Robert Fisk writes an excellent article condemning Theresa May.
Theresa May, your words about chemical warfare make you a hypocrite
As Theresa May gears up for war in Syria, we should remember what hypocrites we are about chemical warfare in the Middle East.
Not a soul today is mentioning the terrible war fought between 1980 and 1988, which was fought with our total acquiescence. It’s almost an ‘exclusive’ to mention the conflict at all, so religiously have we forgotten it.
Meanwhile Craig Murray continues to shine the spotlight on the other lie. The one about spies. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has published its report on the Salisbury incident.
It would appear Theresa May has been telling some massive lies.
The word “Russia” does not occur in today’s OPCW report. The OPCW Report says nothing whatsoever about the origin of the chemical which poisoned the Skripals and certainly does not link it in any way to Russia.
The technical ability of Porton Down to identify a chemical has never been in doubt, and the only “finding of the United Kingdom”the OPCW has confirmed is the identity of the chemical.
There are scores of countries that chemical could have come from. For the BBC and other mainstream media outlets to pretend that the OPCW has in any sense endorsed Boris Johnson’s claims about Russia is to spread deliberate lies as propaganda. In fact what they have confirmed is simply the finding of Porton Down – and that finding was that it is a chemical which cannot be confirmed as made in Russia.
So, just to be clear, the Skripals and the police officers weren’t affected by dodgy seafood, insecticide, or a weird planetary alignment. It was in fact a novichok agent, even though according to Craig Murray it couldn’t have been that because novichok is “instant acting” and Porton Down couldn’t identify it anyway.
And yet if my summary were incorrect, you would have said why.
So if even an idiot can see the contradictions and flat-out inaccurracies in Murray’s statements, why would anyone use him as an authority on this matter?
Another canary in the coalmine.
Climate catastrophe is happening.
We cannot afford to tinker.
An international emergency needs to be declared.
We need to mobilise for World War 3.
The war to save life on our planet.
Is the Gulf Stream about to collapse and is the new ice age coming sooner than scientists think?
Two new studies published in the scientific journal Nature have brought a new threat to the world’s attention: the shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean currents including the Gulf Stream.
Barely a day goes by without new research emerging warning humanity of its impending doom, but the collapse of the Gulf Stream is an event with particularly ominous connotations.
Scientists have previously linked disruptions to Atlantic currents with everything from heatwaves in Europe to rising sea levels in coastal US cities.
Yes Ed – and today on Newshub AM Show we witnessed more ‘biased’ industry reaction to the new Labour Government policy of “Energy Policy” using Duncan Garner as their trumpet sadly;
Regarding Duncan Garner;
Duncan Garner was this morning on the AM show’ viciously attacking labour’s newly released Energy Policy, while at the same time was seeming to be supporting National’s abysmal past policy again, and not following up with labour’s Phil Twyford asking Judith Collins when will national begin to plan to turn off the oil tap, then when Garner had the chance to drill Collins he failed repeatedly without asking national Judith Collins “when will National stop oil drilling in NZ” – a sorry sight there.
Garner should feel ashamed of his bias shown today. His children will suffer if he doesn’t wake up now and fight to turn off the oil tap.
When National talk about energy there is a one worded reply which displays their pig ignorant beliefs ….. Lignite
I wonder what happened to all the valuable farmland purchased to chase this national party rainbow of shite … it had the usual rainbow treasure hunters results.
Th Pike river non-compliant killing zone …..and running solid energy into insolvency attest to Nationals slash and crash management skills.
Garner represents color blind segregation …. Economic segregation favoring the wealthy
national is also telling lies about jobs in “exploration”
Just looked at Fiztroy Engineering in New |Plymouth contract list
This is a typical recent example
“Managing the logistics and the erection of 6000 tonnes of structural
steel for the new Christchurch Hospital Acute Services Building,
Canterbury, New Zealand”
There is work related to oil refining – in Australia
“Ongoing onsite planning and coordination of the relevant
subcontractors for the fabrication and installation of structural
steel, pipe spooling and pump skids across all areas of the Caltex
Lytton Refinery, QLD, Australia”
Fitzroy’s main business is in oil and gas (look after the guys that look for the stuff). structural steel is a sideline brought in when the oil price nosedived.
Maybe if Twyford wasn’t screaming “lies!!” the whole time anyone else was trying to talk and making stupid promises that no jobs will be affected Garner could have actually got a word in edgeways.
Your theory seems a little bit unlikely.
The term “went to high school together” does rather imply that they were at the school as pupils at the same time.
If this is actually true, and they really were at Westlake Boys High School at the same time, could you please tell me.
Was Phil Twyford a really, really slow learner?
Or was Duncan Garner a child prodigy?
I ask because Twyford was born on 4 May 1963 and Duncan Garner on 6 March 1974. Twyford is almost 11 years older and it seems a little unlikely that they were actually at the school at the same time.
I take it that you went to the same school, did you?
Did you enjoy your time there?
I notice that the school doesn’t seem to be very keen on publicising the fact that Twyford went there. Their entry in Wikipedia lists Duncan Garner as being an old boy but there is no mention of Twyford. The only politician listed is an Auckland Councillor, John Watson. I guess if he was an old boy of my old school I wouldn’t boast about it either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westlake_Boys_High_School#Notable_alumni
“”What worries us is that those in power in Croatia now are largely the same as during the Nazi era,” said Dr Klara Mandic, a senior Jewish community leader at yesterday’s ceremony. ”In some cases, they are exactly the same people, now in their seventies and back from exile under the Communists. In other cases, they are the children of the Ustashe.
”They wear the same black shirts, the same black trousers, many carry the same ”Serbo-seks” knives for the Serbs . Tudjman the Croatian President would not dare touch Jews now that we have our own state to protect us. But he has prepared an atmosphere similar to that at the start of the Second World War and the fact is that many of the Croatian groups are out of his control.”.
Fox definitely pick and choose which fascists they diss ….
Apart from war …. whats your other preferred road to peace in Syria Jenny ??
I’d say a great job by alternative media and people who share it. Puts pressure on everyone else to either attempt truth or risk their braindead viewers seeing through their façade.
So in your mind a free Syria would be one which can attack Israel with impunity, have Assad use chemicals on whichever his people he wants, and which is a secure haven foe ISIS terrorism.
Strange definition of free.
Countries are limited in the amount of freedom they are allowed. Being a base to attack other countries (ISIS), using chemical and nerve gases are generally seen as being a limit on state freedom.
I believe you are incorrect with your assertions Wayne.
Jenny’s position on Syria, which she may choose to explain herself, is more nuanced than many and she is staunchly pro the Syrian people and anti all those who are making their lives miserable in particular she is very critical of Assad and his enablers.
I presume thats your effort at a derail Stunned Mullet
more info on Waynes darling ….. Israel ….
neither side owns the moral high ground during this period.
This same scholarship also reveals that the
creation of Israel in 1947-48 involved
explicit acts of ethnic cleansing, including
executions, massacres and rapes by
Jews.
48
Such atrocities have taken place
in many wars, of course, but their occur-
rence in this period undercuts Israel’s claim
to a special moral status.”
“Israeli personnel have tortured numer-
ous Palestinian prisoners, systematically
humiliated and inconvenienced Palestinian
civilians, and used force indiscriminately
against them on numerous occasions.
During the first intifada (1987-91), for
example, the IDF distributed truncheons to
its troops and encouraged them to break
the bones of Palestinian protestors. The
Swedish “Save the Children” organization
estimated that “23,600 to 29,900 children
required medical treatment for their beating
injuries in the first two years of the
intifada,” with nearly one-third sustaining
broken bones. It also estimated that
“nearly one-third of the beaten children
were aged ten and under.”
54
Israel’s response to the second intifada
(2000-05) has been even more violent,
leading Ha’aretz to declare that “the IDF
… is turning into a killing machine whose
efficiency is awe-inspiring, yet shocking.”
55″ http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/IsraelLobby.pdf
“Since 1970, China has used its veto power eight times, and Russia (and the former Soviet Union) has used its veto power 13 times. However, the United States has used its veto power 83 times, primarily in defense of allies accused of violating international humanitarian law. Forty-two of these US vetoes were to protect Israel from criticism for illegal activities, including suspected war crimes. To this day, Israel occupies and colonizes a large swath of southwestern Syria in violation of a series of UN Security Council resolutions, which the United States has successfully blocked from enforcing. Yet, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insists that it is the Russians and Chinese who have “neutered” the Security Council in its ability to defend basic human rights.”
Thank you Stunned Mullet for your show of support.
But personally, I don’t feel that my position on Syria is that nuanced. In fact my position is quite simple.
I will never support a regime that commits genocide. Simple as that.
It is one of the reasons I keep posting the video of the destruction of Homs, and inviting the pro-regime commenters, or authors, to give me their remarks. Despite giving them many opportunities to do so. Not one of them has ever had the courage to venture an opinion, on what clearly is vision of hell on earth. (or at least its aftermath).
What is unique about the drone footage of the genocidal destruction of the rebel city of Homs, is that it was taken by a camera fitted to a Russian Drone and was first aired on RT the Russian propaganda channel.
Weirdly, everything else that RT put out is frequently cited uncritically by supporters of the regime.
I also, don’t support shooting of unarmed protesters in the streets.
Nor can I support detention without trial, and/or disappearances.
In forming my opinion, it helped, that I had actually been to Syria. (admittedly not when the revolt broke out, but only a matter of months before). And I can attest to the deep hatred and contempt for the Assad regime commonly held by the Syrian people. I can also attest to the regime as an oppressive Orwellian police state, that none of us would want to live under.
