What’s wrong with Labour it's like they don't want to win.
80% of the population are opposed to deep sea oil drilling. With this one policy the united opposition could crush the government.
Government ministers will argue that it will cost jobs and it will hurt the economy.
The opposition can counter with the far greater threat of climate change.
As Gareth Hughes has said, "To really fight deep sea oil we need to fight it on climate change grounds".
Climate change is the government's worst performing portfollio, it is where they are weakest it iis where they are vulnerable, it is where they could take the biggest hits.
Yes, save the Maui Dolphin but save the Humans too.
No deep sea oil drilling, no new coal mines, let's really make climate change an election issue and get rid of this government of climate change Quislings and sellouts.
The Greens I presume are opposed to deep sea drilling. Can you explain why people are not uniting behind them?
Gosman
I will have a go.
I see the Greens as being in the same position vis-a-vis Labour as in another time were the Values Party. (except that nowadays the Greens have the benefit of MMP)
First of all Gosman, people are uniting around the Greens. But obviously not in the numbers that still rally around Labour, which is a more established (establishment) party. But despite having this established presence Labour are going down in the polls. Why, because they are not taking the leadership role their numbers and status gives them. Handing leadership to the Right and to a large extent on the Left that leadership role has passed largely to the Greens
The question for Left activists is; Should we speed Labour’s slow collapse or pressure them to retake the leading role?
(To put it more bluntly should we let the Right win this election and even the next, until ‘The Left [in whatever form] get their act together)
It is the same dilemma that faced Rod Donald when he was in Values and was campaigning against nuclear ship visits. Donald chose to leave Values and join Labour. Where he (and others) championed the nuclear free cause amongst the Labour ranks, starting with the LECs.
Now I am not for a second suggesting that Green or Left activists do that today, Thanks to the other good work of Rod Donald around MMP they don’t have to. But neither should they forget Labour.
Personally, in my opinion the planet can’t wait the 10 or twenty years until the Green Party are the government.
Lets be honest here, the 80% are not single issue voters.
Sure they may not like the idea of deep sea oil drilling but they dont see it as really affecting them and their own financial position.Generally, most people will vote for stuff that makes their wallet fatter.
You need look no further than when Labour bought an election with the interest free student loans – hoovering up the middle ground.
What’s wrong with Labour it’s like they don’t want to win.
I’m sure they do. The problem is that most New Zealanders are dumb and venal, and prepared to allow almost any official corruption as long as their mortgage doesn’t go up. It’s just the way things are now: all the Anglo countries appear to be fine with terrible governments for some reason.
It’s time to write this election off. Labour would be better suited trying to keep the 30% of voters it can probably count on in September. National could be exposed as running a pedophile ring and they would still get in.
Climate change is a minority electoral issue. Most people either don’t believe in it or have other priorities. You think Key is bad, at least he isn’t gagging environmental scientists like Harper.
It would be easier if we didn’t have a media that puts Sov1et-era Pravda to shame and treats an MMP election like a two-horse race. And regional-rag political columnists who weren’t fucking morons.
“The problem is that most New Zealanders are dumb and venal”
Yup, they’re so stupid that they’ll be fooled into voting for this reptilian child-eating kitten-killing Prime Minister for a third time.
If only they were rational they’d vote for a 5-headed coalition wrought by internal bickering. Why won’t people just vote for the unfunded bribes that are offered to them? I don’t get it either.
I mean, seriously, the parties of the left obviously write their policy and press releases in full knowledge that New Zealanders are stupid – the 10 second sound-bites cater to those with short attention spans and the lack of detail means that they don’t confuse anyone (except when they contradict each other within 24 hours, but who’s smart enough to notice?).
The left has been telling voters they’ve been stupid for 6 straight years, why don’t they get the message and drop National dammit!!!
I would say that voting against your own personal interests is a great thing.
If you vote in the interests of the collective instead of purely for short-term personal gain then that is admirable. It’s how I’ve always approached voting – what’s good for the country will be better for me longer term.
It’s why I voted against interest-free student loans when I was a student and why I’m still against working for families even when I’ve started my own family recently. I simply don’t think it’s right that other people should have to subsidise my life choices in much the same way as I shouldn’t have to subsidise theirs.
It really turns me off when the left wheels out policy that is shamelessly targeting voters’ selfish short-term interests (with other voters’ money I might add) ahead of what’s best for the country longer term.
“80% of the population are opposed to deep sea oil drilling. With this one policy the united opposition could crush the government.”
80% may well be opposed but its an opposition similar to a facebook like in that yes they’re opposed but well they get of their chuffs to do anything? Hell no.
So yes 80% may be opposed but most still know we need to be doing it
“80% may well be opposed but its an opposition similar to a facebook like in that yes they’re opposed but well they get of their chuffs to do anything? Hell no.”
Puckish Rogue
Not when the biggest Left Party in the country says its OK!
It’s all about leadership, when Labour abandons their leadership role they go down in the polls.
When Labour took the leading role in the anti nuclear movement they swept the polls.
Climate change is the anti nuclear movement of our age.
That is a total misrepresentation of the facts. People did not know that Douglas and his cadre were about to implement neo-liberal policies when the voted in 1984. They did know about the anti-nuclear policies.
Once they found out about Labour ‘doing the bidding of the right economically’, the Labour Party split in two.
Just as the puppet masters of Douglas and Prebble planned.
Supporting a nuclear free pacific was our own self interest at its finest.
And fair enough too. We had seen the evidence of what a couple of nuclear bombs could do, in old WW2 footage.
We havent really seen what climate change will do to us and to our lifestyles, so our self interest warning beacon isnt actually going off. And we are told that the cost of putting climate change right, is a huge raise in the cost on our power bill and a huge raise in the cost of filling our cars.
And our self interest in more interested in keeping warm in winter, and feeding the kids
National appears to be tightening its grip on the election, with our latest poll cementing its massive lead.
Today’s stuff.co.nz/Ipsos Political poll has National on 54.8 per cent support – a staggering 30-point lead over Labour, but down 1.7 points from our last poll.
Cementing it’s lead by being down on the latest poll?
It’s the worst performing portfolio because it’s not a real portfolio Jenny. It’s time you lot woke up. If you want this country to remain in the first world we need to stop being held back by a bunch of rope headed tie dyed combie drivers stuck in the 1960’s.
we need to stop being held back by a bunch of rope headed tie dyed combie drivers stuck in the 1960′s.
Doug
We need to stop being held back by a bunch of greasy V8 driver petrol heads stuck in the 1950’s.
Jenny
Actually Doug it is the tired old climate change deniers like yourself that are more akin to backward looking luddites dreaming of some ridiculous past “age of illusion”. It’s time you woke up. The age of fossil fuels is passing, as it must.
It is way past time for all of us to enter the 21st Century and embrace the new “clean tech.
Why no bounce in the polls from the Labour party conference do you think? Could it be that Cunliffe’s apology for being a man (perceived or not) has not gone down well?
its his MO? He pretends to be this intellectual revealling the wrong thinking of everyone who doesnt share his ideology… Because his ideology, rather than a desire for truth or factual analysis, he contradicts himself, frequently, and avoids questions which challenge him. This is why often when he seems to be answering questions he actually doesnt answer the question at all.
Gos does indeed come to stir: and every time he picks on Labour or somebody else individually. The things that get forgotten in these one on one skirmishes are:
* Its not Labour that counts, its the combined Left.
* National have so few other friends on the Right, if the polls say they have fifty plus then they are actually likely to get 45% or less. Wheres the extra 6% coming from?
So Gos, eat on it, the Right are in big trouble, and you know it.
It seems that some Labour vote is heading green. Its hardly surprising when you compare the two, the Greens are far better operators at the moment their policy release and media management are far better. They also dont have mp’s running around doing a piss poor job of communicating policy.
Yeah in my opinion that comment tended to annoy a lot of males, it just appeared flakey, I guess people would compare DC to Key and come to the conclusion that Cunliffe is not as smart as Key.
Being honest I think people look at Labour and are put off by the same old faces from the last Labour Government, it even bothers me. At least Key-National have refreshed their line up of MP’s. Should Labour fail to win office they would have to retire 50% of their current MP’s to stand any chance of wining the next election or the Greens will be the main opposition party.
tony ryall says he is embarrassed to have never been to te kuiti hospital til yesterday. Not embarrassed however at the decision regarding maternity care in te awamutu and morrinsville.
It sounded crap as a soundbyte…when played in context it made the remarks of Key and his cronies sound exactly what they are: misogynistic, patriarchal and and uncaring. Cunliffe is to be applauded, I expect that he will only gain votes.
Well yes his comments may have gone down well with some people. That does not mean it was a politically clever move when the sole goal in 2014 is to win office and remove Key and his cronies.
This is politics. And in election year it is not wise to alienate potential voters.
As an ACT or National Party member, I doubt you care …
But let’s test that supposition….
Do you think economic inequality is a problem in New Zealand?
How did you think we got into this position?
What should we do to address these problems?
Or do you think discussing polls is the most important thing we should be doing 60 days out from an election?
Why no bounce in the polls from the Labour party conference do you think? Could it be that Cunliffe’s apology for being a man (perceived or not) has not gone down well?
Gosman
David Cunliffe’s deliberate omission of the words “climate change” in his speech to the congress, (not mentioning it even once) and his refusal to give leadership on this issue now that he is leader, reeked of cowardice and backtracking on his earlier position given when he wasn’t leader.
When we look back on it, the worst crisis of the 21st century won’t be the ‘Great Recession’ since the global financial crash of 2008—it will be the ‘Great Compression’ that is coming at us because of energy shocks, climate change, population growth and resource shortage. In a book called The Meaning of the 21st Century1, James Martin likened the first half of the century to a funnel that humankind will have to pass through to reach a more sustainable future, or any future at all.
Fuelling the Flames: Fundamental to the predicament facing civilisation whereby humanity and as many other species possible must be funnelled through the fossil-fuel phase-out canyon, is population growth, not least of all in the grossly over-consuming North. More immediately, global warming is pouring fuel on wildfire events such as that raging in Waldo Canyon—aside from the heat wave, Colorado is part of the desert southwest, which is predicted to reach 1930s Dust Bowl conditions in the next several decades, and last winter the snowpack was 2% of normal, and warmer winters have caused mountain pine beetle beetles to thrive, killing 90% of some forests.
Sure, we will have to both protect dolphins and shorten dole queues, which is what you will be expecting from the title of this speech. But actually, the nature of this crisis is far deeper and more fundamental than the standard environment-economy trade-off thinking might suppose. The coming crisis threatens more than just marine biodiversity. The species we are trying to save could be our own.
In that context today I am going to say three things: First, why these risks are fundamental and in some cases life-threatening. Second, what contribution smart, clean technology and renewable energy could make to addressing the risks and providing a way forward. Third, we should not pretend that just ‘installing solar water heaters’ is going to save the planet on its own.
And fourth, how we can begin to think logically and clearly about making the tough decisions and trade-offs that are ahead of us. One thing is certain—much stronger action will be needed. Much will depend on each and every one of you, as well as on future governments.
David CunliffeJune 23, 2012 (shortly after he gave this speech, David Cunliffe’s caucus colleagues ganged up on him and dumped him to the back benches. You can’t help wondering if he was cowed by this experience.)
David Cunliffe on climate change 2014 elections (so far)
That’s terribly unfair of you Jenny! In fact such an easily disproven contention by you shows that you’re commentary is akin to some of the right wing trolling that frequents these pages.
I’m personally shocked that New Zealand is in the sights of a proposal by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to oppose United States plans for more progressive climate change policies.
Mr Key should move immediately to reassure New Zealanders that his government truly does ‘take climate change seriously’, has not at any level engaged on this proposal, and would reject any such initiative.
But don’t let this article or any other get in the way of you making completely unfounded claims about where Labour and the Green’s stand on climate change issues Jenny. God knows you haven’t in the past.
While admitting this is a bad poll (the Moa crap didn’t help) oddly Lab/Green/IMP/NZF at 46% still remain in touch with the motly crew Nats/Act/Maori/Cons.
Cunliffe has done plenty to keep Winston on-side and he (Winnie) is really pissed off that the Nats gave some of their question time in parliament to Horan to hassle him.
The campaign only has to shift 3% for the balance to change, and nobody believes Nats will poll 51%.
Third-rate comedian’s bewildered rant about Gaza
Has The Panel ever been more dire than this?
Radio NZ National, Wednesday 16 July 2014
Jim Mora, Michelle Acourt, Jeremy Elwood
One of the more inane habits of chat-show host Jim Mora is his frequent mentioning of the neocon New York Times columnist David Brooks. Apparently he thinks this name-checking will impress discerning listeners; this suggests he has not actually read more than a paragraph or two of Brooks’s barking mad opinion pieces.
Mora is notorious for having a high tolerance for all kinds of foolishness, as anyone will know who has heard him swallow his scruples and guffaw along with the likes of such moral imbeciles as Barry Corbett, Stephen Franks, his acolyte Jordan Williams, the contemptuously anti-democracy National Party fixer Michelle Boag, Chris “Haw Haw” Trotter, Rosemary McLeod, and Nevil “Breivik” Gibson. The list of substandard Panel guests goes on and on and on; one of these days I’ll post up the whole sorry lot.
This afternoon, Mora affected a patient, encouraging tone while professional “comedian” Jeremy Elwood used his Soapbox segment to unload a wandery, utterly bewildered rant about the latest Israeli blitzkrieg on Gaza. According to Elwood—and he took about three agonizing minutes of umming and ahhhing to spit it out—it’s not the crazed Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that’s the problem, it’s the “extremists on both sides.” If it was a more gifted performer speaking these bizarre words, listeners might have been forgiven for thinking they were being treated to some kind of guerilla theatre prank, an exercise in the comedy of embarrassment, with Elwood assuming the character of an incoherent know-nothing. A sadder, more pathetic version of David Brent, perhaps, or one of Peter Cook’s hopeless old incompetent judges.
Tragically, however, Jeremy Elwood wasn’t doing that. He was in his deadly serious mode, which he has unleashed on listeners to this program before. It’s a mode he employs on the TV3 show 7 Days; next time you tune in, take a look at Elwood’s face when Dai Henwood or Paul Ego or Jeremy Corbett veer off into some dodgy territory; Elwood almost always glowers with a parsonical disapproval. If his other half Michele Acourt happens to be on as well, she backs him up with her own arsenal of reproachful glares and unhappy frowns.
This afternoon, Elwood unwisely chose to speak on something about which he knows little or nothing—not an unusual occurrence on this light chat show—which meant his three minutes of perplexed pontification was about as enlightening as a lecture on international law by Ban Ki Moon, as informed as a spray about justice by Garth “The Knife” McVicar and as confused as a talk about children’s rights by Christine Spankin’ Rankin.
After Elwood’s dire ramble finally ended, the host finished with an appropriately whacky segue….
JIM MORA: I read a column by Jack Tame today….
Now perhaps—just perhaps—this was clever-clogs Mora’s way of honoring the spirit of incoherent stupidity struck by Elwood, but I fear he was also, just like the hapless “comedian”, being serious.
Tame, by the way, has come into our crosshairs on more than one occasion in recent years. If you can bear it, I recommend you reacquaint yourself with some of his other columns….
A somewhat more informed opinion on Gaza than Elwood by Seumas Milne in The Guardian.
“Gaza: this shameful injustice will only end if the cost of it rises
The idea that Israel is defending itself from unprovoked attacks is absurd. Occupied people have the right to resist
‘For the third time in five years, the world’s fourth largest military power has launched a full-scale armed onslaught on one of its most deprived and overcrowded territories. Since Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip began, just over a week ago, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed. Nearly 80% of the dead are civilians, over 20% of them children.
Around 1,400 have been wounded and 1,255 Palestinian homes destroyed. So far, Palestinian fire has killed one Israeli on the other side of the barrier that makes blockaded Gaza the world’s largest open-air prison.
But instead of demanding a halt to Israel’s campaign of collective punishment against what is still illegally occupied territory, the western powers have blamed the victims for fighting back. If it weren’t for Hamas’s rockets fired out of Gaza’s giant holding pen, they insist, all of this bloodletting would end.”
Paul-excellent. The problem is we don’t have a serious political programme on TV discussing Gaza like this. Instead we have reality TV and Paul sodding Henry.
It’s the extremists on both sides – very much the standard default-position for anyone who’s genuinely concerned and well-meaning about the Israeli violence they see on their TV screen, but really don’t have too much of a clue about the historical or contemporary context (and are almost certainly worried that if they fully condemn Israel – as anyone would naturally be inclined to do after seeing the carnage – then they might just be accused of anti-Semitism. Better just to say “Faults on both sides / why can’t they all just live in peace” and various other meaningless platitudes – as the world’s longest and most brutal Occupation in modern history continues to wreak its havoc).
To be fair it was Hamas who broke th emost recent Egypt-brokered ceasefire.
That’s not to say Israel isn’t mostly to blame, but Hamas isn’t helping. Failure to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organisation (as distinct from the Palestinian civilians stuck in the middle) is to be unrealistic.
