Open mike 11/07/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 11th, 2013 - 94 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

94 comments on “Open mike 11/07/2013 ”

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  1. Morrissey 1
    11 July 2013 at 6:12 am

    LIARS OF OUR TIME
    No. 26: Sam Wallace

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    —Weatherman Sam Wallace, TV1 Breakfast, 7:40 a.m., Wednesday 10 July 2013

    See also….
    No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
    No.24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
    
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”

    No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
    
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
    
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”

    No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”

    No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”

    No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”

    No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”

    No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
    
No.13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
    
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-638881
    
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”

    No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”

    No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”

    No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”

    No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”

    No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”


    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
    

No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”


No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594


    No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”


    No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”


    No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”


    No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”

  2. Morrissey 2
    11 July 2013 at 6:46 am

    Humbug Corner
    
No. 16: BARACK OBAMA

    “I wish Muslims across America & around the world a month blessed with the joys of family, peace & understanding.”

    —tweet by President Barack Obama at start of Ramadan, 10 July 2013

    Check out Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle’s perfect response….
    http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1373471691.html

    Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity Project®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.

    More disgusting humbugs….
    No. 15 John Key: “They know this is an issue of national security.”
    No. 14 Charles Saatchi: “I abhor violence of any kind against women…”
    
No. 13 Toyota NZ: “The more Kiwis that lean, the more motivated our ETNZ crew will be to win.”
    
No. 12 Pem Bird: “We’re there to do the business of advancing our people.”
    
No.11 Whenua Patuwai: “They’re my brothers and to see one of them goes [sic]—it’s tough.”

    No. 10 [REMOVED]
    

No. 9 [REMOVED]
    


No. 8 Barack Obama: “…people standing up for what’s right…yearning for justice and dignity…”


No. 7 Barack Obama: “Nelson Mandela is my personal hero…”
    

No. 6 John Key: “Yeah well the Greens’ answer to everything is rail, isn’t it.”
    

No.5 Dr. Rodney Syme: “If you want good, open, honest practice, you have to make it transparent.”
    


No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s… integrity beyond reproach…such great character…”



    No. 3 Dean Lonergan: “Y’ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.”



    No. 2 Peter Dunne: “What a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbug…”





    No. 1 Dominic Bowden: “It’s okay to be speechless.”



  3. Pascal's bookie 3
    11 July 2013 at 6:50 am

    Good piece here on some of the dynamics in Syria:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/10/syria-al-nusra-front-jihadi?CMP=twt_gu

  4. Yoza 4
    11 July 2013 at 6:54 am

    I see the guys over at Scoop have posted the latest Maori Party response to Labour colluding with National to further entrench police brutality as a means of quashing dissent.

    Labour/National shut down inquiry

    The Māori Party is reeling at the decision of both Labour and National parties, to shut down the proposed Māori Affairs Select Committee inquiry into the impact of Operation Eight.

    “The concern for the Māori Party has always been how the events of 15 October 2007 impacted on the affected whānau, and the official responses made to them,” said Te Ururoa Flavell, MP for Waiariki.

    “We had hoped that members of parliament from all parties would care about the human cost of Operation Eight; – that they would want to understand how ordinary New Zealanders felt about the initial actions of the Police and subsequent findings that many of those actions were contrary to law, unjustified and unreasonable.”

    Not surprising really when considering it was a Labour regime that oversaw the paramilitary raid carried out against Tuhoe. Does anyone know what Meka Whaitiri has been instructed to say by Shearer and his little cartel?

    • Morrissey 4.1
      11 July 2013 at 7:01 am

      It might help if the Maori Party had not accepted the role of National’s poodle. Anything they say automatically is dismissed as humbug.

    • richard 4.2
      11 July 2013 at 7:18 am

      Not surprising really when considering it was a Labour regime that oversaw the paramilitary raid carried out against Tuhoe.

      Exactly the response expected from right-wing parties.

      Labour also colluded with National to quickly shut down any enquiry into the military’s lying and deceit exposed in Nicky Hager’s Other People’s Wars

    • Mary 4.3
      11 July 2013 at 12:04 pm

      Atrocious but not surprising behaviour from Labour. Silver lining might be greater support for Mana. Maori Party’s already irreparably damaged so hopefully Mana will now pick up the support Labour’s kicking in the guts.

