand is too cold to be habitable without technology. As for global warming, bring it on I say!
* I anticipate screeching about ‘anecdotal evidence’, to which I can only say that if you’re not freezing your nuts off, you must be either very comfortably off and able to afford heating, or a passionate rugby fan, used from birth, to cold and regarding it as fun.
Out west in Auckland I still had mozzies in the summer – not as many as most years, but they’re still around – plenty of flies come cruising in around meal time in the summer – even now, if I’m cooking in the middle of the day and the sun is shining.
Pretty sure you’ll find the nomads of Siberia/Alaska would be shocked about this as well.
Of course, It all depends upon what is meant by technology. I’m pretty sure both the Maori of the South Island and the Eskimos actually did have the necessary technology to survive in such extreme conditions. The basic knowledge of how to build houses, wrap up warm and light fires. Without those then, yeah, it’s entirely possible that survival wouldn’t be possible in either location.
The problem really is that when people think about technology they tend to think about computers and other modern devices and not the knowledge that’s been around for thousands of years such as striking a flint to light a fire.
Of course, It all depends upon what is meant by technology.I’m pretty sure both the Maori of the South Island and the Eskimos actually did have the necessary technology to survive in such extreme conditions. The basic knowledge of how to build houses, wrap up warm and light fires.
Well, no shit Sherlock, that’s exactly what I (and Jared Diamond meant). So those people who got their knickers in a knot, or startingh salivating excitedly, red-eyed and already with that little vein in their forehead throbbing – thinking they’d proved a charge of evil racism against me, can just STFU…
BTW, getting very fed up with being told I am exhibiting “harmful behavior” (sic) – and having to enter a capture and endure a lecture every time I want to post. Subtle censorship? (We hope you’ll lose patience and go away).
Is anyone else experiencing this? Last time I asked I was ignored. Fed up with it.
Yes, Vicky, it’s totally an evil plot against you. Lprent, you see, has deliberately included a captcha form on The Standard which detects boring self-righteousness. (Wait, that can’t be the answer, or Petey G would be complaining too.)
It could be that you continually embed links in your post in a way which screams “sp4m!!!!!!” to a basic filter. But that would mean the world wasn’t out to get you.
It could be that you continually embed links in your post in a way which screams “sp4m!!!!!!” to a basic filter.
Sigh, you are such a silly bitch, aren’t you? That would make sense if I did embed links, but I almost never do, as you’d know if you read my posts. (Which you don’t actually do, despite your reflex attacks whenever you see my name.. Issues much?)
I was in an impatient mood yesterday, and very cross about the sheer number of times it kept happening, when for the most part, my comments were very bland. I apologise* for my attitude, as I was in a general frustrated mood…
*Don’t get all excited, QoT, it’s a general apology, not one specifically for you!
Vicky, I have seen you whinge about being sp4m-filtered twice. Both times were after you embedded links in your post. Right back at ya.
I make no apology for “reflex attacks” on you when you’re trying to imply that lprent is deliberately trying to silence your ~wonderful~ contributions to this blog. And believe me, I ignore a hell of a lot of the crap you write.
Can this blog survive Peter George? It seems that he attracts so much response because people always react to him – can’t let him be. I’m jealous – I put thought into stuff that seems important to us all but does not suit a quick, smart alec rejoinder. It seems that personalities, blog celebrities in fact, draw input instead of valuable discussion about the matters of today which we dearly need to address.
The blog is dominated by Peter George and why can’t people think of their own ideas and concerns and describe them to us rather than just input in reaction to what could just as well be a computer virus.
+1. I don’t get why people can’t seem to understand that engaging with (i.e. being seen to react to) poor behaviour simply encourages more poor behaviour. Clearly they’ve never been to school (there’s one in every schoolroom) or raised a domestic animal. It’s the replies which perpetuate/exacerbate trolling, not the troll: every time he gets a response or a mention he is encouraged to continue. It’s not rocket science!
Why do you people answer this clown? With a bit of luck if you ignored him he might go away. On this left leaning site, there has been many a right winger giving a valid intelligent discussion from their side of the political spectrum, but this clown talks shit. I have not seen an intelligent original discussion put up by him.
Because of this I for one for a long time have completely ignored his posts. Like his leader Dung and to quote them both he’s a nonsense and has nothing of importance to say.
A) being ignored doesn’t stop him. He just assumes it means he’s right.
B) there’s always the possibility that someone on a bad day might think he has a point.
C) it’s funny when he slowly gets painted into a corner, starts to try to flail distractions to all and sundry, and then flips around to something completely contradictory. Like with the water rights thing.
Though I think this article also tends to make bullying an integral part of being a tr0ll. To me it’s anyone disrupting and diverting discussions – attention-getting is more apt, IMO.
That psychologist has clearly never been on the receiving end of some of the shit people get thrown at them by “trolls”. “Just ignore the bully” is the advice of people who don’t want to have to confront the issues which permit the bullying in the first place (and that’s as true of workplace/schoolyard/”real life” bullying as it is online.)
I agree. I can mostly let what the troll says go, but when he starts pontificating about Māori I cannot leave his distortions and misrepresentations to just sit there. Sorry but I just cannot stand that shit and as much as I can, i’ll fight it.
The loss of 220 KiwiRail jobs is significant, not only does this represent 220 families that will be losing incomes, but the risks to the safety of our rail infrastructure must surely be a concern. We have seen the damage done to the KiwiFruit industry through cuts in our biosecurity and when our rail systems haven’t returned to pre-privatisation standards the logic behind this decision escapes me. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/kiwirail-job-cuts-cause-unnecessary.html
I fear that making a profit from Kiwirail requires the loss of rail maintenance jobs, the capital “asset” becomes more run down and less safe. When the train crash occurs who will be blamed?
The loss of 220 KiwiRail jobs is significant, not only does this represent 220 families that will be losing incomes, but the risks to the safety of our rail infrastructure must surely be a concern
There was worrying talk on 3 News about selling Kiwirail. Key said something like ‘we have no such intention’, which may well mean the opposite. (First, we had to hear about TomCat though)
If your comments have not been immediately published, sometimes there is a delay for unknown e-reasons. If you’ve written a trigger word, you post will say it is under moderation.
