WTF? They voted for this? A charter school receives state funding of $19,664 a student compared to the average state and integrated school funding of $7000 a student.
comparing the funding of a small charter school, to the “average” state funding of all public schools is rather disingenuous at best. Given a new state school and a new charter school of the same size, both schools will be funded exactly the same.
Fuck off dickhead. You are the liar. What part of “get funded the same” can’t you get your fucking thick head around. Jesus, arguing with cats makes more sense than you do sometimes.
Meh. You’re an untrustworthy neoliberal shill. Same neolib formula of taking public money and pocketing it for private profit. Its not even creative, its cookie cutter.
Anway, profit signals drive the economy, and these signals are important for the efficient operation of markets. We should have more for profit providers in education. Over teh next decade that will happen. There is no alternative.
Anyway, manipulation of profit signals by vested interests drive the economy into the ground, and thus it is important that these signals are not taken as the be all and end all of how we organise our society . We should remove the profit motive from education. Over the next decade that will happen. There is no alternative.
Don’t try to frighten us with your sorcerer’s ways, SSpylands. Your sad devotion to that ancient Free Market religion has not helped you conjure up a single supporting fact, or given you enough clairvoyance to make reliable predictions.
not quite – the reply was “I find your lack of faith disturbing”, then T stepped in to stop DV mime-choking the only yank at the table. Fecking pc-gone-mad Tarkin and his wuss liberal intelligensia ways 🙂
So i am an asshole now for telling the truth? You know when you have well and truly got the better of you when you resort to that kind of crap.
show me i’m wrong, show me where charter schools get more money than state schools. and don’t give me that start up costs bollocks that DTB did below, because state schools are able to get start-up costs as well.
Private sector enterprises are motivated by profits, and these ones especially by taking tax payers money and putting them into privateer’s pockets.
It is yet another transfer of public monies away from public institutions into the private sector. Yet another re-run of the neoliberal formula that we have seen time and time again.
Charter schools will be a nice little earner for an entrepreneur/s, and they can be kept not-for-profit because the people running them will ensure that they take a nice big amount in salary and have useful vehicles that can be owned by the school , and possibly they will have a company that owns the furniture and then the school can lease it back from them.
Now that’s a good one, there is a profit on top of the cost price made when leasing the furniture to the school, and the lease costs are paid by the school year after year back to the private company.
Some charter schools may achieve much but it appears that there won’t be the same surveillance and bureaucratic checks on the teachers as there are in state schools, or on the running of the schools. What will come out in ten to twenty years will be some doozy stories. Some children will be glorified by their success, and some would be villified if anyone knew what dodgy methods had been adopted. ‘Power, unchecked, tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.’
Oops, thanks, yes you are quite correct – the comment I made can be justified. Indeed, I should have written that I wasn’t providing any- not that it was lacking justification. 🙂
That is a question that i don’t really know the answer to. But at a guess, I would say it is because they are aiming at teaching and helping the lowest 20% of achievers. The majority of whom are from impoverished backgrounds who’s parents are unable to afford as actual “private” education.
That is a question that i don’t really know the answer to.
What you really mean is that you don’t want to admit the reason why they need state funding – they want the guaranteed profits that state funding provide.
no, that is not what i really mean thanks very much. i thought putting words into other people mouths is a ban-able offence on this site.
there is no guaranteed profit, they are funded in the same way that public schools are. if they meet their obligations and student performance is as expected, and they can make a profit then good on them. i very much doubt there will be large profits, and if so i would be certain that you would see the funding models changed to reflect that.
The only reason these shitty outfits exists is to divert funds out of the tax payers pockets into private hands, exactly as per the US charter schools model.
Lets assume they are funded the same way. How would they then make any profit? They’d need to do something cheaper than the state system or alternatively obtain funding from other sources. Right?
So if they do it cheaper what does that mean to your mind?
Funding from other sources? Why then do they want the same state funding?
You’ll need to explain how charter schools (with any profit motive) will provide better education? I do not see how it is possible.
If it is a not for profit then presumably it is some sort of special interest school. The thing that special interest schools have that the state system does not is they get to choose pupils so do not need to provide the same level of social service. For this privilege they should not receive the same level of state funding. I think they should receive some as I’ll assume the parents still pay taxes but not to the same level as the state system.
How would they then make any profit?
i don’t know. they may not actually be driven by profit. I guess when the first charter school makes a profit we will see how they did it and if it had any negative effect on educational outcomes.
You’ll need to explain how charter schools (with any profit motive) will provide better education? I do not see how?
sorry man, no idea. I don’t work in education so ill leave it to them. All i was doing was pointing out the inaccuracies of the first comment around funding levels.
The thing that special interest schools have that the state system does not is they get to choose pupils
I was not aware of this. I was under the impression that one of the reasons they get funded the same is that they cannot turn away any child that applies.
If you are correct, then i agree they should not get funded the same.
charter schools will receive per-pupil funding from the government just like regular state schools do, however, they will be established and operated by “non-profit, community organisations including Iwi and Pacific Island groups, school trustees, faith-based educational organisations, and not-for-profit and for-profit management groups.”
i think the key is in the words “not-for-profit”. There are also “for profit management groups”, but as i said, i doubt there will be large profits and the majority will be not-for-proffit.
i thought putting words into other people mouths is a ban-able offence on this site.
I didn’t put words in your mouth – I just translated what you said. And, yes, that is actually what you said once the full paragraph was taken into account.
charter schools will receive per-pupil funding from the government just like regular state schools do
If that was true then these schools wouldn’t be getting huge, upfront start-up costs covered by the government which they don’t have to pay back.
i think the key is in the words “not-for-profit”.
/facepalm
The owners of Sanitarium is a not-for-profit group but Sanitarium makes a huge profit.
Methinks you missed the irony in that cartoon phil… “First they banned some misogynist thugs, and I did not object because I was not a misogynist thug.”
“..as in..whose next..?”
Hopefully anyone else with a recent history of actively inciting violence and hatred against women.
When you keep going off on a tangent and won’t consider the ACTUAL reasons immigration turned them down I’m left thinking you did fry your brain. What else should I think? You can’t read properly?
“..phil 1..fender zip..”
If it’s points you are looking for, here have 20, you want a gram with that?
Immigration had their reasons, they stated them. Accept their reasons or go fight the perceived injustice with them.
Phillis, Phillis, wah wah wah, i describe you as having the intellect of a four year old below and you turn around and prove it,
One moment it’s ”wah wah wah you don’t play nice and i am now going to toss my toys and ignore you”,
Next???, you continue with your pointless diatribe in the comment above, the filthy smack head junkies curse, a rotten brain certainly has exhibited a growing case of this in yourself in the last couple of days,
Your drivel is as pointless as your whole life seems to have been…
Wow, an actual, genuine invoking of Godwin’s Law and a slew of ad hominems in the absense of any addressing of the actual issues. And in the first reply no less. That’s pretty bad even by your standards phil.
Phillis doesn’t address the ‘issue’, choosing instead to try and drag the ‘issue’ into a constantly moving panorama of whatever neurons happen to be creating that buzzing noise inside of His cranial cavity at any given point in time,
Exactly the same as trying to have a debate with a four year old where the topic is above the child’s intellectual level, the twists and turns such a debate take are both hilarious and bizarre…
veutoviper, those images are a disturbing start to the day, over toast and coffee. Especially photo number two which made me almost choke on a crumb as I gasped in horror.
ACT has a real talent for off publicity pics, “Hillary’s Eyes” on the brothel billboard and John Boscawen balancing a lammington on his bonce and now another shaved bump head as leader to make a gruesome set with “Hideolini”.
Sorry, Rosie. I really felt the need to record these photos for posterity – and possible other uses in the months to come.
It is a slight follow-on to a discussion some of us (including Karol, Murray Olsen) had over the weekend on the ‘interesting’ bubble of MSM journalists and others that have ongoing interaction on Twitter – some of which is very revealing in respect of sources of information, allegiances etc and biases of The Herald for example. This included discussion on Glucina (The Herald’s gossip columnist) being the one to first publish Norman’s and Peters’ visits to KDC.
My comment on that thread which included the fact that Judith Collins and Nikki Kaye had been in Glucina’s Diary corporate box on Satureday is here
Have to giggle at the little bio at the top of Rachel’s Twits page, buried in the middle is this little gem,”No special Talent”,
A perfect epithet for the majority of the Heralds Jonolists, ”No special Talents” should be the motto of what has become an in-august purveyor of sleaze with the inclusion of ”Rachel”,
So, Slippery and the National Party Ministers now have besides ‘wail oils’ Blubber boy another source with which to have filth injected into the political discourse, very convenient for this election year,
The danger here for National is that the Wellington rumor mill does and always has fits and starts of ‘hot gossip’ over various MP’s indiscretions very little of which sees the light of day and becoming quickly overtaken by the next piece of salacious gossip,
If the Herald wants to have a gossip columnist run a National Party ‘dirt’ campaign on it’s opposition then it runs the risk of having all the filth of who is up who and who is not paying splashed all over Wellington in poster form…
“If the Herald wants to have a gossip columnist run a National Party ‘dirt’ campaign on it’s opposition then it runs the risk of having all the filth of who is up who and who is not paying splashed all over Wellington in poster form…”
That’s true! A few are already thinking along the lines of another Manners Mall “Pants on Fire” approach. The Natzis should really start thinking whether or not their dirt campaign is worth it – given their various pieces of dirty linen.
… but then they really are so arrogant, and believe they have an entire state apparatus under their control, they might try it on.
I bet the likes of Boger, McKinnon and various others (I think it was mentioned in passing somewhere on another thread a while ago) are starting to think they’re well out of the cesspit that the National Party has become.
Looking at your comment on the Blogsters thread, veto.
My choice of words re Key “throwing Slater to the wind” – note I wrote “wind” not wolves. It was risky, but clearly Key would prefer to talk about that rather than his role in surveillance activities. Putting it out on the “wind” means it is left to float about without knowing where it will land or the consequences – could disappear from sight, or it could result in lasting damage to Key.
With you, Karol. My “time will tell” was meant along the same lines as you say – will it disappear from sight or will it result in lasting damage to Key. My money is on is the latter. Slater is such a wild card, that this could all backfire badly.
I wasted more time as a voyeur on Twitter last night and there are a number of MSM journalists whose noses are out of joint as a result of (a) Glucina, a gossip columnist, scooping them on the Peters’ etc visits; and (b) Key stating that he talks with Slater regularly. Not a good move by Key to put these people offside.
Glucina and Slater have not been good friends in the past (to put it mildly) and this is well documented, so their apparently good relationship now is a subject of discussion/derision on the Twitter bubble, particularly with Slater’s attendance in the Diary corporate box yesterday. Apparently Glucina has been a long time supporter of Key and they also talk. And so it goes on,
It all feels like an ongoing soap opera – leaving one wondering what surprises, twists etc this week’s episodes will bring.
