An avowed socialist, a champion for raising the minimum wage, campaigning on recalling all overseas troops, and campaigning on climate change. And raising taxes on the rich, and controls on banks.
The opposition parties in this country should be taking notes.
It’s a typically poor analysis. Obama was winning in pledged delegates by about 60 when they went into the convention – so the superdelegates seeing the “voice of the people” swapped to his side.
Sanders is unlikely to have the pledged delegates lead in this race – so the superdelegates will see the “voice of the people” calling for Hillary and stay where they are.
For this outcome to be credible, Sanders would have to win New York and Pennsylvania. This is not very likely. But we will all actually know in a week.
Sanders claims 7 out of the last 8 primaries, but they are mostly small caucus run primaries comprising of party activists. It seems in the US, as with left wing parties elsewhere, that the activist membership is much more left than the general public who are inclined to vote left.
Interestingly, at least in NZ and Australia, that seems less true of centre-right parties. The activists pretty much mirror the voters who are vote for their parties.
We have seen one success of the last 30 odd years, that you lot are not quick to champion, and that is massive disillusionment with the political process. Your so called centre-right is about what, 1/3 of the population – if we lucky? Begs many questions, and yes of the labour party as well.
That said, I find it funny that the narrative keeps changing on Sanders to fit your world view. Congratulations for not asking him to stand down, at least that old chestnut has stopped. I’d like him to win, then we would see what the centre looks like again. Because lets face it – Bernie is nothing if not centre.
Also are you trying to deflect from the fact that many independents vote in the party primaries? And these people are not leftist on the whole, as you claim. Yes some are, some are even greens. But the overwhelming majority of these Americans see something is rotten in their system – that being corporate money in politics, and are voting against it.
Good luck with your narrative Wayne, but more and more people are becoming disillusioned with a system set up to enrich the already rich, at the expense of the poor and middle class.
Bernie will not persuade a single super delegate by trying to say that all those who don’t vote would support him, or that he can dramatically improve voter turnout in the general election.
Whoever wins, wins. Bernie cannot make a loss mean a win. He actually has to win on the votes.
I’d say Bernie has done really well in getting disillusioned voters to vote. And independents are a group we don’t understand well in New Zealand.
I don’t think Bernie has ever said he represent those who have not voted. Can’t think of a time when he has.
I look at New York with much interest, it has been rather enjoyable to watch Bernie been written off so many times, only to see him come back stronger.
But if Sanders loses, he will be following the spectacular fall of the left’s vote that has occurred in Australasia and Europe for a decade. It’s bad for your reflux to hope and risk so much on so little. You may have to learn to settle.
I’m glad I don’t have to wake up in the morning and wrestle with that kind of tortuous logic coming from my own head Ad. 😉
A guy who stood on a centrist (statist) programme, began at 5 or 10% (something like that) and will, at worst, run Clinton close. And that’s a ‘spectacular fall of the left’s (statist’s) vote’?
Still shaking my head here trying to get a grip on the thought processes behind your conclusion.
“But if Sanders loses, he will be following the spectacular fall of the left’s vote that has occurred in Australasia and Europe for a decade. It’s bad for your reflux to hope and risk so much on so little. You may have to learn to settle.” Ad
Getting a wee bit previous there, aren’t we Ad? Be careful you don’t peak too soon. And blow the whole scam.
Ad, the left’s vote has fallen for the very reason you are promoting, the Tony Blair’s and the Roger Douglas’s and the Kevin Rudd’s who have taken their parties to the right, disillusioned their support base.
Personally I think you are being a bit premature suggesting that the Labour Party go down this path this early in.
Bernie Sanders genius, is in ignoring all this “accepted wisdom”.
As I said before; it is my opinion that Labour, (and the Greens) would be well advised to take a lead from Bernie Sanders and start openly promoting similar and even more radical left policies.
Let’s see how the electorate responds.
Like Bernie Sanders they might be pleasantly surprised at the support they receive.
And, what have Labour got to lose, they seem to be on a downward spiral at the moment.
For this outcome to be credible, Sanders would have to win New York and Pennsylvania.” WAYNE
Though it is contained within the link. I didn’t, make any comment on the outcome.
It is my opinion that it is a pretty foregone conclusion that the establishment will close ranks to avert the threat from their left posed by Sanders. (Probably more effectively and with more determination than they will to oppose the threat from their right.)
What is noteworthy is the thirst for openly expressed Left wing policies by the American public.
Which seems to go against all accepted wisdom. Or so we are told.
Just watch this space:
When the Labour Party lose the next election, (which seems from all polling quite likely), I expect a huge hue and cry will be raised from the media and all the establishment pundits, (even from those within their own Party) that for Labour to win they need to be more like National and John Key, and even more conservative than they are now.
The real lesson of Bernie Sanders will be buried under an avalanche of right wing columnists and editorials and ernest to-camera monologue’s, urging Labour to move rightward.
The best Prime Minister New Zealand almost didn’t have.
Norman Kirk, as leader of the Labour Party lost two elections before he was elected Prime Minister.
The best Prime Minister New Zealand will never have.
David Cunliffe lost one election and was tumbled in an undemocratic coup by a right wing cabal inside the Labour caucus calling themselves the ABC group.
It can be strongly argued that Labour lost the election not because of David Cunliffe’s leadership but due to the fact of his very last minute promotion (over the objection of the ABC cabal) that the die had already been cast. That and the fact that David Cunliffe had to make some unpopular compromises with his right wing dominated caucus.
It is my opinion that David Cunliffe could have turned Labour’s fortunes around if he had been given the chance during this election cycle.
Instead from where we are now it looks certain that Labour is looking down the barrel of another defeat.
It is all water under the bridge now. But the sacking of David Cunliffe compared to the retention Norman Kirk, is a good example of how the conservative establishment do their best to make sure that Business Continues as Usual.
So how can this situation be remedied.
I would strongly suggest that Andrew Little start listening to David Cunliffe and promote him to a senior role in his shadow cabinet, and that Andrew Little needs to show more ABC neo-liberal hardliners where the door is.
This would be a good organisational start. But more than this Andrew Little needs, contrary to the advice of Wayne and others like him, take on board the lesson of Bernie Sanders.
“It seems in the US, as with left wing parties elsewhere that the activist membership is much more left than the general public who are inclined to vote left.”
And yet Sanders does appreciably better than Hillary in all of the one-to-one match-ups with the various possible Republican nominees (interestingly, that’s also true in the New York State Polls).
So all the world’s rich bankers and wankers avoid their tax all over the planet…
… meaning that the people’s representatives (the government) does not receive proper tax income for use in that society….
… so how about this for a means of raising income for the government…..
Abandon tax.
Government issues its own money as a proportion of the economy each year and uses that. That hits the entire economy equally across the board – fat cats, bankers and wankers, everyone, especially those with wealth and richness, who then suffer the proportionately same amount as the cleaners, drivers, teachers and preachers.
Of course there would inflationary / deflationary and other effects as well, but that cancels itself out.
So – no more tax.
Government issues its own money, at a set proportion of the economy each year, and spends it into the economy as necessary.
With these two actions we make hoarding money worthless.
We would, of course, bring natural monopolies back into government ownership and make it so that they cannot be sold. In fact, no government service will be provided by private businesses. They’re government services for a reason or three: More efficient, benefit from economies of scale but are limited to the people in the nation (i.e, extending outside the nation doesn’t extend the scale), Everyone benefits from them.
Limit income to $100k. Anything over $100k will be taxed at 100%. Really, no one needs an income greater than $100k and so anything more than that is just greed and greed is destroying our society and the environment.
These will make it so that no one will own major assets at all and remove the incentives to own ever more minor assets.
Ban offshore ownership. This will keep the prices in NZ within the bounds of those living in NZ. As far as owning housing and businesses go the market is local, not global.
