I see POAL has finally admitted leaking Cecil Walkers’s private details to Whaleoil. Still trying to weasel out of responsibility though, blaming Walker for being uppity. I’m looking forward to the Privacy Commissioner putting them right about that.
The instant answer MS and social medias made Paid Parental Leave a big issue in a slow news week. They even explored and publicised the options that might stop it.
Did this hand National the NO option on a plate?
By the third reading, probably next year, the economic outlook may be looking much better. Starting to nervously eye the 2014 election and with less justification to be miserly National may have found it very difficult to stand in the way of the PPL.
But it’s been easy for Bill English to commit to a NO now.
Never was-been MP unravels, ironically, on the same social media he sneers at, using a current topic to demonstrate his ability to say something should have happened later on, but only if the situation changes, and that if it does, the result will not be what was intended.
Then a young chap who does not understand the English language, the influence of time or government in general, comments that it is hypocrisy to mention things you do not understand.
Interesting when Labour was in and brought in parental leave for 3 months.The mother and leader of the party at that time Helen Clark was asked why they didn’t do 6 months like other countries? She replied we looked at it but it was unaffordable.
So it was unaffordable then in better economic times than now . Why would it be affordable now?
Very hypocritical for the Labour party to even be supporting the bill.This is the issue I have with the Labour party there is no pragmatism,and realism.
It’s not affordable now. But with an improving economy and re-prioritising spending it could be affordable in the future?
Why not proceed with the bill and time the phasing in for when it can be afforded? Even if that means delaying it by a year or two, that doesn’t waste the time and effort of the bill going through the parliamentary process.
But making it a political football like this…
Sponsor Sue Moroney says the Government is being arrogant by making this premature announcement as the bill has not even had its first reading in the House.
The Family First lobby group says the Government is running scared of robust debate on the issue.
Why can’t Sue Moroney give some figures to her bill – she baulked and baulked on radio this morning.
Surely if you put a bill up you have costed it ????
Glad you asked, if only because it confirms your ignorance, Fortran.
Full costings are done during the process, not at the start. Usually, a bill gets amended, commented on in the house, submitted on in the committee, amended again, polished and finalised and the finished product is fully costed before it goes back for its final reading.
But, of course, that’s the process used in a democracy, not in Dipton’s dictartorship.
Probably what Labour meant was it unaffordable for them to go for more than 3 months at first on the basis of getting re-elected when it would be sure to strike hostility from the business sector and many of those who have no children, no desire to have children personally or have delayed having them.
Attitudes can of course change individually when a baby comes along and a woman with good earning rate and education wants to ensure that she can decide to follow her natural course in life but not drop out of her level in the modern employment market in its present construction.
This whole debate amazes me at the lack of fundamental questions being asked. The obvious one is can we afford it? That is fraught with political edges so I am not even going to go there.
Some questions I think relevant:
* why cant a family live on one income?
* why are careers considered more important than childrens upbringing?
* why are there not more men at home doing the child raising?
Looking at history and the low respect for wives who were just dependents of their husbands and even in the 1960s not able to open a shop account in their own name without a guarantee from a man, it is important that women can stay in the workforce, and be seen to be people to be reckoned with not despised or patronised.
What womens lib wasn’t able to achieve was an acceptance that everybody owes their being to the action of their mother carrying and giving birth and watching over them till self-reliance was learned. A decent intelligent society would make allowance for that. Parenthood is still just an annoying hobby to many employers, some of them women who have adopted the dominant male attitudes.
Good valid points. I think the bit I find worst about dependence is the need for two incomes to pay for the necessities. No easy answers there either, just a trend for wages to diminish relative to costs, and for a household to have to work longer to survive.
Bored I agree. Two wages were the key to advancing quickly and so getting a house and some things of one’s own. You both got down to work and got established and felt there was a point to the sacrifices required of time and tight schedules.
Then it all went to custard and now two wages are needed for the basics as you say. Nobody really felt the sharp end of the oncome of this though, as there was so much credit available and the economy seemed to be swinging nicely so it was all right to borrow future wages for things for now. Sorry Joe public this was an illusion but it wasn’t one of the well-known ones so passed unnoticed (no rabbits, no lady sawed in half.)
Some questions I think relevant:
* why can’t a family live on one income?
* why are careers considered more important than childrens’ upbringing?
* why are there not more men at home doing the child raising?
Agreed!
I stayed home with my sons, as my mother did with us. (She would have anyway, I chose to, and needed to.)
I feel very sorry for women who have to rush from the delivery suite home, and then back to work, dumping the child in a childcare warehouse on the way. (Or – who feel they have to!)
Sorry posted this in the wrong area interesting story developing here bigger than Nick Smith and a letter will it get the same coverage.
Can anyone tell me what the Meatworkers union has been doing with all the funds it has been receiving as it certainly hasnt been fully declaring them. Surely they havent been ripping off the workers ?
CEO Hamish Simson says the union has not declared its total income, and has failed to disclose what it does with its members’ contributions.
“It appears from the union’s published financial statements that only a fraction of its total income has been declared,” says Mr Simson.
“Affco workers contribute over $500,000 to the union each year, paying $5.95 each per week. Affco workers represent less than 10 percent of the 23,000 members the Union says it has and yet it only declares revenue of just over $700,000 per annum”.
More support from overseas Union affiliations for our workers facing incredibly hostile employers http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/1586
It’s been interesting as well as welcoming to see how supportive overseas Union allies have been towards the viscious assualts from both POAL and Talleys/AFFCO towards their workforce.
James,
Yesterday I posted this link http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6723730/SFO-complaint-over-union-accounts
on open mike. Is this what you are referring to?
If so, you’ll see there are two sides to that story. I would be more concerned about the hostile actions of Talleys referring the MWU to the SFO. I think you’ll find that that their reasons for doing so are baseless. Given that Unions often struggle financially I would assume and that the MWU isn’t likely to be smuggling gazillions away and that this is simply a desparate bid from a bad employer to destroy their enemy, which is how they seem to view their Union partner
Doing this the day before the commencement of mediation is particularly aggressive and stupid. It is as if Talley’s don’t want to sort things out peacefully with the Union …
I agree with with you Mickey. It does seem that Talleys have no commitment to or or intention to peacefully settle withe their Unionised employees.
We can’t forget that this is a business who made large donations to the National Party election campaign in 2005 – to the “Bosses Party”. Perhaps they now find themselves in a climate where they won’t be held to account for their oppressive actions. So now is their time to really rachet up the anti Union campaign
Quite rightly so to Jim Helen Clark said it was unaffordable to give six months at the time Labour brought in 3 months. I have to agree with her ,and economic conditions have only got worse.
Its parliament who pass the laws in this country, not the government of the day – if a majority of parliament vote in favour of something then by rights it shouldnt be shut down ahead of time by a veto from government.
heres a tiny experiment for you – what would be your reaction if it was labour in government doing this to a bill put forward by national that.. hmm… sought to cut business taxes?
You forgot the rest of the story Jimmy111 – PPL was gradually extended, from 12 weeks in 2002 for parents who had worked for the same employer for a year to 14 weeks in 2005 and including parents with 6 months service and self-employed mothers. It was expected to increase again if Labour won the 2008 election. The issue was not whether 6 months was unaffordable, but whether it was affordable all at once.
The bill was sponsored by Laila Harre – an Alliance Party minister and picked up as Labour Party core policy.
We can be assured that this government will make them work (but at what cost?)
Will the management of a school be able to turn “potential undesirable” children/families away? Will they be able to manipulate their rolls? What will happen to “stood down” pupils?
