ed:..(heh..!..)..i have commented before how rawdon christie is such a ‘ron burgandy’..who has regular ‘ron burgandy’ moments/episodes..
..and he kicked off this morning with an early one..
..an ‘angry-ron’..
..where he stared down the lens and fulminated about those terrible people who go to the city mission xmas dinner and who..in rawdon-rons’ eyes..don’t deserve to be there..
They’re New Zealand’s fighting elite but when they go into action it’s with gear they’ve got themselves on-line because the Defence Force will not provide or doesn’t do so in time.
News photos of Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers in action over the streets of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul hid the fact that the lanyards stopping them from falling out of helicopters were paid for by the men themselves; online for $100 each.
Soldiers discovered there were not enough of charging handles – crucial to firing their weapons – so they paid $70 apiece to get their own.
I took it upon myself to buy some more,’’ the soldier said, saying he didn’t want to have to stop fighting to clear his eyes.
“The enemy don’t wait and I enjoy my eyesight.’’ He spent US$15000 (NZ$18,000) online to buy his own gear, including body armour, helicopter lanyards and safety boots. Other soldiers did the same.
it reminds me of the phrase about schools having enough money and the armed forces have to have a cake stall to buy guns.
only problem is while the soldiers dont have enough money now, neither, still, do the schools
Sorry my late reply as I’ve been a little bit busy with work and silly season drinks etc.
Old Phil needs too clam down a bit and be careful on what he say’s when opens his mouth as it may come back and bite him in his ass.
All Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen all over the world buy their own or swap gear because their Governments/ Bean counters and the Joe public want to do defence on the cheap. I can tell you from own time in Military the cheapest bidder (90% of the time) isn’t always the best option and as a result I’ve had to buy my own gear, in some cases make our gear such as Gun mounts etc., or using private funds (Social Club funds) or private donors to kit out our wagons when I was serving in the NZDF. (Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps 1993-1998). This was one of many reasons why I left NZ in 1998.
I now served in a foreign defence force and guess what I’ve had to go out buy my own gear here as well. In the last 15 years I’ve spent about 10K on kit from boots, webbing/ belt kits, packs and gas cookers etc. But it’s not as bad as our Kiwi cousins where they are still getting cheap and nasty kit from boots to some of the bigger gear like the OPV’s (which are 100ton over weight) and the RNZAF are still flying around in 50 year aircraft aka C-130 all because the Pollies and the NZ public want to do Defence cheap.
One last thing I’ve seen a report that NZDF are facing $22 Billion Capital Equipment Shortfall over the next 15- 20 years. Some of this Equipment shortfall could’ve sorted out back in the mid 90’s and all the way through to the last Labour Government. If the Equipment was replaced when it was meant to have happened the Capital Equipment Shortfall would be well under $10 Billion.
Have a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to everyone here at the Standard apart for those Tories as you lot are one of the reasons I NZ as well.
Sometimes Treasury actually get things right. It’s usually when they come up with a position contrary to that of National and Act. Amazing that eh? 😈
This is an interesting article about economists. It would seem to suggest that the policies followed by National and Act are contrary to what economists actually say and are actually a misunderstanding of economics. Not sure how much I agree with it as I’ve met too many economists who slavishly support NACTs policies.
“Mr English said that there was still a lot of work to do to make the forecasts a reality and the Government was this year still borrowing a net $78 million every week.
In dollar terms, net debt would peak at $64.5 billion in 2015-16.”
Xox
Seems Len Brown can ‘court’ as many as he likes. There is no accountability /authority to bring him into line, other than himself and the public at the next election! Sounds like a corrupt dictatorship is running our largest, out of Control city. This is not going to end well for NZ. This is a very serious mistake. Has Rodney Hyde moved the Gold yet?
If an investor pays up to 25% for a movie production, one would expect the investor would want around 25% of the revenue/profit the movie makes in sales, like cinema tickets, video disks, merchandise etc.
So is the NZ government an investor or are they simply paying for Cameron’s farm or Jackson’s next private plane without expecting a considerable, measurable return on their investment?
phillip u
Business doesn’t believe in its own bullshit, or rather that of the theorists it employs whose ideas it deigns to notice, and the idea they don’t believe in is that real businesses don’t have subsidies.
It’s only silly little NZ leaders and pollies who actually listen and act on those fanciful economic theories, or have followed them in the past. Now we are confronted with business as it is operated or as it might be called Realbuzinezz.
And we are paying out some good 5% seed money and withholding our 15% Gst tax to get some good business. It’s a compromise we are willing to make. So let all you purists out there who would rather starve to death than put out a begging bowl find your own way to salvation.
Well yes that’s a point phillip u – we should be getting some return. I know – form a private public partnership with the film company and have a minority shareholding but get some of the returns. Brilliant.
I am so good. Me for Finance Minister. Probably couldn’t do much worse. Except I don’t know how to run a country that is borrowing money all the time and yet says that’s the right way and Labour are a bunch of dreebs. (I warn you that’s going to be my favourite word next year. I understand geeks has gone mainstream and I want a word that pings with condescension.)
cos Mr key would rather gamble on the intanglibl return of “tourism” than actually have some more certainty from having a piece of the film… anyway Warner Bros would have laughed and told him to PO. if he had asked. They are trying to save money not give away profit.
Xox
Seems Len Brown can ‘court’ as many as he likes. There is no accountability /authority to bring him into line, other than himself and the public at the next election! Sounds like a corrupt dictatorship is running our largest, out of Control city. This is not going to end well for NZ. This is a very serious mistake. Has Rodney Hyde moved to the Gold Coast yet?
I guess it’s the perpetual problem though. The line between allowing an elected government to run the country and allowing people an opportunity to strongly object to something. I believe parties ought to declare their interest in coalitions with other parties prior to an election. Voters have the right to know with whom their vote will be bedded. It would certainly strengthen the “we have a mandate” idea.
As I have stated many times if people who didn’t want assets sold voted for National then we got what they deserved. There was NO doubt in my mind that if National were able to they would form a government with anyone who would let them sell assets. For that reason I agree the time to object was in 2008 and 2011.
I am not a fan of binding CIR’s because of the s59a CIR which was so full of deceptions and misleading information. People rely so heavily on those who get printed int he media or who can get postal pamphlets printed to get their information from and so much of it was misleading. Unless and until we have honesty out of the mouths of the politicians and lobbysist and the media who delve before printing press releases, CIR’s are up for hijack.
You really think people are that thick, don’t you.
So thick that we should leave important decisions, about all our lives, to 20 or so politicians. Politicians FFS. Politicians that should have their sponsors names on their shirts.
And. Just because, you, or I, individually objected to the results of one referendum, does not invalidate the concept of democracy.
The changes to the bill, which resulted from the concerns many expressed in the lead up to the referendum, improved it greatly. Sent the politicians back to the drawing board.