The Maori Party is going postal about John Key’s statements about the Waitangi Tribunal. It seems they do not like the idea that the tribunal set up to ensure justice for treaty settlements was rubbished by the PMONZ.
someone tries to stop you filling the radiator unless they get part of the sale price
Maybe if that person owned the property that you were on trying to siphon water out of his garden hose and maybe if you had previously promised to let him keep his water …
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
Mystery of Obama’s ‘missing year’ at Columbia solved as monitor blames computer error
“We basically had two records running simultaneously, and it just depended on how you input the name and the other information as to which records you got,’ Ms Greenwood told the site”
I guess the administrators were not sure which of his names to use when searching the records.
Love a good old fashioned computer error to explain away those pesky system bugs.
Happens to this day.
That’s why student IDs are important.
Or did your bold type imply sarcasm?
Soo, guess who reckons being raped after drinking is somehow analogous to causing a car accident after drinking?
Same person says they’d forgive a friend who did this, so that they could forgive themselves ( & we’re talking about forgiving the person who got raped here, not the person who caused a car accident).
Same person says they would have words with a male friend from the situation too, telling them it would be wiser to keep it zipped.
Hint: they get media play as social policy expert.
Shitting you not.
Not even a little bit.
Any more hints?
Has commented here a few times.
Pseudo academic stylings.
Kinda creepy. (now confirmed creepy)
Who? Or can you give a few more clues?
Ok, Lindsay Mitchell in last week’s Truth, be online next week unless the Truth is too embarrassed by it.
funnily enough, I’m not actually all that surprised.
Entirely consistent with the rest of her victim-blaming bullshit.
Ha, and suddenly my extreme outrage subsides into an eyerolled “Oh, fuck off, Lindsay.”
‘Tis basic rape culture, unfortunately. So basic it got turned into an ad for ALAC …
When I go to google +1 a story it fails and I also have problems when posting a link into google plus. Is there something blocking this?
The network has become self aware and can’t quite believe anyone actually used google plus.
Is a nuclear free Japan in the wings?
In an election in a Japanese prefecture with a nuclear power plant which is due to be restarted. The anti nuclear candidate Mukohara came second to the winning incumbent Ito.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120709a4.html
> The election was the first in a prefecture hosting a nuclear plant since the July 1 restart of a reactor at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, the first reactivation since the last of Japan’s 50 commercial reactors was suspended in early May in the aftermath of the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
>
> Ito was backed by the local chapters of major parties, including the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, while Mukohara was supported by antinuclear activists and the Japanese Communist Party.
Japanese Prefectures have no legal say in the restart of Nuclear power stations in their areas. This is all decided by central government. However in the restart of the Oi reactor the central government, due to the sensitivity of the issue, were forced to seek the approval of the local governor before they were able to let it be restarted.
All nuclear power stations in Japan are privately owned and the decision to open them is usually done on the vote of the shareholders whose main considerations are commercial, and who are presently facing huge losses on their investments if the plants cannot be reopened. Most of these shareholders also do not live in the areas where the plants are sited and so do not share the concerns of the locals. In this way the democratic say by prefectures over nuclear power plants in their areas has been removed.
However Central Government has a regulatory role and can approve or deny any attempt by the private owners for a restart.
The winning pronuclear incumbent Ito, has promised that if any restart is attempted, he will demand that the government use their regulatory powers to hold the owners of the plant to the highest levels of safety.
It is clear from this, that in the case of the central government not receiving a mandate from local prefecture leaders, or even outright opposition. That in practice, central government power to approve the restart of nuclear plants would be in serious doubt.
Currently a nationwide petition calling for a referendum on the future of nuclear power generation has gathered well over 7 million names and is still going strong.
Whatever the success they have in opening any more plants, the privatised Japanese nuclear industry has suffered a serious setback from which it is unlikely to ever recover, and is a seriously risky investment.
But you don’t support the massive increases in coal and fuel oil that Japan has had to burn since shutting down their nuclear plants, right? They go with a permanent nuclear ban, and that increase in fossil fuel usage will stay.
I think either way we are fekked…..the embedded use of carbon building and operating nuclear plants is immense (the fuel used to mine and refine uranium and iron ore, to melt the metal rods and make concrete etc etc. There are arguments that the EROEI for nuclear is marginal when all inputs are considered, and like all other fossil fuels nuclear depends upon a depleting uranium supply etc. These however are minor points but they do mitigate against nuclear being any less carbon friendly than fossil fuels, and makes nuclear more of a battery than a generator.
The single biggest reason we should avoid conventional nuclear is simply waste management over time. The waste remains dangerously radioactive over 000s of years and requires active management. When the economic argument of cost of nuclear energy is made this cost is never considered. If this cost was added to the equation we would never contemplate nuclear as a viable option. As it is the nuclear industry is very similar to miner who leave ponds of toxic cyanide sludge and walks away…the hazard and cost truly externalised for short term gain.
Given the above if we are going to do anything with the carbon fuel supplies remaining the emphasis should be upon building long term renewable infrastructure. Its a trade off with carbon emissions and requires a rational debate that is not market supply and demand centric.
We are better off with climate change then nuclear radiation. Burning coal and oil has a limited life now, whereas the problems of nuclear power plants and nuclear waste will be massive once we don’t have cheap oil. Better to shut down nuclear now while we still can relatively safely.
“We are better off with climate change then nuclear radiation. Burning coal and oil has a limited life now, whereas the problems of nuclear power plants and nuclear waste will be massive once we don’t have cheap oil. Better to shut down nuclear now while we still can relatively safely.”
CO2 lasts in the atmosphere for up to 500 years. The radiation around Chernobyl is expected to be back down to safe levels after about 200 years. It is quite easy to choose not to live in the area around Chernobyl, however it is pretty much impossible to choose not to be affected by climate change in at least some capacity (as distribution chains and commodity prices are now global).
Now, there are types of radiation that are much worse than those let loose at Chernobyl, but the situation is a bit different to how you portrayed it.
Broken reactors like Chernobyl are not the issue, as you say the radiation released diminishes faster than carbon in the atmosphere. The issue is the retention and storage of spent fuel for 000s of years.
As I pointed out above, nuclear gives us bugger all carbon savings because of the embedded fossil fuel use building and supporting nuclear…for a little more energy we put as much carbon in the air. We might as well burn the fossils directly.
Lanth, what happens to those reactors, and the stored waste, in a post-peak oil world esp one where the economies collapse and tech support is lost? I understand the differences from a science pov. I was thinking that rising sea levels, and things like increases in major weather events are going to be easier to deal with than the effects of radiation poisoning on humans and our food sources. There is nothing inherently dangerous about the sea or weather, whereas radiation is damaging.
