Daily Review has not appeared tonight so will leave this here:
Reportedly said by Matthew Hooton in his latest NBR article this is an extract:
To discuss their idea, Mr Leggett and Ms Pagani met Mr Little, his deputy Annette King and Labour’s political director Neale Jones. Shortly after, word was put out that Ms Pagani was “stroppy.” According to the leader’s office, Ms King had taken particular offence to Ms Pagani while the leader himself said relatively little.
Having observed how Ms Clark had responded to her own attempt to roll her in 1996, Ms King acted quickly to arrange a confrontation at Tuesday’s caucus meeting. Ms King, Mr Robertson, Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford and chief whip Chris Hipkins made clear to MPs suspected of being involved with Progress that they should have nothing further to do with it.
The head of the Rainbow faction, Louisa Wall, supported by Wigram MP Megan Woods, even urged that those involved be expelled from the party altogether. As he had largely done in the original meeting, Mr Little kept his own counsel. Mr Shearer and Mr Parker also knew to stay above the fray. Progress now seems to be going nowhere.
Progress is the think tank purportedly being set up by Pagani, Leggott, Quinn and others.
If this excerpt is more or less correct, then it looks like “Progress” is dead in the water at least as far as the Labour Party is concerned. It also means someone has leaked caucus information – YET AGAIN.
Pure speculation, but my hunch is the info. came either direct from Josie Pagani or through her spouse John Pagani, who is sure to still have links with one or two Labour MPs. If the meetings did go the way it is claimed then it would be a case of revenge because they didn’t get the response they wanted.
In other words, the whole think tank idea is really all about Pagani, Quinn, Leggott and co. and not the Labour Party!
Tppa battle is going on in USA.
“The US House of Representatives on Friday (Saturday NZT) delivered a blow, though perhaps a temporary one, to President Barack Obama’s signature goal of strengthening ties with Asia when it defeated one measure, but approved another important to finishing a Pacific Rim trade pact.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/69360200/president-obama-suffers-setback-on-tpp-legislation
The following explains the way that the US House of Reps ties 2 bills in together in order to pass unpalatable legislation.
” What Obama was proposing was a trick, one used repeatedly to advance distasteful policies, by getting each side to vote only on the parts they like. And House progressives responded by saying they wouldn’t play that game anymore. If they can withstand the pressure, not only will trade be derailed, but the era of the split-vote gambit, where opponents help the victors, will be over.
“Progressive Democrats took their stand on trade adjustment assistance (TAA), a separate bill to “fast track” trade authority for the President, which the Senate linked together, so that they had to pass concurrently. TAA offers modest job training, income support and health insurance assistance to workers who lose their jobs from trade deals. It’s not very effective, but it sounds good; Democrats who oppose trade deals can say that they at least got some help for workers.
TAA and fast track have passed together ever since the Trade Act of 1974. This is a Washington game where Democrats get to vote for TAA so Republicans don’t have to. Republicans don’t favor TAA because they see it as welfare.
That set up liberal Democrats as the deciding factor on whether Obama would get his fast-track trade authority. The President went to Capitol Hill to tell Democrats to “play it straight” on the vote. But voting for TAA as a sweetener for a policy most Democrats don’t support is the opposite of playing it straight. It’s a stupid game, and progressives finally decided not to play.
……But today, TAA fell 126-302, with only 39 Democrats supporting.”
A trade deal so good they need to gut health spending to finance a special programme to compensate the people who lose their jobs because of it.
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Medicare means many things to many people. To seniors, it’s a program providing good, low-cost healthcare at a stage in life when it’s most needed.
To Congress, it’s beginning to look more like a piggy bank to be raided.
That’s the only conclusion one can draw from a provision slipped into a measure to extend and increase the government’s Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides assistance to workers who lose their jobs because of trade deals. The measure, introduced by Rep. David Reichert (R-Wash.), proposes covering some of the $2.7-billion cost of the extension by slicing $700 million out of doctor and hospital reimbursements for Medicare.
I have to wonder at the motives, or at least the negotiating skills, of the NZ parties involved in this.
The outstanding feature of the TPP negotiations is that the USA approached us, by us I mean all the parties involved in the initial stages. They wanted in when they weren’t invited, meaning we had something the US wanted.
Anyone who knows about negotiating will know that put the US in a weak position and the rest of us in a strong position. We could tell the US to naff off, clearly the fact the US weren’t invited to begin with tells us we don’t need them to create a strong trans pacific partnership.