  5. Santi 5
    11 July 2013 at 6:58 am

    He deserves to be praised. Well done David Shearer, strong leader.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10896517

    • karol 5.1
      11 July 2013 at 7:04 am

      You’r a comedian, right?

      • Blue 5.1.1
        11 July 2013 at 9:39 am

        Santi is a known right wing troll who posts obsessively in favour of David Shearer because the longer Shearer keeps his job the better it is for the right.

        • Winston Smith 5.1.1.1
          11 July 2013 at 10:16 am

          That is correct, National want Shearer to remain as leader for as long as possible. Can you imagine Shearer vs Key in an election debate?

          • Santi 5.1.1.1.1
            11 July 2013 at 10:38 am

            Shearer will win hands down, don’t you think?

            • Winston Smith 5.1.1.1.1.1
              11 July 2013 at 1:16 pm

              Are you umm serious because ahhh if you err are then maybe you umm haven’t seen mumblefuck in umm action

              • Draco T Bastard …
                11 July 2013 at 2:13 pm

                Winston, Santi is on your side.

                • Winston Smith …
                  11 July 2013 at 2:39 pm

                  Yes I know, I was using the opportunity to reiterate why Shearer (and by default the Labour party) is useless

                  • Santi …
                    11 July 2013 at 3:11 pm

                    Shearer is not useless. He will lead the Labour Party to victory. Guaranteed.
                    For that reason he must remain leader.

                • lprent …
                  11 July 2013 at 3:48 pm

                  Stupidity rulz side..

                  But no. Santi is trying to emulate INTELLIGENCE – however he picked windows CE running basica as the platform. Makes him look like an early generation virus.

                  Winston however is the real deal.

    • David H 5.2
      11 July 2013 at 7:18 am

      Tryin to b a funny guy???

      But I see that TV3 is still trying to go on about the Gower coup when it’s all a TV3 made up story.

  6. Socialist Paddy 6
    11 July 2013 at 7:51 am

    I don’t normally listen to Radiolive but Duncan Garner was interesting last night. He went head to head with Labour bovver boy Clayton Cosgrove and outed him as the head of ABC. Garner was the person who reported on ABC last year and is the best one to say who the leaker of the comments was.

    Presuming this is true Cosgrove is guilty of breaching caucus solidarity, undermining a colleague by spinning crap and harming the interests of the Labour Party. He is a disgrace.

    http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Clayton-Cosgrove-and-Duncan-Garner-go-head-to-head-over-Shearer-and-coup/tabid/506/articleID/36641/Default.aspx

    • BM 6.1
      11 July 2013 at 8:33 am

      Yeah, what a complete cock.
      Cunliffe should kick his arse, the backstabbing mofo.

      • North 6.1.1
        11 July 2013 at 9:39 am

        Hey BM Bro’Mine at 6.1:

        You’ve come a helluva long way mine brother.

        First thing (never seen before), we agree.

        Second thing, “mofo”. Hone H is genuinely chuffed by the endorsement !

        Back to Earth: “bromine” – a dark red toxic liquid halogen with a choking, irritating smell.

    • geoff 6.2
      11 July 2013 at 9:15 am

      Haha, very entertaining. What a couple of fools.

    • North 6.3
      11 July 2013 at 9:23 am

      SP @ 6 above: Garner and Cosgrove – equally disgraceful blowhard cocks.

      Coupla rednecks well past their (self-claimed) seniors days, down the rugby club late on any winter Saturday afternoon. Excruciating !

      Couldn’t handle listening to it past the spewy mutual-respect shit. Any resort to “munter” after I switched off ?

    • felix 6.4
      11 July 2013 at 9:31 am

      Pair of nonces.

      Both lying.

    • Anne 6.5
      11 July 2013 at 9:54 am

      Duncan Garner gets a phone-call from a Labour MP on Tuesday night. Did he ring the MP back to check the call was from him? Could he have been hoaxed? In other words it wasn’t the MP but someone else.

      And what about the letter Gower is said to have received from a Labour MP. Did Gower check with the writer that it was indeed from him?

      Between 1975 and 1985 I knew two individuals – male and female – who did the same kind of thing. The male in particular had a talent for mimicking people’s voices. They caused no end of trouble and included among their victims were high profile politicians. Their motivation was political and designed to create trouble for the persons they targeted. One of them fessed up to being the culprits years later but it was way to late for me to do anything about it.