When the PM said he wanted all children to be above average, did he mean just the children of charter schools measured against the rest of the education system?
so you’ve had a bad day, you need to unwind, so you do what you love, you go cycling over the ranges. You do that a lot, you’re quite good at it. Its rare for anyone to turn up behind you, or you’ve never been on that track, or that track is unfamiliar since most times anyone has passed you there has been room. Anyway, this guy comes up behind you, wants to get past, and its one of those days you just need to be left alone. But they are not going to. Why not? Why can’t he just stop on a rise, take a breath for a few minutes and you will be far off someplace. Its the generous thing to do since you’ve never encountered this problem before, someone wanting to get past you on a tight track, maybe after a coffee, a shower, a good nights sleep you’d realise (or more likely rsubconcious would), how to move over and be generous to the nuisence behind you wanting to get past. And what’s his problem anyway, cars in back lanes sometimes have to slow down until there is a passing zone, you don’t actually see cars come to a halt to let cars pass them. Any experience rider would ‘get’ that their egos might get the better of them and actively find weakness in other riders a way to boast their egos even more. And then there’s the personal mp3 player, this get out of the way isn’t going to happen card, how would anyone behind even get noticed by someone wanting to get past. So I ask what mistakes did he make when he got up that day? was it going out cycling? no, was it giving any conscious thought to the guy behind him? Hell yes. If he’d just ignored the guy behind he’d never have gotten into the altercation and so never have the police looking for him. So why did he stop and start having a conversation? Why when he had ???been forced to stop??? did he not then let the guy pass silent, smirkin and a figure in the air, was he having a mental fart, a moment of insanity trying to argue with a moron on adrendlin. Was it the insanity every middle aged guy hits, with the notion that there were now young fitter cyclists who wanted to pass him and could easily beat them in a race, faced with his own aging and weakness. You can quite understand why a younger adrenalin junky, who premedatatively took a camera with him, to allegedly haze some older rider for the laugh, and make the effort of carrying it on his head worthwhile would be so pleased with the exposer but its not a good outcome for cycling since it teaches only that sometimes you will meet up with an old fart on the track and how easy it is to start a altecation with them, a handbook in how to make cycling fun in all the wrong ways. So the lesson is when you next meet up with the old fart slowing you down, just hope they arent wearing any mp3 player, and tell them that you will stop for a few minutes to let them get ahead so you dont bump into them quite as much. They might just feel twisted inside, see themselves as a bully hogging the track and let you pass, but what you don’t do is haze the guy for he might be carrying a knife and have just been let out of the psychoward.
In other mean spiritedness, the V8 Hamilton races have stopped a car driver accessing their own private driveway one too many times and now look set to suffer either a court action that will stop the race, or worse, the racing industry will look like an petrol head excuse who tramps all over the average car owners (who don’t worship cars). Go figure. But hey, adrendlin motor heads and cyclists are drug uses too. The responsible reasonable approach is to back off and let them pass, or stop putting yourself in their face without any concern for later consequences. i.e both parties have an obligation to back off, but the druggies have to be aware that its can be an offense to disturb the peace – being high on adrendlin is no excuse. They don’t have a right to impose themselves on others and expect the outcome they want. So don’t give it to them.
Its obvious to me that the offending mountain of a biker votes ACT. No other bugger would demand everything their way at the expense of everybody else.
In other mean spiritedness, the V8 Hamilton races have stopped a car driver accessing their own private driveway one too many times and now look set to suffer either a court action that will stop the race, or worse,
Let’s hope so! My sympathies are with the driver and his family…
The Auckland Blues have lost five out of their first six games, so of course there’s only one possible reason: too many darkies, both playing and coaching.
Well, that’s what “they” have been saying on the internet and on Radio Sport and NewstalkZB. And some of the people who ring in are almost as racist as the hosts.
Yet, in spite of the recent denunciations of the “gutless cowardly boofheads who hide behind the anonymity of the internet” there is little evidence that anyone, even the victims, are prepared or willing to confront the main culprits. Instead, the victims themselves have chosen to pretend that the racism infesting the airwaves is due to some vague ethereal “anonymous” presence…
Yesterday an emotionally distraught Pat Lam publicly fingered what he said was the source of these comments: “It’s the faceless people,” he blubbed. On radio this morning, Blues CEO Andy Dalton repeated that message: we don’t know who they are, these “faceless people”.
Yesterday on NewstalkZB, Larry Williams, without missing a beat, told Mark Watson that that “we get this garbage too”, and that it “goes straight into the rubbish bin.”
Listen to Susan Wood this morning on NewstalkZB: “The cowardly boofheads …anonymity of the internet….gutless…”
ENOUGH ALREADY! What Wood and Williams and (most of all) Pat Lam know perfectly well is that the source of the most vitriolic anti-Polynesian, anti-Maori comments is right under their noses. NewstalkZB/Radio Sport hosts Murray Deaker, Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith are notorious for their racially charged comments, and their demeaning of Maori and Polynesians.
The people responsible for these ugly racist comments are not “faceless”, they are the colleagues of Wood and Williams. It’s an indictment of Lam and Dalton that they lack the courage to state this plainly.
Unfortunately not. The HRC, Privacy Commissioner and BSA have decided to not even acknowledge complaints from me anymore, which is unbelievably undemocratic! The Ombudsman is also delaying indefinitely many of my complaints well past the allowable timeframe, which is all designed to dissuade me from making them.
Our Forensic Psychologist viewed that Pat Lam interview and laughingly pointed out the way Pat managed to stop being emotional at least twice in the news footage to look up straight faced at the interviewer in what our Psychologist called a look of ”am I believable”,
Pat using ”emotion” to head those calling for His head off at the pass so to speak…
Its bloody ugly, you note there are never complaints when the team is going well, they could not have enough darkies then!
Couple of things to note:
* In my experience I have never heard Deaker making “racist” noises, I have heard him being brave enough to address the real problems of age size differences in school rugby that touch upon ethnicity that can bring charges of racism. He may be many things but he is definitely not a racist.
* Auckland rugby is suffering badly and the Blues are symptomatic of this. A few years back the Auckland provincial and Super teams had token Palangis and Maoris, the team was very Samoan. The fear was that “smaller” players (read pakeha) were being forced out of the game and that the top level would suffer from a reduced player base. I was involved with kids rugby on the North Shore when the local unions went to great lengths to ensure that the player drain of non Polynesians was staunched, and that weight / age grades etc were promoted. When you look at the Blues and Auckland now you can see the results, the team naturally has a large Polynesian content, Auckland after all is the largest Polynesian city.The teams ethnicity is now far more mixed. It looks a bit like the local population you would see walking down the road.
Time for all Aucklanders to get behind their team, cut the crap and support Lam.
Ah come on Morrissey, I did not call you out on Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith because I never listen to them ( and maybe because its on the record that they are as you describe)!
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers. Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay? He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast, I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
I stand corrected…Deaks has used the term “nigger” it appears from your article and I don’t see it as acceptable in any context. I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.
Some confusion by our good friend Bored, when he writes: “I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.”
So… he uses a racist word, repeatedly and calculatedly, but he is not a racist.
Willy Lose’s bizarre and illogical claim can partly be explained by the fact he was speaking as a colleague and was afraid of provoking the notoriously belligerent Deaker. What is your motivation for writing such nonsense?
Motivation? I happen to like the work he does on rugby and I happen to believe he is not a racist. That’s my opinion, on that we obviously differ. I tend to give people a chance before I condemn, your evidence does rather lead me to reconsider. Whats is your motivation?
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers.
“Prepared to ask the hard questions?” Deaker? You’re dreaming, my friend. Obviously you were asleep when he was toadying after John O’Neill and Vernon Pugh in 2002. Deaker accepted every single word they said as they hijacked New Zealand’s games for the 2003 World Cup. What hard questions are you talking about? His advocacy of the Blackheart campaign in 2003? What “hard questions” did he ask then? When he is not acting as a sycophant and asking patsy questions, bellowing his disdain for Maori and Polynesian footballers, he’s opining for hour after hour about how “dark skinned people lack the necessary concentration to play cricket”.
Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay?
Are you serious? Are you trying to suggest that Deaker’s racist ranting has been confined to just a few episodes that you happen to have missed?
He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast,
That’s a very charitable assessment of the talent-free zone known as the Mad Butcher.
I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
Lucky for the Martians then. Just a pity he’s such a crude bigot towards Maori and Polynesian people.
Jeez Morrissey, just read your deconstruct and fell about laughing (genuinely, it is amusing), especially about the Mad Butcher. Just to put you straight here the Butcher may be talent free as far as you are concerned BUT he has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness. Now that’s talent.
Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results” (hard questions perhaps).
All up I have admitted I got it wrong, you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist.
I can see you are a very kind and decent person, Bored. But there are a couple of points I still disagree with…
1.) “[The Mad Butcher] has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness.”
He certainly has a talent for publicising how much money he gives away.
2.) Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results”
He’s had to shut up about that now, although you have to wonder how obnoxious he would be towards Henry and the All Blacks if there had been an unbiased referee in the World Cup final last year.
3.) you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist
National Radio, 9:50 a.m., Thursday 12 April 2012
Foreign Correspondent slot is increasingly a forum for lunatics
Who chooses the guests for this 9:50 slot? Many of them (Jack Hitt and Ray Moynihan, for instance) are excellent, but listeners have also had to suffer through such substandard and toxically biased commentators as Irris Makler, Jason Morrison, and Kate Adie.
Kathryn Ryan’s guest this morning is…uh, oh…. the notoriously unbalanced (in every sense) Dame Ann Leslie.
Dame Ann rants dyspeptically about the five Islamic men about to be sent to the United States on terrorism charges—she calls one of them, Abu Hamza, “Captain Hook”. Ryan giggles at that, and giggles continuously throughout Dame Ann’s unhinged ranting against the International Criminal Court, but never challenges her or asks her to explain herself. Then she moves it onto another topic…
RYAN: The teachers’ unions have been in the news, Dame Ann–
DAME ANN LESLIE: Arrrrgggh.
RYAN: He he he he!
DAME ANN: Every year we have to listen to the militant rabble rousingof the teacher unions!
RYAN: What are their concerns?
DAME ANN LESLIE: They never agree to any method of reforming our LOUSY education system. They need a full SIX WEEKS in the summer,… The unions have opposed EVERY EFFORT to improve the education system. All attempts to improve these schools are stifled. We are absolutely FED UP with them.
The spluttering and snarling continues for several more minutes, punctuated occasionally by Kathryn Ryan’s giggles.
National are ideologically blinded by neoliberalism. Under a John Key government, New Zealand has had to borrow billions to cover tax cuts for the wealthy. Additional consultancy fees directly attributed to cuts in public sector employment will also ensure our indebtedness for the foreseeable future…
I’m a contractor and wouldn’t even get out of bed for $2300/day, but I have to pay insane amounts of tax to fund all the dpb bludgers and dole payments of unionists who refuse to work, so can’t afford to get out of bed for such a pittance.
But I guess that is why you all pay >$2 litre for petrol – to keep me in the lifestyle that I’m accustomed to.
What a stirrer you want to be mister m. Stick to stirring the brown stuff that’s tea and leave the smelly stuff alone, it rubs off, smells foul and then your fine self will find high pay is no compensation.
M my man, just keep paying the ridiculous amounts of tax, enjoy the lifestyle and reflect upon your higher status as a generous person (even if you don’t want to be). And should you feel you pay too much tax, just pay it. Fear the IRD above all others.
It will disappoint you soon enough, being a proud capitalist, and a somewhat ignorant capitalist. That you think this is a world where opposites do not exist, that there is no opposing force to your pride, is a sad gap in your education. It’s even more depressing than your grasp of English. You see, no capitalist who understands capitalism, past its immediate appeal to self-interest and avarice, would say they love being a capitalist. It is like a tragic character, unaware he is a player, announcing to the audience he loves the idea he is about to never be the same, eager to leave behind his hubris and egotistical utterances in exchange for, usually, death, but in our context, risking something much worse – a living death.
It would be equally disappointing to find a communist – the modern capitalist’s arch rival – who is proud to be a communist. Capitalism sows the seeds of its own demise with its demand for increased production of things it cannot sell and in meeting the opposing force of communism, both perspectives are irrevocably changed. Once the two forces face off and struggle to the point of exhaustion, society is either reduced to the instinctual barbarism of human necessity as a result or we all move forward together in a new way; without our present isms and divisions. There is little to be proud of, once you realise the risks, unless you are mentally deranged – whichever side you stand on.
In the words of the Bard “M” sounds like ” a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”…..
Forget the money – you can’t take it with you. Get out of bed at dawn, don’t turn the light on, eat fruit and grains, drink a cup,of tea (without milk), walk somewhere and smile and say hello to the other walkers. Leave your cell phone at home.
“Along with everything else, the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath created new openings and potentials for working people in the struggle against neoliberalism. A number of struggles initially opened up, including factory occupations, efforts to defend pensions and the rights of younger workers. There were important political struggles, as well, as in Wisconsin, along with newer projects to link labour and communities, in the Occupy movement.”
All neo-liberalism means is there way, you have no say. But the fact is you have a lot of say, your consent is required for a civil society to provide the efficiencies to carry all those ‘extra’ rich (and they know it and will do everything to distort, distract and misdirect).
Just heard about the death of Jack Tramiel another great computer innovator like Steve Jobs. He introduced the Commodore Pet the first accessable home computer. I knew of the computer but not the innovator – this guy was a great clever doer and survivor. Jack Tramiel has died aged 84 years in the Usa Obit from the Washington Post.
Started with a Vic 20 then went C64, C128 and Amiga. Picked up a Plus/4 along the way.
Dabbled in machine code and learned to program in basic – which still comes in handy with Excel in particular.
It was those retired people in the C64 clubs who were impressive. They could do things with machine code on their 64’s I could only dream about.
I remember one group in Wanganui had worked out how to get their names to appear on the screen instead of Commodore when you turned it on.
I think they used a modded chip and machine code combination.
Boulderdash, Impossible Mission, Bubble Bobble, Armalyte, Pool Of Radiance, Wizball, IK+, Buggy Boy, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, all the Magnetic Scrolls games, Zamzara, BC’s Quest for Tires, speech synthesis, GEOS – ahh the list is endless.
Can’t forget of course those tape loading screens:
I/S on No Right Turn in “If all you have is a hammer…” makes a couple of noteworthy observations.
The first is the fact that Nationals policy announcements consists of just a load of waffle with no actual detail whatsoever – It is quite an effective strategy, albeit a darkly cynical one given the importance of the issues paid only lip service to. For those wanting to critique the ‘plans’ or even to understand them there is nothing to grasp onto. An educated or informed response is impossible when slogans are all that we have been given.
But where is the critique in the media of the lack of detail? Nationals policy announcements are about as convincing as a new years resolution and their Ministers should be laughed out of their press conferences for daring to turn up and make proclamations that are a deliberate study in vagueness.
Secondly I/S highlights the growing use of ‘the children’ as an excuse for implementing unpopular policies or reform. Once again it is only the most darkly cynical who would deliberately use peoples concern for their children to promote a course of action – when a hostage taker holds a gun to the head of someone’s child and demands obedience the violence of the act is rightly condemned by law and society – yet the governments modus operandi is now little different.
It is time that the government stopped implying that children will suffer if we don’t accept their austerity and their radical hard right agenda or that children will benefit if we do.
