Open mike 13/08/2014

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 am, August 13th, 2014 - 118 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

openmikeOpen mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

118 comments on “Open mike 13/08/2014 ”

  1. Andrew 1

    A few people may be interested in this Vote Switching analysis.

    http://www.colmarbrunton.co.nz/index.php/polls-and-surveys/political-polls/vote-switching-analysis-2014

    Interesting where the undecideds are coming from.

  2. crocodill 2

    You say on your blog that vote switch polls may actually be designed to increase undecided voters? I guess everyone has an angle. Yours is pretty obscure though, it’s not even like an ad for ice cream that blinks so fast people go into epileptic shock. Most guys who support the incumbent party just shout something like, “You guys are losing there is no hope!” then leave. Your angle is far more subtle. I like it, but it appeals to a small fragment of the available voters who are unlikely to be reading this blog. Have you taken a poll on how effective it is to suggest people become undecided, from non-poll obsessed people, taking into account the likely no response rate to questions likely to result in no response? I am totally standing by my phone waiting for your call. Speak to you around 6pm then?

    • Andrew 2.1

      Maybe you see my angle as ‘pretty obscure’ because I’m a Labour/Green supporter.

      Aside from that, I have no idea what you’re talking about.

  3. vto 3

    The defence for the South Canterbury Finance case has prised the lid a little on the reasons for Bill English allowing SCG into the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme… http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/10376937/Defence-slates-inept-SFO-inquiry-into-SCF

    SCF should never have been let in, or kept in, and Bill English knows this. This is the bigger fraud – the biggest in NZ;s history, and carried out by Bill English and his cohort John Key. The Crown, in its case against the defendants, has gone to great lengths and efforts to thwart any investigation into the reasons for SCF being let in. They have actively avoided and diverted enquiries away from this very issue. Evidence for this is provided ….

    “What we now know is that these people were never questioned by the SFO about their entrance into the Crown Deed of Guarantee”

    and

    “”The most alarming example of the deficiency of the SFO’s investigation concerns the charge concerning the Crown Deed of Guarantee”

    and

    “Equally disturbing is that when interviewed, none of the defendants was asked about the entry into the Crown Deed of Guarantee – they were simply charged with the biggest fraud in New Zealand’s history without ever being given the chance to explain what had in fact happened back in 2008 and the role they had played”

    and

    “Neither Treasury nor the Reserve Bank were asked to provide any of their analysis into SCF. It was left to defence to find three key documents, recording the reason why SCF was admitted into the scheme”

    and

    “Key witnesses were not interviewed, including Treasury secretary John Whitehead, who was the gateholder to the scheme.”

    and finally

    “The Crown’s case had shifted from causing the $1.58b payout by getting into the scheme using inaccurate information to getting into the scheme earlier than it otherwise would. “It is now said that the inaccurate information provided by SCF merely avoided a delay of an unspecified length.” ”

    ..

    I tells ya – this is the shit that stinks. SCF should never had been let in but Bill English wanted to ensure his type of people were looked after.

    It was fraud. These defence statements provide a great big whiff of the stench and fraud of this government.

    When will it ever be investigated?

    • Molly 3.1

      Just hanging out the clothes after checking The Standard, and while doing so thought to myself – why didn’t we ever get any investigative articles into the bailout of SCF – considering they did not meet the criteria?

      … came in and found your comment – and hope the MSM reading this pick up and run with it.

      I agree with your “SCF should never had been let in but Bill English wanted to ensure his type of people were looked after.” comment. It is what I’ve always felt what the reasoning behind this bailout.

    • Weepus beard 3.2

      I remember Bill English looking petrified when delivering the news to camera that day. And you’re right, just looking after his kind of people.

      • phillip ure 3.2.1

        what was particularly puke-inducing was every financial-adviser in town..despite there being wide knowledge of how shaky/shonky s.c.f.was..

        ..them all advising their clients to pile into sth canterbury..

        ..’cos it didn’t matter about the rumours/impending-failure..

        ..’cos their investment was govt-guaranteed..

        ..it was money in the bank..

        ..so those snickering elites did just that..they took the taxpayers of nz outside for a good fucking..

        ..the other takeaway from that clusterfuck..

        ..is one to throw in the face of racist-ratbags..

        ..namely..that more money was paid out to those greedy/stealing investors..

        ..than had been paid out in all treaty settlements to date..

        ..that’s a fact that’s best not to forget..

        ..it does so put things into some perspective..i find..

  4. Tiger Mountain 4

    …Bad

    …when he was good he was bad12

    …when he was bad he was very bad indeed

    …whatev you *#!%&! get those flyers out and lets win this election

    …that would be very good

    • idlegus 4.1

      saw internet mana party last night in dunedin, great speakers, good crowd of people, smiles & laughter. am very encouraged.