Sorry, that’s completely idiotic! The whole of Europe was and is affected by radiation from Chernobyl. “Choose not to live there”, my oh my, how would you like my suggesting that you ‘choose not to live in Christchurch’ and stop complaining about the earthquake?
“Up to 500 years” – closer to 500,000 years, although a 90% reduction from the initial “spike” will take about 5,000 years.
Far better that they burn millions of tons of coal than go back to that evil nuclear stuff that we marched against in the seventies.
I think CV that you should have more faith in people.
The citizens of the most creative, industrious and technologically sophisticated society on earth, upon crushing a modern monolith like the nuclear industry, are unlikely to be content to settle with another Frankenstein’s monster.
I’m not talking about where faith comes from, I’m talking about where GJ come from.
And if not nuclear, where? Actually, Japan has already answered that question loud and clear. Japanese NG imports surged 74% and coal imports surged 26%, year on year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17093255
Do you approve or not?
I should say, I subscribe to Greer’s idea that energy depletion presents an insoluble predicament for human civilisation. There is no solution to it apart from (hopefully, a controlled and socially considered) economic and technological decline.
He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!
CV you need to put more store in people’s intelligence, and creativity. Especially when that creative power is unleashed by political action.
The citizens, of arguably, the most industrious, rich and technologically sophisticated society on earth, upon crushing a modern monolith like the nuclear industry, as I said before are unlikely to be content to settle for another Frankenstein’s monster.
Japan is the first world society better positioned than any other to take advantage of the hi tech silicon revolution. Japan with it’s huge industrial capacity, could crank out solar power and wind generation on a truly monumental scale, if it chose to.
All that is missing, as in the rest of the world, is the political will.
For a grass roots movement empowered by a victory over Big Nuclear, the next logical target will be creating that political will.
After all, a green revolution, would sit far better with Japan’s traditional cultural heritage than either coal or nuclear.
Really CV? What an Apologist* you are.
WIND – WATER – SOLAR
WWS can power 100% of the world’s energy needs, eliminating all fossil fuels (and nuclear power).
Here is the plan.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-path-to-sustainable-energy-by-2030&page=2
Japan could become the engine room of the world in implementing it.
*Apologists are worse than deniers. Intelligent enough to know that climate change is a real problem and a real danger to humanity. Yet continually make all sorts of excuses for doing nothing. The apologists are now more dangerous to humanity than the deniers who have retreated to the margins in the debate around climate change. The debate has moved on.
To take action, or not has become the central challenge.
Presently the apologists lead the charge to continue business as usual.
Did you read these assumptions at the start of the article you quoted?
Do you really believe that these assumptions will hold and are achievable over say a 15 year timeframe?
You’re a fantasist.
I’m not advocating for BAU. I’m merely stating that BAU is going to continue for the foreseeable future, just like the sun and the moon are going to keep rising and setting.
Why?
Because at 36MJ of energy completely safely stored inside a 1L container of diesel, no other energy system comes close in terms of:
1) Energy density
2) Cost
3) Convenience and ease of transport and storage.
4) Usage flexibility
5) Existing infrastructure and technology
Against these advantages, do you really believe that the majority of NZ freight and passenger transport is going electric and hydrogen fuel cell over the next 15 years?
Time to wake up, Jenny. Time to put your energy into ways ahead which might actually be achievable.
[Can someone close the bold tag left open? – done – r0b]
How is this for financial stupidity all in the name of doctrinaire capitalism?
There are two schools out west being built as PPPs. The cost is about $110 million and the savings identified by the PPPs is $1.9 million.
BUT, and it is a big but, it cost the Government $3.5 million to prepare the business cases.
Net effect a loss of $1.6 million. The Government claims the reports can be used for all PPPs but no doubt they will have to be reviewed continuously.
What idiot authorised this?
Information is at http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/7246050/Saving-goes-out-the-window
AND the ‘saving’ of 1.7% is over 25 years!!!
Good to see they have implemented the very accurate forecast model.
Obviously not using treasury models.
Bizzare.
ha ha ha, that is very funny. $1.9million saving over 25 years on a $110million capital cost.
And I betcha that $1.9million could be pulled apart and blown away int eh slightest breeze. Would love to see the detail – especially around any renting required to be done by the schools from the private entity.
This lot are absolute fools.
Just like it was suggested that the private sector could outperform ACC provided that premiums were raised to make room for private profit.
ha ha ha ha ha ha – pretty soon now everyone will realise that the emperor has no clothes.
The unfunny side of course is that all of this rorting leads directly to less $20 notes in people’s wallets at the end of each and every week.
So true the peoples dollars diminish. And so do business dollars as a consequence. The whole thing is as Mickey points out doctrinaire rubbish BUT it hides another agenda. That is to allow private capital to take a stake in “property” and to take a rental return. Its good old fashioned “rentier” behavior against which Adam Smith himself objected vociferously as a form of parasitism.
Just to explain, if we build a school that costs $10 dollars, pays $8 themselves and allows the private sector to invest $2 dollars the government will pay (via taxes) the interest on $8 for their share. They will also pay rent on the $2 to the private investor. Unsurprisingly the government gets better interest rates…but pays higher rent on the $2 than they would on $2 interest. The taxpayer pays the difference, either way it costs more.
In my business I would describe this as total folly. And as National supporters support business the whole thing must be both doctrinaire and self seeking at the expense of the tax payer.
In England, where they have the same ilk of Shonkey scamming arseholes running the country, PPP’s are going to cost 12 times what the same asset would have cost if established with only Public Funds. Am betting the same will be true here.
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2012/07/06/gordon-campbell-on-private-sector-delivery-as-an-inter-generational-scam/
I see two major issues with the Waitangi Tribunal water rights claim.
1. How can anyone claim ownership of something as globally fluid as water? In principle and as a practical exercise I don’t see how it can be claimed by any individual, group or country.
2. The timing of this claim and some statements made about it can easily lead to the perception that this is an extorion attempt, to try and force Government into giving preferential treatment with the MOM share floats.
Some parties may use it as a convenient anti asset sale weapon – if Labour do that they may end up regretting the monster it could create.
Both the principle and the timing make me think that extorting water rights rort is wrong.
When is the appropriate, hair-approved, time to do something to prevent asset sales, weasel?
imaginary future monster = distraction from actual current rip off …
Long as I remember the rain been comin’ down
Clouds of mystery pourin’ confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages tryin’ to find the sun.
And I wonder still I wonder who’ll stop the rain.