That’s for starters. Haven’t got time to too much in depth but my posts and comments on TS cover quite a bit.
Under your system Draco what incentive is thier to be industrious, innovate, efficient ( ie the opposite of monopolies) , etc. How competitive would NZ be as an economy if we went with your prescription over time, Would our best and brightest stay, would we evolve or end up like eastern Europe under communism living in a time warp as the west moved on in nearly every human endeavour
I mean tax the economy. Don’t tax the people – they are too tricky…
The economy would effectively be taxed because the additional money issued would lower the value of the existing money in the system. This would happen equally and across the board. Kinda like a flat tax – so it doesn’t address the “progressive tax” issue…
But taxing people is all too hard. I was trying to think of a way to tax something inert and large and unable to be individually fiddled.. and something that applies across everyone….
… which is f course the whole lot of it…. the entire economy …. just take slice of the economy each year to pay for the essentials etc … and a slice can be taken by issuing more money….
Just print money and trust the politicians, who decides essential, when does can’t be bother just print me money become an essential. Both Draco and yourself fail to appreciate human nature in your prescription assuming we just all live in one big homogenous hippy community re our values, goals, aspirations and motivations,likewise we are totally disconnected from of the rest of the world, thus no unintended consequences ie every one chose to stay in our little paradise
On Martyn Bradbury’s Waatea TV last night Nicky Hagar gave an example of an Indonesian billionaire who burned down the rainforests for palm oil and all the profits were channelled through paper companies in untraceable tax havens so he paid no tax in Indonesia to benefit the local population. Or anywhere.
Meanwhile, as a result of this destructive industry orangutangs die (and the NZ dairy industry imports the palm kernel for cow feed). These are the stories we should be told in the mainstream media.
yep, Waatea is how the news should be, not great quality video for obvious reasons but it is way more bearable than clear images of “Hosko” and the rest of the Nat brown nosers
Tolley office “Molotov firebombing”–anyone got any updated info on this?
the PM smeared the TPPA movement via TV and other media on 5 Feb after the impressive actions of 4 Feb, by attempting to link TPPA protests to graffiti and an apparent attempted fire setting in one of Anne Tolley’s four electorate offices (one is shared with another Nat MP)
no statement from Police or Nats since, Tolley’s office is situated in an alley near a bank, with various security cams in place so some idea should have been gained as to the perpetrators
another cold case? it is frustrating that the Nats get a nationwide “hit” on the TPPA movement for free
This Waatea Fifth Estate panel discussion with Winston Peters, Grant Robertston and Nicky Hager on the Panama Papers is excellent – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F54KgYjkQ
I don’t get it. This morning on National Radio a man was describing how careful his firm is before accepting Trusts from overseas. But why are, say English rich, putting their money in NZ Trusts? Why do they not put their Trusts in their own country like the Honorable John Key?
Oh. And no one has ever asked his firm for Trust details. Not IRD or anyone else!
His views are more relevant to the UK situation, and are superficial at best. I really hate the word ‘Islamophobia’, but I think that many who are dragging up his comments are guilty of just that. Its less about Muslims and more about the source of the Muslim immigrants.
Just do the maths: India (133m Muslims), China (133m Muslims), Indonesia (196m) Muslims, and so on. How many terrorists come from these populations? Many people from these Muslim populations are already well settled and reasonably well integrated in NZ and Australia.
The common thread in the Islamic terrorists, lack of integration and so on in European countries (with a few exceptions) are more related to Middle Eastern and Bangladeshi immigrants. Most of these have had to make a quantum change from poverty, oppression and so on.
Don’t tar all Muslim immigrants around the world with the same brush.
Superficial? He’s the former chair of the EHRC, a former leader of his student union
“When I was chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, I played a principal role in the creation of UK laws against religious discrimination — and it was a report that I commissioned exactly 20 years ago that first introduced the term Islamophobia to Britain”
I think he’s well qualified to talk about this subject
You are part of the problem and that’s why I hope that our refugee intake isn’t increased unless we give equal measure to other religions because I don’t want NZ to become like Europe
You are part of the problem and that’s why I hope that our refugee intake isn’t increased
Lol
You want to determine immigration policy based on Peter’s comments? sounds rational. /sarc
As for your idea of a quota system to allow equal representation of other religions, we could probably do with more Zoroastrians and Satanists in the country, although agnostics and atheists should be recognised, too. But is this consistent with your previous stance on Labour’s so-called “man ban”?
I’m ok with adding atheists and agnostics in as well but its more that why does one religion seem to get more publicity then any other religion (or indeed those without religion)
ISTR watching John Oliver a while back, and he made a persuasive case that “muslim” refugees (and refugees in general) have a lower crime rate than the population into which they flee.
Just food for thought, should you decide to think.
Not, the proposition wasn’t that there was no crime associated with immigrants. Just that the crime rate, even of the “muslim” immigrants who scare you so much, is lower than the general population they flee to. So a higher proportion of slave trafficking rings would be ruin by non-muslims, similarly with other sexual assaults. And your link to the school was about the local school princopal being as racist as you.
Like I say, if you want to start actually thinking, there are places you can go for help.
What do you think is happening in europe and aus, first?
Let’s say criminals in a population are like alcohol concentration: if you take a drop of wine and put it in a bottle of whiskey, is the resulting concoction more or less alcoholic? Wine is refugees, whiskey is the population they flee to.
Wow so adding child like xenophobia to your list of faults Puckish Rouge.
Desperate for a distraction from you corrupt and bent mate John Key.
Woken up the fact that this national government is possibly the worst in our history have we, so looking for scape goats and new things to raise false flags about.
What a sad, sad human being you are.
Look the Alpha programme may help, let me know where you live and I’ll see if we can infuse some love into your heart.
That’s an astronomical price for a 124 square metre house on 360 square metres of land. Who’s going to be fool enough to buy that?
I thought it was bad enough around our way. One developer has been trying to flog off 124 square metre houses in an MDH project. 30 units crammed onto a hillside, with the plan that they will be developed in 3 stages. Well, they started out on stage one two years ago with the units being marketed at $465K. It went up to $485K, then to $494K and now they are $508K. 3 units have sold from the first stage. The first purchase was 18 months ago and none of the units have been completed yet. Developer logic is “houses won’t sell, raise the price”.
Time will tell how any of of these SHA’s around the country will contribute to the stock of “affordable homes”. I’m not holding my breath for the Wellington region. Our council has a disturbingly cosy relationship with developers.
The SHA is another government farce and botch up – in Auckland they are selling for 1 million in Huapai.
It really is some sort of Marie Antoinette moment of the government.
Thanks for those ‘affordable’ houses Key. Neoliberalism really works! A bit like how NZ is ‘not a tax haven’ for his offshore buddies even though we are mentioned 60,000 times. sarc.
I guess the issue is, from what I’ve read, is that the offending is at the lower end of the scale so there’s no other physical evidence to back the complainant up so it comes down to their word against his and since you need to be sure beyond reasonable doubt…
Which is always the case with the nature of this type of offending. It’s so easy for offenders to get away with it, they have the immediate advantage of a lack of physical evidence of their offending, over their victims.
I worry that these girls, alongside thousands of others that have gone before them, won’t get the justice they deserve.
Yes but only if what they say is true of course (I’m inclined to believe them as their stories seem to corroborate each other but of course I haven’t sat in on the case)
Firstly why would two young girls lie and put themselves thru the wringer,
And secondly if you were going to lie to get someone in the shit wouldn’t your allegations be of a more serious nature than these ones are?
Yes, well I guess the girls thought it would be a real hoot to make something up, make a police complaint, talk to adults about intimate parts of their bodies that a young girl is only getting used to the idea of, spend ages waiting for it to go to trial and then have their experiences laid bare to strangers and cope with a defence that rips them to shreds and belittles them.
Totally in it for the lols.
