Open mike 17/01/2014

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 am, January 17th, 2014 - 275 comments
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openmike

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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

Step right up to the mike …

275 comments on “Open mike 17/01/2014 ”

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  1. amirite 1
    17 January 2014 at 7:29 am

    Good opinion piece by Derek Handley on Kim Dotcom’s new Party, in which he says that:

    “We have a government that doesn’t really listen to the people and has increasingly grown comfortable in a quasi-arrogant swagger”

    http://www.derekhandley.org/why-kim-dotcoms-internet-party-is-good-for-new-zealand/

    • BM 1.1
      17 January 2014 at 8:11 am

      Is he on Dotcoms pay roll?

      • phillip ure 1.1.1
        17 January 2014 at 8:14 am

        i don’t think he needs the money..there..bm..

        ..you thoroughly-modern/stressed-out green..you..

        ..grasping for straws..?

        ..are we..?

        phillip ure..

        • BM 1.1.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 8:18 am

          With what’s come to light over the last few days you have to be a wee bit skeptical of anyone who writes anything positive about dotcom.

          • phillip ure 1.1.1.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 8:32 am

            @ bm..

            ..what actually has ‘come to light’..?

            ..bradbury jumped to the next vehicle he thought would best achieve his personal ends..

            (that’s just what bradbury seems to do..nothing new there..

            ..past week..greens..one week mana..next week labour..the week after..dotcom..

            ..what’s next..?..the bomber bradbury party..?..

            ..bradbury certainly has loose knickers..he’s anyones’..)

            ..bradbury..with his apparant promiscuous party-hopping/easy swapping of flags….is getting more than a touch of the peter dunnes about him…eh..?..which week is it..?..which party am i in..?..)

            ..and dotcom was told he would be breaching election-laws if he threw a ‘party’..

            ..and alistair thompson has resigned from scoop..to work for dotcom..

            ..what else have i missed here..?

            ..to cause yr consternation at recent events..?

            phillip ure..

          • Morrissey 1.1.1.1.2
            17 January 2014 at 10:29 am

            BM’s been reading Cam Slater over on Whaleoil. He’s parroting the great man.

          • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 1.1.1.1.3
            17 January 2014 at 12:52 pm

            @ BM

            “With what’s come to light over the last few days you have to be a wee bit skeptical of anyone who writes anything positive about dotcom.”

            Same could and has been said re John Key & National.

            Welcome to the real world BM.

          • McFlock 1.1.1.1.4
            17 January 2014 at 1:00 pm

            So if they’re on KDC’s payroll, everything they write should be viewed with suspicion.

            But if they’re on the national party payroll, you’ll parrot their lines as gospel.

          • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1.5
            17 January 2014 at 2:19 pm

            With what’s come to light over the last few days decades you have to be a wee bit skeptical of anyone who writes anything positive about dotcom National.

            FTFY

            😛

        • You_Fool 1.1.1.2
          17 January 2014 at 8:19 am

          It is the RWNJ new line to discredit KDC by implying he has brought anyone that says nice things about him… to be fair they are only assuming he is doing the same with his money as NAct and the other extreme right wing parties

        • Not a PS Staffer 1.1.1.3
          17 January 2014 at 8:59 am

          “Needing money” and “wanting money” are two very different things.
          The fact that a guy has a positive bank balance does not make him an objective commentator.

          Many many relatively well off people and well educated people are being drawn to Dotcom’s ideology of “something for nothing”.

          Greed: pure simple common greed and the lust for easy pickings is what is drawing the likes of Bradbury, Handley, Thompson and others to Dotcom’s campaign to beat extradition.

          All Labour people should keep well clear of Dotcom and his bought men.

          • phillip ure 1.1.1.3.1
            17 January 2014 at 10:09 am

            @ not ps..

            assumption piled upon pressumption..

            ..to reach the most dubious of conclusions..

            ..1/10 for elucidation of a rational argument..

            ..(what insights to peoples’ minds you must have..?

            ..have you thought of doing a stage-tour..?

            ..reading peoples’ minds..?

            ..whoar..!..)

            phillip ure..

          • Morrissey 1.1.1.3.2
            17 January 2014 at 10:32 am

            All Labour people should keep well clear of Dotcom and his bought men.

            So anyone who supports Dotcom’s entirely mainstream view that the internet should be open and free and not controlled by governments and corporations is suddenly on Dotcom’s payroll.

            Whereas the commentators who represent those corporations, and support governments snooping and spying and censoring our communications, are independent and responsible commentators.

            Got it.

            • Not a PS Staffer 1.1.1.3.2.1
              17 January 2014 at 2:10 pm

              @Morrissey

              I doubt DotCom has any interest in internet access, privacy, or freedom outside of how his bank balance is swollen further by people who want to get the creative output of Artists without paying for it.
              The fact that big media companies are making massive profits does not justify direct theft by the consumer. Artists are finding better ways to retain a higher slice for themselves.

              I believe every atom in DotComs body is focused on avoiding getting deported to the US and to making more money.

              DotCom is a convicted criminal and is wanted on charges of piracy/theft. The inept performance of the FBI and the NZ Police don’t justify his efforts to make money by ripping off creative Artists.

              Bradbury was a stupid fool to work for DotCom.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                17 January 2014 at 2:25 pm

                DotCom is a convicted criminal and is wanted on charges of piracy/theft.

                You do understand that once people have paid their fine/been in prison for their crimes they’re considered to have paid their debt to society and to be innocent don’t you?

              • Colonial Viper …
                17 January 2014 at 5:54 pm

                Awesome to have you shilling for the big crony corporate apparatus

                The fact that big media companies are making massive profits does not justify direct theft by the consumer. Artists are finding better ways to retain a higher slice for themselves.

                How sure are you about that? Perhaps those “massive profits” you speak of should be viewed as theft from the community, in the first place. Rentier capitalists should always expect push back.

                When an economic system is unjust, such as the use of patents and copyright (and deals like the TPP) to crush the wealth of the commons and to crush creativity, it will eventually be the cause of its own undermining.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  17 January 2014 at 6:43 pm

                  +1

                  The taxpayer subsidies over the last few years for films that have been made in NZ have been high enough to get everyone in NZ into a theatre to see them.

                • Not a PS Staffer …
                  17 January 2014 at 7:46 pm

                  @CV: “Rentier capitalists should always expect push back.” I fully agree.

                  I also believe that a disruptive action/movement is required to bring about substantive change, and that the laws protecting the owners of capital are just that.

                  However…..it stick in my craw that a self-serving git like DotCom, who has been “generous” to some of our politicians, and now journalists, should be the catalysts for this change.

      • Te Reo Putake 1.1.2
        17 January 2014 at 8:36 am

        Actually, BM has a point. Bomber, Alastair Thompson and Graeme Edgeler have all promoted or been quoted talking about Dotcom’s party without acknowledging their links. Not exactly mold breaking behaviour, is it?

        • BM 1.1.2.1
          17 January 2014 at 8:43 am

          Has David Fisher, the Herald reporter ruled himself out yet?

          • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 8:49 am

            He’s an excellent journo, with deep insight into the KDC case. If anything, he needs to keep on going.

        • bad12 1.1.2.2
          17 January 2014 at 8:52 am

          TRP, How many of us here at the Standard comment and/or promote particular political parties without revealing our links, if any, to those parties,

          It seems given what has so far been pointed at Bradbury et al is more the criticism of convenience, convicted and damned for a quickly thought up ‘crime that isn’t’…

          • Te Reo Putake 1.1.2.2.1
            17 January 2014 at 9:05 am

            Not the point, bad12. The 3 I mentioned were all in positions of significant influence and should not have hidden the links. You and I are not editors of a blog or a news site, nor political/legal commentators on the national news. We contribute to the debate, but we cannot control it. However, Bradbury, Thompson and Edgeler have platforms much more weighty than us mere commenters on TS and all three should have been upfront from the start.

            • karol 1.1.2.2.1.1
              17 January 2014 at 9:13 am

              I got the impression that the leaked evidence was of those 3 making some kind of submissions to KDC in its early stages – kind of like a pitch so KDC could decide if he would have them working for/with his party. The evidence did not convince me they had already signed up to work with/for the party.

              So, should such consultants make public every submission/application they make for paid contract work?

              • Te Reo Putake …
                17 January 2014 at 9:31 am

                Your impression is wrong, karol. Thompson is the party secretary, Edgeler and Bradbury have apparently written proposals on a commercial basis. Bradbury has asked to be paid an ongoing salary and is considering being a candidate. I presume Edgerler has already been paid for his electorate analysis. Here at TS, we have regularly railed against WO’s blogging for cash. It’s no better when Bomber does it. Thompson, a gallery journalist, should have been upfront the moment he joined the party.

                • Jackal …
                  17 January 2014 at 10:53 am

                  Te Reo Putake

                  We have regularly railed against WO’s blogging for cash. It’s no better when Bomber does it.

                  Bomber submitted a proposal that Dotcom had requested. If you think he should publicly declare such talks concerning a potential position you’re badly mistaken. There is presently no conflict of interest and the right wing thrashing about like lunatics is ridiculous!

                  There is simply no comparison between Cameron Slater being paid by Ports of Auckland to leak private information and badly defame one of its workers and Bomber Bradbury having discussions with Kim Dotcom about the Internet Party. People who think otherwise need their heads examined.

                • mickysavage …
                  17 January 2014 at 1:06 pm

                  I think Edgeler should be exempted from criticism. Hell I act for rapists and drug dealers but this does not mean that I have to believe that what they are doing is right …

                  • lprent …
                    17 January 2014 at 1:32 pm

                    Tis the nature of lawyers. People should have the best representation available.

                    For all of my usual carping at lawyers (and police and politicians), they are essential for a society to have to function correctly.

                    Just like those people who deal with the rubbish and stop the mountains growing around people to become a public health risk, the people who provide clean water, and those who deal with effluent of all kinds.

            • bad12 1.1.2.2.1.2
              17 January 2014 at 9:34 am

              TRP, while i understand and mostly agree with the point you are making, i have to ask if most of said point is in fact not just the ‘smoke and mirrors’ of political to and fro,

              While seeing what is being accused and being personally in agreement with the accusation i have to ask tho, what are the ‘Facts’,

              How many articles prior to His outing as a ,(paid???), supporter of DotCom’s Internet Party did Bradbury actually publish in support of this Internet Party???

              That question when applied to the big player in Scoop is harder of course to apply, but, just how many articles in support of the Internet Party did Scoop publish prior to Thompson’s outing as a supporter, in the case of Scoop, with reference to Thompson’s position with that organization, that question would have to include articles in support of the Internet Party by any Scoop author including Thompson,

              The accusation made against these people is in fact the ‘smoke’, is there any proof of ‘fire’…

              • Te Reo Putake …
                17 January 2014 at 10:26 am

                Well, with Thompson, clearly there is both smoke and fire. By joining the party he fatally compromised his position at Scoop. It’s not a question of articles he may have written; he was their gallery reporter and he should have known that he could not have both roles. Hence the swift resignation/sabbatical.

                Bomber has form in this area already. He has worked as a paid consultant for mana and he should have acknowledged that whenever he wrote about them out of respect for his readers. Same for his role in Dotcom’s party. He has asked for money and also to possibly represent them as a candidate. That’s something TDB readers should be told upfront.

                Edgeler, I’m less bothered about. He was interviewed about ‘treating’ and TV3 had control over whether his link to Dotcom was publicised in the news item and apparently chose not to provide that information. I’m assuming that he told them, of course.

                • bad12 …
                  17 January 2014 at 12:39 pm

                  TRP, so you cannot point to any particular article published by Scoop that promoted the Internet Party???, i am going to assume here but for the Blubber Boy blog getting in ahead of Him that Thompson would have declared His interest in the Internet Party at the point it became a registered political party,

                  In other words mere smoke being used by certain quarters to throw a hissy fit toward those who could be involved in this Internet Party,

                  Fair enough comment about Bradbury vis a vis the Mana Party, we would think that He would be polite enough to advise His readers,(although most of them obviously already know), that He has in the past been a paid consultant to the Mana Party,

                  Your comments though on Bomber vis a vis the Internet Party are a bit spurious, more smoke in other words, Bradbury might have asked to become a candidate for this Internet Party is hardly a matter of fact upon which to lynch Him,

                  You fail to point out any article that Bradbury has published or caused to be published in support of the Internet Party so in reality when you look at the ‘facts’ there is simply more smoke than actual fire…

                  • lprent …
                    17 January 2014 at 1:37 pm

                    Fair enough comment about Bradbury vis a vis the Mana Party, we would think that He would be polite enough to advise His readers,(although most of them obviously already know), that He has in the past been a paid consultant to the Mana Party,

                    Pretty sure that he had. Certainly I knew about it and long before The Daily Blog was created. I see that he has now added the link to his profile.

                    • bad12 …
                      17 January 2014 at 9:15 pm

                      Tah for that, i don’t spend enough time over at the daily blog to have followed Bradbury’s blogging and the couple of times i have spent an hour reading there came away with the opinion that a lot of the blogging comes across as ‘the adults talking to the children’ and the means of commenting gives me the same impression,

                      That of course might be totally unfair on my part and simply an impression created by my lack of attention to that site…

                  • Te Reo Putake …
                    17 January 2014 at 2:50 pm

                    Bad, there is a clear comparison between Bomber and WO. And in that comparison, Slater comes off much much worse. But Bomber has compromised himself by offering himself as a potential candidate (and presumably being paid for the proposal). Cameron writes to order, for cash, without disclosure. Bomber has done a pale version of that, by writing about both mana and Dotcom’s party without disclosure of his interest in both.

                    The other weird thing about Bomber’s involvement is offering to be a candidate before there is even any policy. What’s that about? A misogynist German millionaire libertarian with no history of social concern is hardly an ideal partner for advancing the revolution. More a case of “I for one welcome our new insect overloads” or “Hi, Homer, I’m Hank Scorpio”.

                    • bad12 …
                      17 January 2014 at 9:36 pm

                      Te Reo, you fail to answer the points i raise in my comment to you at 12.39, instead choosing to try and divert the debate off onto another tangent,

                      i know from what Gordon Campbell wrote,(Karol provides a link below),about what Thompson’s intentions were and here i am going to assume that Bradbury was probably going to announce His involvement,(if any in the future), at the same time Thompson was which seems to be when the Internet Party was ‘officially launched’,

                      Obviously the leak to and the publishing of this leak by Blubber Boy is what has put both Thompson and Bradbury in the position where the likes of you are more than willing to read ‘compromised’ into what in reality was an ongoing process thus promoting fracturing and schisms within the left as a whole,

                      Again i will ask you to point to the specific articles either printed personally by Thompson and Bradbury in support specifically of ‘the Internet Party’ or to any articles of the same nature they have used their realitive positions to caused to have been published even if penned by other authors…

        • veutoviper 1.1.2.3
          17 January 2014 at 9:08 am

          As I understand it, Graeme Edgeler provided some legal advice to Dotcom on a strictly lawyer/client basis.

