It occurred to me as I asked who was going to register share interests around the office that the float had a lot of support. I questioned how they would feel about buy back / nationalization? Universal answer was they thought it could not happen.
After puzzling for a while I decided that what I was looking at was entrenched attitudes toward private property rights. These buggers thought them sacrosanct and would fight for them. I suspect their view of democracy does not include “democratic” methods of recovering assets. The next part of the fight has the potential to be very explosive, and I wonder how far the “left” will go to recover the assets? Or will they wimp out?
“I questioned how they would feel about buy back / nationalization? Universal answer was they thought it could not happen.”
That’s exactly why it needs to be on the table now.
Once kiwis get it into their heads that they have a god-given right to buy a piece of their neighbours power bill we’re fucked. An announcement, right now, that it has all been a stupid John Key money-trader fantasy that the next govt will put a stop to is the only reality check that will break the spell.
Nothing else Labour says or does has a shit’s show of cutting through. Nothing. And Labour don’t have anything else anyway.
If they aren’t going to announce this now, they may as well forget about opposing asset sales altogether. After all what’s the point of saying you’re against and doing absolutely nothing at all to try to stop them?
(Oh and if it seems like I’m singling out Labour that’s because without the largest party making a clear stand one way or the other the who question is effectively moot)
“Mr Shearer said, “We won’t rule it out but we won’t rule it in either.” Labour would not be able to make any commitment on it before an election.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10870867
So I’d say thats a big NO then.
If by some fluke Labour manages to form a Govt. around them after the next election they will simply say “we are not going to do something we didn’t campaign on blah blah fucking mumble blah blah”
Shearer needs to grow a fucking spine
So Labour has stated it will make no firm commitments one way or another on post 2014 anti-asset sale action as part of its election year manifesto.
I read this as Shearer taking asset sales completely off the 2014 campaign table as a campaign issue. This is a frakking disaster. A buy back is now not even an issue for election debate.
And if you won’t commit one way or another on a buy back, you also can’t hold any useful debate around heavier regulation of the new privatised corporations. Because whats the use of talking about that when you apparently still might buy the assets back? Or not.
What a fucking lost compass-less political leader.
today’s principles are as showy and fake and wobbly as those impossibly high-heeled shoes that are in fashion for women who have been known to break a bone as they attempt to function in the normal way.
The mistake that everybody seems to make is the belief that there are different parties. There are not, only being taken to the cleaners less or more. One needs to understand that most politicians have too much to loose if they ever have to go back to the “real” labour party in the early eighties.
We need to take a different tack here, embrace commerce for some good stuff. Get solar panels on every roof, small windmills added and batteries to convert and store power. Heck, you could sell power to the companies this government want’s to sell. Wouldn’t that be a hoot. Technically it can be done.
Sure, I know what Shearer said (or didn’t say), but that’s not the point.
There seems to be a general assumption that Labour won’t buy them back. But Labour won’t say so.
Meanwhile, there’s going to be a referendum, and Labour will campaign for a good turnout and good result, and raise hopes and then … dash them. The media questions about future intentions are inevitable, and Labour need to have answers.
This is stupid politics, as No Right Turn eloquently posted today.
On the other thread Populuxe linked (thanks) to a Herald article last year, Cosgrove saying it would be “fiscally irresponsible” to commit to a buy-back. Ditto Norman for the Greens.
Today Shearer has muddied the waters (as usual). FFS, can’t he see that he’s giving National a free gift … Key: “We said BEFORE the election – manadate blah blah – but Labour won’t say until AFTER”.
Take a position we like or don’t like but take a fucking position, Shearer. Don’t go hardout on the referendum and then say “The people have Spoken … Key must listen! Will we listen? Whatever, maybe”.
Once kiwis get it into their heads that they have a god-given right to buy a piece of their neighbours power bill we’re fucked
How true which is why I referred to the people and their attitude toward property and their “perceived” rights. This transcends party politics as we know them (although they are a reflection). It is about the common good, its about the predatory nature of our individual psyches, its about the health of our society on a micro scale.
In short I don’t expect much of the politicians of the Left, less of the Right, they are “us”, and we are a deeply flawed bunch.
It occurred to me as I asked who was going to register share interests around the office that the float had a lot of support. I questioned how they would feel about buy back / nationalization? Universal answer was they thought it could not happen.
After puzzling for a while I decided that what I was looking at was entrenched attitudes toward private property rights. These buggers thought them sacrosanct and would fight for them. I suspect their view of democracy does not include “democratic” methods of recovering assets. The next part of the fight has the potential to be very explosive, and I wonder how far the “left” will go to recover the assets? Or will they wimp out?
Who is working for NZ, and who is working against NZ!
Labour will not say any such thing about buy back, as it just might win them then next election if they did, and when they inevitably renege on their words, it would be even more obvious whose interests the LP are working for/against.
Better to shut up, say nothing, appears to be the policy.
Think about all the election campaign money…. who knows, maybe some might not find the account when a clear statement is being given….. just thinking aloud….
The only one I’ve seen with a commitment to renationalise the assets, including some others sold previously, are the Alliance. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if Mana hadn’t also said so and I missed it.
It’s good that they’ve taken a position, but ultimately it’s only the Labour position that matters. No minor party’s “push” will mean squat on such a big issue without the full support of the largest governing party.
It’s not as simple as it might all sound Felix. Using the authority of the state to renationalise the power companies isn’t really an option available to Labour. An action like that has repercussions and the NZ economy is in such a fragile state that no-one knows where it would lead. We’re not Venezuela, we don’t have oil to keep the economy running.
Labour could promise to buy back the shares at market prices but that could just push the share prices up further, with people knowing their share trades were underwritten by the next Labour govt.
They may be better playing the capitalists at their own game & asset strip the new private companies. As majority shareholder they could for example sell the silver (the dams etc) to a new SOE and lease them back, ostensibly with a view to raising more capital of course. The new SOE could quietly end up owning all the good generation plants.
Nah there are plenty of ways to get the assets 100% back under government control.
An outright nationalisation will of course spook the free market animal spirits. But over a 5-10 year period, easy.
You start with adding a workers committee member to the Board of Directors, as well as one which is a Cabinet representative. Both with full voting rights.
I know it’s not necessarily simple and that’s precisely why I said details can come later.
What’s needed now is a just bold plain language statement that the assets will be returned to the public. Then we argue about how to do it until the election and steal the narrative, marginalising National from the public discourse as they have no way to join that conversation.
We’re not Venezuela. It s not about oil in Venezuela, it is about courage and vision to reject one model and build another. Venezuela are attempting this, our “leaders” wont because they represent todays model.
There is a lot of gas and hot air over here blaming Shearer and Labour for not “leading”. Its a total waste, these buggers belong to a broken paradigm. You can argue over the corpse for as long you like, it wont stop festering or do a Lazarus and miraculously lead you to Utopia.
My comment about Venezuela referred to the fact they had an oil industry that effectively permitted them to thumb their noses at the international markets. The US didn’t like what happened there but they still kept buying Venezuelan oil. Capitalists are at least pragmatists.
We don’t have that kind of luxury so renationalisation is a risky prospect that we may not be able to afford and I don’t think Labour should make promises they may not be able to keep. It’s politically risky as well making unequivocal promises this far out from an election.
I agree with Felix that Labour should at least make a stand on asset ownership & state control of strategic assets, IMO they don’t need to promise to buy back but they do need to give us some kind of solid position there.
Let’s be clear on why re-nationalisation strategies carry a significant risk. It’s the underlying consistent, ever-present threat of a capital and financial market strike against NZ.
Just so we’re clear that these powers are not our friends.
Really? A capital strike? I think the implications would run much further than just that. But lets be clear about one other thing – such a strike is entirely able to be dealt with by us. There would be some serious squishing and squashing but it is achievable.
We should also be clear about the damage “international capital” actually does in terms of sapping sovereignty and also in terms of dead weight cost of today’s “international capital”. It keeps our prosperity at a level consistently lower than what we can provide.
One other thing to be clear about is that an alternative to “international capital” is better (for reasons outlined before) and it is merely the transition to the new position, not the new position itself, that is the problem.
A capital strike is a fairly big deal and would involve things like collapsing the NZD and tripling the price of petrol, pharmaceuticals, imported parts, foods and other goods. NZD property prices would skyrocket as internationals found that they could buy a nice Auckland house for USD$200K.
Thousands of businesses would fall over as credit and lines of credit were withdrawn.
Could it be managed? Yes. But it would be a pretty sticky time.
Bloody Hell!
Now I see where the Green Party get their policy from.
Collapsing the NZD? Yes that’s policy.
Tripling the price of petrol? Yes that’s policy
Increasing the cost of imported parts, food and other goods. Sounds pretty familiar to me and fits in with making everything in New Zealand which they advocate.
Well, if all we do is continue to make cheap shit farm in NZ then what will happen is that poverty in NZ will continue to increase. So, that’s what National want as an increase in poverty means wages are going down.
BTW, by the end of this decade petrol will double or more anyway and so will pretty much all other imported goods along with it. Trying to stop that from happening by maintaining a high dollar is actually going to make it worse because we would start the shift to what is needed late.
I don’t think it that likely we’d suffer a retaliatory strike as such, we would after all be only be renationalising what we’d just sold so It’s not that big a deal in the scheme of things.