While it is obvious that Israel’s response is grossly disproportionate, you can’t pretend that they are not in their rights to retaliate if attacked. Catch 22.
It’s very well and good to play armchair diplomats from the safety and security of the other side of the world, and while I mostly side with the Palestinians, I’m no fan of Hamas (just as I am no fan of Hezbollah or similar groups). To understand is not to approve.
Key and Coleman are probably hoping that, if they keep their heads down, most voters won’t notice. Then in a week or so they will continue fronting for stories of mass distraction. Most MSM journos and editors will follow.
given the poll results you can see why they think that way. For all the smugness by some about being on the winning team this election,they all can only say of the PMs lies, his parade of ministers unable to comply with the cabinet manual, is nothing, or winning is what matters.
Same people who said signing a painting for charity required a PMs resignation.
Can anyone tell me what may potentially happen if you “swim” in a river that is only deemed clean enough to “wade” in? Im thinking the difference in toxicity would be quite large between “swimmable” and “wadable”
The dirty/polluted water can cause some illnesses or infections, but may not be life threatening, except for those with immune deficiencies – the latter most common amongst the young and elderly.
Skin, eye and ear infections; stomach and respiratory illnesses. Bacteria can be swallowed with contaminated water or inhaled and can also enter the body through open wounds like cuts and scrapes. The amount of bacteria a person needs to ingest or inhale before becoming sick varies.
So, instead of asking…. just google it for yourself.
hopefully karol braced herself for your pretending to not like a particular green party policy rant when u are still jaundiced by them not doing what you want over cannabis. Oh thats right, she wouldnt need to cos she is mature
Phillip likes to ‘pretend’ it supports ‘the left’, but, the amount of time ‘it’ spends undermining the parties of the left would strongly suggest that Phillip is just another ‘wing-nut’ using subterfuge in ‘its’ attacks,
The allegations, without a shred of proof, leveled at the Wellington City Mayor again this morning are akin to me accusing Phillip of being a paedophille where if i had i would rightly be called upon to provide proof of such an accusation…
Absolutely laughable Phillip, now you know exactly how the Wellington City Mayor feels when you continually publish a trail of LIES about her,
i am tho sure you will in about the time the next joint blows away a handful more of your poorly treated neurons forget that, Ha ha ha, you are never ever going to engage with me again,
Saarbo, the whole issue is fraught with nonsense, “swimmable” versus “wadable”, what crap. I have fished for years “wading” in streams…this quite often results in “swims”. Either way up until 10 years or there abouts ago I never worried about pollution.
Over the last few seasons wading in the Ruamahanga I often notice a “stain” and an “odour”….a couple of years back I got a rash on my leg from wading (I suspect). Last season a minor cut on my leg turned septic after a prolonged “wade”.
There are in my mind only binary states for a river, clean or polluted. No half stages. Advice on keeping your head above water is just bollocks.
Thanks Ennui, Im thinking you could technically probably “wade” in some of the most polluted rivers in the world…more National Party sophistry Im thinking.
The polls don’t matter
The only poll that counts is on election day
Theres plenty of time until the election to turn things around
People of the left don’t have land lines
Once people get to know the real Cunliffe the polls will improve (for Labour)
Once people get to know the real Key the polls will improve (for Labour)
Door knocking indicates a massive ground swell of support for Labour
Tell you what though this keeps up and the Greens may well become the main party of oppostion, its getting close
Hey remember Paul Roy Morgans polls are the only polls that exist apparantly
But on another matterLabour 23.5% Greens at 15%, correct me if i’m wrong but I don’t think its ever been that close between them before so not quite big brother and little brother anymore which must have an effect on negotiations
As an ACT or National Party member, I doubt you care …
OK let’s test that supposition….
Do you think economic inequality is a problem in New Zealand?
How did you think we got into this position?
What should we do to address these problems?
Or do you think discussing polls is the most important thing we should be doing 60 days out from an election?
Do you think economic inequality is a problem in New Zealand?
How did you think we got into this position?
What should we do to address these problems?
Or do you think discussing polls is the most important thing we should be doing 60 days out from an election?
Please provide your sources which persuaded it’s just a left wing beat up.
The schoolyard argument ‘more people agree with me then you’ does not count, by the way as a persuasive argument.
Yes…but you haven’t answered my question, pr.
Before coming to your opinions on inequality, had you read or watched any of the resources I listed?
And what sources have you read/viewed to help you come to your opinion?
No I haven’t read or watched as they’re discredited and of no interest to me, I prefer to see things with my own eyes rather then let a journalist tell me what to think
You have written them off without reading them or watching them? I linked you to UK academics, US policy makers and NZ academics – all experts on the field they are writing about and backed by significant amounts of research.
You writing them off does not seem to be very open-minded.
Please could you then provide me with the sources that discredited them. I would love to reach your position of enlightenment on the subject.
Reference to Slater’s blog does not count as a source, btw.
You have written them off without reading them or watching them?
Yep
I linked you to UK academics, US policy makers and NZ academics – all experts on the field they are writing about and backed by significant amounts of research.
You writing them off does not seem to be very open-minded.
I’m open-minded in some areas closed in others, this is one of the areas I’m closed-minded in
Please could you then provide me with the sources that discredited them. I would love to reach your position of enlightenment on the subject.
Reference to Slater’s blog does not count as a source, btw.
Nope sorry, I can’t be bothered googling for information on subjects that don’t interest me
Nope. Very few people agree with ACT. Some isolated religious cults might like your views on incest, and a few disturbed young men with tragic sex lives might like the selfishness explicit in your economic policies, but that’s about it.
I do recall Roger Douglas having this new economic plan which was to catapult all into a meritocracy, rather than leaving success down to who you were clever enough to have as your father.
I do recall Helen Clark pushing the line that good access to a decent education , was the way to catapult folk into a great future.
It would appear that the Douglas plan didnt achieve what it promised and it would appear that the Clark plan has resulted many more entering tertiary style education, but, not necessarily catapulting into the great future.
I gues both plans seemed legit to those who were promoting them.
Is the real problem really inequality, or just the sense of hopessness that people have? That sense that there is no pathway to a better future for your kids?
and p.r..u r a fool for making predictions when so much still has to happen…
..much much water to flow under many many bridges yet..
..amongst upcoming delights…just wait ’till the snowden-drop..when the voters will be able to read how much contempt the americans have for any idea of our sovereignty..
..and how they view key/nz much the same way a pimp regards their prostitutes..
I don’t expect National to govern alone but Roy Morgan has National 12.5% ahead of Labour/Greens and the Ipsos poll has National 17.5% ahead of Labour/Greens so on the whole its looking better for Nationa/Act/Maori then it is for Labour/Greens.IMP/Winston
“How did that ‘Governing alone’ work out three years ago…”
Scratch the Maori/Ninja Party, only you and Flavell are deluded enough to believe that they are headed anywhere but electoral oblivion,
If Labour/Green run a smart campaign in Epsom, scratch ACT, the final act befor the curtain comes down on that blight upon the political landscape should occur in a few weeks,
Scratch NZFirst, The tactical voters wont be there for Winston in 2014,
National with the ‘Hairdo’ just doesn’t quite make up the numbers, a really really big opposition tho…
… ” a party with over 40% support should be in some sort of power…”
A party that does not have the support of 60% of the voters, is not entitled to anything, other than the opportunity to work with like-minded parties to form a coalition.
Twenty years on and you are still confused about MMP?
Is power all there is to you?
What do you actually believe in?
We now know you don’t believe inequality is an problem in New Zealand.
What are the policies you do believe in…
By the way still waiting for your sources on inequality….
I believe that National is NZs best chance for everybody to improve themselves, I believe that Labour arn’t too bad but the Greens live in cloud cuckoo land and I believe that power is a means to an end
Puckish is simply confused about ‘everything’, polls being the latest bright and shiny thing that ‘its’ magpies pea brain has attracted ‘it’ to,
If you take National’s polling leading into the 2011 election and compare it with the actual result as the comment below does, a different picture begins to emerge,
If the same loss of traction occurs between the polls and actual vote in 2014 that occurred in 2011 then National is likely to gain at best 44% of the party vote in September,
+100 …Great New Yorkers are coming out for the Palestinians….it is atrocious what is happening to the Palestinians in their own land and the persecution of their democratically elected government
..it is hard to believe the crimes against humanity being perpetrated by a people who should of all people know better
I see Israel have agreed to the ceasefire and as yet Hamas have not, what do you think the chances are of Hamas not firing more rockets into Israel while the ceasefire is on, regardless of whether the ceasfire is in place on both sides or not
WTF?
Maybe i should have said whether both side agree to it of not, but im sure you got that eh ?
Actually now its being reported Hamas has also agreed, will be interesting to watch if they actually manage it for a whole 5 hrs
Actually all of that and more has beeen commented on previously on this site so no real point in rehashing it all, im just curious to see if both sides adhere to the ceasefire and if it might be the start of another permanant one, i can see Israel sticking to it yet somehow doubt Hamas will
Israel is an occupying power with nukes and the US war machine behind it while the Palestinians are penned up in a tiny area with very little resources, not even drinkable water now thanks to the dirty filthy Israeli military.
Cease fires are virtually meaningless when the Israelis can just flick the switch when it suits them and go back to their old ways “Carry on Butchering”. This will be over if economic pressure is put on Israel by consumers and suppliers and the US pressured hard enough to reduce and then withdraw aid. It worked for the other Apartheid state.
TG +100…it is a land grab by the Israelis and the Palestinians know it…the Israelis will be tried by history just as others have been….and there will be questions about how ‘crimes against humanity’ were allowed to happen..
@Paul
I thought Guy Le Spinner was showing improvement the other day.Didn’t hear Russel Norman.
Turned off after the Mexican news of 500 girls and boys being in an orphanage that sold sex etc. Bad and only when it gets to 500 can we stir ourselves to care. I couldn’t stand it.
Serious question here, can the Stuff Ipsos poll be believed at all? http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10275359/National-holds-on-to-huge-lead
When you break the voting down to regions it is saying Canterbury has National at 59.1% support, yet everything I personally see in the media around Canterbury is anti-National, anti-Gerry Brownlee, and shit is just not getting sorted, STILL!
Either the MSM is running a anti-Government line in Canterbury, or Stuff have fallen onto a pocket of National voters in their calling and this poll is, to be direct, fucked.
I know Canterbury isn’t just Christchurch, but surely if the re-build is going as badly down there as is being reported, a backlash against the Government would be widespread. Or have the MSM (especially John Campbell) just found a ratings winner and run with it?
True, but you would still expect a bigger dent in National’s support from Christchurch itself. Surely they made up a significant % of the Canterbury votes based on population. Unless this poll is fundamentally flawed.
Campbell Live keeps running stories which suggest a significant number of the population are disenchanted with EQC, Insurance companies and the government.
Yes we are disenchanted with the injustices with EQC and the insurance companies particularly.
But we also see Liane Dalziel as mayor struggling to change much at all. We have a general fear that a Labour lead Government will be no more effective than Lianne has been.
The rural towns of Canterbury seem to be doing very nicely and will be strongly blue once again.
That’s not the point The Lone Haranguer. People just aren’t seeing on the ground the support for National that these polls are suggesting. It’s something that I’ve also noticed, being that it’s hard to find anybody in my local electorate who actually supports the current government.
It’s similar in the New Zealand Blogosphere, whereby left wing bloggers outnumber right wing bloggers by a whopping 260% or 109 to 30. How do you explain such inconsistencies?
Jackal, that is what I would expect, low support on the ground for National in Christchurch, which makes me think the Stuff Ipsos poll may not be as rosy for National as it looks.
With regards to: “It’s similar in the New Zealand Blogosphere, whereby left wing bloggers outnumber right wing bloggers by a whopping 260% or 109 to 30. How do you explain such inconsistencies?”
The two most viewed NZ blogs are Whaleoil and Kiwiblog, so it simply suggests that there are more people on the ‘Left’ trying to share their views, it doesn’t suggest there is more support for the ‘Left’.
You cannot tell whether a blog is being viewed by more people who support left or right wing politics Bob. Many of the hits on sites like Cameron Slater’s will come from left wing viewers don’t you know.
You can however say that because there are more left wing bloggers than there are right wing bloggers there’s more support for left wing politics in the blogosphere. The concept that left wing people are more motivated to blog doesn’t explain the huge 260% difference.
This is just one more example of why the polls and perhaps even the election poll itself might not be accurate.
Im in Brownlees electorate. I find the locals think the Nats are doing an okay job in very trying circumstances. And that it would be disloyal to change teams now.
I would expect the Labour/Greens/IMP grouping to win more party votes in Chch than the Nats on 20 September.
Regarding blogger numbers, I guess it reflects politics really – a few RW blogs, and a heap of LW ones which suggest one of three things:
The LW bloggers are fragmented group who cant actually work together successfully
The LW bloggers like the sound of their own voices at lot (Whoar)
The RW dont need bloggers because apparently, they already have the MSM (I learned that here)
Actually I’ve counted blogs like The Standard and The Daily Blog as one blog author, so it’s a very rough estimate. Don’t have time to do an exact comparison.
The fact that TDB has over forty different people blogging while right wing blog sites like Kiwibog and FailOil apparently only have one (bar catcus Kate) shows them to be “fragmented”. There are clearly more co-operative blogs on the left.
Your contention that the MSM has more right wingers is perhaps feasible, but you would need to compare the exact amount of left versus right wing journalists?
I think a lot of those on the right voted for a fresh start in Chch, with the mayoral elections. Im not sure that they now feel that they are seeing too much progress – apart from Ms Dalziel being honest about what we now can, and can not afford. I have no doubt that the Christchurch mayoralty is a pretty thankless task.
Her bigger risk will be her voters from the East, who are not getting what they thought they would be getting when she was voted in.
Epsom voters for national, keep voting for ACT, no matter how many of their MPs get done for fraud. There is none so blindly self interested as a National voter. Also, the biggest complaints in CHCH arent from right wing areas… they are all pretty good by now, and their rental investments are doing even better.
National Party’s poll ratings over the last month: 50%…..50%…….57%…….50%…….50%……..48%…….51%…….55% = 51.3 average
National Party’s poll ratings at same distance from election in 2011:
57%……..57%…….51%…….54%…….56%…….57%…….56% = 55.4 average
(I might add, on top of this, that the 55% and 57% in recent weeks have both been Fairfax-Ipsos. No other polling Company has had them close to that. Make of it what you will)
National received 47% at 2011 Election (down 8 points on their polling this far out). Sooooo………
National will receive what ? at 2014 Election ? 51% minus 8 points is ………..? What’s the answer, Puckie ?
Thanks Swordfish. That gives me a glimmer of hope.
I guess Labour’s poor polling is to be expected considering the unrelenting attacks on Cunliffe in MSM over the past month, and the improvement in the Green vote in the Roy Morgan poll is a relief. I still cannot fathom why the Nats and Key get support from so many people.
dont under estimate the powering of marketing. People buy all kinds of things they dont need, or didnt even know they wanted, because of advertising. National has a master in manipulation of people in crosby textor
This is my response to the polls: on Saturday I shall go out door-knocking. On September 20th, the polls will turn out to have been a true or false indicator. If they prove true, this will suggest that the people who are not too troubled by Pike River, Christchurch, Glen Innes and much else, outnumber those who are, and who are scared for themselves and others. This will disappoint me, and cause me to wonder whether staying in NZ for me would be a bit like staying at a party at which I am not welcome. But for now, I shall go door-knocking and urge others to vote left. For me, to paraphrase Socrates, it is not about some small matter (like polls) but about how we shall live our lives.
If Labour/Greens lose for the reasons Olwyn has stated, then it is a terrible indictment on the majority of New Zealanders. It will show that the politics of avarice, selfishness and total disregard for the rights of others has become the new political mantra. In other words… the politics of the individual and the rest of you can go to hell in a hand basket.
The result will be catastrophic on so many levels and yes Jenny, global warming is a huge part of it. It will probably start with the USA falling over and the domino effect will kick in immediately. And you know what? I don’t have a tot of sympathy for any of them – including their children who will have to try and pick up the smashed pieces. I might add that includes members of my family who have become slaves to the “individualism is best belief model”.
“..It will show that the politics of avarice, selfishness and total disregard for the rights of others has become the new political mantra. In other words… the politics of the individual and the rest of you can go to hell in a hand basket…”
nine yrs of the clark labour govt. bedded that in..
..and so well prepared the ground for the pogrom on the poor being run by ‘ladders’ bennett…
..just ignoring the poor..has become the new norm..
..but it’s nothing that new..
..and all i recall there being said on that subject during those nine years..was nothing..
..the silences were deafening..
..the poor became the forgotten/ignored ones..