Why have voting at all. We could just leave everything up to our “wise” choke, politicians.
A very media coup of the duly elected Mayor of Auckland. Brown wasn’t going to lose,
so the right made a decision, a choice, between weakening him before the election or
after. Weakening him before would have be the ethical choice and made a stronger
Auckland, and so little power, but weakening him afterwards, led by media, clearly
undermines the will of Auckland. Councilers want seats at the independant Mayor
table! Something they would never had gotten either way, returned or not, had
Brown’s transgressions been brought out before his re-election. And guess what, the
right made such a strong Mayor! designed the system that way! And backed Banks, who
they should have dropped for his failure and not forced him on ACT. But hey, like
voters didn’t know Banks was extreme right, maybe the right would not have so much
trouble had Key pushed moderate right candidates rather than extreme ACT child
passport grave robbers, and what helicopter its no cabbage boat, or perk buster
busted. With company like this no wonder Key’s teflon has gone missing.
Bennett gazumped. CC finds candidate, so political alike as Bennett, but half the
size, to run in North Harbor, insuring National voters a clear choice of one.
Bennett will get listed into pariament, and North Habor will vote in the religious
party into power. North Harbor next Epson! Well unless voters get fedup being pushed
to the right, leaky moldy right wingers. Its possible to be played, sure, but will
some moderate National voters vomit less voting Labour in the seat, instead of
extreme right Nat/CC. If you vote Bennett, why wouldn’t you vote CC instead and get
Key over the line possibly, but of course that’s if you wanted to vote CC and be
played by CC. Its not about serving the voters, its about power plays to get the
rightwing cabal over the line. Desperate
Note: They are happy to throw progressives a few bones in the form of laws which don’t really cost anything. or seriously change things.
Changing the law doesn’t cost. Increasing parental education and support, does!
The sneaky cutting of funds to child mental health services, for just one example, is very obvious to us.
Watch them ignore it, if we had a referendum on changing the underlying causes of child poverty in NZ. Something which, will, like stopping asset sales, cost NACT’s sponsors money.
There was an hilarious letter in the letters column just below the editorial in the Dom/Post today.
The heading above the letter was “Helen Clark would’ve heeded the result”.
After a general whinge against John Key, saying he would plough on with asset sales, that he was telling New Zealanders their opinions don’t count, etc, etc, etc he then drifted of into a patch of inspired lunacy.
He said “By contrast, it’s my feeling that the way former prime minister Helen Clark, for example, might have handled a result that she was personally opposed to would have been to have the decency to say: “It’s not the result I personally believe is best for New Zealand, but we’re a democracy, and I respect the will pf the people. Asset sales will stop for now, but we welcome further discussion on this topic”. That’s the kind of leader I want”.
Is there anyone out there in the Blogosphere who also resides in the letter writer’s strange fantasy world where Parliament must have 99 MPs and the “anti-smacking” bill was repealed?
Not sure she would have plowed through with the same “Damn the torpedos!” attitude and two fingered salute to the NZ electorate the way Key has.
With any policy that was controversial or of national importance, she worked with the opposition to reach a consensus. Examples being the Free Trade agreement with China, and the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007.
Also, I dont think Cullen would have let her enagage in such financial idiocy in the first place, so the question is moot.
It is strange though, every step along the way Key has said they would only sell if they got a good price. And it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the opposition, treasury, as well as independant economists that from a financial point of view, the sales will leave the government books in a worse position, and lead to higher power rises, which have knock on effects for businesses with increasing overhead, as well as more strain on the health system as more people struggle to heat their homes in the winter.
It is also very clear that the cabinet are very aware of the damage to the government books, wider economy and society.
Another thing that has not been mentioned very often is the huge missed opportunity for New Zealand small businesses.
Stock markets over the past few years have been running hot, primarily with printed money looking for actual businesses and assets to invest in.
It’s has been the perfect time for startups that have found their market, and have a good business model to float for capital and expand.
If you are a New Zealand company that was looking at an IPO; the government just ate your lunch.
And not just a bite, they ate the fucking lot.
Not sure why they framed it as “Govt blows $5b on KiwiSaver in five years”.
That money is a down-payment on peoples retirement, and in the mean time is invested. Be nice if there was a requirement for all Kiwisaver funds to be reinvested in the New Zealand economy. In any case, it’s has not been wasted.
It’s not as if they actually got a few billion dollars in a big pile and just torched it, they way they have with the sale of New Zealands public utilities.
Perhaps we should describe the KiwiSaver scheme in something along these lines.
“KiwiSaver is a means of returning to the taxpayer some of the excessive tax levies that have been imposed on them. It is a means of allowing the normal citizen a means of choose where their retirement savings should be invested rather than having it done by an overarching state bureaucracy”.
There that would get all the National voters in favour of it and all the Labour supporters demanding that it be abolished.
The problem of forcing all the funds to be invested solely in New Zealand is that you can’t get the spread of investments that reduce risk. It is something that the Greens in particular don’t understand. They wanted to print money to restock the earthquake repair reserves and then to invest that money in New Zealand.
Similarly the Labour party seem to want to start an insurance company that will operate only in New Zealand
The problem of forcing all the funds to be invested solely in New Zealand is that you can’t get the spread of investments that reduce risk
I would agree with you if it gets invested in the same industry within New Zealand, or if the entire New Zealand economy gets wiped off the face of the earth – Which is much more likely under a National Government (or the 4th Labour Govt – wankers).
With regard to the redistribution of tax, I imagine the rump of the National Party would be opposed to it on ideological grounds. Mind you, my dad likes Kiwisaver – and he worships the ground Roger Douglas walks on – his reasoning is that there are so many stupid people out there, that if the Govt didn’t do something to ensure they helped themselves he’s have to pay to support the lazy bludgers in the end anyway.
I think the Labour Partys Insurance thing is a good idea, but its hardly an amazing, “wow”, kinda policy.
Introduce into the market a company that is required to re-insure to appropriate levels and doesn’t make excessive profits to keep the rest of the buggers from taking the piss. And any profits stay in NZ Same principle as KiwiBank
It’s not rocket surgery.
The Greens paper detailing QE through earthquake bonds, was actually a well thought out idea, for that particular place and time.
It would have reduced borrowing, kicked inflation up a couple of points when it had completely flatlined due to zero demand, stabilised the exchange rate, resulted in a much better balance of payments, and saved some, if not a significant number of the 40,000 manufacturing jobs that went to the wall over that 12 month period.
The “sky is falling” reaction to Dr Normans paper was quite bizaare as it was obvious that most people didnt read it, and really didn’t understand the principles behind it.
It would have been nice if there had been at least a rational, reality based conversation about it.
Instead, we borrowed a shitload of money that someone else printed.