Most of my time in Syria I spent in the Northern city of Latakia, and mostly in the company of Palestinian refugees in the camp there. This camp was one of the very first civilian areas shelled by regime in 2011.
I was back in New Zealand at the time, but I followed the live feeds of the bombs falling on a place I knew well.
No doubt some regime supporters will have the gall to tell me that the live feeds were fake and I mistook the places I was familiar with.
Some of these same people will no doubt tell me, that the Arab Spring which, by sheer weight of numbers of the millions who took part is the biggest popular revolt in human history, was a CIA plot. They may even provide links to prove it.
No Wayne – that is not Jenny’s stance on Syria (a country in which (I gather from a previous comment) she has lived and worked). As Stunned Mullet says, her position is more nuanced than most here, and I support her stand on this.
The people of Syria have ben starved, bombed, gassed, cast out of their homes, murdered, and generally abused by a tyrannical regime since the major drought of 2005. I’m sure that in Jenny’s eyes – a free Syria would be one without conflict, without the oppression of Assad, and at peace with its Neighbours. The people of Syria have had enough.
A free Syria could be modelled on a free Iraq, free Afghanistan and a free Libya I spose… The tyrants are gone, are you happy now? Was it worth it? Why do countries always turn into hell holes after the west takes an interest in them..
One of the consequences of war, whoever the antagonist, is just that – a power vacuum that results in a breakdown of stabile government. The situation in Syria will inevitably result in an unstable region for some time to come. But let’s get this quite clear – the revolt of the people in Syria erupted not from insurgents from the west – but from within. People have been fed up with the corruption and abuse of power from the Assad regime since at least 2005. Food prices in 2006 were skyrocketing following the worst drought in history – and the drought persisted. Assad did nothing to assist the people and lived in obscene luxury. The resulting chaos and the arrival of ISIS was inevitable.
The country doesnt matter, the Saudis who back the ISIS group will just find another country…. surely you noticed where Osma Bin laden and his supporters were based.
They will just move to another country even if Syria and Iraq were occupied by US troops.
Remind us again how ISIS ended up in Iraq and how the Syrian civil war backed by US , Turkey and Saudi/UAE grew into a larger conflict
I think that if you are truely off the Grid then you don’t have to pay line charges.
But if you have solar or what have you but still are connected to the grid then you pay. In countries like Germany they gave incentives to have solar energy so they did not have to pay to upgrade the grid as well as more sustainable in the long run.
But in NZ they have decided to target people with solar and charge them more. We are a world joke!
Here is an article on way-to-be-cleared-for-big-electricity-players-to-prey-on-lowincome-households
Remember you can have a heat pump and insulation but if people are too poor to pay for power (or the power is off due to storms) then you have no heating.
Obviously investment in solar will reduce the amount that people have to pay, but that gets the power company up in arms because their profits will be effected. So what does the government do – cave in.
Who do you propose should be able to set a “take it or leave it price”?
I suspect that the power companies would be quite happy not to have to take any power from people with their own Solar generation. If they could I am sure that they might set a price of 0.001 cent/kwh. Such power tends to be erratic and is only supplied back to the grid at a time when there is little demand for it. It really isn’t easy to store surplus electricity for use when it is in demand.
“It really isn’t easy to store surplus electricity for use when it is in demand.”
So if they’re not that fussed about getting power back does that means there is quite a surplus of power in the system. And if there’s a surplus, why are we charged so much? Let me guess, power prices have gone up so much in recent years because privatization is always cheaper, more efficient and provides a better deal for consumers…Wait a minute!!
“These regulations, Minister Woods has now signalled, are to be dumped overboard to clear the way for the industry to increase its squeeze on the poor. Recognising that will probably leave more and more poor households unable to pay, and so cut off from supply, the industry’s solution is for taxpayers to subsidise electricity purchases by the poor, thereby underwriting the electricity industry’s profits in the same way as the Accommodation Supplement has enabled landlords to hold up rents.
“Woods duly refers to ‘the wider context of supporting New Zealanders to afford their energy bills’.”
Are these subsidies going to be in the form of the Winter Energy Payments the Government has announced?
They managed to get away with all sorts of things @savenz.
We should for example, be telling suppliers to relocate their meters onto the nearest lamp post, since at the time of privatisation, they managed to shift ‘demarcation’ points such that they could have it both ways.
You’re responsible (financially) to fix any cable problems from the lamp post, YET their meters (their property) is more often than not way past the demarc point.
Cost shifting.
I also seem to remember a guy around the bays in Wellington with an efficient wind generator. Most of the time his electricity was sufficient to keep his Ferranti Meter going backwards.
Oh NO! they thought – we can’t have this. Think of what might happen if others do the same!!
We want to be able to charge you for electricity at OUR rate, but if you give us electricity, we want it at OUR rate too!
Ekshully, don’t get me started. We could go through all that spin an shit about ‘baseloads’ and other stuff, and smart meters versus the basic ripple control.
It’s bloody tedious.
I think it’ll eventually come back to the point that where there are natural monopolies, such as with reticulation of the basics (water, shit-pipes, electricity, fibre – or copper, gas supply, etc., railway lines, roads et al), these things must be in public ownership or government [local or central]), OR they need to be heavily regulated.
Gordon Campbell takes David Parker to task over his announcement of the Afganostan inquiry. The NZDF commander is sounding strong and confisant but still not being pressed on why he said the name of the village in Hit and Run was wrong, when it was right. There is a difference between no comment on the groubds of National Security and lying to the NZers whose lives and fundamental rights you say you fight for.
Parker was playing politics yesterday and if you closed your eyes it coukd have been National speaking.
Well there’s the worry @Tracey. Not too dissimilar as to whether other Munsters want to confront the obvious spin and bullshit from “their officials” busy trying to protect their arses, be they in MPI, OR MSD, or MoT (NZTA), or MBIE, or Health, or Education, or, or, or….
Expediency, or pragmatism, or whatever bullshit excuse they want to offer to an uncritical MSM, it’ll eventually end badly for them (the spin meisters or the Johnalists).
It’s why I don’t get too upset or emotionally involved these days. They’re unknowingly experts in shitting in their own nests and self-copulation
What do you think the Natz were up to in Auckland… if you get off the racial profiling and just look at the concept of displacement which in NZ is bringing more people into Auckland, and pushing those out into other parts of NZ, pushing those out, you will be more on the money.
Even if you somehow got enough money to buy back into Auckland, you need to be able to earn enough to cover the increasing rates and costs that brings with how the Auckland council is behaving giving away rates money like a lolly scramble to big business while depriving non core areas or siphoning it off into consultants pockets so that nothing is being upgraded ahead of time.
Which is turning our city into a slum while creating ‘shock doctrine’ thinking… to ram through ill thought out plans that are counter to democracy or even reasonable thinking.
The Council has had many National members and the Mayor gets one vote.
They fought any improvements and hog tied changes quite often. Real nimbys, the Citizens and Rate payers Association.
I certainly wouldn’t disagree with your views on this, but am more inclined to give council, etc less credit. I think that they really have no clue and are winging it..
I hope the 50 million spent of emergency housing in hotels, is being beefed up… because the new housing is more of what you would call the gentrified type….
Isn’t a ‘crisis’ enough reason to perhaps declare a state of emergency and call in the army to erect some temporary shelters?
Oh no, that’s right, it’s only those bloody poor people and beneficiary bludgers that can’t handle putting a roof over their heads. It can’t really be a crisis
I’ll think there is bugger all tradies left in the Green in the Machine, unless they trained a heap more the during the PRT deployments? as they had stuff all during the ET deployments as a result of the No Mates Party defence cuts in the 90’s. The manta back then was you don’t need these tradies all doing in house work, like the old MoW so you can get rid of them. Then along came Bosnia, the Sollies , ET and the Sandpit deployments etc etc.
I’m not against a trade agreement but it’s not a trade agreement… it’s a security arrangement, asset striping double speak, that has been piggy backed by corporations to asset strip countries and leave the mess behind… and if you don’t like it, they can sue you in their illegal (EU Ruling) court.
Seriously if there is some blow out between China and US, probably the Pacific would be a good place for the show down, and it hasn’t worked out too well, for the Middle East civilians to be in the middle of oil/cultural war…
Even worse if China and US get together and we have some sort of hybrid of their business and human rights style come to the Pacific…
Yes, Trump is also my idol and so is Xi Jinping. If only we can bring their wise ways to NZ and both join TPPA and exploit all the holes in the agreement for their economic and strategic gain, it would be my dream country.
I’m also truely grateful for David Parker, who cleverly negotiated that ‘7 out of 10’ agreement. 10 out of 10 was too much pressure, obviously. And Jacinda has banned new oil but luckily when Natz get in again, we will already be in TPPA to get their agenda back on track.
Likewise the rise of the right and totaliarialism across many countries. Luckily we will be tied into an agreement that does not really consider any future risks including changes of government, new policy and climate change.
We love you too Australia because we export to you too, in spite of your human rights on refugees and others, and we can disagree with you because at least we are culturally similar and you are less likely to get offended and try to make us pay for our opinions.
Funny enough, probably not a good idea to enter into binding poorly worded agreements where the power imbalance is so unequal like TPPA and the cultural fit and interpretation is so wide.
Could be a mining plant, chicken factory or some thing else coming your way, there James, I’d have a contingency plan to bail out.
Unfortunately once there you generally can’t sell that easily or get enough to move somewhere of the same quality of life.