          This article on Stuff last night also provides some clarification re the Bomber/Dotcom relationship.
          http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9616254/Dotcom-cans-Vector-party

          At the end of the article

          Internet mogul Dotcom told Fairfax Media that Bradbury was engaged as a consultant for two months last year.

          “The suggestions in the proposal are not part of our strategy. The project time with the consultant who provided the proposal was limited to 2 months. To declare this document a leak of the Internet Party strategy is simply false,” he said.

          “We are working with several political consultants with different political views, from the left to the right. We have reviewed several strategy proposals to identify the best strategy options for the Internet Party and it is an ongoing process.”

          • karol 1.1.2.3.1
            17 January 2014 at 9:14 am

            Snap – pretty much what I was thinking of re- my above comment.

            • bad12 1.1.2.3.1.1
              17 January 2014 at 9:52 am

              True Karol, Hooten is an example of what Bradbury is doing, emulating perhaps, wearing many hats Hooten seems to survive quite nicely as (a) National Party member,(b) Paid political consultant, (c) Political activist vis a vis His role in the broadband roll-out,(i have no knowledge if this is a ‘paid’ role)…

              Ps, forgot, i should add (d), wannabe politician to wee Matty’s not so long list of achievements…

              • karol …
                17 January 2014 at 10:09 am

                Well Hooten is upfront about his lobbying business. I guess the likes of Bradbury and Thompson need to decide if they are politcal activists, or politcal consultants.

                What I’m seeing is Bradbury trying to move from being a grass roots activisits, to being a political commentator/journalist, and consultant – more like Brian Edwards than John Minto.

                Bradbury has done some curious swings over the alst couple of years – first he was all for Mana and the grass roots intitiatives like feeding the kids. Then he was one of Cunliffe’s biggest cheer leaders – seeing Cunliffe as the best potential for over-throwing the present government. Now he seems to be getting into KDC’s camp – to attack Key but also offer Bradbury possibilities for a role in future public broadcasting?

                Gordon Campbell on Alistair Thompson – looks to me like Thompson got caught out by the WO leak – Thompson was moving toward being explicit about his role with the Internet Party, but as the IntP was not fully launched, and trying to wait til it was ready for a full launch (I don’t think the party’s yet registered), he was wanting to keep on with his day job, til the IntP’s future was more certain.

                I don’t think that’s the same as WO’s and Hooten’s pattern of several years.

                • veutoviper …
                  17 January 2014 at 10:51 am

                  From Dotcom’s comments in the Stuff link I linked to and quoted at 1.1.2.3. above, my impressions are that Bradbury is probably finished in terms of any future connections to or work for the Internet Party.

                  I have no doubts that (a) Dotcom is ‘highly concerned’ (to put it mildly) that the documentation leaked to WO appears to be Bradbury’s submission to Dotcom on strategy for the IP; and (b) a lot is going on behind the scenes to identify the source and means of that leak.

                  • karol …
                    17 January 2014 at 10:57 am

                    Some good points, veuto.

                  • mickysavage …
                    17 January 2014 at 1:07 pm

                    Agreed VV

                    Makes you also wonder at the strategy behind the publication of the leak. Do you get the feeling we are being played?

                    • veutoviper …
                      17 January 2014 at 2:47 pm

                      Depends who you mean in terms of getting “the feeling we are being played.”

                      My perceptions are that Dotcom and Co were genuinely taken aback by the leak and that it came out of left field to them; and also by the ‘treating’ aspect to having the PartyParty as a joint 40th birthday celebration, launch of KDC’s latest album, AND the launch of the Internet Party. Re the latter, I am a little surprised that they had not done their homework sufficiently (eg had very detailed legal advice on the process of registering the Internet Party etc) to avoid any such hiccups.

                      What did cross my mind when the numbers of registrations for the party grew well beyond the 2000 offered, the leak occurred and the treating aspect came up was that they may have then looked initially at separating the IP launch out from the party at Vector Arena, and having the IP launch at Shed 10 earlier on Monday. (After all they had already booked – and presumably paid for – Shed 10 before they moved the party to Vector Arena.) The reason this crossed my mind was KDC’s Tweet on 14 Jan that “The Internet Party will be launched at a separate event at a separate time”. Note that he said “separate time” , not “date”.

                      In the event, obviously they really had no choice but to put off the IP Launch until they have dealt with all the issues relating to registration of the logo, the ramifications of the leak etc etc. So, no – my perceptions are that we are not being played by KDC and co, considering ‘the egg on the face’ situation for them.

                      Re the leak itself to WO, and WO’s timing in posting this – IMO yes this was obviously an attempt to play the situation. If I was in KDC’s shoes, finding the leak and plugging it would currently be my top priority. And, just my opinion, but I don’t believe for one moment that Bradbury would have knowingly been involved in the leak.

                    • veutoviper …
                      17 January 2014 at 8:20 pm

                      Have been offline for several hours – I do have a life other than online at the TS – but just need to add that IMO. A Thompson is an even less suspect than Bradbury in terms of leaks. (HAve just had a few wines with friends, so don’t want to trust to an alcohol-impaired memory as to how to spell his first name.) I am sad that he has been smeared by what has happened, but believe that he will rise above it in terms of his history, reputation etc. Enough, Will be back when wine and sleep have taken their course to clear my mind etc.

                    • bad12 …
                      17 January 2014 at 9:05 pm

                      VV, with regards to your comment, i believe the electoral Commission, or whoever advised those proposing the Internet Party have given them an erroneous legal opinion over the ‘treating’ issue,

                      The ‘fact’ is that until the Internet Party has been officially registered with 500 members it does not for the purposes of any Act of Parliament exist, and holding a party to launch ‘the party’ in my view cannot be seen as ‘treating’ by an entity that in terms of Law does not exist,

                      Were the Internet Party to be with it’s 500 members a registered political party then of course this would make such a party ‘treating’ within the Law…

                    • Anne …
                      17 January 2014 at 9:36 pm

                      Very good points veutoviper @ 2:47pm

                      I don’t believe for one moment that Bradbury would have knowingly been involved in the leak.

                      I agree.

                      You know what names came to my mind when I heard there had been a leak?

                      Ian Fletcher, John Key, Jordan Williams, Cameron Slater in that order.

                      It’s clear there is an election year strategy of dirty tricks, slimy deals, political hoaxes and individual set-ups in play here. John Key’s top drawer is wide open… the sleuths have been put on the trail(s)… Williams acts as an intermediary and the leaks end up in Slater’s hands. Len Brown was a slightly special case, but he was merely an entree. KDC was first on the 2014 list… and somewhere down the path it will be Cunliffe’s turn.

                      We are going to see an election year like we have never seen before. Too much is at stake and international assistance for Key and co. will be forthcoming – US govt. anyone?

                      The above scenario is by no means far fetched given what we have learned from Snowden and the mode of operations we have already witnessed from our government.

                    • veutoviper …
                      17 January 2014 at 10:10 pm

                      As there are no reply thingees to Bad12 and Anne’s posts, just wanted to say:

                      Bad12 – excellent points re the fact that the IP is not yet a registered political party, and therefore the treating issue technically could not apply. But will leave that to the legal beagles, as I am not one. But logically, I think you are right (or should be).

                      Anne – good list; would add one – Jason Ede as an intermediary, with possible access to Key’s top drawer. (as well as cigarette butts LOL).

                      Enough – bed time, and hopefully, my cat will not drown me, my bed, and my two dogs who sleep on my bed tonight. Not that cryptic – see my comment at 17 on lprent’s post last night! Cannot remember the post title, but was also re the KDC situation. Cheers all.

                    • Anne …
                      18 January 2014 at 8:35 am

                      Yes veutopiper. I did remember Jason Ede but too late to include. He will be in the mix somewhere. Should be between Key and Williams.

                      It’s speculation but could be close to the truth. We,ll see.

                • bad12 …
                  17 January 2014 at 1:07 pm

                  Karol, can one not be both activist and consultant, i would add to that candidate as well but i would dare say that a success at being the latter would require the cessation of any consultancy,

                  Yes i read the Gordon Campbell article the other day which is the reason why this morning, without really knowing anything about Thompson’s motives,i find myself defending Him,

                  Perhaps the motivation of both Bradbury and Campbell fit well with my own expressed view that ‘the left’ has to keep growing possible support parties into the future to enable the formation of left-wing coalitions which is what the reality of MMP, in my opinion requires in the ongoing political process,

                  IF the above were to be the motive of both Bradbury and Thompson, then perhaps we should be showing a little more support to them, not as the Internet Party at this stage, but, for being forward thinking vis a vis Dotcoms proposed political vehicle and getting ‘in’ early to try and shape such a vehicle into something which would be a better fit in the political realm with the ‘left’ rather than the ‘right’,

                  Having said all that tho, and as pointed out by Vento below, we really need to ask ourselves could there be any point in supporting DotCom’s vehicle where the chances are, considering to who the leaked information was given, that DotCom has people working in a close working relationship with Him who also share a working close relationship with the likes of Blubber Boy or those of His ilk,

                  And yes, i have also considered that ‘a someone’ in a bid to further their ‘consultancy’ might have leaked such material to Blubber Boy simply using Him as the tool we all know He is as a means of ‘free advertising’, far fetched perhaps,but, this is politics…

                  • karol …
                    17 January 2014 at 1:19 pm

                    can one not be both activist and consultant,

                    Well, that’s tricky to maneuvre, especially in the case of Bardbury who also is aiming to be a siginficant player in the media.

                    And, agree that there’s more to the leak than it first appeared to be.

      • veutoviper 1.1.3
        17 January 2014 at 8:45 am

        It would seem that Handley is not on Dotcom’s payroll, according to this Herald article this morning.
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11187754

        Mr Handley does not directly endorse the Internet Party and Mr Dotcom, but says that “like him or not”, he could play an important part in the political process.

        “We have a Government that doesn’t really listen to the people and has increasingly grown comfortable in a quasi-arrogant swagger.

        “And now, here comes somebody larger than life, fearless and controversial who has decided to swagger alongside them.”

        He decried the absence of long-term thinking in Parliament, saying that most voters felt there was not “an ounce of vision within 1,000 miles of the Beehive”.

        He said Mr Dotcom would not be able to provide solutions in many areas, but he had a strong vision on a few vital policies – putting technology at the heart of the economy, universal broadband as a public service, privacy, and human rights laws which were fit for the digital age.

        “As it stands, we are heading down a dangerous spiral on all those fronts.”

        • Colonial Viper 1.1.3.1
          17 January 2014 at 8:53 am

          Excellent. A recognition that the IP is a new party with narrow interests, but those interests happen to be society shaping ones of civil rights and democratic freedoms, in an age where those are being deliberately curtailed by TPTB.

        • BM 1.1.3.2
          17 January 2014 at 8:53 am

          He decried the absence of long-term thinking in Parliament, saying that most voters felt there was not “an ounce of vision within 1,000 miles of the Beehive”.

          The majority of voters a complete fucking numpties who could find their arse using both hands and an arse map.

          That’s the reason why there’s no long term planning, the only way we’d get long term planning is if we ditched democracy.

          • Colonial Viper 1.1.3.2.1
            17 January 2014 at 8:58 am

            The nation was quite capable of long term planning 50 years ago. In fact most of that infrastructure is that our modern day economy relies upon.

            • BM 1.1.3.2.1.1
              17 January 2014 at 9:06 am

              50 years ago NZ was a monoculture every one was like robot, individuality was not a good thing back in those days.

              Those days are gone, NZ is incredibly diverse these days, makes long term planning rather difficult.

              • vto …
                17 January 2014 at 9:15 am

                have you heard the one about a hole and digging BM?

              • Draco T Bastard …
                17 January 2014 at 3:11 pm

                50 years ago NZ was a monoculture every one was like robot, individuality was not a good thing back in those days.

                I actually think people had more individuality. These days we have to conform to what the bosses want or we don’t get jobs and thus have to live in poverty.

                Those days are gone, NZ is incredibly diverse these days, makes long term planning rather difficult.</blockquote.
                And that's just another RWNJ excuse not to do anything and to leave it to "the market" despite the fact that "the market" is obviously failing.

            • alwyn 1.1.3.2.1.2
              17 January 2014 at 10:21 am

              Ah those were the days weren’t they CV? Lets see
              – We were in the second term of a four term National Government.
              – We had a two party , pre MMP, Parliament
              – No idiot Green, ACT or Mana party MPs.
              I wonder if the changes to those facts are the cause of our current problems?
              Yes, “Those were the days, my friend
              We thought they’d never end”.

              • Colonial Viper …
                17 January 2014 at 10:26 am

                Don’t forget the neoliberalisation of the economy and the destruction of public sector capabilities in favour of short term private sector profiteers.

                • alwyn …
                  17 January 2014 at 12:25 pm

                  My, my what big big words. “neoliberalisation” indeed.
                  I do wonder sometimes how much of the planning to provide power that was done by the MOW in that era was really done to ensure the supply of electricity and how much was done to simply provide careers for the engineers in the department. It sometimes seemed to be the latter and there always had to be a new project starting as it was Buggins turn to be a Project Engineer and there were a lot of career hydo-electric engineers who had to have something to do.
                  There never seemed to be a great deal of concern for where they built a dam of course, with the sole exception of Manapouri. It certainly gave us cheaper power that the wind turbines of today.