We got higher government debt, inflation (and demand) remained flatlined, manufacturers and exporters (along with 10’s of thousands of jobs) went to the wall, and our balance of payments got worse.
Result! Good work Mr English.
If you want examples of utter fiscal incompetence, you need look no further than the current government.
Hmm. I won’t get into a catfight with you over which party is the worst economic manager. Let’s just agree to disagree.
The description of KiwiSaver I offered was just a lighthearted attempt to describe it in such a way that both sides of politics might reflexively take the opposite line to their normal one.
If you are going to set up an insurance company that only operates in New Zealand you would have to reinsure almost all the house and contents cover overseas. Surely that would be accomplished most easily by having the insurance offered by multinationals that are inherently globally spread. Why bring in a middleman? As for a KiwiAssure being somehow “better” and “fairer” etc than an overseas version? Well you are aware that KiwiBank are under the gun for the unfair fees they have been accused of charging, aren’t you?
As far as the Earthquake fund goes. It is a long time since I looked at it but if my memory serves me they wanted to invest the fund in New Zealand. That is absolutely insane. If you ever needed the money, after another earthquake in Wellington say, it would be exactly the time that you didn’t have the werewithal to sell assets and use the funds to pay out on the earthquake damage. A good chunk of the assets would have been destroyed and would need replacing themselves. If you think you can simply print money and invest it overseas than you have a great deal more faith in the cupidity of International bankers than I do. I may have forgotten the details of Norman’s proposal of course but I do remember thinking that what he was suggesting would only lead to inflation. That may have been what he wanted of course. It gives you a good opportunity to claim that people have made (fake) capital gains and to tax the hell out of them.
it’s ok, English is setting himself for a lolly scramble in election year with veiled comments about tax cuts… and no mention of the 65b government debt despite this from English
“Now it’s time to pay down debt and get our books in order.” English 2013
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Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) for Tuesday, 2 July 2013
6. State-owned Assets, Sales—Purpose and Use of Proceeds
[Sitting date: 02 July 2013. Volume:691;Page:11416. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]
6. Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) to the Minister of Finance: Are the proceeds from selling power companies and other assets being used to pay down debt, to build schools and hospitals, to fund irrigation projects, to rebuild Christchurch, or to fund Auckland transport projects?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) : The Government has been clear that the proceeds of the share offer programme will be used to buy a variety of new public assets and will help the Government avoid having to borrow to procure those assets. The Future Investment Fund was outlined in Budget 2012 and further details were provided in Budget 2013. The purpose of that fund is to ensure complete transparency about the spending of the proceeds from asset sales. The Budget confirmed another $1.5 billion of these proceeds will be invested in schools, Christchurch hospitals, KiwiRail, and irrigation projects. However, the share offer proceeds are only a proportion of the Government’s overall new capital spending.
Hon David Parker : Does he agree with John Key that asset sales are necessary to “avoid a credit downgrade”, or does he agree with Tony Ryall that asset sales are necessary to pay down debt, or does he agree with another John Key that asset sales would be used to build new schools and hospitals, or does he agree with Nathan Guy that money would be used to subsidise irrigation on multimillion-dollar farms, or does he agree with Gerry Brownlee that asset sales money be used to rebuild Christchurch, or does he agree with yet another John Key that asset sales will fund the Auckland rail link?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : Yes.
Hon David Parker : How much funding has already been allocated for spending from asset sales via the Future Investment Fund, and how much has actually been raised for the Future Investment Fund from asset sales to date?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : The details of that are set out in the Budget, but, as the member will be aware, the Government’s programme hopes to realise between $5 billion and $7 billion, which is, actually, quite a lot of money. I would have to say that that $5 billion to $7 billion is much more useful as cash than it is as 49 percent shares in electricity companies owned by the Government.
Hon David Parker : I seek leave to table documents showing that $1.7 billion has so far been raised—
Mr SPEAKER : What is the source of the document?
Hon David Parker : There is a combination of documents: the National Party manifesto and Treasury documents.
Mr SPEAKER : No, both are freely available to members if they so want it. Has the member got a supplementary question?
Hon David Parker : Yes. Why does he continue to claim asset sales will reduce debt when Treasury—his own department—states that from 2017 the Crown is worse off to the tune of $50 million a year, growing to $100 million a year worse off because of asset sales thereafter?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : We do not claim it will reduce debt. What we have said it will mean is that the Crown does not have to go and borrow the money from overseas bankers. We have never understood why Labour and the Greens would rather borrow money from offshore bankers than get the money from New Zealanders who want to invest in a large New Zealand company.
Hon David Parker : Has he been advised that in January 2011 John Key said the Government needed to sell power companies and other State assets to avoid a credit downgrade; if so, is he aware that 8 months later New Zealand was downgraded by both Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : Yes, I am aware of those things. I am also aware that the sale of the assets means that 49 percent of the ownership has gone largely to New Zealanders but also to some offshore investors. In return for that, they have put cash in the Government’s bank account. I know it is profoundly irritating to the Labour Party, but we are able to use that cash to buy new public assets. The public is starting to understand that Labour’s arguments against the asset sales were poorly conceived and wrong.”
I recall when cullen did this in 2008 it was “lolly scramble”
” English told reporters at the Treasury lockup today that tax cuts were “unlikely” next year, although the $1b of ACC cuts in the pipeline are a proxy for that.
But they surely cannot be ruled out longer term, though he is not about to get ahead of himself, or blow a powerful political weapon for the next campaign by signalling them this early.
Next year, though, a contingent promise of tax cuts – at the least a move on the thresholds to counter the “fiscal creep” that pushes taxpayers into higher tax brackets – must at least be an option on these numbers.” English 2013
“National Party Finance spokesman Bill English says if Michael Cullen is not planning an election year spend-a-thon, why did Helen Clark say ‘it has taken a while to build up the kitty for a substantial tax package’?
He is responding to a speech today in which the Finance Minister referred to Labour’s laughable claim that it is maintaining a ‘tight fiscal stance’ and the statement that there will be no ‘lolly scramble’ in election year.
“Dr Cullen has presided over the biggest spending Government in New Zealand history. Labour’s spending has consistently outstripped economic growth, productivity growth has slumped, and Kiwis have been leaving for Australia in droves.
“It has taken Dr Cullen eight years to start thinking about refunding some of the money he has taken from hard-working Kiwis through over-taxation.Â
“In the last Budget he signed off on some $4 billion in total of over-spending, even though he warned his colleagues that not sticking to their limit would keep interest rates higher for longer.
“Kiwi households are paying for Labour’s last lolly scramble, with interest rates which are among the highest in the developed world, coupled with rates that put us in the top half of the OECD for being overtaxed.”