Everything about this deal is saying that the US want in more than we need or want them, so why are our representatives caving in and pandering to them?
We’re a vassal state. Consider what we did for them re: illegal Dotcom raid. Only in very rare instances can we tell them to “F off.” Plus Groser has probably been looking at a nice position on an executive board overseas somewhere. Probably the US.
This was part of Nancy Pelosi’s speech prior to the vote on the TAA.
“I was hopeful from the start of this discussion that we could find a path to yes,” she said, adding, “Each week, each of us goes home to our district and in the case of many of us, we put our hand on a very hot stove. We hear the concern of so many families that have financial instability and uncertainty.” Ms. Pelosi made it clear she would not support the legislation, putting in the final twist of the knife.” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/us/politics/democrats-revolt-on-trade-bill-obama.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
“we put our hand on a very hot stove”…
This is our problem. We need to call our MPs to account. Let’s stop passively accepting crappy government decisions and really turn up the heat on the stove for our local MPs.
Making fun of people’s health concerns is not helpful and is politically bankrupt. Let’s keep in mind that in NZ at least wind farms are often big business, with often little respect for local communities and their needs. People get ridiculed for opposing them in ways that people who say oppose new dams don’t. Why is that exactly?
NZ needs to learn how to live within it’s limits. I support the shift to renewables obviously, but I’m hard pressed to support something like a large scale windfarm on the Lammermoors so that Aucklanders can wear t-shirts in winter, or people can have heated towel rails, or the dairy export industry can keep strip mining the NZ landscape, or we can convert the NZ car fleet to electric and not change our driving habits. There’s only so much land, and currently we are using the same daft thinking that brought us AGW ie that demand will increase supply indefinitely.
Interesting thought about limits – can limits change and therefore living within those limits change. Are limits a construction rather than an absolute.
Build that renewable power now; for the moment people will use the electricity for frivalous BS, but in 20 years when we are in the middle of the crunch, wiser heads will prevail over how that power should be allocated – as long as we have that generation available to allocate.
The ambitious project centers on startup MX3D’s technology, which uses 6-axis robotic machines to create structures from steel literally in mid-air. Plans for building the bridge involve using two (or more) of these machines to effectively begin construction on either bank of the canal and build toward one another, meeting in the middle.
As I’ve said before, 3D Manufacturing is the next evolution in production. I consider that it can, and will, replace many manufacturing jobs and allow for even small communities to produce everything that they require.
Our government should be pushing R&D in this so that NZ doesn’t get left behind again.
Must be a very difficult process to get certification for complete bridge. But seems a good place to start.
The building in place is a major innovation which uses some concepts that have been around for ages, ie Sydney harbour Bridge arch used cranes on each span, to build it up from the pre-cut steel girders , until they met in the middle.
The other day a series of moderations on ts included removal of comments, in some cases whole comments. The removed comments were not defammatory or excessively offensive and IMO were not attacks on the authors, which I had thought are the usual reasons for removing comments.
What I am writing right now isn’t a comment on the bans given or the reasons, or the kind of communication that went on, or the line between pointing out inaccuracies and challenging a moderator, but I am noting that when moderation happens on ts now whole comments are sometimes being removed. I think that is new. This changes things like conversation flow and comprehension of sub threads and IMO degrades the debate where it happens. As a result I’m at the point now where I’ll start making copies of some conversations so that at least it’s possible to follow what is going on.
I didn’t witness the moderation you’re talking about, but I’d have to say that yes, moderation of entire comments has typically been very rare in the past. Usually it’s reserved for out-and-out trolls.
I am disappointed that Andrew Little has not been seen in South Dunedin since the floods. This is one of the reddest voting areas and we give Labour a lot of support.
Volunteers were left shocked, upset and shaken after visiting South Dunedin’s hardest-hit flood victims this week.
They found people enduring sodden bedding, soaked carpets and houses still damp and smelly from week-old polluted floodwater.
The densely populated area is one of New Zealand’s poorest, and volunteers found families and elderly people who had been struggling before the floods but were now in bad health and emotional danger.
It is a matter of disaster responsibilities and public duties. The leader of the Labour Party ought to urgently go to South Dunedin, and he should be standing with, walking alongside and engaging with those who have been affected by the flooding.
from that attitude it’s easy to see why Dunedin South, historically one of the staunchest and reddest strongholds of the Labour Party, gave the party vote to National in 2014 for the second election in a row. I’m currently picking it will be three times in a row.