                  • bad12 …
                    17 January 2014 at 1:21 pm

                    Alwyn, that’s the dumbest comment i have read this week, you would have to be stupid to suggest such idiocy,

                    Show me a point in time, except for the present when as a country we have had a nett surplus of electricity generation capability,

                    The Fact is that if it were not for wind turbine power we would have had to dam at least another river to ensure supply matched demand or we would have faced ongoing deficits of generation,

                    My sad lament continues, when oh when will we get a class of wing-nut commenting here that have the slightest shred of intelligence to raise their contribution above that what could be said to emanate from the Dunce’s corner…

                    • alwyn …
                      17 January 2014 at 3:05 pm

                      Perhaps you will tell me exactly what part of the comment is what you seem to think falls into your view that it “suggest such idiocy”?
                      There was a continuous string of Hydro electric power projects in New Zealand from the mid 1930’s until about 1990. they were in both the North and South Island and employed a fairly consistent number of people throughout the period, with people moving from one project to the next.
                      I would note that I was employed by the Power Division of the MOW in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and observed the way that the projects were planned.
                      There were, of course Coal and gas-fired thermal plants developed as well in the North Island and also Geothermal at Wairakei but the bulk of New Zealand’s electric power was, and remains, hydro-electric.
                      Did we have a surplus of power? Well obviously all the power generated was used but we tended, from the late 1970’s to become much less efficiient in terms of energy use per unit of output. This continued up until early this century.
                      Do you personally have any practical experience in the area or are you just waffling?

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    17 January 2014 at 1:23 pm

                    Well, you’re a prime example of a self serving shit head who uses an electricity infrastructure and design completely dependent on the excellent public service work done pre-1980, yet have the gall and the audacity to diss the people who actually put it together.

                    Fuck off you little over-privileged neoliberal apologist prick.

                    • alwyn …
                      17 January 2014 at 3:14 pm

                      As I have noted just above here I worked in the Power Division of the MOW in the 1960’s and 1970’s and saw exactly what went on. Of course I think it was excellent work that we were doing. There is nothing in what I have said that “disses” anyone involved in this work. If you think there is then please point it out.
                      After all, I have often seen proposals on this site that suggest that we should schedule work to be done in New Zealand that will continue to employ the existing work forces in companies rather than get the work done, possibly more cheaply, overseas.
                      I would have thought you would approve of such practices, that keep skilled labour forces in work, rather than break them up and have them head overseas?

                    • bad12 …
                      17 January 2014 at 8:49 pm

                      Lolz CV, well said and saved my stubby wee pinkies a walk round the keyboard wasting pixels replying to this particular wing-nut…

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    17 January 2014 at 3:16 pm

                    I do wonder sometimes how much of the planning to provide power that was done by the MOW in that era was really done to ensure the supply of electricity and how much was done to simply provide careers for the engineers in the department.

                    It was all done to ensure supply and nothing else. Your conspiracy theory isn’t worth the electrons it’s written with.

                    • alwyn …
                      17 January 2014 at 4:19 pm

                      It isn’t a conspiracy theory Draco, whatever you might mean by that.
                      It is simply an observation that there probably wasn’t as much work done to decide what were the requirements for power and so on as we might like to think. There was, in my view, much more of an approach that said “We have these engineers and construction workers available. Where will we use them next” rather than “Planning says we need a certain amont of power at such and such a time and at such and such a place. We will plan to produce the power at exactly the right time to meet that need”.
                      Did you ever see that baseball movie “Field of Dreams”? Power planning was like that with its motto of “Build it and they will come”. With the MOW it was a case of “Build the hydro plant and the power will be used for something”.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      17 January 2014 at 6:54 pm

                      “We have these engineers and construction workers available. Where will we use them next” rather than “Planning says we need a certain amont of power at such and such a time and at such and such a place. We will plan to produce the power at exactly the right time to meet that need”.

                      There’s two points to your diatribe:
                      1.) Everyone was complaining about the lack of power generation and the brown outs which tends to indicate that we needed more power generation
                      2.) If we’ve got the engineers and we have a lack of power then economics says to use those engineers to produce more power infrastructure

                      With the MOW it was a case of “Build the hydro plant and the power will be used for something”.

                      I remember the brown outs (although I don’t think they were as bad as some of the RWNJs have made out that they were on this board).

                      I also happened to work at Telecom during the 1980s and, although I didn’t have any say in it, I do know how much planning went into building the network that we enjoy today. You, quite simply, can’t build such infrastructure without planning and without it taking up time and resources to build. Interestingly enough, “the market” actually gets rid of the planning and building as “the market” only responds to shortages – if it responds at all (more profit can be made during shortages).

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      17 January 2014 at 7:04 pm

                      Alwyn, fuck off you are so full of shit your breath smells.

                    • Tim …
                      17 January 2014 at 10:08 pm

                      This is actually intended for Alwyn but no reply button.
                      If as you say you were with MWD power div, then we probably crossed paths or just missed each other by a whisker. But I’m glad you appear to be acknowledging the expertise and efficiency of the work done by MWD (and its Vogel Computer Centre). DEFINATELY more efficient, cheaper and reliable than what occurs these days through privatisation and outsourcing – tickets being clipped all along the way, a developing bugger’s muddle in standards and project management activities that have occurred ever since!

                • John W …
                  18 January 2014 at 10:00 am

                  That shift of wealth away from the public is a fundamental understanding without which comment lacks credibility.
                  Who runs the show………..

          • vto 1.1.3.2.2
            17 January 2014 at 9:00 am

            I think the absolute opposite BM

            Would rather have laws drawn by referendums placed in malls. You discount fellow manwoman, you discount yourself. It shows in your comments.

          • bad12 1.1.3.2.3
            17 January 2014 at 9:02 am

            Thank you BM for a perfect description of yourself as a voter, we all here at the Standard have known since your first comment that you are in fact a ‘fucking numpty’

            Nice of you to provide the confirmation…

          • alwyn 1.1.3.2.4
            17 January 2014 at 10:27 am

            “Not an ounce of vision within a 1,000 miles of the beehive”
            In other words there goes the whole of New Zealand, except perhaps the Kermadec and Campbell Islands.
            Sounds about right up to that point. I don’t like the rest of your comment though.

        • karol 1.1.3.3
          17 January 2014 at 8:57 am

          Handley: We have a government that doesn’t really listen to the people and has increasingly grown comfortable in a quasi-arrogant swagger. And now, here comes somebody larger than life, fearless and controversial who has decided to swagger alongside them.

          So is the government arrogant, or only failing in attempting to be arrogant? And it’s to be welcomed that Dotcom may be able to out swagger the government, without the quasi-arrogance? So does that mean Handley thinks Dotcom will be able to do true arrogance?

  2. northshoredoc 2
    17 January 2014 at 7:43 am

    “We have a government that doesn’t really listen to the people and has increasingly grown comfortable in a quasi-arrogant swagger”

    Sounds like every NZ government I’ve ever known.

  3. tricledrown 3
    17 January 2014 at 7:48 am

    Northshorecroc.
    Right wing cynic

  4. Pasupial 4
    17 January 2014 at 8:24 am

    Speaking of people being bought to say nice things about others:

    http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/288434/anadarko-meet-pro-oil-group

    Although they do still seem to be haggling over the price:

    “The group aimed to ”re-establish connections” with Anadarko, and ”provide certainty to them over who is involved with our group”. “

  5. Colonial Viper 5
    17 January 2014 at 8:35 am

    Autarky: increasing sovereign independence from foreign control

    ” The ability to survive without trade or aid from other nations, for example, is not the same as the ability to reap enormous profits or grow one’s economy without trade with other nations. In other words, ‘self-sufficiency’ in terms of survival does not necessarily imply prosperity, but it does imply freedom of action without dependency on foreign approval, capital, resources, and expertise.

    Freedom of action provided by independence/autarky also implies a pivotal reduction in vulnerability to foreign control of the cost and/or availability of essentials such as food and energy, and the resulting power of providers to blackmail or influence national priorities and policies”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-16/what-if-nations-were-less-dependent-one-another

    • thechangeling 5.1
      17 January 2014 at 3:04 pm

      I like this. Being wedded to the neo liberal trade and financial system which is controlled by the WTO, IMF and WB ensures most of us are kept much poorer, powerless and desperate than we could be. Becoming independent of that system of subjugation and subsumption allegedly means collectively we would forgo a drop in living standards initially, but we would gradually recover. If several other countries detached themselves in unison, we could begin to trade again on our own terms, and not on terms prescribed to us by rich, powerful, interconnected politically motivated bullying neo liberals.

      • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1
        17 January 2014 at 9:50 pm

        If several other countries detached themselves in unison, we could begin to trade again on our own terms, and not on terms prescribed to us by rich, powerful, interconnected politically motivated bullying neo liberals.

        And that’s how it should be. Independent nations with minimal trade between them. This ensures that society is sustainable and that poverty is eliminated. The present system of massive interdependence ensures the reverse as multi-national corporations seek profit and empire building.

        • Tim 5.1.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 10:23 pm

          +1.
          Think community, then local, then national, then regional, and THEN international.
          These so called ‘efficient’ markets are the reason I often see semi-trailers with logs spewing bark all over the place traversing the Rimutakas southward to service one market, whilst another semi-trailer with the exact same cargo traverses the Rimutakas northward.
          Wrong on so many levels!

  6. Sanctuary 6
    17 January 2014 at 8:47 am

    Since I am off soon to the BDO and probably won’t re-surface until Monday, I feel the need to say something important enough to carry three days.

    I have come to the conclusion that beards are the padded bra of masculinity.

    • karol 6.1
      17 January 2014 at 8:59 am

      Hmmm… I don’t think bra wearers grow their paddedness themselves. Otherwise bra wearers would need to trim their bra pads daily….. or just let them grow.

      • Pasupial 6.1.1
        17 January 2014 at 9:29 am

        You can see where; Sanct’s confusion comes from, Karol. He obviously hasn’t had much experience with woman.

    • vto 6.2
      17 January 2014 at 9:52 am

      the current wave of beards are a padded fad.

      haven’t you heard the old saying, never do business with a man with a beard

    • Tim 6.3
      17 January 2014 at 10:27 pm

      Cross your heart (and hope to die)?
      Actually I’m sitting next to a Sikh this very moment who’d beg to differ.

  7. karol 7
    17 January 2014 at 8:49 am

    Is this sort of thing why Kim Dotcom’s Internet Party is considered to have most appeal to urban professional males?

    • Sanctuary 7.1
      17 January 2014 at 8:57 am

      I’d buy that for a dollar! (Robocop was on telly the other day).

      God you are such a prude Karol. Try and remember when you were young. It actually happened once you know.

      • karol 7.1.1
        17 January 2014 at 9:05 am

        Sanctuary – t’ain’t nothing to do with age and prudery – eveything to do with sexism and misogyn. Women’s breasts are not there as some passive convenience for others to play upon.

        And you know nothing about what I was like when I was young or how it compares with me now. How come you are claiming to know so much about my life?

        • Sanctuary 7.1.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 9:13 am

          Well, you said your old and whenever you comment on anything vaguely randy it is tut tut.

          But you are telling me you born fully formed, springing Nike-like from the head of a feminist Zeus (Hah! Deal with THAT juxtaposition, classical scholars!)?

          Nary an intervening period of vice before your St Augustine moment?

          🙁 <— Sad face.

          • karol 7.1.1.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 9:18 am

            I don’t comment on anything vaguely randy – I comment on sexism. There’s a difference. And it has nothing to do with age.

            Sanctuary, it’s not about me. Ad hominems do not an argument make.

            Again I say, you know nothing about my life or what I was like when I was young.

            • Sanctuary 7.1.1.1.1.1
              17 January 2014 at 9:20 am

              Calm down! Jesus. Imagine you and Russell Brand trapped in a elevator.

              • karol …
                17 January 2014 at 9:25 am

                Sanctuary – do you have anything but ad hominems and personal attacks? Do you understand anything about the impact of sexism and misogyny?

                And I really don’t see what Russell Brand in an elevator has to do with anything.

              • bad12 …
                17 January 2014 at 1:25 pm

                Sanctuary, if you want randy comment piss off to a porn site and indulge yourself, the use of which i might add has been shown to be mainly the territory of you wing-nuts…

            • marty mars 7.1.1.1.1.2
              17 January 2014 at 9:28 am

              Good on you karol for putting up (with great calmness) with this shit from sanc who doesn’t even get that he doesn’t get it. I see he has just asked you to calm down – must be time for QoT’s bingo card soon.

              • karol …
                17 January 2014 at 9:31 am

                Thanks, marty – maybe QoT needs a new bingo card – only so many squares.

              • Sanctuary …
                17 January 2014 at 9:32 am

                Well there is one thing Kim Dotcom has in common with the surgeons who removed your senses of humour – both are clearly German.

                Next up: Martry Mars tells us why craft beer isn’t a bad thing.

              • NZ Femme …
                17 January 2014 at 9:33 am

                Yeah…there’s a bingo card springing fully formed from the head of Sanctuary emerging as we type. Let’s see…Prude! Old! Tut tut! Calm down!

        • Pasupial 7.1.1.2
          17 January 2014 at 9:43 am

          Sanctuary

          I guess monetary payment is the only way I could conceive of any woman with a modicum of self-respect wanting to spend her time with you. I don’t think a dollar would be enough though.

          • Sanctuary 7.1.1.2.1
            17 January 2014 at 10:13 am

            What a load of pompous ass.

            • Pasupial 7.1.1.2.1.1
              17 January 2014 at 11:08 am

              Sanctuary

              I’m not the one who chose to proclaim the “I’d buy that for a dollar” line from Robocop as if it was epitome of wit (it’s main point in context was demonstrating how vapid the culture of New Detroit was, but even then got irritating really quickly). I guess it’s possible that you are not some excruciating no-mate-Jake virgin, but that’s sure how you come across.

              “Since [you are] off soon to the BDO and probably won’t re-surface until Monday”, I reckon that you have to be; truly friendless, as well as clueless, to be typing away on a political blog when you should be getting your groove on. But that does presuppose social skills that you so evidently lack.

      • Rosie 7.1.2
        17 January 2014 at 11:02 am

        Sanctuary. It’s got nothing to do with being a prude. That image is just lame, sexist and you know, Benny Hill-ish.

        It”s that kind of male expression of immaturity that make women groan and roll their eyes. I see from the twitter responses that Michelle A Court didn’t find it a great big laugh either.

        And does KDC really want to be the Shane Jones of the Internet Party, if and when it forms? Does he actually want to turn off his potential female votes?

    • Colonial Viper 7.2
      17 January 2014 at 9:01 am

      Well, there is that, and also his ability to blow away dozens of opponents in CoD: Ghost multiplayer firefights.

      • karol 7.2.1
        17 January 2014 at 9:06 am

        All part of the same whole?

        Such a digital macho man!

      • Sanctuary 7.2.2
        17 January 2014 at 9:14 am

        Yeah, if Karol thinks his keyboard is scandalous, you wanna see his playstation controller.