The ANZ makes it clear in its latest Market Focus newsletter that ‘the biggest losers in an inflationary environment are middle to low income households’.” English 2007
Hone was very good on Morning Report this morning, a stark contrast to Key’s whining.
Key really doesn’t get the Mandela/anti-Apartheid thing. Not only does he take a delegation of largely pro-tour representatives (Sharples, late in the day, claiming he was there to represent the protesters, though nobody can remember him protesting) to SA but he then slags off Hone Harawira, who everyone accepts did lead protests, for attending several memorial services and Mandela shrines/museums, in a trip undertaken for the express purpose of representing the protesters.
I’ve never thought Key was much of a politician, or much of a charmer for that matter, but he is really digging himself into a hole here.
Key really doesn’t get the Mandela/anti-Apartheid thing.
That’s because he likely has given the issue literally, no moral thought. Not the issue of the South Africa trip; the issue of apartheid and the oppression of the majority by a small minority. It’s what he does every day, for goodness sakes.
“I’ve never thought Key was much of a politician, or much of a charmer for that matter, but he is really digging himself into a hole here.”
Actually if you looked at the comments on stuff when it was first announced that Hone was going to go, there was a huge anti-Hone backlash.
If those people are representative of middle NZ, then Key slamming Hone, for absolutely anything Hone does except turn water into wine, is a vote-winner for him.
@ Lanthanide(8.2), VTO(8.2.1) and Naturesong(8.2.1.2)
Oh that sounds like it might be horribly accurate what you both say 🙁
…perhaps I might exchange ‘political institutions’ for ‘political spin’ or ‘dogwhistles’ and I think this following quote of Rousseau sums up my views on the attitudes of the group of NZers you speak of.
“All ran headlong to their chains, in hopes of securing their liberty; for they had just wit enough to perceive the advantages of political institutions, without experience enough to enable them to foresee the dangers.”
Its truly deeply saddening if what you say is correct.
A ‘Jolly’, so says Slippery the Prime Minister of Mana Party leader Hone Harawira’s trip to the funeral of Nelson Mandela,
Whining that Harawira wasn’t part of the ‘official party’ and therefor should not have gone to the funeral in South Africa would seem on the surface to be from the PM a simple attempt at diversion, the diversion from what can only be described as an atrocious display from Slippery the PM and the British Prime Minister David Cameron as they were photographed at the ‘official service’ for Mandela laughing uproariously,
No matter what any of us think of Nelson Mandela, He is respected the world over as one of the ‘great’ Statesmen of our age and for the Prime Minister of New Zealand to be publicly seen to be making ‘light’ of the official funeral service for leaders from across the whole world, giving the gravity of the service the air of a mere scherzando, a joke, shows our Prime Minister as unfit to hold this office,
Far from being asked to explain His actions during the approved trip by the House Speaker, Harawira should be applauded for attending services including a private ceremony at the Mandela House, the Speaker should be writing to Slippery the PM asking why He felt the need to breach the Parliamentary Convention that Members do not comment on other Members absence from the Parliament as this is a Privelege reserved entirely to the House Speaker,
What tho is exercising Slippery’s sphincter this early on in the week after the Parliament has risen for the year, did the ‘spin-meisters’ on the ninth floor give Him the message that every time He attacks the Green Party, far from the desired effect, they go up in the polls,
Or did the latest round of National Party internal polling give the PM’s arse muscle cause to tighten in such a painful manner that His vocal chords began a litany in the language of the ‘Clown’ as they exposed for the PM ‘the elephant in the room’ in the form of Mana having enough support to bring into the next Parliament the form of John Minto on the Party List…
Not nearly enough to get him there though Phil.
Mana got 24,168 votes in the end. To get Minto into Parliament, assuming that all the other parties got the same number of votes as they did at the election, Mana would have had to have got 45,810 votes. They only got about half the number they needed.
It’s possible although the polls don’t seem to point that way. Three seats needs about 2.3% of the vote and I haven’t seen any polls giving Mana a figure that high.
If Labour run Kelvin Davis against Hone though it might all be moot as Hone might be beaten.
@alwyn..also the media ignored harawira last time..
..that wont happen next time..
..plus the poverty-fighting policies etc of mana (and the do-something-about-it!-imperatives are much more urgent than they were last time..
..plus the disintergration of the maori party is almost complete..
..and again..this was not the case last time around..
..so mana doubling their vote (at the very least)..
..and thus getting minto in as an mp..
..is eminently do-able..
..and as an aside.. personally..i reckon one of the few good things to come from the death of nelson mandela..
..has been what i see as the seachange in attitude of many mainstream nz’ers/media towards minto and the other demonstrators against apartheid..
..what has been bought sharply into their focus..is how they..(not the muldoons/bolgers/mckinnons/keys)..were on the right side of history..and on the right side of right/wrong..
..and how in the grand new zealand scheme of things..
..for their moral courage/convictions..
..minto et.al are their generations’ heroes..warriors even..
..they were all standing on the right side of history..
..and on the right side of that right/wrong divide..
The media in New Zealand defaults toward advertising, and if giving the National Party a bit of a stir every now and again sells a few papers, they are happy to do so. It also allows them to say “look, we’re unbiased – see, we really took it to John Key on that social issue”.
I had expected the honeymoon to end when John Key had jack booted thugs charge into the herald offices at the last election.
But for the editors, and owners of New Zealands mainstream media organisations Upton Sinclair comes to mind
It is impossible to get a man to understand something if his livelihood depends on him not understanding
And for the rump of the National Party, Carl Sagan
“You can’t convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it’s based on a deep seated need to believe”
Speaking of Minto and Mandela, here’s a (typically) excellent audio comment by Wayne Brittenden (Nat Rad, Sunday Morning, 15 Dec 2013 11:36am) on Obama living up to his own soaring rhetoric at Mandela’s funeral.
This is an excerpt form 1:24 – 3:19: “Obama also spoke of the great inspiration of Mandela, the importance of inclusion, generosity and truth, the power of action and of taking risks. The (US) President has the perfect opportunity for promoting those values by taking a tough stand against another State practising a form of Apartheid – an ally, Israel. Even South Africa’s Apartheid never built a Wall – twice the height of the Berlin one, complete with sniper-posts and checkpoints limiting free Palestinian movement and economic development. There are even buses and roads that are segregated. The World rose up against the injustices in South Africa – it has yet to do the same against the long-standing injustices in Gaza and on the West Bank.
Exactly 13 years ago, Nelson Mandela attended the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people and called for their self-determination and statehood. He said that his own people’s freedom was incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians…….The truth is Israeli-style Apartheid wouldn’t be possible without the immense political and economic backing of the US. What better way then for Obama to honour the memory of the man he so deeply admired than by slashing the 3 Billion dollars that the US gives Israel each year in military aid, along with the caterpillars that demolish houses, water supplies and Olive Orchards.”