Life and politics is indeed often like a soap opera.
The Glucina-Key link is an interesting one – and it is “neoliberal” to the core.
The thing about the whole “neoliberal” revolution in the 1980s and beyond, is that it has been cleverly multi-pronged: changing the centre of politics, as well as wider discourses,values and attitudes via the news media, education system, the entertainment media, etc.
They intensified or increased the whole infotainment thing – so news became more entertaining, but also, so that”neoliberal” values became more firmly embeded within entertainment generally.
Have a vet appointment soon (one of my dogs, not me) but will search out the Key-Glucina link again when I return.
Re the whole infotainment thing – personality politics is part and parcel of this; and links in with my discourse with Disreali Gladstone further down this thread.
You alert us to these disturbing images in the name of service to the Greater Good. I didn’t get a chance to read that article that you linked to, but read your comments and had a squizz at the twit photo’s posted by this Glucina person. (I also don’t go anywhere near the Herald so your explanations are helpful to me)
But more disturbing than the images alone is the links, bonds/ relationships between media and government ministers, politicians, whale yuck etc in a social setting and taking note of who will be pulling the strings. If those images are shamelessly available for all to see, exactly what is going on behind closed doors? These people need flushing out and their agenda’s exposed!
Have to say, I have much admiration and respect for Madeleine Sami and wondered what of earth she was doing hanging out with such horrid people. Hopefully she is just gathering new comedy material for the next series of Super City.
Targets for ridicule on so many levels ….
– the Nouveau Riche
– the Plagiarists
– the Slutty Moles
– the Holier than Thou
– Bad Taste (from whatever/whichever ‘class’ you have an affinity with)
– the Movers and Shakers liable to be embarassed by a slug’s presence on a Blue Rinse cocktail circuit.
– a couple of excuses for Chris Finlayson to prove hisself down with the dirty and normal (a la ‘some of my best friends are Murrays)
…… on so many levels.
Slop is slop when it comes down to it – no matter how it’s served up – no matter how much paprika is applied
Nothing wrong with it, the Rodney Hide likeness is appropriate.
As for the second photo of Bennett and Slater? I’m wondering WHY anyone would want to stand close to Slater, he’s toxic. Is he blackmailing MP’s in order to get photographed with them? Mixing with such a disgusting creep should be damaging politically surely..
What I don’t get is people seem to -like- Slater. I can understand a politician thinking he’s useful (a la Key), but people like Collins and Bennett seems to enjoy his company.
… and as an understatement, he doesn’t seem like a particularly nice person.
Collins and Bennett like Blubber Boy because they think the same way he does, using intellectual equipment of pretty much the same potency. Keith Holyoake wouldn’t recognise the NAct of today.
Whyte and his wife probably are a loving couple and having fun.
But politics 101 – if you want to be taken seriously as a politician concerned with the weightier matters of politics, don’t put yourself in a position where a photo like that is taken and freely available (eg via social media).
Boris Johnson has become the most popular politician in the UK solely because he ignored that so called rule you just made up. And it’s not to do with his policies because they’re bluer than anything post-Thatcher. No, it’s because he seems jovial and real and does stupid shit (all planned though no one knows).
Similarly, the most popular politician in NZ (John Key) also has been photographed and filmed doing stupid shit and if anything became more popular for it because he seems like the ordinary Kiwi.
Your rule is bad and you should feel bad. Whyte can be the philosopher king on policy and look like a fool having fun with his wife and probably do just fine.
And by just fine, I mean probably stop ACT from dying for one more election by 0.1% of the vote.
Well DG, you may believe in and support personality politics – I don’t. IMO personality politics ares shallow and dangerous, as indicated by the inciduous undermining of democracy and the real role of government in both NZ and the UK as a result of the focus on personalities, rather than issues.
In actual fact, I quite like what I have read of Whyte and his wife – a breath of fresh air. But my instincts are that that will be his downfall, and that he will not be long in political world as a result. Fresh air and openness such as that expressed by Whyte to date rarely survives the cut and thrust of politics.
As for “Your rule is bad and you should feel bad”, LOL. How old are you? 8 years old sprung to mind. It is actually quite good advice, and I don’t feel bad.
Oh, I don’t approve of personality politics. There’s a difference between approving it and noticing that it does seem to work.
I find it amusing you think one single photo of him sticking his tongue out will be his downfall. Not wanting to repeal all employment laws, nope, just this photo.
And “your _ is bad and you should feel bad” is a reference that is now 11 years old. So if I was 8, I wouldn’t even have been born when it entered internet discourse.
Your entire response to that comment is flawed with: “Because it gets who you want into power?”
I’m currently going to vote Labour, albeit reluctantly. Probably. Maybe… I don’t know. I’m a floating voter.
That’s doesn’t change the fact that it’s “good politics” (in a strategical sense). It’s bad governance, policy, humanity, but if politics is a contest to win the election, it’s good politics.
Politics isn’t some high-minded ideal. I wish it was. But it never will be. Democracy isn’t designed in a way to punish people who practice the Dark Arts.
Francis Urquhart will always be there in politics.
Hmm it appears that in your definition of ‘politics’ – a type of strategy without regard for the effects that strategy has on the system – it would be ‘good politics’ for example, for you to say that you were ‘reluctantly voting for Labour’ when in fact you have no such intention – rather it is just something for you to say so that people think you are somewhat ‘on their side’ and remain more receptive to your comments.
“Politics isn’t some high minded ideal”
Well clearly not according to you, yet you and I both experience the direct benefits right now and every day from those who in the past have acted politically with some high-minded ideals in mind – so I don’t think it is very high minded of you to dismiss such a notion out of hand.
This is merely discussion. This isn’t some argument. I can’t win. I don’t get a prize for besting you all in debate. Money doesn’t sprout from my computer screen.
This is politics
It is a discussion about politics
What is so ‘awfully silly’?
That I suggest you might pay the type of political games that you say you don’t like yet appear to think effective?
Or that I imply politics can be about high-minded ideals by suggesting that we experience benefits from those who followed high-minded ideals in the past?
I guess you were simply referring to your notion of being denied a prize and money spouting from your computer screen.
@ DG You can try and frame it as racism …”Weird” and “SUSPICIOUS” are better words!
It is very WEIRD ….this UK Cambridge philosopher import…suddenly jetted in and INSERTED into NZ politics to rack up support for the dying/dead horse Neo Lib ACT Party….and SUSPICIOUS!
ACT’s revival which in turn John Keys National Party depends on to be re-elected…
(especially as Key has been caught continually spying on Winston … illegally? and certainly illegitimately…..Winston who wont be going into coalition with Key after this violation of his privacy)
You’re lumping in different cultures (Mrs Whyte is west African) and Polynesian and saying that Mrs Whyte looked genuine. The assertion in your comment being that sticking your tongue out and having darker skin than a Caucasian is all you need to do to look genuinely Polynesian.
Which is offensive on several different levels.
So yeah, I’m going to call you out for the racism.
You’re lumping in different cultures (Mrs Whyte is west African) and Polynesian and saying that Mrs Whyte looked genuine. The assertion in your comment being that sticking your tongue out and having darker skin than a Caucasian is all you need to do to look genuinely Polynesian.
Well, he or she could mean that they appear to be going for the Pūkana in a misguided attempt to ingratiate themselves.
you are an idiot DG….i stick out my tongue a lot ( as a sign of disrespect to authority…usually behind their backs ) and I have Maori ancestry ….so dont project your British Oxford / Cambridge colonialist put down ‘racist’ crap on me!( …..poking tongue out to you at present time)…get worried when Maori turn their backs to you , lift up their skirts and bare their buttocks ….and …give you a great big BROWN EYE!
…i was just as saying she looked real and comfortable sticking out her tongue and he didnt…nothing racist about it !
….and I still think it is weird and suspicious him jetting in from UK Cambridge …..to try and revive the NZ political dead horse ACT!
” effectively acknowledge that Michael Cullen had done something right in his stewardship of the Government’s finances in the past nine years.
Having condemned his predecessor for many years for paying off debt too quickly, English said: “I want to stress that New Zealand starts from a reasonable position in dealing with the uncertainty of our economic outlook.”
“In New Zealand we have room to respond. This is the rainy day that Government has been saving up for,” he told reporters at the Treasury briefing on the state of the economy and forecasts.
English pointed to a graph of the debt track since 1972 and projected five years out from today.
The recent low was 17 per cent of GDP and the ghastly projection for 2013 is 33.1 per cent and possibly worse, under what Treasury calls a “downside scenario” – 38.6 per cent.
Unemployment is forecast to rise to 6.4 per cent in 2010 and deficits forecast to be $2.4 billion to $3.5 billion larger over the 2010 to 2013 years than forecast just before the election.
In the midst of the horrible outlook and depressing uncertainty about how bad it might get, English was forced to change his message about his inheritance from Labour because it was more important to inject some sense of positivity into the situation. He needed to do it for both political reasons and for real financial reasons.
As Labour finance spokesman David Cunliffe said yesterday, too much negativity could drive confidence down even further.
Of the plan that Cunliffe demanded of English today, the Finance Minister said: “The plan in essence is quite simple, that is to maintain significant short-term stimulus in the economy, to protect people from the sharp edge of recession and secondly to get on with the job of raising our longer term growth prospects…with some urgency.”
Tax cuts are on the way; decisions will be made in the New Year on which infrastructure projects will be brought forward and English and Prime Minister John Key will be meeting chief executives of Government departments this afternoon to give them the bad news: don’t ask for any more money in Budget 2009 because you won’t get it.”
But talking of such rogues [quotes from ODT link below]:
Two boats, a 14m commercial fishing vessel and a smaller pleasure boat, both draped with banners from pro-drilling group ProGas Otago, sat just off St Clair Beach while an anti-drilling protest was held on the beach. The Otago Surfing Championships and Otago Surf Life Saving Championships were also being held nearby.
It is understood that while the boats were there surf life-savers received unconfirmed reports from surfers there was something in the water and that fish guts were being thrown from the boats, which surfers were concerned could attract sharks.
Witnesses saw surf life-savers speak to the men on the boats, the larger of which was shortly afterwards seen doing what witnesses described as ”donuts” in the water. When contacted, Grant Godbaz, secretary of the South Coast Boardriders Association, which was hosting the Otago Surfing Championships, said the incident was a ”recipe for disaster”.
He said the boat did its turns within about 20m of surfers, who were genuinely concerned for their safety.
Thanks for that Pasupial – the picture painted by the actions of the oil pushers speaks a thousand words about their attitudes toward the lives of others; and shows they are the type of people who shouldn’t be listened to.
I don’t want to paint too bleak a picture; on the beach we could barely read their banners on the boats. Utterly irresponsible action by the Juggernaut captain regarding the surfers though.