– John Fogerty
Hey Pete, are you saying that the water in every pond or lake bounded by a freehold farm fence is not the property of that farmer …? Good luck on that one.
I don’t think he’s even got that far into it. He’s probably still trying to find a way to support Peter Dunne’s promise to protect these water assets while simultaneously supporting National’s plan to sell them.
Lame felix, you are repeating, yet again, something that is incorrect.
But thanks for the opening to link to proof, others may not have seen it:
http://yournz.org/2012/06/23/is-peter-dunne-breaking-a-promise-on-water-assets/
Pete, you’re on drugs.
For the last 8 months you’ve been pointing us to the pedantic minutae of what Dunne said in order to avoid a conflict between what he does and what the voters expected. Now, when it comes to water, he was suddenly speaking so loosely that only some lakes count as “water”, even though they’re all fed by the same rivers, springs and clouds.
You know what? If private investors want to make a profit off the water flowing through the rivers, then they should pay the owners for the privilege. It’s that simple. As soon as you take “public” out of “public good”, it becomes a dog-eat-dog world of commerce and fuckwits all working to shaft each other.
Both you and Dunne should have known that before you advocated for his selling out of the nation.
I expect National to be evil fuckwits. I actually gave Dunne’s desire for self-preservation a reasonable chance of overcoming his toadying nature. Shame I was wrong.
Pete you’re hilarious.
Your link presents – as evidence that Dunne hasn’t done a u-turn on water assets – a quote from (wait for it) Peter Dunne from after the coalition deal.
You fucking idiot, you’re just reinforcing the criticism that his promises before the election don’t match his actions afterward.
felix you’re a lone futile voice on this, here’s another today from out there:
I’m surprised you keep trying to dog
whistlepaddle against the tide.Before election – against selling water assets.
After election – in favour of selling water assets.
Carry on with your sophistry as long as you like, but that’s the nuts right there and I don’t see anything you’ve written that addresses it.
You’re a lone voice on that, partly because you’re wrong. Others can see the reality, you can’t, or you keep pretending not to.
Carry on with your sophistry as long as you like, but I don’t think anyone out there is listening.
Will the hydrostations automatically have the right to use water?
“you’re wrong.”
Ah yes I remember it now. Those U.F. ads with Dunne saying “We will never support the sale of Kiwibank, Radio NZ, or our Water – except for the Waikato River water and most of the water in the South Island”.
Thanks for jogging my memory.
“lone, futile voice”
Now I see why Pete is so upset with felix; he thinks felix is breaching his copyright.
For the record, I completely agree with felix on Dunne being a slippery wanker who kept his “promises” very, very specific so that apologists like Petey G could try to excuse his desperate grab for power-baubles later on.
I just don’t harp on about it ’cause felix is doing such a tremendous job holding Mr Linkspam to account.
…if I have a freehold farm and there is an aquifer underneath – then that water is mine?????
http://www.walkingaccess.govt.nz/store/doc/NZWAC_Factsheet9Accessalongriverslakesandthecoast.pdf
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/research-policy/wp/2003/03-02/11.htm
Peters Groupie how can any one claim ownership of land because its just dust in the wind “Kansas’
the God particle proves it.
Funny Pontificating Guile Stephen Franks said last night on national radio that the National party opened the door by giving Maori rights under the treaty of Waitangi back in 1996.
So Maori doe have rights to the water!
He and his right wing mates are pissed off that their own party gave Maori their rights back.
There is a taniwha!
It’s pronounced “Brownlee”
Peter’s Groupie .
You have no creadance to use a song to propagandize your view on clear water.
Maori had alot of justice denied over the last 170 years now they are sticking up for their rights given to them as british citizens.
I smell the politics of envy.
How can anyone claim ownership of something as globally fluid as water?
Funny but I get water bills to pay all of the time. And when I go into a garage to get a bottle of water it costs moolah.
perception that this is an extorion attempt, to try and force Government into giving preferential treatment with the MOM share floats
Utter rubbish. Maori have been complaining about Treaty of Waitangi issues since the first breach. This current application is hot on the heels of the Supreme Court decision in Paki v Attorney General which was filed years ago. Unfortunate timing for the Government but definately not an extortion attempt.
Funny but I get water bills to pay all of the time
You are paying for the maintence of having running water to your house – the water itself isn’t “owned”
And when I go into a garage to get a bottle of water it costs moolah.
You are paying for the bottling and the convenience
I think what PG means is free running lake/river water not pumped to your house or bottled water
“You are paying for the maintence of having running water to your house – the water itself isn’t “owned”
Cool, so I can just pay the portion for the maintenance and ignore the per litre charge. Excellent news. I’ll do the samewith my electricity bill and pay the lines co. portion while ignoring the per MWhr part. Thanks, Contrarian, you saved me a packet.
“I think what PG means is free running lake/river water not pumped to your house or bottled water”
Then presumably he means not pumped into a hydro-electric power generation network either.
Forgive me if I am wrong but I don’t think the council claims ownership of the water
As per wikipedia (obviously not the most acedemic of sources.,but anyway)
‘Water and wastewater tariffs are not charged for water itself, but to recover the costs of water treatment, water storage, transporting it to customers, collecting and treating wastewater, as well as billing and collection.’
This is what I meant water rates are for. Not because the Council owns the water
Link please so we can see what it’s really referring to. Better be nz.
yeah, nah. Yet again seeking the definition that suits his purpose, rather than the one we live by here and were talking about.
Bit awkward how the link to the article on water pricing was in the same paragraph that he selected his quote from.
He must’ve seen it while copy/pasting, it was right there. Which is a a bit embarrassing as it almost looks as if he deliberately avoided linking so as to mislead the forum.
yeah. He must have thought he was the only one on the interwebz that has heard of google.
So the council does claim ownership of the water?
At least one NZ council seems to think it might be an issue:
http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/SiteCollectionDocuments/aboutcouncil/planspoliciespublications/theaucklandplan/aptdinfrastructurewater.pdf
oh wow, here’s an actual criminal case for theft of water:
You see, outside of your (McFlock) and Felix’s hilarious double act of snide and sneering scorn although hilarious, you are not actually helpful. I am trying to ascertain whether the council claims to own the water itself and thereby charge you for it as opposed to the maintenance, pipes and containment which is how it is generally understood.
Nah, you were caught out selectively quoting part of an article in such a way as to demonstrate that councils don’t charge for water, when the article actually said nothing of the sort.
Bit late for the innocent act now pal.
Also, if you really believe the council isn’t charging you for water then stop paying them per litre and see if they keep delivering it.