Wayne Brittenden
gets my vote for taking over from Chris Laidlaw.
A little bit on him from Paper Plus he has written a book on NZ Theatre)
Biography
Wayne Brittenden is a New Zealand journalist who has worked overseas for most of his career. A former National Radio correspondent in Tokyo, he later worked for the BBC and now works as an independent documentary maker, based in London. He has done extensive research in New Zealand for this book.
Cheers, greywarbler. I’ve sat the Political Compass test myself (Left and Liberal, as it turns out). But I had no idea Wayne Brittenden was behind it !
On the SA Apartheid / Israeli Apartheid comparisons, I’d say that, if anything, Brittenden doesn’t quite go far enough. For a start, the most important point about the so-called ‘Separation Wall’ is surely that Israel has built it DEEP inside Palestinian territory, to act as a defacto future border – completely and utterly in contravention of International Law.
And, it’s a little to mild to say “There are even buses and roads that are segregated.” Israel has constructed a whole series of Jewish Settler-only Highways throughout the Palestinian West Bank (as part of its ethnic-cleansing and land-appropriation goals). So, it’s systematic segregation throughout the Occupied Territories on land, water resources, building and so on.
But, it’s the ethnic cleansing itself that bears a striking resemblance to the latter stages of SA Apartheid – the same attempt to force the occupied/oppressed population into small Bantustan-style enclaves, thus enforcing dispossession.
Well, you know, greywarbler, the Zionism on which Israel was established derives from precisely the same deeply reactionary, anti-Enlightenment ideological mix that so inspired the Nazis. Namely, German Imperialism and East-Central European Romantic Nationalism. ‘Blut und Bone’.
Zionism’s always been, first and foremost, about ethnically-cleansing the Palestinians in order to carve-out an overwhelmingly Jewish (they’d prefer ENTIRELY Jewish) ‘Greater Israel’. Much like the Nazis wanted an entirely German, ethnically-cleansed, Eastern Europe (and Ukraine, Belorussia and Baltic States).
And, of course, the Israeli Right were openly fascist during the first half of 20C. (Jabotinsky’s Revisionist movement – which included future Israeli PMs Shamir and Begin). Not that I’m suggesting the Israeli Labour Party is much better. The differences across the mainstream Israeli political spectrum are far more marginal (particularly with respect to aims and strategies in the Occupied Territories) than a lot of people in the West would like to think.
Bad mistake for Labour Party people here to assume its entirely the fault of Lukid and its allies (although, pleasingly, very few do these days). In fact, in some ways, the Israeli Lab Party’s been worse. Throughout the so-called ‘Peace-Process’ of the 1990s, for instance, both Labour and Lukid governments alike massively expanded their illegal network of Jewish Settler-only Highways throughout the West Bank. And the supposedly “dovish” Labour Party under first Rabin and then Peres, have an even worse record than Lukid in that regard.
Swordfish. No, I’m something of a Tom Waits fan and I’ve always particularly liked his 1983 stand-out album ‘Swordfishtrombones’. But, I’m also a bit of a lazy bugger, at least to the extent that, after writing “swordfish”, I just couldn’t be arsed typing out the rest of the name. Sad but true.
But, yeah, I do have a vague idea that the swordfish was a British Naval aircraft during WW2.
Also known as the stringbag because it was a biplane. Top speed was something like 90mph. But it did some very nasty damage to the Italian fleet at ? Taranto.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why Key has launched this broadside at Harawira. Probably it boils down to nothing more than his ego is bruised by being laughed about as the ‘unidentified guest’ at Cameron’s side and he wants to create a bit of a diversion. Such are the weighty issues of moment on Planet Key.
“Far from being asked to explain His actions during the approved trip by the House Speaker, Harawira should be applauded for attending services including a private ceremony at the Mandela House, the Speaker should be writing to Slippery the PM asking why He felt the need to breach the Parliamentary Convention that Members do not comment on other Members absence from the Parliament as this is a Privelege reserved entirely to the House Speaker”………….
Indeed Harawira should be applauded. He did the right thing and in the right spirit. Key knows nothing of mana and nothing of the heart and just saw a cheap opportunity to be divisive and wanky.
Key has shot to buffoon level 10 for his tacky comments.
Perhaps you could ask the same question of Winston Peters and some of the Labour MPs. They quite happily pont out in Question time that Key is never there on a Thursday. No Prime Minister, or Leader of the Opposition does attend on Thursday of course, at least in the last 20 years, but it doesn’t stop the Opposition rabbiting on of course.
alwyn, the assertion you make here has all the appearnce of an out-right LIE, Slippery the Prime Minister is also well known for this type of conversation,
I’ll track down the reference after you do the following.
Provide us with the proof that John Key has pointed out that a member of the opposition was absent from the house.
I don’t feel like bothering to justify my comments to someone who makes unsubstantiated statements of his/her own.
As quoted in the article, Key says the same in the accompanying video:
Prime Minister John Key has slammed Mana Party leader Hone Harawira for his taxpayer-funded trip to Nelson Mandela’s funeral, saying Harawira has “barely turned up” to Parliament this year.
I watch Question time quite a lot. I’ve never heard opposition MPs comment about Key’s absence from the House on Thursdays.
You will note that the statement made by Rosie. It said that “the speaker should be writing to the PM asking why he felt the need to breach the Parliamentary convention etc, etc”. The Parliamentary convention she is referring to one of the Rules of the House and relates to what a member can say in the chamber. It has nothing whatsoever to do with what any member says outside the house. If the Rules of the House applied to everything a member said in all circumstances we wouldn’t have any of them left.
So no, your quotation doesn’t answer what I am asking for.
Actually Winston’s complaint, as I remember it, was when he complained about the Government transferring a question to another Minister so that John Key could avoid being in Parliament that day.
I am not sure whether I should feel sorry for you or congratulate you on your bravery for wathching Question time. I generally read it through but I don’t think I could take watching it.
In terms of being in the House on Thursday, no PM or Leader of the Opposition is ever there. John Key isn’t and Helen Clark wasn’t. Neither were the various Leaders of the Opposition on both sides.
In terms of being in the House on Thursday, no PM or Leader of the Opposition is ever there. John Key isn’t and Helen Clark wasn’t. Neither were the various Leaders of the Opposition on both sides.
FFS, we all know that, and it has nothing to do with the issue.
Winnie’s complaint sounds like ones he would make about Key deliberately dodging answering questions in the House. Key does that one slippery way or another. It’s not the same as being critical of someone not being in the House.
LOL. The statement was made by bad12. I was quoting him. Theres two parts to that statement. One is about applauding Hone for being in S.A, the second about Shoneky inappropriately raising Hone’s absence in parliament (in a mocking way – those 4 words are mine)
My main response was around Hone doing the right thing. I had a swipe at Key, as an aside.