      • Colonial Viper 6.5.1
        11 July 2013 at 10:38 am

        Duncan Garner gets a phone-call from a Labour MP on Tuesday night. Did he ring the MP back to check the call was from him?

        Good question. I’d have never thought of the scenario you posited. In the days of caller ID it should make it harder to do what you described, but you never know.

        • Pascal's bookie 6.5.1.1
          11 July 2013 at 10:44 am

          The story is that garner got a text from an MP. and he rang the MP to talk about it. The MP told him Gower had the letter. Garner’s mistake was not checking in with Gower before running the story.

          The only other checking he did was to call a non-mp Labour connected person who only gave him hearsay that the coup was on. they said they had heard it might be, and that they had hears rumours of the letter. garner figured that was enough.

          Basically he got owned by his mp source, and remains so.

          • Colonial Viper 6.5.1.1.1
            11 July 2013 at 10:50 am

            Basically he got owned by his mp source, and remains so.

            This sounds like a Labour MP, but not Cosgrove, pushing the agenda of destabilisation. An interesting question: was the MP who Garner rang the same MP who wrote the “putting Shearer on notice” email of a fortnight ago. Its all very murky and unpleasant in that caucus.

            And a lot of MPs are pissed off with Shearer over his handling of the “manban”. If his stock was low two weeks ago, it took another plummet in caucus this week.

            • Alanz 6.5.1.1.1.1
              11 July 2013 at 11:26 am

              Re: And a lot of MPs are pissed off with Shearer over his handling of the “manban”.

              Speaking for myself, I was less than happy and I am trying not to be disillusioned with Shearer.

              In my eyes, he has been incompetent at brokering, managing and showing leadership abilities in holding, fostering and, indeed, wisely managing, the interface between the caucus/parliamentary and the sectoral/membership/wider party wings.

              I am determined not to stay at home on polling day next year. However, I will personally find it quite hard to feel positive about giving Labour a tick, let alone two ticks.

          • Anne 6.5.1.1.2
            11 July 2013 at 12:38 pm

            The story is that garner got a text from an MP. and he rang the MP to talk about it.

            You could be right Pb. I may have misheard Garner on that link. I thought he said he got a text from an MP and that was followed by a phone-call. I presumed it was from the MP.

            • hush minx 6.5.1.1.2.1
              11 July 2013 at 6:52 pm

              I got the impression that he had talked to this mp before (that this texting was not unusual) and so he rang the mp to find out more. What I wondered is given Duncan declared Clayton as a main ‘leaker’ on Cunliffe are there grounds for a complaint to the party council? I seem to remember last year Shearer said there wasn’t enough evidence, but maybe that should be revisited?

            • Anne 6.5.1.1.2.2
              11 July 2013 at 8:37 pm

              Hi Pascals bookie. Had a chance to listen to that link again. Garner did say he received a text AND a phone call from a Labour MP. He also spoke of an ‘outside source’ but he doesn’t elaborate. If my conjecture that he might have been hoaxed has any substance then it may well have been someone other than a Lab. caucus member.

        • Anne 6.5.1.2
          11 July 2013 at 10:44 am

          There are a lot of very clever geeks out there who know how to circumvent most systems.

          • James 6.5.1.2.1
            11 July 2013 at 12:48 pm

            conspiracy theorist unite.

            • North 6.5.1.2.1.1
              11 July 2013 at 4:58 pm

              Keep on whistling in the dark James. It’s coming, the cold light of dawn. Whadya gonna say then ?

              No “empire” lasts forever James. Strangely, as more and more evidence of advised joint action comes out, ‘sus’ enough for it to have been heavily concealed, you whistle louder, like a frantic thrush.

              • Colonial Viper …
                11 July 2013 at 5:03 pm

                Perhaps James hasn’t understood an iota of the Snowden files over the last month and should renew his membership to “Ostriches Unite”.

  7. logie97 7
    11 July 2013 at 7:51 am

    Anyone else notice the other side of Mr Nice-guy? Turned on the real assassin type tone in the corridors of the Beehive yesterday when asked his stance on the conscience vote – “They can vote against it if they like, but they won’t because they campaigned on the convention centre…”
    He did not look a happy chappy. Looked incredibly nasty actually. And after the Campbell Live lead last night I think he will be even less smiling.