Austerity harms economies and harms society. The Nats don’t care about kids any more than the hostage taker does.
Great Minds Thinking Hard about the Big Questions
NewstalkZB, Thursday 12 April 2012, 1:28 p.m.
As always at NewstalkZB, it’s an atmosphere of moral panic and befuddlement as confused callers try to come to grips with the question of the day. Today’s big topic is “teenagers committing burglaries—who’s to blame?”. As usual, there’s an easy answer for it—it’s all because parents are no longer allowed to punch, kick and whip their children. A caller called Shannon rings up host Danny Watson to share her wisdom….
SHANNON: The government took away our rights as parents when they brought in the anti-smacking law. And, yes, I KNOW there’s abuse and there’s children that get killed rah rah rah but seriously Danny—
DANNY WATSON: It’s still going on by the way. The killing.
What a surprise, farmers whinging about being held accountable for their destructive actions.
The interim dairy rule is a council initiative to improve water quality in Southland based on recommendations from the Office of the Auditor-general’s report on water policy and the council’s own State of the Environment report.
“Council can make the rules, you can police the rules, but without the people in the back of this room there will be no effect on the environment,” he said.
They’re basically complaining that they won’t be able to pollute unhindered.
I also find it amusing that they’re calling it an attack on democracy when it was the actions of farmers that resulted in the sacking of ECan and the implementation of a dictatorship in its place because they didn’t like the democratic result – rules that enforced environmental protection.
Southland Farmers are also complaining about an increase in rates that attempts to recoup the costs incurred by the industry. Dairy farmers claim they don’t want subsidies and yet that is what is occurring when the external costs of the industry continue to be covered by general ratepayers and taxpayers.
“Once an offender has been conclusively identified as a person who will never be safe around the vulnerable – particularly children – their “rights” very much take second place to the rights of children to play, or even to sleep, without a Lloyd McIntosh waiting for his chance to grab them and commit unspeakable crimes.”
David Garratt, a criminal convicted of an unspeakable crime against a child, in a guest post on Kiwiblog.
Yesterday I heard National Radio quoting Garrett’s most shameless defender, Garth McVicar, about a law and order question.
Following the brutal 2008 knife-killing of a boy in South Auckland, McVicar loudly defended the killer, and for day after day expressed scorn and contempt for the victim and his family. Yet he is still referred to by National Radio and other media outlets as a “victims’ advocate”.
Garrett and McVicar must be two of the most loathsome and hypocritical creatures in the country, yet they are still accorded respect.
Or possibly it is because the National Radio producers are indolent, and go to McVicar because he always has something incendiary to say, even if it makes little sense.
… and let the poor guy know that the SSTs favorite sheriff’s legal team have been stripped of their law licenses. It looks like Joe has more to worried about that Obama. TBH.
Great to see the pressure coming on Gillard in Aussie now in Australia she is admitting that Australia must focus on productivity thats enough to have the Union leaders over there having seizures they arent use to improving productivity.
Just as we need to improve productivty here at POAL, and the Affco plants
No Morrisey its all true you can watch it on sky channel 90. The other interesting thing is now that Labour has virtually been thrown out of Queensland and can only form a party because the liberals are being nice to them ie they dont have enough seats.
The Liberals have just announced they are taking $7000 stamp duty of buying a home. Halfing the Labour premieres fare increases on public transport. I bet the people of queensland are so happy to have pragmatism rather ideology rulingthem again.
What is “productivity” to you James ?
I suspect it is a measure of how much product comes out of the works and how much cargo unloaded and despatched per worker.
So you have more workers producing the same amount for a lesser wage per worker or fewer workers producing the same amount for a higher wage per worker, or you have some workers producing more than others but the average produced is the same and you pay the more productive workers more to allow for the “loafers”, or you only employ higher producing workers and contract them to maintain their higher production or lose the contract.
How do you decide which is best ?
4) And to bring back the right for the lord of the land to deflower any virgin serf of his choosing on her 16th birthday. Well any of the ones who are left by then.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said his party had not discussed the bill, which was drawn out of the private members ballot last week, and neither National nor the bill’s sponsor had discussed it with him.
“What is happening is government through media columns. It actually does not work in practice.”
For God sake why do We do it, watch that bloke Campbell make a mockery of journalism on our TV that is,
To-nights revelation that earnings of 80 grand a year are somehow putting people in the line of poverty makes us lot wonder if wee John doesn’t fall about the studio in mad fits of laughter once the lights have gone down on the nights offerings,
If 80 grand a year is sliding dangerously close to the poverty line,(according to John and the family featured),then what the fuck do these people make of the pittance those forced to survive on the minimum wage and benefits get every week…
The irony is that the people writing in saying “yeah were pulling $120,000 and we’re only just keeping our heads above water” are, I reckon, the same kinds of people that complain that solo parents with kids surviving on a fraction of that are living a luxurious lifestyle at their personal expense.
I did have some sympathy for the family featured though (interestingly viewers weren’t invited to go through their accounts with a fine toothed comb to criticise their expenditure as happens in stories about beneficiaries). I’m sure they do work very hard. The cost of living is ridiculously high, and ordinary people who expect a middle-class lifestyle are working longer and longer hours to stay still, a far cry from what that aspirational bullshit tells them is their due. Most of the middle-class is moving down economically. Unfortunately the anger is generally directed at those who have it much harder and not those with the power to make a difference. And it’s a pity the cost of living isn’t something that can be acknowledged when those who are really hard-up speak out.
I had UMR ring me up tonight and survey on a bunch of political questions relating to Sky City pokies and the Paid Parental Leave veto and that bootfaced cow Judith Collins as well as the usual. I can’t remember whether UMR has a publically released poll like Roy Morgan, does anyone know? Or was I just being surveyed by the Nats? I’m curious, as they’ve rung me before.
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
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I see POAL has finally admitted leaking Cecil Walkers’s private details to Whaleoil. Still trying to weasel out of responsibility though, blaming Walker for being uppity. I’m looking forward to the Privacy Commissioner putting them right about that.
I hope they get put right in a severe way!
Have pro PPL people helped condemn it?
The instant answer MS and social medias made Paid Parental Leave a big issue in a slow news week. They even explored and publicised the options that might stop it.
Did this hand National the NO option on a plate?
By the third reading, probably next year, the economic outlook may be looking much better. Starting to nervously eye the 2014 election and with less justification to be miserly National may have found it very difficult to stand in the way of the PPL.
But it’s been easy for Bill English to commit to a NO now.
http://yournz.org/2012/04/12/have-pro-ppl-people-helped-condemn-it/
Irony unleashed on The Standard:
Never was-been MP unravels, ironically, on the same social media he sneers at, using a current topic to demonstrate his ability to say something should have happened later on, but only if the situation changes, and that if it does, the result will not be what was intended.
http://yournz.org/2012/04/12/have-pro-ppl-people-helped-condemn-it/
Then a young chap who does not understand the English language, the influence of time or government in general, comments that it is hypocrisy to mention things you do not understand.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12042012/comment-page-1/#comment-458168
Interesting when Labour was in and brought in parental leave for 3 months.The mother and leader of the party at that time Helen Clark was asked why they didn’t do 6 months like other countries? She replied we looked at it but it was unaffordable.
So it was unaffordable then in better economic times than now . Why would it be affordable now?
Very hypocritical for the Labour party to even be supporting the bill.This is the issue I have with the Labour party there is no pragmatism,and realism.
It’s not affordable now. But with an improving economy and re-prioritising spending it could be affordable in the future?
Why not proceed with the bill and time the phasing in for when it can be afforded? Even if that means delaying it by a year or two, that doesn’t waste the time and effort of the bill going through the parliamentary process.