..everyone pretended the poor were just waving..not drowning…
Phillip I think you are too hard on Helen Clark’s government. It seems to me that governments at the present time are forced to act under considerable constraints – they have to borrow money to do things, and the conditions for this borrowing seem to include following quite a narrow economic line. That Labour government, and it seems also the present contender, saw increasing savings as a way of gaining some sort of choice in the matter. However, Clark’s government did not follow the line with anything like the mafia-esque zeal of the present lot, and people did not live in fear under her watch. In fact the poor man in Wellington who rang the police the night she lost the election, and who was roundly mocked by the media, showed some foresight as to what lay ahead.
51% minus 8 points is ………..? What’s the answer, Puckie ?
The answer is National + Act + Maori Party = 3 more years for National and if needed theres good ‘ol Peter Dunne as well
But keep believing in the delusion that there will a massive, organic rising up of dissatisfied voters that will surge to polls and sweep in the left all while singing raise the red flag 🙂
Ahhh, a bit of a panicky reply there, sweet-pea. Not convincing at all. “a massive organic rising up of dissatisfied voters that will surge to polls” That’s nothing more than the panic-ridden gibberish of a man who’s just been caught out and hasn’t got an answer.
(Unintentionally) hilarious stuff.
No, Puckie, unlike you, my analysis remains firmly grounded in cold, hard, real polling stats. After soaring in the polls for an extremely long time, the Nats suddenly went into a nose-dive in the run-up to not only the 2011 but also the 2008 Election. Facts, my wonderfully colourful Tory chum, facts.
Fact: National won the last two elections
Fact: All the leading polls (including Roy Morgan) put National of Labour/Greens ahead by a considerable amount
Now then you can say whatever you like but it doesn’t change the fact that National is in a stronger position in the run up to the next election then Labour/Greens are
Your contention is essentially that National’s poorer Poll position at the moment vis-à-vis 2011 doesn’t really matter because it’s superseded by the fact that “All the leading polls…put National of Labour/Greens ahead by a considerable amount.”
Now putting aside the obvious gibberish contained within that outrageously tortured sentence, you’re going to have to deal with this:
(1) Percentage point gap between National and combined Lab+Green in recent polls….10…….9…….22…….10…….9…….8…….11…….18 = average 12 points (once again, bear in mind the big gaps – 18 and 22 – are in the somewhat iffy Fairfax-Ipsos polls – they starkly contrast with all the others)
(2) Percentage point gap between National and combined Lab+Green in polls at same point in 2011…….20…….23…….9…….16…….18…….21…….19 = average 18 points
Fact: National did not win the last two elections. They were, however, able to form majority governments with the assistance of ACT, UF and the maori party. All 3 of those parties are on life support as a result of the association.
(1) Both Rob Salmond and Puddleglum have demolished that argument on their respective blogs.
(2) On top of that, not even Key or Joyce, let alone Farrar or Whaleoil, have made the Nats stayed at home argument for 2008. You’re suggesting 2008 was considered a done deal by ordinary National voters, are you ? An Election where the Nats slipped in by the skin of their teeth and where the very last, highly publicised, poll of the campaign put the Left slightly in front. And yet the average Tory voter was yawn yawn blasé ? Don’t think so, sweetness.
Fascinating how even in the face of factual contradiction of their “belief” they obsficate to create a new variation of their belief. It is hard for anyone to admit they have been lied to and duped. It seems some consider it better to keep looking foolish.
I agree that swordfish neatly demonstrates that National’s current high poll numbers; “won’t translate into votes on election day”, once the undecided & nonrespondent choose which box to tick.
You are the only one here who thinks that is a shame though.
Swordfish was giving a factual analysis of this poll, past polls and how that might or might not reflect the outcome on election day… PR contribution is a kid of na-na-na-na-na.
Maybe we have a day here when no one replies to posts by PR! Gosman, srylands, etc and see how the day turns out.
What a shiny crystal ball you have there PR! Be careful, your confidence may just come back to embarrass you on 20th September.
TRP has made a good point about the weakness of The Maori Party, Act and UF. You need to pay attention to that and just how close and tight things might be on the day.
Lol, and as for good ol’ Dunne as you put it, above, don’t count your chickens, he has become increasingly unpopular amongst the residents of Ohariu over the last 3 years.
Swordfish, I am desperate for a change of government and I admire your confidence, but really?
Is our confidence now based on historic poll trends and a hope that people who don’t care, will come and vote left. That my friend does not fill me with any confidence whatsoever.
There is no excitement about an alternative government, no underlying theme that there is time for a change.
This is a destructive government that should be easy to defeat. Yet Labour’s campaign looks like a train wreck proceeding in slow motion. Heck they still focussing on things like fucking Kim Dotcom.
swordfish is posting an analysis of the polls to show how they may not reflect an accurate view of the electorate. That is nothing to do with having confidence or not.
The police have appointed special Maori unit with targets to bring Maori crime rates down or something.
Targets? Why can’t the outcomes be termed as a monitored projects and practicesa that show a steady decline. These to be discussed monthly by the team who can introduce mini projects on a short term basis. The kaupapa is that all is to be done firmly, fairly with a view to gaining co-operation, leading to law-abiding and positive activity in the group we will work with.
Otherwise targets give moral hazard. See The Wire for a scenario where stats are being manipulated, effort made where it will be appreciated by the bigwig in charge who is running for higher office. Oops do we have that now? If so stop it!
Danger danger, every time I hear “special” and “ethnicity” at the same time lots of nasty thoughts pass through my KGB trained mind….like the thinking by somebody (not us but) called “us” and “we”:
–once “we” have made an ethnicity special we can “target” “them”….
–“they” are “special” so they need “special treatment”…….
–now we can identify the “ethnicity” as “special and distinct” they can become “they”…aka not us.
Now would it not be nice if there was not a “special” unit set up by the Police to “target” “white” “middle aged men” who commit terrible financial crimes against the rest of “us”. Necessary actually but might be promoted like a cup of cold sick in the papers (owned by the same bunch).
Targets can be achieved easily as we see by fudging the figures. Not only in crime but in emissions and pollution of rivers and numbers in work and … Oh its a great thing to set targets! It looks as if you actually care!
Canterbury
There are parts of the city that aren’t doing well. But there’s nothing new in that
Waimakirri selwyen and Ashburton district are doing very well
Due to cows and population movement from chch
The media will highlight some poor bugger who dosent have a job in east chch living in a crap house
When down the road in rollestown the town is growing rapidly and workers are hard to find
The media are the opposite of pr company’s
A pr company will find a story and put a positive spin on it
In media misery sells
Be it garza ,car crash etc
It’s not that bad down here
IPCA should be given its correct title, PACA–Police Arse Covering Authority.
Ordinary citizens might try and defend their next offence notice or charge with “I went with the advice I was given” or even “didn’t realise I was breaking the law”.
My attempt at humour obviously went over some heads; n.b. those charged with dispensing the law to others should have a damn good understanding of it AND apply it.
The security services and coppers just chose to ignore the law in respect to illegal snooping on Dotcom and others because it suited them to do so and they thought they could get away with it until a slip up by one of their own in court which first implicated the GCSB in the Dotcom raid and wider case.
And despite the digital era and 5 Eyes posturing traces of the bungling “pie and Penthouse” culture of the security forces seems to persist if the Herald obtained emails are anything to go on.
Kathryn Ryan continues with her high quality broadcasting
(That was a joke, by the way) Nine to Noon, Radio NZ National, Thursday 17 July 2014
Believe it or not, that glib, complacent waste of space Kathryn Ryan went “live” to Radio NZ political editor Brent Edwards this morning, to discuss the report on the government’s illegal spying into New Zealand citizens. Incredibly, she referred to it as “allegedly illegal spying”, as if the chief government spin-meister Steven Joyce himself was hovering menacingly behind her. Brent Edwards, clearly flabbergasted by what she had said, restrained himself from contradicting her on air, but went out of his way to immediately reiterate that it was illegal spying. It was as close to an on-air correction he felt able to carry out.
I sent Ryan the following email, but I’m not expecting either a serious or coherent answer from her….
It was not “allegedly” illegal spying, as you incorrectly said
Dear Kathryn,
When talking to Brent Edwards, you spoke (perhaps unwittingly) of the “allegedly illegal spying” by the government.
Brent Edwards corrected you pointedly on air by immediately repeating the fact that it was illegal spying, not “allegedly” illegal spying.
I am disappointed that you are not more rigorous in your on-air comments. You occupy an influential broadcasting position; you have a duty to be fair and accurate in your comments.
And yet you yourself refused to acknowledge, or apologize, when you blatantly used Barrack Obama’s middle name as if it were some sort of slander in one of your tedious ‘list of liars’ updates, despite not having previously used any leaders middle names, or indeed Obama’s middle name the previous time you’d featured him in the list.
Subsequent updates showed you’d taken the criticism and removed his middle name, but never commented on what you did.
And yet you yourself refused to acknowledge, or apologize, when you blatantly used Barrack[sic]Obama’s middle name as if it were some sort of slander in one of your tedious ‘list of liars’ updates
Could you explain for those of us on Planet Earth how using his middle name would slander him? You will no doubt be writing to the President to upbraid him for slandering himself during his own inauguration…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knVOAr4U8l0
….despite not having previously used any leaders[sic]middle names, or indeed Obama’s middle name the previous time you’d featured him in the list.
It was a stylistic flourish, nothing more, nothing less. Now, you just go right ahead and prove that I was trying to mobilize some of the anti-Islamic morons that lurk on this site. I look forward to your (no doubt impressive) exegesis.
Subsequent updates showed you’d taken the criticism and removed his middle name, but never commented on what you did.
I removed it because there was no good reason to keep it. I didn’t comment on it because it was an utterly trivial matter, signifying nothing. You, though, I have no doubt, will now prove irrefutably that I was engaged in a brutal assault on Obama’s reputation, along with my good friends Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump and Leighton Smith.
Oh yes indeed.
Why is that, Morrissey?
I’ll leave that complex explanation up to you, my scholarly friend.
I’m half way through “Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and why 29 men died” by Rebecca MacFie.
If you have questions about how the management and operations at Pike River Mine which was meant to be “a showcase of modern mining” got to be so bad that 29 workers were killed I recommend you read this book.
The research that has gone into the book is incredibly thorough. The history, steps and processes of the mine’s management are clearly spelled out as the miners go “marching to calamity” (which is the title of chapter 8).
It’s written in a way that is accessible for most readers – it will cause a reaction for most I should imagine though. It took me awhile to get through the prologue, I was in tears. Anger follows that as you begin to see how avoidable that disaster was.
Rosie, i will assume that the book goes into full detail and draws conclusions for its readers, while you are reading that book consider for a moment after the conclusion has been read that no-one has canvassed any ‘opinion’,(that i know of), suggesting that the first explosion at Pike River might well have been deliberate, an insurance job in other words for a mine that had come to realize that the golden seam of high value coal supposedly underground at Pike River did not exist,
To all extents and purposes the mine was facing insolvency and could not meet its targets to fill impending orders for which ships had been dispatched to collect,(even trying to buy coal from Solid Energy to fill such orders),
In His evidence to the Royal Commission the South African electrician, sent into the mine after the initial explosion, a man of 27 years experience in South African mines said, ”there was a strong smell of burned diesel in the mine, i have smelled this after the use of AMFRO explosives in mines in South Africa”,
Strangely no-one, as if they had agreed not to, bothered to ask the South African electrician any further questions about this smell,
The mine manager on the day, sorry the names of the players escapes me, in His evidence said that ”From the carpark of the mines office building, a kilometer from the mine, He smelled a strong smell of burned diesel”, this was after the mine had exploded, again no-one asked of Him what He thought could have been the cause of this burned diesel smell,
Methane Gas, the supposed cause of the initial mine explosion has when combusted no detectable odor,
The ‘investors’ in the Pike River Coal Company picked up a reputed $100 million insurance payout, i do not know if the book goes into these details, food for thought…
I would not exactly drop that kind of speculation into a conversation just about anywhere bad.
Read the book for a start, it is very moving and full of detail.
Any “deliberate” contributing actions would be in the areas of industry de-regulation, safety and anti unionism.
That’s a rather ‘dull’ critique of my comment Tiger Mountain, i do not need to read a book to get the facts of what occurred t Pike River, i read the evidence given to the Royal Commission which i suggest you do,
Is there a ‘fact’ you wish to dispute from within my comment above or are you here to simply whine,
Which ‘speculation’ are you suggesting i do not drop into just any conversation and why, do you doubt that when combusted Methane Gas has no odor,
Are you perhaps suggesting that both the Pike River Mine Manager on the day of the first explosion at the mine, and, the electrician sent into the mine after the initial explosion either did not smell a strong smell of burned diesel or did not give evidence to that effect to the Royal Commission,
Speculation my arse, i have simply made an inference from the evidence given…
Speculation and inference are often synonyms, Bad. Where inference trumps speculation is the quality of the facts relied upon in making the supposition. In your case, you have leapt from two people* noting a smell of burning diesel after a huge explosion and consequent fire into a bizarro world claim about a conspiracy to commit mass murder for no actual financial gain**.
*We’ve only got your word that these two said any such thing. You used quotation marks, yet no such quotation exists. I call bullshit. Cite, please.
** The insurance payout did not financially benefit the shareholders and under our laws they were protected from the negative consequences of merely shutting the mine down. So why the fuck would they need your sad fantasy?
You are as usual full of shit TRP, the first piece of shit was the ‘huge explosion’ and fire,
The first explosion was not huge and there was no visible fire until after the subsequent explosions some days later,
The rest of your blather is just that, you obviously haven’t read anything about Pike River and probably got all your pathetic knowledge from the Tee Vee,
i might get around to digging out the link to the Pike River Royal Commission’s pages of evidence later TRP, but, seeing its you demanding such i would suggest you do not hold your breath,(then again maybe you should)…
You’re lying, Bad. Not only have I read the evidence, and pored over the report, I even attended some of the hearings. Nowhere in the evidence is there a reference to “burned diesel”. If there was, you’d have fronted up with it already. You’re a coward and a liar. You can’t even name the men who you claim said there was that smell, let alone provide evidence that they said it. Which they didn’t. The only quotation you have provided (”there was a strong smell of burned diesel in the mine, i have smelled this after the use of AMFRO explosives in mines in South Africa”) you wrote yourself. If I’m wrong, you’ll have no difficulty proving it; it’s all online.
Yes, the mine was heavily indebted to it’s investors including NZ Oil and Gas and a U.S lender, Liberty Harbor. Borrowed millions were bled away trying to get the mine built and running. A rosy glow was presented to investors that magnified production expectations and made light of the very serious issues, such as the collapse of the lower part of the ventilation shaft during construction. (thats only one example)So they kept on giving, they didn’t have the full picture. The lure of forecast $$$ must have been to great for them to question the reasons for the delay and budget blow outs.
The book goes into great detail about the dire financial position the mine was in.
I doubt 29 men were murdered for the sake of an insurance payout however.
Pike was a highly gassy mine and despite the experienced and safety conscience crew (which was also made up of inexperienced poorly trained men) the odds were stacked against them as Whitall ignored the huge amount of formal hazard notices piling up in the office.
One time, a new Aussie miner came to work in the mine before it was even in partial production, they were still building the 2.3km stone tunnel that led to the coal face. Without warning flames went over head, across the ceiling of the tunnel. The chipping of the stone from the roadheader machine used to dig the tunnel created sparks that ignited methane that was seeping out of rock. This occurred 10 times before anything was done about it.
He commented that in Aussie under their mine regulations such a near miss would mean immediate stop work and the evacuation of the men. He was one of many who after trying to reason with whitall about the dangerous conditions of the mine, left, disillusioned. Once again this is only one example of the the danger the men worked in daily and of managements inability to mitigate hazards and protect the workers from harm.
Under these conditions it was inevitable that there was going to be loss of life.
Have a read of the book, it’s probably available at the Kilbirnie library. The author simply provides the reader with the facts and reports the conversations she had with those she interviewed.
i read all the evidence given to the Royal Commission thanks Rosie, what you will notice everywhere is that no attempt by anyone has ever been made to explain the burned diesel smell which both the mine manager on the day and the electrician gave evidence of smelling,
The South African electrician even described it as the same as AMFRO explosives, as i point out above Methane Gas when combusted is odorless…
I understand there is additional info in the book that wasn’t aired during the Royal Commission of Enquiry, the author interviews for example.
I haven’t finished the book yet so don’t know whether the S.A electricians description of the burnt diesel /explosives smell is included. As such I’m reluctant to speculate where that smell may have originated from. I will let you know if it is covered though, as I get further into the book.
I’m remain doubtful that it could have potentially been an insurance job, given what I have read so far and given that would be mass murder.
Oh i see your point Rosie, to all extents and purposes that mine was a bomb waiting for a spark to ignite it, on at least half the 40 days leading up to the explosion the level of Methane in the mine was such that it could have exploded at any time a spark was struck,
During this 40 days ‘the Board’ had tasked someone to ‘find’ money to keep the mine running from outside sources as the major shareholders had balked at putting in any more coin, this fund-raising failed,
my question, did persons unknown get tired of waiting for the inevitable to occur,
Definitely let us know what the book concludes if anything Rosie,(and if either of the witnesses evidence of the burned diesel smell rates a mention, my guess it wont)…
No, it should have read “ANFO”. So that’s a red flag right there.