So yes, I do have a bias to support girls and women who make such allegations, knowing how often such experiences are never reported and how much strength and courage it takes for a person to go through this process. So if I’ve got my blinkers on, it’s for good reason.
Comments above show why similar cases often end with Jury stalemates.
In any group of 12 jurors there is highly likely to be at least one who believes the victim/s would not make the claim unless it was true, and at least one juror who believes that an accusation without evidence cannot possibly meet the test of ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.
if neither is prepared to shift their position, Jury is stalemated. I was involved in one of those juries once, and before dismissing us the judge informed us not to feel bad because we were the third jury to be ‘hung’ on the same case.
So the victims and accused had been through the wringer 3 times….and the expense to taxpayer was?
Personally, I would rather see such cases be tried purely by a Judge.
Very good point The lost sheep, thanks for making It.
I feel being a prom…… in NZ and being tried in your home base,Judge along wound been mandatory, does anyone now were the law stands, will the defendant choose.
But there are also cases of where men have been unjustly complained against, and had their lives ruined.
Im not saying that in this case at all (I havn’t been watching it that closely) – but I do know that cases like this people need ALL the information and blinkers (from any side) – are harmful.
however, you obviously have some history – and I can understand that impacts your view on things – which is only natural. So can understand (as much as I can) where you are coming from.
But there are a lot on here that want him found guilty – simply because of the damage it could do to [you know who].
Honestly – I just hope that justice prevails – whatever the outcome and that people can accept the verdict from people who have heard all the facts.
Note – if he is guilty – I hope they throw the book at him.
You know what? I do know of one man who was accused of attempted rape and he was actually innocent. The complainant had a certain motivation against this man. I do know how his life was affected for quite some before the charges were dropped.
However, the issue is that, to quote a completely misunderstood politician, “family and sexual violence is perpetrated overwhelmingly by men, so the first message to men out there is to wake up, stand up man up and stop this bullshit”.
Key word is “overwhelmingly”. So you know the odds are stacked against women and children.
I think it was quite normal to be suspicious of the man in this case, given our statistics in NZ. But he has been not found guilty. That has to be accepted.
But there are a lot on here that want him found guilty – simply because of the damage it could do to [you know who].
You believe that, your fucken idiot.
To many prominent people are getting away with this heinous crime, and you Mr are politicizing this, their is censorship, so I will stop here for the moment.
I think we are more interested in seeing Key’s tax returns for the last 8 years he has been PM.
Nothing to hide nothing to fear and all that.
Plus John Key is sooooo honest, cos he tells us that. And gives all his salary to charity. NZ is not a tax haven and he his blind trusts are irrelevant. I’m sure he doesn’t have quillions in his kids names around the globe.
Oh you poor blind, deluded fool (and I don’t mean that harshly) you and others like yourself have so much irrational hatred for John Key built up that you’re just like a dog barking at any passing car in the forlorn hope that’ll finally be the issue to bring down John Key
Most people will see it for what it is and that’s just a cheap, meaningless political stunt.
They’ll think that they wouldn’t want their tax returns published so why should John Key
They’ll think of course John Key has trusts because he’s wealthy (he’s never hidden it) and they’ll think they’d do the same if they were in his position
They’ll think as long as he’s following the rules then its ok
and then they’ll think of Labour and all they’ll think of is spite, negativity and malice
That’s what we want to know!
What is it that he is desperately trying to hide?
Remember that this is the result of only one of the four largest firms dealing in this sort of stuff. It implicates 140 politicians around the globe avoiding tax in their own countries or worse.
We know Key has “blind” trusts.
The chances are he is as heavily implicated in this sort of shinanagans as the rest.
Or in other words, it’s not good enough for our public officials to merely be honest. They must be demonstrably honest.
That’s one thing I learned from my security days – someone checking up on me wasn’t that they didn’t trust me, it was so that if shit happened in a high risk environment, they could vouch that I’d done everything properly.
Seems only fair that the people know whether the person who railroaded through the changes that made NZ a tax haven (and then ignored advice on seven separate occasions to rectify the problem) benefitted personally from those changes.
that is what we want to find out!
We know he is a lying bastard – especially where his personal trusts are concerned. He has been the one driving, the new zero tax regime for foreign investors (quid pro quo?), and he is the one who has appointed the sham Shewan to do a whitewash of the whole affair. His actions speak of one giant arse cover-up!
yes. Because numbers get their meaning and importance from their context. 60 is a number. $60 in your pocket is pretty good. 60 charges against you in court is pretty bad. But your IQ of 60 should get you off most of those charges due to mental incompetence.
The meaning and importance comes from the context.
@ Mcflock 60 is a number. $60 in your pocket is pretty good. 60 charges against you in court is pretty bad. But your IQ of 60 should get you off most of those charges due to mental incompetence
60 is pretty good or pretty bad? And this from someone who once claimed that… “75,000 might or might not be significant”
It’s all in the context….and the context is what suits you at the time as far as I can see.
Fuck 75,000, 75 million might be insignificant: 75 million tonnes of gold or 75 million gold atoms would have significantly different value, no?
But you’d argue that 75 million gold atoms (a tiny fraction of a gram) is just as a significant amount of gold as around 100 times all the gold ever mined. Because you’re a moron.
context is what suits you at the time
No, context is “the parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.” Learn english, fucko.
“If he has nothing to hide he should show his returns”
Because hes done nothing wrong or been shown to have done anything wrong or theres been nothing to link him to anything wrong because you’re just fishing for evidence…any of the above really
How long have these documents been out for…over a year, I’d bet Nicky Hagers already had a look so if there was anything it’d be known about already
Unless of course Nicky just sits on it until about 4 weeks out from the next election like the little creep he is
There’s really only one response to that, and that’s a quote from Frank Marvin, the late editor of Mountain Scene, my local paper.
“If you don’t want it on the front page, don’t do it”
Frank was a top man, and utterly fearless in his reporting of the goings on around Queenstown and always had plenty of material. He was very effective at keeping the place in order. His world view was quite different to Hager’s though.
Every year since 2006 MP’s have been required to declare their Financial Interests
MP’s should also be unaverse to declaring their tax returns as well if they have nothing to hide. They are the ones who set the taxes – they should show they they are above board in that regard as well.
When you cry wolf all the time, when most of what you say is a lie, and sorry Puckish Rouge, but your track record is quite bad – especially when you parrot the party line.
So here is some hints; Try not lying, try being reasonable, try not ranting with hyperbole some time, and we may listen.
Then again in this case the national government dropped the ball, they created a tax haven, tarnished our good name and besmirched us all.
The problem is national party supporters like yourself rather than own up to that, go on the attack. Engage in dirty politics and then moan about it when we call you on it.
The poor me routine is very bloody tiresome. As is the distractions. I see your boy Brash decided Racism was the distraction the government needed this time.
So quite frankly Puckish Rogue, a amoral punter like yourself, could take a look at the lack of morals shown in the last few days or you could just carry on moaning.
Exactly – I’ve sat on the jury one of these sort of cases and after 2 weeks of evidence and a whole raft of “prominent NZers” giving “evidence in support” of the accused – convicted and discharged.
Anyone else would be in the big house.
I suppose we have to accept the jury decision. Assuming he is innocent it will find it hard to be left alone with other people’s kids. Stigma is not always fair.
There’s a difference between that and doing it socially. Although I’m prepared to accept it might be a cultural variation I have, but the only people I’ve given or received social massages from have been folks with whom it added a little frisson of enjoyment to both. Just as Tony Rockyhorror should have known.
Regardless of this case, all too often, the “privileged” are able to manipulate outcomes in court hearings, justice, sometimes, appears to be a commodity.