      • QoT 7.2.3
        17 January 2014 at 3:41 pm

        That’s vile slander, CV. KDC is a Modern Warfare 3 player. It’s still naff-as-fuck wish fulfilment for people with masculinity issues but god, it’s not COD:Ghosts.

    • Zorr 7.3
      17 January 2014 at 9:35 am

      I think, ultimately, the point here is that as a teenager I would have probably thought this was awesome and been all over it…

      But I’m not. I’m older. It’s not necessarily “knowing better” but realizing that such things appeal to the juvenile and I’m no longer that. If I want to feel young again, I’ll go outside and do something really crazy – not get my jollies over “it’s a keyboard on boobies!”

      • karol 7.3.1
        17 January 2014 at 9:41 am

        And you think it’d have the same meaning for teenage girls and gay guys that it would for some het guys?

        • Zorr 7.3.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 10:06 am

          hmmm… I am slightly confused as to how to interpret that but I will attempt with face value

          I don’t think it would. It forms part of the reason why I no longer even snigger at them because I am more fully aware of the consequences of the continuing promotion of such images and the damage it causes on a societal scale.

          I also think I made my original point very badly. I was trying to say that as a teenager I didn’t have anything beyond self-awareness and was very unaware of anything outside of my sphere of interest and that many teenagers (in my experience and talking over teenage experiences with acquaintances) are somewhat similar.

          Overall, I was trying to say that Kim Dotcom is throwing red meat to his voting base by appealing to all those people who haven’t advanced beyond their juvenile phase despite having advanced further in years.

          • karol 7.3.1.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 10:12 am

            Fair enough, Zorr. Kind of confirming that you see KDC’s base is young heterosexual males.

            Sanctuary, on the other hand, seemed to be claiming all/most young women would have a similar response to the KDC tweet as all/most young men.

            • Zorr 7.3.1.1.1.1
              17 January 2014 at 10:33 am

              I kind of see KDC as a giant man-child. He is capable of rational thought and building coherent arguments but ultimately everything he does is self-serving despite potential benefits for people surrounding him. I appreciate what his presence in New Zealand has done to shake up the local scene but I do not feel he is worthy of respect and most likely never will.

              In my personal opinion, someone needs to show willingness to sacrifice for reasons outside of their own advancement/gain before they become worthy of respect.

              • karol …
                17 January 2014 at 10:51 am

                Yes. I agree his case has brought some important evidence to light about our surveillance services,a nd John Keyas lackey to the US corporates.

                But i’m not keen on his entry into the politcal arena – seems ultimately self-serving to me. His party may have some positive impact on the elections, but there could be as many negative impacts in the long term.

                • weka …
                  17 January 2014 at 11:20 am

                  I suspect that KDC is in for a steep learning curve when it comes to politics and NZ women 😉 (plus many other cultural things).

                  There was that thing about the rape jokes by KDC too http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10831624 (don’t think that’s the best account of what happened though).

                  http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/7608244/Dotcom-draws-fire-for-rape-joke-tweets

                  • karol …
                    17 January 2014 at 11:31 am

                    *sigh*

                    Thanks for the info, weka.

                  • Rosie …
                    17 January 2014 at 11:40 am

                    Geez. Like I said above, does he really want to be the Shane Jones of the Internet Party? (if and when it forms)

                    Also, this reporter quoted in the article could do with educating, especially if she is reporting on sexual assault and rape.

                    “TVNZ reporter Heather du Plessis-Allan discovered on Sunday the gag didn’t get many laughs among her Twitter followers.

                    “Wow. A full 30 people unfollowed me after I retweeted Kim Dotcom. Not much love for the man out there?” “

                    • weka …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:22 pm

                      It probably wasn’t as bad as that Herald article looks. I can’t remember exactly how it played out, but from what I remember he did some stupid, ignorant sexist tweeting, then apologised. So I’m not sure he is in the same bracket as Jones, he probably does have the capacity to learn, even if it is just being more politcaly savvy.

                      The thing about his party’s voter base being young male tech-lovers, if that includes the geek sector, just look at the huge amount of misogyny there (not sure that misogyny is a strong enough word though).

                      It will be interesting to see young male geek culture meet NZ political culture where you can’t really get away with being shit to women.

                      Having said all that, I was in the bush for a couple of days and just caught up with the whole IP thing last night. The thing that stands out most to me is how much time is being spent on a party that hasn’t even been launched yet, we don’t know what its political objectives are really, and its already involved in a couple of fairly serious messes. Bizarre.

                    • karol …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:33 pm

                      weka, part of it sems to me to do with KDC being able to stimulate a lot of media coverage. The other is his ambiguous position re capitalism, corporatism and Internet surveillance. There’s a diversity of views as to where KDC stands poliically, and how his party would impact on the elections – his is indicative of some fracture points in NZ politics.

                      All that is bound to genrate a lot of discussion.

                      And the minor parties are looking to be the wild cards in the coming election – so many of them jockeying for position. An indication that NZ politics is going though some kind of transition, but with no certainty of the outcome/s.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      17 January 2014 at 2:41 pm

                      I don’t think that there is any ambiguity in his internet positions. He is against totalitarian internet surveillance as it exists today, he is rolling out end to end encryption for his users to help push back against such surveillance, and he is definitely against corporate and corporate copyright control of the internet.

                      Re: capitalism – I’m sure he has no problem with run of the mill capitalism per se, but he has also learnt the hard way that the corporate crony government sponsored capitalism that we live under is no good for anyone – him included.

                    • weka …
                      17 January 2014 at 8:39 pm

                      Karol and CV, I just found it interesting that there was so much speculation when the party hasn’t even been formed yet. And the comments in one of the standard’s threads the other day seemed overwhelmingly to support the idea that the party would get right wing votes (implication that it wouldn’t get left wong ones).

                • Will@Welly …
                  17 January 2014 at 10:14 pm

                  karol – I see KDC playing the Bob Jones/New Zealand Party card in this years election if he goes through with his threat. The spoiler. He will disrupt National wherever he can, after all they betrayed him. He donated to John Banks, and in eyes at the time, that would have been the same as donating to National.
                  Whether he wins seats or not, is immaterial, after one term he will disband the Party – too hard, no fun, and if he can escape the charges being brought by the C.I.A., then KDC will see it as a job well done.
                  I think he will genuinely seek to strengthen NZ’s broadband, after all a strong network is useful to him. I think he will also engage with a lot of the youth not currently being engaged by the mainstream political parties. That in itself is not a bad thing.

              • McFlock …
                17 January 2014 at 1:19 pm

                man-child is an excellent description – there was a british TV series of that name, bloody funny, but the lead characters have a lot in common with kdc.

  8. marty mars 8
    17 January 2014 at 8:52 am

    I feel zero sympathy for this creature

    A North Texas man who paid US$350,000 for the right to hunt an endangered African black rhino said he’s had to hire full-time security due to death threats after his name was leaked onto the Internet.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11187897

    • phillip ure 8.1
      17 January 2014 at 10:26 am

      are you a vegan marty..?

      ..or is it:..’kill rhino bad’..

      ..’kill cow good – me eat..!..’..

      ..is it the ‘endangered’ that riles you..?

      ..so if we had black rhinos thundering across the waikato in abundance..

      ..rhino-veal..?

      ..y’know..!..’cos the babies taste that much nicer..eh..?

      ..or are you one of those (small)-dicks with a gun..?

      ..whose grasping at masculinity must entail killing..?

      ..and you are saying you feel ‘zero sympathy’ for the rhinos..?

      ..yr statement made with such fervour .. is unclear..

      ..in a few areas..

      phillip ure..

      • marty mars 8.1.1
        17 January 2014 at 10:33 am

        fuck you dick

        not that I have to justify anything to you but…

        I haven’t eaten meat for over 33 years.

        as for the statement – it was deliberately ambiguous for fun and as a flytrap – looks like I caught one lol

        • phillip ure 8.1.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 10:52 am

          @ marty..

          //still guzzling down the bye-products tho..eh..?

          ..and as animal-welfare seems to be the issue you are arguing..

          ..pray tell the difference..?

          ..between eating the flesh..and eating the bye-products..?

          ..(that is if animal-welfare is a reason you haven’t eaten meat in 33 yrs..

          ..and you do know that most cheese has rennet in it..eh..?..as a binder..?

          ..and that rennet is processed calves’-guts..?

          ..you do know that..?

          ..so…

          ..as i said..what exactly is the difference..?

          phillip ure..

          • vto 8.1.1.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 10:55 am

            fluffy bunny syndrome

          • Zorr 8.1.1.1.2
            17 January 2014 at 10:58 am

            You should go for Vegan Pope

            You’ve got the self-righteous sanctimony nailed

            • weka 8.1.1.1.2.1
              17 January 2014 at 11:27 am

              Nah he should become a Breatharian. So much more scope for being a sanctimonious, pious git.

              • Zorr …
                17 January 2014 at 11:30 am

                I’m a Level 5 Vegan – I won’t eat anything that casts a shadow

                • Chooky …
                  17 January 2014 at 11:38 am

                  worms?….chookies eat worms….does that mean you are a chook?

                  ….but worms are meat and have faces….so that must mean a level 5 Vegan eats dirt?

                • weka …
                  17 January 2014 at 11:39 am

                  “I’m a Level 5 Vegan – I won’t eat anything that casts a shadow”

                  Ok, well in that case anything you ever say about anything trumps phil every single time, because you are obviously the king of kings when it comes to ethics, and ethics are absolutely absolute, so you can never be wrong and all underlings must bow to your superior knowledge of rightness and wrongness, eh? 🙂

                  Except, hang on, you realise that everytime you swallow you kill untold numbers of bacteria, drowning them in the cruel acid bath in your stomach?! Sorry mate, you will have to try harder.

              • phillip ure …
                17 January 2014 at 1:06 pm

                heh..!.

                …weka…the green you have –

                – when you aren’t having a green..eh..?

                phillip ure..

            • phillip ure 8.1.1.1.2.2
              17 January 2014 at 11:32 am

              nuthin’ to with me..zorr..

              ..(deeply flawed creature..me..eh..?..definitely not pope-material..)

              ..it’s actually about the animals..eh..?

              ..those institutional-cruelties most care little about..

              ..and talk about even less..

              ..’cos they just want to feed their flesh-addiction..

              ..and often..people like marty..(who have (admirably) forsaken flesh..)

              ..aren’t even aware that the cheese they love so much..

              ..has calves’-guts in it..

              (so..essentially..they are still eating meat..how can they not be..?..)

              ..did you know that..?..about the calves-guts in cheese..?

              ..does that disturb you at all..?

              ..(and it’s also a health heads-up/alert..

              ..’cos both meat and dairy can give you cancer..)

              ..does that disturb you at all..?

              ..phillip ure..

              • BM …
                17 January 2014 at 11:36 am

                Having a steak and cheese sandwich for lunch

                Woo Hooo, double cow.

                • phillip ure …
                  17 January 2014 at 11:47 am

                  @bm..can i suggest some shots of vodka with that..?

                  ..followed by a couple of ciggies..?

                  ..and then a big bowl of sugar ‘n fat marketed as ‘ice-cream’..?

                  ..seeing you are so resolutely marching down that particular ‘healthy-lunch’ road..

                  ..’woo-hoo’..eh..?..

                  .that’ll all have ya feeling really good..

                  ..eh..?

                  ..shame about yr bowel tho..eh..?

                  ..never mind..!..think/worry about that later..eh..?

                  phillip ure..

              • Zorr …
                17 January 2014 at 11:48 am

                And oxygen causes irreversible damage to your body through natural mechanisms… something is always killing you and it’s just a question of how much risk you’re happy with and where you spend your “risk budget”

                And no, it doesn’t. Not in the least.

                The problem you face Philip is that you assume that because you have some small amount of knowledge that if someone else only knew what you knew, then they would change the way they live their life. In fact, what you end up doing is ignoring the way other people see the world in your single minded quest to set the world “right” and alienate anyone who might share some common viewpoints.

                I personally have issues with the way that Big Farming works and the inhumane treatment of stock in barns and cages and, as much as I can, I try to mitigate this by making informed and principled food purchasing decisions. This is something we could potentially agree on – if you weren’t such a radical extremist who is completely unwilling to accept other views of the world as tenable.

                • phillip ure …
                  17 January 2014 at 12:00 pm

                  @ zorr..(snigger..!)..

                  ..do you (sometimes) buy organic/’free-range’-eggs….?

                  (btw..you do know that ‘free-range’ egg-peddlers..no matter how funky/down-home they may be..they still macerate..

                  ..you do know what macerating is..don’t you..?

                  ..i’d like to see you fit that reality into yr..’ informed and principled food purchasing decisions’..eh..?..)

                  pray tell us yr ‘ informed and principled food purchasing decisions’..

                  ..what criterea do you use..to make that (lofty) claim about yrslf..?

                  ..and yes..zorr..i am very aware that my arguing this case alienates most..

                  ..(some of whom who may support other arguments i present..and so overall..shutting up about that wd help my overall case..)

                  ..but..y’know..!

                  ..if my words/arguments/fact-presentations..cause one person to think..again..

                  ..and to stop hurting the fucken animals..(when they don’t need to..)

                  ..that outweighs all other considerations/priorities..

                  ..that’s just the way it is..

                  ..(and i’d swap all my other ’causes’..for serious movement on that one..)

                  ..so..

                  ..phillip ure..

                  • Zorr …
                    17 January 2014 at 12:16 pm

                    I was going to write a giant post of the ways in which I am trying to reduce my footprint and make ethical choices for my philosophy – but then I realized that you wouldn’t actually read it. You’d just skim it for more opportunities to get your rant on regarding “animal cruelty” and “oh those poor fluffy bunnies”

                    You want to know something about fluffy bunnies? They taste good. I have spent many years developing my personal philosophy regarding life, the universe and everything and I’m not going to further waste my time now by trying to justify my eating choices to someone who isn’t even interested in listening.

                    I have known your type for too long. You will always claim that the choices you make are better and that there is always something more to be done to meet your personal goals. Guess what? I don’t share your goals and, from the sounds of it, no-one else here does and the more you open your mouth to distance yourself, the less likely anyone will.

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 12:33 pm

                      so..zorr..still just basically denying you are an addict..eh..?

                      …and were you to write..unlike yr claim..i wd read..as i am fascinated by the pretzel-shapes carnivorous-greens/(self-regarding)’ planet-carers’ twist themselves into..

                      ..to (try to) justify getting other people to torture/kill animals..just so they can eat their flesh/feed their addiction..

                      .and the selective-nature of their green-ness..eh..?