It’s our international investment position that would likely be of most concern. Whether we like it or not we presently need foreign investment and until we can get rid of that need we’re not really in a position to get too bolshie on the economic front.
This is the problem, from latest stats;
Exports of goods & services $62,232 billion
Imports of goods & services $60,448 billion
Dividends from foreign investments $5,419 billion
Dividends paid to foreign investors $15,906 billion
Current account deficit $9,032 billion
Currently we have to fund that deficit with more foreign investment be it borrowing or selling assets. If we didn’t fund it our currency wouldn’t just fall it would crash, we can’t carry a $9billion deficit.
This puzzles me. Purely from an economic point of view, all other repercussions aside, how could renationalising at cost possibly put NZ in a worse financial position than not selling? Either way, some essential services need to be funded from other sources.
“This puzzles me. Purely from an economic point of view, all other repercussions aside, how could renationalising at cost possibly put NZ in a worse financial position than not selling? Either way, some essential services need to be funded from other sources.”
renationalising <—— that word there
Over the years both Labour & the Nats have put this country more and more at the mercy of international investors. I don't like it any more than anyone else here but it's a fact we can't ignore. We don't have the control over our country that we used to have.
We've all seen how easy these investment wankers panic and stampede and the mention of 'nationalising' will get a reaction. You can count on that.
What would nationalising mean? Who knows, could get away with it scot-free but the most likely scenario is we'd see a flight of capital out of the country leading to a lowered credit rating, higher interest on Govt debt, higher mortages & all sorts of pleasant things we don't need at the moment.
We don’t have the control over our country that we used to have.
Yes we do but some people would like us to believe that we don’t.
higher interest on Govt debt
As the government can print money there shouldn’t be any interest on it or, in fact, any government debt. That’s the thing about being a sovereign nation that owns all the resources within it’s borders – you don’t need to borrow money from overseas to use those resources.
“If you want to return some balance of sovereignty, you’re going to have to give the capitalists and financiers some push back.
What do you suggest?”
What I think we need is to first get some reasonable control back, and then we can start getting rid of the weeds. You can bluff with a pair of twos but it’s much safer sitting on a few aces. To be honest I’m not sure NZ Inc even has a pair of twos, we aren’t in good shape.
Expanding Kiwibank is a good place to start pushing back. It needs more capital, can’t start squeezing the Aussie banks out without it. I’d even support share issues to Kiwi investors to raise the capital, wouldn’t be selling it would be increasing the capital base.
The TPPA worries me, giving away much more control there. I’d rather see Labour state that they’d pull out of that, might be able to prevent a signing by the Nats then.
…can’t start squeezing the Aussie banks out without it.
Yes we can. Once we make it illegal for private banks to create money as they do ATM then they will start losing money and so the shareholders will be looking to sell and the government can buy them up for pennies on the dollar. Once we do that we add them to Kiwibank.
The TPPA worries me, giving away much more control there.
Yep. Again, we need the parties of the left to say that they will withdraw from it.
We’re not Venezuela, we don’t have oil to keep the economy running.
We have enough resources to keep the economy running. If we didn’t, the economy wouldn’t keep running. We really don’t need the capitalists no matter how much they think, and would like us to think, we do.
It’s good that they’ve taken a position, but ultimately it’s only the Labour position that matters.
That’s only true if Labour remains a major party. It may not. If fact, I think it’s heading for a dive as it becomes obvious that they won’t oppose NACT and are, in fact, partially on NACTs side.
The faster people start looking for a party that actually sticks to the principles that they believe in rather than hoping that the Old Party which used to believe in them will get back to its roots the better.
It’s actually a good start that this was even mentioned by Shearer, but such a low key politically non-committal statement should have been made made earlier on. Hmmm like the day Iwi lost their Supreme Court appeal. That would have got coverage.
Now that the ship has almost sailed it’s not likely to make a significant difference to the discourse.
Now, after the baby is named and almost due to be delivered, you’re finally deciding that you won’t rule out giving it away for adoption? A bit too little, a bit too late.
When I was overpaid by Novapay the letter they sent me stated that if they couldn’t get the money back from Kiwisaver and the IRD I would be expected to pay it back to them.
Re: David Shearer + Norman + Merteria reported as buying shares.
Actually this does seem to be a direct breach of privacy. What else happens to the details left on the site? Are they sold to private buyers so they can marketed to?
Since my details have been entered, I’d like to follow the trail of how John Key himself “discovered” that leaders of opposition parties were signed up.
on rnz this morning key said he got the information from an article where shearer was misquoted sometime ago saying that he would consider buying shares just to keep them in nz. so key knows shearer was misquoted, yet still used that as evidence for his scoop.
i said to a workmate “john key just cant help but lie can he?”,
& he said “i guess thats how he got to the top”
I agree with her comment about Russel Norman’s interview on DTB 9I said as much in the comment below that interview. But I also think he is more neolib than some other Green MPs, eg Turei.
Bradford said:
Labour under Shearer shows few signs of throwing off its legacy of capitulation to a free trade, free enterprise, mow-down-beneficiaries-on-the-way-through agenda, despite its sterling work in some of the socially liberal zones.
The Green Party, while retaining many great policies from its radical heritage – for how long I’m not sure – is equally committed to a ‘traditionally mixed market approach’ as Russel Norman makes clear in a recent interview here on The Daily Blog.
Neither Labour nor the Greens offer alternatives that take us beyond either a return to Keynesian regulation as a prop for stressed local capital or a National-lite neoliberal agenda. …
Whichever of these parties we may or may not support and whatever our activist priorities on the front line of various struggles, I reckon the time has come when we on the left in Aotearoa need to start seriously engaging with each other across old sectarian and other lines on some of the big questions.
I suspect we live in far more dangerous times than many of us on the left realise.
I think it would be better for my health if I wasn’t aware of this. Especially in this impotent hiatus that Sue speaks of so eloquently.
Will we ever be able to pull it together?
In the various “activist” things I’m involved in I’m always wondering if we are achieving anything meaningful, and if the activity itself might be being coopted into being a part of the problem, if there isn’t something more effective I could do.
Sue has beautifully encapsualted the problem, but the how-to is still very hazy, There is an abudance of ability in the left, and an awful lot of common ground. And yet…
*I’m responding here because I’m not sure about commenting at TDB. I’ve seen the operation (and complaints about it) and read the relevant ‘about’ information but it hasn’t inspired confidence so far. Apart from that, The Standard is the natural discussion forum and I like it here.
This is exactly the dilemma of “the left”, as society is now almost exclusively made up of private, independent-minded “individuals”, and they are driven by individualistically motivated, self focused, self-serving and not sufficiently “collectively” minded thinking and actions.
Only when it comes to some perceived undeniable needs, like health care, minimum guaranteed retirement income and emergency services by police, ambulances and fire services, do they see a need to stand up and fight for this.
Society has been smartly divided, collective spirit is not shown during usual day to day activities, and every person follows her and his agendas, forgetting that the sum of them all make up society, and that in reality we all need each other, in some ways or other ways.
The fabric of society has been destroyed, by the neo capitalist sell-out of everything not nailed firmly to the wall or ground, yes even what is “nailed” is now sold, and like rats on a sinking ship, every one is out there to save themselves, thinking if they buy into a few shares, then they have “their stake” in NZ society, and can by that ensure that assets and SOEs or now MOM companies are in NZ hands.
But that is screwed up thinking, as it is doing exactly what the Nats want. Hence I can only accept people pre-registering for the share sale to sabotage the process, that is for left minded people. Those that buy into the MOM companies are doing exactly what Key and gang have served us up, they are by deed justifying the privatisation, which is just the beginning of more to come.
So a truly left minded, national interest defending, collectively thinking person would bluntly refuse to buy the shares full stop. Anything is half hearted nonsense, and those buying into it are betraying their own cause!
The photo on this article is difficult to look at for me. The culling has begun and will continue and these cows, kept unnaturally and perpetually in milk, will get a bullet between their eyes – if they are lucky. The abuse of these animals is constant so that this country can make money. We fuck up the environment, over stock and try to grow cows where cows aren’t meant to grow and then when they outlive their ‘useful’ life they become petfood. I find the whole business from whoa to go sickening.
Agreed, and thats a bad taste photo for the Herald to display. I didn’t bother clicking on the ‘view more photos here’ link if the first was anything to go by. A simple description would be enough without the need for gratuitous style photos.
Disagree, fender. The photo will be for some what William Burroughs referred to as the “frozen moment when everyone sees what is at the end of the fork.” Burroughs wasn’t talking about food specifically, but the more consumers understand the reality of how meat gets to the supermarket, the better. Meat is murder and that photo illustrates the point perfectly.
I have to agree with you TRP. It’s understandable that some people may not want to understand how that steak actually gets on to their plate or how that sausage gets to Fido’s dog bowl. But ignorance and shielding people from moral discomfort is how bad situations propagate.
Yes it’s vital to display a photo of a guy pointing a rifle between the eyes of a cow just in case we forget where meat comes from, or in order to educate those who are unaware.
Horrible as that photo is, the poor creature is probably going through less suffering than it would if it ended up in an abattoir. I find it hypocritical that many get upset with this portrayal of an animal getting shot than the reality of the suffering they endure in their miserable lives. I also have little time for those bemoaning climate change when a huge cause of climate change is dairying. Give up your meat and dairy – better for you, the earth and the animals.