See, here’s the thing. I don’t believe you, Mr “Prominent Man.” I think you were grooming the girls so you could keep sexually abusing them. I think that’s why you were buying them things. I think it was going to get worse – as one girl said, she was scared you were going to rape her – and I think the best outcome of this whole travesty is that the girls actually got it to stop.
I was up against a Public Service superior years ago who was terrorising me (no, not sexually but something equally as frightening) both in the workplace and beyond. I reported him to the management. He lied to them. They believed him because of his superior position. My career ended in tatters but at least the terrorising stopped.
My wife had a similar experience with one of her previous employers, at the final hearing, the employer thought they had the case wrapped up, my wife is not good at defending herself, so knowing the circumstances of the case, I spoke up and put forward a couple of very pertinent questions surrounding the validity of the accusations against my wife, these questions resulted in a win for my wife, but if I hadn’t been there, the employer would have won, he had tried to pay off our lawyer with a bribe as well, I’m just glad Iv’e got a big mouth and a willingness to challenge the BS.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 17.1.3.2.3.2
It’s the firm his lawyer works for now. So likeliest explanation is that Key’s lawyer held the deposit for something in trust (the firm’s trust) for a short time, as is usual when making decent sized financial transactions. One example – many here bought a house? The usual process is the deposit is held by your lawyer in a trust until settlement.
Keep in mind the declarations for this register were made before 31st Jan 2016 – it’s not like Key has suddenly declared this transaction in the wake of the Panama Papers.
Unfortunately, it’s not a smoking gun. This appears to be just a financial “interest”, held in trust by a lawyer, acting on Key’s behalf, for some as yet unknown purpose.
There appears to be no tax avoidance or evasion that we can see. He was required to declare it and was right to do so.
Despite the attempts by Patrick Gower et al to suggest that the funds held are suspect by association with the company the lawyer now works for are a bit much.
To have Key caught out would a delight but alas – but I will be watching this space
Not sure any legitimate poster here has suggested this is a smoking gun. BM and his right wing allies are suggesting the socially conscious left believe it to be a smoking gun but that is not the case.
Given the current attention around New Zealand being a soft touch for secretive funds, this is what the media says it is – embarrassing for John Key.
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The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
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A year ago – who had even heard of Bernie Sanders?
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/sanders-become-democratic-nominee-even-if-clinton-leads-in-delegates_b_9657952.html?
Bernie Sanders Will Become Democratic Nominee Even If Clinton Leads in Delegates
____________________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Great point. Penny.
An avowed socialist, a champion for raising the minimum wage, campaigning on recalling all overseas troops, and campaigning on climate change. And raising taxes on the rich, and controls on banks.
The opposition parties in this country should be taking notes.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/poll-flag-flop-fails-dent-governments-popularity
It’s a typically poor analysis. Obama was winning in pledged delegates by about 60 when they went into the convention – so the superdelegates seeing the “voice of the people” swapped to his side.
Sanders is unlikely to have the pledged delegates lead in this race – so the superdelegates will see the “voice of the people” calling for Hillary and stay where they are.
Penny and Jenny,
For this outcome to be credible, Sanders would have to win New York and Pennsylvania. This is not very likely. But we will all actually know in a week.
Sanders claims 7 out of the last 8 primaries, but they are mostly small caucus run primaries comprising of party activists. It seems in the US, as with left wing parties elsewhere, that the activist membership is much more left than the general public who are inclined to vote left.
Interestingly, at least in NZ and Australia, that seems less true of centre-right parties. The activists pretty much mirror the voters who are vote for their parties.
Sanders was 10 points behind in the last NY poll, so he has that in the bag.
Those who vote Wayne.
We have seen one success of the last 30 odd years, that you lot are not quick to champion, and that is massive disillusionment with the political process. Your so called centre-right is about what, 1/3 of the population – if we lucky? Begs many questions, and yes of the labour party as well.
That said, I find it funny that the narrative keeps changing on Sanders to fit your world view. Congratulations for not asking him to stand down, at least that old chestnut has stopped. I’d like him to win, then we would see what the centre looks like again. Because lets face it – Bernie is nothing if not centre.
Also are you trying to deflect from the fact that many independents vote in the party primaries? And these people are not leftist on the whole, as you claim. Yes some are, some are even greens. But the overwhelming majority of these Americans see something is rotten in their system – that being corporate money in politics, and are voting against it.
Good luck with your narrative Wayne, but more and more people are becoming disillusioned with a system set up to enrich the already rich, at the expense of the poor and middle class.
Adam,
As I said we will all know within a week.
In a literal sense only those who vote count.
Bernie will not persuade a single super delegate by trying to say that all those who don’t vote would support him, or that he can dramatically improve voter turnout in the general election.
Whoever wins, wins. Bernie cannot make a loss mean a win. He actually has to win on the votes.
Wayne,
I’d say Bernie has done really well in getting disillusioned voters to vote. And independents are a group we don’t understand well in New Zealand.
I don’t think Bernie has ever said he represent those who have not voted. Can’t think of a time when he has.
I look at New York with much interest, it has been rather enjoyable to watch Bernie been written off so many times, only to see him come back stronger.
But if Sanders loses, he will be following the spectacular fall of the left’s vote that has occurred in Australasia and Europe for a decade. It’s bad for your reflux to hope and risk so much on so little. You may have to learn to settle.
I’m glad I don’t have to wake up in the morning and wrestle with that kind of tortuous logic coming from my own head Ad. 😉
A guy who stood on a centrist (statist) programme, began at 5 or 10% (something like that) and will, at worst, run Clinton close. And that’s a ‘spectacular fall of the left’s (statist’s) vote’?
Still shaking my head here trying to get a grip on the thought processes behind your conclusion.
Hope can be terrible.
We can see the backlash ready if Trump loses.
Same on the left, with less blood and more handwringing.
Check out thus weeks’ Economist; it tracks the decline of the leftie vote.
Try this on for size then Ad
I hope you can live with the establishment.
Hope:
Getting a wee bit previous there, aren’t we Ad? Be careful you don’t peak too soon. And blow the whole scam.
Ad, the left’s vote has fallen for the very reason you are promoting, the Tony Blair’s and the Roger Douglas’s and the Kevin Rudd’s who have taken their parties to the right, disillusioned their support base.
Personally I think you are being a bit premature suggesting that the Labour Party go down this path this early in.
Bernie Sanders genius, is in ignoring all this “accepted wisdom”.
As I said before; it is my opinion that Labour, (and the Greens) would be well advised to take a lead from Bernie Sanders and start openly promoting similar and even more radical left policies.
Let’s see how the electorate responds.
Like Bernie Sanders they might be pleasantly surprised at the support they receive.
And, what have Labour got to lose, they seem to be on a downward spiral at the moment.
@Ad, more “Sensible Talk”
http://www.dailykos.com/blog/Tom%20Tomorrow/
Which recent state win did Bernie have recently where only days before the polls had him 20% behind Clinton?
Which state win did Bernie have recently where only days before the polls had him 20% behind Clinton?
Though it is contained within the link. I didn’t, make any comment on the outcome.
It is my opinion that it is a pretty foregone conclusion that the establishment will close ranks to avert the threat from their left posed by Sanders. (Probably more effectively and with more determination than they will to oppose the threat from their right.)
What is noteworthy is the thirst for openly expressed Left wing policies by the American public.
Which seems to go against all accepted wisdom. Or so we are told.
Just watch this space:
When the Labour Party lose the next election, (which seems from all polling quite likely), I expect a huge hue and cry will be raised from the media and all the establishment pundits, (even from those within their own Party) that for Labour to win they need to be more like National and John Key, and even more conservative than they are now.
The real lesson of Bernie Sanders will be buried under an avalanche of right wing columnists and editorials and ernest to-camera monologue’s, urging Labour to move rightward.
The best Prime Minister New Zealand almost didn’t have.
Norman Kirk, as leader of the Labour Party lost two elections before he was elected Prime Minister.
