Seems it was a top dog and traveling light isn’t something top dogs do.
When the hotel my brother managed in Oman hosted US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates they would have needed a Globemaster or two to carry the well over100 personal, vehicles and communication systems that arrived with him.
Apparently, according to my brother, US military personal enjoying their R&R at the hotel were moved on to other hotels too because of security concerns.
“The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.”
Paul the government are not stopping farmers from selling milk to Russia.
Russia banned New Zealand milk products after the botulism scare.
The ban has been lifted on AMF and butter and Fonterra is now selling butter and possibly AMF to Russia.
I imagine that the usual suspects will be along shortly, claiming that we mustn’t trade with Iran because they have the death penalty and use it a lot.
After all commenters like you, saveNZ and Colonial Viper have all said we shouldn’t trade with Saudi Arabia because they enforce the death penalty.
Iran of course carries out far more executions each year than Saudi Arabia and at a higher rate per capita.
Do you really want to trade with these people Paul? Surely you will be consistent? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_country#Numbers_executed_in_2014
Excellent opinion piece by Jacinda Ardern on Stuff website, telling Mark Weldon exactly what we all think of his vision for TV3, the urgent need for quality public broadcasting etc.
Very nice work Jacinda, direct and to the point.
Funny how money-man Key failed to pay any attention to these points. Cabinet Club could see a drop in donations from rich Chinese if he isn’t careful….
“Rival flag design is bad feng shui
“The alternative to the New Zealand flag is “bad feng shui” and could bring bad luck, instability and even a stock market crash, a New Zealand feng shui consultant says.
…………..
“Auckland-based feng shui master Francis Lui said the new flag had a “yin” design, which wasn’t good, and black on top was a bad omen.
“Black represents mourning, loss and implied loss, and it also resembles evil and sadness,” Mr Lui, 45, said.
“In feng shui, black also represents water and water makes stock markets go down.”
………………………
“Even the blue is a lighter blue to the current flag, a mark that the country could get weaker.”
……………………………..
“What we have here is a yin flag with a fluttering silver fern that marks instability and no growth.”
“Roll up, roll up to the amazing Todd McClay’s Flying Circus!”
TPP Action Dunedin welcomed Trade Minister Todd McClay and MFAT officials with a Monty Python theme on the eve of their Dunedin TPP Roadshow.
“The roadshow is a circus” said spokesperson Liana Kelly. “The government is not interested in hearing what New Zealanders think about the TPP. If they were, they would not be holding a roadshow after the deadline for submissions to the TPP Select Committee.”
Rather than attending Minister Todd McClay’s Flying Circus Dunedin business people would do better to come to St David lecture theatre this evening at 7:30pm to hear Professor Tim Hazledine give the facts about the TPPA.” Ms Kelly said. “We deserve more than spin.”
Some cultures do way better on gender than the West.
In February of 1757, the great Cherokee leader Attakullakulla came to South Carolina to negotiate trade agreements with the governor and was shocked to find that no white women were present. “Since the white man as well as the red was born of woman, did not the white man admit women to their council?” Attakullakulla asked the governor. Carolyn Johnston, professor at Eckerd College and author of Cherokee Women in Crisis; Trail of Tears, Civil War, and Allotment, 1838-1907, says in her book that the governor was so taken aback by the question that he took two or three days to come up with this milquetoast response: “The white men do place confidence in their women and share their councils with them when they know their hearts are good.”
Europeans were astonished to see that Cherokee women were the equals of men—politically, economically and theologically. “Women had autonomy and sexual freedom, could obtain divorce easily, rarely experienced rape or domestic violence, worked as producers/farmers, owned their own homes and fields, possessed a cosmology that contains female supernatural figures, and had significant political and economic power,” she writes. “Cherokee women’s close association with nature, as mothers and producers, served as a basis of their power within the tribe, not as a basis of oppression. Their position as ‘the other’ led to gender equivalence, not hierarchy.”
Wouldn’t it be strange if we lived in a world with a history of men taking advantage of and suppressing women. Stranger still, a world where men contort their own faiths for their own social and political advantage.
When Middle East correspondent Carla Power began studying the Koran with a conservative Islamic scholar, she wasn’t expecting to learn that it nowhere advocates the oppression of women – or that Islam has a rich history of forgotten female leaders
Yep. The idea that we have that we are at the pinnacle of women’s rights is ridiculous. And we need to start listening to what women and non-white people have to say because the white men (sorry vto) with the pens and typewriters have been telling porkies.
We can look far closer to home than the Cherokee and Middle East too 😉
“Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too”
yes they do, but you missed the point. It’s the people with the power to write history that I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter if I tell lies. It does matter if someone who tells lies publishes an influential book that gets used as a teaching text in schools (not that I think it’s lies so much as extreme cultural bias that the person is blind to).
“just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!”
Are you are scholar of the Koran? Care to dispute the actual points the reporter makes?
Haha, what nonsense, ‘womansplaining’ almost. The point is it doesn’t matter if women or brown or yellow people are in power – anyone can be a liar and it’s just sexism and racism under another guise to suggest otherwise
I also like how you back off from calling people liars based on race and sex and just focus on cultural bias, nice back down! Plus thinking I have to be a scholar of Islam to critique it! Those are the last people who would want to criticise it. Are you sure your brain is working?
Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.
Remember?
In light of your own statements, best you amend the above to include women and people of non-white colour (don’t do it at the end of a hot suntannery summer eh).
It was not white men responsible for the bad (and the good of course. Eh. Yep)
It was white, brown, yellow.
It was male and female
it goes above and below the link. My point was that if white men are responsible for the negatives they are equally responsible for the positives, to which you tacked away and claimed women and non-whites also had power and influence, just to a far limited extent (which I agree with of course – Kate Sheppard and her lot being good example).
Please don’t respond at length though as I am of limited time and brain this eve
Short answer, you didn’t understand what I was saying in the other conversation.
White men have historically had far more power than women. That doesn’t mean they had all the power or that women had none. It means that there was an imbalance, and it meant that men as a class were more privileged by that arrangement than women were. Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective. This is pretty easy to demonstrate.
No, they had most of the power and wrote most of the books. Why are we even discussing this? Tally up the number of books written on NZ history by decade and the ethnicity and gender of the writers and then come back and tell me who is right about this.
You are right weka, it is a part and part thing. Or a whole and whole thing.
same for bad and good
If white men were mostly responsible for the ills then they are equally mostly responsible for the goodies (not the tele programme, though they almost certainly were…)
In that light maybe some appreciation should be shown to the white man
Sorry weka, one last point and I think this is why I have trouble with your writings sometimes….
You say this “Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective.”…. now that is a very definitive statement weka. White men wrote the history. That is an “all” statement.
But then you say this “No, they …. wrote most of the books”…. and that is a “part” statement.
If I’d wanted to say ‘all’, I would have. I didn’t. I’m obviously making a generalisation, because we are talking about generalities. We’re not talking about NZ history in the decade of 1890, or 1990. If you think I mean all when I don’t use that word, then I suggest you’re not actually listening to what I say.
So let me rephrase,
“Because of that they got to control how history was written, i.e. from a white male perspective. That doesn’t mean they controlled every little thing, it means that the culture in general was hugely influenced by the white male perspective for a long time”.
This isn’t in dispute vto, for instance it’s pretty easy to prove that what I learnt about Māori hsitory at school in the 70s and 80s had a huge bias toward Pākehā and against Māori. Likewise, much history about women from native cultures was suppressed and/or obscured because many of the white men writing about those cultures simply didn’t see the women or understand them. The histories that did get written by those women were often distorted.
I really wish you would stop taking this personally.
I’ll just take it that most of the good things in society, not all, have arisen from the same place that most of the ills, not all, have arisen. The white man.
Mate, there is absolutely nothing logical about what you are arguing. It’s nonsense. I’m happy to discuss this but not if you are going to ignore what I am saying and just make shit up.
“In Baden-Wuerttemberg in the southwest, a CDU stronghold for more than 50 years before turning to a Green-led coalition with the SPD in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Greens came home first with 32.5 per cent.”
“An exit poll by ARD television showed the AfD winning 12.5% of the vote in Baden-Württemberg, 11% in Rhineland-Palatinate and 23% in Saxony-Anhalt, a relatively poor eastern region.”
…. as for Sachen Anhalt (Saxony Anhalt) still being a ‘poor’ eastern region, this is chicken coming home to roost for Mrs. Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Party of Germany. What the CDU did to east Germany after the wall came down was nothing short of criminal and certainly not christian. But she did as instructed and mentored by Helmut Kohl, leader of the CDU and Chancellor of Germany who left his party and Germany over to Angela, peaceful in the knowledge that she will not allow any growth in East Germany that would impede Western German business interests.
Germany has only itself to blame for what is happening in East Germany.
The report alleged failings of the TPP in three key areas: democratic participation, transparency and public accountability. Co-author of the report Hossein Ayazi, a graduate research assistant for the Haas Institute’s Global Justice Program, alleged in an email that the TPP would harm the livelihoods of millions of individuals internationally.
“(The TPP is) the latest iteration of a global trend of political power being modeled almost entirely after the market-based economy (and) of national governments selling out the interests of the people they serve in order to instead serve the interest of corporations,” Ayazi said in an email.
So much for the TPPA being a good deal.
Well, great for the corporations whom our govts serve.
This article in NBR followed the notice that TPP negotiators had reached an agreement last year.
Twelve Pacific Rim nations have reached a deal on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership in the American city of Atlanta, ending more than five years of negotiations to create the largest trade and investment pact since the Uruguay Round of the GATT trade agreement 20 years ago.
However, New Zealand has barely prised open the door for dairy exports to the highly-protected markets of the US, Canada, and Japan, with tariffs on some products proving too hard to overturn.
If 10% of dairy farmers go under that will mean absolute carnage…
Key is likely being conservative too – in other words 10% would at the low end of the spectrum. Combined with Bill English’s rhetoric over recent days, we can take it this shit is really going to hit the flat-out fan.
No it won’t, it will simply be a reallocation of resources to a more productive use, Or allowing farms to continue without such high capital cost burden
And that perspective would also refer to the concomitant suicide rates amongst farmers and farm workers as simply the voluntary self-decommissioning of unproductive and obsolete economic units.
Well it will reddelusion… 10% is a very large number. It will take carnage and massive upheaval to get to the point f reallocation. I agree it will get to that point of reallocation, but at very significant cost to people’s lives (remember them?) and the nations resources and business infrastructure and operations.