Cut the legs off a beef heifer that had gone down with mag deficiency once, while she was still warm, for the dogs; cut out the back-steaks as well…yet that was a wee while ago…and then there was the worrying dogs that were advocated to be released…
Increased claims from Key that he tried very hard to save NZers from the terrible flawed actions of Solid Energy over the last 18months or 2 years. This increase of comments further adds to my belief that Key/English/Ryall have a lot to answer for and are pre-empting any negative comments about the Ministers that Don Elder will make tomorrow.
Rather like the pre-empting around the Skytower report. Get your story out first and fixed in the public mind then watch what happens.
A new headline on the Herald website which wasn’t there this morning: Simon Power in correspondence to the Solid Energy board as recently as 2009 pressured the board to increase borrowing and dividend, seemingly with English’s knowledge ?
It’s those selfish a***holes that push their way into queues of traffic, thereby slowing down the patient ones further, that have contributed to me driving less. Also, various other reckless and selfish practices that involve pulling suddenly in front of me, rather than waiting a second or two, just make me feel driving is becoming an increasingly antisocial practice.
I prefer public transport when it’s available & not to slow.
And the way pedestrians are treated by a minority of drivers is pretty worrying too.
I do public transport or my wee scooter – it’s nippy enough to keep up with the cars so I don’t get them tailgating so much. The thing for me is to always remember that I’m usually the squishiest thing on the roads – even pedestrians and cyclists can do me harm at 50k. So a minority of all major groups get some free verbal advice on what they could do to improve their road survivability 🙂
yep – cyclists are too slow to be safe in Dunedin, or they ride on the footpath and endanger pedestrians. Scooter has free parking all day in the middle of town, and can keep up with the flow of traffic.
Um…. McF, it’s not the cyclists that are the problem, but the priority given to cars and the unsafe car drivers, and the lack of off-road cycleways. What stats/evidence do you have that cyclists riding on footpath cause dangers to pedestrians?
Evidence of a number of injury reports around my local campus for a start. Enough to cause a nominal ban on cycling (although it’s only enforced if the cyclist is being a dick, in my experience). Mostly because of narrow paths between garden areas and blind corners around buildings, as far as I can see.
Elderly or otherwise vulnerable pedestrians + cyclists going too fast with not enough care = some bad injuries.
I certainly agree that things like environmental design and human factors in vehicle operators are the major issue with preventing harm to cyclists, and a cyclist vs a tonne of metal will always be worse off.
But 100kg of meat sack going at 20kph (or much faster) is still enough to cause serious harm to other people.
OnKey-THE BIGGEST thing to come away from South America with? “support for a seat on the UN Security council (42% of the worlds’ Catholics live in S.A)
from the “tube”; an elderly community up Northland way is now “terrified of Police” after they roughed up an elderly lady…sigh.
From the wrappings; 20 Days of Water reserves remain for Wellington, Hutt and Porirua
Drought-situated Dairy stock being dried off two months early-“big drop in gross income”.
in HB, Agricultural Contractors cannot drill the ground as it is too hard.
Dom; “Fears Eurozone tensions could flare into war”””’; Greek and Italian resentment towards Germany (can’t find link, crap browser 🙁 )
Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht -Friederich von Schiller
DEAR PRISM, have joined a Transitions Towns project via the local Environment Centre; they also support an Organic Project, Community gardens, Lobbying, education in secondary schools, workshops, and, AND, are considering standing for Local Body elections on a collective ticket.
Permaculture Baybee, Permaculture!
back to Q.T.;
Russell Norman; from NIWA (been a long time comin’) “droughts are expected to become more frequent and intense.”
English concedes, yet “being CONDEMNED by conferences of NGOs of-shore is not going to influence govt policy.”
Parker; essentially, p/ p / p wage -gap between NZ and OZ has almost doubled as the “gap” is “closed”. Yep!
Go Annette!!!- HBDHB “modifications” (Ryall)= reduction to health care for the elderly. Go on Greypower, vote Nat again, go on, we dare ya…
NZFirst are just p*ssin’ in the wind re foreign ownership of land ‘though right about one thing; “the country is being flogged off”
ooh, N.Smith, (Dr Knot) is under pressure re the AK Unitary Plan (spinning around Carters’ original position, of all, oh wait, four months ago); essentially, no “greenfields relief likely before 2017.
from RNZ; AUTOMATE THIS : How algorithms came to rule YOUR world ;Christopher Steiner
e.g. “your call may be recorded to…” (to avoid lawsuits later?) not even! In fact, the recording “decides” what type of person you are by six categories; action, thoughtful, cheerful, dreamer, SLAVE,-and procede to connect you with the same type of “person as you appear to be = talking to “yourself”= “customer satisfaction”.
In NZ you ask? Initial uptake of technology was by Vodophone. Ha! if i wasn’t a christian, i might say “F*$k You all nicely”.
“The News of the Day in a Different Way”
Yet another episode of The Panel drowns in Laughter
The Panel, Radio New Zealand National, Wednesday 13 March 2013
Jim Mora, Susan Baldacci, May Chen, Gordon Brown
JIM MORA: Okay, it’s 3;45 p.m. and Susan Baladacci is here with What the Woooooorrrld’s Talking About. What have you got for us today?
SUSAN BALDACCI: Well, Iran is talking about suing the makers of Zero Dark Thirty.
GORDON BROWN:[exploding with mirth] A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
JIM MORA: Oh yes? Ha ha ha ha ha!
GORDON BROWN: Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!
SUSAN BALDACCI:They say they were unfairly portrayed, and the movie was inaccurate.
GORDON BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
JIM MORA: Imagine all the countries that could sue the United States about not portrayed fairly in Hollywood movies!
SUSAN BALDACCI: He he he he he!
MORA: I mean, ha ha ha ha ha, New Zealanders could complain that Lord of the Rings did not exactly portray our modern amenities!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
BALDACCI: And the film Avatar did not portray the Nandor people very well!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Okay, what else? The Mayor of New York is taking on Big Soda and Big Soda is winning!
BALDACCI: Yes, but he’s going to come back at them again and he insists this is a serious health matter.
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Are we happy about Big Government telling us how much sugar we can consume?
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha! It reminds me of Carless Days! Ha ha ha ha ha!
BALDACCI: It’s like excess speeding fines. I was ticketed recently for travelling at TWO kilometres per hour over the speed limit.
MORA:[sarcastic tone] Two KPH over the limit can be VERY dangerous!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! Okay, what else have you got for us?
BALDACCI: This new Gwyneth Paltrow diet sounds completely crazy!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Our kids clamour for salad. Not!
BALDACCI: He he he he he!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Et cetera, ad infinitum, ad absurdum, ad nauseam….
A little later, during the formal introductions of his guests following the 4 o’clock news, Gordon Brown said that what he does now is write books—“when I’m not writing a column and getting myself into trouble. Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Brown, like Mora, seems incapable of saying anything without sniggering. Evidently he finds himself very funny. To add to the unlikeability factor, Brown sounds unnervingly like the Rt. Hon. David Carter.
In the “Soapbox” segment, Brown redeemed himself by actually saying something sensible about hospital visiting hours.
They think a fine for 2 km/h over the limit is ridiculous. OK, let’s say that’s a 50 km/h area, so the excess velocity is 4%. Now imagine a beneficiary on $20,000 pa claiming 4% more – $800. Two years prison? Ha ha ha ha.
The sense of entitlement that these guys feel to break the laws that they don’t think should apply to them is sickening. Ha ha ha ha.
MURRAY OLSEN: The sense of entitlement that these guys feel to break the laws that they don’t think should apply to them is sickening. Ha ha ha ha.
JIM MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha! That’s very good, Murray. Okay, what’s next?
SUSAN BALDACCI: A survey of 7,500 people has found that people who buy more than three pairs of sneakers a year are 61 percent more likely to have the qualities of a modern leader.
JIM MORA: Well this is from MIT, so it’s a reputable source.
SUSAN BALDACCI: The Manukau Institute of Technology, yes.
Yes, as a regular RNZ listener I do occasionally listen to Mora and his “guests”, but indeed, I can only digest small dosages, otherwise I get brain pain and worse.
But what is the alternative? Garner on Radio Live (after 3 pm). Garner is sooo over-rated, and the pseudo “current affairs” program 3rd degree shows it.
NZ media turns me off so often, so it is back to BBC World, for some real info that matters in the wider world.
Why do you hate World Have Your Say? Let me guess… Two words… rhymes with “table napkin”… I hear an irritating West Country accent… not it’s not Gareth from The Office… I see an R and an V…no, it’s an A… R.A. …. I hear that awful accent again… ROS ATKINS!!!!!
It’s probably already been covered (I haven’t trawled all of the above), but the first “journalist” to ask Him (i.e. He that is so confdint of ovawearmung success on the basis of a series of “mights and maybe’s”):
Mr Key, how did you know that David Shearer had registered to bur shares in MRP, AND how did you know so quickly…..
I won’t hold my breathe, but then (having tutored in MS) there were OH so MANY that hadn’t even heard of the 4th Estate, let alone enrolled for a purpose other than stardom.