      • Tiger Mountain 4.1.1

        Going straight to the people is the way to proceed in this election, circumvent the machine wherever possible. Sometimes a bit of leadership is all it takes–it is OK to take action–FJK

        Labour are getting out and about too with the big red bus, partner is doing a day on it as a volunteer. It will be ending up at Henderson nightmarkets on Friday around 7pm for any Westies in the area to come and support.

  5. Jeepers – a few days ago my laptop began whineing – this was after it kept cutting out when trying to watch videos – I tried the old ignore and it will fix itself trick – nah – so I had to take some time out – I didn’t want to but it has been good although a bit shocked to see that bad is banned for life now – oh well.

    I am loving this election 🙂

    • karol 5.1

      Good that you are back. The machines try to rule us.

    • “.. a bit shocked to see that bad is banned for life now…”

      ..+ 1..

      • As has already been mentioned, anyone lamenting bad’s banning should consider that there are a (growing) number of unpublished comments by him which are openly abusive. Phrases like “two bit gutter trash” are among the mildest of the crap bad has thrown at Standard moderators over the past two days.

        • phillip ure 5.2.1.1

          can we know what the original ban from you..which set him off..was for..?

          • Stephanie Rodgers 5.2.1.1.1

            I resent your statement that my actions “set him off”. bad was given multiple moderator warnings and deliberately chose to post personal abuse at me and was banned for doing so.

            weka has linked to the relevant comments at 5.4 below. Read it yourself.

            • phillip ure 5.2.1.1.1.1

              no..i went to that link..that doesn’t have what he said..there is only him saying he shouldn’t respond to you because he cd get banned..

              ..his response to your retraction-demand (in link)..that he got banned for..that has been redacted..

              ..are we able to know what that was..?

              ..as an object-lesson..?..if nothing else..

              .and maybe a modicum of justice being seen to be done..?

              [Stephanie: No, phillip. I’m not going to repeat the abusive, misogynist crap bad posted at me just to “prove” to you that “justice was done”. You can either accept that bad crossed a line, despite being warned multiple times and despite playing the martyr when he was warned about his behaviour, or you can not, but continuing to imply that I am to blame for bad’s wilful abusiveness is a seriously stupid move on your part.]

              • weka

                Bad calling Lynn, in his moderator role, an impotent little prick is still visible. Does that not tell you enough?

                That link also shows bad12 referring to a couple of days ago when he was warned and he commented that he was aware of the implications of the warning. You can find that pretty easily along with the rest of the context that day.

                It never ceases to amaze me that people on the internet don’t get moderation 101: my blog, my rules. Instead many people seem to think that blogs/forums etc should operate according to their own mores instead of the mores of the people that run the site. This despite the fact that the internet has always operated by moderation 101. Pretty much like everywhere else, when in Rome do as the Romans do.

                I think that newbies can get caught out on ts sometimes by the moderation styles, but there is no way in hell that bad didn’t know what he was doing.

        • Rosie 5.2.1.2

          Hi Stephanie. I’m sorry that you have been abused, it’s uncalled for, and never ever excusable. I hope you’re feeling ok, I wouldn’t be if I had copped such abuse.

          Knowing bad, I can only imagine the unpublish-able stuff would have been………..very bad.

          I would like to see him back in the future, if he can temper that antagonism. He does have a keen eye for political manipulations and I have taken on board some of his wiser observations. Some “theory” I disagreed with wholeheartedly (like the Pike River non existent “insurance job” which I thought was an insulting suggestion that disrespected the dead and their loved ones), some I ignored but I did appreciate his quirky grumpy ways most of the time.

          Kia Kaha

        • Clemgeopin 5.2.1.3

          I am quite disappointed that bad12 has been banned for whatever reason. He is a brilliant writer, funny and with good analytical skills. Too bad that in his enthusiasm for politics and his dear causes, at times his abuse/swear words was too crass and over the top.

          May be he is depressed, unwell, upset about something or something else is going on in his life.

          We all make mistakes. Egos can cause chaos and destroy people.

          Perhaps there could be an amicable privately conducted correspondence to settle the issue, forget and forgive, have this ban revoked and make a fresh start.

          That is how I feel anyway.

          [Stephanie: bad was not banned “for whatever reason”. He was openly and aggressively abusive to multiple moderators of this site. He threatened to continue to troll this site under new pseudonyms if banned. He posted at least a dozen further abusive comments after being banned and clearly has no desire for an “amicable” “fresh start”.

          This conversation has been entirely played out and I must ask that no further comments be posted which question the decision of moderators to ban a clearly abusive troll.]

          • Bearded Git 5.2.1.3.1

            +1 Clem. I’ve never been overly offended to my knowledge by bad12’s stuff.