    But when it comes to an opposition voice that should be making hay – what do we get?

    • framu 7.1
      11 July 2013 at 8:13 am

      Yeah the sub-text there from key was pretty blatant

      “because they campaigned on the convention centre” – maybe i missed it – but i cant recall any mention of a conference center during the last election

      • JK 7.1.1
        11 July 2013 at 8:59 am

        Yeah – Framu – I thought that was a bit odd too because I couldn’t recall the convention centre being a part of the last campaign either ! I reckon it was code for “you’ll lose your seat if you don’t vote for the convention centre” .

        As to the would-be Labour coup, all the “would be leaders” named in the media so far – Jones, Little, Cosgrove, Robertson – NONE of them are in an electorate seat. They are all List MPs – – seemingly unable to make a sufficient dent in the Labour vote to get themselves voted in properly.
        This tells you heaps of their (non) ability to become a leader !

        • Hayden 7.1.1.1
          11 July 2013 at 10:41 am

          Robertson is MP for Wellington Central, though he may want to thank Marian Hobbs for that. Unless you mean Ross Robertson, who’s MP for Manukau East.

        • Draco T Bastard 7.1.1.2
          11 July 2013 at 11:24 am

          They are all List MPs – – seemingly unable to make a sufficient dent in the Labour vote to get themselves voted in properly.

          I really do wish people would stop this BS. They did get voted in properly. The fact that they’re on the list would also tend to indicate that they have the necessary skills and ambition.

          • Colonial Viper 7.1.1.2.1
            11 July 2013 at 11:27 am

            The fact that they’re on the list would also tend to indicate that they have the necessary skills and ambition.

            You simply have to be kidding me.

            • Draco T Bastard 7.1.1.2.1.1
              11 July 2013 at 2:17 pm

              Nope, they’ve proven themselves somehow else they wouldn’t be on the list. Of course, the selection process for the list may be less than desirable.

              • Colonial Viper …
                11 July 2013 at 10:23 pm

                Nope, they’ve proven themselves somehow else they wouldn’t be on the list.

                That is the most ridiculous, stupid non-logic I’ve heard. It ignores the politics, horse trading, personal sponsorship, etc. which goes into putting the party list together. It further assumes that merit is the major element for placement on the party list. And finally, it fails to recognise that getting on to the list proves fuck all about performance and ability as an MP, as demonstrated by a good third of the MPs in Parliament today.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  11 July 2013 at 11:28 pm

                  The illogic was in thinking that getting an electorate seat was any different. People don’t vote for candidates in the electorate, they still vote for the party. This may change over time but I’m not really expecting it to as it’s easier to track the parties than all the individual candidates.

                  as demonstrated by a good third of the MPs in Parliament today.

                  I suspect the same could have been said 30+ years ago.

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    12 July 2013 at 9:43 am

                    I suspect the same could have been said 30+ years ago.

                    And I agree with you.

                    Which is why I’m mystified you said that getting on to a party list “proves” ability and competence at the job.

      • North 7.1.2
        11 July 2013 at 9:04 am

        True Framu. There was absolutely nothing about any convention centre in my recollection, let alone a SkyCity convention centre.

        More ShonKey Python “say whatever suits in the moment” bullshit. To wit……”I voted blah blah blah………the liquour law”.

        An infantile pathology going on there methinks.

    • yeshe 7.2
      11 July 2013 at 10:54 am

      I think he also said in reply in the house yesterday that they campaigned on it …

  8. geoff 8
    11 July 2013 at 9:04 am

    Some great listener comments on Morning Report with regards to the failed GST tax law.

    My Fav (paraphrased): “Maurice Williamson says the new law is impractical to implement. Why doesn’t the government just use the GCSB to make sure NZers comply with the law?”

  9. Rosetinted 9
    11 July 2013 at 9:24 am

    I wasn’t sure about the Canadian train staffing but guessed that the firm would have a minimum crew, and possibly the one. I was right. Now the top cheese is blaming him, all the expensive, dangerous freight was one man’s responsibility.