(Incidently – worse still, there was a lecturer that thought this was all OK). Never mind – I suspect the 20 days of water left might cause worry.
yes, the “stars” on the nooz and the morning shews interest me; Nadine’s from hearabouts. oh well, lamentatations and all that, “purty” figures and expensive underclothes, i’m sure .(never went for the “beautiful people” meself )still, some girls from the ‘right” side of the tracks were attracted to a rough diamond…wotta ya gonna do? gotta oblige 🙂
Bill from Dipton appears to have been caught out for having put pressure on the States coal miner Solid Energy to take on loads more debt while knowing coal prices world-wide were tanking big-time…
Double dipstick also lauded the lignite brickette scheme and coal seam gas extraction in his own electorate now he has no knowledge of solid energies losses due to poor investments!
Bullshitting Blinglish!
I wouldn’t let that idiot run the corner diary and here He is running our country,(into the ground),
It appears that despite coal prices having dropped by a third by May 2009 the Government wrote to Solid Energy’s board urging them to take on more debt,
This Solid Energy did, moving from a debt loading of just 13 million dollars under the previous Labour Government to borrowing a massive 300 million dollars by 2011 despite the international price of coal having dropped by another third,
Bill and Slippery having not been able to balance the budget because of the hole left in the Governments revenue from taxation with the ‘tax switch’ then effectively TOOK 100 million dollars of this borrowed money from Solid Energy as dividends over the period 2009-2011,
That isn’t governance, it’s fucking borderline fraud on the part of this Slippery National Government which along with the knee-capping of Government rules around bio-fuels has nearly destroyed what was a well managed State owned company,
i have to wonder just what the debt loading of other Government owned businesses has been foisted on the likes of NZPost et al by this Slippery bunch of Shyster’s while in the back-ground Bill from Dipton has His hand out to tax these borrowings by up to a third…
3 News tonight 10 minutes in: Gower (unseen) asking Judith Collins about Bain compensation; the glowing minister betraying not an ounce of her usual Thatcher finishes responses and starts to move away – “Thanks Paddy…..” How cosy !
I notice he didn’t go on the rampage tonight about Power and English pressuring Solid Energy to hike borrowing to fund dividend, knowing coal returns decreasing. Like he did last night with the “gutless” talk re the Chinese immigrant approved by Jones.
Instead he chose to frame the whole Solid Energy question as simply a matter of throwing and ducking blame. Blah blah blah business as usual……..
What’s up with this prick Gower ? Backscratching with the powerful ?
3News=RadioWorks= 40 million dollar loan guarantee from this Slippery National Government= Gower,(the Alfred E. Nuemann of NZ television reporting), giving the National Government biased uncritical coverage while making up s**t about Labour and the Green Party’s to paint them in a bad light,
“The left’ should do it’self a big favor and start a public boycott of 3News,(or the whole channel), until such time as they get rid of that lying little twat…
And boycott ZB and hosts like Leighton Smith, Larry Williams and other jocks whose job it is to repeat the government’s line, while spewing hatred towards anyone who rejects the neo-liberal paradigm.
They won’t get rid of these guys; the news is corporately owned.
The solution is to find alternative ways to communicate with people, thereby bypassing the controlling filter of our corporate media. Winston Peters communicates directly to the elderly in halls and the young can be contacted through social media.
Only Campbell Live is doing its job at the moment.
At least there’s a balance to Gower on TV3. Campbell’s positioning himself and his team solidly as critics of the government. His clips of Paula Bennet over the last couple of nights saying how wonderful it is to see that 200 people who applied for 7 jobs at Carter Holt because it shows how keen people are to apply for jobs didn’t need any further comment. Viewers would’ve been shocked at how bizarrely out of touch and full of BS she is.
Listening to 8 a.m news this morning. Announcer mentions that the young Acts, Nats, labour , greens etc had banded together to support gay marriage.
So far so good, then on comes some young bloke J.A…….? who represents the young conservatives, Colin Craig’s mob I assume. Firstly he spends time whining that his young conservatives hadn’t been asked to join the discussion but they didn’t support it anyway and then goes on to say that the others are misrepresenting the views of all young New Zealanders. Rich coming from the flea on the back of the margin of error conservative dog.
However, his rant took up, I estimate around a third of the total time of the news broadcast.
How on earth did they get so much news time and a voice over prepared statement as well. Just who “influenced” that little lot and why.
Quick smart dismissal of the obviously serious issue of ministerial pressuring of Solid Energy while ministers project responsibility elsewhere is not “balance”. Neither is going feral and angrily saying “in my opinion……..blah blah blah…….gutless etc” re the Jones/Chinese immigrant matter.
That’s the arrogance of the little snot. The sending out as the true view of an “equilibrium” constructed according to his “opinion” or the random state of his guts of a day. “Patrick is not pleased…..” is juvenile.
Wish Campbell would give wee Mr Bean a slap once in a while. Learn him that the variousness of his anger, menancing the camera, news-thug manner, dismissiveness, sucking up (“Thanks Paddy” from Collins), and a demeanour and delivery otherwise strange, ain’t the way to go.
And even people who watch TV One are now switching over to TV3 for Campbell live rather than watch the Seven Sharp circus, so he’s nicely positioned to capture an audience looking for someone to dig into the murk surrounding this Government.
All your worldy concerns above are entirely valid but I want to say how disgusted I am to hear, on “Radio Tauranga” today, that I live at the 100th worst beach in New Zealand.
It cost a lot of money to get here from where I lived before and I wanted to beseech the New Zealand public to first visit the better ninety nine beaches before coming here to disturb me.
Karol – you have not missed much. Tonight there was one good story though, about a Maori chap, who was apparently convicted for murder with totally baseless, fabricated “evidence” over 20 years ago, so he seems to have spent 20 years in prison, while likely to have been innocent.
It was in connection to a high level rape and murder case.
Garner had to comment towards the end: “He was poor, brown and not that bright…”
I suppose he was meaning to express the injustice that was dished out on the guy, but the way he said it, it sounded arrogant and full of prejudice, coming from a “white” over-rated journo.
NZ 2013 means, there are stratospheres between certain social groups in this country now, which does not help to understand each other.
“National MP Tim Macindoe was the first to speak against the bill, saying that he had “difficulty in believing that God wants this change to be made”.”
Wonder what his god thinks about New Zealander’s having to rely on charity to feed themselves and their families?
Sit up on the front pew, sing and pray the loudest and step over the beggar on the way out of the church.
Tory nugget.
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
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While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
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On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Cards on the table please.
Which parties will support renationalising the assets National sells?
Details can come later re how to best go about it, but we need to know now. Today.
It occurred to me as I asked who was going to register share interests around the office that the float had a lot of support. I questioned how they would feel about buy back / nationalization? Universal answer was they thought it could not happen.
After puzzling for a while I decided that what I was looking at was entrenched attitudes toward private property rights. These buggers thought them sacrosanct and would fight for them. I suspect their view of democracy does not include “democratic” methods of recovering assets. The next part of the fight has the potential to be very explosive, and I wonder how far the “left” will go to recover the assets? Or will they wimp out?
“I questioned how they would feel about buy back / nationalization? Universal answer was they thought it could not happen.”
That’s exactly why it needs to be on the table now.
Once kiwis get it into their heads that they have a god-given right to buy a piece of their neighbours power bill we’re fucked. An announcement, right now, that it has all been a stupid John Key money-trader fantasy that the next govt will put a stop to is the only reality check that will break the spell.
Nothing else Labour says or does has a shit’s show of cutting through. Nothing. And Labour don’t have anything else anyway.
If they aren’t going to announce this now, they may as well forget about opposing asset sales altogether. After all what’s the point of saying you’re against and doing absolutely nothing at all to try to stop them?
(Oh and if it seems like I’m singling out Labour that’s because without the largest party making a clear stand one way or the other the who question is effectively moot)
“Mr Shearer said, “We won’t rule it out but we won’t rule it in either.” Labour would not be able to make any commitment on it before an election.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10870867
So I’d say thats a big NO then.
If by some fluke Labour manages to form a Govt. around them after the next election they will simply say “we are not going to do something we didn’t campaign on blah blah fucking mumble blah blah”
Shearer needs to grow a fucking spine
I see, thanks for the quote.
So Labour has stated it will make no firm commitments one way or another on post 2014 anti-asset sale action as part of its election year manifesto.
I read this as Shearer taking asset sales completely off the 2014 campaign table as a campaign issue. This is a frakking disaster. A buy back is now not even an issue for election debate.
And if you won’t commit one way or another on a buy back, you also can’t hold any useful debate around heavier regulation of the new privatised corporations. Because whats the use of talking about that when you apparently still might buy the assets back? Or not.
What a fucking lost compass-less political leader.
That’s been true of Labour for some time. They drunk the neo-liberal kool-aid and that was it – an end to any standing on principles.
today’s principles are as showy and fake and wobbly as those impossibly high-heeled shoes that are in fashion for women who have been known to break a bone as they attempt to function in the normal way.
The mistake that everybody seems to make is the belief that there are different parties. There are not, only being taken to the cleaners less or more. One needs to understand that most politicians have too much to loose if they ever have to go back to the “real” labour party in the early eighties.
We need to take a different tack here, embrace commerce for some good stuff. Get solar panels on every roof, small windmills added and batteries to convert and store power. Heck, you could sell power to the companies this government want’s to sell. Wouldn’t that be a hoot. Technically it can be done.
Their hacks have all been pretty adamant that it doesn’t make economic sense to do so.
You said that yesterday and I asked for a link.
Seriously, I do not know where Labour stands on this. That may be because I haven’t heard what they’ve said, or because … they haven’t said it.
Can anybody clarify? The leader can’t.
As clashman posted above: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10870867
Shearer says no decision until after the election. Which means “no” for our purposes.