Secondly, the fact that methane burns without odour (no idea ifthat’s true or not) does not mean that there are no other combustible hydrocarbons in an active coal mine. Any mixture of which might smell similar to burned diesel.
Yeah, I’m not really convinced that you have enough dots strung together to go public and trample over graves with your theory just yet…
How about you knock yourself out, fool? It’s your claim, why don’t you show us the evidence? You posted a busted link, btw. But the actual transcripts don’t back your fantasy up anyway, so I can understand why you won’t front.
So tell us TRP seeing as you claim oracle status, you of course are LYING, you were never anywhere closer to the Pike River Royal Commission than your TeeVee,
You tell us all exactly what the South African electrician said in His evidence, you having poured over every word of it should be able to quote Him verbatim…
TRP, next you will be telling me there was no evidence given about the smell of cordite,
Now who is the fucking Liar TRP, it was Commissioner Bell that used those words to Strydom the South African electrician now why do you not quote the whole of (17 through to 20) the exchange between Commissioner Bell and the South African electrician Strydom for the readers,
Probably because when the whole exchange is quoted you are shown to be a bullshit artist right…
Sweet. ‘cordite’. You’ve finally found the real transcript, as opposed to the one in your head. But to be fair, I mistook a Q for an A, so, indeed it was the question from Bell from which I quoted. My bad, bad.
See, that’s how you admit a mistake. It ain’t hard.
Now how about you find the quotes from the two separate witnesses claiming “burned diesel”. If it’ll help, here’s your quote:
“there was a strong smell of burned diesel in the mine, i have smelled this after the use of AMFRO explosives in mines in South Africa”
Ah, I love the smell of bullshit in the morning. Smells like … burned diesel.
Te Reo Putere(to the truth), that really takes the cake doesn’t it, You in a headlong rush to wave your shriveled dick around as the ‘winner’ deliberately carve three words off of a question asked by Commissioner Bell and then attribute these three words to the South African electrician Strydom,
Caught out with your grand little LIE you then try to pass this off as an innocent mistake,
That might have been believable if at the same time you had of fessed up to the fact that Commissioner Bell and the South African electrician Strydom were discussing at the time the smell of EXPLOSIVES in relation to what Strydom had smelled in the Pike river mine on the day in question,
The fact that you did not make this confession, obviously straight after having read the exchange between Bell and Strydom makes you the cynical LIAR of note in this discussion,
Why did you carve off these particular words in an attempt at spreading a LIE Te Reo Putere(to the truth)”isn’t a diesel smell” from that quote, why did you not publish the whole question from Bell to Strydom,
Here let me help you with that, just so readers can get a proper sense of what you are deliberately LYING about,
”I mean to me Cordite isn’t a diesel smell, its more a smell to do with explosives, would–is that because of your South African experience with explosives or” unquote Commissioner Bell,
Now Te Reo Putere(to the truth), why do you not play the next verse in this song, how bout you publish the first six words of the answer that Strydom the South African electrician gave as an answer to Commissioner Bell….
You’re a sad wee fuck, bad. The weird thing is that if you’d actually checked, you could have run your fantasy around cordite, but instead you chose to make up “burned diesel” and invent a quote to justify it. Bullshit and Diversion. It’s all in your head, son. Get help.
So Te Reo Putere(to the truth), you now hide your LIES behind a gushing of infantile abuse,
Why cannot you answer the question Putere(to the truth), its simple enough even for you, after all ”you spent hours poring over the evidence”(fucking LIAR),
Here let me help you again, first with the question from commissioner Bell and second, just to make things clear for the readers, the first six words that Strydom the electrician gives as an answer to Bell’s question,(we will get around to why Bell is asking Strydom the question later, and later still we will get to the Mine Manager,(White’s), evidence of the heavy burned diesel smell),
Q, ”i mean cordite to me isn’t a diesel smell, its more a smell to do with Explosives, would — is that because of your South African experience with explosives or” unquote Commissioner Bell,
A, ”The smell is yes with explosives” unquote Strydom the South African electrician first into the mine after the original explosion,
Now why do you think Commissioner Bell is asking Strydom such questions Te Reo Putere(to the truth),
going off half cocked isn’t really going to achieve anything, is it, B?
You’re pissing around with a conspiracy theory that has no motive, no evidence (other than someone maybe comparing the smell to something else), and relies on previously incompetent mine management being able to competently kill 29 workers and get away with it.
“………….and relies on previously incompetent mine management being able to competently kill 29 workers and get away with it.”
(Shee -it. Didn’t mean to spark off an upset.)
Except to say with my ordinary person’s understanding of the events at Pike River, that it can only come down to the above. People died because their management were completely incompetent in their ability to be proactive in regard to H&S in such an inherently dangerous workplace, one worse than other mines.
Adding a personality like Whitall, arrogant, bullying and single minded, but charismatic enough to bluff the big guys, reduced the chances of the workers of even having a half a chance to protect themselves from the dangers they knew were so apparent.
Rosie: I agree. But there’s a world of difference between that and bad’s implication of a deliberately set explosion that killed 29 people (“AMFRO” plus insurance payout on a failing mine).
Lolz relax Rosie, TRP has these little goes at me occasionally,(even to the extent that when i trot off to bed ‘it’ exercises ‘its’ overblown ego by declaring itself the winner),
Mac has long been the second string in the two string fiddle that TRP plays…
Bloody hell Bad12, you sure it’s only tobacco you’re growing there…
You may have the bones of a half decent fantasy there, but out of respect for the families I think you should remove any similarity to the pike river disaster.
And when you say “…..headlong rush to wave your shrivelled dick around” and “wanker McFlock…” along with all that other trash you normally save for Mr. Ure it’s a bit too late to then accuse others of “infantile abuse”.
Now we know you are working at achieving your target weight but it might be time to put down the pump phillip loaned you 🙂 and pick up a couple of toffee-pops or something..
p.s. look at McF and TRP as you would a friend who might not tell you what you want to hear, but has valuable advice all the same.
Another OCR raise. And this while Mark Carney BoE governor says that there is no space in the economic and political reality to raise it in England. No other country is raising their OCR rates. Are Kiwi’s being fleeced so John Key’s Money trading mates can have a bit of a flutter?
Not a conventional one. I’m not going to watch them play football and go to school plays and that. I didn’t want my parents to do that, not that they ever did. Dad did watch me box once. Thankfully I won. No, I won’t tell you how many I’ve got. Millions of daughters. Frances is my oldest, she’s 47, and the others all end up going to live with her or the others, at some time. All the ex-wives and mothers get on with each other. One of them arrived today from Australia and the gardener is picking her up from the airport. I’ll tell you what gets me – the sight of a little girl. It always puts a smile on my face. I lust after them in the sense that I wish they were mine. Amelia, my 5-year-old, is in Malaysia right now with her mother and another daughter who is 18.
Similar mr Jones, to the fascination of a little girl with a dolls house. You get all these things and people and put them in the rooms and pretend that they have a life and are part of your life. But you are always separate from them, unless you’re Alice in the Looking Glass of course and find bottles with drink me on them and change your persona. It would seem like a life-changing experience that. Though still not real.
Given the anger aimed at the demise of the Herald, a column by Russell Brown on Public Address looks at the awful writings of Bernard Osman re the alleged disaster of Auckland’s finance. Andre Aessi pointed to a column by Dr Bassett. A dodgy anti left character to me but still he writes: “The Collapse of the New Zealand Herald 12/03/2009
In case you hadn’t noticed it, the New Zealand Herald, the paper that used to claim to be the country’s premier paper of record, has abandoned this aspiration and seems intent on becoming a mere British-style tabloid. Its journalists are down to a skeleton of reporters; the sub editing (those who fit the headlines to the story below) seems to have fallen into the hands of deliberate troublemakers; and the editor, Tim Murphy, appears not to be in charge of what appears in his paper. …… and so on. http://www.michaelbassett.co.nz/articleview2.php?id=202&yh=2009&yl=2008
Swaths of provincial New Zealand could be effectively “red zoned’ as local councils are forced to abandon their shrinking and ageing communities, a new report says.
In a wide-ranging look at the country’s future, the Royal Society of New Zealand’s report, Our Futures, says difficult decisions are looming in some districts – singling out the Kapiti Coast and Horowhenua – where the population is disproportionately of retirement age, and deaths outpace births.
These decisions could include making unpopular cuts to funding for roads, schools and medical services, and even abandoning some communities altogether, similar to the “red zoning” of parts of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake, when whole suburbs were written off as economically unviable for habitation.
The Otaki MP is responsible for Horowhenua apparently and that is Nathan Guy, previously a dairy farmer. It would be a fine example of the skewed economy that our money-making dairying rock-star economy, couldn’t support their own area’s population needs.
I saw Phil Goff on Backbenches last night and I thought he came across extremely well
Particularly when he was asked about rape culture in NZ (not an easy question), he just went for it, talking about the roastbusters and the closure of the Chch rape crisis centre.
He was miles ahead of that annoying national woman Claudette Hauiti, who seemed to have left Gareth Hughes with a bemused expression wondering how he could be standing next to anyone so daft
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
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The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
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‘
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/polls/10275359/National-holds-on-to-huge-lead
What’s wrong with Labour it's like they don't want to win.
80% of the population are opposed to deep sea oil drilling. With this one policy the united opposition could crush the government.
Government ministers will argue that it will cost jobs and it will hurt the economy.
The opposition can counter with the far greater threat of climate change.
As Gareth Hughes has said, "To really fight deep sea oil we need to fight it on climate change grounds".
Climate change is the government's worst performing portfollio, it is where they are weakest it iis where they are vulnerable, it is where they could take the biggest hits.
Yes, save the Maui Dolphin but save the Humans too.
No deep sea oil drilling, no new coal mines, let's really make climate change an election issue and get rid of this government of climate change Quislings and sellouts.
The Greens I presume are opposed to deep sea drilling. Can you explain why people are not uniting behind them?
Ah, Gosman. Good to see you. Have you started the reading that I advised you to do recently?
He won’t answer.
Just come here to stir.
He’ll back in the sewer soon.
LOL.
So true.
I will have a go.
I see the Greens as being in the same position vis-a-vis Labour as in another time were the Values Party. (except that nowadays the Greens have the benefit of MMP)
First of all Gosman, people are uniting around the Greens. But obviously not in the numbers that still rally around Labour, which is a more established (establishment) party. But despite having this established presence Labour are going down in the polls. Why, because they are not taking the leadership role their numbers and status gives them. Handing leadership to the Right and to a large extent on the Left that leadership role has passed largely to the Greens
The question for Left activists is; Should we speed Labour’s slow collapse or pressure them to retake the leading role?
(To put it more bluntly should we let the Right win this election and even the next, until ‘The Left [in whatever form] get their act together)
It is the same dilemma that faced Rod Donald when he was in Values and was campaigning against nuclear ship visits. Donald chose to leave Values and join Labour. Where he (and others) championed the nuclear free cause amongst the Labour ranks, starting with the LECs.
Now I am not for a second suggesting that Green or Left activists do that today, Thanks to the other good work of Rod Donald around MMP they don’t have to. But neither should they forget Labour.
Personally, in my opinion the planet can’t wait the 10 or twenty years until the Green Party are the government.
Time is running out.
Labour need to be challenged to front up.
Also, the nats have been running the lie, ad nauseum, that drilling and mining is the economic panacea. It has been reported ad nauseum.
@ jenny..
“..80% of the population are opposed to deep sea oil drilling. With this one policy the united opposition could crush the government…”
..+ 1..
Lets be honest here, the 80% are not single issue voters.
Sure they may not like the idea of deep sea oil drilling but they dont see it as really affecting them and their own financial position.Generally, most people will vote for stuff that makes their wallet fatter.
You need look no further than when Labour bought an election with the interest free student loans – hoovering up the middle ground.
As Clinton famously said “its the economy stupid”
in general i agree..
..but jenny is indirectly touching on what i want to happen..
..for the greens and internet/mana to work together to bring labour onside…
..to make labour put the capital l in ‘labour’…
As Clinton famously said “its the economy stupid”
As the Son of God famously said, “Man does not live by bread alone….”
Hmmm? Clinton, Jesus. Clinton, Jesus. Don’t make me choose.
I’m sure they do. The problem is that most New Zealanders are dumb and venal, and prepared to allow almost any official corruption as long as their mortgage doesn’t go up. It’s just the way things are now: all the Anglo countries appear to be fine with terrible governments for some reason.
It’s time to write this election off. Labour would be better suited trying to keep the 30% of voters it can probably count on in September. National could be exposed as running a pedophile ring and they would still get in.
Climate change is a minority electoral issue. Most people either don’t believe in it or have other priorities. You think Key is bad, at least he isn’t gagging environmental scientists like Harper.
It begins…
“Would it not be easier. In that case for the government. To dissolve the people. And elect another?”
That may well have to happen if the climate problem is to be solved in time. Democracy seems to be doing as poor a job as it did preventing WW2.
Time to get rid of Democacy then.
It’s an outrage that voters are so biased!
Oh fuck off.
It would be easier if we didn’t have a media that puts Sov1et-era Pravda to shame and treats an MMP election like a two-horse race. And regional-rag political columnists who weren’t fucking morons.
Hmmm.. is this deemed acceptable language around here now? Or is it only if you have viewpoint that is “agreeable” with that of the echo chamber?
Ref: Policy
“What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others.”
riiiight, because building a straw man out of Brecht is much more legitimate than using a rude word [blushes, “why fiddle-dee-dee”] /sarc
I’ve been called out for much less around here.
Really? Like when?
Or do you just have difficulty distinguishing between a pointless personal attack and an attack with a point?
Fuck fuckity fuck fuck buggery bum fuck poos
lol
Search “srylands” to see such behaviour is accepted here by those from the right as well.
“The problem is that most New Zealanders are dumb and venal”
Yup, they’re so stupid that they’ll be fooled into voting for this reptilian child-eating kitten-killing Prime Minister for a third time.
If only they were rational they’d vote for a 5-headed coalition wrought by internal bickering. Why won’t people just vote for the unfunded bribes that are offered to them? I don’t get it either.
I mean, seriously, the parties of the left obviously write their policy and press releases in full knowledge that New Zealanders are stupid – the 10 second sound-bites cater to those with short attention spans and the lack of detail means that they don’t confuse anyone (except when they contradict each other within 24 hours, but who’s smart enough to notice?).
The left has been telling voters they’ve been stupid for 6 straight years, why don’t they get the message and drop National dammit!!!
People voting against their own interests is not new.
I would say that voting against your own personal interests is a great thing.
If you vote in the interests of the collective instead of purely for short-term personal gain then that is admirable. It’s how I’ve always approached voting – what’s good for the country will be better for me longer term.
It’s why I voted against interest-free student loans when I was a student and why I’m still against working for families even when I’ve started my own family recently. I simply don’t think it’s right that other people should have to subsidise my life choices in much the same way as I shouldn’t have to subsidise theirs.
It really turns me off when the left wheels out policy that is shamelessly targeting voters’ selfish short-term interests (with other voters’ money I might add) ahead of what’s best for the country longer term.
ROFL
if markets are supposed to work fine when everyone acts in their own self interest, why why don’t you think that voters should do the same?
“Why won’t people just vote for the unfunded bribes that are offered to them?”
nationals tax cuts ring a bell?
maybe get a more logical argument
So how is it that we’ll be in surplus this year?
GOOD question, can anyone answer that without smoke and mirrors please
Ah, blame the voter.
People are switched on, hence the low poll. Can see Mr C (and Labour) for what he is (isn’t).
“Ah, blame the voter.”
Democracy can be so gosh-dang inconvenient!
@TomJackson
” You think Key is bad, at least he isn’t gagging environmental scientists like Harper.”
Wait till after the election – if nats win…………..
“80% of the population are opposed to deep sea oil drilling. With this one policy the united opposition could crush the government.”
80% may well be opposed but its an opposition similar to a facebook like in that yes they’re opposed but well they get of their chuffs to do anything? Hell no.
So yes 80% may be opposed but most still know we need to be doing it
Speak for yourself, not other people.
Not when the biggest Left Party in the country says its OK!
It’s all about leadership, when Labour abandons their leadership role they go down in the polls.
When Labour took the leading role in the anti nuclear movement they swept the polls.
Climate change is the anti nuclear movement of our age.
Only because they were also doing the bidding of the right economically.
And the media was right behind them.
That is a total misrepresentation of the facts. People did not know that Douglas and his cadre were about to implement neo-liberal policies when the voted in 1984. They did know about the anti-nuclear policies.
Once they found out about Labour ‘doing the bidding of the right economically’, the Labour Party split in two.
Just as the puppet masters of Douglas and Prebble planned.
But alas, IMO a weak man who didn’t stand up to Douglas soon enough!
It also didn’t hurt that Lange was a helluva of talker with a huge amount of charisma
I choose to disagree.