I was kilometers away that night and the warnings were all to avoid driving into flooded areas. But I doubt that there were that many places open to sell potting mix in South Dunedin:
After helping with sandbagging efforts with the St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club for about two hours on the day of the flooding, Ms Curran said she was told civil defence had left the situation in the hands of support services earlier in the night…
Ms Curran said a team of people was ”fighting a losing battle” sandbagging in a bid to protect homes.
People who asked the council for help were told to buy potting mix and do the sandbagging themselves, she said.
”They were told to self-evacuate and to make the judgements themselves.”…
Bay View Rd resident Trina Lyon, who suffers from MS and uses a mobility scooter, echoed Ms Curran’s comments.
She said she rang the council requesting sandbags on Wednesday afternoon and was told to contact the fire service.
They directed her to civil defence, which advised her it did not provide sandbags but the council should.
She had since learned the sandbags were available at the St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club.
True – mum lived in atkinson st so I’ve spent a bit of time there among all of the council flats – most of the residents must have found it exceedingly frightening and as for potting mix – maybe switched on gardener or whatever they were/are called 🙂
The problem seemed to be that different organisations failed to work together to solve problems; instead they stuck doggedly to their ‘as usual’ activity silos.
Problem was, it wasn’t business as usual that night.
Overall a failure of planning and a failure of leadership.
Thoughts go out to South Dunedin. In addition to putting up with the MP for the past six years, they now have to cope with the one-in-a-hundred-year flood.
Yep. The middle of winter in South Dunedin. The ODT has been giving some good coverage. I agree that it would have been good for Little to have visited.
It’s like a smaller version of Chch, the rest of NZ just moves on and few people are paying attention to what matters or the extremity of the lives of the people affected.
People and communities are less resilient than they used to be and I wonder if many people just assume that everything is being coped with.
Interesting pics of photo ops. So, it would be very bad for Andrew Little to be seen in photos of him in South Dunedin after waters have receded. I guess he must not be associated in any way with the plight of South Dunedin residents.
The local MP, Clare Curran, is fronting the matter. I’m sure Andrew Little is entirely supportive of her efforts and indeed, of the people of Dunedin.
The point I’m making is that if he had turned up, the headlines would be ‘Labour Leader wastes Taxpayer Money Flying to Dunedin to Do Bugger All’ or ‘Little Washed Up’ etc. It’s not like he has the power to change anything, anyway. The real question is why isn’t the actual Government doing anything to help.
‘Labour Leader wastes Taxpayer Money Flying to Dunedin to Do Bugger All’
He could go down there and do something.
Little should be controlling his message, not letting fear of National/the MSM control it. Beyond that, it’s just plain old fashioned values whereby you do the right thing.
Unfortunately I don’t know any more about who is involved with this thing than is in the public arena. I am guessing that quite a few Wellington based Labour hangers-on and wannabes are involved.
Look, weka, it is absolutely crucial that Andrew Little does not open himself up to having photos taken of him concerning the South Dunedin flood or he will be mocked and scorned by the government, question time in the House, plus Dirty Politics and all that. South Dunedin people are very resilient and fine and they can look after their own. Let’s not make any fuss about the flooding. It is really important to maintain Andrew Little’s image in the mainstream media and protect him from how Nats control bad perceptions of him in the public eye.
This man Steve can sum it all up so well! John Key by Steve Braunias
It’s raining, but at the end of the day there’s not a lot the government can do about that, or about Clayton Park primary school in Manurewa which is riddled with toxic mould and makes staff and children sick, or about cold, damp state house which have been blamed for the deaths of two tenants, although I’ll certainly hold talks with the appropriate ministers, who I understand have been briefed by cabinet that the bad weather we’ve been having is due to the Labour Party. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11464360
United in Compassion is seeking funds for our (Charitable) Trust we are setting up, please donate and share widely to support the cause of medical Cannabis
House Democrats derailed “fast-track” today, putting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, President’s Obama’s pet trade free-trade agreement, in jeopardy. You may have some questions about what that all means. Questions like:
What’s TPP? And “fast-track,” what is that? Why is Barack Obama yelling at Democrats and calling that nice Elizabeth Warren a liar? What should I, a cool liberal internet person who doesn’t actually pay close attention to horrifically boring political news, think about this? What is the Correct and Smart Position?