Sure, I know what Shearer said (or didn’t say), but that’s not the point.
There seems to be a general assumption that Labour won’t buy them back. But Labour won’t say so.
Meanwhile, there’s going to be a referendum, and Labour will campaign for a good turnout and good result, and raise hopes and then … dash them. The media questions about future intentions are inevitable, and Labour need to have answers.
This is stupid politics, as No Right Turn eloquently posted today.
Yep. It’s fucked.
But what I mean is that for our purposes the question is whether they’ll take a positive stand or not.
“Won’t say” = “not”.
On the other thread Populuxe linked (thanks) to a Herald article last year, Cosgrove saying it would be “fiscally irresponsible” to commit to a buy-back. Ditto Norman for the Greens.
Today Shearer has muddied the waters (as usual). FFS, can’t he see that he’s giving National a free gift … Key: “We said BEFORE the election – manadate blah blah – but Labour won’t say until AFTER”.
Take a position we like or don’t like but take a fucking position, Shearer. Don’t go hardout on the referendum and then say “The people have Spoken … Key must listen! Will we listen? Whatever, maybe”.
Idiocy cubed.
Take a position? But that means that you might be held to account for delivering on it!
And especially not power and broadcasting apparently
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/robert-walters-finance-breakfast-speech
Once kiwis get it into their heads that they have a god-given right to buy a piece of their neighbours power bill we’re fucked
How true which is why I referred to the people and their attitude toward property and their “perceived” rights. This transcends party politics as we know them (although they are a reflection). It is about the common good, its about the predatory nature of our individual psyches, its about the health of our society on a micro scale.
In short I don’t expect much of the politicians of the Left, less of the Right, they are “us”, and we are a deeply flawed bunch.
It occurred to me as I asked who was going to register share interests around the office that the float had a lot of support. I questioned how they would feel about buy back / nationalization? Universal answer was they thought it could not happen.
After puzzling for a while I decided that what I was looking at was entrenched attitudes toward private property rights. These buggers thought them sacrosanct and would fight for them. I suspect their view of democracy does not include “democratic” methods of recovering assets. The next part of the fight has the potential to be very explosive, and I wonder how far the “left” will go to recover the assets? Or will they wimp out?
Hear hear, Felixviper.
Felix, the question you’re asking amounts to…
Who is working for NZ, and who is working against NZ!
Labour will not say any such thing about buy back, as it just might win them then next election if they did, and when they inevitably renege on their words, it would be even more obvious whose interests the LP are working for/against.
Better to shut up, say nothing, appears to be the policy.
Think about all the election campaign money…. who knows, maybe some might not find the account when a clear statement is being given….. just thinking aloud….
FV you are on a roll my man.
The only one I’ve seen with a commitment to renationalise the assets, including some others sold previously, are the Alliance. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if Mana hadn’t also said so and I missed it.
Why aren’t we calling it Infrastructure?
Infrastructure is necessary for the functioning of society.
Assets are something that can be flogged off.
Good point and infrastructure is a natural monopoly which everyone understands.
Winston Peters has announced that NZ First would push for re-purchase. It won’t however be enough to encourage me to vote for them.
It’s good that they’ve taken a position, but ultimately it’s only the Labour position that matters. No minor party’s “push” will mean squat on such a big issue without the full support of the largest governing party.
It’s not as simple as it might all sound Felix. Using the authority of the state to renationalise the power companies isn’t really an option available to Labour. An action like that has repercussions and the NZ economy is in such a fragile state that no-one knows where it would lead. We’re not Venezuela, we don’t have oil to keep the economy running.
Labour could promise to buy back the shares at market prices but that could just push the share prices up further, with people knowing their share trades were underwritten by the next Labour govt.
They may be better playing the capitalists at their own game & asset strip the new private companies. As majority shareholder they could for example sell the silver (the dams etc) to a new SOE and lease them back, ostensibly with a view to raising more capital of course. The new SOE could quietly end up owning all the good generation plants.
Nah there are plenty of ways to get the assets 100% back under government control.
An outright nationalisation will of course spook the free market animal spirits. But over a 5-10 year period, easy.
You start with adding a workers committee member to the Board of Directors, as well as one which is a Cabinet representative. Both with full voting rights.
All moot without a statement of intent. We’re discussing it in the shadows because Shearer is afraid to turn the lights on.
Also the threat of renationalisation would certainly make the shares less palatable to overseas buyers
But if they announced in advance that they intended buying them back they could claim a “mandate”.
I know it’s not necessarily simple and that’s precisely why I said details can come later.
What’s needed now is a just bold plain language statement that the assets will be returned to the public. Then we argue about how to do it until the election and steal the narrative, marginalising National from the public discourse as they have no way to join that conversation.
But anyway, we now have Shearer’s statement and it’s not good news. For anyone who isn’t fluent in bullshit, he’s saying no.
We’re not Venezuela. It s not about oil in Venezuela, it is about courage and vision to reject one model and build another. Venezuela are attempting this, our “leaders” wont because they represent todays model.
There is a lot of gas and hot air over here blaming Shearer and Labour for not “leading”. Its a total waste, these buggers belong to a broken paradigm. You can argue over the corpse for as long you like, it wont stop festering or do a Lazarus and miraculously lead you to Utopia.
“It s not about oil in Venezuela,…”
My comment about Venezuela referred to the fact they had an oil industry that effectively permitted them to thumb their noses at the international markets. The US didn’t like what happened there but they still kept buying Venezuelan oil. Capitalists are at least pragmatists.
We don’t have that kind of luxury so renationalisation is a risky prospect that we may not be able to afford and I don’t think Labour should make promises they may not be able to keep. It’s politically risky as well making unequivocal promises this far out from an election.
I agree with Felix that Labour should at least make a stand on asset ownership & state control of strategic assets, IMO they don’t need to promise to buy back but they do need to give us some kind of solid position there.
Let’s be clear on why re-nationalisation strategies carry a significant risk. It’s the underlying consistent, ever-present threat of a capital and financial market strike against NZ.
Just so we’re clear that these powers are not our friends.
Really? A capital strike? I think the implications would run much further than just that. But lets be clear about one other thing – such a strike is entirely able to be dealt with by us. There would be some serious squishing and squashing but it is achievable.
We should also be clear about the damage “international capital” actually does in terms of sapping sovereignty and also in terms of dead weight cost of today’s “international capital”. It keeps our prosperity at a level consistently lower than what we can provide.
One other thing to be clear about is that an alternative to “international capital” is better (for reasons outlined before) and it is merely the transition to the new position, not the new position itself, that is the problem.
A capital strike is a fairly big deal and would involve things like collapsing the NZD and tripling the price of petrol, pharmaceuticals, imported parts, foods and other goods. NZD property prices would skyrocket as internationals found that they could buy a nice Auckland house for USD$200K.
Thousands of businesses would fall over as credit and lines of credit were withdrawn.
Could it be managed? Yes. But it would be a pretty sticky time.
Except that they wouldn’t. One of the things that needs to be done is to ban foreign ownership of NZ land.
Bloody Hell!
Now I see where the Green Party get their policy from.
Collapsing the NZD? Yes that’s policy.
Tripling the price of petrol? Yes that’s policy
Increasing the cost of imported parts, food and other goods. Sounds pretty familiar to me and fits in with making everything in New Zealand which they advocate.
Well, if all we do is continue to
make cheap shitfarm in NZ then what will happen is that poverty in NZ will continue to increase. So, that’s what National want as an increase in poverty means wages are going down.BTW, by the end of this decade petrol will double or more anyway and so will pretty much all other imported goods along with it. Trying to stop that from happening by maintaining a high dollar is actually going to make it worse because we would start the shift to what is needed late.
Such as the attack on the NZ dollar in 1987 by Andrew Krieger, and (allegedly) aided and abbetted by John Key?
Basically yes, and also experienced previously by other countries as the actions of “bond vigilantes” and CDS speculation.
I don’t think it that likely we’d suffer a retaliatory strike as such, we would after all be only be renationalising what we’d just sold so It’s not that big a deal in the scheme of things.
It’s our international investment position that would likely be of most concern. Whether we like it or not we presently need foreign investment and until we can get rid of that need we’re not really in a position to get too bolshie on the economic front.
This is the problem, from latest stats;
Exports of goods & services $62,232 billion
Imports of goods & services $60,448 billion
Dividends from foreign investments $5,419 billion
Dividends paid to foreign investors $15,906 billion
Current account deficit $9,032 billion
Currently we have to fund that deficit with more foreign investment be it borrowing or selling assets. If we didn’t fund it our currency wouldn’t just fall it would crash, we can’t carry a $9billion deficit.
This puzzles me. Purely from an economic point of view, all other repercussions aside, how could renationalising at cost possibly put NZ in a worse financial position than not selling? Either way, some essential services need to be funded from other sources.
We have this adaptable mechanism called taxation…
“This puzzles me. Purely from an economic point of view, all other repercussions aside, how could renationalising at cost possibly put NZ in a worse financial position than not selling? Either way, some essential services need to be funded from other sources.”
renationalising <—— that word there
Over the years both Labour & the Nats have put this country more and more at the mercy of international investors. I don't like it any more than anyone else here but it's a fact we can't ignore. We don't have the control over our country that we used to have.
We've all seen how easy these investment wankers panic and stampede and the mention of 'nationalising' will get a reaction. You can count on that.