For balance here are some links to articles about the Banners on the Beach about Waipounamu/ South:
Even though the numbers in the ODT have been upgraded from 300 (Saturday) to 500+, that’s only 5% of what it needs to be:
“University of Otago physics Associate Professor Bob Lloyd… believed 2000 protesters would be needed at Moeraki, 10,000 at Dunedin and 100,000 at an Auckland protest to make an impact on decision making.”
Just watched paul henry enabling john key in a supposed talk about policies of 2014. You can see why they got henry back on. Nothing of any consequence but strictly to make key look good. “Yup, I did just say yup to obama”. God give me strength. What a tragic puff piece. I had read a romantic homage to key by prebble who stated that key didn’t talk about anything political while on golf course but here key is saying he did discuss some issues. They need to get on the same song sheet. Also tragic simon bridges trying to be belittling and sneering about Green’s policy of solar power on houses. Doesn’t work, he just looks and sounds silly trotting out the standard unoriginal “just printing money” snigger. However he is good for a chuckle.
American billionaires are flooding PBS and NPR with “documentaries” with titles like “Pension Peril” and “Unintended Consequences: Evils of the Welfare System”.
millions of unsuspecting viewers wholly unaware that the PBS “reporting” they are watching is not objective news, but instead an ideological advertisement funded by a billionaire trying to manipulate public policy
+1 ianmac. The psychological study of trolling is interesting indeed. Nice tie in with topic du jour of Supreme Troll whale oil and photo op’s with people that really shouldn’t be seen with him, if decency prevailed – which clearly it doesn’t in Camp Gnat.
Laughs out loud from this mornings ‘Matty and Mike show’ on Nine to Noon this morning, the final word went to Hooton,
”Russell Normans just announced policy is a good one”, that should have the Beehives 9th floor apoplectic with rage, more than one of this mornings lamington’s may have become a deadly device seemingly designed as a tool of aphyxsiation by a terrorist organization despicably disguised as the local tuck shop,
What tittilation of angst, anger, or, arrogance will the spin-meisters of the 9th floor try this week to try and regain the political initiative from the Opposition,
Bridges effort last night via the TV3News was akin to the little child lost in the wilderness beseeching calling for His mummy,
”Its printing money”, ”its printing money” simply proving to the Sunday night audience that Slippery the Prime Minister isn’t lacking for competition when it comes to having a vast area of vacant space upstairs in the cranial cavity…
Yep saw Bridges. I thought he might be a bit drunk as his weird accent seemed even weirder. Subsidy indeed? National have given $30mil to Rio, millions to Skycity, and millions for the Green’s house insulation scheme, millions in subsidy to the Film Industry and according to Matthew millions to the meat industry very recently. Hypocrisy is rampant.
Inquiry into the Government’s decision to negotiate with SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited for an international convention centre.
………………
1: The Auditor-General has a small shareholding in SkyCity so she has not been involved in this inquiry.
New Zealand Auditor-General Lyn Provost fails to disclose this rather significant ‘conflict of interest’ when I ask her to conduct an urgent inquiry into the failure of OFCANZ to do ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Centre Bill:
On 21 November 2013
I have received your email and will consider your request.
Lyn Provost
21 November 2013
I want an URGENT investigation by the OAG into the failure of OFCANZ to do ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Centre Bill (not sure if it yet has Royal Assent).
This Treasury reply confirms that OFCANZ come under Police – which are a ‘Public Entity’.
18 Inquiries by Auditor-General
(1)The Auditor-General may inquire, either on request or on the Auditor-General’s own initiative, into any matter concerning a public entity’s use of its resources.
………………..
On 31 January 2014, I received this reply from New ZealandAuditor-General Lyn Provost, to my question ‘are you still a shareholder in Sky City’:
Penny
There is no change in position from June 2012.
Lyn Provost
Lyn Provost, Controller and Auditor-General
Office of the Auditor-General Te Mana Arotake
Level 2, 100 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011
PO Box 3928, Wellington 6140
Again – file under – ‘You Couldn’t Make This Sh*t Up’!
Please note that there will be a LOT more to come on this matter….
I read that donkeyotey referrred to Kiwis in Oz as guest workers and reciprocal pensions as nice to haves.
Well he might as well realise that he is just a guest prime ministrer and will be a nice to have get gone.
And as soon as the smart people in the National party realise that key and slater and the rest are the precursors to a gangster state then the sooner the country can get back to business.
I was thinking about likes and buttons under the comments and thought that I couldn’t see their value here. But I thought again and put a para in one of my random comments. I’ll put it here so it might get counted in the thinking on this.
Perhaps we do need ‘likes’ for the comments, so that those who do the work and present information, know that they have been looked at and the work read and absorbed, and importantly that interest has been taken, even if no-one feels it is necessary to respond with a plus, an icon or a comment.
I’ll have a look around for one that I can configure to show likes only.
I also have to make sure that it doesn’t cause too much extra load on the database server. Caching in the memcache and/or the database query cache would be the ideal.
Thanks lprent There were quite a few comments for and against which I understand but have decided that what you suggested above would be justified, would need numbers I think though.
And that’s really all that is needed, a button that increases number of ‘reads’. That count would be feedback and encouraging for those trying to add to our spectrum of knowledge input.
I thought I wanted likes/dislikes but after looking at some other sites it did influence my view of what I read negatively so changed my mind. Likes would be good though.
Do not know if this is easy but collapsable trees for threads would be good. Like Thunderbird has for e-mail conversations. Makes it easier to follow a particular thread and comment on the right one. The numbering is useful to a point but fails once a thread gets long.
What does like or like/dislike do for any conversation? I couldn’t give a fuck if somebody ‘likes’ something I’m saying – I want to know their thoughts on the matter in question.
And if there’s no response, then either everyone reading it agrees….everyone reading it thinks it’s bullshit/unrelated or whatever….or nobody’s reading it. Doesn’t really matter which of those scenarios is the accurate one on any given comment, does it?
edit example – Joe90 doesn’t tend to attract follow up comment, but from the occasions that they do, it’s probably reasonable to assume a fair few people click through to the links provided.
Just a heads up if anyone is interested in attending a lecture from Natalie Nicholles – an economics consultant from NEF – New Economics Foundation (London).
Auckland Council is hosting her talk within the Auckland Conversations programme, and it is free to attend. Just register on their site. Wed 26th Feb, Town Hall @ 5.30pm.
NEF tagline is “Economics as if people and the planet mattered”. Some of their publications have been discussed on The Standard in the past.
Update: Event is full, waitlist is all you get now.
thanks for the link. read some of the site and have bookmarker it. liked this. how refreshing
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The drought, Brazil’s worst in decades, is a catastrophe.
In economic terms, it was the fourth-worst natural disaster to hit the planet last year, costlier than even the western United States drought, for a total cost of almost $9 billion, according to insurance analyst Aon Benfield, which researches natural disasters worldwide.
Not much of it, weka. The area called the sertão has had droughts since forever. There are aquifers, but unless you’re a local politician, you don’t have the money to get at the water. When you fly over that area, you see brown with a few lush patches now and then. That’s how you know where the local “colonels” live. There’s not much agroindustry in that area, which is the Northeast of Brazil. The agroindustry is in the South, Southeast, and Central West of the country. Even further north, near the Amazon rainforest, the farming has not really been industrialised. They clear the forest and plant for a couple of years before it loses all the nutrients.
What is new is that the PT (Worker’s Party) trucks in some water, so that at least the people survive. Despite all their problems, they have lifted many people out of absolute poverty. This is why I have no time for anyone who says they are just the same as the other parties.
There is some evidence that climate change is making the droughts worse, but the sertão has not been terraformed. It’s basically like it was 200 years ago.
Thanks for posting that joe90. It was funny hearing the rural accent of the Northeast again. Last time I was there, I looked at raising some money to put a well down in one of the villages, but I wasn’t successful. Maybe one day.
Cast your mind back, if you are able, to the era B.NACT (Before NACT).
You know, the period that English lauded for its good financial management.
It was also the period when the RWNJ’s were decrying MMP for installing a government dog being wagged by its tail.
So we get Charter Schools. I cannot recall the philosophy being shouted from the rooftops by any of the 58 National MPs. In fact the movement belonged entirely to ACT. Yet, it would appear, their one mp, the soon to be disgraced Banks, has Hekia Parata and Key so tightly by the fuzzies that she and some of her cronies appear to believe that the schools are the best thing since sliced bread…
@ logie 97….not so much Banks as private PR company lobbyists…..Catherine Isaacs (former Roger Kerr and what was the Round Table) in cahoots with USA business interests…this is what ACT is all about …overseas business interests that want to get their reptilian pincers into New Zealand and its assets
Or maybe Colin Craig is trying to stay relevant the only way he knows how – by jumping in to the mud and shouting “Look at me!” because he has nothing substantive to add
I think it’s the right thing to do, Craig’s being discriminated against by the certain factions of left because he’s a Christian.
Unless he jumps on it, the left will keep pushing the he’s a Christian therefore he’s homophobic and a misogynist, which in all probability is blatant lie.
I’d say Craig is pretty pissed with Norman trying to drag his name through the mud, which is why he’s taking action.
Russell needs to engage his brain before opening his mouth, expensive mistake to make for the Ocker.
Well if you’d heard Colin Craig talking to Mary Wilson on Checkpoint this afternoon you’d know that his resolve to pursue Russel Norman is because apparently Norman has been saying things that will make people “feel negatively” about him. Provoking negative feelings ? Hardly, indeed decidedly not, actionable. Is this a Judith Collins stunt which like hers re Little and Mallard will be played and played then dropped effectively ? Probably right up to the election for the playing and thereafter for the dropping ?
You seem to be getting that feeling a lot, lately.
Given that a court case would be good news for norman on purely political grounds, might I suggest that you’re simply projecting the worries you have for the polished turd we have as pm? Much of the glitter is falling off.
I mean, if you thought that the opposition leaders weren’t a threat to the government, you’d be gloating about how sad it was that they are the best labgrn have to choose leaders from. But by trying to foment infighting and paranoia, you’re just conceding that the election is in doubt for wee Johnny no-Mates.
—Moon-landing denier, kiddy-whacker and gay-baiter COLIN CRAIG, speaking to Mary Wilson Checkpoint, Radio NZ National, Monday 17 February 2014, 5:20 p.m.
More liars….
No. 39 George W. Bush: “We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled.”
No. 38 Jeremy Hansen: “I read a great column by Paul Thomas in the Herald….”
No. 37 Alan Seay: “You know, we respect the rights of people to protest….”
No. 36 Paul Dykzeul: “No we won’t be changing the Listener; it’s got a terrific editor….”