Supporting a nuclear free pacific was our own self interest at its finest.
And fair enough too. We had seen the evidence of what a couple of nuclear bombs could do, in old WW2 footage.
We havent really seen what climate change will do to us and to our lifestyles, so our self interest warning beacon isnt actually going off. And we are told that the cost of putting climate change right, is a huge raise in the cost on our power bill and a huge raise in the cost of filling our cars.
And our self interest in more interested in keeping warm in winter, and feeding the kids
Oh please. It was clever politics, but the likelihood of anyone nuking us was and remains fractionally above zero.
How much does NZ receive in royalties in say, the last three years? How many jobs are there in the drilling game?
SFA
Cementing it’s lead by being down on the latest poll?
Yeah, massive bias in the MSM.
Oh come on. Just accept that the voters are clowns and move on.
Napoleon lost.
So?
Maybe Napoleon had a lot more self awareness than he has been credited with.
That ill fated march into Russia must have been a bit of a kick in the teeth.
And I imagine that a long stretch on St Helena would have led to quite a bit of introspection.
Only at the end 😉
It’s the worst performing portfolio because it’s not a real portfolio Jenny. It’s time you lot woke up. If you want this country to remain in the first world we need to stop being held back by a bunch of rope headed tie dyed combie drivers stuck in the 1960’s.
Actually Doug it is the tired old climate change deniers like yourself that are more akin to backward looking luddites dreaming of some ridiculous past “age of illusion”. It’s time you woke up. The age of fossil fuels is passing, as it must.
It is way past time for all of us to enter the 21st Century and embrace the new “clean tech.
“Grease” is not “the word”.
+1 Jenny
It’s the deniers who are stuck in the past. We want a future.
The Roy Morgan poll isn’t good news either.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5684-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-july-16-2014-201407160655
Why no bounce in the polls from the Labour party conference do you think? Could it be that Cunliffe’s apology for being a man (perceived or not) has not gone down well?
You omitted to report that, on that poll, Greens are on the rise. See also your comment at 1.1
I wouldn’t bother discussing polls with right wing tr**ls, karol.
Not really discussing, Paul. Just pointing out a glaring contradiction between comments.
Yes it’s great to see the Greens doing so well.
Yes. I’m not that interested in polls, but I was intrigued by Gos’s selective comments re the Greens.
its his MO? He pretends to be this intellectual revealling the wrong thinking of everyone who doesnt share his ideology… Because his ideology, rather than a desire for truth or factual analysis, he contradicts himself, frequently, and avoids questions which challenge him. This is why often when he seems to be answering questions he actually doesnt answer the question at all.
Well the Greens become the main party of the left after this next election? Its getting close.
Shouldn’t think so, me old luv. But quite possible their vote will equal about half of Labour’s, possibly slightly more than half if they’re lucky.
You think? Even Roy Morgans saying Labours on 23.5 while the Greens are on 15% and it’ll probably only get worse for Labour
Scroll down to 10, big fella. I’ve replied to you down there.
That’s because he comes here to stir, not discuss the issues.
Gos does indeed come to stir: and every time he picks on Labour or somebody else individually. The things that get forgotten in these one on one skirmishes are:
* Its not Labour that counts, its the combined Left.
* National have so few other friends on the Right, if the polls say they have fifty plus then they are actually likely to get 45% or less. Wheres the extra 6% coming from?
So Gos, eat on it, the Right are in big trouble, and you know it.
+1 Ennui. RW’er’s seem to still have trouble with MMP
No, we have problems with the Nats hoovering up all the support, and leaving no crumbs for the support parties.
It also makes them smug, uncaring (why change anything?) and unwilling to investigate alternative policy.
Even if they could achieve it, a 50.1% for the Nats would be bad for the country. As would 50.1% for Labour in the past.
It seems that some Labour vote is heading green. Its hardly surprising when you compare the two, the Greens are far better operators at the moment their policy release and media management are far better. They also dont have mp’s running around doing a piss poor job of communicating policy.
Yeah in my opinion that comment tended to annoy a lot of males, it just appeared flakey, I guess people would compare DC to Key and come to the conclusion that Cunliffe is not as smart as Key.
Being honest I think people look at Labour and are put off by the same old faces from the last Labour Government, it even bothers me. At least Key-National have refreshed their line up of MP’s. Should Labour fail to win office they would have to retire 50% of their current MP’s to stand any chance of wining the next election or the Greens will be the main opposition party.
But then Cunliffe’s comment went down well with quite a few men, and many women.
tony ryall says he is embarrassed to have never been to te kuiti hospital til yesterday. Not embarrassed however at the decision regarding maternity care in te awamutu and morrinsville.
Shame is a funny old thing.
But alas, IMO a weak man who didn’t stand up to Douglas soon enough!
It sounded crap as a soundbyte…when played in context it made the remarks of Key and his cronies sound exactly what they are: misogynistic, patriarchal and and uncaring. Cunliffe is to be applauded, I expect that he will only gain votes.
Well yes his comments may have gone down well with some people. That does not mean it was a politically clever move when the sole goal in 2014 is to win office and remove Key and his cronies.
This is politics. And in election year it is not wise to alienate potential voters.
As an ACT or National Party member, I doubt you care …
But let’s test that supposition….
Do you think economic inequality is a problem in New Zealand?
How did you think we got into this position?
What should we do to address these problems?
Or do you think discussing polls is the most important thing we should be doing 60 days out from an election?
David Cunliffe’s deliberate omission of the words “climate change” in his speech to the congress, (not mentioning it even once) and his refusal to give leadership on this issue now that he is leader, reeked of cowardice and backtracking on his earlier position given when he wasn’t leader.
David Cunliffe on climate change 2012
David Cunliffe on climate change 2014 elections (so far)
That’s terribly unfair of you Jenny! In fact such an easily disproven contention by you shows that you’re commentary is akin to some of the right wing trolling that frequents these pages.
Here’s a recent (June 2014) press release by Labour Leader David Cunliffe:
But don’t let this article or any other get in the way of you making completely unfounded claims about where Labour and the Green’s stand on climate change issues Jenny. God knows you haven’t in the past.
I actually remember this. How could not any political leader with any morals at all not be outraged by this?
To have not said something would this would have been an outrage in its own right.
Gosman-it was a Congress.
While admitting this is a bad poll (the Moa crap didn’t help) oddly Lab/Green/IMP/NZF at 46% still remain in touch with the motly crew Nats/Act/Maori/Cons.
Cunliffe has done plenty to keep Winston on-side and he (Winnie) is really pissed off that the Nats gave some of their question time in parliament to Horan to hassle him.
The campaign only has to shift 3% for the balance to change, and nobody believes Nats will poll 51%.
Third-rate comedian’s bewildered rant about Gaza
Has The Panel ever been more dire than this?
Radio NZ National, Wednesday 16 July 2014
Jim Mora, Michelle Acourt, Jeremy Elwood
One of the more inane habits of chat-show host Jim Mora is his frequent mentioning of the neocon New York Times columnist David Brooks. Apparently he thinks this name-checking will impress discerning listeners; this suggests he has not actually read more than a paragraph or two of Brooks’s barking mad opinion pieces.
Mora is notorious for having a high tolerance for all kinds of foolishness, as anyone will know who has heard him swallow his scruples and guffaw along with the likes of such moral imbeciles as Barry Corbett, Stephen Franks, his acolyte Jordan Williams, the contemptuously anti-democracy National Party fixer Michelle Boag, Chris “Haw Haw” Trotter, Rosemary McLeod, and Nevil “Breivik” Gibson. The list of substandard Panel guests goes on and on and on; one of these days I’ll post up the whole sorry lot.
This afternoon, Mora affected a patient, encouraging tone while professional “comedian” Jeremy Elwood used his Soapbox segment to unload a wandery, utterly bewildered rant about the latest Israeli blitzkrieg on Gaza. According to Elwood—and he took about three agonizing minutes of umming and ahhhing to spit it out—it’s not the crazed Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that’s the problem, it’s the “extremists on both sides.” If it was a more gifted performer speaking these bizarre words, listeners might have been forgiven for thinking they were being treated to some kind of guerilla theatre prank, an exercise in the comedy of embarrassment, with Elwood assuming the character of an incoherent know-nothing. A sadder, more pathetic version of David Brent, perhaps, or one of Peter Cook’s hopeless old incompetent judges.
Tragically, however, Jeremy Elwood wasn’t doing that. He was in his deadly serious mode, which he has unleashed on listeners to this program before. It’s a mode he employs on the TV3 show 7 Days; next time you tune in, take a look at Elwood’s face when Dai Henwood or Paul Ego or Jeremy Corbett veer off into some dodgy territory; Elwood almost always glowers with a parsonical disapproval. If his other half Michele Acourt happens to be on as well, she backs him up with her own arsenal of reproachful glares and unhappy frowns.
This afternoon, Elwood unwisely chose to speak on something about which he knows little or nothing—not an unusual occurrence on this light chat show—which meant his three minutes of perplexed pontification was about as enlightening as a lecture on international law by Ban Ki Moon, as informed as a spray about justice by Garth “The Knife” McVicar and as confused as a talk about children’s rights by Christine Spankin’ Rankin.
After Elwood’s dire ramble finally ended, the host finished with an appropriately whacky segue….
JIM MORA: I read a column by Jack Tame today….
Now perhaps—just perhaps—this was clever-clogs Mora’s way of honoring the spirit of incoherent stupidity struck by Elwood, but I fear he was also, just like the hapless “comedian”, being serious.
Tame, by the way, has come into our crosshairs on more than one occasion in recent years. If you can bear it, I recommend you reacquaint yourself with some of his other columns….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21102012/#comment-537097
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16122012/#comment-563484
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17072013/#comment-663905
spot on there morrissy…!..(some of yr best-work there…)
..i took the dogs to the park halfway thru that dire-exercise…
..so missed what elwood had ‘been thinking’..
..his initials drivelings driving me out the door..
..and a timely tame-warning there…(he’s a new benchmark in lite-weight..putting the ‘fat’ in ‘fatuous’..really..)
..and do publish the full list of that (mainly) sorry cast of characters that mora wheels out..
..(reactionary-cliches on a stick..)
..fun cd b had with that…
You were better off walking out the door than listening to that rubbish, Phillip. I shall put up the list soon. Keep watching this channel…
Gave up listening to Mora about a year ago.
Still enjoy your reports on his dire programme, pretending it is representative of NZ opinion…
netanyahu IS one of the extremistsfrom either side
Fetid, celebrity-gloating spittle about sums it up. These are the ‘gifted’, the ‘insightful’ ???
Elwood is ok. Listen to the bit where he attacked the Taxpayers Union.
A somewhat more informed opinion on Gaza than Elwood by Seumas Milne in The Guardian.
“Gaza: this shameful injustice will only end if the cost of it rises
The idea that Israel is defending itself from unprovoked attacks is absurd. Occupied people have the right to resist
‘For the third time in five years, the world’s fourth largest military power has launched a full-scale armed onslaught on one of its most deprived and overcrowded territories. Since Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip began, just over a week ago, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed. Nearly 80% of the dead are civilians, over 20% of them children.
Around 1,400 have been wounded and 1,255 Palestinian homes destroyed. So far, Palestinian fire has killed one Israeli on the other side of the barrier that makes blockaded Gaza the world’s largest open-air prison.
But instead of demanding a halt to Israel’s campaign of collective punishment against what is still illegally occupied territory, the western powers have blamed the victims for fighting back. If it weren’t for Hamas’s rockets fired out of Gaza’s giant holding pen, they insist, all of this bloodletting would end.”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/16/gaza-shameful-injustice-israel-attacks-occupied-people
Paul-excellent. The problem is we don’t have a serious political programme on TV discussing Gaza like this. Instead we have reality TV and Paul sodding Henry.
@ Moz
It’s the extremists on both sides – very much the standard default-position for anyone who’s genuinely concerned and well-meaning about the Israeli violence they see on their TV screen, but really don’t have too much of a clue about the historical or contemporary context (and are almost certainly worried that if they fully condemn Israel – as anyone would naturally be inclined to do after seeing the carnage – then they might just be accused of anti-Semitism. Better just to say “Faults on both sides / why can’t they all just live in peace” and various other meaningless platitudes – as the world’s longest and most brutal Occupation in modern history continues to wreak its havoc).
To be fair it was Hamas who broke th emost recent Egypt-brokered ceasefire.
That’s not to say Israel isn’t mostly to blame, but Hamas isn’t helping. Failure to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organisation (as distinct from the Palestinian civilians stuck in the middle) is to be unrealistic.
While it is obvious that Israel’s response is grossly disproportionate, you can’t pretend that they are not in their rights to retaliate if attacked. Catch 22.
It’s very well and good to play armchair diplomats from the safety and security of the other side of the world, and while I mostly side with the Palestinians, I’m no fan of Hamas (just as I am no fan of Hezbollah or similar groups). To understand is not to approve.
Wonder if Kathryn Ryan is going to try to speak to Coleman for the third day running.
And is he still running scared?
Key and Coleman are probably hoping that, if they keep their heads down, most voters won’t notice. Then in a week or so they will continue fronting for stories of mass distraction. Most MSM journos and editors will follow.
given the poll results you can see why they think that way. For all the smugness by some about being on the winning team this election,they all can only say of the PMs lies, his parade of ministers unable to comply with the cabinet manual, is nothing, or winning is what matters.
Same people who said signing a painting for charity required a PMs resignation.
When Key or cosa nostra move their lips we should all shout –
Is that a weapon of mass distraction?
Good pun.
Can anyone tell me what may potentially happen if you “swim” in a river that is only deemed clean enough to “wade” in? Im thinking the difference in toxicity would be quite large between “swimmable” and “wadable”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/10275269/Keeping-your-head-above-water
it’s called setting the bar so low it is under water…
Google can help.
The dirty/polluted water can cause some illnesses or infections, but may not be life threatening, except for those with immune deficiencies – the latter most common amongst the young and elderly.
Can result in viruses – gastroenteritis, hepatitis, respiratory illness, and ear, nose, and throat problems
NZ govt site says:
So, instead of asking…. just google it for yourself.
that’s the greens really going out on a green-limb there…eh..?
..setting the aspirational-bar high there..eh..?
..(‘just tell the old folks and the young..!..to step well back..!..
..’cos this river has the green stamp of approval..!
..so it’ll hurt them..!’..)
..seriously..?..yr defending this..?
..some of the green policies are ok..
..but this one..as setting an aspirational-goal..for our waterways..for our ‘green’-future..
..is beyond fucken pathetic..
(note to self:..brace yrslf for ‘green-hate-campaign’-accusations..)
hopefully karol braced herself for your pretending to not like a particular green party policy rant when u are still jaundiced by them not doing what you want over cannabis. Oh thats right, she wouldnt need to cos she is mature
gee tracy..let’s unpack that one..
u r claiming i am ‘pretending’ to not like this policy..
..hand on heart..i am not ‘pretending’..
..i really really don’t like it..believe me..!..eh..?.
..and u r claiming i am ‘pretending’ b’cos i wd rather they actually said something about their pot-policies..?
..have i got that right..?
..well..i wd rather they were more vocal on pot..
..but to totally blow yr theory of an anti-green campaign i am running..’hate-campaign’..?..isn’t it..?
..i can but show what my coverage of the green party has been lately..eh..?
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=green
first five stories cd only b read as pro-green..showing them in a good lite..
..u have 2 get down to story six to reach yr first jarring-note..
..there i snipe at the green mayor of wellington..for her breaking of her campaign-promises to care for the homeless of wellington..
.. i then scrolled for awhile..and found no anti-green ‘hate-campaign’ stories..
..so you really are just full of it..eh..?
whooooooosh
wow..!..biting comeback there..!..eh tracey..?
..that’s shut me up..
..are you a member of the nz alonquin(sic) round-table..?..r.u..?
Still publishing utter shit about the Wellington City Mayor Phillip…
show me the evidence that i am misrepresenting the truth..
..and i will issue a humble-apology..
..’till then..as usual..u r just all mouth..eh..?
The typical fuckheads reply Phillip, exactly what i expected from you,
Make up a series of LIES about the Wellington city Mayor and when called upon those LIES demand others provide proof that you are not lying…
have a fucken kit-kat..!..eh..?
in april wade-brown ‘endorsed’ a ‘community-led initiative’..
..so i guess that’s a start..
..how long has she been mayor..?
..and where have her (campaign-promised) ‘initiatives’ been in/during that time..?
..no ‘evidence’ of them..eh..?
..so i stand by what i said..
..no apologies needed..
Phillip likes to ‘pretend’ it supports ‘the left’, but, the amount of time ‘it’ spends undermining the parties of the left would strongly suggest that Phillip is just another ‘wing-nut’ using subterfuge in ‘its’ attacks,
The allegations, without a shred of proof, leveled at the Wellington City Mayor again this morning are akin to me accusing Phillip of being a paedophille where if i had i would rightly be called upon to provide proof of such an accusation…
u piece of shit..