What would nationalising mean? Who knows, could get away with it scot-free but the most likely scenario is we'd see a flight of capital out of the country leading to a lowered credit rating, higher interest on Govt debt, higher mortages & all sorts of pleasant things we don't need at the moment.
If you want to return some balance of sovereignty, you’re going to have to give the capitalists and financiers some push back.
What do you suggest?
Yes we do but some people would like us to believe that we don’t.
As the government can print money there shouldn’t be any interest on it or, in fact, any government debt. That’s the thing about being a sovereign nation that owns all the resources within it’s borders – you don’t need to borrow money from overseas to use those resources.
“If you want to return some balance of sovereignty, you’re going to have to give the capitalists and financiers some push back.
What do you suggest?”
What I think we need is to first get some reasonable control back, and then we can start getting rid of the weeds. You can bluff with a pair of twos but it’s much safer sitting on a few aces. To be honest I’m not sure NZ Inc even has a pair of twos, we aren’t in good shape.
Expanding Kiwibank is a good place to start pushing back. It needs more capital, can’t start squeezing the Aussie banks out without it. I’d even support share issues to Kiwi investors to raise the capital, wouldn’t be selling it would be increasing the capital base.
The TPPA worries me, giving away much more control there. I’d rather see Labour state that they’d pull out of that, might be able to prevent a signing by the Nats then.
Yes we can. Once we make it illegal for private banks to create money as they do ATM then they will start losing money and so the shareholders will be looking to sell and the government can buy them up for pennies on the dollar. Once we do that we add them to Kiwibank.
Yep. Again, we need the parties of the left to say that they will withdraw from it.
So, the currency crashes. Not really an issue – just means that there would be more demand for NZ produced goods both internal and external.
Wait. More foreign investment is what is killing us.
Dividends paid every year to those foreign investors on things that they’ve bought from us is what is screwing us.
Stopping that is priority no 1 if you want the current account and balance of payments to sorted in the long term.
By “things” I mean Contact, Telecom, F&P, BNZ, etc
The list goes on, billions of dollars a year extracted out from us.
Yep!
+1
Bloody well said.
Except they didn’t really, they just moved the authoritarianism and corruption from column A to column B.
We have enough resources to keep the economy running. If we didn’t, the economy wouldn’t keep running. We really don’t need the capitalists no matter how much they think, and would like us to think, we do.
That’s only true if Labour remains a major party. It may not. If fact, I think it’s heading for a dive as it becomes obvious that they won’t oppose NACT and are, in fact, partially on NACTs side.
True that.
Still, right now they’re the largest opposition party so they’re the ones the public has to look to for cues and clues.
My suggestion: Stop looking to Labour to lead as it’s obvious that they won’t. The only solution is to look for another party.
Yes I agree. But the tipping point is a wee way off yet.
The faster people start looking for a party that actually sticks to the principles that they believe in rather than hoping that the Old Party which used to believe in them will get back to its roots the better.
Yes. But so far they’re not doing that in vast numbers.
That’s assuming that a solution can be found within the existing civil system.
Well, we can always wait round for a bloody revolution but I’m more inclined to peaceful options.
Labour leader David Shearer is quoted in today’s online Herald as saying He wont rule out buying the shares back…
And I might try not to run over any old ladies today but it’s not exactly a comforting level of commitment, innit?
It’s actually a good start that this was even mentioned by Shearer, but such a low key politically non-committal statement should have been made made earlier on. Hmmm like the day Iwi lost their Supreme Court appeal. That would have got coverage.
Now that the ship has almost sailed it’s not likely to make a significant difference to the discourse.
Now, after the baby is named and almost due to be delivered, you’re finally deciding that you won’t rule out giving it away for adoption? A bit too little, a bit too late.
Novopay chases teacher for $22
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870896
Bizzare
She was overpaid a net $1840 and she paid that back
The $22 was paid to the union.
Does this also mean that Novapay will claim back from the teacher any money paid to the IRD, Kiwisaver etc?
When I was overpaid by Novapay the letter they sent me stated that if they couldn’t get the money back from Kiwisaver and the IRD I would be expected to pay it back to them.
i.e. they go after the party least likely to have lawyers on call.
I’m glad they sent you that letter. Hope you’ve framed it.
It means they’ve fucked themselves when it comes to court. Another class action may be brewing if they continue to be dumb about it.
Have you passed that info on?
Re: David Shearer + Norman + Merteria reported as buying shares.
Actually this does seem to be a direct breach of privacy. What else happens to the details left on the site? Are they sold to private buyers so they can marketed to?
Since my details have been entered, I’d like to follow the trail of how John Key himself “discovered” that leaders of opposition parties were signed up.
What is it with National party members? Do they have NO RESPECT AT ALL for Privacy laws?
Now it’s sinking in….our own PM appears to have gleefully broken the law and breached the privacy of David Shearer for political gain.
on rnz this morning key said he got the information from an article where shearer was misquoted sometime ago saying that he would consider buying shares just to keep them in nz. so key knows shearer was misquoted, yet still used that as evidence for his scoop.
i said to a workmate “john key just cant help but lie can he?”,
& he said “i guess thats how he got to the top”
In polite circles it’s called ‘truth modification’, Slippery the Prime Minister is an expert at it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Fqp_BTusw.
This video of Ahoribuzz slagging Key et al to the tune of Hey Joe well worth a look. Good to share on Facebook too.
Excellent post by Sue Bradford on the Daily Blog – calling the left out for not severing the links with the “free market” ethos.
I agree with her comment about Russel Norman’s interview on DTB 9I said as much in the comment below that interview. But I also think he is more neolib than some other Green MPs, eg Turei.
Bradford said:
A must-read.
Thank you Sue.*
I suspect we live in far more dangerous times than many of us on the left realise.
I think it would be better for my health if I wasn’t aware of this. Especially in this impotent hiatus that Sue speaks of so eloquently.
Will we ever be able to pull it together?
In the various “activist” things I’m involved in I’m always wondering if we are achieving anything meaningful, and if the activity itself might be being coopted into being a part of the problem, if there isn’t something more effective I could do.
Sue has beautifully encapsualted the problem, but the how-to is still very hazy, There is an abudance of ability in the left, and an awful lot of common ground. And yet…
*I’m responding here because I’m not sure about commenting at TDB. I’ve seen the operation (and complaints about it) and read the relevant ‘about’ information but it hasn’t inspired confidence so far. Apart from that, The Standard is the natural discussion forum and I like it here.
@ felixviper and others above:
This is exactly the dilemma of “the left”, as society is now almost exclusively made up of private, independent-minded “individuals”, and they are driven by individualistically motivated, self focused, self-serving and not sufficiently “collectively” minded thinking and actions.
Only when it comes to some perceived undeniable needs, like health care, minimum guaranteed retirement income and emergency services by police, ambulances and fire services, do they see a need to stand up and fight for this.
Society has been smartly divided, collective spirit is not shown during usual day to day activities, and every person follows her and his agendas, forgetting that the sum of them all make up society, and that in reality we all need each other, in some ways or other ways.
The fabric of society has been destroyed, by the neo capitalist sell-out of everything not nailed firmly to the wall or ground, yes even what is “nailed” is now sold, and like rats on a sinking ship, every one is out there to save themselves, thinking if they buy into a few shares, then they have “their stake” in NZ society, and can by that ensure that assets and SOEs or now MOM companies are in NZ hands.
But that is screwed up thinking, as it is doing exactly what the Nats want. Hence I can only accept people pre-registering for the share sale to sabotage the process, that is for left minded people. Those that buy into the MOM companies are doing exactly what Key and gang have served us up, they are by deed justifying the privatisation, which is just the beginning of more to come.
So a truly left minded, national interest defending, collectively thinking person would bluntly refuse to buy the shares full stop. Anything is half hearted nonsense, and those buying into it are betraying their own cause!
The photo on this article is difficult to look at for me. The culling has begun and will continue and these cows, kept unnaturally and perpetually in milk, will get a bullet between their eyes – if they are lucky. The abuse of these animals is constant so that this country can make money. We fuck up the environment, over stock and try to grow cows where cows aren’t meant to grow and then when they outlive their ‘useful’ life they become petfood. I find the whole business from whoa to go sickening.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10870888
I’m not arguing that they shouldn’t be put out of their misery, I’m arguing that they should not be in misery in the first place.
100% with you Marty, on every single point. Thank you for posting your thoughts.
Agreed, and thats a bad taste photo for the Herald to display. I didn’t bother clicking on the ‘view more photos here’ link if the first was anything to go by. A simple description would be enough without the need for gratuitous style photos.
Disagree, fender. The photo will be for some what William Burroughs referred to as the “frozen moment when everyone sees what is at the end of the fork.” Burroughs wasn’t talking about food specifically, but the more consumers understand the reality of how meat gets to the supermarket, the better. Meat is murder and that photo illustrates the point perfectly.
I have to agree with you TRP. It’s understandable that some people may not want to understand how that steak actually gets on to their plate or how that sausage gets to Fido’s dog bowl. But ignorance and shielding people from moral discomfort is how bad situations propagate.
Yes it’s vital to display a photo of a guy pointing a rifle between the eyes of a cow just in case we forget where meat comes from, or in order to educate those who are unaware.
Yeah fuck – a bit visceral. My young niece and nephew would be somewhat disturbed by that.