No problem looking after mental well being of farmers or helping with transition to new employment etc, I just don’t think the solution is bailing out the farm if it’s not sustainable and it can be used more efficiently for other purposes or at a sustainable cost of capital position To do otherwise is a very dangerous precedent unless there is Financial system wide risk here to the whole economy of which there is not, ie SCF during GFC
Well, apart from the banks that lent to anybody who owned a cow.
But even if the banks were ok, one of the main cash injections into the regions has taken a massive hit.
“Transition to new employment” is a nice buzzphrase, but if say 10% of people with similar backgrounds and experience are all looking to transition at once, their chances of successful transions reduce markedly.
It’s not even the size of the “reallocation”, it’s the speed. That’s what’ll have flow-on effects beyond the farming sector. Milk farming at this level was always unsustainable in every sense of the word, but when bubbles pop (as this one seems to have) then a lot of people’s livelihoods get taken out as collateral damage. Much better to slow the deflation, but of course many ways of slowing the pop are lost to us because of various “free trade” deals. Can’t have government intervention, no sirree.
Much better to just watch the fallout in the regions and do what we can for the banks /sarc
I think we talking two different things. I agree with you about the transition away and all of that, my point was a particular one, namely that a 10% default and failure rate is very high. It is very high for any sector, but given the scale of this sector relative to the entire economy that very high 10% then doubles down to have an effect far greater than even that very high 10%. Hence why I think there is carnage around the next corner…
wish there wasn’t
it will affect us and our business
quite dramatically
in process of mitigation now…. not easy
and don’t think we are going to avoid…
I don’t think banks will want carnage as value of farms overall will fall pushing other farms into balance sheet insolvency as liabilities exceed value of asset thus undermining quality and value of loans or assets on banks balance sheets. An norderly recalibration is in the banks and Fonterras best interests here. I agree gov oversite to ensure this happens is appropriate as is social assistance but bailing out long term unsustainable farms is not the way to go.
It is a curious one, this prediction of 10% failure, which is why it has piqued some interest….
It is a very unusual thing for politicians to do, especially the two like PM and Deputy dog. That is no small thing for them to come out and say. It is this which is the thing – this making of such statements.
As for the banks not wanting carnage, sure, but remember that the debt is owned by much larger aussie banks (and them by even larger fish). I don’t think the fact of carnage in widdle nz will worry them one iota. Heck, I’m sure some of the owners alone are worth more than all the dairy debt combined.
At least the price of milk at the dairy is dropping …. ? ?
Nine to Noon about 20 mins ago. They were talking about the looming financial crisis around farming and whether the govt should take some action. I came in near the end, was listening to the meta conversation more than the content. Hooton yet again getting to say “the left are CRazy” and Ryan letting him get away with it (she just gives up because he’s intractable, which means they either need a new presenter or a new right wing commentator).
Hooten starts with a unfound conclusion, he then works backward justifying his stance with appeals to myth, and adhom and any debating technique that would lose ordinarily, and funally should be be floored too obviously by reality he will defiantantly shug off and be back next week as he has won. Where does the anger come from support Trump, but from nuttters like Hooten in the US, who seize the benefits of the social collective and turn around to pull up the ladder, draw the bridge up, place flags they do not deserve to way on the parapets, and call us to arms though we sit seething outside want him to metaphorically linch him. If only we moved on, his castle is in a dark irrelevant forest of tired old fakery. Past generationsn would call him a boring drama prince.
Hooten said repeatedly today that Labour wanted a “bailout for Dairy Farmers.” That was a flat lie. But it is what he does. Choose meme for the show and just repeats it ad nauseum. All the rest is fluff just as long as gets his repetitions in.
Key does not understand the global economy, incentivizing milk production would inevitably drawn in new or raised existing milk overseas production. Add to the cultural habit of Chineses to have their ine baby in the year of the dragon…
Now Key says its good for NZ that Trump and Clinton are against TPPA. Free trade lifts all boats, thats why Labour are for them, Greens seem against them but nly beause they undermine environments, if they did not it’ll be think global act local.
So why is Key, and his mouth piece Hooten, so disingenious, so arrogant, so willing ti attack the messenger, same reason all third term gvts are, out of ideas, wanting to move on, and just having fun at the nations expense.
ANKARA, March 13 (Reuters) – A car bomb killed 27 people in the heart of the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday and wounded 75 more, the governor’s office said, less than a month after a similar attack killed 29 people just blocks away.
I commented on this yesterday
Big flat nothing zero…. 🙁
But hey people this is something about which people should be sitting up and taking notice!
Far more important than Trump, Key’s buffoonery, Dairy prices, and even dare I say The Middle East and ISIL.
This is a wow! moment in human history, and we did it. Dr Jeff Masters at Wunderblog tells the story
Gordon Campbell (via Scoop) writes about how the EEC has trashed the proposed ISDS and instead put forward ” a new, judicially balanced and transparent system for resolving trade disputes.”….”The redrafted Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) creates a permanent tribunal, with members appointed by the two sides, as well as an appeal process to reverse potential legal errors. There is also tougher language enshrining the right of governments to regulate.”