I know quality of life is something that is alien to both left and righties these days. It’s seems to be more important to just be alive and consuming stuff as an economic unit, the quality is irrelevant.
Life is such a lottery these days. I’t didn’t use to be like that, but one stoke of a Auckland council’s pen or the RMA and there will be nothing you can do about it, because their is only the pretence of democracy – the reality Auckland is starting to run like China – top down.
Not all together savenz. Twyford stopped the State house sell off. Had those tested for P retested treated if needed and people back in them.
Repairs and upgrades are now happening. I laughed when the Nats said “Costs are 7 times what landlords are spending” Well … when some landlords spend nothing on improvements, it would be easy to out spend them. Twyford is doing great.
Granted “affordable” is a poor choice of word by MSM. $600 000 is much better than $1000 000 though, and there has been $300 000 for a 1 bed apartment and $ 450 000 for two.
Yes winter is coming, but this government will do their utmost to house people and keep them warm and fed.
The Chairman, the Coalition are committed to building refurbishing and giving a bit more certainty for those in a state house.
The huge numbers brought in each year through loose immigration, has stressed housing beyond belief. You must admit that at least, and that the last government did not provide public housing to match it, or private either. Hence the horrific prices.
So Key did well when he sold his house in their created market of shortages. $ 21 000 000 Makes me fume. “What shortage?”
“What a fekker!!!” As my Irish ancestors would say
this is Trump we’re talking about here….it may become of concern if there is some official action regarding reopening negotiations…think the US may have its hands a little full at the moment.
It’s not a wind up. I really believe it was the best thing for New Zealand.
The fact that labour were dishonest and misled people who were against it – when they were always going to sign – makes me laugh because it was always going to happen.
It IS good for New Zealand. That’s why both main petite will be supporting it.
People arguing against it simply are ideological or have less knowledge than the people actually working on it.
Besides muttonbird on here tells me most kiwis have had all their concerns addressed by labour and are all ok with the signing now – so that must be right.
Yes but your preferred government negotiated it. The reality is, they both sold us out because seriously, you trust that they did a good job?
Our Met service can’t even predict bad weather that accurately and tens of thousands of people have no power. It does not sound like fingers on the pulse of our government and officials.
Because protectionism stops the rich pricks from stealing everything and they really don’t like that and as they own the MSM and the economists we dutifully get told that it’s bad.
Do we want to go bust trying to keep our Government control over keeping unscrupulous so called investors out NZ that could totally undermine our futures?
Yes, Labour, James is pleased, not enough to vote Labour though I’ll expect.
Quite a few Labour voters are vitriolic though, but no worry, just like the houses, bring the people in and the market will provide the houses, transport and wastewater and power.. oh and if they don’t then the taxpayers will and we will raise the taxes. simple.
Can’t we use “food grade” ‘high purity’ Hydrogen Peroxide instead?
Hydrogen peroxide has been proven to not cause any serious medical effects and also prevents many diseases.
Florida USA also uses Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) in many residential and commercial pools now. – Time we woke up here in our so called “clean green” country.
Say what you like about Shane Jones but this is the most coherent and rational I have heard him…maybe there is some intellect behind the flowery language.
He also did well in Parliament yesterday in reply to Goldsmith in Question 7 and later in the Urgent Debate on the government announcements re gas and oil :
On a lighter note, Jones’ facial expression during the press conference with Ardern and Shaw have certainly hit the news. Se Q7 above at about 4.30mins. Also the many faces of Shane Jones seem to be the subject du jour today:
Had been thinking the same thing Carolyn nth. She’s so entertaining to watch. I used to get a lot of laughs with Upston as well when she was chief nodder behind key.
Did you see Paula Bennet yesterday in Question Time? She had a question to the PM who of course was not there being Thursday, not was Peters who usually answers on the PM’s behalf on Thurs. Bennett got Davis who did better than he has in the past, and Bennett just fumed. She – and Collins – then incurred the wrath of the Speaker (starting at 2 mins in the video).
I agree with Ffloyd that Upston was also amusing when she was sittiing behind Key as a Whip. These days she is an angry fumer, who loves making Points of Order which usually fall flat with the Speaker.
we should really keep a record of the ‘nodders’ during QT.
It’s a bloody shame we don’t have anything like political satire in the MSM these days (no matter how pathetic we may once have thought it to be)
lol…think i know whats happened…my link went to a page that automatically plays the last thing you listened to on RNZ….it works for me but obviously not others
thanks for the heads up.
More on Siomon on the 3pm news – I’ve got to say I’m coming reluctantly to admire the guy!
He virtually said, forget whose fault it was that Middlemore’s in a mess, why doesn’t the Labour Government stop moaning and get it fixed! (And is wasn’t our fault anyway!)
I mean, he takes denial to a whole new level! What a l**** politician!
Just as an aside @Tony V,
I recently had someone chastise me for moi pathetic attempts at ridiculing him over his prinunseeayeshun. Genuinely though, sometoims I really can’t understand him without a translation, but then Fill Stein was sumtoims a chellunj too.
Their justification was that he’d apparently had a speech impediment that he’d overcome.
I called bullshit because the impediment had nothing to do with what is effectively just laziness (apologies to Toika Woititti ).
Loik Key though.. Lazy speech, lazy moind. Oidilogikill commitmunt is lot simpla en ya done hefta rilly think to much, speshly when ya learn the spin an torkin points.
You can account for different eggsents built up from location over toim – there’s even some ekademuk thet toll us orl we’d better get use twit goan forward – can’t remember where, but Soimun is jiss over the top. Oi suspek it wuz on radio layba maybe, or maybe red radio.
Sometoims I wunna what Phil Stein and Soimun’s IELTS points would be (goan forwid) … but of course they’re for the ‘others’
Audrey Young’s latest in the Herald is a reasoned piece about Labour’s recent woes. She’s right in my view. The government has left itself open to attacks from the opposition. As she says they’re not on the ropes yet… but imo they will be of they don’t tighten up the ship. Worth a read:
The Government’s $1 billion a year regional fund was launched in February. About $40m had been allocated thus far.
What’s totally disappointing is there are no strings attached (such as employees receiving a living wage) with the taxpayer money being splashed about.
Yes we should Chairman. But will anyone in Labour, NZ First or Greens notice? Too busy hobnobbing and showering mates with money? Of course we expect that from Natz, but maybe left voters expect more accountability?
“Yes we should Chairman. But will anyone in Labour, NZ First or Greens notice? Too busy hobnobbing and showering mates with money?”
Dead right, savenz. Their silence on the matter pretty much sums it up.
“Of course we expect that from Natz, but maybe left voters expect more accountability?”
Indeed. If this was National splashing taxpayer money about with no strings, I’m sure the left would be far more vocal. It seems many here are happy to turn the blind eye when Labour do it.
Labour are wasting an opportunity to improve the living standards of many by failing to ensure a living wage is paid. As a result, robbing workers of their fair share, hence reinforcing the status quo.
Next this Hong Kong based firm, will be explaining how they are really there to help the poor get cheap eggs, make a selected few in NZ richer, and the shitty town, good for nothing Maori, farmers and stupid chooks are not worth worrying about, and just collateral damage for their egalitarian ways and cheap exports.
Watch the clip from the Hui. The farm is 1.3 million chickens housed in 32 sheds (40,000 chickens in a shed). The sheds have a small opening (to let air in or let the chickens have a run outside?). The farm is considered free-range because of the small openings. But the impression is that most of their lives are spent in a shed crammed in with 40,000 other chickens. Their lifespan is a total of 6 weeks. Free-range chicken farming, wow.
Editorial Herald. Who would have thought that the writer would put a reasoned view regarding the “oil exploration.” A good summary.
Someone needed to rip the scab off because this day was always coming for the fossil fuel industry.
The question was would it be swallowed up by clean energy? Would it run out? Would it burn with the planet?
Or would it be a conscious decision?
The Government wants to make it the latter with its ban on offshore oil and gas exploration….
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will be heaped with plaudits and criticism in equal measure.
But the charge of economic vandalism levelled at this decision is either scaremongering or a genuine reaction to the unknown.
Major industries have fallen in quicker time and the economy has carried on its merry way.
Now this is interesting. I just had a phone call from Colmar Brunton, specifically asking for me. They’re doing a random survey of WINZ clients on behalf of MSD to get our feedback of our experiences dealing with said agency. Being highly suspicious and not quite believing it would be totally anonymous as she assured me, I was the one doing the interviewing initially but it seems to be legit.
Unfortunatlely I was screened out- going on the initial questioning it was obviously because I hadn’t had phone or face to face contact with real people there in the last 4 weeks. Bugger- the one time I get a chance to tell them what I think!!
Are any of my peers here aware of these surveys ever taking place in the past, or perhaps this is something new? A small glimmer of hope would be someone with influence is at least making a start on getting an idea of reality. One can only hope…
Hiya Kay, the same thing happened to a friend a few weeks back, unfortunately, they had not been to WINZ in the last 4-6 weeks so they were ruled out as well.
I went home to Te tairawhiti East Coast I went through Turangi Gisborne and went back to Putaruru around the Cape so I travelled right around Te tairawhiti. What I notice was that a lot of trees are gone in the Gisborne district and the landscape was dry and in Te tairawhiti heaps of trees native and exotic planted forests the landscape was green and lush. I’m watching David Attenborough Natures Curiosities this program shows we have learnt a lot off mother nature and I say we have much more to learn from her and her beautiful creatures.