    There was presumably some emergency system that would operate if he had collapsed at his job, and probably most of it was automatic and he just monitored everything. But while it is okay to run a burger bar in a caravan at a fairground with one person, when there is flammable dangerous freight, having back up staff is important. Especially if the train would be left standing while the guy had a much needed meal, and bed and shower etc. Someone should be with the train in a state of alert at all times, sleeping out would have to be on shift.

    I wonder why the highly paid managers at this freight company didn’t accept that as an undeniable truth. Maybe that lack of foresight and care is an example of the low level of effectiveness and practicality of modern management altogether. I hear of other things elsewhere, cuts to staff, pressures on the remainder, acceptance of tenders made with unreasonably optimistic deadlines and costs etc. Corners cut to meet competition yet allow enough profit cream to be skimmed at the top. Right here in NZ of course, as well as overseas. One of the reasons we will never ‘match Australia’s wages’ blah blah blah, or indeed balance our current account.

    Erebus! A plane put at risk because of head office fiddling with no respect for the precious cargo. Who got blamed – the pilot. And thereby hangs a tale.

    • Dv 9.1
      11 July 2013 at 9:31 am

      Yes Rosetint I was ‘surprised’ that the driver was able to leave the train with the brake off. Surely there at least there should have been back up systems.

      • Colonial Viper 9.1.1
        11 July 2013 at 10:30 am

        http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/canada-train-derailment-puts-brakes-spotlight-19631805#.Ud3gaNhU1d0

        73 rail cars, the hand brakes need to be set car by car manually, a worker set some handbrakes in case the air brakes failed, but not enough to stop the train.

        WORKING ALONE

        In this case, the train was manned by a single worker, the engineer. There are no rules against one-person crews, Luc Bourdon, Transport Canada’s director general for rail safety, said this week. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, the train’s owner, successfully applied last year to have just a single operator on the line. Bourdon also said it is rare — but not against the rules — to leave a train unattended on a main line.

        In my view: the company saving CA$50,000 per year may have helped contribute to the killing of dozens of people.

        Latest news is that the corporation is going to hang out to dry the single employee present, an engineer. Its all his fault for not following company handbrakes procedure, you see.

        The rail car tankers involved in the crash have been known in Canada since the 1990’s to be too thin skinned to survive a crash and immediate rupture on impact spilling contents was predictable.

        • yeshe 9.1.1.1
          11 July 2013 at 10:50 am

          Extra things not mentioned here … there was no limit to the number of this type of carriage that could make up any one individual train .. but possibly most troubling is there was nothing to monitor it or alert anyone to the fact there was a runaway train crashing downhill towards them .. once the train started its 11 km downhill run, steadily increasing speed to more than 100kms it was doing so for a full 18 minutes before derailing .. time at least to have emptied the centre of town and save dozens of lives with a better saafety system in place.

          The mighty dollar and profit-talking rules over people every single time.

    • Rosetinted 9.2
      11 July 2013 at 9:40 am

      I have copied Draco T Bastard 6.1.2 from 10/7 – No one was there to meet them –
      as it seems to match what I have been saying.

      This was one company.

      Don’t kid yourself – there’s other businesses out there that are purposefully disregarding safety because it costs money. I know this from listening to my family that happen to be working in fairly dangerous jobs (usually construction).

      The real challenge is how do you manage for that through regulations without making it much, much harder for other good companies to operate.

      You stop whinging about it being too hard and do the bloody job properly.

  10. felix 10
    11 July 2013 at 9:34 am

    Once again the National govt is preparing to raise taxes, this time it’s GST on anything you buy overseas worth less than $400.

    Is there a tax, levy, or fee that these bastards haven’t increased or expanded?

    Oh that’s right, income tax on the rich.

    • Tinfoilhat 10.1
      11 July 2013 at 9:49 am

      People shouldn’t be able to avoid tax by purchasing offshore

      • felix 10.1.1
        11 July 2013 at 9:57 am

        Did you see me arguing the rightness or wrongness of that?

        What I’m saying is that John Key and National, in spite of all their sloganeering, are a very very tax-happy government.

      • Dv 10.1.2
        11 July 2013 at 10:32 am

        OR avoid tax by having offshore accounts.

      • North 10.1.3
        11 July 2013 at 11:30 am

        Hahaha !………Sir TFH @ 10.1 above:

        My, how you, supreme know not what you say dolt, how you put your stupid foot in your stupid mouth !