No. 35 Mark Jennings: “I think Paul’s a bright guy and he will be able to bring a discipline to his performance….”
No. 34 Willie Jackson: “I thought we’d been sensitive with her yesterday….”
No. 33 Supt. Bill Searle: “I think what’s happened here is the police officers have done their very best….”
No. 32 Sonny-Bill Williams: “It’s good to get the win over Papua-New Guinea, a strong Papua-New Guinea side, aahhhh….”
No. 31 John Palino: “Suggestions that I am somehow orchestrating some grand right-wing conspiracy to unseat Len after the election are so wrong…”
No. 30 Alan Dershowitz: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
No. 28 John Kerry: “…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No. 13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Craig’s defamation suit is further proof his party will sink at these elections. Far worse will be said about him further down the track and if he’s going to take umbrage at things like that then wait till the politicians and media really start attacking him.
Which leaves Key’s coalition hydra short one head.
the thing is, craig can either win or lose.
Norman can either win or lose.
If norman loses, craig looks petty and norman takes a wee hit in the polls, but craigs a dick so not too much of a hit.
If craig loses, he looks even nuttier and norman’s opinions are seen to be confirmed (even though that might not be the actual determination of the case).
And then there’s the fact that craig is now a politician, which raises his case’s difficulty level.
I think it’s one of those situations where Norman can’t lose – because no matter what happens, he is only alienating the extreme right with his stated view of Colin Craig. It shouldn’t affect Green Party support whatsoever and only serves to highlight the rabid foaming attack poodle that is Colin Craig.
is colin craig constipated or does he have trouble with his y-fronts and his zipper. anyway to quote that old kids rhyme he should jump into the closet three times and only come out twice!
I saw it too. Sometimes it’s just that an author publishes a post earlier than they intended, hitting the publish button by mistake. Maybe he hasn’t finished writing or editing the post yet…?
Ok, enough is enough, your not normally this long in compling a list of thrush, and all my others faults you deem me to have. I shall save you the bother. I shall offski for self imposed exile in KiwiLog.
I picked this up from the Blog list at the side of the page. Some comments on possible changes at Kiwibank on-line set up wondering whether they are in the best interests of the bank and the country. I hope that we don’t have some little Kiwi manager thinking that he/she has to recommend a big overseas company because that will make them look sophisticated and important and possibly cheap.
The ideal solution is, of course, for Kiwibank to wake up to the very strong local development talent, hire them in and give them true power and air cover to reinvent banking, piece by piece and digital-first. It’s that approach is good enough for the entire UK government, it’s good enough for a tiny antipodean retail bank.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
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WTF? They voted for this? A charter school receives state funding of $19,664 a student compared to the average state and integrated school funding of $7000 a student.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11203597&ref=mobile
comparing the funding of a small charter school, to the “average” state funding of all public schools is rather disingenuous at best. Given a new state school and a new charter school of the same size, both schools will be funded exactly the same.
Wrong. These private schools need far more funding than public schools because they have to take their cut of profits.
And millions of public tax payers money has already been poured into promoting these profit making private schools.
Just total waste, a money sucking exercise by privateers, enabled by the National Government.
Wrong. Once again, public schools and charter schools are both funded in the same way.
You’re a fucking liar. Or a sophist. Regardless. FOR PROFIT charter schools either get paid more, or they take SHORT CUTS to cheapen kids’ educations.
So which is it?
Fuck off dickhead. You are the liar. What part of “get funded the same” can’t you get your fucking thick head around. Jesus, arguing with cats makes more sense than you do sometimes.
Meh. You’re an untrustworthy neoliberal shill. Same neolib formula of taking public money and pocketing it for private profit. Its not even creative, its cookie cutter.
I think the term you’re looking for C.V is pirates. Oh they may have letters of marque, don’t change what they are.
Schrillglands go back to propaganda school 5 eyed f/wit
How does $18,000 odd per pupil work out cheaper than $6,000 to $7,000 per pupil.
They don’t get more funding than public schools.
Anway, profit signals drive the economy, and these signals are important for the efficient operation of markets. We should have more for profit providers in education. Over teh next decade that will happen. There is no alternative.
the economy is a part of the world not the other way round
or..
education isnt about settings up competition for the sake of profit
what drives good education isnt the same thing which drives good business
Here Srylands, I fixed it for you:
Anyway, manipulation of profit signals by vested interests drive the economy into the ground, and thus it is important that these signals are not taken as the be all and end all of how we organise our society . We should remove the profit motive from education. Over the next decade that will happen. There is no alternative.
No you are wrong.
Don’t try to frighten us with your sorcerer’s ways, SSpylands. Your sad devotion to that ancient Free Market religion has not helped you conjure up a single supporting fact, or given you enough clairvoyance to make reliable predictions.
Hmmmmm reminds me of Governor Tarkin chiding Lord Vader…
not quite – the reply was “I find your lack of faith disturbing”, then T stepped in to stop DV mime-choking the only yank at the table. Fecking pc-gone-mad Tarkin and his wuss liberal intelligensia ways 🙂
@ Srylands
No you are
[That is the problem with comments lacking any justification: two can play at that game 🙂 ]
Your comment seems incredibly well justified, blue leopard. The rubbish that the 5 eyed monkey taps out randomly, on the other hand……
The problem with arseholes like Shitlands and Andrew is that they have been tasked with destroying any basis for fact based discussion.
To them, lies and facts are completely interchangeable and their only preference is the one which wins the oligarchs more power and money.
So i am an asshole now for telling the truth? You know when you have well and truly got the better of you when you resort to that kind of crap.
show me i’m wrong, show me where charter schools get more money than state schools. and don’t give me that start up costs bollocks that DTB did below, because state schools are able to get start-up costs as well.
Of course you’re telling lies.
Private sector enterprises are motivated by profits, and these ones especially by taking tax payers money and putting them into privateer’s pockets.
It is yet another transfer of public monies away from public institutions into the private sector. Yet another re-run of the neoliberal formula that we have seen time and time again.
so that’s a no then on the show me i’m wrong call. good to know, thanks for playing.
Hey you smug shit, we all know what you K Street Righties are up to.
Private for profit organisations where public monies are going into privateers hands.
Thanks, but we’ve seen this same neoliberal episode over and over again.
Charter schools will be a nice little earner for an entrepreneur/s, and they can be kept not-for-profit because the people running them will ensure that they take a nice big amount in salary and have useful vehicles that can be owned by the school , and possibly they will have a company that owns the furniture and then the school can lease it back from them.
Now that’s a good one, there is a profit on top of the cost price made when leasing the furniture to the school, and the lease costs are paid by the school year after year back to the private company.
Some charter schools may achieve much but it appears that there won’t be the same surveillance and bureaucratic checks on the teachers as there are in state schools, or on the running of the schools. What will come out in ten to twenty years will be some doozy stories. Some children will be glorified by their success, and some would be villified if anyone knew what dodgy methods had been adopted. ‘Power, unchecked, tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.’
Yep. Brilliant. Leasing computers and tablets, office space; admin staff and cleaners all well above minimum wage and all friends and family.
You see these arent real “entrepreneurs”. They are merely old fashioned scammers and rorters. The basis of the modern neolib Right Wing.
@ Murray Olsen
Oops, thanks, yes you are quite correct – the comment I made can be justified. Indeed, I should have written that I wasn’t providing any- not that it was lacking justification. 🙂
Why does a private for-profit business need state funding?
That is a question that i don’t really know the answer to. But at a guess, I would say it is because they are aiming at teaching and helping the lowest 20% of achievers. The majority of whom are from impoverished backgrounds who’s parents are unable to afford as actual “private” education.
But as it said, a complete guess.
What you really mean is that you don’t want to admit the reason why they need state funding – they want the guaranteed profits that state funding provide.
no, that is not what i really mean thanks very much. i thought putting words into other people mouths is a ban-able offence on this site.
there is no guaranteed profit, they are funded in the same way that public schools are. if they meet their obligations and student performance is as expected, and they can make a profit then good on them. i very much doubt there will be large profits, and if so i would be certain that you would see the funding models changed to reflect that.
Your rationale is a fictional nonsense.
The only reason these shitty outfits exists is to divert funds out of the tax payers pockets into private hands, exactly as per the US charter schools model.
Lets assume they are funded the same way. How would they then make any profit? They’d need to do something cheaper than the state system or alternatively obtain funding from other sources. Right?
So if they do it cheaper what does that mean to your mind?
Funding from other sources? Why then do they want the same state funding?
You’ll need to explain how charter schools (with any profit motive) will provide better education? I do not see how it is possible.
If it is a not for profit then presumably it is some sort of special interest school. The thing that special interest schools have that the state system does not is they get to choose pupils so do not need to provide the same level of social service. For this privilege they should not receive the same level of state funding. I think they should receive some as I’ll assume the parents still pay taxes but not to the same level as the state system.
How would they then make any profit?
i don’t know. they may not actually be driven by profit. I guess when the first charter school makes a profit we will see how they did it and if it had any negative effect on educational outcomes.
You’ll need to explain how charter schools (with any profit motive) will provide better education? I do not see how?
sorry man, no idea. I don’t work in education so ill leave it to them. All i was doing was pointing out the inaccuracies of the first comment around funding levels.
The thing that special interest schools have that the state system does not is they get to choose pupils
I was not aware of this. I was under the impression that one of the reasons they get funded the same is that they cannot turn away any child that applies.
If you are correct, then i agree they should not get funded the same.
They aren’t funded the same.
They are funded to ensure that the privateers make profits and to siphon money away from public institutions.
Its the same multi-decade neoliberal episode rerun over and over again.
and to add to that:
charter schools will receive per-pupil funding from the government just like regular state schools do, however, they will be established and operated by “non-profit, community organisations including Iwi and Pacific Island groups, school trustees, faith-based educational organisations, and not-for-profit and for-profit management groups.”
what are charter schools?
i think the key is in the words “not-for-profit”. There are also “for profit management groups”, but as i said, i doubt there will be large profits and the majority will be not-for-proffit.
I didn’t put words in your mouth – I just translated what you said. And, yes, that is actually what you said once the full paragraph was taken into account.
If that was true then these schools wouldn’t be getting huge, upfront start-up costs covered by the government which they don’t have to pay back.
/facepalm
The owners of Sanitarium is a not-for-profit group but Sanitarium makes a huge profit.
Maxim.org
Another multinational millionaire funded right wing neoliberal economics think tank
Fuck your K-Street kind and the horse you rode in on.
herald cartoonist ‘nails’ my concerns about the banning of the rap-group…
..as in..whose next..?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11203620
phillip ure..
Well legit refugees are next! They plan on putting them in a Fijian Jail – its the final solution
Methinks you missed the irony in that cartoon phil… “First they banned some misogynist thugs, and I did not object because I was not a misogynist thug.”
“..as in..whose next..?”