Hmmmm. Did they write ” allegedly stole the maintenance, pipes and containment of water”?
Nope.
And
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/water/property-rights-water-nov03/html/page4.html
‘Property rights can arise through law, custom/tradition and use. However the State defined and enforced property rights represent a useful starting point for an analysis of rights in water. In legal terms [This section largely summarises the property rights aspects of the Milne and Mooar (2002) report. This report should be read for more detail of water allocation and property rights.] regional councils are empowered under the RMA to grant water permits which allow the holder to take, use, dam or divert water subject to availability. Consents are not required for water takes in some limited circumstances (e.g. domestic use, stock water, fire fighting), and consents cannot be granted for in stream use.
Water is not owned, but the rights to use the water in various ways are owned. Some of these rights the State alienates to individuals, and others it effectively retains in its ownership. In practice the retained rights to water represent those which various other stakeholders in society have an interest – such as the ecological values, the fishery, amenity values etc.
Property rights of Maori are less clear. As noted above they would appear to have aboriginal title to water under customary use, but how this translates in practice is not well established. Kaitiakitanga is protected as a section 7 matter, giving it equal status to a number of other matters including development.’
Yeah Felix which is why I prefaced it with:
“Forgive me if I am wrong..”
i.e. I could be wrong.
But that’s alright Felix, I’ll ignore your seeping scum.
“Forgive me if I’m wrong”
=/=
“Forgive me if I make shit up, selectively quote, try to hide the fact by not linking, and then pretend it never happened when caught out”
Why would I link to water pricing?
You wouldn’t, because you were pretending it didn’t exist. Duh.
We were talking about whether or not local councils charged you for the water (as product) or the system of delivery, maintenance and other devices used in supplying water.
Lets look at water pricing on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pricing
How does this relate to whether or not councils charged you for water or the system of delivery, maintenance and other devices used in supplying water?
Subsection: Bottled Water
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pricing#Bottled_water
Not relevant to discussion
Subsection: Tanker Trucks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pricing#Tanker_trucks
Not relevant to discussion
Subsection: Utility Trariffs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pricing#Utility_tariffs
Very relevant to discussion, links back to the article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_tariff
Subsection: Irrigation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pricing#Irrigation
Not relevant to discussion
Subsection: Direct abstraction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pricing#Direct_abstraction
Relevant but not enough information
The only truly relevant section links back to article I originally quoted from.
So tell me again why I was ‘pretending it didn’t exist’?
Water pricing is relevant because (drumroll) it’s about the price charged for water you fucking idiot.
I think you need to reread the above.
Oh, you mean the thread that started with PeteG asking “How can anyone claim ownership of something as globally fluid as water?”
I think you need to reread my comments too McFlock. I have been speaking fairly specifically about council provided water supply for some time now
“I think you need to reread the above”
Nah, you’re only going to make a smartarse remark about how the whole conversation is beneath you, how you don’t care whether water is charged for anyway (despite arguing for ages that it isn’t), and how you could totes “win” the argument if you really wanted to ‘cos you know all this other stuff but you just can’t be bothered explaining it ‘cos we’re all too stupid to get it, and then fuck off for the night to return tomorrow and pretend the whole conversation never happened.
C – I think you need to learn to address the actual topic of discussion, rather than arguing about something else.
You might find this place less frustrating if you learn to stick to the point.
rather than the one we live by here and were talking about.
Which one is that?
Ahhh fuck it, don’t even bother – I can do without yet another pointless discuss with McFlock.
Just to be clear, you do want to sell these water assets as per National’s plan, right?
“that this is an extorion attempt” well you got that right just the wrong way round – tangata whenua are taking the claim and even though the PRIME MINISTER said he could disregard any findings anyway – how’s that for a smack in the face eh – most would wither at that step but tangata whenua are staying the course. They are doing it for themselves and for us. That is courage. That is integrity and that is honour. You know nothing pete george but i’m sure that won’t stop you turning it all around so you can talk about yourself.
They are doing it for themselves. You might not be so supportive when you start getting the bills or have to pay to swim in a river, etc?
Rhetorical question – when is NZ going to get over this apartheid stuff and all start moving forward instead of always looking in the rear view mirror?
Pete.
1. I don’t think it’s a very hard concept at all. We live in a world where ideas can be owned for goodness sake and electronic frequencies, and lord knows what all else.
2. The timing is based on the fact that the government is seeking to sell. Should they wait untill after that is done?
On extortion; isn’t that word usually used when someone threatens someone with unpleasent consequences unless they hand over something that is rightfully theirs?
For example, if someone was to say hint that there might be terrible things unleashed if a group of people didn’t give up their claim to, for example, water rights. Would that create a ‘perception’ of extortion?
Personally, I think you, and the PM, should be careful lest you create a situation where it is difficult not to percieve that you are a bunch of race baiting pricks prepared to unleash a racial shitfight, and deprive NZ citizens of their legal rights, in order to get their way politically.
And Labour needs to be very careful they don’t help unleash a racial shitfight, and deprive NZ citizens of their legal rights, in order to get their way politically.
Siding with water rights action for perceived short term political gain on asset sales may make things very tricky for Labour – and for New Zealand – if the water rights get traction. They’re unlikely to be solved quickly, and quite possibly Labour will lead Government while it is being addressed.
wow Pete, you are really losing the plot
Since you are so sage and generous with your opinions, why are you so afraid of answering in an adult and direct manner the few simple questions that are regularly put to you ?
Could it have something to do with you falling apart like a toddler whose broken their toy and wants to blame it on their younger sibling every time your sycophantic party-lines are shown up for the misanthropic toxins they are?
You’ve got your parties and motives entirely backwards.
Keeping our assets isn’t a “short term political gain” – selling them is a short term fiscal one.
And I’m not scared of racists, Pete. Do your worst.
I can’t see any short term fiscal gain. Can you explain?
Sell assets, bank money. Gain.
nasty smear Pete.
the fact is the claim is to be heard.
the fact is it may have an impact on the sales process if the Government can’t work it out.
There is no need for it to become a racial issue at all. But you and the PM, with your extortion comments, seem to be heading that way.
What rights are NZers being deprived of by the case being brouight Pete, which you refer to in your comment?
It appears that you can’t answer any point I made, so you just switched some owrds around in the hope that it might work both ways.
So how does it?
If iwi have rights to the water, then how does it ‘deprive other NZers of what was legally theirs’ if those rights are upheld?