My point on Gisborne is you cannot cut all the trees down without a negative effect on the environment this is a fact that is right in front of our eyes on one 13 hours driveing around the East Coast. Of Atoearoa New Zealand. If the trees are left intact on the steep hills around the rivers and creeks all the waterways They attrack the Rain the hold the Wai in the ground they stop tawhiti the wind drying the land out. I say if the trees are left in all the right places all the flat to rolling land would be much more productive and will easily make up for the land left to mother nature and more + more deer wild pigs ect. Man has to respect mother nature and use her wisely if we carry on abuseing her we will be the ones that ultimately will lose with OUR society collapseing because we abuse mother nature all for the Dollar and to have utopia we just have to respect her all all the creations she has given us including all HUMAN BEINGS show respect for all and reap the GOOD KARMA.
Ka kite ano
I use to fly out of Hawkesbay quite a bit 25 years ago I noticed that the landscape was baron of trees and dry I would bet even though I don’t gamble that before the beautiful trees were cleared that the rainfall was higher than Hawkesbay has now if we work with Papatuanukue mother earth we will reap the rewards we have to stop poisoning the land with sprays we pour nitrogen on the land and this just causes the humus to break down faster you don’t get nothing from nothing this is basic science the way we are farming we are exporting our humus. We need to work with Papatuanukue mother nature and use no to low till cropping and use organic farming to produce our export products.
The pro intensive farm advisors say that Organic farming is less productive that high input chemical / poisonous farming. The reason that our land takes a few years of Organic farming to become as productive as chemical farming is the land is hooked on chemicals and the chemicals have damaged all the natural orginmisams that provide the nitrates that OUR crops need to grow.
If I was to grow Organically on soils that have no man made chemicals in it the land would produce more that chemical farming I have heard the storys when they first cleared the land here of how fast the crops grew how fast the grass grew but you have to feed the land organic fertilisers worm casting compost crushed rock lime or your harvest will decrease leave some land in fallow as well.
The pro Organic farming organisation don’t have the money to spend on getting there facts out there like the Chemical backed farming people have. Ka kite ano
Here we go a article that tells us exactly why Aotearoa New Zealand is Racist Iv had it from both ends being called white and moving to Hawkesbay and hearing the racist story that have not been research about Maori and the land and being called a black Maori. Now w I have the system Breaking all the rules just to try and suppress me because some people underestimated Me. I see all there players they paid to use against me. They don’t underestimate ECO MAORI now I learn fast???? . All I want is to be paid compensation for this fasard of a suppression campaign against me and be left alone to raise my Whano. I know my destiny and that is to lead us into a bright and prosperous future for all OUR Mokopunas and all Papatuanukue creatures into a bright and prosperous future.
Here’s the link Ka kite ano. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12031105
This is the actions of a desperate man willing to sacrifice the Whole World to give him more power to put out the fires he has started on all of his fronts he started trying to go to War against Korea everywhere he turned he was trying to start a War. Everyone knows that the American President gets more power when they are at War. The American people are letting him damage there reputation there future there Mokopunas future just so he can do as he wants which is become a 300 billionaire who is untouchable someone has to have the Mana to stand up to this BULLYING idiot as all bullies underneath are shit scared when the shit hits the fan they are the first to run and hide look in the books you will see what Im saying is true.
Newshub the sandflys must not have liked my comments on trump they stuff my phone up for a bit got it sussed now. Good on the Kiwi Restauranter for telling it like it is on trump and supporting his workers. Looks like OUR Lady’s are doing excellent at the commonwealth games Mana Wahine. Looks like Auckland is get more bad weather Climate change is real. Ka kite ano
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
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ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
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Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
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The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
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Robert Fisk writes an excellent article condemning Theresa May.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-syria-war-uk-chemical-weapons-attack-iran-iraq-thatcher-russia-a8300881.html
Meanwhile Craig Murray continues to shine the spotlight on the other lie. The one about spies. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has published its report on the Salisbury incident.
It would appear Theresa May has been telling some massive lies.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/04/opcw-salisbury-report-confirms-nothing-but-the-identity-of-the-chemical/
What a wise decision by the Coalition government to refuse to get involved in all this.
So, just to be clear, the Skripals and the police officers weren’t affected by dodgy seafood, insecticide, or a weird planetary alignment. It was in fact a novichok agent, even though according to Craig Murray it couldn’t have been that because novichok is “instant acting” and Porton Down couldn’t identify it anyway.
That’s some expert commentary, right there. /sarc
Idiot.
And yet if my summary were incorrect, you would have said why.
So if even an idiot can see the contradictions and flat-out inaccurracies in Murray’s statements, why would anyone use him as an authority on this matter?
Another canary in the coalmine.
Climate catastrophe is happening.
We cannot afford to tinker.
An international emergency needs to be declared.
We need to mobilise for World War 3.
The war to save life on our planet.
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/gulf-stream-ice-age-collapse-climate-change-amoc-global-warming-a8301511.html
Meanwhile the Herald thinks this is more important.
‘Shopper claims she wasn’t allowed to try ring on because of her race.’
‘TV3’s in house war over Taika’s racist comment.’
And Stuff thinks this is more important.
‘Khloe Kardashian gives birth to baby girl.’
Yes Ed – and today on Newshub AM Show we witnessed more ‘biased’ industry reaction to the new Labour Government policy of “Energy Policy” using Duncan Garner as their trumpet sadly;
Regarding Duncan Garner;
Duncan Garner was this morning on the AM show’ viciously attacking labour’s newly released Energy Policy, while at the same time was seeming to be supporting National’s abysmal past policy again, and not following up with labour’s Phil Twyford asking Judith Collins when will national begin to plan to turn off the oil tap, then when Garner had the chance to drill Collins he failed repeatedly without asking national Judith Collins “when will National stop oil drilling in NZ” – a sorry sight there.
Garner should feel ashamed of his bias shown today. His children will suffer if he doesn’t wake up now and fight to turn off the oil tap.
When National talk about energy there is a one worded reply which displays their pig ignorant beliefs ….. Lignite
I wonder what happened to all the valuable farmland purchased to chase this national party rainbow of shite … it had the usual rainbow treasure hunters results.
Th Pike river non-compliant killing zone …..and running solid energy into insolvency attest to Nationals slash and crash management skills.
Garner represents color blind segregation …. Economic segregation favoring the wealthy
national is also telling lies about jobs in “exploration”
Just looked at Fiztroy Engineering in New |Plymouth contract list
This is a typical recent example
“Managing the logistics and the erection of 6000 tonnes of structural
steel for the new Christchurch Hospital Acute Services Building,
Canterbury, New Zealand”
There is work related to oil refining – in Australia
“Ongoing onsite planning and coordination of the relevant
subcontractors for the fabrication and installation of structural
steel, pipe spooling and pump skids across all areas of the Caltex
Lytton Refinery, QLD, Australia”
Their work seems connected to Construction rather than Exploration.
http://www.fitzroyengineering.com/about/contracts-history.html
Fitzroy’s main business is in oil and gas (look after the guys that look for the stuff). structural steel is a sideline brought in when the oil price nosedived.
Maybe if Twyford wasn’t screaming “lies!!” the whole time anyone else was trying to talk and making stupid promises that no jobs will be affected Garner could have actually got a word in edgeways.
Garner and Twyford went to high school together – old sparing partners, probably cak themselves laughing off screen.
sparring
Your theory seems a little bit unlikely.
The term “went to high school together” does rather imply that they were at the school as pupils at the same time.
If this is actually true, and they really were at Westlake Boys High School at the same time, could you please tell me.
Was Phil Twyford a really, really slow learner?
Or was Duncan Garner a child prodigy?
I ask because Twyford was born on 4 May 1963 and Duncan Garner on 6 March 1974. Twyford is almost 11 years older and it seems a little unlikely that they were actually at the school at the same time.
Old boys get togethers Alwyn… discussing all the jolly good radishings and all that..
I take it that you went to the same school, did you?
Did you enjoy your time there?
I notice that the school doesn’t seem to be very keen on publicising the fact that Twyford went there. Their entry in Wikipedia lists Duncan Garner as being an old boy but there is no mention of Twyford. The only politician listed is an Auckland Councillor, John Watson. I guess if he was an old boy of my old school I wouldn’t boast about it either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westlake_Boys_High_School#Notable_alumni
Goodness, you just know things are complicated when even Fox News urges caution on Syria!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=252&v=cSGf2ZpDENU
Just over 7 minutes long.
Sanity from FOX.
Now I know this just a bad dream….
Business as usual from Fox
Fascism and fascists always get a free pass from Fox News
Did you actually watch the clip?
Just asking because your response seems completely at odds with the content.
Business as usual around here is Jenny calling al-nusra / ISIS types … ‘rebels’
White helmet speak.
Regarding Fox, …did they criticise the Banderite / right sector in the violent western backed coup in the Ukraine Jenny ??…….
How about the Croatian Ustashe linked fascists in the NATO driven destruction of Yugoslavia http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/croatjews.htm
“”What worries us is that those in power in Croatia now are largely the same as during the Nazi era,” said Dr Klara Mandic, a senior Jewish community leader at yesterday’s ceremony. ”In some cases, they are exactly the same people, now in their seventies and back from exile under the Communists. In other cases, they are the children of the Ustashe.
”They wear the same black shirts, the same black trousers, many carry the same ”Serbo-seks” knives for the Serbs . Tudjman the Croatian President would not dare touch Jews now that we have our own state to protect us. But he has prepared an atmosphere similar to that at the start of the Second World War and the fact is that many of the Croatian groups are out of his control.”.