The German Magistrates disagree, Ianmac. While the ICS is some improvement in the ISDS, the court still sits outside of the justice systems of states. There is criticism of the appointment process as well in this statement released.
blockquote><The German Magistrates Association rejects the proposal of the European Commission to establish an investment court within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The DRB sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court.
The German Magistrates Association sees no need for the establishment of a special court for investors. The Member States are all constitutional states, which provide and guarantee access to justice in all areas where the state has jurisdiction to all law-seeking parties. It is for the Member States to ensure access to justice for all and to ensure feasible access for foreign investors, by providing the courts with the relevant resources. Hence, the establishment of an ICS is the wrong way to guarantee legal certainty.
In addition, the German Magistrates Association calls on the German and European legislators to significantly curb recourse to arbitration within the framework of the protection of international investors. link
Investors should have to work within the judiciary systems of the states in which they are investing. If they don’t trust the judicial system, then they should not invest in that country. The ISDS has been used as a bullyboy system and the ICS, while having some better features, is still unnecessary.
Just a bit of a brag. Made it to the top 15 blogs on Open Parachute blog in the Month of February. Considering No right turn is number 37 that should tell you something! Not bad in a field of some 300 Kiwi blogs! And not bad for a Tulip talking 9/11 and John Key 😆
General James Clapper, head of the NSA has just landed in Wellington on his way to a Five Eyes meeting in Australia – Canberra I presume. Thought he’d pop in and say hello to John Key. Coincidence that it comes only days after a GCSB/SIS review is released?
Someone correct me if I have the wrong person, but was Clapper the senior US security fellow who attended a top secret international meeting where SIS Minister, Chris Finlayson was also present? You know… the one that took place shortly before the Kim Dotcom mansion raid?
The review of spy laws was to look into some of the seemingly dubious and questionable things that were done, which also included some aspects of the PM’s involvement, but …….. voila! ………. John Key gets Sir Michael Cullen on the job and the recommendations are now aimed to make spying easier and (?) broader.
Talk about disaster opportunism. John Key pulls it off well.
Btw, I hope that the National Government-knighted Sir Michael, who is far from living on the poverty line and indeed should be enjoying the pre-1999 post-Parliamentary perks, has generously donated his time to the review out of his genuine sense of public service and the kindness of his good heart.
“I don’t see why we should cancel the dinner party just because John Kennedy got himself shot.”—Nancy Reagan, telephone call to friend, Friday 22 November 1963
Twitter rumour that the ODT is going behind a paywall next month. That will be a real shame. The ODT is a reasonable paper by modern standards, and their coverage of local news, including issues that also have national significance like what is happening with the SDHB, needs to be freely available.
Nothing a good paywall blocker browser plug in / ad on won’t fix, or if you’re tech savy just appear as a Google bot ‘just browsing’ for an all access path, even better copy the page/post once your in & display it elsewhere for others that can’t (dont know how) on say pastebin.org or similar & share the link (paywalls don’t work)
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
Is it true … that regardless of whether Clinton or Trump becomes President of the United States of America … that neither Hillary nor Donald support the TPPA ???
If that is the case … then I am going with “The Donald” … because he is at least capable of negotiation … without having to check with his Campaign Donors first. LOL.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
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New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
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This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
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Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
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Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
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Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
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We may be opening up our trade with Iran.
The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ASpZFd7oE
+100
Someone yesterday wrote of an American Lear jet also landing just after the Iranian plane then scuttling into a hanger. What to hide?
Most likely this aircraft that didn’t scuttle away.
http://flyinggeek.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/usaf-gulfstream-aerospace-c37a-g-v.html
Neither did this one.
http://flyinggeek.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/usaf-c17-at-wellington.html
Was the little plane bringing that FBI bloke? The big one looks like the ones that head out to the Antarctic filled with stuff?
The Gulfstream could be law enforcement or perhaps forward party for a proposed POTUS visit.
I think the Antarctic flight window closes mid February so the Globemaster could be equipment heavy lift in and/or cyclone relief to Fiji.
I would have thought most law enforcement would fly commercial unless it was a top dog
I did wonder if some heavy equipment needed lifting somewhere and if so what?
As far as I know the Fiji cyclone relief has been shipped
Seems it was a top dog and traveling light isn’t something top dogs do.
When the hotel my brother managed in Oman hosted US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates they would have needed a Globemaster or two to carry the well over100 personal, vehicles and communication systems that arrived with him.
Apparently, according to my brother, US military personal enjoying their R&R at the hotel were moved on to other hotels too because of security concerns.
Paul
“The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.”
Paul the government are not stopping farmers from selling milk to Russia.
Russia banned New Zealand milk products after the botulism scare.
The ban has been lifted on AMF and butter and Fonterra is now selling butter and possibly AMF to Russia.
I imagine that the usual suspects will be along shortly, claiming that we mustn’t trade with Iran because they have the death penalty and use it a lot.
After all commenters like you, saveNZ and Colonial Viper have all said we shouldn’t trade with Saudi Arabia because they enforce the death penalty.
Iran of course carries out far more executions each year than Saudi Arabia and at a higher rate per capita.
Do you really want to trade with these people Paul? Surely you will be consistent?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_country#Numbers_executed_in_2014
This needs to be addressed.
The country is to broke to be giving away our natural assets.
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/free-nz-water-video-6452266
Shocking, similar to how corporations have access to 3rd world countries I imagine.
Shocking indeed.