But making it a political football like this…
…makes it easy for National to just keep saying no.
The bill’s best chance of success is to look for ways of making it possible, and minimising National’s chances of saying no.
It’s affordable – if we stop giving too much to those who don’t deserve it. What we can’t afford is the rich.
Why can’t Sue Moroney give some figures to her bill – she baulked and baulked on radio this morning.
Surely if you put a bill up you have costed it ????
Glad you asked, if only because it confirms your ignorance, Fortran.
Full costings are done during the process, not at the start. Usually, a bill gets amended, commented on in the house, submitted on in the committee, amended again, polished and finalised and the finished product is fully costed before it goes back for its final reading.
But, of course, that’s the process used in a democracy, not in Dipton’s dictartorship.
Probably what Labour meant was it unaffordable for them to go for more than 3 months at first on the basis of getting re-elected when it would be sure to strike hostility from the business sector and many of those who have no children, no desire to have children personally or have delayed having them.
Attitudes can of course change individually when a baby comes along and a woman with good earning rate and education wants to ensure that she can decide to follow her natural course in life but not drop out of her level in the modern employment market in its present construction.
This whole debate amazes me at the lack of fundamental questions being asked. The obvious one is can we afford it? That is fraught with political edges so I am not even going to go there.
Some questions I think relevant:
* why cant a family live on one income?
* why are careers considered more important than childrens upbringing?
* why are there not more men at home doing the child raising?
Looking at history and the low respect for wives who were just dependents of their husbands and even in the 1960s not able to open a shop account in their own name without a guarantee from a man, it is important that women can stay in the workforce, and be seen to be people to be reckoned with not despised or patronised.
What womens lib wasn’t able to achieve was an acceptance that everybody owes their being to the action of their mother carrying and giving birth and watching over them till self-reliance was learned. A decent intelligent society would make allowance for that. Parenthood is still just an annoying hobby to many employers, some of them women who have adopted the dominant male attitudes.
Good valid points. I think the bit I find worst about dependence is the need for two incomes to pay for the necessities. No easy answers there either, just a trend for wages to diminish relative to costs, and for a household to have to work longer to survive.
Bored I agree. Two wages were the key to advancing quickly and so getting a house and some things of one’s own. You both got down to work and got established and felt there was a point to the sacrifices required of time and tight schedules.
Then it all went to custard and now two wages are needed for the basics as you say. Nobody really felt the sharp end of the oncome of this though, as there was so much credit available and the economy seemed to be swinging nicely so it was all right to borrow future wages for things for now. Sorry Joe public this was an illusion but it wasn’t one of the well-known ones so passed unnoticed (no rabbits, no lady sawed in half.)
Agreed!
I stayed home with my sons, as my mother did with us. (She would have anyway, I chose to, and needed to.)
I feel very sorry for women who have to rush from the delivery suite home, and then back to work, dumping the child in a childcare warehouse on the way. (Or – who feel they have to!)
Extending PPL is affordable — if the tax cuts for the rich were reversed by lunchtime.
You would be able to afford heaps of other things as well. Things that shouldnt be expected to make a ‘profit’.
Sorry posted this in the wrong area interesting story developing here bigger than Nick Smith and a letter will it get the same coverage.
Can anyone tell me what the Meatworkers union has been doing with all the funds it has been receiving as it certainly hasnt been fully declaring them. Surely they havent been ripping off the workers ?
CEO Hamish Simson says the union has not declared its total income, and has failed to disclose what it does with its members’ contributions.
“It appears from the union’s published financial statements that only a fraction of its total income has been declared,” says Mr Simson.
“Affco workers contribute over $500,000 to the union each year, paying $5.95 each per week. Affco workers represent less than 10 percent of the 23,000 members the Union says it has and yet it only declares revenue of just over $700,000 per annum”.
Do try and keep up, Jim Jim. The funds aren’t missing and the Affco boss has made a total tit of himself.
More support from overseas Union affiliations for our workers facing incredibly hostile employers
http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/1586
It’s been interesting as well as welcoming to see how supportive overseas Union allies have been towards the viscious assualts from both POAL and Talleys/AFFCO towards their workforce.
why havent the Meat workers union declared all of the funds they receive Rosie where is it going?
James,
Yesterday I posted this link
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6723730/SFO-complaint-over-union-accounts
on open mike. Is this what you are referring to?
If so, you’ll see there are two sides to that story. I would be more concerned about the hostile actions of Talleys referring the MWU to the SFO. I think you’ll find that that their reasons for doing so are baseless. Given that Unions often struggle financially I would assume and that the MWU isn’t likely to be smuggling gazillions away and that this is simply a desparate bid from a bad employer to destroy their enemy, which is how they seem to view their Union partner
Aye Rosie.
Doing this the day before the commencement of mediation is particularly aggressive and stupid. It is as if Talley’s don’t want to sort things out peacefully with the Union …
I agree with with you Mickey. It does seem that Talleys have no commitment to or or intention to peacefully settle withe their Unionised employees.
We can’t forget that this is a business who made large donations to the National Party election campaign in 2005 – to the “Bosses Party”. Perhaps they now find themselves in a climate where they won’t be held to account for their oppressive actions. So now is their time to really rachet up the anti Union campaign
The Tallys blunder by believing something Cameron Slater said was credible.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10798107
Listening to RadioNZ now and Double Dipton is essentially saying fuck Parliament.
Quite rightly so to Jim Helen Clark said it was unaffordable to give six months at the time Labour brought in 3 months. I have to agree with her ,and economic conditions have only got worse.
thats got zero to do with it james.
Its parliament who pass the laws in this country, not the government of the day – if a majority of parliament vote in favour of something then by rights it shouldnt be shut down ahead of time by a veto from government.
heres a tiny experiment for you – what would be your reaction if it was labour in government doing this to a bill put forward by national that.. hmm… sought to cut business taxes?
I’m inclined to think any bill ought to be vetoable if it necessitates expenditure that hasn’t been budgeted for.
You forgot the rest of the story Jimmy111 – PPL was gradually extended, from 12 weeks in 2002 for parents who had worked for the same employer for a year to 14 weeks in 2005 and including parents with 6 months service and self-employed mothers. It was expected to increase again if Labour won the 2008 election. The issue was not whether 6 months was unaffordable, but whether it was affordable all at once.
The bill was sponsored by Laila Harre – an Alliance Party minister and picked up as Labour Party core policy.
Harre, who is now working hard for the Greens.
Charter Schools
We can be assured that this government will make them work (but at what cost?)
Will the management of a school be able to turn “potential undesirable” children/families away? Will they be able to manipulate their rolls? What will happen to “stood down” pupils?
When the PM said he wanted all children to be above average, did he mean just the children of charter schools measured against the rest of the education system?