Hopefully anyone else with a recent history of actively inciting violence and hatred against women.
ah..well..if they need a permanent member of the banning-committee..
..i’m sure you’d be up for it..eh..?
..you might even get a uniform..
..or at the very least..some epaulets and an insignia..
..eh..?
..and is there a little glow of self-satisfaction/mutual-back-slapping amongst you all..?
..’we sure stopped them..from performing..!’..
..and then..’who shall we target next..?..quick..!..someone get the gig-guide..!..and a song-lyrics website..!
..we’ll start in the sixties..and move forward from there..!..
..let’s set up an email-tree..!..’
..and you a green..?..eh..?
..whoar..!..
..so that eco-fascist label does apply..?..
.i always thought it was just a rightwing slur..
..and those stockings of yours are so very very blue..aren’t they..?
..for a green..
..phillip ure..
Bloody hell, forgot to have your morning bong?
-Artistic freedom comes with responsibilities, it’s not a licence to be reckless-
and which minor beaurucrat gets to decide what is ‘responsible’..
..and what is not not ‘reckless’..?
..(i mean..are you bloody listening to yrslf/ves..?..)
phillip ure..
Inciting violence is reckless. Rappers using a concert and Twitter to urge fans to harass a woman who objected to their act is reckless.
Keith was/is reckless with his own health. If immigration suspected he was going to traffic drugs into the country he may have been turned down also.
If you have/are busted for possession of drugs the U.S. may deny you access to their shores.
“..Inciting violence is reckless..”
the rolling stones:..streetfighting man..?
“..the time is right for violent revolution..’
a list of other artists as long as yr arm..
..phillip ure..
You keep concentrating on lyrics, but immigration didn’t deny Odd Future entry because of their lyrics. The reasons given were <a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/236110/rappers-banned-from-entering-nz">Inciting violence and for using a concert and Twitter to urge fans to harass a woman who objected to their act.
stop trying to ‘egg’ it..
..this was an exercise in moral-panic/censorship..
..nothing more..
..nothing less..
..and the further the distance gets from it..
..the more shabby it will seem..
..and..who are you targeting next..?
..and why didn’t you target eminem..?
..you fucken hypocrites..!
..phillip ure..
🙄
I now believe you when you (all too often) proudly state that you fried your brain with crack.
@ fender..
..really..?..that’s all you’ve got..?
..slaggng me over my drug/crack-habits of 20 + yrs ago..?
..oh well..that’s clearly you/this argument done and dusted..eh..?
..a retreat into wholesale ad-hom always signifies that..
..phil 1..fender zip..
..(and..have a history of using/getting out of it’..on alcohol..do you..?..
..no brain-damage there tho’..eh..?..
..you blue-stockinged/book-burning hypocrite/fool..you..!..)
..phillip ure..
When you keep going off on a tangent and won’t consider the ACTUAL reasons immigration turned them down I’m left thinking you did fry your brain. What else should I think? You can’t read properly?
“..phil 1..fender zip..”
If it’s points you are looking for, here have 20, you want a gram with that?
Immigration had their reasons, they stated them. Accept their reasons or go fight the perceived injustice with them.
as a final word to fender..
..you and bad are as bad as the worst of the bottom-dwellers @ the kiwiblog-swamp..
..and that shit you are so bravely slinging from yr positions of anonymity..
..is just really splattering right back all over yr anonymous selves..eh..?
..read yr words..then go read the shit there..
..and see how you would be so much more at home there..
..there are so many more of yr sort..there..
..and i did say that was a ‘final’ word..
..you can now go and stand with bad in the fuck-off-corner..
..eh..?
..like with him..
..i can’t be bothered dealing with a fucken intellectual-vaccuum..
..phillip ure..
“Final word”
Good, fuck off you idiot. McFlock summed you up perfectly last week when he called you a “sanctimonious prick”.
Wail-oil will be glad to have you around, someone more pig-headed than himself.
Phillis, Phillis, wah wah wah, i describe you as having the intellect of a four year old below and you turn around and prove it,
One moment it’s ”wah wah wah you don’t play nice and i am now going to toss my toys and ignore you”,
Next???, you continue with your pointless diatribe in the comment above, the filthy smack head junkies curse, a rotten brain certainly has exhibited a growing case of this in yourself in the last couple of days,
Your drivel is as pointless as your whole life seems to have been…
i wonder what dave dobbyn thinks about all this..?
..given his long record as an osr..
..an ‘old-skool-reckless’..?
..and how about those talking heads..?
..’burning down the house’..(!)
..now..if that isn’t an incitement to the young/dumb/impressionable to engage in serial-arson..
..i’m a blue-stockinged-censor..!
..i ban..therefore i am..?
..phillip ure..
But who decides the limits of that freedom or what is art for that matter
well, is inciting violence and harassment “art”? Maybe it could be.
Is armed robbery “art”? Maybe it could be.
But if I say my actions are “art”, does that mean every country needs to grant me a visa despite those actions?
In this case Immigration NZ did. In another case as Karol illustrates the courts did
Phillis, a four year old’s explanation of why we should be promoting violence???…
Wow, an actual, genuine invoking of Godwin’s Law and a slew of ad hominems in the absense of any addressing of the actual issues. And in the first reply no less. That’s pretty bad even by your standards phil.
Phillis doesn’t address the ‘issue’, choosing instead to try and drag the ‘issue’ into a constantly moving panorama of whatever neurons happen to be creating that buzzing noise inside of His cranial cavity at any given point in time,
Exactly the same as trying to have a debate with a four year old where the topic is above the child’s intellectual level, the twists and turns such a debate take are both hilarious and bizarre…
screw yr ‘godwins’-law’..(that silencing false-construct/cliche)
..you act like a book-burning fascist..
..and i’ll call you a book-burning fascist..
..and how is that lyrics-website ‘reckless–language search going..?
..or are they the only ones..?
..the rolling stones are coming soon..
..whoar..!
..’holy rolling-stones ‘reckless’-lyrics..!..batman..!..”
..quick..!..to the email-tree…!
..and like i said before..and you a green..eh..?
..what is the green party position/policy on book-burning/banning of ‘reckless’-lyrics/lyricists..?
..or are you just a reactionary outlier in that party..?
..i bloody hope it’s the latter..
phillip ure..
didyaknow keith richards got busted for smuggling a load of smack into toronto..?
..and that he has been a ‘reckless’ role-model for impressionable young new zealanders..
..since forever..?
..where will you draw the ‘reckless’-line..?
..phillip ure..
I am looking forward to seeing this photo of the new Act leader and his wife on ACT party billboards in the lead-up to the general election
https://twitter.com/RachelGlucinaNZ/status/434931063664545793/photo/1/large
Yesterday in the Herald’s Diary corporate box. Apparently the Diary (Rachel Glucina) had a separate box from the Herald’s main corporate box.
And another great photo of “in people” in the Diary box at the Nines yesterday. Another one for billboards.
https://twitter.com/RachelGlucinaNZ/status/434941700776009728/photo/1/large
veutoviper, those images are a disturbing start to the day, over toast and coffee. Especially photo number two which made me almost choke on a crumb as I gasped in horror.
They look made for each other, don’t they
two peas in a pod…………..
The horror! WhaleSpew and Pullyer Benefit.
ACT has a real talent for off publicity pics, “Hillary’s Eyes” on the brothel billboard and John Boscawen balancing a lammington on his bonce and now another shaved bump head as leader to make a gruesome set with “Hideolini”.
exactly!
Sorry, Rosie. I really felt the need to record these photos for posterity – and possible other uses in the months to come.
It is a slight follow-on to a discussion some of us (including Karol, Murray Olsen) had over the weekend on the ‘interesting’ bubble of MSM journalists and others that have ongoing interaction on Twitter – some of which is very revealing in respect of sources of information, allegiances etc and biases of The Herald for example. This included discussion on Glucina (The Herald’s gossip columnist) being the one to first publish Norman’s and Peters’ visits to KDC.
My comment on that thread which included the fact that Judith Collins and Nikki Kaye had been in Glucina’s Diary corporate box on Satureday is here
http://thestandard.org.nz/john-key-blogsters-and-the-dotcom-leaks/#comment-773616
Glucina’s Twitter account also includes photos of Collins and Kaye in the box on Saturday.
https://twitter.com/RachelGlucinaNZ
But the two photos I posted today are much more mind-blowing.
Have to giggle at the little bio at the top of Rachel’s Twits page, buried in the middle is this little gem,”No special Talent”,
A perfect epithet for the majority of the Heralds Jonolists, ”No special Talents” should be the motto of what has become an in-august purveyor of sleaze with the inclusion of ”Rachel”,
So, Slippery and the National Party Ministers now have besides ‘wail oils’ Blubber boy another source with which to have filth injected into the political discourse, very convenient for this election year,
The danger here for National is that the Wellington rumor mill does and always has fits and starts of ‘hot gossip’ over various MP’s indiscretions very little of which sees the light of day and becoming quickly overtaken by the next piece of salacious gossip,
If the Herald wants to have a gossip columnist run a National Party ‘dirt’ campaign on it’s opposition then it runs the risk of having all the filth of who is up who and who is not paying splashed all over Wellington in poster form…
“If the Herald wants to have a gossip columnist run a National Party ‘dirt’ campaign on it’s opposition then it runs the risk of having all the filth of who is up who and who is not paying splashed all over Wellington in poster form…”
That’s true! A few are already thinking along the lines of another Manners Mall “Pants on Fire” approach. The Natzis should really start thinking whether or not their dirt campaign is worth it – given their various pieces of dirty linen.
… but then they really are so arrogant, and believe they have an entire state apparatus under their control, they might try it on.
I bet the likes of Boger, McKinnon and various others (I think it was mentioned in passing somewhere on another thread a while ago) are starting to think they’re well out of the cesspit that the National Party has become.
Looking at your comment on the Blogsters thread, veto.
My choice of words re Key “throwing Slater to the wind” – note I wrote “wind” not wolves. It was risky, but clearly Key would prefer to talk about that rather than his role in surveillance activities. Putting it out on the “wind” means it is left to float about without knowing where it will land or the consequences – could disappear from sight, or it could result in lasting damage to Key.
With you, Karol. My “time will tell” was meant along the same lines as you say – will it disappear from sight or will it result in lasting damage to Key. My money is on is the latter. Slater is such a wild card, that this could all backfire badly.
I wasted more time as a voyeur on Twitter last night and there are a number of MSM journalists whose noses are out of joint as a result of (a) Glucina, a gossip columnist, scooping them on the Peters’ etc visits; and (b) Key stating that he talks with Slater regularly. Not a good move by Key to put these people offside.