It needs addressing before more consents are issued.
Excellent opinion piece by Jacinda Ardern on Stuff website, telling Mark Weldon exactly what we all think of his vision for TV3, the urgent need for quality public broadcasting etc.
Very nice work Jacinda, direct and to the point.
So she is alive then, nice to know.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/77745331/jacinda-v-david-the-reality-show-no-one-wants–survivor-broadcasting
Seymore’s response is pitiful.
New Stuff layout is awful. Cost cutting I suppose. Short sighted. Not worth going there any more.
When they’re trouncing a desperately needed social service? YES!
“…….an informed society is a healthy society”
A montage of Trump inciting his supporters at rallies prior to the Chicago cancellation.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/escalating-aggression-marks-trump-s-rhetoric-642743363967
Trump/In The Flesh mashup
https://youtu.be/zt823n3RsPc
The internationalist in me.
Why has the USA still got an embargo on books to Cuba?
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/end-book-embargo-against-cuba
Chemical weapons in use by ISIS, this is sick.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3489199/Over-600-people-injured-ISIS-chemical-attack-jihadi-group-s-triple-suicide-bomb-attack-foiled-Kurdish-forces-Iraq.html
And why the hell are we standing by whilst Turkey attack the Kurds???
The US doesn’t like successful societies that don’t kowtow to them.
Because they’re a member of NATO.
John Key wrapped in a NZ flag ?
It looks more like a old man shivering in a thin blanket against the coming winter chill.
Loving this….
Funny how money-man Key failed to pay any attention to these points. Cabinet Club could see a drop in donations from rich Chinese if he isn’t careful….
“Rival flag design is bad feng shui
“The alternative to the New Zealand flag is “bad feng shui” and could bring bad luck, instability and even a stock market crash, a New Zealand feng shui consultant says.
…………..
“Auckland-based feng shui master Francis Lui said the new flag had a “yin” design, which wasn’t good, and black on top was a bad omen.
“Black represents mourning, loss and implied loss, and it also resembles evil and sadness,” Mr Lui, 45, said.
“In feng shui, black also represents water and water makes stock markets go down.”
………………………
“Even the blue is a lighter blue to the current flag, a mark that the country could get weaker.”
……………………………..
“What we have here is a yin flag with a fluttering silver fern that marks instability and no growth.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11605003
Who’s the biggest mouth
Kim Jong-un or Donald Trump
With those two just across an ocean from each other what could possibly go wrong!!!!
The TPP Roadshow is a Circus
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1603/S00209/the-tpp-roadshow-is-a-circus.htm
The government is continuing inject more money in irrigation projects despite the dairy downturn. Last week it announced it was putting another $800,000 into the proposed irrigation dam for the Wairarapa – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11604196
Some cultures do way better on gender than the West.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/01/10/power-cherokee-women-3767
Wouldn’t it be strange if we lived in a world with a history of men taking advantage of and suppressing women. Stranger still, a world where men contort their own faiths for their own social and political advantage.
When Middle East correspondent Carla Power began studying the Koran with a conservative Islamic scholar, she wasn’t expecting to learn that it nowhere advocates the oppression of women – or that Islam has a rich history of forgotten female leaders
http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/koran-carla-power/index.html
(I might have just hurt myself with my own tongue)
Yep. The idea that we have that we are at the pinnacle of women’s rights is ridiculous. And we need to start listening to what women and non-white people have to say because the white men (sorry vto) with the pens and typewriters have been telling porkies.
We can look far closer to home than the Cherokee and Middle East too 😉
Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too… just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!
“Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too”
yes they do, but you missed the point. It’s the people with the power to write history that I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter if I tell lies. It does matter if someone who tells lies publishes an influential book that gets used as a teaching text in schools (not that I think it’s lies so much as extreme cultural bias that the person is blind to).
“just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!”
Are you are scholar of the Koran? Care to dispute the actual points the reporter makes?
Haha, what nonsense, ‘womansplaining’ almost. The point is it doesn’t matter if women or brown or yellow people are in power – anyone can be a liar and it’s just sexism and racism under another guise to suggest otherwise
I think I’ll leave you to rant to yourself, you seem good at a one sided conversation.
I also like how you back off from calling people liars based on race and sex and just focus on cultural bias, nice back down! Plus thinking I have to be a scholar of Islam to critique it! Those are the last people who would want to criticise it. Are you sure your brain is working?
Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.
Remember?
In light of your own statements, best you amend the above to include women and people of non-white colour (don’t do it at the end of a hot suntannery summer eh).
It was not white men responsible for the bad (and the good of course. Eh. Yep)
It was white, brown, yellow.
It was male and female
Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.
Remember?
Vaguely. Put up a link and I’ll respond to your comment.
herewith http://thestandard.org.nz/old-rich-white-man-complains-about-another-group-receiving-privilege/#comment-1138655
it goes above and below the link. My point was that if white men are responsible for the negatives they are equally responsible for the positives, to which you tacked away and claimed women and non-whites also had power and influence, just to a far limited extent (which I agree with of course – Kate Sheppard and her lot being good example).
Please don’t respond at length though as I am of limited time and brain this eve
Short answer, you didn’t understand what I was saying in the other conversation.
White men have historically had far more power than women. That doesn’t mean they had all the power or that women had none. It means that there was an imbalance, and it meant that men as a class were more privileged by that arrangement than women were. Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective. This is pretty easy to demonstrate.