The best Prime Minister New Zealand will never have.
David Cunliffe lost one election and was tumbled in an undemocratic coup by a right wing cabal inside the Labour caucus calling themselves the ABC group.
It can be strongly argued that Labour lost the election not because of David Cunliffe’s leadership but due to the fact of his very last minute promotion (over the objection of the ABC cabal) that the die had already been cast. That and the fact that David Cunliffe had to make some unpopular compromises with his right wing dominated caucus.
It is my opinion that David Cunliffe could have turned Labour’s fortunes around if he had been given the chance during this election cycle.
Instead from where we are now it looks certain that Labour is looking down the barrel of another defeat.
It is all water under the bridge now. But the sacking of David Cunliffe compared to the retention Norman Kirk, is a good example of how the conservative establishment do their best to make sure that Business Continues as Usual.
So how can this situation be remedied.
I would strongly suggest that Andrew Little start listening to David Cunliffe and promote him to a senior role in his shadow cabinet, and that Andrew Little needs to show more ABC neo-liberal hardliners where the door is.
This would be a good organisational start. But more than this Andrew Little needs, contrary to the advice of Wayne and others like him, take on board the lesson of Bernie Sanders.
@ Wayne
“It seems in the US, as with left wing parties elsewhere that the activist membership is much more left than the general public who are inclined to vote left.”
And yet Sanders does appreciably better than Hillary in all of the one-to-one match-ups with the various possible Republican nominees (interestingly, that’s also true in the New York State Polls).
Abso-bloody-lutely
Was Unaoil one of the oil industry lobbyists for New Zealand deep sea oil concessions?
Serious questions need to be asked in parliament by opposition MPs of the government and the Labour Party.
The two biggest companies and only individual named so far in the New Zealand Shell company tax haven scandal,
Mossack Fonseca (Tax evasion)
Unaoil (Bribery)
And their Kiwi Frontman Ian Taylor (Gun running)
Have all been raided by the police, and are facing serious investigation, in overseas jurisdictions.
Have any government, (or opposition) MPs ever met with agents of Mossack Fonseca, Unaoil, or Ian Taylor?
So all the world’s rich bankers and wankers avoid their tax all over the planet…
… meaning that the people’s representatives (the government) does not receive proper tax income for use in that society….
… so how about this for a means of raising income for the government…..
Abandon tax.
Government issues its own money as a proportion of the economy each year and uses that. That hits the entire economy equally across the board – fat cats, bankers and wankers, everyone, especially those with wealth and richness, who then suffer the proportionately same amount as the cleaners, drivers, teachers and preachers.
Of course there would inflationary / deflationary and other effects as well, but that cancels itself out.
So – no more tax.
Government issues its own money, at a set proportion of the economy each year, and spends it into the economy as necessary.
No more hiding from tax.
Kinda. The government would create the money that it needs to fully fund itself every year. None of this proportionate BS.
But can we abandon tax? I’m not sure on that one. I think it would be more that we would be changing what, when and how things are taxed.
We would be looking at demurrage. And we’d make it progressive so that the more money you had in the bank the more you would pay.
We would be looking to decrease interest rates to zero.
With these two actions we make hoarding money worthless.
We would, of course, bring natural monopolies back into government ownership and make it so that they cannot be sold. In fact, no government service will be provided by private businesses. They’re government services for a reason or three: More efficient, benefit from economies of scale but are limited to the people in the nation (i.e, extending outside the nation doesn’t extend the scale), Everyone benefits from them.
Limit income to $100k. Anything over $100k will be taxed at 100%. Really, no one needs an income greater than $100k and so anything more than that is just greed and greed is destroying our society and the environment.
These will make it so that no one will own major assets at all and remove the incentives to own ever more minor assets.
Ban offshore ownership. This will keep the prices in NZ within the bounds of those living in NZ. As far as owning housing and businesses go the market is local, not global.
That’s for starters. Haven’t got time to too much in depth but my posts and comments on TS cover quite a bit.
Under your system Draco what incentive is thier to be industrious, innovate, efficient ( ie the opposite of monopolies) , etc. How competitive would NZ be as an economy if we went with your prescription over time, Would our best and brightest stay, would we evolve or end up like eastern Europe under communism living in a time warp as the west moved on in nearly every human endeavour
Yes, comical.
Lots. People aren’t motivated the way that RWNJs think that they’re motivated and, in fact, they fuck up badly when paid more.
Massively so.
Yes they would as they would actually have something to challenge them rather than being forced into being a bloody farmer.
What’s destroying NZ is RWNJ ideology. In fact, it’s destroying the environment and all other societies as well.
Not convincing Draco, sorry and F
Draco and others…
I mean tax the economy. Don’t tax the people – they are too tricky…
The economy would effectively be taxed because the additional money issued would lower the value of the existing money in the system. This would happen equally and across the board. Kinda like a flat tax – so it doesn’t address the “progressive tax” issue…
But taxing people is all too hard. I was trying to think of a way to tax something inert and large and unable to be individually fiddled.. and something that applies across everyone….
… which is f course the whole lot of it…. the entire economy …. just take slice of the economy each year to pay for the essentials etc … and a slice can be taken by issuing more money….
conceptually I think it works…
Just print money and trust the politicians, who decides essential, when does can’t be bother just print me money become an essential. Both Draco and yourself fail to appreciate human nature in your prescription assuming we just all live in one big homogenous hippy community re our values, goals, aspirations and motivations,likewise we are totally disconnected from of the rest of the world, thus no unintended consequences ie every one chose to stay in our little paradise
If the UK required one single set of tax laws across its Caribbean protectorate we would start narrowing further the Rabbit holes of the 1%.
I suspect the UK review will broaden to this.
Protectorates
Very few would trust the government to have this amount of power.
I wouldn’t.
Winston Peters was excellent this morning on RNZ. The interviewer was very cynical and didn’t know his stuff, Winston schooled him.
Yes winnie runs rings around these jonolists we have.
The opposition in general need to treat them as the shills they are to wrest back the narrative from CT spin lines
On Martyn Bradbury’s Waatea TV last night Nicky Hagar gave an example of an Indonesian billionaire who burned down the rainforests for palm oil and all the profits were channelled through paper companies in untraceable tax havens so he paid no tax in Indonesia to benefit the local population. Or anywhere.
Meanwhile, as a result of this destructive industry orangutangs die (and the NZ dairy industry imports the palm kernel for cow feed). These are the stories we should be told in the mainstream media.
yep, Waatea is how the news should be, not great quality video for obvious reasons but it is way more bearable than clear images of “Hosko” and the rest of the Nat brown nosers
It was a great episode – Grant Robertson, Winston Peters and Nicky Hager – worth watching they all came across really well.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/04/11/waatea-5th-estate-the-panama-papers-special/
Thanks again, saveNZ
Tolley office “Molotov firebombing”–anyone got any updated info on this?
the PM smeared the TPPA movement via TV and other media on 5 Feb after the impressive actions of 4 Feb, by attempting to link TPPA protests to graffiti and an apparent attempted fire setting in one of Anne Tolley’s four electorate offices (one is shared with another Nat MP)
no statement from Police or Nats since, Tolley’s office is situated in an alley near a bank, with various security cams in place so some idea should have been gained as to the perpetrators
another cold case? it is frustrating that the Nats get a nationwide “hit” on the TPPA movement for free
thats the first i hear about it. don’t think the ‘hit’ went that far.
This Waatea Fifth Estate panel discussion with Winston Peters, Grant Robertston and Nicky Hager on the Panama Papers is excellent – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F54KgYjkQ
I don’t get it. This morning on National Radio a man was describing how careful his firm is before accepting Trusts from overseas. But why are, say English rich, putting their money in NZ Trusts? Why do they not put their Trusts in their own country like the Honorable John Key?