            Time-soakers like Pete George, fisiani and srylands, with their multitude of posts irritate me more. Maybe a limit on the number of posts/day would be an idea, though probably impractical.

            [Stephanie: It would really pay to read what the moderators have said on this matter. It is irrelevant if you, personally, were never “overly offended” by his comments because you, personally, weren’t being subjected to personal abuse.

            bad12 was not banned because he was “irritating”. He was banned for being abusive, as detailed in many places on this thread.]

            • greywarbler 5.2.1.3.1.1

              @Bearded Git 2.47
              But bad did go in for a multitude of posts quite often. Just like the others you mention, and longer than them too. I don’t see TS as regarding itself as a place for someone to have bad tempered spats with other commenters. It’s lively but bad pushed the limits. I gave up when he was rude when I suggested something that I thought he would have been interested in.

              It’s a pity that he can’t control his aggressive language but I don’t think he will ever do that and ends up as disruptive as any RW troll, yet with a left slant.

        • marty mars 5.2.1.4

          I’m not lamenting just noting that in a few days a lot can change. He knew the rules and abused a moderator and unpleasantly misrepresented their views so he got what was coming to him.

          • Stephanie Rodgers 5.2.1.4.1

            As you can see from phillip’s comments above, there are people who refuse to accept that bad did anything that bad …

            • marty mars 5.2.1.4.1.1

              I’m sorry you received that abuse. Kia kaha.

            • phillip ure 5.2.1.4.1.2

              could you plse stop putting words into my mouth..

              ..i said/inferred no such thing..

              ..i fully accept that he nutted off..and said all that shit..

              ..what puzzles me..and no doubt others..is that he is/was so practised at walking that fine line..

              ..so the puzzlement is about what was the trigger..

              (it didn’t happn in a vaccuum..)

              ..not everything that came afterwards..

              ..that is all i was asking..

              ..but as asking draws threats of being banned..

              .. the power-imbalance in this conversation is such i must withdraw..

              ..so forget i even asked…eh..?

              • Stop playing such a bloody martyr, phillip. All the links are up there for you to make whatever guesses you like. Maybe bad can’t handle being told “no” by a woman. Certainly he was holding a grudge over our previous conversations about abortion rights.

                Demanding proof of the “justification” for bad’s banning, and insisting that we talk about the “trigger” for his behaviour is nothing more than making excuses for abuse.

      • Tracey 5.2.2

        He did and wrote stuff for which many that support the Right have suffered bans.

    • Pasupial 5.3

      MM

      The thing that surprised me was that bad12 appears to banned from even reading the site (until he changes his ISP anyway). However it did seem to be richly deserved. Anyway, I imagine that he will be included in the post-election amnesty, so; “banned for life”, may not be as long as it sounds.

      [lprent: He was banned for attacking authors in the crudest terms.

      He got banned from reading the site to make the point. That was because he started channelling Gollum in the auto-spam like this. That puts him in the dad4justice league of people who get removed from the site.

      You cannot tho patrol the site 24/7 and when the bad’s choose to give you another little lesson in just how impotent you really are, the bad’s will,

      But I see that he leaked through a comment this morning. I’ll have a look at the logs and firewall shortly to see how that happened. ]

      • McFlock 5.3.1

        Lynn,

        I noticed yesterday that when I tried to read TS from home I was redirected to a “lad’s mag” site (only for a couple of minutes).

        Would that be a little bit of “banned from reading” collateral damage? 🙂
        I figured it was probably a tory hacker until I read the self-immolation thread.

    • weka 5.4

      Bad12 has been building up to it. What surprises me isn’t the ban, but that he knowingly did the very specific things to get himself not just a short ban but a permanent one. I think the place would be better for him having some time off, he was getting less legible and more antagonistic recently, but am sad that he has gone permanently. He often brought in on to it perspectives.

      Here’s the context if anyone wants to see it.

      http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12082014/#comment-864456

    • Murray Olsen 5.5

      I’m sad to see bad12 go. He said a lot of useful stuff, which I think will be missed. His personal attacks on people and over the top abuse won’t be missed by me at all.

      As for the election – after Nicky Hager’s book, September 20 will tell us what sort of people we are as a whole. If we vote Key back in, that will mean that we think filth like Whalespew have an important place in our formal democracy. It will mean that we don’t care how a PM maintains power, as long as he looks after the material interests of the 1% and lets us all believe we have a chance to join them.

      I never thought we were like that, and I still hope most of us aren’t.

  6. karol 6

    Press Release from Jane Kelsey, on how the US redrafts legislation for other countries via trade agreements – and is likely to be able to do it for NZ’s leglislation via TPPA.

    TPPA’s dirty little secret:

    Similar communications might never be released under New Zealand’s Official Information Act, because they involveinformation entrusted to the government in confidence from another government.