                      ..the rest of yr comment is just ad-homs..

                      ..and yes..i feel no need to apolgise for the ‘better choice’ of not eating flesh/animal-bye-products..

                      ..so yes..’I have known your type for too long’..

                      ..eh..?..

                      ..have you met metiria turei..?..co-leader of the greens..?

                      ..lover of wrapping body in dead-animal skins..?

                      ..and needing tissues to wipe the pig-fat from her lips..

                      ..i am sure you would have much in common..

                      ..in yr ‘green-ness’..

                      ..eh..?

                      phillip ure..

                    • Zorr …
                      17 January 2014 at 12:53 pm

                      Wow… just… wow…

                      I don’t need to tie myself in pretzels. I like meat. I like the byproducts of the animals that produce my meat. I would like the meat that I eat to be treated as humanely as possible prior to it being horribly slaughtered and fed to me. And then, if possible, on top of that – I would like it to be farmed sustainably in such a way that the life cycle of the animal feeds positively back in to the ecosystem at the farm rather than stressing the environs.

                      All you reveal in that last diatribe is how bile-filled and poisonous your personal world view is. In all honesty, you scare me because you strike me as a very dangerous extremist because if your words here are any indication of your internal monologue…

                    • weka …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:07 pm

                      Zorr, I think your last 3 comments are spot on. I would add too, that the knowledge that phil has is incomplete and highly selective and drenched in confirmation bias. This also prevents him from being able to discuss, explore and learn on these issues. A kind of ethical cul de sac, and very boring to boot.

                      Phil is a zealot. It’s the intellectual dishonesty that bothers me.

                      btw, phil, those aren’t ad hominems. They’re observations about how you argue here, which are entirely pertinent to the debate. You make ethical claims, but the way you make them ensures there can be no meaningful conversation about ethics and animals and life.

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:17 pm

                      @ zorr..

                      “..I would like the meat that I eat to be treated as humanely as possible prior to it being horribly slaughtered and fed to me..”

                      so..this is the extent of yr…’ informed and principled food purchasing decisions’.

                      …eh..?

                      summarising:..’if i like it..nothing else matters..’

                      ..right ho..!

                      ..heh..!

                      phillip ure..

                    • Zorr …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:45 pm

                      I like meat. I have no moral qualms about killing and eating animals. I have thought about it and decided where my priorities and principles lie.

                      Your behavior is the most abusive that I have experienced on this site because engaging with you is like signing up to be punched in the face for breathing.

                      There is nothing anyone can say except “I agree phil, you are 100% correct” that will make you shut up and even then I suspect you’d find something wrong. Maybe they don’t format their diatribes similarly or something. Or not enough full stops… or something… whoar (should I add more full stops here or not?)

                      So yeah – you are completely unwilling to participate in honest discussion where it is necessary to accept that everyone is capable of engaging with the topic and have their own viewpoint on the issue.

                      I don’t know if this makes me masochistic… or stupid… or both… for continuing to engage with you…

                    • QoT …
                      17 January 2014 at 3:49 pm

                      There is a type of person who chooses to engage in a difficult, denialist lifestyle and can only be made happy by ramming that lifestyle down everyone’s throats.

                      What’s interesting is that they’re unable to enjoy life, but hyper-focus on every additional self-hating day they can squeeze out of their mortal lifespans.

                      It’s like the super-rich who will never be able to spend every dollar they currently have, but are compelled to get more and more and more utterly useless wealth.

                      Of course, that’s their choice, I just wish they’d stop trying to fucking bully other people into joining their cult of life-denial.

                  • Chooky …
                    17 January 2014 at 1:20 pm

                    what does ‘macerate’ mean?….my Mother has hens and they are very happy little hens , who scratch around in her garden every day ….and then go and lay eggs in the nest boxes…which my Mother collects and shares them around the family ….the chooks are happy and everyone is happy

                    btw phil ….I dont mind you going on and on about Veganism….it is quite interesting and i admire vegetarians and Vegans…..the only way you can change the world on this is to entice people into that way of eating and living….maybe 3 weeks holiday in Southern India would do it for some ie live on the beautiful cuisine there….maybe classes in schools etc on vegetarian/vegan cooking?….night classes will have to wait because Nact has killed them

                    • weka …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:24 pm

                      Doesn’t matter Chooky, you are still evil in phil’s eyes, because there are no ethical choices to be made except being completely vegan. Which of course is a crock of shit, when you look at the damage that veganism does.

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:36 pm

                      @ chooky..

                      ..male chicks on all egg-farm.

                      ..even from those caring/sharing/free-range/farmers-market hippie-type ones…

                      ..are all fed into the macerator..

                      ..which grinds them up..

                      ..while they are still alive..(it makes a ‘zzzttt!!’-sound..as it eats them..eh..?..)

                      ..(you didn’t know that..?

                      ..was that still ‘sunny-sides-up’..?..)

                      phillip ure..

                    • weka …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:36 pm

                      btw phil ….I dont mind you going on and on about Veganism….it is quite interesting and i admire vegetarians and Vegans…..the only way you can change the world on this is to entice people into that way of eating and living….maybe 3 weeks holiday in Southern India would do it for some ie live on the beautiful cuisine there….maybe classes in schools etc on vegetarian/vegan cooking?….night classes will have to wait because Nact has killed them

                      Problem is, being vegan, or even vegetarian, isn’t an ethical choice for most people if you take in the whole planet. Should we be considering only the welfare of the animals? Which animals? Is it all animals, or only the ones we deem important? How does AGW factor into this? What about the new emerging sciences that show an degree of complexity that equates to consciousness? How do we determine which life forms are worthy of our ethics and which aren’t?

                      What is ethical to eat is going to depend on where we live. Telling all the industrialised worlds to become vegan is akin to giving up on AGW mitigation. Eating vegan is highly polluting because of the reliance on monocropping and excessive food miles. It’s not hard to demonstrate the complexity of the ethics of eating, using veganism as an example. We just can’t do that with phil in the room.

                      My own btw is that I don’t have a problem with individuals who choose to be vegan. All power to them if it works. I do have a problem if they claim that they are the pinnacle of ethical choices, because that is just plainly incorrect.

                    • NZ Femme …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:37 pm

                      Ditto @ chooky Re: Mum and happy hens with egg sharing. I have no idea what macerating means/is. The eggs are lovely though. Very yellow yolks.

                      Incidentally, a couple of the hens were “rescue” hens from a battery hen farm that were destined for the chop. They didn’t know what to do with themselves initially. They had to be taken out of the hen house in the morning because otherwise they would just sit inside all day. Same thing in the evening – pick them up and pop them back inside. After about two weeks they were up and about with the rest of the chooks scratching away happily.

                    • McFlock …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:48 pm

                      macerator is basically a blender.
                      Pretty quick.

                      I’d prefer it over, for example, reading phil’s comments for twenty hours a day (a fate that seems almost equivalent to being in the audience of a Vogon poetry recital).

                    • Zorr …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:48 pm

                      @weka – exactly

                      I have tried to raise this point multiple times to Phil in the past and every time got the same response. As I have always stated, veganism is a dietary choice that is only available to those in affluent nations because the required food infrastructure to support it is only available in such locations.

                    • NZ Femme …
                      17 January 2014 at 2:01 pm

                      @ McFlock. Ok. Well, the only blender my mum owns is reserved for margaritas. And sometimes Pina Coladas if she’s feeling fancy.

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 3:03 pm

                      no weka..you aren’t ‘evil’..

                      ..on this subject..you are just ignorant..

                      ..and of course..you are an addict..

                      ..furiously writhing against the fact/realities of yr addiction..

                      ..(you should have heard me way-back…acting-out when it was suggested it might be better if i didn’t start each day with a hypodermic-syringe filled with a mix of heroin/cocaine..

                      ..’but..!..but..!..’..i spluttered…

                      ..it’s what i do..!..

                      ..and i’ve been doing it for so long..

                      ..i can’t imagine life without it..!’..)

                      ..addictions are funny like that..

                      ..denial is an essential ingredient in any happy addiction..

                      phillip ure..

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 3:17 pm

                      @..weka..

                      “..Problem is, being vegan, or even vegetarian, isn’t an ethical choice for most people if you take in the whole planet. ..”

                      ..unsure what you mean by that..the sentence doesn’t make any sense..

                      ..why is it not an ‘ethical-choice’..?..what stops it being that..?

                      “….Should we be considering only the welfare of the animals? Which animals? Is it all animals, or only the ones we deem important?..”

                      basically..eat none of them..or their bye-products..

                      ..why fuck around with ‘does it have eye of newt in it..?

                      ..i eat everything except etc etc..'”

                      “..How does AGW factor into this?..

                      ..well..the vegan-stool has three-legs..help yrsly..help the animals..help the planet..

                      ..are you seriously trying to suggest that raising meat is the most efficient use of land..?

                      ..seriously..?

                      ..got any facts/figures/links to back up that claim..?

                      ..’cos you and others have said that before..that vegan is worse than meat..’cos of mono-culturing’..?

                      ..what the fuck is meat..if not mono-cultering..?..(f.f.s..!..)

                      “.. What about the new emerging sciences that show an degree of complexity that equates to consciousness? How do we determine which life forms are worthy of our ethics and which aren’t?..”

                      it that the ‘but don’t vegetables cry when they are cut bullshit..?..

                      ..this setting a new benchmark in equivalence ..?..

                      “..What is ethical to eat is going to depend on where we live..”

                      is that the ‘but i am nanook of the north..!..i must eat whale-meat!’ excuse..?

                      ..seriously..?

                      ..got any examples..(that may pertain to what you do..?..not nanoo..?.. )

                      “..Telling all the industrialised worlds to become vegan is akin to giving up on AGW mitigation. Eating vegan is highly polluting because of the reliance on monocropping and excessive food miles..”

                      as noted above..complete and utter bullshit…

                      ..show us some stats/facts to prove me wrong..eh..?

                      ..instead of just repeating yr orifice-pluck..

                      ..phillip ure..

                    • McFlock …
                      17 January 2014 at 3:54 pm

                      for someone who doesn’t use animal by-products, you certainly seem to have an inexhaustible supply of bullshit.

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 5:03 pm

                      qot (above) get’s quote of the thread..

                      ..being a vegan is ‘a cult of life-denial’..

                      ..hilarious..!

                      ..now..that can have two meanings..

                      ..and both ‘deliver’..

                      1)..i wd think that killing animals to eat them is a tad more ‘life-denying’..than being a vegan..eh..?..heh..!

                      (just saying..!..)

                      ..or..2)..you are positing that a life be hardly worth living..

                      ..without pig-fat running down yr chin..(can be said in accent of choice..)

                      ..and that my life must be devoid of any ‘fun’..’cos i don’t do pig-fat..

                      ..you are about as fucken evolved as a mollusc..eh..?

                      ..but funny with it..eh..?

                      ..i’m laughing like a fucken drain here..

                      ..chrs 4 the belly-maasage..

                      ..phillip ure..

                    • Zorr …
                      17 January 2014 at 5:12 pm

                      @phillip

                      Why is it that only females have pig fat running down their chins? So far you have only used that phrase twice… once when mentioning Metiria Turei and now when addressing QoT. The implications are… disturbing…

                      You don’t listen to others. You don’t respect others opinions. Yet somehow you have gotten us all to try engage with you. Congratulations on epic troll threads – because that is all you are.

                    • QoT …
                      17 January 2014 at 5:37 pm

                      Don’t misquote me, phillip. I didn’t say veganism was a cult of life-denial. But fuck knows you act like it is.

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 5:46 pm

                      @ qot..

                      ..how exactly was i ‘miss-quoting’ you..

                      “..There is a type of person who chooses to engage in a difficult, denialist lifestyle and can only be made happy by ramming that lifestyle down everyone’s throats.

                      What’s interesting is that they’re unable to enjoy life, but hyper-focus on every additional self-hating day they can squeeze out of their mortal lifespans..”

                      ..was that not addressed to/at me..?

                      ..if not me..who..?

                      phillip ure..

                    • McFlock …
                      17 January 2014 at 5:58 pm

                      I was actually going to have a pretty small dinner tonight, no cooking and maybe bread would be the only thing phil could judge me on.

                      Fuck it.
                      I’m gonna buy a steak.

                    • QoT …
                      17 January 2014 at 8:16 pm

                      Phillip, you used quotation marks to imply that I said “being a vegan” was the same as being part of a life-denying cult.

                      This is incorrect, because (a) that’s not what I said and (b) I am talking about *you*. Not all vegans. Just you and your constant nasty jibes at people who you get a boner browbeating with your moral superiority.

                      And I’m nice enough to not assume all vegans are pushy shits like you.

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 10:48 pm

                      you know the funny thing about you..qot..?

                      ..on so many subjects you set yrslf up as the arbiter of standards etc..eh..?

                      ..and hector others/lessr-beings for perceived failures..

                      ..how do you carry around the motes in yr eyes on this subject..eh..?

                      ..they must be so heavy..

                      ..you bang on about oppression..

                      ..but clearly have no problems with animals being tortured/killed..

                      ..just so you can eat them..

                      ..(are you at all aware of the horrors they suffer..?

                      ..how about you stop just fucken thinking about yrslf for five minutes..

                      ..you sound just like a whining/bleeting/self-pitying fucken junkie..

                      ..i’ve seen enough of them to know onw when it pops up..

                      ..you..quot..are an addict..

                      ..you are addicting to animal-flesh/bye-products..

                      ..they will likely give you fucken cancer..

                      ..and just me pointing out the news that both meat and dairy cause cancer..

                      ..sends you into a spewing/cursing rage..

                      ..just ad hominems..you and that fucken claytons green weka..just fuken ad homs..thru this whole thread..

                      ..but that’s ok..readers can see yr words..they can make their own judgements..

                      ..and just a fucken fact/reality check for you..

                      ..i do a news-aggregation website..

                      ..the news came thru on the 27th of december that for the first time..it can be stated clearly..

                      ..that dairy can give you cancer..

                      ..should i not have fucken told you all..?

                      ..i am only the messanger here..eh..?

                      ..trying to give you a heads-up that you might be giving yrslves/yr children..fucken cancer..

                      ..do i deserve this spewing fucken abuse for doing that..?

                      ..are you such a blind fucken.in denial addict..

                      ..that you just don’t care..?

                      ..are you really that fucken stupid..?