Gossiping yesterday I was told that Shonkey’s bach in Hawaii cost $40 million (NZ I would think). Should I ask Whaleoil – he would know all about it?
so you’ve had a bad day, you need to unwind, so you do what you love, you go cycling over the ranges. You do that a lot, you’re quite good at it. Its rare for anyone to turn up behind you, or you’ve never been on that track, or that track is unfamiliar since most times anyone has passed you there has been room. Anyway, this guy comes up behind you, wants to get past, and its one of those days you just need to be left alone. But they are not going to. Why not? Why can’t he just stop on a rise, take a breath for a few minutes and you will be far off someplace. Its the generous thing to do since you’ve never encountered this problem before, someone wanting to get past you on a tight track, maybe after a coffee, a shower, a good nights sleep you’d realise (or more likely rsubconcious would), how to move over and be generous to the nuisence behind you wanting to get past. And what’s his problem anyway, cars in back lanes sometimes have to slow down until there is a passing zone, you don’t actually see cars come to a halt to let cars pass them. Any experience rider would ‘get’ that their egos might get the better of them and actively find weakness in other riders a way to boast their egos even more. And then there’s the personal mp3 player, this get out of the way isn’t going to happen card, how would anyone behind even get noticed by someone wanting to get past. So I ask what mistakes did he make when he got up that day? was it going out cycling? no, was it giving any conscious thought to the guy behind him? Hell yes. If he’d just ignored the guy behind he’d never have gotten into the altercation and so never have the police looking for him. So why did he stop and start having a conversation? Why when he had ???been forced to stop??? did he not then let the guy pass silent, smirkin and a figure in the air, was he having a mental fart, a moment of insanity trying to argue with a moron on adrendlin. Was it the insanity every middle aged guy hits, with the notion that there were now young fitter cyclists who wanted to pass him and could easily beat them in a race, faced with his own aging and weakness. You can quite understand why a younger adrenalin junky, who premedatatively took a camera with him, to allegedly haze some older rider for the laugh, and make the effort of carrying it on his head worthwhile would be so pleased with the exposer but its not a good outcome for cycling since it teaches only that sometimes you will meet up with an old fart on the track and how easy it is to start a altecation with them, a handbook in how to make cycling fun in all the wrong ways. So the lesson is when you next meet up with the old fart slowing you down, just hope they arent wearing any mp3 player, and tell them that you will stop for a few minutes to let them get ahead so you dont bump into them quite as much. They might just feel twisted inside, see themselves as a bully hogging the track and let you pass, but what you don’t do is haze the guy for he might be carrying a knife and have just been let out of the psychoward.
In other mean spiritedness, the V8 Hamilton races have stopped a car driver accessing their own private driveway one too many times and now look set to suffer either a court action that will stop the race, or worse, the racing industry will look like an petrol head excuse who tramps all over the average car owners (who don’t worship cars). Go figure. But hey, adrendlin motor heads and cyclists are drug uses too. The responsible reasonable approach is to back off and let them pass, or stop putting yourself in their face without any concern for later consequences. i.e both parties have an obligation to back off, but the druggies have to be aware that its can be an offense to disturb the peace – being high on adrendlin is no excuse. They don’t have a right to impose themselves on others and expect the outcome they want. So don’t give it to them.
Its obvious to me that the offending mountain of a biker votes ACT. No other bugger would demand everything their way at the expense of everybody else.
Let’s hope so! My sympathies are with the driver and his family…
“Faceless people” attacking Pat Lam? YEAH RIGHT.
The Auckland Blues have lost five out of their first six games, so of course there’s only one possible reason: too many darkies, both playing and coaching.
Well, that’s what “they” have been saying on the internet and on Radio Sport and NewstalkZB. And some of the people who ring in are almost as racist as the hosts.
Yet, in spite of the recent denunciations of the “gutless cowardly boofheads who hide behind the anonymity of the internet” there is little evidence that anyone, even the victims, are prepared or willing to confront the main culprits. Instead, the victims themselves have chosen to pretend that the racism infesting the airwaves is due to some vague ethereal “anonymous” presence…
Yesterday an emotionally distraught Pat Lam publicly fingered what he said was the source of these comments: “It’s the faceless people,” he blubbed. On radio this morning, Blues CEO Andy Dalton repeated that message: we don’t know who they are, these “faceless people”.
Yesterday on NewstalkZB, Larry Williams, without missing a beat, told Mark Watson that that “we get this garbage too”, and that it “goes straight into the rubbish bin.”
Listen to Susan Wood this morning on NewstalkZB: “The cowardly boofheads …anonymity of the internet….gutless…”
ENOUGH ALREADY! What Wood and Williams and (most of all) Pat Lam know perfectly well is that the source of the most vitriolic anti-Polynesian, anti-Maori comments is right under their noses. NewstalkZB/Radio Sport hosts Murray Deaker, Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith are notorious for their racially charged comments, and their demeaning of Maori and Polynesians.
The people responsible for these ugly racist comments are not “faceless”, they are the colleagues of Wood and Williams. It’s an indictment of Lam and Dalton that they lack the courage to state this plainly.
Re: Paul Holme’s racist outbursts.
Did The Jackal ever get a reply to his complaint to the HRC about Holmes article on Watangi Day?
Unfortunately not. The HRC, Privacy Commissioner and BSA have decided to not even acknowledge complaints from me anymore, which is unbelievably undemocratic! The Ombudsman is also delaying indefinitely many of my complaints well past the allowable timeframe, which is all designed to dissuade me from making them.
Our Forensic Psychologist viewed that Pat Lam interview and laughingly pointed out the way Pat managed to stop being emotional at least twice in the news footage to look up straight faced at the interviewer in what our Psychologist called a look of ”am I believable”,
Pat using ”emotion” to head those calling for His head off at the pass so to speak…
Its bloody ugly, you note there are never complaints when the team is going well, they could not have enough darkies then!
Couple of things to note:
* In my experience I have never heard Deaker making “racist” noises, I have heard him being brave enough to address the real problems of age size differences in school rugby that touch upon ethnicity that can bring charges of racism. He may be many things but he is definitely not a racist.
* Auckland rugby is suffering badly and the Blues are symptomatic of this. A few years back the Auckland provincial and Super teams had token Palangis and Maoris, the team was very Samoan. The fear was that “smaller” players (read pakeha) were being forced out of the game and that the top level would suffer from a reduced player base. I was involved with kids rugby on the North Shore when the local unions went to great lengths to ensure that the player drain of non Polynesians was staunched, and that weight / age grades etc were promoted. When you look at the Blues and Auckland now you can see the results, the team naturally has a large Polynesian content, Auckland after all is the largest Polynesian city.The teams ethnicity is now far more mixed. It looks a bit like the local population you would see walking down the road.
Time for all Aucklanders to get behind their team, cut the crap and support Lam.
In my experience I have never heard Deaker making “racist” noises… He may be many things but he is definitely not a racist.
You obviously have not listened to Murray Deaker for very long.
Your defence of him is based on fantasy.
Ah come on Morrissey, I did not call you out on Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith because I never listen to them ( and maybe because its on the record that they are as you describe)!
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers. Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay? He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast, I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
I presume you’re accepting of Deaker using the N word then Bored?
I stand corrected…Deaks has used the term “nigger” it appears from your article and I don’t see it as acceptable in any context. I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.
Some confusion by our good friend Bored, when he writes: “I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.”
So… he uses a racist word, repeatedly and calculatedly, but he is not a racist.
Willy Lose’s bizarre and illogical claim can partly be explained by the fact he was speaking as a colleague and was afraid of provoking the notoriously belligerent Deaker. What is your motivation for writing such nonsense?
Motivation? I happen to like the work he does on rugby and I happen to believe he is not a racist. That’s my opinion, on that we obviously differ. I tend to give people a chance before I condemn, your evidence does rather lead me to reconsider. Whats is your motivation?
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers.
“Prepared to ask the hard questions?” Deaker? You’re dreaming, my friend. Obviously you were asleep when he was toadying after John O’Neill and Vernon Pugh in 2002. Deaker accepted every single word they said as they hijacked New Zealand’s games for the 2003 World Cup. What hard questions are you talking about? His advocacy of the Blackheart campaign in 2003? What “hard questions” did he ask then? When he is not acting as a sycophant and asking patsy questions, bellowing his disdain for Maori and Polynesian footballers, he’s opining for hour after hour about how “dark skinned people lack the necessary concentration to play cricket”.
Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay?
Are you serious? Are you trying to suggest that Deaker’s racist ranting has been confined to just a few episodes that you happen to have missed?
He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast,
That’s a very charitable assessment of the talent-free zone known as the Mad Butcher.