    ‘In other words New Zealanders, including MPs, might never know that the US was involved in writing our laws and demanding the right to sign them off even before Parliament gets to see them’, Professor Kelsey warned.

    • Tracey 6.1

      Wayne says it’s okee dokke… the TPP, Jane just researches the TPP…

      • aerobubble 6.1.1

        Key distracts, first the teapot sideshow, now the drunks shouting f.j.k. But I was thinking, isn’t it a mistake for Key to highlight drinking problems. I mean he’s pro-alcohol industry. How does coming off as a prude about alcohol, how he’s no boozy. That might get out. That he doesn’t. He owns the wine company but doesn’t drink excessively. What has this got to do with TPP? Well big alcohol is a global businesses, even our local breweries have foreign investors. So here’s the risk, that Kiwis wake up one day to the extortion of a TPP and realize that not only would they not drink excessively anymore, but when they did they would buy locally owned brew.

        All works of humans have risks, neo-liberalism caused the GFC, TPP will cause huge loses when the profits start flowing out due to hidden legal extortion’s in the legislation become public. So why do they keep producing bad law, bad practice, shit in the rivers. Because they make their money on the margin. Key was a money broker after all. The neo-liberalism produce his ilk. TPP does not serve the interests of free trade, or NZ, and should it become law as stated above, I believe many politicians should be prosecuted for treason.

        Lucky Key will however be living in Hawaii in his mansion, in the boss-um of beast so to speak.

        • Tracey 6.1.1.1

          you mean like when he pretended to vote to raise the drinking age…. but hadnt voted to increase.

          sharp as a tack our john key. a bright mind… until he became a MP and he suddenly deteriorated.

          • aerobubble 6.1.1.1.1

            Its worse. People should realize he owns a wine company, or has a wine name after him, or something. Why would you drink more excessively than your politicians? Do they want us to be to drunk to notice what they get up to. Now Muldoon was straight up, straight boozed up and nobody could probably keep up. But why would breweries want the idea getting out that politicians aren’t drinking, least consumers start cutting back too. When did you last see Key, or Whyte, slurring their word, or having a little wobble as they made their way to the podium.

            Its just wrong. I’m cutting back starting right now. Until I see my politicians getting legless again, its not going to happen to me or mine. Key wants us all drunk and stupefied.

  7. key is such a slimeball

    “Key said he had drawn a “natural conclusion” when young people in the effigy-burning video were chanting the same thing as students at an Internet-Mana Party event. However, he was happy to accept he had been wrong.”

    yep fuck john key is hardly ever heard in the streets, but wait there’s more

    “”The picture of my face that was burnt as part of the effigy looked extremely similar to the one I saw in the previous Dotcom video,” Key said.”

    umm it was off your election material I think there key

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10373743/Dotcom-effigy-video-links-logical-Key

    Running scared, they will say and do anything to retain power – lying is the least of our worries.

    • Puckish Rogue 7.1

      The guy trying (and failing) to defend his actions helpfully put up pictures of his tickets to the party party so theres a decent link between them

      But then no one ever suggested IMP supporters were intelligent

      • marty mars 7.1.1

        chuck the link up old chap there’s a good fellow

        • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1.1

          No point, the proof is some screen shots from the guys facebook account that whaleoil posted and as we all know the posters on here get an attack of the vapours and have to rush to their perfumed hankies whenever whaleoils mentioned

          [lprent: The odour of untreated arsecrack is a bit overwhelming otherwise. ]

          • Tracey 7.1.1.1.1

            and he would never lie or deliberately break a law now would he, oh wait a minute…. you agree with hispolitical views so his behaviour is just fine by you, and you rely on him for some of your information upon which to form your vote

            http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4127070/Whale-Oil-blogger-Cameron-Slater-guilty

            so let’s pop off the “but but vandalizing billboards is illegal” and “if an IMP supporter or 500 says fuck john key then a burning effigy must be by the same people” high horse shall we.

            • vto 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Contempt of court, tracey? You don’t say.. That is certainly one of the more serious crimes in the land…. isn’t it.

              And did you say he is decrying youthful amendments of election billboards with spraypaint?

              Is he trying to equate the two? Surely not. For his own credibility of course……

              • Tracey

                I only know what slater is saying by those who come panting over here posting it as their latest piece of fact or gold

            • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1.1.1.2

              So he got charged, found guilty, convicted, paid his debt to society and now is vigilant about people breaking name suppression

              This is a bad thing how exactly?

          • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1.1.2

            http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/08/explaining-really-losing-ethan-bryant/

            • You lot will like this one as it includes a whaleoil apology

            Also

            http://www.oninstagram.com/profile/esbmediaethan

            So planned as well

            • marty mars 7.1.1.1.2.1

              That just proves he had nothing to do with the IMP so fail there you big puck.