Oh. And no one has ever asked his firm for Trust details. Not IRD or anyone else!
He finally got it, 20 years too late but he finally got it. Will NZ repeat the mistakes of Europe?
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/04/trevor-phillips-is-finally-discovering-the-pitfalls-of-the-term-islamophobia/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3533161/This-life-death-struggle-stark-analysis-former-equalities-chief-reveals-extremist-ideas-allowed-flourish.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2996235/At-man-dares-tell-truth-race-Ex-race-tsar-says-silencing-debate-devastating-harm-Britain.html
Finally a leftie with the courage to speak out…theres a lesson there somewhere
His views are more relevant to the UK situation, and are superficial at best. I really hate the word ‘Islamophobia’, but I think that many who are dragging up his comments are guilty of just that. Its less about Muslims and more about the source of the Muslim immigrants.
Just do the maths: India (133m Muslims), China (133m Muslims), Indonesia (196m) Muslims, and so on. How many terrorists come from these populations? Many people from these Muslim populations are already well settled and reasonably well integrated in NZ and Australia.
The common thread in the Islamic terrorists, lack of integration and so on in European countries (with a few exceptions) are more related to Middle Eastern and Bangladeshi immigrants. Most of these have had to make a quantum change from poverty, oppression and so on.
Don’t tar all Muslim immigrants around the world with the same brush.
Muslim population data:
http://www.islamicweb.com/begin/population.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Phillips
Superficial? He’s the former chair of the EHRC, a former leader of his student union
“When I was chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, I played a principal role in the creation of UK laws against religious discrimination — and it was a report that I commissioned exactly 20 years ago that first introduced the term Islamophobia to Britain”
I think he’s well qualified to talk about this subject
Being a former head of his student union is relevant how exactly?
Former head of EHRC does not mean his views now are correct, any more than his views then were correct.
Its superficial in that he treats all muslim immigrants as though they are of one mind.
You are part of the problem and that’s why I hope that our refugee intake isn’t increased unless we give equal measure to other religions because I don’t want NZ to become like Europe
Lol
You want to determine immigration policy based on Peter’s comments? sounds rational. /sarc
As for your idea of a quota system to allow equal representation of other religions, we could probably do with more Zoroastrians and Satanists in the country, although agnostics and atheists should be recognised, too. But is this consistent with your previous stance on Labour’s so-called “man ban”?
Not quite sure how you’re linking man-bans with religion but that does remind me of something, where’s Tracey got to?
I always enjoyed reading her posts
I’m just intrigued as to why you favour a quota for religion but not for gender.
I’m ok with adding atheists and agnostics in as well but its more that why does one religion seem to get more publicity then any other religion (or indeed those without religion)
You sure it’s not more why some people get their knickers in a bigger twist over one religion than they do over many others?
I don’t mind saying that I’d like to stop all Muslim refugees from entering NZ from this point on if that’s what you’re getting at
There are plenty of refugees out there we can take from many religious beliefs or none at all
ISTR watching John Oliver a while back, and he made a persuasive case that “muslim” refugees (and refugees in general) have a lower crime rate than the population into which they flee.
Just food for thought, should you decide to think.
So what?
I’m sure a case can be also made for child sex rings run by Muslims:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
As can cases for random bombings (far too many to link to but I’m sure you’ll agree that I don’t need to prove it)
Or the dangers school kids face:
https://www.rt.com/news/270214-bavaria-muslim-school-clothes/
Or how about this: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cologne-attacks-what-happened-after-1000-women-were-sexually-assaulted-a6867071.html
So yeah bring in our quota of refugees but lets leave the Muslims to other countries
Not, the proposition wasn’t that there was no crime associated with immigrants. Just that the crime rate, even of the “muslim” immigrants who scare you so much, is lower than the general population they flee to. So a higher proportion of slave trafficking rings would be ruin by non-muslims, similarly with other sexual assaults. And your link to the school was about the local school princopal being as racist as you.
Like I say, if you want to start actually thinking, there are places you can go for help.
No McFlock, we have enough problems in NZ without importing more, known, problems into NZ
What makes you think that whats happening in Europe and, recently in Australia, can’t happen here
I know you’re that naïve so what is it?
What do you think is happening in europe and aus, first?
Let’s say criminals in a population are like alcohol concentration: if you take a drop of wine and put it in a bottle of whiskey, is the resulting concoction more or less alcoholic? Wine is refugees, whiskey is the population they flee to.
Wow so adding child like xenophobia to your list of faults Puckish Rouge.
Desperate for a distraction from you corrupt and bent mate John Key.
Woken up the fact that this national government is possibly the worst in our history have we, so looking for scape goats and new things to raise false flags about.
What a sad, sad human being you are.
Look the Alpha programme may help, let me know where you live and I’ll see if we can infuse some love into your heart.
Well, whatever happened to the Special Housing Areas being for “affordable” homes?
The first one to come on stream in the Wakatipu hits the market with a house package at $755,000.00 More like special developer profits
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/379362/entry-level-home-755000
That’s an astronomical price for a 124 square metre house on 360 square metres of land. Who’s going to be fool enough to buy that?
I thought it was bad enough around our way. One developer has been trying to flog off 124 square metre houses in an MDH project. 30 units crammed onto a hillside, with the plan that they will be developed in 3 stages. Well, they started out on stage one two years ago with the units being marketed at $465K. It went up to $485K, then to $494K and now they are $508K. 3 units have sold from the first stage. The first purchase was 18 months ago and none of the units have been completed yet. Developer logic is “houses won’t sell, raise the price”.
Time will tell how any of of these SHA’s around the country will contribute to the stock of “affordable homes”. I’m not holding my breath for the Wellington region. Our council has a disturbingly cosy relationship with developers.
The SHA is another government farce and botch up – in Auckland they are selling for 1 million in Huapai.
It really is some sort of Marie Antoinette moment of the government.
Thanks for those ‘affordable’ houses Key. Neoliberalism really works! A bit like how NZ is ‘not a tax haven’ for his offshore buddies even though we are mentioned 60,000 times. sarc.
Hmmm. Stalemate.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/78824702/prominent-new-zealander-trial-jury-at-stalemate
I guess the issue is, from what I’ve read, is that the offending is at the lower end of the scale so there’s no other physical evidence to back the complainant up so it comes down to their word against his and since you need to be sure beyond reasonable doubt…
Which is always the case with the nature of this type of offending. It’s so easy for offenders to get away with it, they have the immediate advantage of a lack of physical evidence of their offending, over their victims.
I worry that these girls, alongside thousands of others that have gone before them, won’t get the justice they deserve.
Yes but only if what they say is true of course (I’m inclined to believe them as their stories seem to corroborate each other but of course I haven’t sat in on the case)
Firstly why would two young girls lie and put themselves thru the wringer,
And secondly if you were going to lie to get someone in the shit wouldn’t your allegations be of a more serious nature than these ones are?
I don’t know and that’s why we have trials
Its happened before.
You are assuming that he is guilty. It may be that the people who have heard the evidence think he isnt (well enough of them to cause this stalemate).
It could be that he is innocent – so no justice to the girls is required. Just the opposite in fact.
I guess we have to wait for the jury decision to know huh.
Yes, well I guess the girls thought it would be a real hoot to make something up, make a police complaint, talk to adults about intimate parts of their bodies that a young girl is only getting used to the idea of, spend ages waiting for it to go to trial and then have their experiences laid bare to strangers and cope with a defence that rips them to shreds and belittles them.
Totally in it for the lols.
So yes, I do have a bias to support girls and women who make such allegations, knowing how often such experiences are never reported and how much strength and courage it takes for a person to go through this process. So if I’ve got my blinkers on, it’s for good reason.
Its good you have your blinkers on and the stats are skewed against complainants but its still innocent until proven guilty
Peter Ellis may have a different view though
Comments above show why similar cases often end with Jury stalemates.