Glucina and Slater have not been good friends in the past (to put it mildly) and this is well documented, so their apparently good relationship now is a subject of discussion/derision on the Twitter bubble, particularly with Slater’s attendance in the Diary corporate box yesterday. Apparently Glucina has been a long time supporter of Key and they also talk. And so it goes on,
It all feels like an ongoing soap opera – leaving one wondering what surprises, twists etc this week’s episodes will bring.
Life and politics is indeed often like a soap opera.
The Glucina-Key link is an interesting one – and it is “neoliberal” to the core.
The thing about the whole “neoliberal” revolution in the 1980s and beyond, is that it has been cleverly multi-pronged: changing the centre of politics, as well as wider discourses,values and attitudes via the news media, education system, the entertainment media, etc.
They intensified or increased the whole infotainment thing – so news became more entertaining, but also, so that”neoliberal” values became more firmly embeded within entertainment generally.
Indeed, indeed.
Have a vet appointment soon (one of my dogs, not me) but will search out the Key-Glucina link again when I return.
Re the whole infotainment thing – personality politics is part and parcel of this; and links in with my discourse with Disreali Gladstone further down this thread.
Must go for now…
No need to apologise veutoviper 🙂
You alert us to these disturbing images in the name of service to the Greater Good. I didn’t get a chance to read that article that you linked to, but read your comments and had a squizz at the twit photo’s posted by this Glucina person. (I also don’t go anywhere near the Herald so your explanations are helpful to me)
But more disturbing than the images alone is the links, bonds/ relationships between media and government ministers, politicians, whale yuck etc in a social setting and taking note of who will be pulling the strings. If those images are shamelessly available for all to see, exactly what is going on behind closed doors? These people need flushing out and their agenda’s exposed!
Have to say, I have much admiration and respect for Madeleine Sami and wondered what of earth she was doing hanging out with such horrid people. Hopefully she is just gathering new comedy material for the next series of Super City.
wife looks nice..(.like her expression )…..not sure about the Cambridge educated import (to try and revive dead horse ACT)
lol….Bennett and Slater ….another lovely couple…. NACT look like a refined middle class lot ….NOT.( more like a bunch of crooks and con artists)
Targets for ridicule on so many levels ….
– the Nouveau Riche
– the Plagiarists
– the Slutty Moles
– the Holier than Thou
– Bad Taste (from whatever/whichever ‘class’ you have an affinity with)
– the Movers and Shakers liable to be embarassed by a slug’s presence on a Blue Rinse cocktail circuit.
– a couple of excuses for Chris Finlayson to prove hisself down with the dirty and normal (a la ‘some of my best friends are Murrays)
…… on so many levels.
Slop is slop when it comes down to it – no matter how it’s served up – no matter how much paprika is applied
What’s wrong with the first photo?
Looks like Whyte and his wife are having fun and are a loving couple. OH NO HOW TERRIBLE BECAUSE THEY DON’T SHARE MY POLITICS!
Nothing wrong with it, the Rodney Hide likeness is appropriate.
As for the second photo of Bennett and Slater? I’m wondering WHY anyone would want to stand close to Slater, he’s toxic. Is he blackmailing MP’s in order to get photographed with them? Mixing with such a disgusting creep should be damaging politically surely..
What I don’t get is people seem to -like- Slater. I can understand a politician thinking he’s useful (a la Key), but people like Collins and Bennett seems to enjoy his company.
… and as an understatement, he doesn’t seem like a particularly nice person.
“… and as an understatement, he doesn’t seem like a particularly nice person.”
I agree wholeheartedly.
As an aside, I feel sorry for John Boscawen, if only he had agreed to shave his head…
He’d have to shave the lamington off first.
I think he’s using that inside his skull nowadays..
Collins and Bennett like Blubber Boy because they think the same way he does, using intellectual equipment of pretty much the same potency. Keith Holyoake wouldn’t recognise the NAct of today.
Whyte and his wife probably are a loving couple and having fun.
But politics 101 – if you want to be taken seriously as a politician concerned with the weightier matters of politics, don’t put yourself in a position where a photo like that is taken and freely available (eg via social media).
Boris Johnson has become the most popular politician in the UK solely because he ignored that so called rule you just made up. And it’s not to do with his policies because they’re bluer than anything post-Thatcher. No, it’s because he seems jovial and real and does stupid shit (all planned though no one knows).
Similarly, the most popular politician in NZ (John Key) also has been photographed and filmed doing stupid shit and if anything became more popular for it because he seems like the ordinary Kiwi.
Your rule is bad and you should feel bad. Whyte can be the philosopher king on policy and look like a fool having fun with his wife and probably do just fine.
And by just fine, I mean probably stop ACT from dying for one more election by 0.1% of the vote.
Well DG, you may believe in and support personality politics – I don’t. IMO personality politics ares shallow and dangerous, as indicated by the inciduous undermining of democracy and the real role of government in both NZ and the UK as a result of the focus on personalities, rather than issues.
In actual fact, I quite like what I have read of Whyte and his wife – a breath of fresh air. But my instincts are that that will be his downfall, and that he will not be long in political world as a result. Fresh air and openness such as that expressed by Whyte to date rarely survives the cut and thrust of politics.
As for “Your rule is bad and you should feel bad”, LOL. How old are you? 8 years old sprung to mind. It is actually quite good advice, and I don’t feel bad.
Oh, I don’t approve of personality politics. There’s a difference between approving it and noticing that it does seem to work.
I find it amusing you think one single photo of him sticking his tongue out will be his downfall. Not wanting to repeal all employment laws, nope, just this photo.
And “your _ is bad and you should feel bad” is a reference that is now 11 years old. So if I was 8, I wouldn’t even have been born when it entered internet discourse.
“Oh, I don’t approve of personality politics. There’s a difference between approving it and noticing that it does seem to work.”
And there is a difference between noticing that it does seem to work and condoning it by calling it ‘good politics’.
Please see my response to this linked comment if you wish to know what I think of that attitude
Your entire response to that comment is flawed with: “Because it gets who you want into power?”
I’m currently going to vote Labour, albeit reluctantly. Probably. Maybe… I don’t know. I’m a floating voter.
That’s doesn’t change the fact that it’s “good politics” (in a strategical sense). It’s bad governance, policy, humanity, but if politics is a contest to win the election, it’s good politics.
Politics isn’t some high-minded ideal. I wish it was. But it never will be. Democracy isn’t designed in a way to punish people who practice the Dark Arts.
Francis Urquhart will always be there in politics.
Hmm it appears that in your definition of ‘politics’ – a type of strategy without regard for the effects that strategy has on the system – it would be ‘good politics’ for example, for you to say that you were ‘reluctantly voting for Labour’ when in fact you have no such intention – rather it is just something for you to say so that people think you are somewhat ‘on their side’ and remain more receptive to your comments.
“Politics isn’t some high minded ideal”
Well clearly not according to you, yet you and I both experience the direct benefits right now and every day from those who in the past have acted politically with some high-minded ideals in mind – so I don’t think it is very high minded of you to dismiss such a notion out of hand.
This isn’t politics.
This is merely discussion. This isn’t some argument. I can’t win. I don’t get a prize for besting you all in debate. Money doesn’t sprout from my computer screen.
Gosh, this has gotten awfully silly.
This is politics
It is a discussion about politics
What is so ‘awfully silly’?
That I suggest you might pay the type of political games that you say you don’t like yet appear to think effective?
Or that I imply politics can be about high-minded ideals by suggesting that we experience benefits from those who followed high-minded ideals in the past?
I guess you were simply referring to your notion of being denied a prize and money spouting from your computer screen.
@ DG….is NACT now going for the Polynesian vote?
wife looks genuine tongue sticking out ….Cambridge import is trying to mirror her expression
….ingratiating?
Well, that’s a nice side of casual racism to start the week off with.
@ DG You can try and frame it as racism …”Weird” and “SUSPICIOUS” are better words!
It is very WEIRD ….this UK Cambridge philosopher import…suddenly jetted in and INSERTED into NZ politics to rack up support for the dying/dead horse Neo Lib ACT Party….and SUSPICIOUS!
ACT’s revival which in turn John Keys National Party depends on to be re-elected…
(especially as Key has been caught continually spying on Winston … illegally? and certainly illegitimately…..Winston who wont be going into coalition with Key after this violation of his privacy)
….very weird and suspicious goings on
You’re lumping in different cultures (Mrs Whyte is west African) and Polynesian and saying that Mrs Whyte looked genuine. The assertion in your comment being that sticking your tongue out and having darker skin than a Caucasian is all you need to do to look genuinely Polynesian.
Which is offensive on several different levels.
So yeah, I’m going to call you out for the racism.
Well, he or she could mean that they appear to be going for the Pūkana in a misguided attempt to ingratiate themselves.
you are an idiot DG….i stick out my tongue a lot ( as a sign of disrespect to authority…usually behind their backs ) and I have Maori ancestry ….so dont project your British Oxford / Cambridge colonialist put down ‘racist’ crap on me!( …..poking tongue out to you at present time)…get worried when Maori turn their backs to you , lift up their skirts and bare their buttocks ….and …give you a great big BROWN EYE!
…i was just as saying she looked real and comfortable sticking out her tongue and he didnt…nothing racist about it !
….and I still think it is weird and suspicious him jetting in from UK Cambridge …..to try and revive the NZ political dead horse ACT!
How charming.
@DG….hope that is not racist sarcasm from you
…actually it is not meant to be charming….it is meant to be insulting, especially to phonies
They could be copying the Warriors logo.
Man a warning Please on the second pic. Slater and Pullyer benefit. AArrggggggggg
Good time to remind people
bill english…
” effectively acknowledge that Michael Cullen had done something right in his stewardship of the Government’s finances in the past nine years.
Having condemned his predecessor for many years for paying off debt too quickly, English said: “I want to stress that New Zealand starts from a reasonable position in dealing with the uncertainty of our economic outlook.”
“In New Zealand we have room to respond. This is the rainy day that Government has been saving up for,” he told reporters at the Treasury briefing on the state of the economy and forecasts.
English pointed to a graph of the debt track since 1972 and projected five years out from today.
The recent low was 17 per cent of GDP and the ghastly projection for 2013 is 33.1 per cent and possibly worse, under what Treasury calls a “downside scenario” – 38.6 per cent.
Unemployment is forecast to rise to 6.4 per cent in 2010 and deficits forecast to be $2.4 billion to $3.5 billion larger over the 2010 to 2013 years than forecast just before the election.
In the midst of the horrible outlook and depressing uncertainty about how bad it might get, English was forced to change his message about his inheritance from Labour because it was more important to inject some sense of positivity into the situation. He needed to do it for both political reasons and for real financial reasons.
As Labour finance spokesman David Cunliffe said yesterday, too much negativity could drive confidence down even further.
Of the plan that Cunliffe demanded of English today, the Finance Minister said: “The plan in essence is quite simple, that is to maintain significant short-term stimulus in the economy, to protect people from the sharp edge of recession and secondly to get on with the job of raising our longer term growth prospects…with some urgency.”