              • Puckish Rogue

                No but it proves theres more then a casual link

                • No it doesn’t prove that at all – lol – or is it because he went to a party? Seriously, that is weak.

                • felix

                  If your “connection” is that he went to a party, that’s pretty much the definition of “casual link”.

                  Also, what does it say about Key’s casual links? Guess he now has to be held to account for the actions of everyone who votes national, writes on blogs for them, or goes to all black games.

                  Also also, real nice of you to leap all over the guy’s mum for no reason at all. Nasty little Govt-sanctioned brownshirt fascist creeps.

            • joe90 7.1.1.1.2.2

              So planned as well

              Well imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

              http://www.burningman.com/

          • Pascals bookie 7.1.1.1.3

            So the links between Key and WO mean Key approves of WO’s crusade against muslims I suppose.

            WO links to various neo-fascist stuff on Islam. I guess this is why National mouthpieces have been going hard calling people fascist then. Chilling stuff.

            • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1.1.3.1

              He may do but fortunately thats not the line being pushed in the msm

            • Gosman 7.1.1.1.3.2

              Umm,,, you do realise you can dislike Islam and not be a neo-fascist don’t you? You can also link to an article that may be hosted by someone with neo-fascist views but that does not make the article neo-fascist and nor by extension does that make you one. I would draw you a Venn diagram to illustrate this but I’m not sure you would comprehend even if I did.

              • felix

                Go ahead and draw it up. Slater, Lusk, and Ede go in the middle section.

              • Pascals bookie

                Sure, but if you link to stuff about Islam being an existential threat to our way of life, and talking about the terribel effects of immigration and how Islam is a cancerous thing that western values can;t deal with blah blah, an how liberal elites just don’t get it blah blah…

                …then the similarity between that stuff and how fascists used to talk about Jews kinda screams out. And when you link to Marine le Pen, then shit, it isn’t your opponents who have any explaining to do.

                • Gosman

                  Except anti-Jewish views are based more on race. I have no problem with secular Arabs or even religious ones who accept their faith should not interfere with the wider public sphere. I do have an issue with the mainstream view of Islam where upon there is no separation of religion from governance and the unequal treatment of non Muslims as a result of attempting to implement this view.

              • Molly

                ” I would draw you a Venn diagram to illustrate this but I’m not sure you would comprehend even if I did.”

                … I’m guessing Felix’s comment to you yesterday re Venn diagrams hit a sensitive nerve.

                Good to see you have used such stellar material, but you should really give credit for this comeback to the author who introduced you to it yesterday – take a bow Felix, for providing Gosman with a better turn of phrase than the usual.

                • Puckish Rogue

                  People can ask what they like or they can make up their own minds about things whether they be right or wrong but it doesn’t mean I have to answer everything especially when I think its pointless and adds nothing to the thread

                  • thatguynz

                    Odd. You don’t normally offer anything to the thread so I struggle to see why you’d start being concerned about it now?

                • McFlock

                  that’s the thing about tories – they steal the language of the left and use it to continue their oppression 🙂

    • aerobubble 7.2

      John Key says drunken students shouting f.j.k is part of
      a loathsome dirty tricks campaign. I thought he was pro-alcohol,
      why the turn around? Does he hate booze now? Are opposition using
      booze to attack Key, how can Key stop them without coming across
      as attack on big alcohol. Oh, the evil b*st***s

  8. Karen 8

    Wow. Just watched a replay of David Cunliffe this morning on TV3. He is so good.

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Govts-education-plans-privatisation-by-stealth—Cunliffe/tabid/1607/articleID/356624/Default.aspx

    No wonder Hooten keeps promoting David Shearer as leader. Can you imagine how awful Shearer would have been in these interviews. Labour would have had no show.

  9. Draco T Bastard 9

    James Allan’s Democracy in Decline is now available in Auckland Libraries (Well, it will be as soon as I finish reading it 😀 )

    To tide you over here’s a video of his NZ tour.

  10. crocodill 10

    Always curious about how our culture believes in a hierarchy of human pain, and presumably, if you’re further up the hierarchy, no one else’s pain counts. It’s like trading kid’s fantasy game cards. You got beat up? Well I got run over, twice, so shut up I win the attention!

    Simonne Butler has written a book about her younger years and about knowing Antoine Dixon, just before he attacked her with a sword. She says of her book, “A lot of people would come across me who had way less crap in their lives and they’re letting it drag them down and nothing drags me down, nothing ever has, and that is very helpful to people…It’s full of violence. My hands getting chopped off was just one bad day in my life. I was getting beaten up every other day. For everyone else that was this really bad thing, but for me it was just one more day in my life.”