I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
Lucky for the Martians then. Just a pity he’s such a crude bigot towards Maori and Polynesian people.
Jeez Morrissey, just read your deconstruct and fell about laughing (genuinely, it is amusing), especially about the Mad Butcher. Just to put you straight here the Butcher may be talent free as far as you are concerned BUT he has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness. Now that’s talent.
Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results” (hard questions perhaps).
All up I have admitted I got it wrong, you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist.
PS Nice to get off the “political” for a change.
I can see you are a very kind and decent person, Bored. But there are a couple of points I still disagree with…
1.) “[The Mad Butcher] has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness.”
He certainly has a talent for publicising how much money he gives away.
2.) Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results”
He’s had to shut up about that now, although you have to wonder how obnoxious he would be towards Henry and the All Blacks if there had been an unbiased referee in the World Cup final last year.
3.) you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist
Unfortunately, no matter how indulgently or charitably one wants to look on Deaker, his own record acts as a prosecutor against him….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21032012/#comment-449711
I will keep being kind and decent, but I promise you if I hear him being deliberately racist I will telephone in with the wrath of Bored.
National Radio, 9:50 a.m., Thursday 12 April 2012
Foreign Correspondent slot is increasingly a forum for lunatics
Who chooses the guests for this 9:50 slot? Many of them (Jack Hitt and Ray Moynihan, for instance) are excellent, but listeners have also had to suffer through such substandard and toxically biased commentators as Irris Makler, Jason Morrison, and Kate Adie.
Kathryn Ryan’s guest this morning is…uh, oh…. the notoriously unbalanced (in every sense) Dame Ann Leslie.
Dame Ann rants dyspeptically about the five Islamic men about to be sent to the United States on terrorism charges—she calls one of them, Abu Hamza, “Captain Hook”. Ryan giggles at that, and giggles continuously throughout Dame Ann’s unhinged ranting against the International Criminal Court, but never challenges her or asks her to explain herself. Then she moves it onto another topic…
RYAN: The teachers’ unions have been in the news, Dame Ann–
DAME ANN LESLIE: Arrrrgggh.
RYAN: He he he he!
DAME ANN: Every year we have to listen to the militant rabble rousingof the teacher unions!
RYAN: What are their concerns?
DAME ANN LESLIE: They never agree to any method of reforming our LOUSY education system. They need a full SIX WEEKS in the summer,… The unions have opposed EVERY EFFORT to improve the education system. All attempts to improve these schools are stifled. We are absolutely FED UP with them.
The spluttering and snarling continues for several more minutes, punctuated occasionally by Kathryn Ryan’s giggles.
Blowing the budget
National are ideologically blinded by neoliberalism. Under a John Key government, New Zealand has had to borrow billions to cover tax cuts for the wealthy. Additional consultancy fees directly attributed to cuts in public sector employment will also ensure our indebtedness for the foreseeable future…
Bill lists the targets for his scythe: public servants in Health, Social Development, Education.
Be afraid, be very afraid…
The benefits of being a scab contractor:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10798223
How many unionists are on $2300/day????
I’m a contractor and wouldn’t even get out of bed for $2300/day, but I have to pay insane amounts of tax to fund all the dpb bludgers and dole payments of unionists who refuse to work, so can’t afford to get out of bed for such a pittance.
But I guess that is why you all pay >$2 litre for petrol – to keep me in the lifestyle that I’m accustomed to.
Fuck, I love being a capitalist!
What a stirrer you want to be mister m. Stick to stirring the brown stuff that’s tea and leave the smelly stuff alone, it rubs off, smells foul and then your fine self will find high pay is no compensation.
M my man, just keep paying the ridiculous amounts of tax, enjoy the lifestyle and reflect upon your higher status as a generous person (even if you don’t want to be). And should you feel you pay too much tax, just pay it. Fear the IRD above all others.
It will disappoint you soon enough, being a proud capitalist, and a somewhat ignorant capitalist. That you think this is a world where opposites do not exist, that there is no opposing force to your pride, is a sad gap in your education. It’s even more depressing than your grasp of English. You see, no capitalist who understands capitalism, past its immediate appeal to self-interest and avarice, would say they love being a capitalist. It is like a tragic character, unaware he is a player, announcing to the audience he loves the idea he is about to never be the same, eager to leave behind his hubris and egotistical utterances in exchange for, usually, death, but in our context, risking something much worse – a living death.
It would be equally disappointing to find a communist – the modern capitalist’s arch rival – who is proud to be a communist. Capitalism sows the seeds of its own demise with its demand for increased production of things it cannot sell and in meeting the opposing force of communism, both perspectives are irrevocably changed. Once the two forces face off and struggle to the point of exhaustion, society is either reduced to the instinctual barbarism of human necessity as a result or we all move forward together in a new way; without our present isms and divisions. There is little to be proud of, once you realise the risks, unless you are mentally deranged – whichever side you stand on.
In the words of the Bard “M” sounds like ” a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”…..
Apparently all of them, according to the POAL and the right wing media.
Forget the money – you can’t take it with you. Get out of bed at dawn, don’t turn the light on, eat fruit and grains, drink a cup,of tea (without milk), walk somewhere and smile and say hello to the other walkers. Leave your cell phone at home.
Canadian workers are struggling against NeoLiberalism :
“THE STRUGGLE AGAINST NEOLIBERALISM: Canadian Workers’ Rights in the Wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis
The Electro-Motive Lockout and Non-Occupation”
Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30234
“Along with everything else, the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath created new openings and potentials for working people in the struggle against neoliberalism. A number of struggles initially opened up, including factory occupations, efforts to defend pensions and the rights of younger workers. There were important political struggles, as well, as in Wisconsin, along with newer projects to link labour and communities, in the Occupy movement.”
All neo-liberalism means is there way, you have no say. But the fact is you have a lot of say, your consent is required for a civil society to provide the efficiencies to carry all those ‘extra’ rich (and they know it and will do everything to distort, distract and misdirect).
Just heard about the death of Jack Tramiel another great computer innovator like Steve Jobs. He introduced the Commodore Pet the first accessable home computer. I knew of the computer but not the innovator – this guy was a great clever doer and survivor.
Jack Tramiel has died aged 84 years in the Usa Obit from the Washington Post.
For those who have nostalgic memories of Commodore computers and Amigas and want to read more about this Jack Tramiel.
http://awesome.commodore.me/
Ahh sad.
Started with a Vic 20 then went C64, C128 and Amiga. Picked up a Plus/4 along the way.
Dabbled in machine code and learned to program in basic – which still comes in handy with Excel in particular.
It was those retired people in the C64 clubs who were impressive. They could do things with machine code on their 64’s I could only dream about.
I remember one group in Wanganui had worked out how to get their names to appear on the screen instead of Commodore when you turned it on.
I think they used a modded chip and machine code combination.
Boulderdash, Impossible Mission, Bubble Bobble, Armalyte, Pool Of Radiance, Wizball, IK+, Buggy Boy, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, all the Magnetic Scrolls games, Zamzara, BC’s Quest for Tires, speech synthesis, GEOS – ahh the list is endless.
Can’t forget of course those tape loading screens:
I/S on No Right Turn in “If all you have is a hammer…” makes a couple of noteworthy observations.
The first is the fact that Nationals policy announcements consists of just a load of waffle with no actual detail whatsoever – It is quite an effective strategy, albeit a darkly cynical one given the importance of the issues paid only lip service to. For those wanting to critique the ‘plans’ or even to understand them there is nothing to grasp onto. An educated or informed response is impossible when slogans are all that we have been given.
But where is the critique in the media of the lack of detail? Nationals policy announcements are about as convincing as a new years resolution and their Ministers should be laughed out of their press conferences for daring to turn up and make proclamations that are a deliberate study in vagueness.