So they had only part of the power but wrote all the books?
No, they had most of the power and wrote most of the books. Why are we even discussing this? Tally up the number of books written on NZ history by decade and the ethnicity and gender of the writers and then come back and tell me who is right about this.
You are right weka, it is a part and part thing. Or a whole and whole thing.
same for bad and good
If white men were mostly responsible for the ills then they are equally mostly responsible for the goodies (not the tele programme, though they almost certainly were…)
In that light maybe some appreciation should be shown to the white man
yeah, not interested in talking with someone who is basically talking to themselves. Have at it though and enjoy yourself.
Sorry weka, one last point and I think this is why I have trouble with your writings sometimes….
You say this “Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective.”…. now that is a very definitive statement weka. White men wrote the history. That is an “all” statement.
But then you say this “No, they …. wrote most of the books”…. and that is a “part” statement.
This is the problem. It is your problem.
If I’d wanted to say ‘all’, I would have. I didn’t. I’m obviously making a generalisation, because we are talking about generalities. We’re not talking about NZ history in the decade of 1890, or 1990. If you think I mean all when I don’t use that word, then I suggest you’re not actually listening to what I say.
So let me rephrase,
“Because of that they got to control how history was written, i.e. from a white male perspective. That doesn’t mean they controlled every little thing, it means that the culture in general was hugely influenced by the white male perspective for a long time”.
This isn’t in dispute vto, for instance it’s pretty easy to prove that what I learnt about Māori hsitory at school in the 70s and 80s had a huge bias toward Pākehā and against Māori. Likewise, much history about women from native cultures was suppressed and/or obscured because many of the white men writing about those cultures simply didn’t see the women or understand them. The histories that did get written by those women were often distorted.
I really wish you would stop taking this personally.
ok ok lets leave it for now. . .
I’ll just take it that most of the good things in society, not all, have arisen from the same place that most of the ills, not all, have arisen. The white man.
Don’t let me get in the way of that prejudice vto.
you got a real problem eh
I sure do and now I’m going to stop talking to it.
Or did the part of power they had match the part of the books they wrote?
And did the part of their power match all of the good? Or just all of the bad?
Or some other combination of part and whole? It is another of those maths and logic things weka …
Mate, there is absolutely nothing logical about what you are arguing. It’s nonsense. I’m happy to discuss this but not if you are going to ignore what I am saying and just make shit up.
From Stuff today:
“In Baden-Wuerttemberg in the southwest, a CDU stronghold for more than 50 years before turning to a Green-led coalition with the SPD in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Greens came home first with 32.5 per cent.”
This is some result for the Greens.
while that is nice for the Greens in Baden Wuerttemberg (West Germany), the results for the other Party AFD Alternative for Germany is more worrisome.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/germany-state-elections-test-merkel-refugees
“An exit poll by ARD television showed the AfD winning 12.5% of the vote in Baden-Württemberg, 11% in Rhineland-Palatinate and 23% in Saxony-Anhalt, a relatively poor eastern region.”
AfD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany
…. as for Sachen Anhalt (Saxony Anhalt) still being a ‘poor’ eastern region, this is chicken coming home to roost for Mrs. Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Party of Germany. What the CDU did to east Germany after the wall came down was nothing short of criminal and certainly not christian. But she did as instructed and mentored by Helmut Kohl, leader of the CDU and Chancellor of Germany who left his party and Germany over to Angela, peaceful in the knowledge that she will not allow any growth in East Germany that would impede Western German business interests.
Germany has only itself to blame for what is happening in East Germany.
UC Berkeley researchers raise corporate misconduct concerns regarding Trans-Pacific Partnership in report
So much for the TPPA being a good deal.
Well, great for the corporations whom our govts serve.
More misinformation on TPP by PM
“10% of dairy farms could fail – Key”
“Up to 10 percent of dairy farmers could be forced off their land,” Prime Minister John Key says.
“But the government could help farmers by making the business more viable through the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and irrigation”, he said.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/298869/10-percent-of-dairy-farms-could-fail-key
This article in NBR followed the notice that TPP negotiators had reached an agreement last year.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/tpp-deal-gives-limited-win-nz-dairy-us-gives-way-drug-patents-b-179693
The PM needs a colonic irrigation!
I tried to post this above my last comment so that it should read as below:
“The government currently has around $120million of taxpayers’ money sitting in a fund, called Crown Irrigation Investments, which is earmarked for controversial irrigation schemes designed to expand industrial dairy agriculture. The government hopes to increase the amount of taxpayers’ money spent on these schemes to $400million. ”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/03/14/john-key-should-resign-as-tourism-minister-greenpeace/#sthash.vfq9Pt8d.dpuf
The PM needs a colonic irrigation!
If 10% of dairy farmers go under that will mean absolute carnage…
Key is likely being conservative too – in other words 10% would at the low end of the spectrum. Combined with Bill English’s rhetoric over recent days, we can take it this shit is really going to hit the flat-out fan.
tough times, tough times
No it won’t, it will simply be a reallocation of resources to a more productive use, Or allowing farms to continue without such high capital cost burden
🙄
And that perspective would also refer to the concomitant suicide rates amongst farmers and farm workers as simply the voluntary self-decommissioning of unproductive and obsolete economic units.