To which I am tempted to say: Fuck off, I’m not your mom and I’m not Vox dot fucking com. If you want to understand the goddamn news you have to actually read widely from a variety of sources, you can’t look at one fucking chart and pretend you know what you’re fucking talking about.
But that would be unproductive. So let’s “explainer the news.”
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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 ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
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, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
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Powerful stuff from Fran O Sullivan in todays NZH, excellent.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11464413
It seems to me that Key needs to get some GUTS about the safety legislation.
All the more powerful since Fran is often a fan of Key.
Daily Review has not appeared tonight so will leave this here:
Reportedly said by Matthew Hooton in his latest NBR article this is an extract:
Progress is the think tank purportedly being set up by Pagani, Leggott, Quinn and others.
If this excerpt is more or less correct, then it looks like “Progress” is dead in the water at least as far as the Labour Party is concerned. It also means someone has leaked caucus information – YET AGAIN.
Fuck me, this appears to confirm that caucus is leaking to Hooton like a sieve again
Pure speculation, but my hunch is the info. came either direct from Josie Pagani or through her spouse John Pagani, who is sure to still have links with one or two Labour MPs. If the meetings did go the way it is claimed then it would be a case of revenge because they didn’t get the response they wanted.
In other words, the whole think tank idea is really all about Pagani, Quinn, Leggott and co. and not the Labour Party!
Tppa battle is going on in USA.
“The US House of Representatives on Friday (Saturday NZT) delivered a blow, though perhaps a temporary one, to President Barack Obama’s signature goal of strengthening ties with Asia when it defeated one measure, but approved another important to finishing a Pacific Rim trade pact.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/69360200/president-obama-suffers-setback-on-tpp-legislation
Also read “Fast Track Derailed? House Deals Blow to Corporate-Friendly Trade Agenda”
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/12/fast-track-derailed-house-deals-blow-corporate-friendly-trade-agenda
and
“Democrats Rebel To Block Obama’s Trade Deals”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/12/obama-trade-deal_n_7569874.htm
“Defeat for Obama on trade as Democrats vote against him
Setback for future trade agreements as strange coalition of Democrats and conservative Republicans come together to defeat president”
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/12/obama-trade-deals-congress-trans-pacific-partnership
The following explains the way that the US House of Reps ties 2 bills in together in order to pass unpalatable legislation.
” What Obama was proposing was a trick, one used repeatedly to advance distasteful policies, by getting each side to vote only on the parts they like. And House progressives responded by saying they wouldn’t play that game anymore. If they can withstand the pressure, not only will trade be derailed, but the era of the split-vote gambit, where opponents help the victors, will be over.
“Progressive Democrats took their stand on trade adjustment assistance (TAA), a separate bill to “fast track” trade authority for the President, which the Senate linked together, so that they had to pass concurrently. TAA offers modest job training, income support and health insurance assistance to workers who lose their jobs from trade deals. It’s not very effective, but it sounds good; Democrats who oppose trade deals can say that they at least got some help for workers.
TAA and fast track have passed together ever since the Trade Act of 1974. This is a Washington game where Democrats get to vote for TAA so Republicans don’t have to. Republicans don’t favor TAA because they see it as welfare.
That set up liberal Democrats as the deciding factor on whether Obama would get his fast-track trade authority. The President went to Capitol Hill to tell Democrats to “play it straight” on the vote. But voting for TAA as a sweetener for a policy most Democrats don’t support is the opposite of playing it straight. It’s a stupid game, and progressives finally decided not to play.
……But today, TAA fell 126-302, with only 39 Democrats supporting.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/12/the_democrats_tpp_rebellion_just_drew_blood_everything_you_need_to_know_about_todays_shocking_vote/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
A trade deal so good they need to gut health spending to finance a special programme to compensate the people who lose their jobs because of it.
/
Medicare means many things to many people. To seniors, it’s a program providing good, low-cost healthcare at a stage in life when it’s most needed.
To Congress, it’s beginning to look more like a piggy bank to be raided.
That’s the only conclusion one can draw from a provision slipped into a measure to extend and increase the government’s Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides assistance to workers who lose their jobs because of trade deals. The measure, introduced by Rep. David Reichert (R-Wash.), proposes covering some of the $2.7-billion cost of the extension by slicing $700 million out of doctor and hospital reimbursements for Medicare.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-congress-plots-to-raid-medicare-20150518-column.html#page=1
Interestingly in the USA they recognise TPP opening up trade will result in job losses
I have to wonder at the motives, or at least the negotiating skills, of the NZ parties involved in this.