Fox definitely pick and choose which fascists they diss ….
Apart from war …. whats your other preferred road to peace in Syria Jenny ??
Jenny, do you even know what fascism is?
I would have thought the Army of Islam was quite undemocratic…..
I’d say a great job by alternative media and people who share it. Puts pressure on everyone else to either attempt truth or risk their braindead viewers seeing through their façade.
Excellent work from Tucker. A journalist really doing his job.
Trump’s phoney war on Syrian fascism.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/103072064/donald-trump-says-syria-attack-very-soon-or-not-so-soon-at-all
The US has bombed Syria lots of times, (but, just not the regime, if he can avoid it.)
America bombs Syria,
Syria bombs Syria,
Israel bombs Syria,
Russia bombs Syria,
Turkey bombs Syria.
None of those doing the bombing can tolerate a free Syria.
Or indeed a free Middle East.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/feb/04/drone-footage-homs-syria-utter-devastation-video
So in your mind a free Syria would be one which can attack Israel with impunity, have Assad use chemicals on whichever his people he wants, and which is a secure haven foe ISIS terrorism.
Strange definition of free.
Countries are limited in the amount of freedom they are allowed. Being a base to attack other countries (ISIS), using chemical and nerve gases are generally seen as being a limit on state freedom.
I believe you are incorrect with your assertions Wayne.
Jenny’s position on Syria, which she may choose to explain herself, is more nuanced than many and she is staunchly pro the Syrian people and anti all those who are making their lives miserable in particular she is very critical of Assad and his enablers.
you sound like a bit of a war crime enabler yourself stunned mullet
Whereas your comments have all the intelligence of the follow through from a bottom belch.
I presume thats your effort at a derail Stunned Mullet
more info on Waynes darling ….. Israel ….
neither side owns the moral high ground during this period.
This same scholarship also reveals that the
creation of Israel in 1947-48 involved
explicit acts of ethnic cleansing, including
executions, massacres and rapes by
Jews.
48
Such atrocities have taken place
in many wars, of course, but their occur-
rence in this period undercuts Israel’s claim
to a special moral status.”
“Israeli personnel have tortured numer-
ous Palestinian prisoners, systematically
humiliated and inconvenienced Palestinian
civilians, and used force indiscriminately
against them on numerous occasions.
During the first intifada (1987-91), for
example, the IDF distributed truncheons to
its troops and encouraged them to break
the bones of Palestinian protestors. The
Swedish “Save the Children” organization
estimated that “23,600 to 29,900 children
required medical treatment for their beating
injuries in the first two years of the
intifada,” with nearly one-third sustaining
broken bones. It also estimated that
“nearly one-third of the beaten children
were aged ten and under.”
54
Israel’s response to the second intifada
(2000-05) has been even more violent,
leading Ha’aretz to declare that “the IDF
… is turning into a killing machine whose
efficiency is awe-inspiring, yet shocking.”
55″ http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/IsraelLobby.pdf
“Since 1970, China has used its veto power eight times, and Russia (and the former Soviet Union) has used its veto power 13 times. However, the United States has used its veto power 83 times, primarily in defense of allies accused of violating international humanitarian law. Forty-two of these US vetoes were to protect Israel from criticism for illegal activities, including suspected war crimes. To this day, Israel occupies and colonizes a large swath of southwestern Syria in violation of a series of UN Security Council resolutions, which the United States has successfully blocked from enforcing. Yet, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insists that it is the Russians and Chinese who have “neutered” the Security Council in its ability to defend basic human rights.”
Colostomy bag salesman Stunted?
Contents of said colostomy bag Gobby ?
Did you guys go to school together?
Hang on, I meant to say did you guys go to the same school but not together?
Hang on…
Thank you Stunned Mullet for your show of support.
But personally, I don’t feel that my position on Syria is that nuanced. In fact my position is quite simple.
I will never support a regime that commits genocide. Simple as that.
It is one of the reasons I keep posting the video of the destruction of Homs, and inviting the pro-regime commenters, or authors, to give me their remarks. Despite giving them many opportunities to do so. Not one of them has ever had the courage to venture an opinion, on what clearly is vision of hell on earth. (or at least its aftermath).
What is unique about the drone footage of the genocidal destruction of the rebel city of Homs, is that it was taken by a camera fitted to a Russian Drone and was first aired on RT the Russian propaganda channel.
Weirdly, everything else that RT put out is frequently cited uncritically by supporters of the regime.
I also, don’t support shooting of unarmed protesters in the streets.
Nor can I support detention without trial, and/or disappearances.
Nor do I support torture.
Nor can I support, the silencing and murder of journalists.
Nor do I support, the murder of singers.
In forming my opinion, it helped, that I had actually been to Syria. (admittedly not when the revolt broke out, but only a matter of months before). And I can attest to the deep hatred and contempt for the Assad regime commonly held by the Syrian people. I can also attest to the regime as an oppressive Orwellian police state, that none of us would want to live under.
Most of my time in Syria I spent in the Northern city of Latakia, and mostly in the company of Palestinian refugees in the camp there. This camp was one of the very first civilian areas shelled by regime in 2011.
I was back in New Zealand at the time, but I followed the live feeds of the bombs falling on a place I knew well.
No doubt some regime supporters will have the gall to tell me that the live feeds were fake and I mistook the places I was familiar with.
These same people may have the gall to tell me that a person called Ibrahim Qashoush was an unperson. A comment that George Orwell’s Winston Smith’ could have related to.
Some of these same people will no doubt tell me, that the Arab Spring which, by sheer weight of numbers of the millions who took part is the biggest popular revolt in human history, was a CIA plot. They may even provide links to prove it.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-04-2018/#comment-1469006
HHHmmm Who to believe????
Wayne Mapp ….. or an Israeli generals son.
Just who is telling the truth about war, violence and Israel?.
No Wayne – that is not Jenny’s stance on Syria (a country in which (I gather from a previous comment) she has lived and worked). As Stunned Mullet says, her position is more nuanced than most here, and I support her stand on this.
The people of Syria have ben starved, bombed, gassed, cast out of their homes, murdered, and generally abused by a tyrannical regime since the major drought of 2005. I’m sure that in Jenny’s eyes – a free Syria would be one without conflict, without the oppression of Assad, and at peace with its Neighbours. The people of Syria have had enough.
A free Syria could be modelled on a free Iraq, free Afghanistan and a free Libya I spose… The tyrants are gone, are you happy now? Was it worth it? Why do countries always turn into hell holes after the west takes an interest in them..
One of the consequences of war, whoever the antagonist, is just that – a power vacuum that results in a breakdown of stabile government. The situation in Syria will inevitably result in an unstable region for some time to come. But let’s get this quite clear – the revolt of the people in Syria erupted not from insurgents from the west – but from within. People have been fed up with the corruption and abuse of power from the Assad regime since at least 2005. Food prices in 2006 were skyrocketing following the worst drought in history – and the drought persisted. Assad did nothing to assist the people and lived in obscene luxury. The resulting chaos and the arrival of ISIS was inevitable.
“syria a secure haven for ISIS terrorism’ ?
The country doesnt matter, the Saudis who back the ISIS group will just find another country…. surely you noticed where Osma Bin laden and his supporters were based.
They will just move to another country even if Syria and Iraq were occupied by US troops.
Remind us again how ISIS ended up in Iraq and how the Syrian civil war backed by US , Turkey and Saudi/UAE grew into a larger conflict
Interesting exposure in your comment, Wayne…
Seems a nerve was touched in your interpretation of Jennys comment…
Were you as open about the Palistinians who were gunned down by IDF recently…
Power outage – is it true that if you live in the city but are off grid that you still are forced to pay line charges??
Seems unfair.
I think that if you are truely off the Grid then you don’t have to pay line charges.
But if you have solar or what have you but still are connected to the grid then you pay. In countries like Germany they gave incentives to have solar energy so they did not have to pay to upgrade the grid as well as more sustainable in the long run.
But in NZ they have decided to target people with solar and charge them more. We are a world joke!
Here is an article on way-to-be-cleared-for-big-electricity-players-to-prey-on-lowincome-households
Remember you can have a heat pump and insulation but if people are too poor to pay for power (or the power is off due to storms) then you have no heating.
Obviously investment in solar will reduce the amount that people have to pay, but that gets the power company up in arms because their profits will be effected. So what does the government do – cave in.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/102708888/way-to-be-cleared-for-big-electricity-players-to-prey-on-lowincome-households
Note also that selling back to the grid used to be as high as 17c. It is now 7 or 8 cents.
And that is outrageous too. Should be able to set a take it or leave it price.
Who do you propose should be able to set a “take it or leave it price”?
I suspect that the power companies would be quite happy not to have to take any power from people with their own Solar generation. If they could I am sure that they might set a price of 0.001 cent/kwh. Such power tends to be erratic and is only supplied back to the grid at a time when there is little demand for it. It really isn’t easy to store surplus electricity for use when it is in demand.
“It really isn’t easy to store surplus electricity for use when it is in demand.”
Unless one has glommed public hydro generation assets.
“It really isn’t easy to store surplus electricity for use when it is in demand.”
So if they’re not that fussed about getting power back does that means there is quite a surplus of power in the system. And if there’s a surplus, why are we charged so much? Let me guess, power prices have gone up so much in recent years because privatization is always cheaper, more efficient and provides a better deal for consumers…Wait a minute!!
Thanks for this.