Tax cuts are on the way; decisions will be made in the New Year on which infrastructure projects will be brought forward and English and Prime Minister John Key will be meeting chief executives of Government departments this afternoon to give them the bad news: don’t ask for any more money in Budget 2009 because you won’t get it.”
What? The oil and gas industry mounting a travelling rogue’s show???
CC
What oil and gas industry traveling rogue’s show?
But talking of such rogues [quotes from ODT link below]:
Two boats, a 14m commercial fishing vessel and a smaller pleasure boat, both draped with banners from pro-drilling group ProGas Otago, sat just off St Clair Beach while an anti-drilling protest was held on the beach. The Otago Surfing Championships and Otago Surf Life Saving Championships were also being held nearby.
It is understood that while the boats were there surf life-savers received unconfirmed reports from surfers there was something in the water and that fish guts were being thrown from the boats, which surfers were concerned could attract sharks.
Witnesses saw surf life-savers speak to the men on the boats, the larger of which was shortly afterwards seen doing what witnesses described as ”donuts” in the water. When contacted, Grant Godbaz, secretary of the South Coast Boardriders Association, which was hosting the Otago Surfing Championships, said the incident was a ”recipe for disaster”.
He said the boat did its turns within about 20m of surfers, who were genuinely concerned for their safety.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/291885/surfers-worried-protest-boats
Thanks for that Pasupial – the picture painted by the actions of the oil pushers speaks a thousand words about their attitudes toward the lives of others; and shows they are the type of people who shouldn’t be listened to.
BL
I don’t want to paint too bleak a picture; on the beach we could barely read their banners on the boats. Utterly irresponsible action by the Juggernaut captain regarding the surfers though.
For balance here are some links to articles about the Banners on the Beach about Waipounamu/ South:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/291884/beach-protests-send-drilling-message
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/9728208/Protesters-hit-South-Island-beaches
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/9729828/Protests-on-the-beaches
Even though the numbers in the ODT have been upgraded from 300 (Saturday) to 500+, that’s only 5% of what it needs to be:
“University of Otago physics Associate Professor Bob Lloyd… believed 2000 protesters would be needed at Moeraki, 10,000 at Dunedin and 100,000 at an Auckland protest to make an impact on decision making.”
+1 blue leopard
CC, The news that NZ Oil and Gas are doing tours of classroom’s in Taranaki?
Oh yeah – travelling road show! Same difference.
Just watched paul henry enabling john key in a supposed talk about policies of 2014. You can see why they got henry back on. Nothing of any consequence but strictly to make key look good. “Yup, I did just say yup to obama”. God give me strength. What a tragic puff piece. I had read a romantic homage to key by prebble who stated that key didn’t talk about anything political while on golf course but here key is saying he did discuss some issues. They need to get on the same song sheet. Also tragic simon bridges trying to be belittling and sneering about Green’s policy of solar power on houses. Doesn’t work, he just looks and sounds silly trotting out the standard unoriginal “just printing money” snigger. However he is good for a chuckle.
David Sirota has a big expose on public broadcasting in the US:
American billionaires are flooding PBS and NPR with “documentaries” with titles like “Pension Peril” and “Unintended Consequences: Evils of the Welfare System”.
And that’s public tv ….
Pando’s republican backers Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel will be thrilled at their success in de-funding public broadcasting.
/
;[Update 14th Feb 2014: Following Pando’s exposé, PBS has announced it will return John Arnold’s $3.5m donation.]
Funny that Trolls have disturbing Psychological problems. The trolls who visit this site sort of fit some profiles. Read all about it!
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html
+1 ianmac. The psychological study of trolling is interesting indeed. Nice tie in with topic du jour of Supreme Troll whale oil and photo op’s with people that really shouldn’t be seen with him, if decency prevailed – which clearly it doesn’t in Camp Gnat.
Laughs out loud from this mornings ‘Matty and Mike show’ on Nine to Noon this morning, the final word went to Hooton,
”Russell Normans just announced policy is a good one”, that should have the Beehives 9th floor apoplectic with rage, more than one of this mornings lamington’s may have become a deadly device seemingly designed as a tool of aphyxsiation by a terrorist organization despicably disguised as the local tuck shop,
What tittilation of angst, anger, or, arrogance will the spin-meisters of the 9th floor try this week to try and regain the political initiative from the Opposition,
Bridges effort last night via the TV3News was akin to the little child lost in the wilderness beseeching calling for His mummy,
”Its printing money”, ”its printing money” simply proving to the Sunday night audience that Slippery the Prime Minister isn’t lacking for competition when it comes to having a vast area of vacant space upstairs in the cranial cavity…
Yep saw Bridges. I thought he might be a bit drunk as his weird accent seemed even weirder. Subsidy indeed? National have given $30mil to Rio, millions to Skycity, and millions for the Green’s house insulation scheme, millions in subsidy to the Film Industry and according to Matthew millions to the meat industry very recently. Hypocrisy is rampant.
John Key t shirt
https://www.facebook.com/292488220883016/photos/pb.292488220883016.-2207520000.1392591928./430408380424332/?type=3&theater
Oh. Took a minute. I must be very slow Tiger.
Articles about Cameron Slater on the front page right now: 5
Plus one about the Herald featuring a photo of Cameron Slater
He’s got to be loving this!
Herald idolizes 2x convicted criminal
Herald idolizes 2x convicted criminal
You won’t read this on ‘The Daily Blog’! 🙂
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/lion-witch-and-len-browns-wardrobe-sf-151866
#11 by Penny Bright
How many people know that the Auditor-General Lyn Provost is a SHAREHOLDER in Sky City?
http://www.oag.govt.nz/2013/skycity
Deputy Auditor-General’s overview
Inquiry into the Government’s decision to negotiate with SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited for an international convention centre.
………………
1: The Auditor-General has a small shareholding in SkyCity so she has not been involved in this inquiry.
New Zealand Auditor-General Lyn Provost fails to disclose this rather significant ‘conflict of interest’ when I ask her to conduct an urgent inquiry into the failure of OFCANZ to do ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Centre Bill:
On 21 November 2013
I have received your email and will consider your request.
Lyn Provost
21 November 2013
I want an URGENT investigation by the OAG into the failure of OFCANZ to do ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Centre Bill (not sure if it yet has Royal Assent).
This Treasury reply confirms that OFCANZ come under Police – which are a ‘Public Entity’.
18 Inquiries by Auditor-General
(1)The Auditor-General may inquire, either on request or on the Auditor-General’s own initiative, into any matter concerning a public entity’s use of its resources.
………………..
On 31 January 2014, I received this reply from New ZealandAuditor-General Lyn Provost, to my question ‘are you still a shareholder in Sky City’:
Penny
There is no change in position from June 2012.
Lyn Provost
Lyn Provost, Controller and Auditor-General
Office of the Auditor-General Te Mana Arotake
Level 2, 100 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011
PO Box 3928, Wellington 6140
Again – file under – ‘You Couldn’t Make This Sh*t Up’!
Please note that there will be a LOT more to come on this matter….
Penny Bright
(For more exposure on the role of the Auditor-General in propping up the bogus Transparency International NZ – have a look at this – http://www.kiwisfirst.co.nz/files/Honour%20Roll%20researchers%20TINZ.pdf )
Loved this article!…GO Penny!
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/lion-witch-and-len-browns-wardrobe-sf-151866
I read that donkeyotey referrred to Kiwis in Oz as guest workers and reciprocal pensions as nice to haves.
Well he might as well realise that he is just a guest prime ministrer and will be a nice to have get gone.
And as soon as the smart people in the National party realise that key and slater and the rest are the precursors to a gangster state then the sooner the country can get back to business.
+100
I was thinking about likes and buttons under the comments and thought that I couldn’t see their value here. But I thought again and put a para in one of my random comments. I’ll put it here so it might get counted in the thinking on this.
Perhaps we do need ‘likes’ for the comments, so that those who do the work and present information, know that they have been looked at and the work read and absorbed, and importantly that interest has been taken, even if no-one feels it is necessary to respond with a plus, an icon or a comment.
I’ll have a look around for one that I can configure to show likes only.
I also have to make sure that it doesn’t cause too much extra load on the database server. Caching in the memcache and/or the database query cache would be the ideal.
Thanks lprent There were quite a few comments for and against which I understand but have decided that what you suggested above would be justified, would need numbers I think though.
And that’s really all that is needed, a button that increases number of ‘reads’. That count would be feedback and encouraging for those trying to add to our spectrum of knowledge input.
can you do number of times viewed? I’m guessing not cos that’s just the page, no way of telling for each post?
I thought I wanted likes/dislikes but after looking at some other sites it did influence my view of what I read negatively so changed my mind. Likes would be good though.
Do not know if this is easy but collapsable trees for threads would be good. Like Thunderbird has for e-mail conversations. Makes it easier to follow a particular thread and comment on the right one. The numbering is useful to a point but fails once a thread gets long.
What does like or like/dislike do for any conversation? I couldn’t give a fuck if somebody ‘likes’ something I’m saying – I want to know their thoughts on the matter in question.
And if there’s no response, then either everyone reading it agrees….everyone reading it thinks it’s bullshit/unrelated or whatever….or nobody’s reading it. Doesn’t really matter which of those scenarios is the accurate one on any given comment, does it?
edit example – Joe90 doesn’t tend to attract follow up comment, but from the occasions that they do, it’s probably reasonable to assume a fair few people click through to the links provided.
“What does like or like/dislike do for any conversation?”
Agree it does nothing for the conversation but what I was saying is it did something to me as a reader and I did not like what it did.
Likes are something I’d only use to agree with the comment. Other people may use them differently so may not be useful.
Just a heads up if anyone is interested in attending a lecture from Natalie Nicholles – an economics consultant from NEF – New Economics Foundation (London).
Auckland Council is hosting her talk within the Auckland Conversations programme, and it is free to attend. Just register on their site. Wed 26th Feb, Town Hall @ 5.30pm.
NEF tagline is “Economics as if people and the planet mattered”. Some of their publications have been discussed on The Standard in the past.
Update: Event is full, waitlist is all you get now.
Seems like there is a hunger for something which is not neoliberal.
Why are our political parties avoiding that fact like the plague?