The outstanding feature of the TPP negotiations is that the USA approached us, by us I mean all the parties involved in the initial stages. They wanted in when they weren’t invited, meaning we had something the US wanted.
Anyone who knows about negotiating will know that put the US in a weak position and the rest of us in a strong position. We could tell the US to naff off, clearly the fact the US weren’t invited to begin with tells us we don’t need them to create a strong trans pacific partnership.
Everything about this deal is saying that the US want in more than we need or want them, so why are our representatives caving in and pandering to them?
We’re a vassal state. Consider what we did for them re: illegal Dotcom raid. Only in very rare instances can we tell them to “F off.” Plus Groser has probably been looking at a nice position on an executive board overseas somewhere. Probably the US.
This was part of Nancy Pelosi’s speech prior to the vote on the TAA.
“I was hopeful from the start of this discussion that we could find a path to yes,” she said, adding, “Each week, each of us goes home to our district and in the case of many of us, we put our hand on a very hot stove. We hear the concern of so many families that have financial instability and uncertainty.” Ms. Pelosi made it clear she would not support the legislation, putting in the final twist of the knife.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/us/politics/democrats-revolt-on-trade-bill-obama.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
“we put our hand on a very hot stove”…
This is our problem. We need to call our MPs to account. Let’s stop passively accepting crappy government decisions and really turn up the heat on the stove for our local MPs.
Correct. This is the philosophy of the Andersons Bay Peninsula Branch of the Labour Party (Dunedin South).
List MPs must also be held to account.
These people work for us, and they are paid damn well to do so.
On a “lighter” note – from across the ditch – the first dog comments on windfarm syndrome
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2014/nov/19/first-dog-on-the-moon-windfarm-inquiry-sickness
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/12/dr-onthemoons-self-diagnosis-windfarm-syndrome-check-list?CMP=ema_1732
But no worries Tony has cut the windfarm developments – much better to use clean coal.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/11/tony-abbotts-boast-of-wind-farm-cuts-contradicts-earlier-stand-on-renewables
How the hell are we ever going to get governments to work together to reduce GHG with muppets like him about!
the answer is Macro, we’re not, unfortunately.
Their coal is like dairying is to us. Or more correctly , their mining lobby is even stronger than our dairy lobby.
Making fun of people’s health concerns is not helpful and is politically bankrupt. Let’s keep in mind that in NZ at least wind farms are often big business, with often little respect for local communities and their needs. People get ridiculed for opposing them in ways that people who say oppose new dams don’t. Why is that exactly?
NZ needs to learn how to live within it’s limits. I support the shift to renewables obviously, but I’m hard pressed to support something like a large scale windfarm on the Lammermoors so that Aucklanders can wear t-shirts in winter, or people can have heated towel rails, or the dairy export industry can keep strip mining the NZ landscape, or we can convert the NZ car fleet to electric and not change our driving habits. There’s only so much land, and currently we are using the same daft thinking that brought us AGW ie that demand will increase supply indefinitely.
+1
Interesting thought about limits – can limits change and therefore living within those limits change. Are limits a construction rather than an absolute.
Build that renewable power now; for the moment people will use the electricity for frivalous BS, but in 20 years when we are in the middle of the crunch, wiser heads will prevail over how that power should be allocated – as long as we have that generation available to allocate.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/69340634/anger-at-delay-telling-public-about-christchurch-legionnaires-outbreak
This guy still believes he made the right decision even though the fact four people contracting the deadly airborne disease proves otherwise.
Wrong
Scary
Normal in Christchurch.
Trust authorities at your risk.
Does seem to become legionnaires capital of NZ.
But then again its only dead or very sick people, so National gets all the bureaucrats to cover up and obfuscate or their jobs are in danger.
3D Printed Steel Pedestrian Bridge Will Soon Span an Amsterdam Canal
As I’ve said before, 3D Manufacturing is the next evolution in production. I consider that it can, and will, replace many manufacturing jobs and allow for even small communities to produce everything that they require.
Our government should be pushing R&D in this so that NZ doesn’t get left behind again.
Must be a very difficult process to get certification for complete bridge. But seems a good place to start.