Govt should be encouraging independence even if just solar hot water. One storm and half a major city is pathetically waiting for rescue.
Taken from your link, savenz
“These regulations, Minister Woods has now signalled, are to be dumped overboard to clear the way for the industry to increase its squeeze on the poor. Recognising that will probably leave more and more poor households unable to pay, and so cut off from supply, the industry’s solution is for taxpayers to subsidise electricity purchases by the poor, thereby underwriting the electricity industry’s profits in the same way as the Accommodation Supplement has enabled landlords to hold up rents.
“Woods duly refers to ‘the wider context of supporting New Zealanders to afford their energy bills’.”
Are these subsidies going to be in the form of the Winter Energy Payments the Government has announced?
Chairman, you seem to be in a state of perpetual dismay over what New Zealand isn’t doing for you.
For anything beyond getting by it appears you’ll need to make your own arrangements.
They managed to get away with all sorts of things @savenz.
We should for example, be telling suppliers to relocate their meters onto the nearest lamp post, since at the time of privatisation, they managed to shift ‘demarcation’ points such that they could have it both ways.
You’re responsible (financially) to fix any cable problems from the lamp post, YET their meters (their property) is more often than not way past the demarc point.
Cost shifting.
I also seem to remember a guy around the bays in Wellington with an efficient wind generator. Most of the time his electricity was sufficient to keep his Ferranti Meter going backwards.
Oh NO! they thought – we can’t have this. Think of what might happen if others do the same!!
We want to be able to charge you for electricity at OUR rate, but if you give us electricity, we want it at OUR rate too!
Ekshully, don’t get me started. We could go through all that spin an shit about ‘baseloads’ and other stuff, and smart meters versus the basic ripple control.
It’s bloody tedious.
I think it’ll eventually come back to the point that where there are natural monopolies, such as with reticulation of the basics (water, shit-pipes, electricity, fibre – or copper, gas supply, etc., railway lines, roads et al), these things must be in public ownership or government [local or central]), OR they need to be heavily regulated.
Depends how off the grid you are. But it’s simple really, they can’t give you an invoice for line charges if you don’t have an account with them.
Gordon Campbell takes David Parker to task over his announcement of the Afganostan inquiry. The NZDF commander is sounding strong and confisant but still not being pressed on why he said the name of the village in Hit and Run was wrong, when it was right. There is a difference between no comment on the groubds of National Security and lying to the NZers whose lives and fundamental rights you say you fight for.
Parker was playing politics yesterday and if you closed your eyes it coukd have been National speaking.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1804/S00040/gordon-campbell-on-the-hitrun-inquiry.htm
Well there’s the worry @Tracey. Not too dissimilar as to whether other Munsters want to confront the obvious spin and bullshit from “their officials” busy trying to protect their arses, be they in MPI, OR MSD, or MoT (NZTA), or MBIE, or Health, or Education, or, or, or….
Expediency, or pragmatism, or whatever bullshit excuse they want to offer to an uncritical MSM, it’ll eventually end badly for them (the spin meisters or the Johnalists).
It’s why I don’t get too upset or emotionally involved these days. They’re unknowingly experts in shitting in their own nests and self-copulation
OH look Yanks have more spin than Kiwis.
https://knock-la.com/the-biggest-rent-strike-in-la-history-burlington-tenants-vs-slumlord-attorney-lisa-ehrlich-52917abc79a8
Our slumlords get a free pass every time in Auckland, well they have a compliant media and Tory party to back them up.
What do you think the Natz were up to in Auckland… if you get off the racial profiling and just look at the concept of displacement which in NZ is bringing more people into Auckland, and pushing those out into other parts of NZ, pushing those out, you will be more on the money.
Even if you somehow got enough money to buy back into Auckland, you need to be able to earn enough to cover the increasing rates and costs that brings with how the Auckland council is behaving giving away rates money like a lolly scramble to big business while depriving non core areas or siphoning it off into consultants pockets so that nothing is being upgraded ahead of time.
Which is turning our city into a slum while creating ‘shock doctrine’ thinking… to ram through ill thought out plans that are counter to democracy or even reasonable thinking.
The Tories had no plan, that is why we have so many problems in Auckland.
It’s more cock-up theory than a conspiracy.
Who are these tories you speak of ? Goff, Brown, Hubbard, Banks ?
The Council has had many National members and the Mayor gets one vote.
They fought any improvements and hog tied changes quite often. Real nimbys, the Citizens and Rate payers Association.
There’s also a considerable number of City Vision and openly Labour candidates as well as the independents.
I’d prefer the general public to have more of a say myself rather than the council cabal.
I certainly wouldn’t disagree with your views on this, but am more inclined to give council, etc less credit. I think that they really have no clue and are winging it..
I hope the 50 million spent of emergency housing in hotels, is being beefed up… because the new housing is more of what you would call the gentrified type….
Isn’t a ‘crisis’ enough reason to perhaps declare a state of emergency and call in the army to erect some temporary shelters?
Oh no, that’s right, it’s only those bloody poor people and beneficiary bludgers that can’t handle putting a roof over their heads. It can’t really be a crisis
I’ll think there is bugger all tradies left in the Green in the Machine, unless they trained a heap more the during the PRT deployments? as they had stuff all during the ET deployments as a result of the No Mates Party defence cuts in the 90’s. The manta back then was you don’t need these tradies all doing in house work, like the old MoW so you can get rid of them. Then along came Bosnia, the Sollies , ET and the Sandpit deployments etc etc.
Bring back the MoW I and the DSIR I say?
He’s baaaack….
Trump wants US back in the Trans-Pacific Partnership – report
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2018/04/trump-wants-us-back-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-report.html
If your first thoughts are ‘get us out of here’ then
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/52SCFD_SCF_ITE_76583/international-treaty-examination-of-the-comprehensive-and
I’m not against a trade agreement but it’s not a trade agreement… it’s a security arrangement, asset striping double speak, that has been piggy backed by corporations to asset strip countries and leave the mess behind… and if you don’t like it, they can sue you in their illegal (EU Ruling) court.
Seriously if there is some blow out between China and US, probably the Pacific would be a good place for the show down, and it hasn’t worked out too well, for the Middle East civilians to be in the middle of oil/cultural war…
Even worse if China and US get together and we have some sort of hybrid of their business and human rights style come to the Pacific…
Great news about this.
It will be even better with the US in there.
Best thing labour have done signing this.
lol…stirrer
Yes, Trump is also my idol and so is Xi Jinping. If only we can bring their wise ways to NZ and both join TPPA and exploit all the holes in the agreement for their economic and strategic gain, it would be my dream country.
I’m also truely grateful for David Parker, who cleverly negotiated that ‘7 out of 10’ agreement. 10 out of 10 was too much pressure, obviously. And Jacinda has banned new oil but luckily when Natz get in again, we will already be in TPPA to get their agenda back on track.
Likewise the rise of the right and totaliarialism across many countries. Luckily we will be tied into an agreement that does not really consider any future risks including changes of government, new policy and climate change.
Ha ha savenz
Donald Trump is just firing blanks here, – as he knows he needs to change TPP far more than it is now.
So it may make our new labour Government now own up and declare now that it’s new ‘side’ agreement’s may be in jeopardy?
Yes James the “EX Aucklander always is a stirrer see my reasons for opposing TPP.
theres every chance that Trump will change his mind in a 3a.m. tweet tomorrow….James delights in winding everyone up.
Of course US will come because of
Chinese military expansion into Vanuatu aimed at Australia and NZ
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/04/10/chinese-military-expansion-into-vanuatu-aimed-at-australia-and-nz/
But then China will come and NZ is piggy in the middle.
We love you US and that is why we have 5 eyes, We love you too, China, because we sold all our assets to you.
We turn a blind eye to any moral or human rights issues these days, and actually we have plenty of our own in NZ to worry about… https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/04/11/justice-delayed-is-justice-denied-what-the-latest-grotesque-national-party-underfunding-has-done/
We love you too Australia because we export to you too, in spite of your human rights on refugees and others, and we can disagree with you because at least we are culturally similar and you are less likely to get offended and try to make us pay for our opinions.
Funny enough, probably not a good idea to enter into binding poorly worded agreements where the power imbalance is so unequal like TPPA and the cultural fit and interpretation is so wide.
I’m not an EX Aucklander. Currently live in Coatesville – very much part of Auckland.
Could be a mining plant, chicken factory or some thing else coming your way, there James, I’d have a contingency plan to bail out.
Unfortunately once there you generally can’t sell that easily or get enough to move somewhere of the same quality of life.
I know quality of life is something that is alien to both left and righties these days. It’s seems to be more important to just be alive and consuming stuff as an economic unit, the quality is irrelevant.
“Could be a mining plant, chicken factory or some thing else coming your way, there James, I’d have a contingency plan to bail out.”
Im confident you are wrong on this one for sure.
Life is such a lottery these days. I’t didn’t use to be like that, but one stoke of a Auckland council’s pen or the RMA and there will be nothing you can do about it, because their is only the pretence of democracy – the reality Auckland is starting to run like China – top down.
Not all together savenz. Twyford stopped the State house sell off. Had those tested for P retested treated if needed and people back in them.
Repairs and upgrades are now happening. I laughed when the Nats said “Costs are 7 times what landlords are spending” Well … when some landlords spend nothing on improvements, it would be easy to out spend them. Twyford is doing great.
Granted “affordable” is a poor choice of word by MSM. $600 000 is much better than $1000 000 though, and there has been $300 000 for a 1 bed apartment and $ 450 000 for two.