Well it will reddelusion… 10% is a very large number. It will take carnage and massive upheaval to get to the point f reallocation. I agree it will get to that point of reallocation, but at very significant cost to people’s lives (remember them?) and the nations resources and business infrastructure and operations.
No problem looking after mental well being of farmers or helping with transition to new employment etc, I just don’t think the solution is bailing out the farm if it’s not sustainable and it can be used more efficiently for other purposes or at a sustainable cost of capital position To do otherwise is a very dangerous precedent unless there is Financial system wide risk here to the whole economy of which there is not, ie SCF during GFC
Well, apart from the banks that lent to anybody who owned a cow.
But even if the banks were ok, one of the main cash injections into the regions has taken a massive hit.
“Transition to new employment” is a nice buzzphrase, but if say 10% of people with similar backgrounds and experience are all looking to transition at once, their chances of successful transions reduce markedly.
It’s not even the size of the “reallocation”, it’s the speed. That’s what’ll have flow-on effects beyond the farming sector. Milk farming at this level was always unsustainable in every sense of the word, but when bubbles pop (as this one seems to have) then a lot of people’s livelihoods get taken out as collateral damage. Much better to slow the deflation, but of course many ways of slowing the pop are lost to us because of various “free trade” deals. Can’t have government intervention, no sirree.
Much better to just watch the fallout in the regions and do what we can for the banks /sarc
I think we talking two different things. I agree with you about the transition away and all of that, my point was a particular one, namely that a 10% default and failure rate is very high. It is very high for any sector, but given the scale of this sector relative to the entire economy that very high 10% then doubles down to have an effect far greater than even that very high 10%. Hence why I think there is carnage around the next corner…
wish there wasn’t
it will affect us and our business
quite dramatically
in process of mitigation now…. not easy
and don’t think we are going to avoid…
I don’t think banks will want carnage as value of farms overall will fall pushing other farms into balance sheet insolvency as liabilities exceed value of asset thus undermining quality and value of loans or assets on banks balance sheets. An norderly recalibration is in the banks and Fonterras best interests here. I agree gov oversite to ensure this happens is appropriate as is social assistance but bailing out long term unsustainable farms is not the way to go.
It is a curious one, this prediction of 10% failure, which is why it has piqued some interest….
It is a very unusual thing for politicians to do, especially the two like PM and Deputy dog. That is no small thing for them to come out and say. It is this which is the thing – this making of such statements.
As for the banks not wanting carnage, sure, but remember that the debt is owned by much larger aussie banks (and them by even larger fish). I don’t think the fact of carnage in widdle nz will worry them one iota. Heck, I’m sure some of the owners alone are worth more than all the dairy debt combined.
At least the price of milk at the dairy is dropping …. ? ?
Anyone know what businesses are doing with Otago Anniversary Day this year?
United against the TPP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxDmtSySCVo
The Commies are coming!!!
(Hooton accuses Kathryn Ryan of asking a socialist question).
Where, when?
What was the question?
Nine to Noon about 20 mins ago. They were talking about the looming financial crisis around farming and whether the govt should take some action. I came in near the end, was listening to the meta conversation more than the content. Hooton yet again getting to say “the left are CRazy” and Ryan letting him get away with it (she just gives up because he’s intractable, which means they either need a new presenter or a new right wing commentator).
Hooten starts with a unfound conclusion, he then works backward justifying his stance with appeals to myth, and adhom and any debating technique that would lose ordinarily, and funally should be be floored too obviously by reality he will defiantantly shug off and be back next week as he has won. Where does the anger come from support Trump, but from nuttters like Hooten in the US, who seize the benefits of the social collective and turn around to pull up the ladder, draw the bridge up, place flags they do not deserve to way on the parapets, and call us to arms though we sit seething outside want him to metaphorically linch him. If only we moved on, his castle is in a dark irrelevant forest of tired old fakery. Past generationsn would call him a boring drama prince.
Hooten said repeatedly today that Labour wanted a “bailout for Dairy Farmers.” That was a flat lie. But it is what he does. Choose meme for the show and just repeats it ad nauseum. All the rest is fluff just as long as gets his repetitions in.
Key does not understand the global economy, incentivizing milk production would inevitably drawn in new or raised existing milk overseas production. Add to the cultural habit of Chineses to have their ine baby in the year of the dragon…
Now Key says its good for NZ that Trump and Clinton are against TPPA. Free trade lifts all boats, thats why Labour are for them, Greens seem against them but nly beause they undermine environments, if they did not it’ll be think global act local.
So why is Key, and his mouth piece Hooten, so disingenious, so arrogant, so willing ti attack the messenger, same reason all third term gvts are, out of ideas, wanting to move on, and just having fun at the nations expense.
Is she a FAY BEE YUN?
It is Newstalk ZB without the ads whenever any of the DP crew do a shift.
If Ryan challenged his BS she would be moved on….well played griffin.
What’s wrong with this Stephen Mills guy on the Nine to Noon Monday politics spot. Hasn’t he learnt to say “I think Mathew is right”?