Possibly because they are so entrenched and so dependent on the status quo, economically speaking, that they genuinely think it’s best, for them. 😉
will be good to read any released paper?
thanks for the link. read some of the site and have bookmarker it. liked this. how refreshing
We believe that everyone seeking to influence public policy has a duty to be open about how they are funded. nef is proud to have been awarded the highest rating for funding transparency by the Who Funds You campaign.
nef’s total income for 2011/12 was £3,286,061. It was derived from 3 sources:
1. Major Grants and Donations
Tubney Charitable Trust – £400,000
The Hadley Trust – £249,769
Network for Social Change – £155,172
AIM Foundation – £135,000
European Commission – £133,603
Freshfield Foundation – £109,280
Paul Hamlyn Foundation – £92,000
The Ford Foundation and the Villum Foundation, through a partnership with Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future – £79,540
NESTA and the Cabinet Office – £77,625
The Tudor Trust – £77,400
People’s Health Trust – £67,500
OAK Foundation Ltd – £62,000
The City Bridge Trust – £40,000
Social Care Institute for Excellence – £35,160
Barrow Cadbury Trust – £34,000
New Economics Institute – £32,300
LankellyChase Foundation – £30,000
The Royal Academy of Engineering – £25,393
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – £24,500
R H Southern Trust – £23,000
Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister – £20,863
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust – £20,000
Sheepdrove Trust – £17,000
Nic Marks – £15,000
Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation – £15,000
Sherwood Forest Fund – £5,000
We would also like to thank the Roddick Foundation for a generous and completely unrestricted grant.
2. Individual Supporters
Our individual supporters gave a total of £121,860 this year. No individual gave more than £5,000.
3. Earned income
For over 25 years nef has pioneered social, economic and environmental measurement. Our expertise enables us to generate additional income through consultancy services in impact evaluation and organisational development for charities, the public sector and businesses. Much of this work is carried out by our wholly-owned social enterprise, nef consulting. These contracts do not affect our research and advocacy agenda.
The disaster you’ve probably never heard of.
The drought, Brazil’s worst in decades, is a catastrophe.
In economic terms, it was the fourth-worst natural disaster to hit the planet last year, costlier than even the western United States drought, for a total cost of almost $9 billion, according to insurance analyst Aon Benfield, which researches natural disasters worldwide.
And in much of the region it’s ongoing.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/brazil/140210/drought-disaster-sertao-nordeste
It doesnt matter cos they have the football world cup and then the Olympics. That will MAKE them money to deal with a drought, right?
I wonder if you can you drink electronically created currency units? Can cattle or corn drink up electronically created currency units?
Hence the suicidal insanity of destroying our natural world in the pursuit of electronically created currency units.
I am shaking my head in disbelief on a daily basis.
To paraphrase William Adama – we never ask ourselves if we deserve to survive.
Something which should survive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ZvZQT81OY
Many species will die off but five to ten million years from now the planet will be good as new.
“It doesnt matter cos they have the football world cup and then the Olympics. That will MAKE them money to deal with a drought, right?”
Yup. I reckon the World Cup and Olympics will do for Brazil the same as what the Olympics did for Greece’s financial security.
I wonder how much of the water shortage is due to industrial agriculture.
That, climate change and the massive terraforming associated with human activity (incl industrial agriculture).
Not much of it, weka. The area called the sertão has had droughts since forever. There are aquifers, but unless you’re a local politician, you don’t have the money to get at the water. When you fly over that area, you see brown with a few lush patches now and then. That’s how you know where the local “colonels” live. There’s not much agroindustry in that area, which is the Northeast of Brazil. The agroindustry is in the South, Southeast, and Central West of the country. Even further north, near the Amazon rainforest, the farming has not really been industrialised. They clear the forest and plant for a couple of years before it loses all the nutrients.
What is new is that the PT (Worker’s Party) trucks in some water, so that at least the people survive. Despite all their problems, they have lifted many people out of absolute poverty. This is why I have no time for anyone who says they are just the same as the other parties.
There is some evidence that climate change is making the droughts worse, but the sertão has not been terraformed. It’s basically like it was 200 years ago.
Thanks for posting that joe90. It was funny hearing the rural accent of the Northeast again. Last time I was there, I looked at raising some money to put a well down in one of the villages, but I wasn’t successful. Maybe one day.
Cast your mind back, if you are able, to the era B.NACT (Before NACT).
You know, the period that English lauded for its good financial management.
It was also the period when the RWNJ’s were decrying MMP for installing a government dog being wagged by its tail.
So we get Charter Schools. I cannot recall the philosophy being shouted from the rooftops by any of the 58 National MPs. In fact the movement belonged entirely to ACT. Yet, it would appear, their one mp, the soon to be disgraced Banks, has Hekia Parata and Key so tightly by the fuzzies that she and some of her cronies appear to believe that the schools are the best thing since sliced bread…
@ logie 97….not so much Banks as private PR company lobbyists…..Catherine Isaacs (former Roger Kerr and what was the Round Table) in cahoots with USA business interests…this is what ACT is all about …overseas business interests that want to get their reptilian pincers into New Zealand and its assets
mary wilson is chopping colin craig into little tiny wee pieces..
..(for his hypocrisies..)
..you almost feel sorry for him..(i did say ‘almost’..)
phillip ure..
< a href=”http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9731587/Legal-action-over-Norman-comment”>Colin Craig launches legal action
‘Craig’s complaint relates to Norman suggesting Craig thinks that a woman’s place is in the kitchen and a gay man’s place is in the closet.’
Norman forgot to mention Craig wants to hit kids also.
Bad last couple of weeks for the Ocker
Serious mutterings must be going on within the green party about Normans performance as leader.
The dot com stupidity and now this, I have a feeling some one may be out the back sharpening the axe.
uh huh
Or maybe Colin Craig is trying to stay relevant the only way he knows how – by jumping in to the mud and shouting “Look at me!” because he has nothing substantive to add
I think it’s the right thing to do, Craig’s being discriminated against by the certain factions of left because he’s a Christian.
Unless he jumps on it, the left will keep pushing the he’s a Christian therefore he’s homophobic and a misogynist, which in all probability is blatant lie.
I’d say Craig is pretty pissed with Norman trying to drag his name through the mud, which is why he’s taking action.
Russell needs to engage his brain before opening his mouth, expensive mistake to make for the Ocker.
Well if you’d heard Colin Craig talking to Mary Wilson on Checkpoint this afternoon you’d know that his resolve to pursue Russel Norman is because apparently Norman has been saying things that will make people “feel negatively” about him. Provoking negative feelings ? Hardly, indeed decidedly not, actionable. Is this a Judith Collins stunt which like hers re Little and Mallard will be played and played then dropped effectively ? Probably right up to the election for the playing and thereafter for the dropping ?
All Christians are homophobes, etc.
Norman is just telling the truth,
If the god botherers had their way, homosexuals would be liquidated en masse.
Colin might be aiming for his audience who believe the same way that Colin is alleged to believe. Perfect Conservative Party Platform.
You seem to be getting that feeling a lot, lately.
Given that a court case would be good news for norman on purely political grounds, might I suggest that you’re simply projecting the worries you have for the polished turd we have as pm? Much of the glitter is falling off.
I mean, if you thought that the opposition leaders weren’t a threat to the government, you’d be gloating about how sad it was that they are the best labgrn have to choose leaders from. But by trying to foment infighting and paranoia, you’re just conceding that the election is in doubt for wee Johnny no-Mates.
lol
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 40: Colin Craig
“I’m interested in raising the level of debate.”
—Moon-landing denier, kiddy-whacker and gay-baiter COLIN CRAIG, speaking to Mary Wilson Checkpoint, Radio NZ National, Monday 17 February 2014, 5:20 p.m.
More liars….
No. 39 George W. Bush: “We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled.”
No. 38 Jeremy Hansen: “I read a great column by Paul Thomas in the Herald….”
No. 37 Alan Seay: “You know, we respect the rights of people to protest….”
No. 36 Paul Dykzeul: “No we won’t be changing the Listener; it’s got a terrific editor….”
No. 35 Mark Jennings: “I think Paul’s a bright guy and he will be able to bring a discipline to his performance….”
No. 34 Willie Jackson: “I thought we’d been sensitive with her yesterday….”
No. 33 Supt. Bill Searle: “I think what’s happened here is the police officers have done their very best….”
No. 32 Sonny-Bill Williams: “It’s good to get the win over Papua-New Guinea, a strong Papua-New Guinea side, aahhhh….”
No. 31 John Palino: “Suggestions that I am somehow orchestrating some grand right-wing conspiracy to unseat Len after the election are so wrong…”
No. 30 Alan Dershowitz: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
No. 28 John Kerry: “…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No. 13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Are you maintaining Mora watch?
Craig’s defamation suit is further proof his party will sink at these elections. Far worse will be said about him further down the track and if he’s going to take umbrage at things like that then wait till the politicians and media really start attacking him.
Which leaves Key’s coalition hydra short one head.
the thing is, craig can either win or lose.
Norman can either win or lose.
If norman loses, craig looks petty and norman takes a wee hit in the polls, but craigs a dick so not too much of a hit.
If craig loses, he looks even nuttier and norman’s opinions are seen to be confirmed (even though that might not be the actual determination of the case).
And then there’s the fact that craig is now a politician, which raises his case’s difficulty level.
I think it’s one of those situations where Norman can’t lose – because no matter what happens, he is only alienating the extreme right with his stated view of Colin Craig. It shouldn’t affect Green Party support whatsoever and only serves to highlight the rabid foaming attack poodle that is Colin Craig.
is colin craig constipated or does he have trouble with his y-fronts and his zipper. anyway to quote that old kids rhyme he should jump into the closet three times and only come out twice!
Come on, it really cant take you that long to ban me & issue your musings.
I received an email about this topic/opinion. I wanted to comment on it, but I can’t find where it is exactly! Where is it? Is it not online yet?
I am referring to :
Russel Norman to Colin Craig – Bring it on
by mickysavage
I saw it too. Sometimes it’s just that an author publishes a post earlier than they intended, hitting the publish button by mistake. Maybe he hasn’t finished writing or editing the post yet…?
May be he is consulting all of the Colin’s queen counsels first!
…i commented and it immediately went off line…disappeared into the ether….
Ok, enough is enough, your not normally this long in compling a list of thrush, and all my others faults you deem me to have. I shall save you the bother. I shall offski for self imposed exile in KiwiLog.
who was that..?
phillip ure..
I picked this up from the Blog list at the side of the page. Some comments on possible changes at Kiwibank on-line set up wondering whether they are in the best interests of the bank and the country. I hope that we don’t have some little Kiwi manager thinking that he/she has to recommend a big overseas company because that will make them look sophisticated and important and possibly cheap.
http://lancewiggs.com/2014/02/17/the-end-of-kiwibank/
The ideal solution is, of course, for Kiwibank to wake up to the very strong local development talent, hire them in and give them true power and air cover to reinvent banking, piece by piece and digital-first. It’s that approach is good enough for the entire UK government, it’s good enough for a tiny antipodean retail bank.
Rupert Murdoch scores hassle free $882M tax rebate from Aussies
What a sweet ride for the modern corporate giant.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/feb/17/rupert-murdoch-receives-882m-tax-rebate