Horrible as that photo is, the poor creature is probably going through less suffering than it would if it ended up in an abattoir. I find it hypocritical that many get upset with this portrayal of an animal getting shot than the reality of the suffering they endure in their miserable lives. I also have little time for those bemoaning climate change when a huge cause of climate change is dairying. Give up your meat and dairy – better for you, the earth and the animals.
Cut the legs off a beef heifer that had gone down with mag deficiency once, while she was still warm, for the dogs; cut out the back-steaks as well…yet that was a wee while ago…and then there was the worrying dogs that were advocated to be released…
Increased claims from Key that he tried very hard to save NZers from the terrible flawed actions of Solid Energy over the last 18months or 2 years. This increase of comments further adds to my belief that Key/English/Ryall have a lot to answer for and are pre-empting any negative comments about the Ministers that Don Elder will make tomorrow.
Rather like the pre-empting around the Skytower report. Get your story out first and fixed in the public mind then watch what happens.
They are very good political managers, the Nats.
A new headline on the Herald website which wasn’t there this morning: Simon Power in correspondence to the Solid Energy board as recently as 2009 pressured the board to increase borrowing and dividend, seemingly with English’s knowledge ?
To pay for tax cuts to the wealthy ?
Why are Auckland drivers such complete assholes?
More traffic cops needed as a consequence of our motorway madness.
It’s those selfish a***holes that push their way into queues of traffic, thereby slowing down the patient ones further, that have contributed to me driving less. Also, various other reckless and selfish practices that involve pulling suddenly in front of me, rather than waiting a second or two, just make me feel driving is becoming an increasingly antisocial practice.
I prefer public transport when it’s available & not to slow.
And the way pedestrians are treated by a minority of drivers is pretty worrying too.
I do public transport or my wee scooter – it’s nippy enough to keep up with the cars so I don’t get them tailgating so much. The thing for me is to always remember that I’m usually the squishiest thing on the roads – even pedestrians and cyclists can do me harm at 50k. So a minority of all major groups get some free verbal advice on what they could do to improve their road survivability 🙂
I love the freedom of me cycle 🙂 even more liberating than the Big “scooters” were (and no tickets, well…)
Jealous! I must get my motorbike license. Commuting over the Harbour Bridge is a daily torture, but I’m too disorganised to catch an early bus 😛
All I have to say about cycling is – “Auckland drivers”. I prefer walking, it is safer.
yep – cyclists are too slow to be safe in Dunedin, or they ride on the footpath and endanger pedestrians. Scooter has free parking all day in the middle of town, and can keep up with the flow of traffic.
Um…. McF, it’s not the cyclists that are the problem, but the priority given to cars and the unsafe car drivers, and the lack of off-road cycleways. What stats/evidence do you have that cyclists riding on footpath cause dangers to pedestrians?
Evidence of a number of injury reports around my local campus for a start. Enough to cause a nominal ban on cycling (although it’s only enforced if the cyclist is being a dick, in my experience). Mostly because of narrow paths between garden areas and blind corners around buildings, as far as I can see.
Elderly or otherwise vulnerable pedestrians + cyclists going too fast with not enough care = some bad injuries.
I certainly agree that things like environmental design and human factors in vehicle operators are the major issue with preventing harm to cyclists, and a cyclist vs a tonne of metal will always be worse off.
But 100kg of meat sack going at 20kph (or much faster) is still enough to cause serious harm to other people.
wots ya Doctorate in master
I ain’t no academic, I works for a living 🙂
very bright person, nonetheless, have taught me a thing or two 🙂 (which i appreciate)
cheers
I find your approach to life interesting, too 🙂
OnKey-THE BIGGEST thing to come away from South America with? “support for a seat on the UN Security council (42% of the worlds’ Catholics live in S.A)
from the “tube”; an elderly community up Northland way is now “terrified of Police” after they roughed up an elderly lady…sigh.
From the wrappings; 20 Days of Water reserves remain for Wellington, Hutt and Porirua
Drought-situated Dairy stock being dried off two months early-“big drop in gross income”.
in HB, Agricultural Contractors cannot drill the ground as it is too hard.
Dom; “Fears Eurozone tensions could flare into war”””’; Greek and Italian resentment towards Germany (can’t find link, crap browser 🙁 )
Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht -Friederich von Schiller
(Are we being Rewired?)
http://www.mpdailyfix.com/your-brain-on-technology-rewired-and-addicted/
DEAR PRISM, have joined a Transitions Towns project via the local Environment Centre; they also support an Organic Project, Community gardens, Lobbying, education in secondary schools, workshops, and, AND, are considering standing for Local Body elections on a collective ticket.
Permaculture Baybee, Permaculture!
Smoke scare on Prime Minister’s flight
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870955
SO it is true
Liar Liar ……
LOLZ, pants on fire…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/130334/labour-threatens-solid-energy-contempt-case
A leaked clandestine recording of Bradley Manning explaining his reaction to the collateral murder video and how he leaked it to the world.
https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/03/fpf-publishes-leaked-audio-of-bradley-mannings-statement
http://youtu.be/6L79wWAFUqg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/01/bradley-manning-wikileaks-statement-full-text
(careful, links to disturbing images)
“Multi-tasking” may not be your friend;
The Shallows; What the Internet is doing to (your) brians. Nicholas Carr.
http://books.google.co.nz/books/about/The_Shallows_What_the_Internet_Is_Doing.html?id=1KayoVl3OTMC&redir_esc=y
back to Q.T.;
Russell Norman; from NIWA (been a long time comin’) “droughts are expected to become more frequent and intense.”
English concedes, yet “being CONDEMNED by conferences of NGOs of-shore is not going to influence govt policy.”
Parker; essentially, p/ p / p wage -gap between NZ and OZ has almost doubled as the “gap” is “closed”. Yep!
Go Annette!!!- HBDHB “modifications” (Ryall)= reduction to health care for the elderly. Go on Greypower, vote Nat again, go on, we dare ya…
NZFirst are just p*ssin’ in the wind re foreign ownership of land ‘though right about one thing; “the country is being flogged off”
ooh, N.Smith, (Dr Knot) is under pressure re the AK Unitary Plan (spinning around Carters’ original position, of all, oh wait, four months ago); essentially, no “greenfields relief likely before 2017.
from RNZ; AUTOMATE THIS : How algorithms came to rule YOUR world ;Christopher Steiner
e.g. “your call may be recorded to…” (to avoid lawsuits later?) not even! In fact, the recording “decides” what type of person you are by six categories; action, thoughtful, cheerful, dreamer, SLAVE,-and procede to connect you with the same type of “person as you appear to be = talking to “yourself”= “customer satisfaction”.
In NZ you ask? Initial uptake of technology was by Vodophone. Ha! if i wasn’t a christian, i might say “F*$k You all nicely”.
Edit: “brains” (to joe)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13542772-automate-this
“The News of the Day in a Different Way”
Yet another episode of The Panel drowns in Laughter
The Panel, Radio New Zealand National, Wednesday 13 March 2013
Jim Mora, Susan Baldacci, May Chen, Gordon Brown
JIM MORA: Okay, it’s 3;45 p.m. and Susan Baladacci is here with What the Woooooorrrld’s Talking About. What have you got for us today?
SUSAN BALDACCI: Well, Iran is talking about suing the makers of Zero Dark Thirty.
GORDON BROWN: [exploding with mirth] A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
JIM MORA: Oh yes? Ha ha ha ha ha!
GORDON BROWN: Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!
SUSAN BALDACCI:They say they were unfairly portrayed, and the movie was inaccurate.
GORDON BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
JIM MORA: Imagine all the countries that could sue the United States about not portrayed fairly in Hollywood movies!
SUSAN BALDACCI: He he he he he!
MORA: I mean, ha ha ha ha ha, New Zealanders could complain that Lord of the Rings did not exactly portray our modern amenities!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
BALDACCI: And the film Avatar did not portray the Nandor people very well!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Okay, what else? The Mayor of New York is taking on Big Soda and Big Soda is winning!
BALDACCI: Yes, but he’s going to come back at them again and he insists this is a serious health matter.
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Are we happy about Big Government telling us how much sugar we can consume?
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha! It reminds me of Carless Days! Ha ha ha ha ha!
BALDACCI: It’s like excess speeding fines. I was ticketed recently for travelling at TWO kilometres per hour over the speed limit.
MORA: [sarcastic tone] Two KPH over the limit can be VERY dangerous!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! Okay, what else have you got for us?
BALDACCI: This new Gwyneth Paltrow diet sounds completely crazy!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Our kids clamour for salad. Not!
BALDACCI: He he he he he!
BROWN: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Et cetera, ad infinitum, ad absurdum, ad nauseam….
A little later, during the formal introductions of his guests following the 4 o’clock news, Gordon Brown said that what he does now is write books—“when I’m not writing a column and getting myself into trouble. Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Brown, like Mora, seems incapable of saying anything without sniggering. Evidently he finds himself very funny. To add to the unlikeability factor, Brown sounds unnervingly like the Rt. Hon. David Carter.
In the “Soapbox” segment, Brown redeemed himself by actually saying something sensible about hospital visiting hours.
They think a fine for 2 km/h over the limit is ridiculous. OK, let’s say that’s a 50 km/h area, so the excess velocity is 4%. Now imagine a beneficiary on $20,000 pa claiming 4% more – $800. Two years prison? Ha ha ha ha.