Good point PB
Petey
Do you:
1. Accept the Treaty of Waitangi is an important constitutional document
2. Accept that it preserved to Maori their Taonga?
3. Accept that unless stolen or confiscated or sold thest Taonga remain in the ownership of Iwi?
Just asking.
And nasty smear. Labour has not declared a position. If you are looking for good old dog whistling red neck rascism look no further than the Government you support.
In general I accept all three points.
But ownership of water, like air, can’t be pinned down. The water that was in New Zealand in 1840 could be anywhere now. The water that’s here today came from the Tasman Sea, the tropical Pacific, the southern ocean. That in turn came from elsewhere in an endless cycle.
Do you accept that rain that falls doesn’t have accompanying deeds of ownership?
Straw man argument Petey.
The claims are as much about the river beds as the water. Just like local Councils can charge for their pipes and the supply of water it seems to me that Maori have certainly a very arguable case that as they own the riverbeds they should be permitted to exercise some rights over the water that flows through those riverbeds.
Limiting the discussion to water idiverts the argument away from what the application is actually about.
That’s what the courts will be deciding Pete. For myself, I can’t see why it’s any more problematic that owning ideas, which are much more ephemeral things than water flows.
Now hos about you adress this idea about extortion.
How can iwi be extorting NZers if they are are asking the courts to rule on whether or not the crown extinguished their rights?
If you can’t explain that, then would you agree that claiming they are extorting people is unhelpful to say the least?
Maori Water Rights on Marae Investigates
That sounds like trying to play one issue off against another with a threat of financial loss.
And financial gain by leveraging one issue against another.
Jim wants to hit me.
I do not want to be hit.
I say “Jim, if you hit me I will hit you”.
Jim does not want to be hit.
Jim does not hit me.
Horrible fucking me, pitting one issue against the other.
But how is that extortion.
They either have legal water rights or they do not. If they do, then they are entitled to have them respected. The issues are linked. the link isn’t fanciful, it’s real. If they have the water right, there are consequences. Pointing out those consequences is just pointing out what the right they hold, means.
That’s not extortion Pete.
You should probably just retract the allegation if you can’t provide any basis for it.
But you won’t, even though that gives rise to an impression that your claims are all about the politics of it.
It’s full of politics – that’s the problem.
If water rights were dealt with by the Waiangi Tribunal separately on their own merits then they would stand a better chance of a fair and untainted hearing. But it has been included as a part of the asset circus. That may backfire.
So your claim of ‘extortion’ is full of politics and that’s a problem but it’s all someone elses fault?
WTF?
Perhaps an analogy might help.
Imagine I’m trying to sell a house, and you are pretty sure that the house is actually yours.
Let me know how it goes from there, and let me know when you get to the part where you are extorting me.
It’s related to whakapapa. Several levels of heaven, the earth, the air the sea. The original Mother and Father and their Children interacted with humans and created an element of the divine in maori/humans. Just like the Angel and Mary, just like Greek gods and demi-gods. As with a western or Greek god, it doesn’t matter if a particular water molecule changes state over time, the element of the divine is still present. A god can use any molecule of matter they like, outside of reference to time. The link to the people is never broken and gaurdianship remains intact.
In modern pakeha thought processes, there is no equivalent for maori gaurdianship. So “ownership” has become the closest term for use. That there is no direct translation does not mean there is no connection that is just as strong, if not stronger than a “property” perspective, it just means we can’t name it in english concepts.
Guardianship versus ownership (title) is one of the primary reasons the Bards in western Scotland were suppressed from the time of James 1, leading eventually to the ejection of the people from their land. The bards like the Maori kept an oral tradition that referred to lineage and tradition (as opposed to paper title and property). To get rid of the bards was to get rid of customary shared title in favour of codified individual property rights sanctioned by central authority.
Sounds a bit like the Maori challenge and why the Treaty causes so much consternation.
Yep, as you illustrate, there is no excuse for not understanding the perspective via analogy, as Pete tries to do in his first question in post #6. To my eye there is no consternation necessary over “ownership” or “guardianship” terms, because these days it is a matter of power structures: One party wants to take something from the other party and would prefer not to have to feel like they don’t have total control. Simple as that. Too often pakeha don’t realise they are inter-related to maori and their world view whether they acknowledge it or not. Solution is obvious, but illuminating the solution in the minds of individuals is difficult.
By pushing back against pakeha imbalances, maori are actually saving pakeha from themselves. While pakeha fail to see this and disrespect their efforts, maori will lose whatever they do. That they make the efforts is an example of great humility and sacrifice, no matter how much money a few groups might make in the process. If they give up fighting before pakeha collectively wake up to reality, it will be the beginning of “unexpected” social troubles that we’ll blame on everything except our own doing.
Good comment uturn. Yes the interrelatedness is underrated, which is strange considering we are all in the same waka.
Ani Mikaere, during her Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture said “For pakeha to gain legitimacy here, it is they who must place their trust in Māori, not the other way around.” I hope we are moving closer to that.
Wouldn’t mind taking a few things up in them last few posts uturn and marty mars but alas no time at this time perhaps another time. In one short sentence though – it appears your comments elsewhere, pointing out that the point from which people point tends to be the most descriptive of their view, are perhaps the most applicable here.
Ani Mikaere, during her Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture said “For pakeha to gain legitimacy here, it is they who must place their trust in Māori, not the other way around.”
A link to the complete document is useful for it is useful reading.
http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/iwi-am04.pdf
I posted here some years ago and haven’t changed my mind since that we should have an equal number of Maori and non-maori seats in this country – it’s called a partnership.
Thanks for that DOS, yes the whole speech is essential reading.
Interesting Bored. Anything further I can read about that?
Regretably, “the christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad”-one of my heroes.
following some of the issues raised by difference politics can sure drive you to madness though…
Peters Groupie Land didn’t have ownership till man invented ownership.
As usual PG posted the same post (6 above) on KB as here, but he omitted the last sentence that he included in the KB one which clarifies his position further:
I think we need to stand up and speak up quickly on this, and not just moan and wait until it’s too late.
Which is exactly what the Maori Council etc are seeking to do with the urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing. The water rights issue is not a new one; it has been simmering away for years without resolution. The partial assets sale of energy assets using water for power generation has triggered the urgent action for resolution.
And here is my version of PG’s post at 6.6.1
And National and UF need to be very careful they don’t unleash a shitfight, and deprive NZ citizens of their legal rights, in order to get their way politically.