My comment is a mere agreement with bad12 who went to the bother to thoughtfully reflect on shonkey’s lack of parliamentary protocol and general desperation which manifests in his petty outbursts.
Something in the polling has scared John Key . The prospect of Mana MP’s and Labour party vote in all the Maori seats? This feels a lot like the attacks on Winston Peters before the 2008 election. Trying to tie Hone up in a negative fight and maybe even cost him large lawyer’s fees.
So congrats Hone, Nact see you as a real threat.
The ‘unidentified guest’ at the Mandela memorial service used the term ‘jollies’ in referring to Speaker approved pilgrimage of Hone Harawira MP. The latter represented the spirit of anti-apartheid New Zealanders in places of spiritual significance while the former took his pro-racist ex MP/PM stooges to the forum of the grand-standers to joke with his mate Dave. Once again, John Key has resorted to Textor Crosby type smear lines when he has been upstaged by a person who often demonstrates the sort of statesmanship that the petulant Prime Minister is never likely to attain.
Please Fair Observer do stand for the mayoralty of wherever you are or even as councillor.
NZ needs exemplary people like you counting the cents, and checking on the cleanliness of toilets, and phoning all the homes of fellow dignitaries to see if they are home and tucked up in bed (with their own spouses) by 10 pm. We need people who have high moral energy to get a good night’s sleep ready to attend to the duties of their office and who keep their orifices clean as well.
You are wasted as someone just sitting sniping at the miscreants. There’s a saying that if you want a job done properly, do it yourself – it’s just so right. Creeping corruption must be dealt with and you’re the person to do it.
Would prefer Penny Hulse. Her attempts to work on affordable housing and her voting record against SkyCity would give her my vote. Have my fingers crossed that Len will stand down next election and she will step up to the plate.
I will be watching to see how Hulse performs at the Thursday public meeting. The problem is that she also needs to draw in campaign funds & the usual way to do that is to suck up appeal to some of those who lean more to “neoliberalism”.
Hulse always comes across well (as caring for the less well off, etc) in interviews/panel discussions.
‘Open Letter’ from Auckland Mayoral candidate Penny Bright to Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse:
“Are you a genuine community advocate or corporate /property developer MOUTH PIECE?”
Dear Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse,
In the 2010 Auckland Council election, you stood as an ‘Independent’, and quoted the following glowing endorsement from Sir Ron Carter, about your ‘commitment and ability to look after business interests’ :
I think the endorsement of my campaign for Auckland Council by Sir Ron Carter speaks volumes about my commitment and ability to look after business interests. Ron says “Our city needs Councillors who will apply their knowledge and experience for the good of all. A great Council team will be built from those who respect and commit to each other. Penny’s wisdom and consensus style will help create a Council for all Aucklanders. We need her on our Council.”
Who is Sir Ron Carter:
In 2010 – Sir Ron Carter was the Chair of the Committee for Auckland:
Session 1, July 20th – Why? – What’s the case for creating a super city? Why do we need to change regional governance structures to do so?
Panelists:
Peter Salmon, Chairman of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance,
Bob Harvey, Waitakere City Mayor, and
Sir Ron Carter, Committee for Auckland Chairman.
_____________________________________________________________________
In 2013 we will be an influential voice for all of Auckland, creating cross-sectoral solutions to the city’s issues andfocusing on a future beyond the electoral cycle helping New Zealand’s only world-ranked city to achieve its potential for the region and the country.
The Committee for Auckland (CFA) has played a prominent role in galvanising positive change for our city. Our members are all specialists in the city’s issues and fervent advocates for its success. Having contributed significantly to the new shape of Auckland as one city, 2013 is the platform for a re-focused Committee to drive the agenda for Auckland as a world leading destination as well as the welcoming gateway to New Zealand.”
“Membership to the Committee for Auckland is by invitation. Members meet quarterly and are invited to be involved in those aspects of the work programme that interest them.
Members are Chairs of Boards, Directors and Chief Executives
Corporate Membership annual fee $10,000. ……”
The current list of members of the Committee for Auckland:
(It is interesting to note how members of this VERY powerful private lobby group are intertwined with Auckland Council and Auckland Council ‘Council Controlled Organisations’ (CCOs).
For starters…………….
Doug McKay Chief Executive Officer Auckland Council
Brett O’Riley Chief Executive Officer ATEED
Robert Domm Chief Executive Officer Regional Facilities Auckland
Mark Ford Chief Executive Officer Watercare
John Dalzell Chief Executive Officer Waterfront Auckland
Also, how the Committee for Auckland includes key members of the NZ Property Council and property developers, such as…………)
Connal Townsend National Director Property Council of NZ
Penny has strong links with her community and cares passionately about the Auckland region.
Her community involvement includes Patron of Waitakere Special Olympics, Community Waitakere Charitable Trust, Henderson Riding for the Disabled, The Trust Waitakere Brass Band, Northern Football Association, Trustee of Swanson Railway Station Trust, Waitakere Anti Violence Essential Services and former Director of EECA Board.
Penny’s special areas of interest are Climate Change, Sustainable City Development, Environmental Advocacy, Community Development and Youth. …………”
However, the reality, in my considered opinion, is that you cannot work simultaneously both for the community (the ‘99%’ ), and corporations/property developers (the ‘1%’).
It is my intention as a 2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate to continue to ‘blow the whistle’, against the the ‘corrupt corporate coup’ which set up the Auckland ‘Supercity’, and those who are serving the interests of the ‘1%’.
In my considered opinion, Auckland Council Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse, you are NOT a genuine community advocate – you are in fact, a corporate /property developer MOUTH PIECE, working for the ‘1%’.
No disrespect – but I shall ‘call it as I see it’.
(I don’t expect you to like it).
Hulse was deputy mayor for Waitakere City and worked well within that structure. The problem is as much the way the amalgamated Auckland Council has been set up. It/’s impossible for anybody to become mayor without some support in the business community, corporations etc. It may not be my ideal. But as far as I can see, Hulse is about the best potential candidate that I am aware of at the moment. She would be better than Brown.
I have not seen any evidence of corruption by Hulse. She does have a fairly consultative consensus building style.
if it’s a choice between the likes of Brewer or Hulse. I’ll take Hulse.
Good on you for taking a strong stand against corruption and the rule of the elites. But meanwhile, many people in Auckland are struggling to survive. Hulse does have a heart.
Well can the ratepayers ask if they are footing the $10,000 annual membership per corporation joining the Committe for Auckland? I’ll bet they are and it’l be used for stuff they I don’t agree with I bet.
Actually that committee for Auckland, while it includes a lot of corporates, also includes Unis, The City Mission, The Salvation Army and others.
Yes the membership fee seems pretty high. What do they do with it? Ah, they have projects.