..i will never engage with u again..
..on any level..
Absolutely laughable Phillip, now you know exactly how the Wellington City Mayor feels when you continually publish a trail of LIES about her,
i am tho sure you will in about the time the next joint blows away a handful more of your poorly treated neurons forget that, Ha ha ha, you are never ever going to engage with me again,
You cannot in fact resist…
Don’t you care about the fish that live in the rivers Phillip?
u got me there karen..i want the rivers dirtier..
..and a special mis-comprehension award 4 u..eh..?
..i am actually amazed/dismayed at how on this issue..incrementalism seems to have a death-grip on the green party..
..and after all these years of those posters showing them standing beside sparkling/babbling-brooks etc…
..shame there were no signs in those images saying:..’safe for wading only..beware the elderly and the young!’
..eh..?
Phillip likes to wallow in industrially polluted waters, its piped directly into His home from the Waikato River…
Saarbo, the whole issue is fraught with nonsense, “swimmable” versus “wadable”, what crap. I have fished for years “wading” in streams…this quite often results in “swims”. Either way up until 10 years or there abouts ago I never worried about pollution.
Over the last few seasons wading in the Ruamahanga I often notice a “stain” and an “odour”….a couple of years back I got a rash on my leg from wading (I suspect). Last season a minor cut on my leg turned septic after a prolonged “wade”.
There are in my mind only binary states for a river, clean or polluted. No half stages. Advice on keeping your head above water is just bollocks.
Thanks Ennui, Im thinking you could technically probably “wade” in some of the most polluted rivers in the world…more National Party sophistry Im thinking.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5684-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-july-16-2014-201407160655
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/polls/10275359/National-holds-on-to-huge-lead
Here let me help you lefties out…
The polls don’t matter
The only poll that counts is on election day
Theres plenty of time until the election to turn things around
People of the left don’t have land lines
Once people get to know the real Cunliffe the polls will improve (for Labour)
Once people get to know the real Key the polls will improve (for Labour)
Door knocking indicates a massive ground swell of support for Labour
Tell you what though this keeps up and the Greens may well become the main party of oppostion, its getting close
Yup the tr**ls are here talking polls.
Funny that.
Hey remember Paul Roy Morgans polls are the only polls that exist apparantly
But on another matterLabour 23.5% Greens at 15%, correct me if i’m wrong but I don’t think its ever been that close between them before so not quite big brother and little brother anymore which must have an effect on negotiations
Interesting times ahead
As an ACT or National Party member, I doubt you care …
OK let’s test that supposition….
Do you think economic inequality is a problem in New Zealand?
How did you think we got into this position?
What should we do to address these problems?
Or do you think discussing polls is the most important thing we should be doing 60 days out from an election?
Being that I’m not an Act party member I’m not sure what you mean
Do you think economic inequality is a problem in New Zealand?
How did you think we got into this position?
What should we do to address these problems?
Or do you think discussing polls is the most important thing we should be doing 60 days out from an election?
Do you think economic inequality is a problem in New Zealand?
How did you think we got into this position?
What should we do to address these problems?
Or do you think discussing polls is the most important thing we should be doing 60 days out from an election?
Your answers say so much….
Have you read this book?
Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis
http://www.bwb.co.nz/books/inequality
Heard these people speak?
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/news-events-and-notices/events/events-2014/05/sir-douglas-robb-lectures.html
Or read their book?
http://www.amazon.com/The-Spirit-Level-Equality-Societies/dp/1608193411
Heard this guy talk?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIhOXCgSunc
Seen this film
http://inequalityforall.com/
What are your sources for your amazing statement about inequality?
” I think its something that the left try to blow out of all proportion in an attempt to discredit the government and thus get into power.”
Nothing I’ve seen equals what the left are trying to say and more people agree with me then you, simple as that
na-na-na-na-na
FIFY
Please provide your sources which persuaded it’s just a left wing beat up.
The schoolyard argument ‘more people agree with me then you’ does not count, by the way as a persuasive argument.
I can say more people agree with me because the right wing block is over 50% whereas the left wing block is struggling along in the mid 30s
Yes…but you haven’t answered my question, pr.
Before coming to your opinions on inequality, had you read or watched any of the resources I listed?
And what sources have you read/viewed to help you come to your opinion?
Remember, pr, this is a debate about the actual issues, not the polls.
No I haven’t read or watched as they’re discredited and of no interest to me, I prefer to see things with my own eyes rather then let a journalist tell me what to think
You have written them off without reading them or watching them? I linked you to UK academics, US policy makers and NZ academics – all experts on the field they are writing about and backed by significant amounts of research.
You writing them off does not seem to be very open-minded.
Please could you then provide me with the sources that discredited them. I would love to reach your position of enlightenment on the subject.
Reference to Slater’s blog does not count as a source, btw.
You have written them off without reading them or watching them?
I linked you to UK academics, US policy makers and NZ academics – all experts on the field they are writing about and backed by significant amounts of research.
You writing them off does not seem to be very open-minded.
Please could you then provide me with the sources that discredited them. I would love to reach your position of enlightenment on the subject.
Reference to Slater’s blog does not count as a source, btw.
so your just being a time waster then
i thought your boss didnt like you on the internet
framu
that was yesterdays lie. The only consistent thing about our right wing trolls and their leader is they cant keep their lies straight.
Bosses away so the mice play 🙂
Nope. Very few people agree with ACT. Some isolated religious cults might like your views on incest, and a few disturbed young men with tragic sex lives might like the selfishness explicit in your economic policies, but that’s about it.
Paul,
I do recall Roger Douglas having this new economic plan which was to catapult all into a meritocracy, rather than leaving success down to who you were clever enough to have as your father.
I do recall Helen Clark pushing the line that good access to a decent education , was the way to catapult folk into a great future.
It would appear that the Douglas plan didnt achieve what it promised and it would appear that the Clark plan has resulted many more entering tertiary style education, but, not necessarily catapulting into the great future.
I gues both plans seemed legit to those who were promoting them.
Is the real problem really inequality, or just the sense of hopessness that people have? That sense that there is no pathway to a better future for your kids?
@pukkish rogue.
go and jump in the river!
I could but it still won’t stop National forming the next government
and p.r..u r a fool for making predictions when so much still has to happen…
..much much water to flow under many many bridges yet..
..amongst upcoming delights…just wait ’till the snowden-drop..when the voters will be able to read how much contempt the americans have for any idea of our sovereignty..
..and how they view key/nz much the same way a pimp regards their prostitutes..
..and it’s pretty much condom-free..eh..?
..they clearly prefer to ride us bareback..
LOOK OUT PHILLIP! Your tinfoil hat has slipped again
is that what passes for humour/giant-killer-comeback around yr neck of the woods..?
..just confirming that thesis that all rightwingers have a s.o.h. byepass at birth..?
..eh..?
..q.e.d…
Thrills a minute for Puckish who should remember that at the same time befor the 2011 election the ‘polls’ were saying exactly the same thing,
How did that ‘Governing alone’ work out three years ago…
I don’t expect National to govern alone but Roy Morgan has National 12.5% ahead of Labour/Greens and the Ipsos poll has National 17.5% ahead of Labour/Greens so on the whole its looking better for Nationa/Act/Maori then it is for Labour/Greens.IMP/Winston
“How did that ‘Governing alone’ work out three years ago…”
Scratch the Maori/Ninja Party, only you and Flavell are deluded enough to believe that they are headed anywhere but electoral oblivion,
If Labour/Green run a smart campaign in Epsom, scratch ACT, the final act befor the curtain comes down on that blight upon the political landscape should occur in a few weeks,
Scratch NZFirst, The tactical voters wont be there for Winston in 2014,
National with the ‘Hairdo’ just doesn’t quite make up the numbers, a really really big opposition tho…
to get ACT out in epsom will require a decent number of Nat voters to vote for goldsmith
ACT has had 19 MPs in its brief history. Three have been convicted of fraud, deception, or a form of both. That is over 15%.
Act will be back as will Peter Dunne, Flavel should hold his seat so theres 3 possibly 4 seats for National
and this is as it should be because a party with over 40% support should be in some sort of power so yay democracy! 🙂
… ” a party with over 40% support should be in some sort of power…”
A party that does not have the support of 60% of the voters, is not entitled to anything, other than the opportunity to work with like-minded parties to form a coalition.
Twenty years on and you are still confused about MMP?
Politics for pr is just numbers.
No vision for the future, no policies….
Just data.
What a sad state of affairs….
Fair enough, see you in three years when the left might get into power
Is power all there is to you?
What do you actually believe in?
We now know you don’t believe inequality is an problem in New Zealand.
What are the policies you do believe in…
By the way still waiting for your sources on inequality….
I believe that National is NZs best chance for everybody to improve themselves, I believe that Labour arn’t too bad but the Greens live in cloud cuckoo land and I believe that power is a means to an end
Puckish is simply confused about ‘everything’, polls being the latest bright and shiny thing that ‘its’ magpies pea brain has attracted ‘it’ to,
If you take National’s polling leading into the 2011 election and compare it with the actual result as the comment below does, a different picture begins to emerge,
If the same loss of traction occurs between the polls and actual vote in 2014 that occurred in 2011 then National is likely to gain at best 44% of the party vote in September,
That’s one hell of a big opposition…
hes not confused – hes just being a monumental dick on purpose
A lot of the nactoid loss of traction was down to the Rena and the cup of tea raids.
That having been said, nothing loses tory votes like their engaging personalities shining through.
See my post above Pukish.
Watch: New Yorkers pierce through pro-war gathering with chants of ‘stop bombing Gaza now’
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/yorkers-gathering-bombing.html
+100 …Great New Yorkers are coming out for the Palestinians….it is atrocious what is happening to the Palestinians in their own land and the persecution of their democratically elected government
..it is hard to believe the crimes against humanity being perpetrated by a people who should of all people know better
I see Israel have agreed to the ceasefire and as yet Hamas have not, what do you think the chances are of Hamas not firing more rockets into Israel while the ceasefire is on, regardless of whether the ceasfire is in place on both sides or not
” while the ceasefire is on, regardless of whether the ceasfire is in place on both sides or not”
WTF?
WTF?
Maybe i should have said whether both side agree to it of not, but im sure you got that eh ?
Actually now its being reported Hamas has also agreed, will be interesting to watch if they actually manage it for a whole 5 hrs
and yet you have no comment on the myriad of UN resolutions ignored by Israel
Actually all of that and more has beeen commented on previously on this site so no real point in rehashing it all, im just curious to see if both sides adhere to the ceasefire and if it might be the start of another permanant one, i can see Israel sticking to it yet somehow doubt Hamas will
Israel probably considers mission accomplished with far more palestinians dead and far more building destruction in palestine than Israel
Israel is an occupying power with nukes and the US war machine behind it while the Palestinians are penned up in a tiny area with very little resources, not even drinkable water now thanks to the dirty filthy Israeli military.
Cease fires are virtually meaningless when the Israelis can just flick the switch when it suits them and go back to their old ways “Carry on Butchering”. This will be over if economic pressure is put on Israel by consumers and suppliers and the US pressured hard enough to reduce and then withdraw aid. It worked for the other Apartheid state.
TG +100…it is a land grab by the Israelis and the Palestinians know it…the Israelis will be tried by history just as others have been….and there will be questions about how ‘crimes against humanity’ were allowed to happen..
From Robert Fisk
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/why-doesnt-the-media-ever-mention-the-lack-of-progress-in-the-middle-east-9603172.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-true-gaza-backstory-that-the-israelis-arent-telling-this-week-9596120.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/dumping-blame-for-the-holocaust-on-the-grand-mufti-is-an-insult-to-its-six-million-victims-9587755.html
Despite slimy Espiner’s nauseating interviewing techniques.
yes Russel Norman very, very good on Morning Report despite Espiner…the Greens are the party to vote for imo
Won’t be long before the Greens are the commanding left party.
Labour needs to reform. They are useless. Drop the deadwood and start again.
thanks for your concern
@Paul
I thought Guy Le Spinner was showing improvement the other day.Didn’t hear Russel Norman.
Turned off after the Mexican news of 500 girls and boys being in an orphanage that sold sex etc. Bad and only when it gets to 500 can we stir ourselves to care. I couldn’t stand it.
Serious question here, can the Stuff Ipsos poll be believed at all? http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10275359/National-holds-on-to-huge-lead
When you break the voting down to regions it is saying Canterbury has National at 59.1% support, yet everything I personally see in the media around Canterbury is anti-National, anti-Gerry Brownlee, and shit is just not getting sorted, STILL!
Either the MSM is running a anti-Government line in Canterbury, or Stuff have fallen onto a pocket of National voters in their calling and this poll is, to be direct, fucked.
I know Canterbury isn’t just Christchurch, but surely if the re-build is going as badly down there as is being reported, a backlash against the Government would be widespread. Or have the MSM (especially John Campbell) just found a ratings winner and run with it?
yes I think the polls are really sus…i think many are refusing to answer them…i am one such person
look at the electorates that make up canterbury. Labour normally gets no traction in rural seats.
A little over 15% of voters show as undecided in that poll on stuff.
True, but you would still expect a bigger dent in National’s support from Christchurch itself. Surely they made up a significant % of the Canterbury votes based on population. Unless this poll is fundamentally flawed.
Campbell Live keeps running stories which suggest a significant number of the population are disenchanted with EQC, Insurance companies and the government.
Yes we are disenchanted with the injustices with EQC and the insurance companies particularly.
But we also see Liane Dalziel as mayor struggling to change much at all. We have a general fear that a Labour lead Government will be no more effective than Lianne has been.
The rural towns of Canterbury seem to be doing very nicely and will be strongly blue once again.
That’s not the point The Lone Haranguer. People just aren’t seeing on the ground the support for National that these polls are suggesting. It’s something that I’ve also noticed, being that it’s hard to find anybody in my local electorate who actually supports the current government.
It’s similar in the New Zealand Blogosphere, whereby left wing bloggers outnumber right wing bloggers by a whopping 260% or 109 to 30. How do you explain such inconsistencies?
Jackal, that is what I would expect, low support on the ground for National in Christchurch, which makes me think the Stuff Ipsos poll may not be as rosy for National as it looks.
With regards to: “It’s similar in the New Zealand Blogosphere, whereby left wing bloggers outnumber right wing bloggers by a whopping 260% or 109 to 30. How do you explain such inconsistencies?”
The two most viewed NZ blogs are Whaleoil and Kiwiblog, so it simply suggests that there are more people on the ‘Left’ trying to share their views, it doesn’t suggest there is more support for the ‘Left’.
You cannot tell whether a blog is being viewed by more people who support left or right wing politics Bob. Many of the hits on sites like Cameron Slater’s will come from left wing viewers don’t you know.
You can however say that because there are more left wing bloggers than there are right wing bloggers there’s more support for left wing politics in the blogosphere. The concept that left wing people are more motivated to blog doesn’t explain the huge 260% difference.
This is just one more example of why the polls and perhaps even the election poll itself might not be accurate.
Im in Brownlees electorate. I find the locals think the Nats are doing an okay job in very trying circumstances. And that it would be disloyal to change teams now.
I would expect the Labour/Greens/IMP grouping to win more party votes in Chch than the Nats on 20 September.
Regarding blogger numbers, I guess it reflects politics really – a few RW blogs, and a heap of LW ones which suggest one of three things:
The LW bloggers are fragmented group who cant actually work together successfully
The LW bloggers like the sound of their own voices at lot (Whoar)
The RW dont need bloggers because apparently, they already have the MSM (I learned that here)
Actually I’ve counted blogs like The Standard and The Daily Blog as one blog author, so it’s a very rough estimate. Don’t have time to do an exact comparison.
The fact that TDB has over forty different people blogging while right wing blog sites like Kiwibog and FailOil apparently only have one (bar catcus Kate) shows them to be “fragmented”. There are clearly more co-operative blogs on the left.
Your contention that the MSM has more right wingers is perhaps feasible, but you would need to compare the exact amount of left versus right wing journalists?
how many years did parker and national have to embed the mess? She has had less than a year to undo it, so stick with national?
I think a lot of those on the right voted for a fresh start in Chch, with the mayoral elections. Im not sure that they now feel that they are seeing too much progress – apart from Ms Dalziel being honest about what we now can, and can not afford. I have no doubt that the Christchurch mayoralty is a pretty thankless task.
Her bigger risk will be her voters from the East, who are not getting what they thought they would be getting when she was voted in.
Epsom voters for national, keep voting for ACT, no matter how many of their MPs get done for fraud. There is none so blindly self interested as a National voter. Also, the biggest complaints in CHCH arent from right wing areas… they are all pretty good by now, and their rental investments are doing even better.
To Our Dear Tory Chum Puckish
National Party’s poll ratings over the last month: 50%…..50%…….57%…….50%…….50%……..48%…….51%…….55% = 51.3 average
National Party’s poll ratings at same distance from election in 2011:
57%……..57%…….51%…….54%…….56%…….57%…….56% = 55.4 average
(I might add, on top of this, that the 55% and 57% in recent weeks have both been Fairfax-Ipsos. No other polling Company has had them close to that. Make of it what you will)
National received 47% at 2011 Election (down 8 points on their polling this far out). Sooooo………
National will receive what ? at 2014 Election ? 51% minus 8 points is ………..? What’s the answer, Puckie ?