In any group of 12 jurors there is highly likely to be at least one who believes the victim/s would not make the claim unless it was true, and at least one juror who believes that an accusation without evidence cannot possibly meet the test of ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.
if neither is prepared to shift their position, Jury is stalemated. I was involved in one of those juries once, and before dismissing us the judge informed us not to feel bad because we were the third jury to be ‘hung’ on the same case.
So the victims and accused had been through the wringer 3 times….and the expense to taxpayer was?
Personally, I would rather see such cases be tried purely by a Judge.
Pretty sure that’s why we no longer go for unanimous jury decisions.
Or is that still in the too hard basket for National?
Very good point The lost sheep, thanks for making It.
I feel being a prom…… in NZ and being tried in your home base,Judge along wound been mandatory, does anyone now were the law stands, will the defendant choose.
I can understand that Rosie.
But there are also cases of where men have been unjustly complained against, and had their lives ruined.
Im not saying that in this case at all (I havn’t been watching it that closely) – but I do know that cases like this people need ALL the information and blinkers (from any side) – are harmful.
however, you obviously have some history – and I can understand that impacts your view on things – which is only natural. So can understand (as much as I can) where you are coming from.
But there are a lot on here that want him found guilty – simply because of the damage it could do to [you know who].
Honestly – I just hope that justice prevails – whatever the outcome and that people can accept the verdict from people who have heard all the facts.
Note – if he is guilty – I hope they throw the book at him.
Agreed, if found guilty then he needs to be named while suppressing all details of the victims and his relationship to the victims
He’s been found not guilty. Stuff still have the story under the original heading:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/78824702/prominent-new-zealander-trial-jury-at-stalemate.html
You know what? I do know of one man who was accused of attempted rape and he was actually innocent. The complainant had a certain motivation against this man. I do know how his life was affected for quite some before the charges were dropped.
However, the issue is that, to quote a completely misunderstood politician, “family and sexual violence is perpetrated overwhelmingly by men, so the first message to men out there is to wake up, stand up man up and stop this bullshit”.
Key word is “overwhelmingly”. So you know the odds are stacked against women and children.
http://areyouok.org.nz/family-violence/statistics/
I think it was quite normal to be suspicious of the man in this case, given our statistics in NZ. But he has been not found guilty. That has to be accepted.
To james
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/78821057/labour-leader-andrew-little-to-release-tax-records-back-to-2010-but-key-refuses
– Wow a publicity stunt from a Labour leader…theres no way this could backfire
Little said he could not speak for his finance spokesman Grant Robertson. “He tells me his tax affairs are more boring than mine.”
A publicity stunt and a mention of Grant Robertson… this is smart from Andrew Little
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/snapper-review/9065298/David-Shearers-dead-snapper-stunt
Do you think thats little trying to push robertson under the bus?
Well anything’s possible and he is a lawyer but in this case I’m thinking it wouldn’t be the first time Mr Robertson has set up a rival
I think we are more interested in seeing Key’s tax returns for the last 8 years he has been PM.
Nothing to hide nothing to fear and all that.
Plus John Key is sooooo honest, cos he tells us that. And gives all his salary to charity. NZ is not a tax haven and he his blind trusts are irrelevant. I’m sure he doesn’t have quillions in his kids names around the globe.
Lets find out if he is telling the truth?
Oh you poor blind, deluded fool (and I don’t mean that harshly) you and others like yourself have so much irrational hatred for John Key built up that you’re just like a dog barking at any passing car in the forlorn hope that’ll finally be the issue to bring down John Key
Most people will see it for what it is and that’s just a cheap, meaningless political stunt.
They’ll think that they wouldn’t want their tax returns published so why should John Key
They’ll think of course John Key has trusts because he’s wealthy (he’s never hidden it) and they’ll think they’d do the same if they were in his position
They’ll think as long as he’s following the rules then its ok
and then they’ll think of Labour and all they’ll think of is spite, negativity and malice
It’s not really all that irrational.
I have meet people who still think saint key gives all his pm wages to charity so at least it would clear that little myth up.
Most people will see it for what it is and that’s just a cheap, meaningless political stunt.
This, especially when Littles tax records are just his pay slips for the time he’s been a MP.
Obvious political stunt is obvious.
I can see this has clearly rattled a nerve with our Troll Key Cheerleaders.
Not really irrational when David Cameron is releasing his tax returns.
And the Icelandic PM has had to resign.
But Key still claims NZ is not a tax haven he himself advocated for when NZ is mentioned 60,000 times in the Panama papers.
Not really irrational when David Cameron is releasing his tax returns.
And the Icelandic PM has had to resign.
What has that got to do with John Keys tax?
That’s what we want to know!
What is it that he is desperately trying to hide?
Remember that this is the result of only one of the four largest firms dealing in this sort of stuff. It implicates 140 politicians around the globe avoiding tax in their own countries or worse.
We know Key has “blind” trusts.
The chances are he is as heavily implicated in this sort of shinanagans as the rest.
Has John Key been implicated?
Apparently that doesn’t matter, he just looks guilty
If he looks guilty and he is not – then he should prove that he is not.
Or in other words, it’s not good enough for our public officials to merely be honest. They must be demonstrably honest.
That’s one thing I learned from my security days – someone checking up on me wasn’t that they didn’t trust me, it was so that if shit happened in a high risk environment, they could vouch that I’d done everything properly.
“If he looks guilty and he is not – then he should prove that he is not.”
I think you may have had an intimate relationship with a farmyard animal because you look guilty of it, please provide proof that you haven’t.
*Just as an example of why that line of reasoning is not a good one to use
Or I think you have child pornography on your computer.
If you don’t hand over your computer so we can check it out, you’re obviously guilty.
Maybe someone should run that one past Andrew Little, see how he reacts.
Seems only fair that the people know whether the person who railroaded through the changes that made NZ a tax haven (and then ignored advice on seven separate occasions to rectify the problem) benefitted personally from those changes.
that is what we want to find out!
We know he is a lying bastard – especially where his personal trusts are concerned. He has been the one driving, the new zero tax regime for foreign investors (quid pro quo?), and he is the one who has appointed the sham Shewan to do a whitewash of the whole affair. His actions speak of one giant arse cover-up!
Yep, in the panama papers NZ has 60,000 mentions.
I’m sure with all those long holidays in the US, that is probably the tax haven of choice for Key though, and with friends there to protect him.
60,000 mentions out of what, 1.1 million documents?
So mentioned in 0.55% of them? Amazing.
Ooooooh another who can do arithmetic
WOW
I’ve seen much higher percentages (falls in Labour polling for example) dismissed on this forum as not important.
yes. Because numbers get their meaning and importance from their context. 60 is a number. $60 in your pocket is pretty good. 60 charges against you in court is pretty bad. But your IQ of 60 should get you off most of those charges due to mental incompetence.
The meaning and importance comes from the context.
Hi ranfurz,
You might want to check your arithmetic.
1,100,000 documents. 60,000 mentions. Think about it.
Here’s a clue: 60,000 is 1% of 6,000,000
More than 1 in 20 documents, on average, mentioned New Zealand.
(Of course, presumably some documents mentioned New Zealand more than once.)
@ Mcflock
60 is a number. $60 in your pocket is pretty good. 60 charges against you in court is pretty bad. But your IQ of 60 should get you off most of those charges due to mental incompetence
60 is pretty good or pretty bad? And this from someone who once claimed that…
“75,000 might or might not be significant”
It’s all in the context….and the context is what suits you at the time as far as I can see.
That’s because you can’t see very far at all.
Fuck 75,000, 75 million might be insignificant: 75 million tonnes of gold or 75 million gold atoms would have significantly different value, no?
But you’d argue that 75 million gold atoms (a tiny fraction of a gram) is just as a significant amount of gold as around 100 times all the gold ever mined. Because you’re a moron.