        “People shouldn’t be able to avoid tax by purchasing offshore”. Very well.

        What then was the quid pro quo promised to and taken by the movers and shakers of the National Party when they “purchased” ShonKey Python from offshore back ’round ’02 ?

        Avoidance of tax, no ?

      • Draco T Bastard 10.1.4
        11 July 2013 at 12:11 pm

        The solution to that is to drop GST altogether as it’s just not working and that’s beside the fact that it’s massively regressive.

        BTW, do you think National are going to hire the thousands of people necessary to go through everyone’s mail?

    • framu 10.2
      11 July 2013 at 10:04 am

      also – that idea is riddled with loopholes and compliance issues

      so it would yet again, be rather easy to avoid if youve got the skills or means

      • cricklewood 10.2.1
        11 July 2013 at 11:33 am

        Good luck policing this, a large number of offshore sales get labelled gift or with a false value on the customs decleration now, they even have space on the order form where you can intruct them what to write. Many of these are large legit companies that don’t large VAT and will post for free from the UK so even if they do hit you with a few dollars gst it will still be way cheaper than nz retail.
        Also they will need a small army to open and check the volume of packages coming in many will yield just a few dollars of gst, not even close to covering the costs involved with closing them back up etc…

    • NickS 10.3
      11 July 2013 at 11:58 am

      Funny thing – the main reason why people buy stuff overseas and ship it here is not due to GST costs, it’s because even after you strip off GST and shipping, it’s usually cheaper to buy quite a few things online from overseas. Games, computer hardware, tramping equipment, books etc all are usually much, much cheaper overseas due to sellers meeting the local market, whereas NZ retailers oft run into issues with importers/suppliers charging a premium or they have a monopoly on a particular brand and thus can get away with higher prices.

      Though I’ve noticed with tramping gear that some of the importers/suppliers and retailers have much more saner costings while the presence of pricespy.co.nz has lead to huge reductions in computer hardware costs, that occasionally match overseas prices.

    • Pete 10.4
      11 July 2013 at 4:11 pm

      If National wanted to keep online purchases in check, they’d push for a lower NZ dollar, something the manufacturing enquiry recommended a little hole back.

      • Jackal 10.4.1
        11 July 2013 at 8:01 pm

        Good point Pete. I also thought National was in favour of free trade, which this tax would inhibit. Most bulk importers are already exempt from paying GST on imported goods and the price difference is simply because they’re ripping us off. There is also taxes payable on imported goods to the governments where these items are manufactured, so you would effectively be getting taxed twice.

        If National wants to increase their tax take they should help local manufacturers to compete through limiting free trade agreements, lowering the NZ dollar and promoting local businesses. They should also ensure that people have enough money to buy the New Zealand made products they require. Making the consumer pay for a completely failed globalization agenda, which should have raised wages in developing countries instead of lowering ours, is typical of the Natz. Bunch of bloody morons!

        Even if the policy could be implemented by making overseas owned companies charge GST at point of sale (not likely) or checking every package that enters New Zealand and wasting time trying to extort more money from already struggling Kiwis, the costs involved in such a logistical nightmare are prohibitive.

        There will be no benefit for consumers, which is probably why this proposal is going down like a cold cup of sick even on right wing blogs.

        • Draco T Bastard 10.4.1.1
          11 July 2013 at 11:32 pm

          Making the consumer pay for a completely failed globalization agenda, which should have raised wages in developing countries instead of lowering ours,

          When at Uni the economics professor put up a chart that showed that wages in developed countries would go down to meet the (supposedly increasing) developing countries. The problem is that there’s actually far too much labour in the world (and there always will be) so wages must always go down in a “free-market” situation. This is the direct result of increasing productivity which we’ve seen ever since we started agriculture.

  11. Rosetinted 11
    11 July 2013 at 10:16 am

    I see there is a Gay Ski Week on down south. How nice if another group that receives much disapprobation – the single parents group – could afford to have something similar that they could afford to go to, and take their children, and have some fun like the gays. Then everybody would be gay.

    • Lanthanide 11.1
      11 July 2013 at 10:26 am

      Not sure if you noticed all the “child” and “family” pricing deals offered by restaurants, pools, cinemas, zoos, water parks etc.

      Single parents and families don’t need a special week to recognize that they exist, because society already does that pervasively.