Thanks Swordfish. That gives me a glimmer of hope.
I guess Labour’s poor polling is to be expected considering the unrelenting attacks on Cunliffe in MSM over the past month, and the improvement in the Green vote in the Roy Morgan poll is a relief. I still cannot fathom why the Nats and Key get support from so many people.
dont under estimate the powering of marketing. People buy all kinds of things they dont need, or didnt even know they wanted, because of advertising. National has a master in manipulation of people in crosby textor
This is my response to the polls: on Saturday I shall go out door-knocking. On September 20th, the polls will turn out to have been a true or false indicator. If they prove true, this will suggest that the people who are not too troubled by Pike River, Christchurch, Glen Innes and much else, outnumber those who are, and who are scared for themselves and others. This will disappoint me, and cause me to wonder whether staying in NZ for me would be a bit like staying at a party at which I am not welcome. But for now, I shall go door-knocking and urge others to vote left. For me, to paraphrase Socrates, it is not about some small matter (like polls) but about how we shall live our lives.
If Labour/Greens lose for the reasons Olwyn has stated, then it is a terrible indictment on the majority of New Zealanders. It will show that the politics of avarice, selfishness and total disregard for the rights of others has become the new political mantra. In other words… the politics of the individual and the rest of you can go to hell in a hand basket.
The result will be catastrophic on so many levels and yes Jenny, global warming is a huge part of it. It will probably start with the USA falling over and the domino effect will kick in immediately. And you know what? I don’t have a tot of sympathy for any of them – including their children who will have to try and pick up the smashed pieces. I might add that includes members of my family who have become slaves to the “individualism is best belief model”.
@ anne..
“..It will show that the politics of avarice, selfishness and total disregard for the rights of others has become the new political mantra. In other words… the politics of the individual and the rest of you can go to hell in a hand basket…”
nine yrs of the clark labour govt. bedded that in..
..and so well prepared the ground for the pogrom on the poor being run by ‘ladders’ bennett…
..just ignoring the poor..has become the new norm..
..but it’s nothing that new..
..and all i recall there being said on that subject during those nine years..was nothing..
..the silences were deafening..
..the poor became the forgotten/ignored ones..
..everyone pretended the poor were just waving..not drowning…
..like i said..it’s nothing new..
Phillip I think you are too hard on Helen Clark’s government. It seems to me that governments at the present time are forced to act under considerable constraints – they have to borrow money to do things, and the conditions for this borrowing seem to include following quite a narrow economic line. That Labour government, and it seems also the present contender, saw increasing savings as a way of gaining some sort of choice in the matter. However, Clark’s government did not follow the line with anything like the mafia-esque zeal of the present lot, and people did not live in fear under her watch. In fact the poor man in Wellington who rang the police the night she lost the election, and who was roundly mocked by the media, showed some foresight as to what lay ahead.
olwyn..those clark years were when nz really had a ‘rock-star economy’…
..and clark govt didn’t ‘borrow’..they paid down debt..(remember.?..this was pre-g.f.c..)
..and for those nine long ‘rock star economy’ yrs..the clark govt did nothing for the poorest..
..in fact..clark wiped the ‘allowances’ benificiaries cd apply for..
..she made their lives worse/harder..
..and at the same time as doing absolutely nothing for the poorest for those nine long years..
..clark shed crocodile-tears over couples/families ‘struggling’ on seventy grand a year..
..as her reasoning for the bringing in of middle-class welfare..in the form of ‘working for (some) families’..
..these are all irrefutable-facts..olwyn..
..it’s not me ‘being hard’ on the clark govt..
.and a large part of labours’ current problem..
..is that looking at them all grouped together..
..except for the absence of clark..
…it is just like looking back at the govt of that era..
..there is really no sense of any renewal..any changes..
..it’s still goff/mallard/king etc..
..staring back at you..
..and in the main..parroting the same neo-lib politics..
..and many people are like me..
..not trusting them..seeing little real difference to their lot..
..shd labour get back in again..
..and isn’t cunnliffes’/labours’ swing back to the centre going well for them..eh..?
51% minus 8 points is ………..? What’s the answer, Puckie ?
The answer is National + Act + Maori Party = 3 more years for National and if needed theres good ‘ol Peter Dunne as well
But keep believing in the delusion that there will a massive, organic rising up of dissatisfied voters that will surge to polls and sweep in the left all while singing raise the red flag 🙂
Ahhh, a bit of a panicky reply there, sweet-pea. Not convincing at all. “a massive organic rising up of dissatisfied voters that will surge to polls” That’s nothing more than the panic-ridden gibberish of a man who’s just been caught out and hasn’t got an answer.
(Unintentionally) hilarious stuff.
No, Puckie, unlike you, my analysis remains firmly grounded in cold, hard, real polling stats. After soaring in the polls for an extremely long time, the Nats suddenly went into a nose-dive in the run-up to not only the 2011 but also the 2008 Election. Facts, my wonderfully colourful Tory chum, facts.
PR doesn’t work from facts.
Facts are wonderful things
Fact: National won the last two elections
Fact: All the leading polls (including Roy Morgan) put National of Labour/Greens ahead by a considerable amount
Now then you can say whatever you like but it doesn’t change the fact that National is in a stronger position in the run up to the next election then Labour/Greens are
Awww, it’s just not your day, is it, Pucks ?
Let’s take you through it slowly, shall we ?
Your contention is essentially that National’s poorer Poll position at the moment vis-à-vis 2011 doesn’t really matter because it’s superseded by the fact that “All the leading polls…put National of Labour/Greens ahead by a considerable amount.”
Now putting aside the obvious gibberish contained within that outrageously tortured sentence, you’re going to have to deal with this:
(1) Percentage point gap between National and combined Lab+Green in recent polls….10…….9…….22…….10…….9…….8…….11…….18 = average 12 points (once again, bear in mind the big gaps – 18 and 22 – are in the somewhat iffy Fairfax-Ipsos polls – they starkly contrast with all the others)
(2) Percentage point gap between National and combined Lab+Green in polls at same point in 2011…….20…….23…….9…….16…….18…….21…….19 = average 18 points
I say National will form the next government, who do you think will form the next government?
Fact: National did not win the last two elections. They were, however, able to form majority governments with the assistance of ACT, UF and the maori party. All 3 of those parties are on life support as a result of the association.
I stand corrected.
@ swordfish..
“..Facts, my wonderfully colourful Tory chum, facts…”
..heh..!
With low National voter turn out, because it was a done deal.
Not this time.
(1) Both Rob Salmond and Puddleglum have demolished that argument on their respective blogs.
(2) On top of that, not even Key or Joyce, let alone Farrar or Whaleoil, have made the Nats stayed at home argument for 2008. You’re suggesting 2008 was considered a done deal by ordinary National voters, are you ? An Election where the Nats slipped in by the skin of their teeth and where the very last, highly publicised, poll of the campaign put the Left slightly in front. And yet the average Tory voter was yawn yawn blasé ? Don’t think so, sweetness.
2011 you muppet.
And Key has, on many occasions.
See my comment at 10.2.1, you muppet.
The Nats took a nose-dive at both the 08 and 11 Elections.
So, Low National voter turnout because it was a done deal doesn’t cut the mustard, OK, sweet-pea ? Penny dropped yet ?
Fascinating how even in the face of factual contradiction of their “belief” they obsficate to create a new variation of their belief. It is hard for anyone to admit they have been lied to and duped. It seems some consider it better to keep looking foolish.
Thanks swordfish, for bringing the soothing balm of sanity to your analysis of the polls.
There’s no need to get high blood pressure over “the polls” when one see’s the reason and logic you bring. It’s a great service you do.
Just a shame it won’t translate into votes on election day
PR
I agree that swordfish neatly demonstrates that National’s current high poll numbers; “won’t translate into votes on election day”, once the undecided & nonrespondent choose which box to tick.
You are the only one here who thinks that is a shame though.
Swordfish was giving a factual analysis of this poll, past polls and how that might or might not reflect the outcome on election day… PR contribution is a kid of na-na-na-na-na.
Maybe we have a day here when no one replies to posts by PR! Gosman, srylands, etc and see how the day turns out.
your really pushing this one – its like… your… paid to do it
What a shiny crystal ball you have there PR! Be careful, your confidence may just come back to embarrass you on 20th September.
TRP has made a good point about the weakness of The Maori Party, Act and UF. You need to pay attention to that and just how close and tight things might be on the day.
Lol, and as for good ol’ Dunne as you put it, above, don’t count your chickens, he has become increasingly unpopular amongst the residents of Ohariu over the last 3 years.
At least I don’t sit on the fence
What do you mean?
Swordfish, I am desperate for a change of government and I admire your confidence, but really?
Is our confidence now based on historic poll trends and a hope that people who don’t care, will come and vote left. That my friend does not fill me with any confidence whatsoever.
There is no excitement about an alternative government, no underlying theme that there is time for a change.
This is a destructive government that should be easy to defeat. Yet Labour’s campaign looks like a train wreck proceeding in slow motion. Heck they still focussing on things like fucking Kim Dotcom.
My stress is turning to anger.
swordfish is posting an analysis of the polls to show how they may not reflect an accurate view of the electorate. That is nothing to do with having confidence or not.
The police have appointed special Maori unit with targets to bring Maori crime rates down or something.
Targets? Why can’t the outcomes be termed as a monitored projects and practicesa that show a steady decline. These to be discussed monthly by the team who can introduce mini projects on a short term basis. The kaupapa is that all is to be done firmly, fairly with a view to gaining co-operation, leading to law-abiding and positive activity in the group we will work with.
Otherwise targets give moral hazard. See The Wire for a scenario where stats are being manipulated, effort made where it will be appreciated by the bigwig in charge who is running for higher office. Oops do we have that now? If so stop it!
Danger danger, every time I hear “special” and “ethnicity” at the same time lots of nasty thoughts pass through my KGB trained mind….like the thinking by somebody (not us but) called “us” and “we”:
–once “we” have made an ethnicity special we can “target” “them”….
–“they” are “special” so they need “special treatment”…….
–now we can identify the “ethnicity” as “special and distinct” they can become “they”…aka not us.
Now would it not be nice if there was not a “special” unit set up by the Police to “target” “white” “middle aged men” who commit terrible financial crimes against the rest of “us”. Necessary actually but might be promoted like a cup of cold sick in the papers (owned by the same bunch).
Targets can be achieved easily as we see by fudging the figures. Not only in crime but in emissions and pollution of rivers and numbers in work and … Oh its a great thing to set targets! It looks as if you actually care!
Canterbury
There are parts of the city that aren’t doing well. But there’s nothing new in that
Waimakirri selwyen and Ashburton district are doing very well
Due to cows and population movement from chch
The media will highlight some poor bugger who dosent have a job in east chch living in a crap house
When down the road in rollestown the town is growing rapidly and workers are hard to find
The media are the opposite of pr company’s
A pr company will find a story and put a positive spin on it
In media misery sells
Be it garza ,car crash etc
It’s not that bad down here
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10277024/IPCA-backs-police-over-Dotcom-spying
when you ask a person to paint a fence and tell them they only have to paint one side, what other outcome can you expect but a half painted fence.
Or simply there was no case to answer
IPCA should be given its correct title, PACA–Police Arse Covering Authority.
Ordinary citizens might try and defend their next offence notice or charge with “I went with the advice I was given” or even “didn’t realise I was breaking the law”.
You do that and let us know how that works out for you
My attempt at humour obviously went over some heads; n.b. those charged with dispensing the law to others should have a damn good understanding of it AND apply it.
The security services and coppers just chose to ignore the law in respect to illegal snooping on Dotcom and others because it suited them to do so and they thought they could get away with it until a slip up by one of their own in court which first implicated the GCSB in the Dotcom raid and wider case.
And despite the digital era and 5 Eyes posturing traces of the bungling “pie and Penthouse” culture of the security forces seems to persist if the Herald obtained emails are anything to go on.
The advice they acted on, was not included as part of the review.
Any ongoing investigation of the investigation after that omission is meaningless wiffle-waffle
i bet johnkeyio reads this one
so state power breaks law – police dont lay charges – your cool with that
is that how it goes?
Kathryn Ryan continues with her high quality broadcasting
(That was a joke, by the way)
Nine to Noon, Radio NZ National, Thursday 17 July 2014
Believe it or not, that glib, complacent waste of space Kathryn Ryan went “live” to Radio NZ political editor Brent Edwards this morning, to discuss the report on the government’s illegal spying into New Zealand citizens. Incredibly, she referred to it as “allegedly illegal spying”, as if the chief government spin-meister Steven Joyce himself was hovering menacingly behind her. Brent Edwards, clearly flabbergasted by what she had said, restrained himself from contradicting her on air, but went out of his way to immediately reiterate that it was illegal spying. It was as close to an on-air correction he felt able to carry out.
I sent Ryan the following email, but I’m not expecting either a serious or coherent answer from her….
It was not “allegedly” illegal spying, as you incorrectly said
Dear Kathryn,
When talking to Brent Edwards, you spoke (perhaps unwittingly) of the “allegedly illegal spying” by the government.
Brent Edwards corrected you pointedly on air by immediately repeating the fact that it was illegal spying, not “allegedly” illegal spying.
I am disappointed that you are not more rigorous in your on-air comments. You occupy an influential broadcasting position; you have a duty to be fair and accurate in your comments.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
And yet you yourself refused to acknowledge, or apologize, when you blatantly used Barrack Obama’s middle name as if it were some sort of slander in one of your tedious ‘list of liars’ updates, despite not having previously used any leaders middle names, or indeed Obama’s middle name the previous time you’d featured him in the list.
Subsequent updates showed you’d taken the criticism and removed his middle name, but never commented on what you did.
Why is that, Morrissey?
And yet you yourself refused to acknowledge, or apologize, when you blatantly used Barrack [sic] Obama’s middle name as if it were some sort of slander in one of your tedious ‘list of liars’ updates
You mean “Liars of Our Time”….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08062014/#comment-827429
Could you explain for those of us on Planet Earth how using his middle name would slander him? You will no doubt be writing to the President to upbraid him for slandering himself during his own inauguration….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knVOAr4U8l0
….despite not having previously used any leaders [sic] middle names, or indeed Obama’s middle name the previous time you’d featured him in the list.
It was a stylistic flourish, nothing more, nothing less. Now, you just go right ahead and prove that I was trying to mobilize some of the anti-Islamic morons that lurk on this site. I look forward to your (no doubt impressive) exegesis.
Subsequent updates showed you’d taken the criticism and removed his middle name, but never commented on what you did.
I removed it because there was no good reason to keep it. I didn’t comment on it because it was an utterly trivial matter, signifying nothing. You, though, I have no doubt, will now prove irrefutably that I was engaged in a brutal assault on Obama’s reputation, along with my good friends Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump and Leighton Smith.
Oh yes indeed.
Why is that, Morrissey?
I’ll leave that complex explanation up to you, my scholarly friend.
Olwyn mentioned Pike River above.
I’m half way through “Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and why 29 men died” by Rebecca MacFie.
If you have questions about how the management and operations at Pike River Mine which was meant to be “a showcase of modern mining” got to be so bad that 29 workers were killed I recommend you read this book.
The research that has gone into the book is incredibly thorough. The history, steps and processes of the mine’s management are clearly spelled out as the miners go “marching to calamity” (which is the title of chapter 8).
It’s written in a way that is accessible for most readers – it will cause a reaction for most I should imagine though. It took me awhile to get through the prologue, I was in tears. Anger follows that as you begin to see how avoidable that disaster was.
Rosie, i will assume that the book goes into full detail and draws conclusions for its readers, while you are reading that book consider for a moment after the conclusion has been read that no-one has canvassed any ‘opinion’,(that i know of), suggesting that the first explosion at Pike River might well have been deliberate, an insurance job in other words for a mine that had come to realize that the golden seam of high value coal supposedly underground at Pike River did not exist,
To all extents and purposes the mine was facing insolvency and could not meet its targets to fill impending orders for which ships had been dispatched to collect,(even trying to buy coal from Solid Energy to fill such orders),
In His evidence to the Royal Commission the South African electrician, sent into the mine after the initial explosion, a man of 27 years experience in South African mines said, ”there was a strong smell of burned diesel in the mine, i have smelled this after the use of AMFRO explosives in mines in South Africa”,
Strangely no-one, as if they had agreed not to, bothered to ask the South African electrician any further questions about this smell,
The mine manager on the day, sorry the names of the players escapes me, in His evidence said that ”From the carpark of the mines office building, a kilometer from the mine, He smelled a strong smell of burned diesel”, this was after the mine had exploded, again no-one asked of Him what He thought could have been the cause of this burned diesel smell,
Methane Gas, the supposed cause of the initial mine explosion has when combusted no detectable odor,
The ‘investors’ in the Pike River Coal Company picked up a reputed $100 million insurance payout, i do not know if the book goes into these details, food for thought…
Well, that gets the pyroplastic flow award for the stupidest comment of the day, Bad.