Opposing water rights action for perceived short term political gain on asset sales may make things very tricky for National and UF as the water rights get traction. They’re unlikely to be solved quickly, and quite possibly Labour/Greens will lead Government while it is being addressed.
No no, Pete. Refusing to even attempt to understand another person’s culture and viewpoint, as far as an outsider can, and instead quickly falling back to judgement based only on your own ignorant views is wrong. It’s the gateway to racism at worst and common dictatorial politics at best.
PG, you are thinking totally in your cultural context, pakeha with the associated history of property rights. It may surprise you that the Maori who signed the Treaty were thinking about how they perceived property and this was almost certainly a different concept to the pakeha.
It may surprise you that the Maori may be thinking that extorting water rights is wrong under the cultural concepts that they had when they signed the Treaty. As to timing the Government made the call to force the issue by attempting to sell, the objection was already on the table. As to principle, the Government and by association your buddy Dunce appear to be moving in an unprincipled manner, especially with regard to Treaty obligations.
As for Key, he benefited from Labours stance on the Foreshore and Sea Bed, if he wont see the link its not because he cant see it, it is entirely doctrinaire payback to his funders.
Time to remind PG of one of his leader’s public stances.
…
Protest calls for end to claims on foreshore
NZ Herald Tuesday July 29, 2003
More than 500 people took to the main street of Nelson yesterday in protest over the issue of Maori claims to the foreshore and seabed. Carrying placards saying “Whites have rights too”, “When do we stop giving?” and “One law for all New Zealanders”, the march left Wakatu Square shortly after noon. Protesters chanted “Foreshores for all” as they marched to the Church Steps, where they heard speeches from organisers United Future leader Peter Dunne and Nelson National MP Nick Smith.
…
There you go Petey Boy. I am sorry but the article no longer shows the grandstanding photograph of the Dunne Boy clambering into a sailing dinghy …
No he was found clinging to a small bouy petey bouy
Good stuff logie97 and when combined with deuto at 6.6.2 shows the real agenda of the pete – racial division and anger against others – and this is not the first time the pete has done this, nor the second – shame on you the pete.
CHECK THIS OUT FOLKS! THE INFORMED AND CONSIDERED OPINION OF PROF. PREM SIKKA ON ‘THE SCANDAL-RIDDEN UK BANKING SYSTEM’!
“I have an article on the website of The Conversation. It comments on the banking scandals and argues that the UK political institutions are weak and therefore durable reforms are a long way off.
The article is titled “Durable change a long way off for scandal-ridden UK banking system” and is available at
https://theconversation.edu.au/durable-change-a-long-way-off-for-scandal-ridden-uk-banking-system-8129
You are most welcome to add comments to stimulate the debate.
As always, there is more on the AABA website ( http://www.aabaglobal.org/ )
Regards
Prem Sikka
Professor of Accounting
Centre for Global Accountability
Essex Business School
University of Essex
Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK
Office Tel: +44(0)1206 873773
Office Fax: +44 (01206) 873429
AABA Website: http://www.aabaglobal.org/
No never, I read the MSM and it is a “conspiracy theory”!
the bosses must be scrambling left right and center
selecting junior staffers to blame it on
The first court case in the LIBOR (London interbank offered rate) crime wave was started in August 2011. One of the banks involved was the Bank of America where John Key has most of his paper wealth.
Here is the court paper:
Question: Why isn’t John Key fuming on behalf of us that we have been ripped of by his ex-bankster mates?
Answer: Because he is complicit in ripping us off until this very day!
Trav I thought Gooseman and PG would be denigrating you for posting this.
It must be getting to close to home. Better to ignore ad hope it goes away.
they get confused when their high regard for avaricious CEOs conflicts with their “tough on crime” mantra.
Another assumption? The idea that the global isn’t warming because this would mean
south island glaciers would grow not shrink, because glaciers would grow worldwide, doesn’t
make any sense. Obviously changing patterns of rain fall, and or drought, will also means
some glaciers will retreat and some grow. But I doubt regrowth of glaciers would take place
until the greatest likely glacier of them all would have shrunk. That of the north polar sea and Greenland, which would irrevocable (for thousands of years) change the patterns of glacier growth.
We would return to a iced over europe and north Asia continent, and return to the pattern
of coastal warming that allowed the first Americians to cross from Asia into N.America.
Being an island I suspect a warmer NZ in a couple of centuries.
I am very sorry I shan’t live to see it! Mosquitoes are a thing of the past here, (there’ve been none since 2007, flies also) and I am freezing cold for 3/4 of the year. *
As Jared Diamond pointed out in Guns, Germs and Steel, most of New Zealand is too cold to be habitable without technology. As for global warming, bring it on I say!
* I anticipate screeching about ‘anecdotal evidence’, to which I can only say that if you’re not freezing your nuts off, you must be either very comfortably off and able to afford heating, or a passionate rugby fan, used from birth, to cold and regarding it as fun.
Out west in Auckland I still had mozzies in the summer – not as many as most years, but they’re still around – plenty of flies come cruising in around meal time in the summer – even now, if I’m cooking in the middle of the day and the sun is shining.
“most of New Zealand is too cold to be habitable without technology”
That’ll be news to the tangata whenua, V32.
Take it up with Jared Diamond then, not me! Carol, you’re jolly lucky! I’d trade flies for having to wear four layers inside, any day.
Pretty sure you’ll find the nomads of Siberia/Alaska would be shocked about this as well.
Of course, It all depends upon what is meant by technology. I’m pretty sure both the Maori of the South Island and the Eskimos actually did have the necessary technology to survive in such extreme conditions. The basic knowledge of how to build houses, wrap up warm and light fires. Without those then, yeah, it’s entirely possible that survival wouldn’t be possible in either location.
The problem really is that when people think about technology they tend to think about computers and other modern devices and not the knowledge that’s been around for thousands of years such as striking a flint to light a fire.
Well, no shit Sherlock, that’s exactly what I (and Jared Diamond meant). So those people who got their knickers in a knot, or startingh salivating excitedly, red-eyed and already with that little vein in their forehead throbbing – thinking they’d proved a charge of evil racism against me, can just STFU…
BTW, getting very fed up with being told I am exhibiting “harmful behavior” (sic) – and having to enter a capture and endure a lecture every time I want to post. Subtle censorship? (We hope you’ll lose patience and go away).
Is anyone else experiencing this? Last time I asked I was ignored. Fed up with it.
Yes, Vicky, it’s totally an evil plot against you. Lprent, you see, has deliberately included a captcha form on The Standard which detects boring self-righteousness. (Wait, that can’t be the answer, or Petey G would be complaining too.)