      • Rosetinted 11.1.1
        11 July 2013 at 6:30 pm

        All families are not equal Lanthanide. Have you started one?

        • McFlock 11.1.1.1
          11 July 2013 at 6:34 pm

          Do you know of any kids or families denied concession rates because they were sole-parent households?

    • RedBlooded 11.2
      11 July 2013 at 10:29 am

      Really, this bothers you somehow? A group of people are being marketed at because of a perceived disposable income. Newsflash for you pinktinted, not all “The Gays” will be in any better position to afford a ski week any more than you. Some will. Get over it.

    • Winston Smith 11.3
      11 July 2013 at 2:37 pm

      This is pretty odd…

  12. muzza 12
    11 July 2013 at 10:21 am

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1307/S00408/auckland-council-treasury-team-takes-out-top-global-awards.htm

    In 2010, Auckland Council became the largest non-bank borrower in domestic capital markets after the New Zealand Government. Award judges said the treasury team overcame many challenges to transform council into a world-class borrower using innovative solutions.

    World Class Borrower

    Innovative Solutions

    Oh, that’s ok then, nothing to see here!

    • Colonial Viper 12.1
      11 July 2013 at 10:24 am

      Just what Auckland needs. Financial engineering in the debt markets. Ridiculous.

      • muzza 12.1.1
        11 July 2013 at 10:33 am

        Yes, one the innovative solutions, is Interest Rates Swaps, for starters, another being that AKL has become the default underwriter, not only of its own debt, but that of other regions debt, also!

        World Class borrower, is one of the most ridiculous oxy-morons I’ve ever heard.

        No doubt, high five’s, back slapping and cigars all round, at the heist!

        Assuming the judges panel consisted of the debt holders, and or their representatives!!!

    • Draco T Bastard 12.2
      11 July 2013 at 12:20 pm

      Oh, that’s nice, the people in Auckland’s treasury got an award for helping rip off the people of Auckland.

      Assuming the judges panel consisted of the debt holders, and or their representatives!!!

      Well, it certainly didn’t consist of Aucklanders.

      • muzza 12.2.1
        11 July 2013 at 12:52 pm

        Oh, that’s nice, the people in Auckland’s treasury got an award for helping rip off the people of Auckland.

        Straight up, B. Its been a pretty much a clean sweep of available awards, by the treasury/financial management teams/individuals, fancy that!

        It needs to be seen like the rating agencies, and the lies they tell using AAA etc

        Obama’s nobel prize, also comes to mind!

        Use your illusion!

  13. Colonial Viper 13
    11 July 2013 at 10:42 am

    Foreign Jihadists bringing money, organisation and sharia law to Syria

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/10/syria-al-nusra-front-jihadi

  14. captain hook 14
    11 July 2013 at 1:08 pm

    Varoa mite.
    P.S.A.
    Super white butterfly in Malborough.
    Dont worry about that mate.
    The most important thing is shifting your arse in a car down a motorway and shaving 5 minutes off your time to work.

  15. Nicolas 15
    11 July 2013 at 4:31 pm

    http://www.transparency.org/gcb2013/country/?country=new_zealand

    Can’t believe not many people are talking about this:

    “According to the survey, 79% of New Zealanders believe the country to be run by ‘a few big entities acting in their own best interests’.”

    http://liberation.typepad.com/liberation/2013/07/corruption-in-new-zealand-survey-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fliberationbybryceedwards+%28liberation%29

  16. Molly 16
    11 July 2013 at 5:20 pm

    Didn’t make the Herald comments again, despite the article only having six comments at the time. I thought it was quite lightweight really, and was surprised it didn’t go up.

    Robyn Pearce’s article What my daughter learnt about Mandela’s leadership style was pretty innocuous and inoffensive (if you ignore the description of “sea of ebony-black faces”) and a somewhat self-congratulatory tribute to Mandela.

    My response picked up the following from the article”
    “One of the things Lenora and I had quickly noticed was the (to us) unnatural subservience accorded their leaders. It wasn’t hard to see how such societies are easy targets for corrupt leaders who seek power in order to suck the system dry.”

    The gist of my comment : the original of which now only exists on Prism
    Africa is not the only place where unquestioning subservience is given to their leaders.