    Where on the hierarchy of pain does defacing election signs lie? What about having to share your neighbourhood with poor people? What about having the grass on the city berms grow a bit too long? What about depression?

    If general impressions are true, all those things are much further down the scale. I was just wondering what Ms. Butler would have said to Robin Williams a few weeks ago, had they met – would he be dead today? Would she point out the fantastic life he had despite his pain, compared to hers, and that would inspire him to buck up, harden up, grow a thick skin or whatever it is you’re meant to do to “get over yourself” and come to believe that everyone is exactly the same, mentally and emotionally, as the next person? Or would she say, “Hey Robin, you know if all indicators are correct, life isn’t the end. There could be better comedy material in death than in life. You’ll do what’s right for you.” And maybe he would have used the reply he once said his Father liked to use for stupid ideas, and said, “Hmmm. Interesting concept.” and then gone ahead and done whatever he was always going to do, as his own reality dictated.

    Butler says she was young and dumb, a bit stupid. Life requires all types, and being able to think can drag a person down. Ms. Butler doesn’t let anything drag her down and hopefully for her she’ll continue along that path. She’s created quite the conundrum for me, though. If I buy her book it might encourage her to keep writing, but writing usually involves thinking and then she’ll lose the shield of ignorance and things will start to drag her down. If I don’t buy her book, she might wonder why and start to think and get all down about it, or she won’t, and she’ll move on with life. So possibly the problem isn’t the book, or the thinking. The problem might be that most people look for validation of their personal worth from outside circumstances or achievements.

    So bear in mind today, if you have no food in the house, no money, are ill, jobless, about to be evicted; maybe you’re about to release your book, or someone just done wrote over John Key’s face; at least you still have your hands and no one has beaten you up. Quit your whining and think of the children in Africa. They don’t even have pictures of John Key.

    Remember that despite your problems, right now, somewhere inside, somewhere deep deep inside, (and if you’re voting Right this Spring…) somewhere way way waaaay deep down near your hidden core, somewhere no one can see or know about, you’re good enough. Whatever it is that keeps your heart beating is the ultimate validation. Rich or poor, Dark or Light, man or woman, healthy or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, it’s the same unconditional power.

  11. Saarbo 11

    An interesting article from Bill English where he states that we don’t need to worry about Chinese buying our dairy farms because they are hopeless businesses, and sooner or later they will realise this and sell up.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/10372225/Pengxin-may-not-survive-Bill-English.

    Amazingly it goes completely against what Fonterra is saying about the future of the Dairy industry.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/10373405/Marginal-return-on-milk-solids-argument-flawed

    Isn’t DAIRY FARMING at the centre of National’s economic development plan…must be some ammo in this. National really have no fuckin idea what they are doing, nor do the 46% people voting for them.

  12. Pasupial 12

    I’m no friend of David Clark; Labour electorate MP for Dunedin North, which is why I feel it important to note when he gets something right:

    Nurse-to-patient ratios in Dunedin Hospital’s emergency department are being stretched to as many as one to 10… Dr Clark, who is Labour’s associate health spokesman, said nurses were carrying more than the standard accepted workload of one nurse to three patients in an ”increasingly desperate” situation.

    http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/312430/too-few-nurses-mp

    I have talked to nurses over the past year who are utterly frustrated with the shortsighted costcutting of SDHB management. The long hours shift work make regular life very difficult, especially when you factor in the exhaustion from excessive workload. But the most telling sign of contempt for ED nurses, and wider community health, is this measure that is still being bitterly fought (despite what this article and the Nurse’s own union claim):

    Some emergency department nurses fought a change that has them laundering their uniforms, Dunedin Hospital ED specialist John Chambers says… nurses felt ”very strongly” about the possible infection risk from washing their own uniform. They had appealed to management citing scientific evidence, but the change went ahead… North Dunedin MP David Clark said the problem of antibiotic resistance made hygiene practices more central to infection control, and he could understand the nurses’ concern.

    http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/309610/some-nurses-unwilling-wash-uniforms

    Note that this is at one of the country’s leading teaching hospitals. So that these penny pinching measures will become the norm across the entire health system as University & Polytech graduates disperse throughout the country.

    Dunedin North’s other leading electorate MP candidate; Woodhouse of the Nats, has no problem with any of this so long as the numbers look good on paper. But then, he is often seen as a parliamentary representative of the private-health industry, and shares responsibility in the long project of undermining the ACC:

    National MP and Dunedin North candidate Michael Woodhouse yesterday dismissed Dr Clark’s claims as nothing more than ”desperate electioneering”.

    ”This Government has lifted Southern’s annual funding to a record $833 million – over $120 million more than in 2008 – and there are now 116 extra nurses and 62 extra doctors employed by Southern DHB compared to 2008.