I would not exactly drop that kind of speculation into a conversation just about anywhere bad.
Read the book for a start, it is very moving and full of detail.
Any “deliberate” contributing actions would be in the areas of industry de-regulation, safety and anti unionism.
That’s a rather ‘dull’ critique of my comment Tiger Mountain, i do not need to read a book to get the facts of what occurred t Pike River, i read the evidence given to the Royal Commission which i suggest you do,
Is there a ‘fact’ you wish to dispute from within my comment above or are you here to simply whine,
Which ‘speculation’ are you suggesting i do not drop into just any conversation and why, do you doubt that when combusted Methane Gas has no odor,
Are you perhaps suggesting that both the Pike River Mine Manager on the day of the first explosion at the mine, and, the electrician sent into the mine after the initial explosion either did not smell a strong smell of burned diesel or did not give evidence to that effect to the Royal Commission,
Speculation my arse, i have simply made an inference from the evidence given…
Speculation and inference are often synonyms, Bad. Where inference trumps speculation is the quality of the facts relied upon in making the supposition. In your case, you have leapt from two people* noting a smell of burning diesel after a huge explosion and consequent fire into a bizarro world claim about a conspiracy to commit mass murder for no actual financial gain**.
*We’ve only got your word that these two said any such thing. You used quotation marks, yet no such quotation exists. I call bullshit. Cite, please.
** The insurance payout did not financially benefit the shareholders and under our laws they were protected from the negative consequences of merely shutting the mine down. So why the fuck would they need your sad fantasy?
You are as usual full of shit TRP, the first piece of shit was the ‘huge explosion’ and fire,
The first explosion was not huge and there was no visible fire until after the subsequent explosions some days later,
The rest of your blather is just that, you obviously haven’t read anything about Pike River and probably got all your pathetic knowledge from the Tee Vee,
i might get around to digging out the link to the Pike River Royal Commission’s pages of evidence later TRP, but, seeing its you demanding such i would suggest you do not hold your breath,(then again maybe you should)…
You’re lying, Bad. Not only have I read the evidence, and pored over the report, I even attended some of the hearings. Nowhere in the evidence is there a reference to “burned diesel”. If there was, you’d have fronted up with it already. You’re a coward and a liar. You can’t even name the men who you claim said there was that smell, let alone provide evidence that they said it. Which they didn’t. The only quotation you have provided (”there was a strong smell of burned diesel in the mine, i have smelled this after the use of AMFRO explosives in mines in South Africa”) you wrote yourself. If I’m wrong, you’ll have no difficulty proving it; it’s all online.
Cite or apologise, you bullshit artist.
Laughable, you must be blind if you claim to have pored over the evidence, probably poured a bottle of whiskey down into your rotted gut first,
You did what attended a couple of days evidence and now your a world expert, what you are TRP is a cynical little wanker…
And yet I know you’re lying. Prove me wrong, show us the evidence. It’s not hard, it’s all online. Waiting, waiting …
If your low level abuse has a point TRP perhaps you would be kind enough to let the readers know what it is…
Hi bad.
Yes, the mine was heavily indebted to it’s investors including NZ Oil and Gas and a U.S lender, Liberty Harbor. Borrowed millions were bled away trying to get the mine built and running. A rosy glow was presented to investors that magnified production expectations and made light of the very serious issues, such as the collapse of the lower part of the ventilation shaft during construction. (thats only one example)So they kept on giving, they didn’t have the full picture. The lure of forecast $$$ must have been to great for them to question the reasons for the delay and budget blow outs.
The book goes into great detail about the dire financial position the mine was in.
I doubt 29 men were murdered for the sake of an insurance payout however.
Pike was a highly gassy mine and despite the experienced and safety conscience crew (which was also made up of inexperienced poorly trained men) the odds were stacked against them as Whitall ignored the huge amount of formal hazard notices piling up in the office.
One time, a new Aussie miner came to work in the mine before it was even in partial production, they were still building the 2.3km stone tunnel that led to the coal face. Without warning flames went over head, across the ceiling of the tunnel. The chipping of the stone from the roadheader machine used to dig the tunnel created sparks that ignited methane that was seeping out of rock. This occurred 10 times before anything was done about it.
He commented that in Aussie under their mine regulations such a near miss would mean immediate stop work and the evacuation of the men. He was one of many who after trying to reason with whitall about the dangerous conditions of the mine, left, disillusioned. Once again this is only one example of the the danger the men worked in daily and of managements inability to mitigate hazards and protect the workers from harm.
Under these conditions it was inevitable that there was going to be loss of life.
Have a read of the book, it’s probably available at the Kilbirnie library. The author simply provides the reader with the facts and reports the conversations she had with those she interviewed.
i read all the evidence given to the Royal Commission thanks Rosie, what you will notice everywhere is that no attempt by anyone has ever been made to explain the burned diesel smell which both the mine manager on the day and the electrician gave evidence of smelling,
The South African electrician even described it as the same as AMFRO explosives, as i point out above Methane Gas when combusted is odorless…
I understand there is additional info in the book that wasn’t aired during the Royal Commission of Enquiry, the author interviews for example.
I haven’t finished the book yet so don’t know whether the S.A electricians description of the burnt diesel /explosives smell is included. As such I’m reluctant to speculate where that smell may have originated from. I will let you know if it is covered though, as I get further into the book.
I’m remain doubtful that it could have potentially been an insurance job, given what I have read so far and given that would be mass murder.
Oh i see your point Rosie, to all extents and purposes that mine was a bomb waiting for a spark to ignite it, on at least half the 40 days leading up to the explosion the level of Methane in the mine was such that it could have exploded at any time a spark was struck,
During this 40 days ‘the Board’ had tasked someone to ‘find’ money to keep the mine running from outside sources as the major shareholders had balked at putting in any more coin, this fund-raising failed,
my question, did persons unknown get tired of waiting for the inevitable to occur,
Definitely let us know what the book concludes if anything Rosie,(and if either of the witnesses evidence of the burned diesel smell rates a mention, my guess it wont)…
wtf is “AMFRO”?
I think you might want to check your acronym.
True, it should read ANFRO, a mixture of ammonia nitrate and diesel…
No, it should have read “ANFO”. So that’s a red flag right there.
Secondly, the fact that methane burns without odour (no idea ifthat’s true or not) does not mean that there are no other combustible hydrocarbons in an active coal mine. Any mixture of which might smell similar to burned diesel.
Yeah, I’m not really convinced that you have enough dots strung together to go public and trample over graves with your theory just yet…
Wanker McFlock, who is trampling over anyone’s graves,(except you waving them round),
You too have obviously not read the evidence to the Royal Commission,
http://www.pikeriver.royalcommission.govt.nz/phase-3-hearing-transcripts
Knock yourself out…
How about you knock yourself out, fool? It’s your claim, why don’t you show us the evidence? You posted a busted link, btw. But the actual transcripts don’t back your fantasy up anyway, so I can understand why you won’t front.
So tell us TRP seeing as you claim oracle status, you of course are LYING, you were never anywhere closer to the Pike River Royal Commission than your TeeVee,
You tell us all exactly what the South African electrician said in His evidence, you having poured over every word of it should be able to quote Him verbatim…
“You tell us all exactly what the South African electrician said in His evidence,”
Yeah, why not. You’re not going to back up your lies, so I may as well inject some reality into the process.
One thing the electrician said when asked about the smell, and I quote, is it “isn’t really a diesel smell”.
The exact fucking opposite of what you claimed.
Still want to carry on bullshitting, Bad?
TRP, next you will be telling me there was no evidence given about the smell of cordite,
Now who is the fucking Liar TRP, it was Commissioner Bell that used those words to Strydom the South African electrician now why do you not quote the whole of (17 through to 20) the exchange between Commissioner Bell and the South African electrician Strydom for the readers,
Probably because when the whole exchange is quoted you are shown to be a bullshit artist right…
Sweet. ‘cordite’. You’ve finally found the real transcript, as opposed to the one in your head. But to be fair, I mistook a Q for an A, so, indeed it was the question from Bell from which I quoted. My bad, bad.
See, that’s how you admit a mistake. It ain’t hard.
Now how about you find the quotes from the two separate witnesses claiming “burned diesel”. If it’ll help, here’s your quote:
“there was a strong smell of burned diesel in the mine, i have smelled this after the use of AMFRO explosives in mines in South Africa”
Ah, I love the smell of bullshit in the morning. Smells like … burned diesel.
Te Reo Putere(to the truth), that really takes the cake doesn’t it, You in a headlong rush to wave your shriveled dick around as the ‘winner’ deliberately carve three words off of a question asked by Commissioner Bell and then attribute these three words to the South African electrician Strydom,
Caught out with your grand little LIE you then try to pass this off as an innocent mistake,
That might have been believable if at the same time you had of fessed up to the fact that Commissioner Bell and the South African electrician Strydom were discussing at the time the smell of EXPLOSIVES in relation to what Strydom had smelled in the Pike river mine on the day in question,
The fact that you did not make this confession, obviously straight after having read the exchange between Bell and Strydom makes you the cynical LIAR of note in this discussion,
Why did you carve off these particular words in an attempt at spreading a LIE Te Reo Putere(to the truth)”isn’t a diesel smell” from that quote, why did you not publish the whole question from Bell to Strydom,
Here let me help you with that, just so readers can get a proper sense of what you are deliberately LYING about,
”I mean to me Cordite isn’t a diesel smell, its more a smell to do with explosives, would–is that because of your South African experience with explosives or” unquote Commissioner Bell,
Now Te Reo Putere(to the truth), why do you not play the next verse in this song, how bout you publish the first six words of the answer that Strydom the South African electrician gave as an answer to Commissioner Bell….
You’re a sad wee fuck, bad. The weird thing is that if you’d actually checked, you could have run your fantasy around cordite, but instead you chose to make up “burned diesel” and invent a quote to justify it. Bullshit and Diversion. It’s all in your head, son. Get help.
So Te Reo Putere(to the truth), you now hide your LIES behind a gushing of infantile abuse,
Why cannot you answer the question Putere(to the truth), its simple enough even for you, after all ”you spent hours poring over the evidence”(fucking LIAR),
Here let me help you again, first with the question from commissioner Bell and second, just to make things clear for the readers, the first six words that Strydom the electrician gives as an answer to Bell’s question,(we will get around to why Bell is asking Strydom the question later, and later still we will get to the Mine Manager,(White’s), evidence of the heavy burned diesel smell),
Q, ”i mean cordite to me isn’t a diesel smell, its more a smell to do with Explosives, would — is that because of your South African experience with explosives or” unquote Commissioner Bell,
A, ”The smell is yes with explosives” unquote Strydom the South African electrician first into the mine after the original explosion,
Now why do you think Commissioner Bell is asking Strydom such questions Te Reo Putere(to the truth),
going off half cocked isn’t really going to achieve anything, is it, B?
You’re pissing around with a conspiracy theory that has no motive, no evidence (other than someone maybe comparing the smell to something else), and relies on previously incompetent mine management being able to competently kill 29 workers and get away with it.
Nice hobby you’ve got there.
You really are dense aint you Mac, a tragic small brained chimp, the Mine Management were DELIBERATELY incompetent,
Despite safety concerns being repeatedly raised the Mine Management DELIBERATELY ignored such concerns,
There is a world of difference between an incompetent and a DELIBERATE incompetent…
“………….and relies on previously incompetent mine management being able to competently kill 29 workers and get away with it.”
(Shee -it. Didn’t mean to spark off an upset.)
Except to say with my ordinary person’s understanding of the events at Pike River, that it can only come down to the above. People died because their management were completely incompetent in their ability to be proactive in regard to H&S in such an inherently dangerous workplace, one worse than other mines.
Adding a personality like Whitall, arrogant, bullying and single minded, but charismatic enough to bluff the big guys, reduced the chances of the workers of even having a half a chance to protect themselves from the dangers they knew were so apparent.
Rosie: I agree. But there’s a world of difference between that and bad’s implication of a deliberately set explosion that killed 29 people (“AMFRO” plus insurance payout on a failing mine).
Lolz relax Rosie, TRP has these little goes at me occasionally,(even to the extent that when i trot off to bed ‘it’ exercises ‘its’ overblown ego by declaring itself the winner),
Mac has long been the second string in the two string fiddle that TRP plays…
better a fiddle than a wind instrument.
You and your mate TRP Mac do one hell of a lot of fiddling with each other…
another implied allegation with no evidence whatsoever.
Your batting rate is pretty low today.
Lovin’ the homophobia, bad. 🙄
What homophobia is that Te Reo Putere(to the truth), i absolutely luuu-uuurve the idea that you two fiddle with each other ,
The very thought of the pair of you doing so has me grinning from ear to ear…
🙄
oh well, at least your fantasizing has moved on from “AMFRO”.
Bloody hell Bad12, you sure it’s only tobacco you’re growing there…
You may have the bones of a half decent fantasy there, but out of respect for the families I think you should remove any similarity to the pike river disaster.
And when you say “…..headlong rush to wave your shrivelled dick around” and “wanker McFlock…” along with all that other trash you normally save for Mr. Ure it’s a bit too late to then accuse others of “infantile abuse”.
Now we know you are working at achieving your target weight but it might be time to put down the pump phillip loaned you 🙂 and pick up a couple of toffee-pops or something..
p.s. look at McF and TRP as you would a friend who might not tell you what you want to hear, but has valuable advice all the same.
Plus, McFlock, there’s the fact that no one actually said “burned diesel”. Bad’s bullshitting.
Another OCR raise. And this while Mark Carney BoE governor says that there is no space in the economic and political reality to raise it in England. No other country is raising their OCR rates. Are Kiwi’s being fleeced so John Key’s Money trading mates can have a bit of a flutter?
For those listening to and reporting on the latest employment statistics
23 advertisements for the vacant position of a gumboot checker
does not mean there are 23 vacant gumboot checker positions
head – desk- repeat
Hmmmm sketchy old Bob Jones
“I’ll tell you what gets me – the sight of a little girl. It always puts a smile on my face. I lust after them”
Im sure you do Bob
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11294575
holy shit, talk about “out of context”.
Similar mr Jones, to the fascination of a little girl with a dolls house. You get all these things and people and put them in the rooms and pretend that they have a life and are part of your life. But you are always separate from them, unless you’re Alice in the Looking Glass of course and find bottles with drink me on them and change your persona. It would seem like a life-changing experience that. Though still not real.
The-Art-of-Deception
Training for a new generation of online covert operations
UK GCHQ powerpoint
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/document/2014/02/24/art-deception-training-new-generation-online-covert-operations/
Wonder if the fellas at the GCSB have similar ideas ?
While Bibi unravels so does 9/11
Given the anger aimed at the demise of the Herald, a column by Russell Brown on Public Address looks at the awful writings of Bernard Osman re the alleged disaster of Auckland’s finance. Andre Aessi pointed to a column by Dr Bassett. A dodgy anti left character to me but still he writes:
“The Collapse of the New Zealand Herald 12/03/2009
In case you hadn’t noticed it, the New Zealand Herald, the paper that used to claim to be the country’s premier paper of record, has abandoned this aspiration and seems intent on becoming a mere British-style tabloid. Its journalists are down to a skeleton of reporters; the sub editing (those who fit the headlines to the story below) seems to have fallen into the hands of deliberate troublemakers; and the editor, Tim Murphy, appears not to be in charge of what appears in his paper. …… and so on.
http://www.michaelbassett.co.nz/articleview2.php?id=202&yh=2009&yl=2008
Chilling comment about NZ being unable to provide decent standards for its people.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10275393/Red-zoned-provinces
Swaths of provincial New Zealand could be effectively “red zoned’ as local councils are forced to abandon their shrinking and ageing communities, a new report says.
In a wide-ranging look at the country’s future, the Royal Society of New Zealand’s report, Our Futures, says difficult decisions are looming in some districts – singling out the Kapiti Coast and Horowhenua – where the population is disproportionately of retirement age, and deaths outpace births.
These decisions could include making unpopular cuts to funding for roads, schools and medical services, and even abandoning some communities altogether, similar to the “red zoning” of parts of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake, when whole suburbs were written off as economically unviable for habitation.
The Otaki MP is responsible for Horowhenua apparently and that is Nathan Guy, previously a dairy farmer. It would be a fine example of the skewed economy that our money-making dairying rock-star economy, couldn’t support their own area’s population needs.
I saw Phil Goff on Backbenches last night and I thought he came across extremely well
Particularly when he was asked about rape culture in NZ (not an easy question), he just went for it, talking about the roastbusters and the closure of the Chch rape crisis centre.
He was miles ahead of that annoying national woman Claudette Hauiti, who seemed to have left Gareth Hughes with a bemused expression wondering how he could be standing next to anyone so daft