The building in place is a major innovation which uses some concepts that have been around for ages, ie Sydney harbour Bridge arch used cranes on each span, to build it up from the pre-cut steel girders , until they met in the middle.
They’ve been using 3D manufacturing in structural construction for hundreds of years. Back then they called it “brick laying.” 😛
The other day a series of moderations on ts included removal of comments, in some cases whole comments. The removed comments were not defammatory or excessively offensive and IMO were not attacks on the authors, which I had thought are the usual reasons for removing comments.
What I am writing right now isn’t a comment on the bans given or the reasons, or the kind of communication that went on, or the line between pointing out inaccuracies and challenging a moderator, but I am noting that when moderation happens on ts now whole comments are sometimes being removed. I think that is new. This changes things like conversation flow and comprehension of sub threads and IMO degrades the debate where it happens. As a result I’m at the point now where I’ll start making copies of some conversations so that at least it’s possible to follow what is going on.
I didn’t witness the moderation you’re talking about, but I’d have to say that yes, moderation of entire comments has typically been very rare in the past. Usually it’s reserved for out-and-out trolls.
On the authors’ discussion post lprent has reminded us all of the moderation rules. I hope that this particular problem will not recur.
thanks for the update r0b.
I am disappointed that Andrew Little has not been seen in South Dunedin since the floods. This is one of the reddest voting areas and we give Labour a lot of support.
“Volunteers shocked by flood victims’ plight”
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/345740/volunteers-shocked-victims-plight
You mean disaster tourism?
what’s a pretty dickish comment duke.
It is a matter of disaster responsibilities and public duties. The leader of the Labour Party ought to urgently go to South Dunedin, and he should be standing with, walking alongside and engaging with those who have been affected by the flooding.
Too afraid of the MSM taking the piss out of Labour
from that attitude it’s easy to see why Dunedin South, historically one of the staunchest and reddest strongholds of the Labour Party, gave the party vote to National in 2014 for the second election in a row. I’m currently picking it will be three times in a row.
Curran has been prominent in dealing with the flood and aftermath, so maybe not.
We’ll have another chat about this end 2017
ok 🙂
Yes she seemed very vocal and prominent which was good.
I was kilometers away that night and the warnings were all to avoid driving into flooded areas. But I doubt that there were that many places open to sell potting mix in South Dunedin:
http://www.odt.co.nz/video/news/dunedin/345739/no-civil-defence-help
True – mum lived in atkinson st so I’ve spent a bit of time there among all of the council flats – most of the residents must have found it exceedingly frightening and as for potting mix – maybe switched on gardener or whatever they were/are called 🙂
The problem seemed to be that different organisations failed to work together to solve problems; instead they stuck doggedly to their ‘as usual’ activity silos.
Problem was, it wasn’t business as usual that night.
Overall a failure of planning and a failure of leadership.
Thoughts go out to South Dunedin. In addition to putting up with the MP for the past six years, they now have to cope with the one-in-a-hundred-year flood.
Yep. The middle of winter in South Dunedin. The ODT has been giving some good coverage. I agree that it would have been good for Little to have visited.
It’s like a smaller version of Chch, the rest of NZ just moves on and few people are paying attention to what matters or the extremity of the lives of the people affected.
People and communities are less resilient than they used to be and I wonder if many people just assume that everything is being coped with.
When did John Key visit?
who cares about him? 😉
” … we give Labour a lot of support.” LOL, not you personally, of course, CV.
Here’s why it isn’t a good idea to wallow in a) floods, b) people’s misery. You get the piss taken out of you.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/pictures-of-politicians-in-wellies-and-staring-at-floods#.jk4pY208J
Interesting pics of photo ops. So, it would be very bad for Andrew Little to be seen in photos of him in South Dunedin after waters have receded. I guess he must not be associated in any way with the plight of South Dunedin residents.
The local MP, Clare Curran, is fronting the matter. I’m sure Andrew Little is entirely supportive of her efforts and indeed, of the people of Dunedin.
The point I’m making is that if he had turned up, the headlines would be ‘Labour Leader wastes Taxpayer Money Flying to Dunedin to Do Bugger All’ or ‘Little Washed Up’ etc. It’s not like he has the power to change anything, anyway. The real question is why isn’t the actual Government doing anything to help.
Yeah, he had better not turn up then.
It is not a good idea to wallow in floods or people’s misery or he will get the mickey taken out of him.