    • Murray Olsen 12.1

      One nurse to three patients seems like a low ratio for an emergency department. I was in a transplant ward in Brisbane for a while recently, and their ratio was one to two. In Emergency I assume it would be higher. One to ten is asking for disaster. It’s good to see the Labour guy taking a stand. I can’t see the Tories being interested in much more than the cut of the nurses’ uniforms.

  13. Bearded Git 13

    This is fascinating if you are interested in peak oil, climate change or economics.

    A highlight for me:

    “The major companies are struggling to find viable reserves, forcing them take on ever more leverage to explore in marginal basins, often gambling that much higher prices in the future will come to the rescue. Global output of conventional oil peaked in 2005 despite huge investment…..The International Energy Agency in Paris says global investment in fossil fuel supply rose from $400bn to $900bn during the boom from 2000 and 2008, doubling in real terms. It has since levelled off, reaching $950bn last year. The returns have been meagre. Not a single large oil project has come on stream at a break-even cost below $80 a barrel for almost three years.”

    It’s all here:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11024845/Oil-and-gas-company-debt-soars-to-danger-levels-to-cover-shortfall-in-cash.html

  14. Puckish Rogue 14

    http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/08/internet-party-vote-winning-strategy-harassing-blacks/

    • I don’t think that was the real Dan Carter (why would he really bother following the internet party) but if it was then having a go at him will lose you more votes then you’ll gain
    • marty mars 14.1

      puck that is pretty confused – may be dan, may not be, and apart from that crucial information the actual content is uncontroversial. Come on fella surely there are better shit storms than this out there for the right or have you lot given up .

    • felix 15.1

      What’s your problem with the tweet? Seems fairly uncontroversial to me.

      • Puckish Rogue 15.1.1

        I’m sure you think its uncontroversial an MP linking John Key to Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini

        • felix 15.1.1.1

          Yep, if the comparison is appropriate.

          You don’t get to go around boasting that you’ve hated unions since you were 15 and expect no-one will ever link you to others with the same views.

        • The Al1en 15.1.1.2

          I think it’s more a dig at the states, and jk, being so tightly inserted into uncle sam’s corporate bum, is bound to cop it by ‎arseociation (sic), and cop a share when the the sh!t goes down.

          Edit:

          Send that joke to a comedian and tell them they can use it for free as long as they donate a food basket to the sallies in Hamilton.

      • weka 15.1.2

        PR get’s paid per click through for WO, so any old thing works, doesn’t matter if its relevant or making sense.

  15. Thousands still not enrolled to vote a week before deadline
    http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/thousands-still-not-enrolled-vote-week-before-deadline-6055519

    “Nearly 400,000 people may miss the chance for a quicker vote on election day if they don’t enrol in the next week.
    The Electoral Commission says there are still 380,000 eligible New Zealanders who haven’t enrolled to vote on September 20”

    There’s the 800,000 that didn’t vote last time, with half of them ready to go this time out, which will do nicely if they’re inclined to vote key out.
    Getting more involved and participating would be nice, but even if only half of those 400k turnout on election day, that’ll see national gone before supper time.

    “and over half of them are under 30.”

    I was going to say it shows even 3 mil and celebrity rock ‘n roll can’t get reach kids, that or shows some kids can’t be bought by flashing lights and cult infamy smoke and mirrors, but to be fair, green or red hasn’t got them yet either, so no need for a dig for the sake of it. :halo:

  16. aerobubble 17

    Protest John Key, don’t drink, he’s the front man for big alcohol, or he thinks drunks are at the heart of a political conspiracy, whichever, its about time politicians got drunk on TV to show their do as they say not do as they do.

  17. Colonial Viper 18

    From the Dim-Post:

    I will blog on it at length later, but after a speed read the big reveals are:

    1. The Prime Minister’s office hacked into Labour’s servers, obtaining information about its donors and membership, passed the information onto Cameron Slater and then lied about it.

    2. The Prime Minister’s office told Slater to OIA classified SIS documents, then had the SIS declassify them and released to Slater.

    You can be sure that with this kind of intelligence services access, the Tories are running black lists of names in every part of NZ society.

    [lprent: I have moved this to OpenMike as being a thread rapidly becoming unrelated to the post. ]

    • karol 18.1

      The book also claims they planned to attack Peter Dunne through his (alleged) secret donors from the tobacco industry.

      • Te Reo Putake 18.1.1

        Peter Dunne, associate Minister of Health from 2005 to 2013? Say it ain’t so. Boy, has he got some big decisions to make tonight. Deny, bluster and threaten to sue or wave bye bye to Ohariu. Gone in a puff of smoke?

    • infused 18.2

      lol hacked. The website was left open by a bug, which promptly got fixed.