                      ..phillip ure…

                    • Zorr …
                      17 January 2014 at 10:56 pm

                      “Phillip enters frothing rage. More news at 11”

                      I find it amusing how he has been criticized by almost everyone in this thread but he still continues to single out the identified females (QoT and weka) within his comments and doesn’t pull the same shit with myself, McFlock or marty mars.

                      Anyway, it has been amusing to watch an extremist vegan descend in to rabid frothing extremist crazy.

                      Hey Phil, PETA’s on the line – they’ve got a few jobs for you.

                      One of my rules for life – never trust an extremist… on either side.

                    • McFlock …
                      17 January 2014 at 11:12 pm

                      ..you are addicting to animal-flesh/bye-products..

                      ..they will likely give you fucken cancer..

                      Are you seriously claiming that >50% of people who eat meat or byproducts will get cancer as a result?

                      Because the one article you indirectly brought up about meat and cancer sure as shit didn’t say that.

                    • weka …
                      18 January 2014 at 12:10 am

                      “..just ad hominems..you and that fucken claytons green weka..just fuken ad homs..thru this whole thread..”

                      Lolz, ok, that’s actually quite funny.

              • marty mars …
                17 January 2014 at 11:56 am

                @ phil
                yeah well while you were still fisting the KFC in dick I was forsaking the flesh and now you, who have seen the light (well done you – slow clap indeed) after so much pig-fat and chicken-fat has graced your lips and fingertips, can go all sanctimonious because you’ve seen the light eh? You have a long way to go and your born-again preaching is funny from someone who used to salivate so much when the sizzle of pig and chicken fat went on the barbie eh?

                • phillip ure …
                  17 January 2014 at 12:17 pm

                  yes..marty..i was raised on meat/veg etc..

                  ..and i used to sallivate over the smell of meat..

                  ..(the smell of smack cooking in a spoon (a unique odor..that i can still summon up..so many years later..)..will also do that for a heroin-addict..eh..?

                  ..which is my point..meat/dairy consumption is an addiction..

                  ..(when the idea of stopping something sends you into a panic/cold-sweat..and you crave..

                  ..and you suffer withdrawals..?

                  ..these are the benchmarks of addiction..)

                  ..can you not see that..?

                  ..there are no other food-groups..that if you were told caused cancer..that you wouldn’t drop in a shot..

                  ..but you are addicted/you are an addict..

                  ..which explains the overwrought-reactions to having this reality pushed up into yr (and other(s) face(s)..

                  ..and re yr timeline-claims..

                  ..we both stopped eating flesh at about the same time..(and good on you..!..most vegetarians are there for the best of reasons..(be they be health/animal-welfare/save the planet)..

                  ..and i have nothing to say against those motivations..

                  ..it is usually/often a matter of awareness/knowledge..

                  ..like i noted earlier..many vegetarians would not know the cheese they love so much/are addicted to.. has calves’-guts in it..so they are still eating animal-flesh..it’s just been hidden in the cheese..)

                  ..and i stopped eating the cheese/animal-bye-products about 15 yrs ago..

                  ..and when vegetarian..i thought vegans were ‘a bit weird’/taking things ‘a bit too far’..

                  ..and you know how not eating flesh makes/made you feel better..?

                  ..the benefits in personal well-being from making that final severing of the animal-product dependency..

                  ..far outweighs the benefits from going from carnivore to dairy-dependent vego..

                  ..i thought you (and other vegetarians) should know that..

                  ..phillip ure..

                  • marty mars …
                    17 January 2014 at 12:34 pm

                    “..and i have nothing to say against those motivations..”

                    Funny, that is not what you said in your initial response to my post above – try being honest phil instead of pretending

                    All vegetarians that I have met know about rennet ffs

                    Your wee crusade to turn everyone vegan is just based on your own guilt and the sooner you front up to that the sooner you will grow up into the potential human you could be – until then, sadly, you are living in a deluded paradise in that steel and concrete city you call home

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 12:48 pm

                      “..All vegetarians that I have met know about rennet ffs..”

                      so why don’t you just eat veal..?

                      ..what is the fucken difference..?

                      ..(when as a vegatarian i found that out..i only ever ate rennet-free..(i think!..)

                      ..and ‘heh..!..’guilt’..?

                      ..whoar..!..i was raised a catholic..so have institutional-guilt built in..eh..?

                      ..but no..i don’t feel my ‘wee crusade’ is based on ‘guilt’ from past carnivorous-endeavours..eh..?

                      ..like i said..

                      ..i want the torture/killing of all those animals to stop..it’s as simple as that..

                      ..(the cancer-causing/planet-killing factors are less..tho’ still strong..)

                      ..and it’s a big task/ask..i know..(as my efforts here prove..)

                      ..but i’ll just keep on plugging away..

                      ..’cos..y’know what..?

                      ..everyday there are more vegans..

                      ..not less..

                      ..and this is all good..

                      ..(and the cancer-causing news about dairy..will just hasten that process/progress..)

                      ..get on the right side of history..eh marty..?

                      phillip ure..

                    • marty mars …
                      17 January 2014 at 1:21 pm

                      dick this is what you wrote to my post about the irony of the rhino killer feeling a bit uneasy being on the wrong end of the gun

                      are you a vegan marty..?..or is it:..’kill rhino bad’….’kill cow good – me eat..!..’….is it the ‘endangered’ that riles you..?..so if we had black rhinos thundering across the waikato in abundance….rhino-veal..?..y’know..!..’cos the babies taste that much nicer..eh..?..or are you one of those (small)-dicks with a gun..?..whose grasping at masculinity must entail killing..?..and you are saying you feel ‘zero sympathy’ for the rhinos..?..yr statement made with such fervour .. is unclear….in a few areas..

                      see, you went off half cocked so that you could try to be the big internet man – I call that visible low self esteem.

                      Frankly I just don’t believe your “I care about the animals” lines – from what i have seen your ego elbows everything else out the way. As I said way up top – flytrap meet fly.

                  • Chooky …
                    17 January 2014 at 4:02 pm

                    philip ure …just being practical here….why dont you go into the fast food vegan business and create a vegan sausage ( with vegan casing of course!) to throw on the barbecue?…it could be a big hit like ‘Pics peanut butter’…i have often tried to find such sausages to feed vegetarian people at barbecues but there dont seem to be any around

                    …horrible about all the little boy chicks going into the mincer…but I think they are developing new ways of putting them painlessly to sleep….still horrible,….once upon a time the roosters used to get the chop ( after growing up and making a pest of themselves)…this was before chicken became a multi-national multi billion dollar food business

                    keep fighting but watch it!…. all the meat eaters might come after you with a big hatchet

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 4:29 pm

                      @ chooky..

                      ..i’ve got the recipies/cooks..

                      ..i just need financing for that one..

                      ..(i also have a fairly well-honed healthy/tasty fast-food chain model to hand..)

                      ..i would love to be involved in practically-supplying ‘tasty’ solutions to the problems i highlight..

                      ..and that is a goldmine..

                      ..good quality/’easy’/tasty vegan food..

                      ..in part..because everyone can eat them..

                      ..so build a ‘brand’ that can be trusted..for content..and quality..

                      ..have a strong ethical-base..(part of cost to go to enviro-projects..etc..

                      ..and you will both make a fortune..

                      ..and be doing something really really fucken good…eh..?

                      (..that safe for all is one of the arguments i used to put to the green party..to get them to stop having fucken bbq’s..(i failed..)

                      ..(could that be more of an irony-free-zone..?..a green party/greenpeace bbq..eh..?..whoar..!..)

                      ..namely..that anyone could then be invited to a green party function..

                      ..and they could eat question/offence-free..

                      (how could that be more

                      ..and as far as quality vegan food is concerned..

                      ..that also applies to most of society..

                      ..minds are much more open to it now..(especially compared with only a couple of years ago..

                      ..(it is ‘on the table’..as it were..)

                      ..and that is most cheering..

                      ..(and..)

                      ..sorry to be the bearer of bad news….but..

                      “..but I think they are developing new ways of putting them painlessly to sleep…”

                      ..nah..!..eh..?..the macerator is a really really cheap kill..eh..?

                      ..just the electricity to run it..and a bit of oil for the macerating parts every now and then..

                      ..hard to get cheaper than that..

                      ..and that is the fact(or) with every aspect of these foul industries..(pun intended..).

                      ..is all down to the bottom-line/profit/cost..

                      ..but times are changing..

                      ..and this too will change..

                      ..phillip ure..

                    • Chooky …
                      17 January 2014 at 6:43 pm

                      reply philip ure

                      well you should start this fast food Vegan business..’.Ure’s Vegan sausages’…to begin with..(.if I had any money i would invest in it…)…you need a big mincer for a start off….and you could trial it in your garage (as i think the pic’s peanut butter guy did and the vodka 40 degrees below man did…lots of businesses start off in a shed)

                      if I were to make a vegan sausage it would be ….beans/lentils/chickpeas , brown rice, cocoanut oil , tumeric or cumin,…and a little chillie or curry flavour, and maybe a little salt, brown sugar or molasses….all through the mincer…i am not sure what one would do for the casing

                      once the recipe is perfected you ask Mr Dot Com for some finance ( ha ha)…i have met a few German vegetarians…it could be a big hit!

                    • phillip ure …
                      17 January 2014 at 10:57 pm

                      sounds tasty chooky..

                      ..we could call it the ‘chooky’..?..

                      ..hang on..!..maybe not..

                      ..phillip ure..

                  • Tim …
                    17 January 2014 at 11:00 pm

                    If I may say so @ Phil (in the nicest possible way) – its all becoming a bit ridiculous now. Even the ex-junkie thing is bordering on “the only gay in the village”.
                    I think we may share a similar dim distant past (in my case until about 21 with extremel infrequent lapses) – and although (like me) you may have overcome your addiction(s) – the obsessive/compulsive shit is alive and well and becoming tedious to most others in here.
                    If the aim is to CHANGE them all – it ain’t gonna work.
                    For Christ sakes – worry about yourself! Preaching is very unattractive.

                    • phillip ure …
                      18 January 2014 at 12:37 am

                      “..Even the ex-junkie thing is bordering on “the only gay in the village..”

                      heh..!

                      ..that’s funny..!

                      phillip ure..

                    • Tim …
                      18 January 2014 at 6:59 pm

                      Again – no reply button – so this is to Phill

                      ““..Even the ex-junkie thing is bordering on “the only gay in the village..”

                      heh..!

                      ..that’s funny..!

                      phillip ure..”

                      ….. yep – well you know what I mean.
                      Only because I know there appear to be a shitload of commenters on here that are in full agreement with you on most other issues (of course there are others that t – roll in and out to exercise their egos from time to time).

                      Ekshly … I suspect we may have met in passing …. ‘cept you’d be more of my brother’s vintage and ‘circulation’ somewhere in the past.

                      Keep safe!
                      xoxoxox

                  • Chooky …
                    17 January 2014 at 11:09 pm

                    @ philip…just trying to be helpful …..you seem to be ‘flogging a dead horse’ on this site( McFlock has already gone for the steak)….so I think ‘Ure’s Vegan sausages’ …….is the way for you to go…where to put your energies (lol) … provide food and sustenance for the already converted

                    …(and no you are quite right ….the word chooky does not go with veganism)

                    • McFlock …
                      17 January 2014 at 11:17 pm

                      had eggs too 🙂

                      no offence…

                    • Adele …
                      18 January 2014 at 9:11 am

                      Kiaora Chooky

                      “Ure’s Vegan Sausages”

                      In Te Reo Māori ure means penis. Perhaps a rebranding for the vegan sausage is in order.

                      Although, why would a vegan make anything to look like a sausage as the only reason sausages are shaped as they are is that traditionally the casings were made from the intestines of animals.

                    • NZ Femme …
                      18 January 2014 at 9:24 am

                      Adele, your comment, it’s…well..it’s gold. 🙂

                    • Chooky …
                      18 January 2014 at 9:49 am

                      @ Kiaora Adele…..lol ….that is interesting …..maybe a renaming is in order!!!! ha ha….could put Vegans off their vegan sausages

                      I wonder if phil knows this about ‘ure’ ….philip the penis….maybe he needs to change his name too! ( but being a Catholic….maybe he does know !……lol)

                    • phillip ure …
                      18 January 2014 at 10:04 am

                      @ adele..of course i know that..

                      …(i actually think it is quite funny..

                      ..and have often joked about it..(my ancestors from scotland should have turned right..and gone to australia/’i have been called that a few times in the life..(and probably deserved it..)’….etc..etc..)

                      ..and i enjoy being introduced to to reo speakers..

                      ..i watch their faces/eyes as they digest (excuse the pun) my sirname..

                      ..i have only had one laugh outright into my face..(heh..!)..

                      ..and should i need consolation over this..

                      ..i can also turn to the alternate meaning in te reo..

                      ..which is ‘power’..

                      ..’phillip power’ it is..!..(i like it..!..)

                      ..and funny story..!

                      ..the waima river used to be called the ure river..

                      ..eh..?

                      ..(i wonder what brought about that change..do any historians reading this know..?..

                      ..was it an attack of blue-stocking prurience..?..

                      ..when those missionaries/settlers realised they were living on/around..the penis-river..?

                      ..inquiring minds want to know..

                      ..and if that is the case..

                      ..i think a campaign should be started..

                      ..to restore the original/te reo name to that river..

                      ..eh..?..)

                      phillip ure..

                    • Chooky …
                      18 January 2014 at 10:30 am

                      …and philip is derived from lover of horse

                      From the Greek name Φιλιππος (Philippos) which means “friend of horses”, composed of the elements φιλος (philos) “friend, lover” and ‘ιππος (hippos) “horse”.

                      philip’s Ure vegan sausages…….horse lover power penis vegan sausages.!…..lol….and a marketing disaster!?

                    • phillip ure …
                      18 January 2014 at 10:47 am

                      the river is a real sweetie..

                      ..that river ure..

                      http://www.marlboroughonline.co.nz/index.mvc?ArticleID=66

                      phillip ure..

                    • Chooky …
                      18 January 2014 at 2:01 pm

                      @phillip ure …damage is done….dont try and change the subject……more on the ‘Ure Vegan sausage’ name ….a marketing disaster ….except perhaps for the Chinese who may love it as an aphrodisiac instead of rare endangered tigers and other endangered wild species

                    • Adele …
                      18 January 2014 at 8:44 pm

                      Kiaora Phil

                      The power that you speak of is associated with ‘potency.’ No point having an ure if it can’t produce the goods. Whakapapa is the source of our strength.

                      There is a place called Urenui, which still exists. Apparently, the name relates to a big chief, who was hugely endowed, tripoding his way through the rohe. Nui means big.