This is Thorndon Bubble wisdom at it’s best Kiwiri. It’s the optics back in Wellington which are all important.
sounds like it.
‘Labour Leader wastes Taxpayer Money Flying to Dunedin to Do Bugger All’
He could go down there and do something.
Little should be controlling his message, not letting fear of National/the MSM control it. Beyond that, it’s just plain old fashioned values whereby you do the right thing.
You can see how the MSM effectively channels, guides and limits what Labour will consider doing and not consider doing.
And how Labour lets them do that.
Yep. Just watch the MSM pour praise on Pagani Nash Quinn et al as they get their project going.
Pagani, Quinn, Nash and Young?
LOL
Unfortunately I don’t know any more about who is involved with this thing than is in the public arena. I am guessing that quite a few Wellington based Labour hangers-on and wannabes are involved.
It was a joke 😉 There’s probably a better one, something along the lines of “at least it’s not Crosby, Textor, Nash and Young”
I got your reference 😉 and your second attempt is GOLD
Is it still Crosby(-textor), Nash & Young?
deja vu all over again 🙂
Honey, love the one you’re with …
If you’re down and confused
Thanks! I was hoping someone would post a vid.
Nobody has suggested that Little wallow in anything trp, that’s your misinterpretation.
The suggestion is that Little demonstrates that he cares, directly, to people that are in acute trouble.
Look, weka, it is absolutely crucial that Andrew Little does not open himself up to having photos taken of him concerning the South Dunedin flood or he will be mocked and scorned by the government, question time in the House, plus Dirty Politics and all that. South Dunedin people are very resilient and fine and they can look after their own. Let’s not make any fuss about the flooding. It is really important to maintain Andrew Little’s image in the mainstream media and protect him from how Nats control bad perceptions of him in the public eye.
Heh.
Courage requires use to stay potent and available 😉
Why not just ask him in an email, as opposed to public picking? Just ammunition for the Right wing Panza division.
YAY!
USA ‘fast track’ TPPA legislation is lost in the House of Representatives 302 – 126.
Really looking forward to any further vote on TPPA ‘fast track’ meeting the same fate.
“The will of the people is the basis of the authority of Government.”
No public say – NO TPPA!
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Punchy TPP cartoon
https://twitter.com/LI_politico/status/609491735564005376/photo/1
It seems the wealthy are getting behind Medical Cannabis in NSW, a 33million dollar research donation was announced yesterday.
http://unitedincompassion.org.nz/2015/06/12/daniel-haslams-legacy-leads-to-medicinal-cannabis-windfall-2/
The CDHB’s three-year battle for funding
So, that would be the capitalists bludging off of the government again and causing stress to the rest of NZ.
”In 2013, the CDHB’s performance was given a glowing commendation in an independent review undertaken by UK health charity the King’s Fund.”
Yeah, right.
The ‘independent review’ was exposed by Otago Uni academics last year as having been commissioned, costing $186,000:
http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago072380.html
This man Steve can sum it all up so well!
John Key by Steve Braunias
It’s raining, but at the end of the day there’s not a lot the government can do about that, or about Clayton Park primary school in Manurewa which is riddled with toxic mould and makes staff and children sick, or about cold, damp state house which have been blamed for the deaths of two tenants, although I’ll certainly hold talks with the appropriate ministers, who I understand have been briefed by cabinet that the bad weather we’ve been having is due to the Labour Party.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11464360
The Judith Collins entry was my favourite
United in Compassion is seeking funds for our (Charitable) Trust we are setting up, please donate and share widely to support the cause of medical Cannabis
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/medicalcannabisadvocacy
heh
.
House Democrats derailed “fast-track” today, putting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, President’s Obama’s pet trade free-trade agreement, in jeopardy. You may have some questions about what that all means. Questions like:
What’s TPP? And “fast-track,” what is that? Why is Barack Obama yelling at Democrats and calling that nice Elizabeth Warren a liar? What should I, a cool liberal internet person who doesn’t actually pay close attention to horrifically boring political news, think about this? What is the Correct and Smart Position?
To which I am tempted to say: Fuck off, I’m not your mom and I’m not Vox dot fucking com. If you want to understand the goddamn news you have to actually read widely from a variety of sources, you can’t look at one fucking chart and pretend you know what you’re fucking talking about.
But that would be unproductive. So let’s “explainer the news.”
http://gawker.com/explainist-did-something-just-happen-with-fast-track-1710945284