Secondly I/S highlights the growing use of ‘the children’ as an excuse for implementing unpopular policies or reform. Once again it is only the most darkly cynical who would deliberately use peoples concern for their children to promote a course of action – when a hostage taker holds a gun to the head of someone’s child and demands obedience the violence of the act is rightly condemned by law and society – yet the governments modus operandi is now little different.
It is time that the government stopped implying that children will suffer if we don’t accept their austerity and their radical hard right agenda or that children will benefit if we do.
Austerity harms economies and harms society. The Nats don’t care about kids any more than the hostage taker does.
Somehow I think I/S is close to the truth re National and using children, cynic that I am. Interestingly, Imperator Fish has a relevant Key/English cartoon on his site today – http://www.imperatorfish.com/2012/04/this-weeks-political-gallery.html
Southland dairy farmers attempt to bully Environment Southland into changing new rules with the support of Bill English. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/dairy-farmers-and-bullying-tactics.html
Great Minds Thinking Hard about the Big Questions
NewstalkZB, Thursday 12 April 2012, 1:28 p.m.
As always at NewstalkZB, it’s an atmosphere of moral panic and befuddlement as confused callers try to come to grips with the question of the day. Today’s big topic is “teenagers committing burglaries—who’s to blame?”. As usual, there’s an easy answer for it—it’s all because parents are no longer allowed to punch, kick and whip their children. A caller called Shannon rings up host Danny Watson to share her wisdom….
SHANNON: The government took away our rights as parents when they brought in the anti-smacking law. And, yes, I KNOW there’s abuse and there’s children that get killed rah rah rah but seriously Danny—
DANNY WATSON: It’s still going on by the way. The killing.
SHANNON: Oh I knowwwwww…
What a surprise, farmers whinging about being held accountable for their destructive actions.
They’re basically complaining that they won’t be able to pollute unhindered.
I also find it amusing that they’re calling it an attack on democracy when it was the actions of farmers that resulted in the sacking of ECan and the implementation of a dictatorship in its place because they didn’t like the democratic result – rules that enforced environmental protection.
Southland Farmers are also complaining about an increase in rates that attempts to recoup the costs incurred by the industry. Dairy farmers claim they don’t want subsidies and yet that is what is occurring when the external costs of the industry continue to be covered by general ratepayers and taxpayers.
Quote of the day:
“Once an offender has been conclusively identified as a person who will never be safe around the vulnerable – particularly children – their “rights” very much take second place to the rights of children to play, or even to sleep, without a Lloyd McIntosh waiting for his chance to grab them and commit unspeakable crimes.”
David Garratt, a criminal convicted of an unspeakable crime against a child, in a guest post on Kiwiblog.
Yesterday I heard National Radio quoting Garrett’s most shameless defender, Garth McVicar, about a law and order question.
Following the brutal 2008 knife-killing of a boy in South Auckland, McVicar loudly defended the killer, and for day after day expressed scorn and contempt for the victim and his family. Yet he is still referred to by National Radio and other media outlets as a “victims’ advocate”.
Garrett and McVicar must be two of the most loathsome and hypocritical creatures in the country, yet they are still accorded respect.
Why?
Because they’re part of the old (white) boys club. The only respect such reprobates really get is from people who are racist themselves.
Or possibly it is because the National Radio producers are indolent, and go to McVicar because he always has something incendiary to say, even if it makes little sense.
pssssssst….
any of the petty petit-bourgeois around today.
they wanna ugh umm moderate me?
me.
hook!
Anyone who has bothered to register to comment over at DPF’s place, and wants a free hit on one of the resident birthers;
This thread:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/04/general_debate_12_april_2012.html#comment-954789
‘Bereal’ talking about how Obama is going to get all busted about his birth certificate because “Sheriff Joe is on the case…..”.
In a later comment he talks about his respect for the rule of law.
point him here:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/04/10/a-little-justice-served/
… and let the poor guy know that the SSTs favorite sheriff’s legal team have been stripped of their law licenses. It looks like Joe has more to worried about that Obama. TBH.
Great to see the pressure coming on Gillard in Aussie now in Australia she is admitting that Australia must focus on productivity thats enough to have the Union leaders over there having seizures they arent use to improving productivity.
Just as we need to improve productivty here at POAL, and the Affco plants
You’re a liar and an idiot.
No Morrisey its all true you can watch it on sky channel 90. The other interesting thing is now that Labour has virtually been thrown out of Queensland and can only form a party because the liberals are being nice to them ie they dont have enough seats.
The Liberals have just announced they are taking $7000 stamp duty of buying a home. Halfing the Labour premieres fare increases on public transport. I bet the people of queensland are so happy to have pragmatism rather ideology rulingthem again.
Wow! It’s on Sky TV? It’s got to be true.
Oh,you mean buying votes?
Right wing asset selling Labor deserved to be tossed out.
But you don’t really understand anything about it Jimbo, as has been proven so many times before.
Get your little digs in, that you think are fun, and maybe you even think you are cool, or that you are winning.
I assure you that you are not, and you can not!
What is “productivity” to you James ?
I suspect it is a measure of how much product comes out of the works and how much cargo unloaded and despatched per worker.
So you have more workers producing the same amount for a lesser wage per worker or fewer workers producing the same amount for a higher wage per worker, or you have some workers producing more than others but the average produced is the same and you pay the more productive workers more to allow for the “loafers”, or you only employ higher producing workers and contract them to maintain their higher production or lose the contract.
How do you decide which is best ?
James, I think you really need to come clean and admit you want to:
1) Ban unions
2) Ban collective bargaining
3) Bring back slavery
Cheers
Millsy.
4) And to bring back the right for the lord of the land to deflower any virgin serf of his choosing on her 16th birthday. Well any of the ones who are left by then.
Something I agree with Winston Peters on:
There seems to be an expectation by some to deal with everything by media instead of using parliamentary process.
(This is related but different to Bill English ignoring parliamentary process to decide the outcome of bills before they have even been in the house.)
For God sake why do We do it, watch that bloke Campbell make a mockery of journalism on our TV that is,
To-nights revelation that earnings of 80 grand a year are somehow putting people in the line of poverty makes us lot wonder if wee John doesn’t fall about the studio in mad fits of laughter once the lights have gone down on the nights offerings,
If 80 grand a year is sliding dangerously close to the poverty line,(according to John and the family featured),then what the fuck do these people make of the pittance those forced to survive on the minimum wage and benefits get every week…
The irony is that the people writing in saying “yeah were pulling $120,000 and we’re only just keeping our heads above water” are, I reckon, the same kinds of people that complain that solo parents with kids surviving on a fraction of that are living a luxurious lifestyle at their personal expense.
I did have some sympathy for the family featured though (interestingly viewers weren’t invited to go through their accounts with a fine toothed comb to criticise their expenditure as happens in stories about beneficiaries). I’m sure they do work very hard. The cost of living is ridiculously high, and ordinary people who expect a middle-class lifestyle are working longer and longer hours to stay still, a far cry from what that aspirational bullshit tells them is their due. Most of the middle-class is moving down economically. Unfortunately the anger is generally directed at those who have it much harder and not those with the power to make a difference. And it’s a pity the cost of living isn’t something that can be acknowledged when those who are really hard-up speak out.
I had UMR ring me up tonight and survey on a bunch of political questions relating to Sky City pokies and the Paid Parental Leave veto and that bootfaced cow Judith Collins as well as the usual. I can’t remember whether UMR has a publically released poll like Roy Morgan, does anyone know? Or was I just being surveyed by the Nats? I’m curious, as they’ve rung me before.
I thought UMR did the internal polling for Labour.