The sense of entitlement that these guys feel to break the laws that they don’t think should apply to them is sickening. Ha ha ha ha.
MURRAY OLSEN: The sense of entitlement that these guys feel to break the laws that they don’t think should apply to them is sickening. Ha ha ha ha.
JIM MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha! That’s very good, Murray. Okay, what’s next?
SUSAN BALDACCI: A survey of 7,500 people has found that people who buy more than three pairs of sneakers a year are 61 percent more likely to have the qualities of a modern leader.
JIM MORA: Well this is from MIT, so it’s a reputable source.
SUSAN BALDACCI: The Manukau Institute of Technology, yes.
GORDON BROWN: Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!
The panel panning out mentally, I suppose.
Yes, as a regular RNZ listener I do occasionally listen to Mora and his “guests”, but indeed, I can only digest small dosages, otherwise I get brain pain and worse.
But what is the alternative? Garner on Radio Live (after 3 pm). Garner is sooo over-rated, and the pseudo “current affairs” program 3rd degree shows it.
NZ media turns me off so often, so it is back to BBC World, for some real info that matters in the wider world.
As bad as Mora and co. often are, the BBC is not really much better. It pains me greatly to have to say that.
Still, re-runs of Hancock and The Navy Lark are a good reason to keep loving it.
Morrissey: I mean BBC World by the way!
The lad himself! I’m starting to warm to you, Mozza. My pet hate on the beeb is World Have a Spray. A trully awful listening experience.
Why do you hate World Have Your Say? Let me guess… Two words… rhymes with “table napkin”… I hear an irritating West Country accent… not it’s not Gareth from The Office… I see an R and an V…no, it’s an A… R.A. …. I hear that awful accent again… ROS ATKINS!!!!!
It’s probably already been covered (I haven’t trawled all of the above), but the first “journalist” to ask Him (i.e. He that is so confdint of ovawearmung success on the basis of a series of “mights and maybe’s”):
Mr Key, how did you know that David Shearer had registered to bur shares in MRP, AND how did you know so quickly…..
I won’t hold my breathe, but then (having tutored in MS) there were OH so MANY that hadn’t even heard of the 4th Estate, let alone enrolled for a purpose other than stardom.
(Incidently – worse still, there was a lecturer that thought this was all OK). Never mind – I suspect the 20 days of water left might cause worry.
yes, the “stars” on the nooz and the morning shews interest me; Nadine’s from hearabouts. oh well, lamentatations and all that, “purty” figures and expensive underclothes, i’m sure .(never went for the “beautiful people” meself )still, some girls from the ‘right” side of the tracks were attracted to a rough diamond…wotta ya gonna do? gotta oblige 🙂
It’s the gentlemanly thing to do, after all.
http://www.stuff.co.nz-ministers pressure solid energy
Bill from Dipton appears to have been caught out for having put pressure on the States coal miner Solid Energy to take on loads more debt while knowing coal prices world-wide were tanking big-time…
Double dipstick also lauded the lignite brickette scheme and coal seam gas extraction in his own electorate now he has no knowledge of solid energies losses due to poor investments!
Bullshitting Blinglish!
I wouldn’t let that idiot run the corner diary and here He is running our country,(into the ground),
It appears that despite coal prices having dropped by a third by May 2009 the Government wrote to Solid Energy’s board urging them to take on more debt,
This Solid Energy did, moving from a debt loading of just 13 million dollars under the previous Labour Government to borrowing a massive 300 million dollars by 2011 despite the international price of coal having dropped by another third,
Bill and Slippery having not been able to balance the budget because of the hole left in the Governments revenue from taxation with the ‘tax switch’ then effectively TOOK 100 million dollars of this borrowed money from Solid Energy as dividends over the period 2009-2011,
That isn’t governance, it’s fucking borderline fraud on the part of this Slippery National Government which along with the knee-capping of Government rules around bio-fuels has nearly destroyed what was a well managed State owned company,
i have to wonder just what the debt loading of other Government owned businesses has been foisted on the likes of NZPost et al by this Slippery bunch of Shyster’s while in the back-ground Bill from Dipton has His hand out to tax these borrowings by up to a third…
+10
3 News tonight 10 minutes in: Gower (unseen) asking Judith Collins about Bain compensation; the glowing minister betraying not an ounce of her usual Thatcher finishes responses and starts to move away – “Thanks Paddy…..” How cosy !
I notice he didn’t go on the rampage tonight about Power and English pressuring Solid Energy to hike borrowing to fund dividend, knowing coal returns decreasing. Like he did last night with the “gutless” talk re the Chinese immigrant approved by Jones.
Instead he chose to frame the whole Solid Energy question as simply a matter of throwing and ducking blame. Blah blah blah business as usual……..
What’s up with this prick Gower ? Backscratching with the powerful ?
3News=RadioWorks= 40 million dollar loan guarantee from this Slippery National Government= Gower,(the Alfred E. Nuemann of NZ television reporting), giving the National Government biased uncritical coverage while making up s**t about Labour and the Green Party’s to paint them in a bad light,
“The left’ should do it’self a big favor and start a public boycott of 3News,(or the whole channel), until such time as they get rid of that lying little twat…
And boycott ZB and hosts like Leighton Smith, Larry Williams and other jocks whose job it is to repeat the government’s line, while spewing hatred towards anyone who rejects the neo-liberal paradigm.
They won’t get rid of these guys; the news is corporately owned.
The solution is to find alternative ways to communicate with people, thereby bypassing the controlling filter of our corporate media. Winston Peters communicates directly to the elderly in halls and the young can be contacted through social media.
Only Campbell Live is doing its job at the moment.
At least there’s a balance to Gower on TV3. Campbell’s positioning himself and his team solidly as critics of the government. His clips of Paula Bennet over the last couple of nights saying how wonderful it is to see that 200 people who applied for 7 jobs at Carter Holt because it shows how keen people are to apply for jobs didn’t need any further comment. Viewers would’ve been shocked at how bizarrely out of touch and full of BS she is.
Listening to 8 a.m news this morning. Announcer mentions that the young Acts, Nats, labour , greens etc had banded together to support gay marriage.
So far so good, then on comes some young bloke J.A…….? who represents the young conservatives, Colin Craig’s mob I assume. Firstly he spends time whining that his young conservatives hadn’t been asked to join the discussion but they didn’t support it anyway and then goes on to say that the others are misrepresenting the views of all young New Zealanders. Rich coming from the flea on the back of the margin of error conservative dog.
However, his rant took up, I estimate around a third of the total time of the news broadcast.
How on earth did they get so much news time and a voice over prepared statement as well. Just who “influenced” that little lot and why.
What “balance” do we see with Gower ?
Quick smart dismissal of the obviously serious issue of ministerial pressuring of Solid Energy while ministers project responsibility elsewhere is not “balance”. Neither is going feral and angrily saying “in my opinion……..blah blah blah…….gutless etc” re the Jones/Chinese immigrant matter.
That’s the arrogance of the little snot. The sending out as the true view of an “equilibrium” constructed according to his “opinion” or the random state of his guts of a day. “Patrick is not pleased…..” is juvenile.
Wish Campbell would give wee Mr Bean a slap once in a while. Learn him that the variousness of his anger, menancing the camera, news-thug manner, dismissiveness, sucking up (“Thanks Paddy” from Collins), and a demeanour and delivery otherwise strange, ain’t the way to go.
And even people who watch TV One are now switching over to TV3 for Campbell live rather than watch the Seven Sharp circus, so he’s nicely positioned to capture an audience looking for someone to dig into the murk surrounding this Government.
All your worldy concerns above are entirely valid but I want to say how disgusted I am to hear, on “Radio Tauranga” today, that I live at the 100th worst beach in New Zealand.
It cost a lot of money to get here from where I lived before and I wanted to beseech the New Zealand public to first visit the better ninety nine beaches before coming here to disturb me.
Cute that Guyon and Duncan spent so much time fronting 3rd Degree tonight while holding hands. Perhaps they were reassuring each other.
I haven’t been able to get up the energy to watch 3rd Degree fronted by those two.
Karol – you have not missed much. Tonight there was one good story though, about a Maori chap, who was apparently convicted for murder with totally baseless, fabricated “evidence” over 20 years ago, so he seems to have spent 20 years in prison, while likely to have been innocent.
It was in connection to a high level rape and murder case.
Garner had to comment towards the end: “He was poor, brown and not that bright…”
I suppose he was meaning to express the injustice that was dished out on the guy, but the way he said it, it sounded arrogant and full of prejudice, coming from a “white” over-rated journo.
NZ 2013 means, there are stratospheres between certain social groups in this country now, which does not help to understand each other.
Xtasy…….re the guy the subject of 3rd Degree have a look at 16 on “The right’s fear of democracy”. Mistaken posting to there rather than here.
Garner’s clanger – “and not that bright……” – hit me too as you will see in the last paragraph.
The Herald:
“National MP Tim Macindoe was the first to speak against the bill, saying that he had “difficulty in believing that God wants this change to be made”.”
Wonder what his god thinks about New Zealander’s having to rely on charity to feed themselves and their families?
Sit up on the front pew, sing and pray the loudest and step over the beggar on the way out of the church.
Tory nugget.
The meek shall inherit the earth… But they’ll have to nationalise it first.
Wonder what God thinks of asset sales and all the other failing governance.
Did he say who his God is….is it Key.
Does this Wacindoe fella communicate with black and white smoke signals by any chance…