          • marty mars 8.1.1.1.3
            17 January 2014 at 12:09 pm

            lol are you thick phil? to be making so many judgements based on what? Just remember when you were skulling the meat (and salivating like a hungry dog at the stench of fried pig and chicken fat) from the leg-bones of factory farmed chickens I wasn’t – makes you think that eh? Do you think you’re balancing out your karma somehow after all those long long years where you doggsihly gnawed on flesh? Do you think the animals you digested have forgotten?

      • McFlock 8.1.2
        17 January 2014 at 1:28 pm

        Cows aren’t endangered.

        Although the entire concept of the auction is a bit like Make a Wish auctioning the right to hit one of the kids.

        • weka 8.1.2.1
          17 January 2014 at 1:41 pm

          “Cows aren’t endangered.”

          In phil’s world, the individual animal you can relate to at the fluffy bynny level is more important than the species. That’s why many hardcore vegans are against pest control and would rather see bird species in NZ go extinct from stoats and possums, than have those stoat and possum populations controlled. That might be why he missed that his comparison between rhino and cows was nonsensical. Or it might just be that he has no logic where this is concerned.

          • McFlock 8.1.2.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 2:15 pm

            Ah.

            Doesn’t he know that cows are dicks? All the other animals call them “big grass-eating jerks”, whereas rhinos are universally regarded as the nice guys of the savannah.

            If other animals had guns, they’d shoot cows too.

          • phillip ure 8.1.2.1.2
            17 January 2014 at 11:07 pm

            @ weka..(ignoring the ad homs..)

            i concede the possum/stoat thing is ‘a rock and a hard place’..for most vegans..(esp if there for animal-welfare reasons..)

            ..and that is no different for me..

            ..i have thought about this one a bit..

            ..and feel a sterilising-drug would be the humane way to tackle the problem..

            ..the problem would be under control in one generation..

            ..(and certainly not leaving them to slowly die..with limbs crushed/trapped in jaw-toothed traps..

            ..which is one of the current ‘solutions’..one both cruel..and ultimately ineffective to a large degree..

            ..whereas a ‘drop’ of a sterilising drug.. in something tasty..

            ..would target large areas/numbers of possums..

            ..hope that clarifies that..

            (for other readers..weka..you are just a foil in all this..eh..?

            .(you do know/realise that..?..no..?..not yet..?.)

            ..so..curse/ad hom on..

            ..give it yr best shot..eh..?)

            ..phillip ure..

            • Zorr 8.1.2.1.2.1
              17 January 2014 at 11:22 pm

              Please enlighten as to what kind of sterilizing drug you would use and how you would ensure it would sterilize any possums that ate it?

              Add in to that this little factoid:
              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterilization_(medicine)#Pharmacological

              It may be Wiki but it is still relevant.

              Once again proving you live in some strange world of fantasy where even your answers to current issues require technology that is yet to be discovered.

              • phillip ure …
                17 January 2014 at 11:50 pm

                @ sterilising possums..

                ..there is work being done on this..

                ..so it is hardly a ‘fantasy”..

                ..and wki..eh..?..going for the cutting-edge stuff..eh..?

                i would suggest increased-funding be put into that task of refining a sterilising-agent….

                ..not an unreasonable suggestion..?

                ..got a better idea..?

                ..napalm..?

                phillip ure..

                • McFlock …
                  17 January 2014 at 11:52 pm

                  1080 works

                • Zorr …
                  17 January 2014 at 11:57 pm

                  I’m with McFlock – 1080 or a slug. Either one is good.

                  Also, I’m not going to invest extra time when Wiki is good enough. There are plenty of things being currently “worked on” that would easily fall in to the realm of “fantasy”…

                  Such as cold fusion.

                  The point here is that you are suggesting solutions that, as of yet, don’t exist. That doesn’t really make them a solution.

                  I love how your argument style is to automatically go to the most far out suggestion when there are plenty of techniques already in use that are perfectly workable.

                  • weka …
                    18 January 2014 at 12:47 am

                    1080 isn’t a good long term solution either. We can do better than this.

                    • McFlock …
                      18 January 2014 at 1:04 am

                      definitely treatment rather than cure.
                      And there’s what the yanks like to call “collateral damage”.

                      But at least it exists.

                    • weka …
                      18 January 2014 at 1:12 am

                      I didn’t mean that (I don’t think we are smart enough to come up with a cure that doesn’t have significant side effects). I meant that the wholesale, whack ’em with poison, bugger the collateral damage mentality, is not leading us to sustainable solutions long term. We need to develop a meat and fur industry, one that actually works and is based on sustainability principles rather than being profit driven niche marketing.

                    • Chooky …
                      18 January 2014 at 9:41 am

                      If my facts are correct…..1080 is banned in Oregon….in many states of USA it is rarely or very selectively used……NZ takes 80% of the entire USA production of 1080…and USA is the only country in the world to produce 1080

                      ….so NZ plasters 80% of the worlds production of 1080 over our ‘pristine’ land

                      imo it is exterminating the kea, which is now an endangered species

      • Daveosaurus 8.1.3
        17 January 2014 at 6:46 pm

        The difference you seem to be missing is that the Western black rhinoceros is now extinct. The domesticated cow does not seem to be in any imminent danger of extinction.

        Otherwise, that part of me which thinks that Colin Craig should but the hell out of consenting adults’ bedrooms, is also thinking that you would be better off butting the hell out of consenting adults’ dinner tables.

        • phillip ure 8.1.3.1
          17 January 2014 at 11:27 pm

          @ dave..

          ..well..ya see dave…

          ..it’s bigger than just you or me..eh..?

          ..and funny-story..!

          ..this battle to end the slavery/killings of animals so so echoes the struggle against slavery..

          ..the two biggest arguments thrown back at the abolitionists then..

          ..was that:..it’s impossible..!..our whole economy is based on slavery..!..are you trying to wreck the country?..’

          (any of that sound familiar..?..)

          and of course what you touch on with yr admonition to ‘butt the hell out of consenting adults dinner tables’..

          ..namely:..’but we all do it/use slaves..!’…

          ..much as most just (unthinkingly) eat animal-flesh..

          ..with not a thought/concern passing through their heads of the horrible suffering behind that piece of flesh/blood/fat they are chewing on..

          ..’we all do it..!’..

          (any of that sound familiar..?..)

          ..animals are the modern-day slaves..

          ..and they suffer much worse than those human slaves did..

          ..and this is what i and many others are fighting to stop..

          ..to end this modern-day slavery..

          ..and bad news it may be..that dairy causes cancer..

          ..but it will hasten this process..

          ..and so far..to my eyes..

          ..flick-director james cameron ( vegan) is showing the/a way for our future…

          ..he has bought huge dairy-holdings in the wairarapa..

          ..and is converting them back into growing real food..

          ..and i tip my hat to him for that..

          ..we have to get rid of the mono-culture of meat/dairy..

          ..(as essentially..we are exporting cancer/death..from our animal concentration camps/factories of unbelievable horror/slaughterhouses/charnal-houses..

          ..and that has to change..

          ..and james cameron is showing the way..)

          phillip ure..

  9. tricledrown 9
    17 January 2014 at 9:06 am

    Marty Mars
    Karma is a bastard.
    Now he knows what the Rhino has to put up with.
    Instead of hunting the Rhino and Now having to pay for security .
    It would be easier just to put out a media statement saying I am not going to shoot thr Rhino but I am going to donate the money .problem solved.

    • Colonial Viper 10.1
      17 January 2014 at 9:29 am

      Electricity needs to be more specific. Transport fuel and fossil fuels for thermal will drop that number a bit.

    • joe90 10.2
      17 January 2014 at 12:35 pm

      And the good people of Hamburg have had enough.

      Vattenfall has a 74.9 percent stake in the electricity grid company, Stromnetz Hamburg, while the remaining 25.1 percent belongs to the German city.

      “The value of the entire electricity grid company has preliminarily been agreed at €550 million euros,” the Swedish company said. “However, both parties have agreed on a minimum value of €495 million.”

      The transaction was a result of a popular initiative launched in 2010 by a pressure group which included environmentalists, consumer organisations, unions and local churches.

      In a referendum held last September, 50.9 percent voted in favour, while the Social Democratic mayor and the Christian Democratic Union, Germany’s largest party, had campaigned for a no-vote.

      http://www.thelocal.de/20140116/hamburg-buys-its-energy-grid-back-for-400-million

    • grumpy 10.3
      17 January 2014 at 2:11 pm

      OK, but they still have thermal backup for that 50%. That needs to be kept in a complete state of readiness. Have you looked at electricity pricing in Denmark?

      In most of Denmark it is illegal to use electricity for home heating, better to burn gas instead.

      • Draco T Bastard 10.3.1
        17 January 2014 at 11:05 pm

        In most of Denmark it is illegal to use electricity for home heating, better to burn gas instead.

        [citation needed]

      • McFlock 10.4.1
        17 January 2014 at 9:18 pm

        “part” of what?
        It would appear that your article’s 3 year old prediction of doom has been contradicted by a three day old announcement of record supply.

  11. Rosie 11
    17 January 2014 at 10:23 am

    Apart from Crusherles “slaughtering sacred cows” I know day to day ACC services aren’t issue du jour. However I thought I’d follow up on that chat the other day about full funding for physio rehab sessions.

    I emailed Iain Lees- Gallowway and cc’d Kevin Haugue, both opposition spokespeople for ACC.

    I asked whether full funding would be reinstated and put my reasoning forward for why it should be. I also informed them of my personal experience of the loss of full funding and how detrimental this has been to my recovery.

    I received a reply the next day from Iain Lees Galloway and basically the answer is NO but it may be considered. I guess they don’t want to sound too closed to an idea that would benefit the public, in an election year. I was hoping for a YES though. This made me think of CV’s reply when he said something along the lines of no party being likely to restore full funding. Disappointing if this is the case. Really disappointing.

    Reply below:

    “I don’t think we will make a specific pre-election policy about funding for physiotherapy. But we are certainly keen to ensure everyone gets access to the treatment they need and will consider the merits of restoring full funding for physiotherapy and weigh that against other matters that need attention such as making sure more claims are accepted overall, making sure people are really able to go back to work before compensation is stopped and giving people the home help that they need. Obviously, we have been convinced of the value of fully funding physiotherapy in the past and if the evidence remains as strong it will be considered”.

    • Bearded Git 11.1
      17 January 2014 at 10:32 am

      Stopping the physio gravy train is about the only thing I agree with this government on Rosie.

      • Rosie 11.1.1
        17 January 2014 at 11:04 am

        What do you mean by “stopping the physio gravy train” Bearded Git?

        • joe90 11.1.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 12:06 pm

          During the nineties I had 24 treatment sessions over two years for a work related neck problem and because my employer allowed me to attend during work hours those treatments were recorded on my time sheet.
          A couple of years later an ACC investigation showed that she had claimed for at least one session a week over that two year period so off to court she went.

          • Rosie 11.1.1.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 12:51 pm

            Hi joe90. I had heard from CV the other day of physio’s who were scamming the system. (Sorry yours was one of them!) and from that I took that was the reason that charges were introduced, or should I say, sessions were no longer fully funded.

            But this is no way to deal with with scammers! Patients get punished for the crimes of their physio’s, and that is wrong. All it does is reduce patients access to treatment.

            I’m not fully convinced that the National Government reduced the subsidies simply because they wanted to make up for the loss, or as a way of controlling physio’s less than moral behaviour. It seems like an all too easy and convenient excuse when if they were fully supportive of the aims of ACC they would have instead introduced some way of monitoring physio’s client ACC claims, and ensure it was a tight scam proof system.

            Iain Lees-Galloway’s response left me feeling a little puzzled ( as well as disappointed) as to why they wouldn’t reinstate full funding. Morally, injured folk can’t just be left to suffer because they can’t afford to attend their physio appointments. I thought they would get that.

      • BM 11.1.2
        17 January 2014 at 11:12 am

        I agree.

        Physio’s can cause more harm than good.
        Really need to go back to the old system of doctor referrals.

    • karol 11.2
      17 January 2014 at 10:48 am

      Thanks, Rosie. There are some positives in the reply – accepting more claims. I’ve heard a lot of stories of people being refused any treatment, necessary surgery, etc; Not sending people back to work too early – my experience is that they focus too much on returning people to work, don’t take into account the impact of severe injuries on general well-being, and look more to getting people back to work as soon as, rather than looking at what’s best for the individual.

      But ACC currently also tend to try to limit physiotherapy as much as possible, regardless of whether people actually need it.

      No reply from Hague?

      • Rosie 11.2.1
        17 January 2014 at 11:12 am

        Hi karol, no reply from Hague as yet.

        Yes, I did see some positives in the reply but got the feeling that they may possibly be at the expense of other services. I did like the sentence “making sure people really are able to go back to work before compensation is stopped”.

        And I have also had the same experience as you previously. It’s all about work work work. They need to take a more holistic approach to the rehab for full and genuine recovery to happen, and to help prevent further occurrences in the future.

        • Will@Welly 11.2.1.1
          17 January 2014 at 12:42 pm

          I got a better response when Andrew Little was the ACC spokesperson. Because you cc’d Kevin Hague, it usually takes a week or so longer for a response, than a direct approach. But you should get one. I’ve always found Kevin very good to deal with.

  12. Bearded Git 12
    17 January 2014 at 10:39 am

    The climate change disaster rolls inexorably on. This from the Graun today:

    http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/15/bp-predicts-greenhouse-emissions-rise-third

  13. captain hook 13
    17 January 2014 at 11:47 am

    I see dotcondom has resiled from his party party.
    He thinks he can take what he wants and use the ill gotten gains to buy anything or anybody.
    No. And its not his internet either. Everybody inlcuding him has to pay to use it and abide by the rules but somehow he thinks he is above it all.
    Him and wail boil together.
    Well pride comes before a fall and both of them are due for it.

  14. Plan B 14
    17 January 2014 at 12:49 pm

    With Au Pair Link you also have access to 20 Hours ECE and WINZ childcare subsidies.!

    Does anybody know how this works- it looks a lot like another ‘capture by rich people’ If so I would have thought it worth going after.
    It is ‘red queen race’ stuff we have to keep on working because otherwise they will run the whole place for their own interests only

  15. Draco T Bastard 15
    17 January 2014 at 2:10 pm

    So, according to the MSM business confidence is up in NZ. Meanwhile, across the ditch with one of our major trading partners, business confidence is taking a slide.