No, context is “the parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.” Learn english, fucko.
Oh stop with the poor me routine BM, it was tiresome days ago. Today it just a bit sickening. Add to the conversation.
If you want to winge, go over to whale oil, I’m sure that hate munger will wallow in crap you are spinning.
I really don’t see what the fuss is about. If dear Leader has got nothing to hide he should simply roll out his tax returns.
Fuck, we ask for more from someone who is simply applying for an unemployment benefit after they lost their jobs.
If he has nothing to hide he should show his returns.
“If he has nothing to hide he should show his returns”
Because hes done nothing wrong or been shown to have done anything wrong or theres been nothing to link him to anything wrong because you’re just fishing for evidence…any of the above really
How long have these documents been out for…over a year, I’d bet Nicky Hagers already had a look so if there was anything it’d be known about already
Unless of course Nicky just sits on it until about 4 weeks out from the next election like the little creep he is
There’s really only one response to that, and that’s a quote from Frank Marvin, the late editor of Mountain Scene, my local paper.
“If you don’t want it on the front page, don’t do it”
Frank was a top man, and utterly fearless in his reporting of the goings on around Queenstown and always had plenty of material. He was very effective at keeping the place in order. His world view was quite different to Hager’s though.
Every year since 2006 MP’s have been required to declare their Financial Interests
MP’s should also be unaverse to declaring their tax returns as well if they have nothing to hide. They are the ones who set the taxes – they should show they they are above board in that regard as well.
Seriously, some on the right comment on something dumb a Labour leader does and its taken as we’re rattled
So let me guess if we don’t comment on something dumb the Labour leader de jour does then that also proves we’re rattled?
When you cry wolf all the time, when most of what you say is a lie, and sorry Puckish Rouge, but your track record is quite bad – especially when you parrot the party line.
So here is some hints; Try not lying, try being reasonable, try not ranting with hyperbole some time, and we may listen.
Then again in this case the national government dropped the ball, they created a tax haven, tarnished our good name and besmirched us all.
The problem is national party supporters like yourself rather than own up to that, go on the attack. Engage in dirty politics and then moan about it when we call you on it.
The poor me routine is very bloody tiresome. As is the distractions. I see your boy Brash decided Racism was the distraction the government needed this time.
So quite frankly Puckish Rogue, a amoral punter like yourself, could take a look at the lack of morals shown in the last few days or you could just carry on moaning.
That’s nice dear
I see you went for moaning.
It would be nice, if there were the slightest chance that you’d stop with the lies and distractions and derailments.
More product in railing against the wind, I fear…
But when one thinks of Key and Trusts – all one can think of is lying and feathering his own nest
Andrew Little has just tabled his Income Tax Records in the House. Now where is Key’s?
Everyone already knows Andrew Little’s tax record, MP’s salaries are public knowledge.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/78824702/prominent-new-zealander-trial-jury-at-stalemate.html
“Prominent New Zealander trial: Not Guilty”
Any one really surprised ?
Since I wasn’t on the jury and didn’t hear the evidence, I’m neither surprised nor unsurprised.
“I’m neither surprised nor unsurprised.”
clearly some kind of nihilist….
edgy !
Not really. Tough on the kids.
Still, I doubt that many people who know him would now ask him to be a child-minder.
Prominent Kiwi sex charge case: Not guilty to all charges
Helps so much if you are protected by people in high places, what career you used to have and expensive lawyers to plant seeds of doubt.
Exactly – I’ve sat on the jury one of these sort of cases and after 2 weeks of evidence and a whole raft of “prominent NZers” giving “evidence in support” of the accused – convicted and discharged.
Anyone else would be in the big house.
He was found not-guilty based on the evidence.
and far from a whole raft of “prominent NZers” giving “evidence in support”
It sounds like it was more the evidence of the girls not being backed up, or changing.
You were not there, nor did you hear all the evidence – so its stupid, to suggest that anyone else would be in the “big house”.
I suppose we have to accept the jury decision. Assuming he is innocent it will find it hard to be left alone with other people’s kids. Stigma is not always fair.
Fuck, I avoid being left alone with kids anyway, and haven’t been accused of a damned thing.
Massaging kids is a bit weird (regardless of everything else), too.
Physios, fucking deviants.
There’s a difference between that and doing it socially. Although I’m prepared to accept it might be a cultural variation I have, but the only people I’ve given or received social massages from have been folks with whom it added a little frisson of enjoyment to both. Just as Tony Rockyhorror should have known.
It always means something…
“Massaging kids is a bit weird ”
we had a teacher who did exactly that at my primary school many many years ago….
he was arrested, charged and did 18 months…
I wonder how it would have panned out had it been a teacher giving massages to kids?
Will the guy get his old job back…will they want him back?
I wonder if he’ll be [r0b: deleted for obvious legal reasons] now?
History repeating it’s self, ignoring evidence from children, because their children, and therefore lack credibility.
that’s one of those comments that you expect to be replaced by modface bold reasonably soon…
Aye!
That has to be close to be breaking suppression orders.
Mods may want to make a call on that one.
Indeed.
Ooops, apologies!
Regardless of this case, all too often, the “privileged” are able to manipulate outcomes in court hearings, justice, sometimes, appears to be a commodity.
http://thehandmirror.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/making-him-stop.html
Excerpt:
I was up against a Public Service superior years ago who was terrorising me (no, not sexually but something equally as frightening) both in the workplace and beyond. I reported him to the management. He lied to them. They believed him because of his superior position. My career ended in tatters but at least the terrorising stopped.
Anne
My wife had a similar experience with one of her previous employers, at the final hearing, the employer thought they had the case wrapped up, my wife is not good at defending herself, so knowing the circumstances of the case, I spoke up and put forward a couple of very pertinent questions surrounding the validity of the accusations against my wife, these questions resulted in a win for my wife, but if I hadn’t been there, the employer would have won, he had tried to pay off our lawyer with a bribe as well, I’m just glad Iv’e got a big mouth and a willingness to challenge the BS.
Yeah, fucking Doug Graham and Bill Jeffries buying their convictions.
“Prime Minister John Key has declared a short term deposit to a company specialising in foreign trusts.
The latest register of MPs pecuniary interests listed the Antipodes Trust Group Limited as a debtor in Key’s entry. The register was released today.
On its website, the Antipodes Trust calls itself a specialist provider or trustee and associated services for foreign trusts using New Zealand as their jurisdiction of choice.”
Anyone know what this means? Good or Bad?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/78838228/prime-minister-john-key-deposited-money-with-company-specialising-in-foreign-trusts
It’s the firm his lawyer works for now. So likeliest explanation is that Key’s lawyer held the deposit for something in trust (the firm’s trust) for a short time, as is usual when making decent sized financial transactions. One example – many here bought a house? The usual process is the deposit is held by your lawyer in a trust until settlement.
Keep in mind the declarations for this register were made before 31st Jan 2016 – it’s not like Key has suddenly declared this transaction in the wake of the Panama Papers.
Its not like he declared it publicly himself either in all those interviews he’s done since the Panama papers came it. It must have slipped his mind.
Unfortunately, it’s not a smoking gun. This appears to be just a financial “interest”, held in trust by a lawyer, acting on Key’s behalf, for some as yet unknown purpose.
There appears to be no tax avoidance or evasion that we can see. He was required to declare it and was right to do so.
Despite the attempts by Patrick Gower et al to suggest that the funds held are suspect by association with the company the lawyer now works for are a bit much.
To have Key caught out would a delight but alas – but I will be watching this space
Not sure any legitimate poster here has suggested this is a smoking gun. BM and his right wing allies are suggesting the socially conscious left believe it to be a smoking gun but that is not the case.
Given the current attention around New Zealand being a soft touch for secretive funds, this is what the media says it is – embarrassing for John Key.