      [lprent: A statement that isn’t related to either the post, nor to the comment you responded to. Why? Are you looking for a ban for trolling off-topic? ]

      • infused 18.2.1

        Might be time to see spec savers lprent.

        1. The Prime Minister’s office hacked into Labour’s servers, obtaining information about its donors and membership, passed the information onto Cameron Slater and then lied about it.

        [lprent: Apologies. You are correct, I thought you were referring to Slaters system being hacked rather than the NZLP.

        BTW: The NZLP site wasn’t left open by a “bug”. It was obviously left open by someone deleting the Document page that protected the site and leaving the default file indexing on, which left the sites files visible. It was just stupid and something that most people using apache have managed to do at some point in time.

        Unfortunately that default configuration was a flaw (the old design docs for apache made the quite clear). However it was a deliberate flaw that took more than a decade to get corrected. ]

      • karol 18.2.2

        I guess them saying the website was left open (and not hacked) was the lie.

      • infused 18.2.3

        Here is what I am referring to, which is what I suspect the book is referring to.

        http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/06/labour-leaks-how-i-did-it/

        and

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnOAeVaU5xM

        Hence my reference to lol hacked.

        • Macro 18.2.3.1

          So if you leave your back door open one day – and I go inside and read all your mail and take copies in order to embarrass you at some point – that’s totally ok is it?

    • weka 18.3

      You really want us to take Slater’s word for something at this point, lol?

      “Hence my reference to lol hacked.”

      So could Joe and Joelene Blogs have accessed the data? (I assume not). Or did it need specialist knowledge? Where’s the line between hacking and not?

    • Colonial Viper 18.4

      Thanks lprent.

  18. The Other Mike 19

    Just seen this (troll warning I guess!)

    http://www.nature.com/news/2002/020920/full/news020916-17.html

    Suicide and political regime in New South Wales and Australia during the 20th century

    Snip: “A nation’s suicide rate increases under right-wing governments according two studies that have looked at Australia and Britain over the past century.

    Alienation and isolation may run higher in societies driven by competitive market forces, suggest the teams behind the findings. Left-wing rule, focusing more on equality, might put people under less pressure.

    Governments should consider their role in public health beyond spending, says social scientist Mary Shaw of the University of Bristol, UK. “We need to look not just at the immediate biomedical factors affecting health, but also how we organize society,” she says.

    In New South Wales, Australia, suicides soared when federal and state governments were Conservative, a team at the University of Sydney has found. They were lowest when the Labour Party ruled both.”

  19. lprent 20

    In reply to http://thestandard.org.nz/cameron-slater-dirties-john-key-or-vice-versa/#comment-865694

    Do you know anything about the hacking of Labour’s computers, Lprent?

    Not particularly. I asked a couple of non-tech people inside Labour afterwards. Their description of what happened is characteristic. I have set up a lot of IIS, nginx and apache2 servers including this one (many times).

    This is from the ubuntu 10.04 guide about apache2. My bold

    Default Settings
    This section explains configuration of the Apache2 server default settings. For example, if you add a virtual host, the settings you configure for the virtual host take precedence for that virtual host. For a directive not defined within the virtual host settings, the default value is used.

    The DirectoryIndex is the default page served by the server when a user requests an index of a directory by specifying a forward slash (/) at the end of the directory name.

    For example, when a user requests the page http://www.example.com/this_directory/, he or she will get either the DirectoryIndex page if it exists, a server-generated directory list if it does not and the Indexes option is specified, or a Permission Denied page if neither is true. The server will try to find one of the files listed in the DirectoryIndex directive and will return the first one it finds. If it does not find any of these files and if Options Indexes is set for that directory, the server will generate and return a list, in HTML format, of the subdirectories and files in the directory. The default value, found in /etc/apache2/mods-available/dir.conf is “index.html index.cgi index.pl index.php index.xhtml index.htm”. Thus, if Apache2 finds a file in a requested directory matching any of these names, the first will be displayed.

    • Tom Jackson 20.1

      Cheers. I’m not super computer-literate, but I see how that would work. Also painfully evident from the extracts I’ve seen that National lied egregiously about what they did with it.

  20. Clemgeopin 21

    Back Benches tonight.

    Wednesday 10:45PM

    Wallace and Damian ignite debate over Labour’s $280M plan to provide free GP visits for some. Plus, are burning effigies and racial slurs just a glimpse at the future of campaigning? PGR

  21. Mike 22

    Funny, no-one on your blog seems to be talking about the latest Stuff Poll.

    National

    55.1%
    Change +0.3 pts

    Labour

    22.5%
    Change -2.4 pts

    Greens

    11.3%
    Change -1.1 pts

    NZ First

    3.4%
    Change +0.8 pts

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    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 ...
    5 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    8 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    8 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    10 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    13 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    14 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    15 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    16 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    18 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T11:07:24+00:00