He is an unmannerly lout who hasn’t realised that neither Ryan nor Hootie Blowfish will ever, if left to their own devices, finish a sentence.
car bombs in Ankara.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ankara-turkey-explosion_us_56e59cdce4b065e2e3d6427b
ANKARA, March 13 (Reuters) – A car bomb killed 27 people in the heart of the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday and wounded 75 more, the governor’s office said, less than a month after a similar attack killed 29 people just blocks away.
I commented on this yesterday
Big flat nothing zero…. 🙁
But hey people this is something about which people should be sitting up and taking notice!
Far more important than Trump, Key’s buffoonery, Dairy prices, and even dare I say The Middle East and ISIL.
This is a wow! moment in human history, and we did it.
Dr Jeff Masters at Wunderblog tells the story
Gordon Campbell (via Scoop) writes about how the EEC has trashed the proposed ISDS and instead put forward ” a new, judicially balanced and transparent system for resolving trade disputes.”….”The redrafted Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) creates a permanent tribunal, with members appointed by the two sides, as well as an appeal process to reverse potential legal errors. There is also tougher language enshrining the right of governments to regulate.”
Sounds better to me for TPPA. No doubt Key would change the ISDS for our peace of mind, I hope!
(2nd section) http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2016/03/14/gordon-campbell-on-the-aussie-banks/
The German Magistrates disagree, Ianmac. While the ICS is some improvement in the ISDS, the court still sits outside of the justice systems of states. There is criticism of the appointment process as well in this statement released.
blockquote><The German Magistrates Association rejects the proposal of the European Commission to establish an investment court within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The DRB sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court.
The German Magistrates Association sees no need for the establishment of a special court for investors. The Member States are all constitutional states, which provide and guarantee access to justice in all areas where the state has jurisdiction to all law-seeking parties. It is for the Member States to ensure access to justice for all and to ensure feasible access for foreign investors, by providing the courts with the relevant resources. Hence, the establishment of an ICS is the wrong way to guarantee legal certainty.
In addition, the German Magistrates Association calls on the German and European legislators to significantly curb recourse to arbitration within the framework of the protection of international investors.
link
Investors should have to work within the judiciary systems of the states in which they are investing. If they don’t trust the judicial system, then they should not invest in that country. The ISDS has been used as a bullyboy system and the ICS, while having some better features, is still unnecessary.
Further degradation of our sovereignty
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11605462
Just a bit of a brag. Made it to the top 15 blogs on Open Parachute blog in the Month of February. Considering No right turn is number 37 that should tell you something! Not bad in a field of some 300 Kiwi blogs! And not bad for a Tulip talking 9/11 and John Key 😆
congratulations !…always find what you say is interesting
Thank you very much!
keep up the good work rev
people will catch up one day
Here is hoping eh?
Breaking News.
General James Clapper, head of the NSA has just landed in Wellington on his way to a Five Eyes meeting in Australia – Canberra I presume. Thought he’d pop in and say hello to John Key. Coincidence that it comes only days after a GCSB/SIS review is released?
Someone correct me if I have the wrong person, but was Clapper the senior US security fellow who attended a top secret international meeting where SIS Minister, Chris Finlayson was also present? You know… the one that took place shortly before the Kim Dotcom mansion raid?
watch out for drones and funny whistling noises in your telephone and Men in Black hiding behind trees…
…the GCSB is now being taken over by those USA crooks to spy directly on New Zealanders
…thanks Michael Cullen !
Why is that I’m left with a peculiar feeling?
The review of spy laws was to look into some of the seemingly dubious and questionable things that were done, which also included some aspects of the PM’s involvement, but …….. voila! ………. John Key gets Sir Michael Cullen on the job and the recommendations are now aimed to make spying easier and (?) broader.
Talk about disaster opportunism. John Key pulls it off well.
Btw, I hope that the National Government-knighted Sir Michael, who is far from living on the poverty line and indeed should be enjoying the pre-1999 post-Parliamentary perks, has generously donated his time to the review out of his genuine sense of public service and the kindness of his good heart.
Nancy Reagan dead at 94
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ngZFRisurU
“I don’t see why we should cancel the dinner party just because John Kennedy got himself shot.”—Nancy Reagan, telephone call to friend, Friday 22 November 1963
…that really is a helluva quote !…will never forget it…this should be quoted at Nancy Reagan’s funeral…it is almost on a par with “Let them eat cake”
Twitter rumour that the ODT is going behind a paywall next month. That will be a real shame. The ODT is a reasonable paper by modern standards, and their coverage of local news, including issues that also have national significance like what is happening with the SDHB, needs to be freely available.
Nothing a good paywall blocker browser plug in / ad on won’t fix, or if you’re tech savy just appear as a Google bot ‘just browsing’ for an all access path, even better copy the page/post once your in & display it elsewhere for others that can’t (dont know how) on say pastebin.org or similar & share the link (paywalls don’t work)
Ok, I’ll check that out. Doesn’t really resolve the lack of community access though. Most people won’t be able to do what you suggest.
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
Israelis torturing non-Jewish children. Australian documentary film. Viewer discretion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqL048x4msM
And NZ just signed a film co-production deal with Israel! Yey, come the Israelis making propaganda shite movies here! Maybe we can boycott those!
Is it true … that regardless of whether Clinton or Trump becomes President of the United States of America … that neither Hillary nor Donald support the TPPA ???
If that is the case … then I am going with “The Donald” … because he is at least capable of negotiation … without having to check with his Campaign Donors first. LOL.
+100