Like matching skills of migrants and others to employers. Why the focus first on migrants?
But I would need to see evidence of how they go about doign things before I can make a decision.
And, ultimately, it seems to me the problems with Auckland Council re far wider than any one individual. The problem is the CCOs, which have too much power and are unaccountable.; and with the relative lack of power for the elected representatives.
Thanks Karol. I’m always a bit suspicious about what happens to this sort of funding – out of the public eye as it is.
And before they can bring in guest workers why do these companies not have to prove they or their industry has a well established training facilty plus paid internships for younger people/students and a pathways in programme for older people in need of a career change before they can plead skills shortages and bring in people from overseas.
The vast majority of councillors, however, decided to censure the mayor at Thursday’s council meeting, discuss Mr Brown meeting some costs for a $100,000-plus review into his behaviour and clip the wings of the mayoral office.
Good on the councillors for taking a stand. They are trying to take a small step to make Hide’s anit-democratic monstrosity into something a little more democratic.
The whole Auckland Council infrastructure needs to be reviewed and restructured – with more real say for councillors and local boards. These are the people who are meant to represent their local communities. We don’t need a presidential style mayor. Nor do we need the undemocratic CCOs with their overpaid chief execs.
The real corruption was done in 2010, by Hide and Key’s mob. imagine what dodgy John Banks would have done if elected mayor? Major pay-back to Dotcom, Sky City etc?
“National has a big asset sale problem” Peter Dunne does too, in his electorate. The fabulous chart in yesterdays article shows a 49.1% turnout with a 64.6% NO vote for the electorate. Will that make Dunney boy squirm?
So this interesting result doesn’t go unnoticed, we at People’s Power Ohariu have been busy with our placard making. Every time something awkward comes up for Dunne (GCSB vote, Sky City vote, meridian sale failure etc) we turn that into a message on one of our “Hey Peter!” themed placards that we put in place in a few of the neighbourhoods in the electorate.
Currently on display is
“Hey Peter! Ohariu 65% NO. Sold out by 1 vote: Yours!”
It is a minor revelation of the year that asset sales were/are not supported by a lot of tory voters. This was well known anecdotally but there is now more solid information following the referendum.
They have already selected their candidate BG. I can’t remember where I read it so can’t link it. I read it about two weeks ago. They are standing a guy who I think stood for Rimutaka last time. His background is in Civil Defense.
Disappointing. I thought Greens and Labour may have come to an agreement. In the meantime I’ve written to the NZLP via their website and asked when they will announce their candidate. Am really keen to know who it is.
Cyclists don’t have disk breaks, they don’t have mirrors, road works means they can’t hear you. Worse! Cyclists need to turn right, cyclists are human, they make mistakes, but like cars, who you give way to because of the cost of a dent, you still need to give way to because you would give way to bad car drivers. So imagine my shock to have a motorcyclist shout something out, could not make out what, possible somehow I infringed on his line. Is breaking for a cyclist is so bad? In a suburb back street where you should be slowing down anyway, cyclists aren’t cars but that still doesn’t mean you get to ride or drive up to them close, because bicycles are also something else, they are unstable, with unstable humans on them, unprotected by a high powered engine and working power brakes. Geez, already.
Some SFO successes in NZ but the main focus of Government is using vast resources on catching the Benefit Fraudsters. 10 Benefit marshals for every SFO marshal sent to catch million dollar fraud.
There is to be a protest calling on Len Brown to resign tomorrow – Wednesday – outside the Town Hall at 12 noon and for councillors to unite and move a motion of no confidence in the mayor. Anyone wanting to support the calling for Brown’s resignation will be welcome. Several of the councillors have been asked to address the gathering.
Certainly not karol. I have no affiliation to any political party, I am an Auckland ratepayer who has had enough of the dishonourable attitudes and deeds shown to hold office in Auckland. It should not be a divisive right vs left issue. unity and honour should be the ambition of our council.
Thanks, TRP. Figures. My experience of people who label themselves as (neutral) “ratepayers”, seem to think property owners (especially the more wealthy ones) have a privileged status in local democracy. They don’t usually speak for the less well off in Auckland, nor for us renters (who pay rates indirectly through rent).
Unite left and right? Yeah, right. T’is WO & Quax who have been trying to usurp democracy and pressure Brown to resign by fair means or foul.
I’ll wait to see what the majority of councillors have to say at the Auckland meeting on Thursday.
Someone who can proudly wear the title of ‘Honourable’. Anyone who can represent Auckland and, as I noted above, has the ambition to unite. The majority of Aucklanders couldn’t give a care if the new mayor was left right or centre, as long as they really did have a passion about Auckland and our future together.
Your memory is good. But you didn’t mention that it was under protest, and that I would never vote for him again. But hey, don’t let the truth get in the way of how you want things spun, and before you go off half cocked again, the comment I made was that he would not get my vote for mayor, and yes I would happily vote for a left leaning mayor if I believed she or he would be honourable and capable of leading this city.
It was instigated by the Labour MP for Tooting, Sadiq Khan who believes Housing, housing, housing is the priority for London.
The report notes the difference between calling developments affordable housing, and the actuality of it being affordable. Brings to mind the trumpeting of Isaac Davidson for Nick Smith and the “success” of the newly released tranche of SHA’s.
I know nothing about Rob other than what is in the (very good) press release, but his credentials look very positive.
Rob McCann is a communications and marketing expert, and has been the White Ribbon Campaign Manager since 2009. He was a press secretary to Ruth Dyson in the last Labour Government and more recently headed the drive to collect signatures for the Asset sales referendum in the Otaki electorate. Educated at Otago University with a Law and Drama degree, he is a keen debater and was a former president of the Otago University debating society.
Mr McCann is also the chair of the Paraparaumu Branch of the Labour Party, chaired the Region Three Labour Party Conference, and sits on the Labour Rural & Regional Sector Council.
Otaki had the highest turnout in the referendum at 54% with Nos at 66.7% so an excellent result.
I also like the quotes attributed to Rob in the press statement on the Otaki result – clear and to the point.
I am currently looking at moving from Wellington (Rongotai electorate) to the Kapiti coast and this could be another incentive to do so.
Farrar has a post up at KB (my first visit for months earlier today – then had a shower) on Deborah’s selection and posters there seem to think that there have been other LP selections in the last few days (eg Tauranga) , but I cannot find any announcements on Scoop or the LP website.
A comment on the KB post says
“To add to Deborah Russell and Rachel Jones, Clare Curren tweeted yesterday that Liz Craig (Clutha Southland) and Glenda Alexander (Waitaki) have also been selected for Labour.
It would seem that the manban is already well into top gear.”
As you can imagine the thread there deteriorates into manban and slating Deborah etc – despite Farrar having praised Deborah in his post.