It could be that you continually embed links in your post in a way which screams “sp4m!!!!!!” to a basic filter. But that would mean the world wasn’t out to get you.
Sigh, you are such a silly bitch, aren’t you? That would make sense if I did embed links, but I almost never do, as you’d know if you read my posts. (Which you don’t actually do, despite your reflex attacks whenever you see my name.. Issues much?)
I was in an impatient mood yesterday, and very cross about the sheer number of times it kept happening, when for the most part, my comments were very bland. I apologise* for my attitude, as I was in a general frustrated mood…
*Don’t get all excited, QoT, it’s a general apology, not one specifically for you!
Sigh, you are such a silly bitch, aren’t you?
Vicky, I have seen you whinge about being sp4m-filtered twice. Both times were after you embedded links in your post. Right back at ya.
I make no apology for “reflex attacks” on you when you’re trying to imply that lprent is deliberately trying to silence your ~wonderful~ contributions to this blog. And believe me, I ignore a hell of a lot of the crap you write.
Can this blog survive Peter George? It seems that he attracts so much response because people always react to him – can’t let him be. I’m jealous – I put thought into stuff that seems important to us all but does not suit a quick, smart alec rejoinder. It seems that personalities, blog celebrities in fact, draw input instead of valuable discussion about the matters of today which we dearly need to address.
The blog is dominated by Peter George and why can’t people think of their own ideas and concerns and describe them to us rather than just input in reaction to what could just as well be a computer virus.
I agree with the DFTT idea, prism. I usually don’t read that stuff, and prefer to read your stuff, even though I don’t necessarily respond.
Carol – Thanks, same applies to me.
DFTT never works in sufficiently large online communities. Someone always bites.
+1. I don’t get why people can’t seem to understand that engaging with (i.e. being seen to react to) poor behaviour simply encourages more poor behaviour. Clearly they’ve never been to school (there’s one in every schoolroom) or raised a domestic animal. It’s the replies which perpetuate/exacerbate trolling, not the troll: every time he gets a response or a mention he is encouraged to continue. It’s not rocket science!
Why do you people answer this clown? With a bit of luck if you ignored him he might go away. On this left leaning site, there has been many a right winger giving a valid intelligent discussion from their side of the political spectrum, but this clown talks shit. I have not seen an intelligent original discussion put up by him.
Because of this I for one for a long time have completely ignored his posts. Like his leader Dung and to quote them both he’s a nonsense and has nothing of importance to say.
A) being ignored doesn’t stop him. He just assumes it means he’s right.
B) there’s always the possibility that someone on a bad day might think he has a point.
C) it’s funny when he slowly gets painted into a corner, starts to try to flail distractions to all and sundry, and then flips around to something completely contradictory. Like with the water rights thing.
But, but…. the advice from a psychologist says, they are attention-seeking and best ignored.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/7245308/Internet-trolls-have-low-self-esteem
Though I think this article also tends to make bullying an integral part of being a tr0ll. To me it’s anyone disrupting and diverting discussions – attention-getting is more apt, IMO.
That psychologist has clearly never been on the receiving end of some of the shit people get thrown at them by “trolls”. “Just ignore the bully” is the advice of people who don’t want to have to confront the issues which permit the bullying in the first place (and that’s as true of workplace/schoolyard/”real life” bullying as it is online.)
I agree. I can mostly let what the troll says go, but when he starts pontificating about Māori I cannot leave his distortions and misrepresentations to just sit there. Sorry but I just cannot stand that shit and as much as I can, i’ll fight it.
PFDs –no not some new Adobe software, but rather, “Pete Free Days” are a treasured experience for some.
quote by Hughes Mearns:
‘Yesterday upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there,
He wasn’t there again today, Oh, how I wish he’d go away’
The conundrum of the situation.
LOL – well said. And I totally agree with your comment at 9 above; just haven’t had the time to reply.
“Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”
The loss of 220 KiwiRail jobs is significant, not only does this represent 220 families that will be losing incomes, but the risks to the safety of our rail infrastructure must surely be a concern. We have seen the damage done to the KiwiFruit industry through cuts in our biosecurity and when our rail systems haven’t returned to pre-privatisation standards the logic behind this decision escapes me.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/kiwirail-job-cuts-cause-unnecessary.html
I fear that making a profit from Kiwirail requires the loss of rail maintenance jobs, the capital “asset” becomes more run down and less safe. When the train crash occurs who will be blamed?
The worker who dies.
There was worrying talk on 3 News about selling Kiwirail. Key said something like ‘we have no such intention’, which may well mean the opposite. (First, we had to hear about TomCat though)
Where now is the militant urgency that saw heavily armed Police make his pregnant wife stand in the rain after they kicked in his doors and helicopters flew overhead ?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/7252387/Dotcom-extradition-hearing-delayed
+ on a completely unrelated matter, anyone else wondering which Vinyard the “Elvin Wine’ came from for The Hobbit cast ?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/7237319/Hobbit-Wrap-Party-A-Hot-Ticket
Does this blog censor nihilists???
Afraid like everybody else??
nihilists? who cares man….
I don’t even believe in nihilism…its a bleak life, or is it?
If your comments have not been immediately published, sometimes there is a delay for unknown e-reasons. If you’ve written a trigger word, you post will say it is under moderation.
Just don’t tick the “I am a nihilist” box on the comment form and you’ll be fine.
Can I tick the “I am not a nihilist” box?
Or would I just be in denihil?
“Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.”
The Maori Party is going postal about John Key’s statements about the Waitangi Tribunal. It seems they do not like the idea that the tribunal set up to ensure justice for treaty settlements was rubbished by the PMONZ.
My impression of the MP has improved.
Interesting times …
I liked Harawira comparing it to buying a car off someone who can’t produce the ownership papers.
I sure as shit wouldn’t buy a used power station off Key. Would you?
It’s more like trying to sell a car but someone tries to stop you filling the radiator unless they get part of the sale price.
Perfect analogy, Pete. You’re quite a deep thinker, aren’t you?
I guess that person who won’t let you fill the radiator would be the person with the water.
Is that what you mean, Pete?
someone tries to stop you filling the radiator unless they get part of the sale price
Maybe if that person owned the property that you were on trying to siphon water out of his garden hose and maybe if you had previously promised to let him keep his water …
Funny how we get impressed by the MP when they behave like a Maori Party should.
Guess we arn’t use to anyone but Mana doing that.