    Here in NZ we have a PM that is often flippant, arrogant and inconsistent. It seems our general public and MSM do not have a problem with this, but many would expect our premier statesman to show dignity, integrity and have accountability.

    Corruption occurs when leaders and their processes lack integrity, transparency, accountability and consequences. This can occur in a democracy as well as in a tribal society. Corruption is a misuse of power, not a result of an alternative system of government

  17. marty mars 17
    11 July 2013 at 6:54 pm

    JMG is really pulling some good stuff together on his blog – required reading for anyone interested in reality and what the hell to do about it.

    Look around, dear reader, and you’ll see a civilization in decline, struggling ineffectually with the ecological overshoot, the social disintegration, the institutional paralysis, and the accelerating decay of infrastructure that are part and parcel of the normal process by which civilizations die. This is what the decline and fall of a civilization looks like in its early-to-middle stages—and it’s also what I’ve been talking about, very often in so many words, since not long after this blog got under way seven years ago. Back then, as I’ve already mentioned, it was reasonable to propose that something else might happen, that we’d get the fast crash or the green-energy breakthrough or all the new petroleum that the law of supply and demand was supposed to provide us, but none of those things happened. (Of course, neither did the mass landing of UFOs or any of the other more colorful fantasies, but then that was never really in question.) It’s time to recognize that the repetition of emotionally appealing but failed predictions is not a helpful response to the crisis of our time, and in fact has done a great deal to back us into the corner we’re now in.

    http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/asking-hard-questions.html

  18. vto 18
    11 July 2013 at 8:12 pm

    The Standard – blog publication originating from early West Coast paper publication also called The Standard, I understand…

    This day, today Thursday 11th July, the Greymouth Star an evening publication of similar heritage, opinion page, offers us ….

    West Coast Yesteryear column 1963 – complaints about the Council’s “Bailies black budget”, and congratulations for the nation’s highest producing pedgree Jersey herd from Harihari..

    Chris Trotter’s column – commanding a solid space to tell us that David Shearer isn’t a Labour leader’s arse..

    Fran O’Sullivan’s column – slamming the corporates and their people over Pike River..

    and the Faith column – “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.” – Mark 12:1″

    gotta love it

  19. karol 19
    11 July 2013 at 8:16 pm

    Crap. This is WINZ madness!

    Just saw the Campbell Live segment on WINZ making pensioners claim for overseas pensions, or they’ll get their pension cut. And the paper work to apply for an Aussie one is apparently horrendous.

    And the woman interviewed only spent a few years in Aussie, probably isn’t entitled to one, but still has to claim for it …. pages and pages of the form to work through.

    I’m a little confused also. I have a small amount in an Aussie super scheme which was compulsory to pay into, in the few short years I was there. But it seems there’s another Aussie state pension that anyone who spent time in Aussie, needs to apply for. And if they are elligible for it, they also need to open an Aussie bank accoutn.

    I’m thankful that I’ve already sorted out my UK state (and an occupational pension) schemes. WINZ and the IRD know all about them.

    But, now I need to fill in an NZ tax return each year, and that’s a horrendous exercise too. Thankfully I also have a trusted accountant acquaintance that does it for me. Apparently it’s not that easy for an accountant to work it out the first time they encounter it.

    How in the hell is your average pensioner, especially the less well off ones, meant to sort all this out, if they don’t have some sort of middle-class networks they can draw on?

    And quite a few Kiwis have spent some time in Aussie in their lifetimes, some of them on fairly average incomes.

    Geezzzz…the government needs to work out a better way to get WINZ to balance their books,

  20. home help 20
    11 July 2013 at 11:13 pm

    A new name for the national party is needed because the good that was in that partys is history

    Maybe the Mamby Pamby Party cos thats the way they all sound to an ordinary person

    The latest abuse of power Bennett gone to Malta to look up five Kiwis AND HAVE A BLOODY GOOD HOLIDAY ON OUR MONEY
    I hope the old mans ghost makes a mistake and bombs her cruiser when shes sight seeing around the Mediterranean

  21. McFlock 21
    11 July 2013 at 11:30 pm

    Envelopes with baking soda sent to Dunne, Brownlee and the French embassy.

    I suppose they might have been mailed yesterday, so the one to the French would have been sent on the anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior. Curious combination though – but who knows the logic of idiots…

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