Yes winter is coming, but this government will do their utmost to house people and keep them warm and fed.
Labour’s shortcomings in the number of state homes they are prepared to build is problematic, thus a concern.
thanks for your concern
The Chairman, the Coalition are committed to building refurbishing and giving a bit more certainty for those in a state house.
The huge numbers brought in each year through loose immigration, has stressed housing beyond belief. You must admit that at least, and that the last government did not provide public housing to match it, or private either. Hence the horrific prices.
So Key did well when he sold his house in their created market of shortages. $ 21 000 000 Makes me fume. “What shortage?”
“What a fekker!!!” As my Irish ancestors would say
No I mean it.
I’ve always been in support of it.
Im sure you do…the wind ups a bonus,eh
Maybe’s Parker’s ‘7 out of 10’ scenario means he only thinks we could have a 30% chance of something bad happening. 30%, quite good odds, ah, maybe,
this is Trump we’re talking about here….it may become of concern if there is some official action regarding reopening negotiations…think the US may have its hands a little full at the moment.
It’s not a wind up. I really believe it was the best thing for New Zealand.
The fact that labour were dishonest and misled people who were against it – when they were always going to sign – makes me laugh because it was always going to happen.
It IS good for New Zealand. That’s why both main petite will be supporting it.
People arguing against it simply are ideological or have less knowledge than the people actually working on it.
Besides muttonbird on here tells me most kiwis have had all their concerns addressed by labour and are all ok with the signing now – so that must be right.
I guess that potential 1/3 of 1 percent gain over decades is worth all the risks, eh James.
Ask Cindy – Her government signed it.
Yes but your preferred government negotiated it. The reality is, they both sold us out because seriously, you trust that they did a good job?
Our Met service can’t even predict bad weather that accurately and tens of thousands of people have no power. It does not sound like fingers on the pulse of our government and officials.
I trust National did a good job – yes.
Labour – Im sure they stuffed parts of it up.
Our Met service can’t even predict bad weather that accurately and tens of thousands of people have no power.
I think you can blame Woolworths for that. The MetService have the same problem as James Shaw, those magic wands are just shit.
The Saudi sheep deal’s a great example of just how good a job National did.
So Robert – you all happy with the new tpp?
Think that’s a good dea ?
National do a great job when negotiating deals – remember the Saudi sheep
dealdebacle?Except for the fact that it isn’t. From it we’ll see more poverty and deprivation while a few make out like the bandits that they are.
As we’ve seen over the last thirty years.
Maybe james. The US have shown themselves to be protectionists and bullies.
I don’t even know why protectionist is such a bad word these days. Surely you want to protect workers, your environment, your country?
Because protectionism stops the rich pricks from stealing everything and they really don’t like that and as they own the MSM and the economists we dutifully get told that it’s bad.
Lmao James, I wonder if those who signed will let him back in, I think Agent Orange is feeling left out and is bloody dreaming re TPP.
I think you will find they will be extremely happy to have them back in.
Maybe they would be exempt from recent USA tariffs as a result?
lol there’s the rub. He wants to start a trade war with China at the same time as joining a trade agreement with countries that have FTAs with China.
TPP was soft power. Trump doesn’t understand soft power. He’ll probably fuck it up somehow, even if he’s serious about trying to get back in.
Yes if USA joins then they will shaft us all as they did Canada and Mexico already in the NAFTA trade agreement which is in tatters.
Canada has more lawsuits against itself now in this NAFTA agreement then any other country globally.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/13/canada_being_sued_for_billions_under_nafta_investor_protections.html
Do we want to go bust trying to keep our Government control over keeping unscrupulous so called investors out NZ that could totally undermine our futures?
Nonsense.
Labour always knew it was a good deal. That’s why the signed it so quickly.
Yes, Labour, James is pleased, not enough to vote Labour though I’ll expect.
Quite a few Labour voters are vitriolic though, but no worry, just like the houses, bring the people in and the market will provide the houses, transport and wastewater and power.. oh and if they don’t then the taxpayers will and we will raise the taxes. simple.
“Yes, Labour, James is pleased, not enough to vote Labour though I’ll expect.”
Of course Im pleased and no wont be voting labour.
At least National said they were going to sign it – Labour sucked you in.
By cunningly saying what they’d do? Damned fiendish, these Labour politicians.
Why the hell are the municipal Authorities using chlorine in all drinking water around our country now as it has been proven to cause cancer?????????
http://www.pure-earth.com/chlorine.html
Can’t we use “food grade” ‘high purity’ Hydrogen Peroxide instead?
Hydrogen peroxide has been proven to not cause any serious medical effects and also prevents many diseases.
Florida USA also uses Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) in many residential and commercial pools now. – Time we woke up here in our so called “clean green” country.
http://www.educate-yourself.org/cancer/benefitsofhydrogenperozide17jul03.shtml
😆 that’s some fine drivel cleangreen, next it’ll be no flouridation for water supplies and and an anti-immunisation diatribe.
I hear they bring the chlorine into Gisborne on great big trucks too.
Cool stuff the good old HOHO juice.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to die from drinking the water in the tap.
But, hey, I’ve pointed that out to you before as well.
And, no, I’m not going to go to your delusional websites – again.
We really have been quite slack on the renewable energy front. Portgale on the other hand.
https://windeurope.org/newsroom/news/renewables-fully-meet-portugals-power-needs-in-march/
Say what you like about Shane Jones but this is the most coherent and rational I have heard him…maybe there is some intellect behind the flowery language.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018640452
Psssst – did you really mean to put up 18 or so minutes of Brownlee trying to explain EQC repairs? LOL.
Or perhaps you meant this one of Shane on Morning Report? I agree he was in good form in this interview.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018640454/jones-labels-bridges-chicken-licken-of-climate-change
He also did well in Parliament yesterday in reply to Goldsmith in Question 7 and later in the Urgent Debate on the government announcements re gas and oil :
Q7 – https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=199916
Urgent Debate:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=199923
Oops – Snap I now see Kat has put up the right RNZ link, but will leave this for the other links for anyone interested.
On a lighter note, Jones’ facial expression during the press conference with Ardern and Shaw have certainly hit the news. Se Q7 above at about 4.30mins. Also the many faces of Shane Jones seem to be the subject du jour today:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/04/the-resting-faces-of-minister-shane-jones.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103068858/photo-says-it-all-how-shane-jones-reacted-to-governments-oil-news
Even Jacinda Ardern has got in on the act with this little video with Jones and Shaw on Jones’ faces on her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/jacindaardern/videos/10155186971777441/
😊
Now someone should do a similar version of Paula Bennett’s faces , when she’s sitting beside NoBridges when he asks questions in Question Time.
Had been thinking the same thing Carolyn nth. She’s so entertaining to watch. I used to get a lot of laughs with Upston as well when she was chief nodder behind key.
LOL. Indeed!
Did you see Paula Bennet yesterday in Question Time? She had a question to the PM who of course was not there being Thursday, not was Peters who usually answers on the PM’s behalf on Thurs. Bennett got Davis who did better than he has in the past, and Bennett just fumed. She – and Collins – then incurred the wrath of the Speaker (starting at 2 mins in the video).
Here it is (only 4.35 mins)
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=199913
I agree with Ffloyd that Upston was also amusing when she was sittiing behind Key as a Whip. These days she is an angry fumer, who loves making Points of Order which usually fall flat with the Speaker.
we should really keep a record of the ‘nodders’ during QT.
It’s a bloody shame we don’t have anything like political satire in the MSM these days (no matter how pathetic we may once have thought it to be)
lol…think i know whats happened…my link went to a page that automatically plays the last thing you listened to on RNZ….it works for me but obviously not others
thanks for the heads up.
Shane Jones….. https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018640454
“Simon Bridges is the “Chicken Licken of climate change”………..”National believe the economy is a gramophone”
Funny that Bridges says National cares about tge environment but every time they have a chance to prove it, they fail.
It’s the National Polluter Party!
More on Siomon on the 3pm news – I’ve got to say I’m coming reluctantly to admire the guy!
He virtually said, forget whose fault it was that Middlemore’s in a mess, why doesn’t the Labour Government stop moaning and get it fixed! (And is wasn’t our fault anyway!)
I mean, he takes denial to a whole new level! What a l**** politician!
Just as an aside @Tony V,
I recently had someone chastise me for moi pathetic attempts at ridiculing him over his prinunseeayeshun. Genuinely though, sometoims I really can’t understand him without a translation, but then Fill Stein was sumtoims a chellunj too.
Their justification was that he’d apparently had a speech impediment that he’d overcome.
I called bullshit because the impediment had nothing to do with what is effectively just laziness (apologies to Toika Woititti ).
Loik Key though.. Lazy speech, lazy moind. Oidilogikill commitmunt is lot simpla en ya done hefta rilly think to much, speshly when ya learn the spin an torkin points.
You can account for different eggsents built up from location over toim – there’s even some ekademuk thet toll us orl we’d better get use twit goan forward – can’t remember where, but Soimun is jiss over the top. Oi suspek it wuz on radio layba maybe, or maybe red radio.
Sometoims I wunna what Phil Stein and Soimun’s IELTS points would be (goan forwid) … but of course they’re for the ‘others’
Audrey Young’s latest in the Herald is a reasoned piece about Labour’s recent woes. She’s right in my view. The government has left itself open to attacks from the opposition. As she says they’re not on the ropes yet… but imo they will be of they don’t tighten up the ship. Worth a read:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12023322
Oops… I see the item is about 12 days old. Sorry about that, but still a good read if you missed it. 😳
As you say a bit old but still worth a read.