    The research found a significant decline in positive feelings about the direction of the economy in the next 12 months and next five years. There was also a small drop in the number of businesses planning to expand their businesses in the next 12 months.

    • Colonial Viper 15.1
      17 January 2014 at 2:44 pm

      I’m thinking that the last half of this year is going to be a rather ugly nose dive…for many it will be just more of the same…

  16. idlegus 16
    17 January 2014 at 3:11 pm

    david farrar made a joke about the tragedy in st leonards on his facebook page? jeez those righties are such ugly, despicable people.

  17. captain hook 17
    17 January 2014 at 3:33 pm

    especially farrar.
    no amount of weight loss will ever disguise that fact.

  18. Meg 18
    17 January 2014 at 3:46 pm

    LMAO, I have just been blocked from posting on Whale Oil for slamming him on his Len Brown coverage.

    How hilarious!!

  19. Pascal's bookie 19
    17 January 2014 at 4:47 pm

    This is pretty funny, all things considered:

    http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/01/selection-season-upon-us/#more-123334

  20. amirite 20
    17 January 2014 at 7:58 pm

    Re the vegan-vegetarian vs.carnivore/omnivore debate:

    http://www.livescience.com/24875-meat-human-brain.html

    • weka 20.1
      17 January 2014 at 8:36 pm

      Thanks, that was interesting. I would add that those humans would have been eating the whole animal, not just the bits we eat today. Most of the anti-meat arguments are based on theories and research of eating modern diets, not historical ones.

    • phillip ure 20.2
      17 January 2014 at 11:41 pm

      @ amrite..

      ..seriously..?..yr link..?

      ..what a ‘crock’..!

      ..(best summed up in a comment @ the foot..(see..i did read it..)

      “..Obviously addicted to eating meat , what a load of crock.. if humans were meant to eat meat they would have a fixed jaw like a dog shorter intestine like a carnivor teeth like a shark instead of molars.. besides the biggest animals on the planet are all vegetarians… go figure!..”

      phillip ure..

    • John W 20.3
      18 January 2014 at 11:56 am

      amirite
      with due respect.
      Junk science – there is heaps of it.
      The summary is full of suppositions cascaded to illogical conclusions.
      eg. B12 levels.

      Who really funds this stuff which ignores so much evidence.

      A lot of reductionist findings often are not viewed in the bigger picture, which is always more complex and dependent on a wide perspective of understanding.

      The leading killers in Western diet appear to be heart/circulatory related disease ( including cerebral conditions including stroke ); and cancer.

      This pattern is not observed for various reasons, in populations that eat few animal products; ,but a major reason being diet.

  21. Jan 21
    17 January 2014 at 10:03 pm

    Has anyone read the overheated comments Chris Trotter came out with today on the subject of the amendment to Section 59?
    Sheeesh – I don’t think he likes children!

    • Jackal 21.1
      17 January 2014 at 10:34 pm

      I must say that although Trotter’s article raises a few interesting points, it is at times factually incorrect. Unfortunately this sentence is particularly misleading:

      It is, however, a crucial element of Mr Craig’s naïve political genius to instinctively “get” that the anti-smacking legislation owes nothing at all to the will of the people and everything to the unshakeable convictions of a self-righteous minority. Those who bridle at this characterisation would no doubt also dismiss the judgement of the 87.4 percent of voters who in 2009 answered “No.” to the Citizens Initiated Referendum question: “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?”

      What the pro-smackers still fail to understand is that the law change wasn’t concerned with a smack as part of good parental correction. It was instead concerned with parents and caregivers getting away with severe injuries and sometimes the death of children. To quote Wikipedia:

      (The amendment) removed the legal defence of “reasonable force” for parents prosecuted for assault on their children.

      If the citizens-initiated referendum was worded correctly to relate to what the actual law change proposed, it should have said something like this:

      Should a parent or caregiver be able to injure or kill a child and get away with it because of a loophole within the current law?

      Any sane person would answer NO to this question, which along with his ridiculous claims concerning the moon landing etc clearly shows that Collin Craig isn’t fit to be a politician.

      • Jan 21.1.1
        17 January 2014 at 10:58 pm

        Precisely – and passed by most of the MPs on both sides of the House who had access to the facts, not the beat-ups of an immoral and self-interested press.
        People with money and good lawyers were getting away with horse-whipping their children. At the end of the day, all the legislation did was to provide children with the same level of protection as animals

      • Draco T Bastard 21.1.2
        17 January 2014 at 11:17 pm

        Should a parent or caregiver be able to injure or kill a child and get away with it because of a loophole within the current law?

        It wasn’t a loophole, it was a specific legal defense and the Greens and Labour should have been shouting that from the roof tops.

        • Jan 21.1.2.1
          17 January 2014 at 11:29 pm

          Hard, if not impossible to talk sense in the face of all the heated rhetoric that was flying about. Plenty of people said it, but it’s a different story getting someone to put it into print. It was a very sensationalist topic which provided a feeding frenzy – there was a lot more heat than light on the topic, and many newspaper editors, journalists and commentators should hang their heads in shame

          • Jackal 21.1.2.1.1
            17 January 2014 at 11:55 pm

            +1 It’s pretty shameful that certain publications perpetuated such a blatant untruth that essentially advocated for parents and caregivers to continue getting away with grievous bodily harm and child murder. It’s also a bit shameful that such a large amount of the New Zealand public was too stupid to realise that they were being lied to. It’s highly shameful that Collin Craig is now trying to use the publics continued misunderstanding about the so-called “anti-smacking bill” to try and gain support for the Creepy Conservatives. Somebody should let him know that being able to beat children to death and get away with it is only a tradition in a sick society.

        • phillip ure 21.1.2.2
          17 January 2014 at 11:46 pm

          @ draco..yeah..they did a terrible job of selling that one..

          ..almost up there with the job the greens did selling/promotion of the medical marijuana bill..

          ..(they went for the stunned-silence approach there..eh..?

          ..it didn’t work that well..)

          phillip ure..

          • phillip ure 21.1.2.2.1
            18 January 2014 at 12:14 am

            i just gave my vegan dogs a late night/supper treat..

            ..toasted ciabatta-buns with jam and peanut on them..’

            ..most appreciative..they are..

            ..they like a ciabatta-bun with jam and peanut butter on it..

            ..eh..?

            ..aside from peanut-allergics…who doesn’t..?

            ..and funnystory..!

            ..most of the commercial breads are now vegan..

            ..(they used to all have dairy in them..)

            ..(you didn’t even notice..did you..?..

            ..little steps in the right direction..eh..?..)

            ..and it’s been a long thread..

            …i might go and smoke a joint..

            ..and listen to some music..

            ..now..

            ..eh..?

            phillip ure

            • NZ Femme 21.1.2.2.1.1
              18 January 2014 at 12:20 am

              Nope. I make I own and have for years. Very therapeutic kneading dough. And tending to my sour dough yeasty pets. (they are vegan too. like your dogs.)

  22. xtasy 22
    18 January 2014 at 12:05 am

    What is going on here on ‘The Standard’ seems to be a bit of a worry. I know it is still the holiday season, the end phase of it, but I notice that ‘Open Mike’ is getting the bulk of attention and comments, apart from very few other topics.

    I hope that soon some writers and commentators here will focus on the real issues of this election year:

    Economic policy and direction (differentiating the “left” and “progressive” from the status quo, short sighted mess);

    Social justice – with justifying and fighting for a minimum wage at $ 15 to 16 an hour, also promoting the idea of the “living wage”, and thus better incomes for those that have been neglected by this crap government;

    More social justice – by being truly inclusive and fair, and reversing the worst of the “welfare reforms” that Bennett and her lot are “celebrating” with manipulating figures and outcomes; which means, a new benefit and welfare system offering UBI or something similar, that will not be punitive, not be full of sanctions and NOT treat sick and disabled as useful “human material” to feed to greedy employers – but by truly supporting, working with and helping those in need;

    Sustainable development – by showing a clear direction in transforming NZ’s infrastructure and economy to a more sustainable, environmentally compatible, fairer and healthier economic system, that can survive and outlast the short sighted idiocy we are getting from Key, Grosser and the lot;

    Economic development – by promoting and investing in value added, more diversified production here in NZ, that offer better value export products and services, and that surely also focuses on developing the local economy, rather than keep things “ticking over”;

    Healthcare that will support the needs of the present population and also focus more on prevention of diseases and illness, same as accidents and so forth, incentivising healthy behaviour and employment, by tax or other discounts, and perhaps also levying unhealthy food and behaviour, putting a charge or sanctions on such; and I want government to stop interfering with medical science, by promoting mad “research”, which is not sufficiently fact based, by ones like the mad UK “professor” Mansel Aylward;

    By aligning NZ again with progressive countries that follow smart and constructive social, economic and various other policies, rather than blindly follow the Anglo Saxon economies like the US, Australia and so; a different strategic global policy may be called for, rather than what we have;

    Put a new focus on education, to follow ideas like those in Finland, to bring about better results. Some progress happened before, but the over focus on national standards and now even charter schools is distracting from putting more resources, ideas and manpower into the existing systems. I also would like to see the abolition of elite private schools, charging them extra for catering for high income parents or whatever, because we need more equality, need to set examples, and must have smart, talented, gifted students sit in class with those less fortunate, to help them progress, which also develops social and collective skills;

    We need a fairer tax system, which cannot just be about an intro of a CGT; we need a transaction tax, we need a higher income rate for top earners, we need to look at a reduction of GST, at least for essentials;

    There is NO place for poverty in a country rich in resources. So retail supermarkets need looking at, perhaps by introducing more competition, or by regulating some behaviour, as it is idiotic to accept that certain NZ produce can be bought cheaper in London and Frankfurt than here in Auckland;

    The environment is also paramount, and NZ is in vast areas already so destroyed, when it comes to the natural environment, it is not funny; I want more resources in bio security, in conservation, protection of species and so forth, certainly better equipped marine vessels for emergencies for oil and gas disasters; we get too much of the law being hollowed out under this government; NZ is NOT clean and green, it is a hypocrisy, and that is wrong!

    There is heaps more I would like to raise, like fairer, better worker’s protection, work safety standards to be improved, electricity and housing needing to become more affordable, and much more, but I read too little on all this here now, at least over the last few weeks.

    I would encourage those contributing here to focus on some of the above. Some do, but the slow season is nearing its end, and we must now work on election year and the issues that need addressing. I look forward to more writing here, and more commenting, as reading TS is very entertaining and also enlightening most the times.

    X

    • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 22.1
      18 January 2014 at 12:46 am

      Jolly well said Xtasy!

    • RedBaronCV 22.2
      18 January 2014 at 8:16 am

      Well said. But should the push be for roll back of only some measures “reversing the worst of the welfare reforms” incremental change or substantial structural change that the next right wing government finds harder to reverse or sell off for their own gains.

    • Chooky 22.3
      18 January 2014 at 9:34 am

      +100 xtasy…you need to get back on the case more often

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    4 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
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    4 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • True Blue.
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  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
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  • Feline Friends and Fragile Fauna The Complexities of Cats in New Zealand’s Conservation Efforts

    Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...

    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    4 days ago

  • Or is that just they want us to think?
    Nice guy, that Peter Williams. Amiable, a calm air of no-nonsense capability, a winning smile. Everything you look for in a TV presenter and newsreader.I used to see him sometimes when I went to TVNZ to be a talking head or a panellist and we would yarn. Nice guy, that ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Did global warming stop in 1998?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did global warming stop in ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Arguing over a moot point.
    I have been following recent debates in the corporate and social media about whether it is a good idea for NZ to join what is known as “AUKUS Pillar Two.” AUKUS is the Australian-UK-US nuclear submarine building agreement in which … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • No Longer Trusted: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    Turning Point: “What has turned me away from the mainstream news media is the very strong message that its been sending out for the last few years.” “And what message might that be?” “That the people who own it, the people who run it, and the people who provide its content, really don’t ...
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  • Mortgage rates at 10% anyone?
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    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    6 days ago

  • Sad tales from the left
    Michael Bassett writes –  Have you noticed the odd way in which the media are handling the government’s crackdown on surplus employees in the Public Service? Very few reporters mention the crazy way in which State Service numbers rocketed ahead by more than 16,000 during Labour’s six years, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • In Whose Best Interests?
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  • Don’t Question, Don’t Complain.
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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Auckland faces 25% water inflation shock
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Small accomplishments and large ironies
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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume VII
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    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Accelerating the Growth Rate?
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    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • The only thing we have to fear is tenants themselves
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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Peters talks of NZ “renewing its connections with the world” – but who knew we had been discon...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research.   “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Government redress for Te Korowai o Wainuiārua
    The Government is continuing the bipartisan effort to restore its relationship with iwi as the Te Korowai o Wainuiārua Claims Settlement Bill passed its first reading in Parliament today, says Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. “Historical grievances of Te Korowai o Wainuiārua relate to 19th century warfare, land purchased or taken ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Focus on outstanding minerals permit applications
    New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals is working to resolve almost 150 outstanding minerals permit applications by the end of the financial year, enabling valuable mining activity and signalling to the sector that New Zealand is open for business, Resources Minister Shane Jones says.  “While there are no set timeframes for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Applications open for NZ-Ireland Research Call
    The New Zealand and Irish governments have today announced that applications for the 2024 New Zealand-Ireland Joint Research Call on Agriculture and Climate Change are now open. This is the third research call in the three-year Joint Research Initiative pilot launched in 2022 by the Ministry for Primary Industries and Ireland’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Tenancy rules changes to improve rental market
    The coalition Government has today announced changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to encourage landlords back to the rental property market, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The previous Government waged a war on landlords. Many landlords told us this caused them to exit the rental market altogether. It caused worse ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Boosting NZ’s trade and agricultural relationship with China
    Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay will visit China next week, to strengthen relationships, support Kiwi exporters and promote New Zealand businesses on the world stage. “China is one of New Zealand’s most significant trade and economic relationships and remains an important destination for New Zealand’s products, accounting for nearly 22 per cent of our good and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Freshwater farm plan systems to be improved
    The coalition Government intends to improve freshwater farm plans so that they are more cost-effective and practical for farmers, Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay have announced. “A fit-for-purpose freshwater farm plan system will enable farmers and growers to find the right solutions for their farm ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Fast Track Projects advisory group named
    The coalition Government has today announced the expert advisory group who will provide independent recommendations to Ministers on projects to be included in the Fast Track Approvals Bill, say RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones. “Our Fast Track Approval process will make it easier and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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