Here is Young’s latest from yesterday on the oil and gas announcements – surprisingly ‘neutral ‘ for her imo.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12030723
But did she really have to report on this? Bridges in a speech to his old college, partly about a murderer he put behind bars as a Crown Prosecutor.
I could only cope with skipping through the video. Talk about stilted.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12031041
The Government’s $1 billion a year regional fund was launched in February. About $40m had been allocated thus far.
What’s totally disappointing is there are no strings attached (such as employees receiving a living wage) with the taxpayer money being splashed about.
Shouldn’t we on the left be calling out for this?
Yes we should Chairman. But will anyone in Labour, NZ First or Greens notice? Too busy hobnobbing and showering mates with money? Of course we expect that from Natz, but maybe left voters expect more accountability?
“Yes we should Chairman. But will anyone in Labour, NZ First or Greens notice? Too busy hobnobbing and showering mates with money?”
Dead right, savenz. Their silence on the matter pretty much sums it up.
“Of course we expect that from Natz, but maybe left voters expect more accountability?”
Indeed. If this was National splashing taxpayer money about with no strings, I’m sure the left would be far more vocal. It seems many here are happy to turn the blind eye when Labour do it.
Labour are wasting an opportunity to improve the living standards of many by failing to ensure a living wage is paid. As a result, robbing workers of their fair share, hence reinforcing the status quo.
You got a Marae and you want fresh air too!
Marae threatened by proposed chicken farm – locals
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/marae-threatened-proposed-chicken-farm-locals
Next this Hong Kong based firm, will be explaining how they are really there to help the poor get cheap eggs, make a selected few in NZ richer, and the shitty town, good for nothing Maori, farmers and stupid chooks are not worth worrying about, and just collateral damage for their egalitarian ways and cheap exports.
Grrr “state of the art facilities” aren’t if they aren’t free range.
Watch the clip from the Hui. The farm is 1.3 million chickens housed in 32 sheds (40,000 chickens in a shed). The sheds have a small opening (to let air in or let the chickens have a run outside?). The farm is considered free-range because of the small openings. But the impression is that most of their lives are spent in a shed crammed in with 40,000 other chickens. Their lifespan is a total of 6 weeks. Free-range chicken farming, wow.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2018/04/huge-chicken-farm-has-iwi-vege-growers-worried.html
Free range.
A con for the sheeple to believe.
Some are better than others.
I always buy https://bostocksorganic.co.nz
Good on ya, John.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/102983793/waipareira-trust-staff-paid-a-minimum-of-20-an-hour
Editorial Herald. Who would have thought that the writer would put a reasoned view regarding the “oil exploration.” A good summary.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12031325
Now this is interesting. I just had a phone call from Colmar Brunton, specifically asking for me. They’re doing a random survey of WINZ clients on behalf of MSD to get our feedback of our experiences dealing with said agency. Being highly suspicious and not quite believing it would be totally anonymous as she assured me, I was the one doing the interviewing initially but it seems to be legit.
Unfortunatlely I was screened out- going on the initial questioning it was obviously because I hadn’t had phone or face to face contact with real people there in the last 4 weeks. Bugger- the one time I get a chance to tell them what I think!!
Are any of my peers here aware of these surveys ever taking place in the past, or perhaps this is something new? A small glimmer of hope would be someone with influence is at least making a start on getting an idea of reality. One can only hope…
They have been going for a couple years I think. Of course like many things it trains clients to be great scam victims.
You should always be able to ring back through a known number to ensure it is legit and one should be set aside for this purpose.
The best people to scam are people who are poor because they tend not to be on top of, heir statements and slow to pick up fraud.
@AWW it wasn’t a scam call. I’ve had plenty of those plus I did a good job of screening this particular caller.
edit: when it doubt, google. Response to an OIA request from 2 years ago:
https://fyi.org.nz/request/4944/response/16373/attach/html/2/20161220%20OIA%20Response%20COLE.PDF.pdf.html
so very legit. Still annoyed I didn’t get to vent my spleen just a bit!
Hiya Kay, the same thing happened to a friend a few weeks back, unfortunately, they had not been to WINZ in the last 4-6 weeks so they were ruled out as well.
I’m beginning think instead of just having a hamster in a wheel for a brain this guy has two hamster and two wheels going in opposite directions.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-asks-advisers-to-study-rejoining-pacific-trade-pact-talks-1523553620?mod=e2fb
Finally my new oven is delivered!
Exciting times. While waiting this AM I came across Jump, an electric bike thing used in San Fan. Like Uber but you take yourself.
Users are taking 5-7 rides a day!! So popular.
That pisspoor cartoonist Emmerson is substandard, even by the
abysmally low standards accepted by the New Zealand Herald.
https://twitter.com/rodemmerson/status/981399111231565829
Ha ha ….one of Emerson’s best.
🙂
Some of the whining lefties comments are as funny as the cartoon.
interesting,
as in the programatic criteria used to determine legitimacy in submitting comments.
Not too dissimilar from the ‘smarts’ used to determine demography by the likes of INZ, or Facebooks algorithms.
I suppose we just have to put our faith in some of the greatest programmers on Earth.
By the way, I’ve NEVER been ‘Tim’ or anything like it.
I’m looking forward to any/if any comments asking WTF I’m on about
I went home to Te tairawhiti East Coast I went through Turangi Gisborne and went back to Putaruru around the Cape so I travelled right around Te tairawhiti. What I notice was that a lot of trees are gone in the Gisborne district and the landscape was dry and in Te tairawhiti heaps of trees native and exotic planted forests the landscape was green and lush. I’m watching David Attenborough Natures Curiosities this program shows we have learnt a lot off mother nature and I say we have much more to learn from her and her beautiful creatures.
My point on Gisborne is you cannot cut all the trees down without a negative effect on the environment this is a fact that is right in front of our eyes on one 13 hours driveing around the East Coast. Of Atoearoa New Zealand. If the trees are left intact on the steep hills around the rivers and creeks all the waterways They attrack the Rain the hold the Wai in the ground they stop tawhiti the wind drying the land out. I say if the trees are left in all the right places all the flat to rolling land would be much more productive and will easily make up for the land left to mother nature and more + more deer wild pigs ect. Man has to respect mother nature and use her wisely if we carry on abuseing her we will be the ones that ultimately will lose with OUR society collapseing because we abuse mother nature all for the Dollar and to have utopia we just have to respect her all all the creations she has given us including all HUMAN BEINGS show respect for all and reap the GOOD KARMA.
Ka kite ano
I use to fly out of Hawkesbay quite a bit 25 years ago I noticed that the landscape was baron of trees and dry I would bet even though I don’t gamble that before the beautiful trees were cleared that the rainfall was higher than Hawkesbay has now if we work with Papatuanukue mother earth we will reap the rewards we have to stop poisoning the land with sprays we pour nitrogen on the land and this just causes the humus to break down faster you don’t get nothing from nothing this is basic science the way we are farming we are exporting our humus. We need to work with Papatuanukue mother nature and use no to low till cropping and use organic farming to produce our export products.
The pro intensive farm advisors say that Organic farming is less productive that high input chemical / poisonous farming. The reason that our land takes a few years of Organic farming to become as productive as chemical farming is the land is hooked on chemicals and the chemicals have damaged all the natural orginmisams that provide the nitrates that OUR crops need to grow.
If I was to grow Organically on soils that have no man made chemicals in it the land would produce more that chemical farming I have heard the storys when they first cleared the land here of how fast the crops grew how fast the grass grew but you have to feed the land organic fertilisers worm casting compost crushed rock lime or your harvest will decrease leave some land in fallow as well.
The pro Organic farming organisation don’t have the money to spend on getting there facts out there like the Chemical backed farming people have. Ka kite ano
Here we go a article that tells us exactly why Aotearoa New Zealand is Racist Iv had it from both ends being called white and moving to Hawkesbay and hearing the racist story that have not been research about Maori and the land and being called a black Maori. Now w I have the system Breaking all the rules just to try and suppress me because some people underestimated Me. I see all there players they paid to use against me. They don’t underestimate ECO MAORI now I learn fast???? . All I want is to be paid compensation for this fasard of a suppression campaign against me and be left alone to raise my Whano. I know my destiny and that is to lead us into a bright and prosperous future for all OUR Mokopunas and all Papatuanukue creatures into a bright and prosperous future.
Here’s the link Ka kite ano.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12031105
This is the actions of a desperate man willing to sacrifice the Whole World to give him more power to put out the fires he has started on all of his fronts he started trying to go to War against Korea everywhere he turned he was trying to start a War. Everyone knows that the American President gets more power when they are at War. The American people are letting him damage there reputation there future there Mokopunas future just so he can do as he wants which is become a 300 billionaire who is untouchable someone has to have the Mana to stand up to this BULLYING idiot as all bullies underneath are shit scared when the shit hits the fan they are the first to run and hide look in the books you will see what Im saying is true.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/103108258/us-president-donald-trump-orders-syria-strike
Here is one of his fires here.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/103105697/trumps-allies-worry-investigators-may-have-seized-recordings-made-by-his-lawyer
Newshub the sandflys must not have liked my comments on trump they stuff my phone up for a bit got it sussed now. Good on the Kiwi Restauranter for telling it like it is on trump and supporting his workers. Looks like OUR Lady’s are doing excellent at the commonwealth games Mana Wahine. Looks like Auckland is get more bad weather Climate change is real. Ka kite ano