I don’t know the others but I do know Liz Craig. She is highly intelligent and dedicated and would be great in Parliament, hopefully through the list. I hope not to sound too defensive but the day we win Clutha Southland …
I strongly suspect that Farrar’s problem is that he has been personally manbanned from the social lives of any women who get within a kilometre of him. If the “manban” can get rid of Goff, Mallard, Jones, and Parker, I’m all for it. I’d willingly accept 100% women in parliament. I doubt if much of any substance would change, except that under a leftish government, the police might move a bit quicker on roastbuster type rubbish.
I think you’ll find Farrar has very recently met the person he considers his life-partner and soul-mate. I am, of course, referring to senior Labour MP, Trevor Mallard. Suspect we’ll hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet in 9 months time (and I’m not only talking about Farrar’s).
I think it was the business part of the news after noon. There was something about derivatives and hedge funds and why they are needed.
And it occurred to me what a good way these financial instruments, or Instruments of Torture, are for making a great income by the few. First you create an unstable financial sea, and then you sell lifeboats that people have to carry with them to ensure they negotiate it. Or you might say the financiers set up a sea of uncertainty and then sell little hedge coracles that enable businesses to float and and guide themselves with a little dessertspoon of an oar. Fucking nuts really. When you think of trying to manage our livings personally and for countries, in this way..
Or you might say that the financiers set up a virtual world like Chriss? in The Truman Show. Truman thought he was in Real Life but in actual fact it was a stage set and he was being manipulated and surveilled for the benefit of everyone else who was in the know who found him irresistible and watching him compulsive viewing. He didn’t suffer from TB consumption, it was TV consumption. In real life, out here today, those watching are really the top 10% or so who are in the know to some extent. The rest of us are watching each other, but imagining we personally are part of the 10%.
Metaphor, allegory, the spectacle of Total Recall or futuristic thing where someone had to save their life by running away watched by TV cameras and home audiences. Isn’t that another view of us. What about working out better systems and super-imposing them on the poorer systems now working? Wait a minute that’s how elections and governments and government service departments making policy are supposed to be working. Okay you monkeys, let’s see you dance for your taxes, while we play the barrel organ.
Never heard of Rob McCann and he maybe a creditable candidate but these two statements from his press release sum up the Labour party selection processes that is not engaging with voters.
He was a press secretary to Ruth Dyson in the last Labour Government
currently looking at moving from Wellington (Rongotai electorate) to the Kapiti coast
He’s another journalist/press secretary who worked in parliament for the Labour party and is moving from his Wellington base ……
Watching, Rob is a top bloke. He organised the the first of the LP leadership meetings in Otaki, got an amazing turnout on the day and did a great job setting the scene for the rest of that campaign by marshalling the throng of media that turned up. He is well respected in the party generally and in the central region particularly. If he can get rid of the odious berk (Guy Smiley? Something like that) currently pretending to represent the interests of the Horowhenua then all power to him.
Ps Where did you get the quote about moving from Rongotai from? It’s not in the press release and it’s not actually the case, as he lives on the Kapiti coast.
And Watching needs to read more carefully. I, moi, am thinking of moving to Kapiti – not Rob – as per the last sentence of my original comment at 18 above.
LOL. Watching jumped too fast. (And the press release states that Rob lives in Kapiti with his partner and two children!)
Yeah, I by no means disagree with the broad thrust of your argument, here, Watching. In general, we could probably do without more Parliamentary Staffers as Candidates. But, you wrongly suggest McCann is: “currently looking at moving from Wellington (Rongotai electorate) to the Kapiti coast. In fact, that was veutoviper’s assertion about his/her own plans. McCann lives in the Otaki seat (Otaihanga) and is chair of the Paraparaumu Branch.
Thanks for clarifying the Rongotai thing, swordfish, I hadn’t seen Veuto’s comment.
To be equally clear, Rob is not a Parliamentary staffer. He worked for Ruth Dyson over 5 years ago and is currently campaign manager for the White Ribbon anti-violence group.
The 2012 half year update only managed to maintain that the Government was on track to reach its surplus target because of an 11th hour announcement of petrol tax increases.
This year’s release came with no surprises, although the decision not to reform that way ACC charges are made on vehicle licences, as proposed by the Crown entity was crucial to maintaining the forecast.
Today English maintained that it expected to cut ACC levies by $1b in 2015-16.
It came out in the media a few weeks ago and then Collins made some rather baffling statements about why the government wasn’t going to do it, including the ridiculous statement that if ACC is going to offer subsidies to some car owners it therefore logically follows that they must be increasing costs on others.
Treasury announced that the partial ale of assets will see the Government forgo $327 million in dividends, thanks to the reduced sale price, bad timing, etc.
John Key, master trader – right. How to lose money and control of your country in one easy lesson.
They say a fool and his money are easily parted – New Zealand must be a nation of fools.
While the author of this opinion piece is on the money, the direction is lost and all at sea at the last sentence and falls into stereotyping and men-bashing, or bloke-bashing… “Painful as it might be, we’re going to have to give the concept of the Kiwi Bloke a right old do-over.”
Stop implying all men are rapists ffs. Bloody generalisations, derogatory implications, it just goes on and on and on. Take the fight to the rapists and leave the non-rapists out of it. Sick of it. Saps the cred. Does the fight no good.
It doesn’t imply that at all, vto. Or can you show me where it does? it’s about rape culture. And I would think, going by the author’s name (Daniel Copeland), it’s written by a man. Some extracts that show it’s about how rape culture contributes to a climate where some men rape (actually, the article states, “where “some people commit rape”). Copeland begins with a story about a bus of guys returning from a rugby match:
Then they got up to the verses that were pretty graphic about what they would do to ‘all the ladies’.
At that point the other man who wasn’t singing rang the bell and got off in disgust. I would have followed him if I hadn’t still had to get across town.
To anyone who doubts the existence of rape culture in New Zealand, what else would you call that?
Why do some people commit rape? Because they feel they’re entitled to use others’ bodies for sexual gratification, without the other person’s consent. It couldn’t be clearer than that rugby song: to those men, at least while they were singing it, women were merely objects to be used.
For some of them, hopefully, most of them, it would have been just a joke. But statistically that number of men must have included at least one or two who really did treat women as objects to be used, and to them the song would have meant: this is normal, this is just being a guy, what I do is what all men do. That’s rape culture.
nope. Your inference has nothing to do with the bit you quoted (or indeed anything in the article).
The bit where Copeland says that “For some of them, hopefully, most of them, it would have been just a joke” clearly states that not all men, even in bloke-culture, are rapists. Indeed, in any particular sample, most of them might not be rapists.
But the problem, the bit that “needs a do-over”, is that for the one or two rapists who statistically were probably in that group (i.e., just to spell it out for you, if the group only contains one or two rapists, then all the others in the group are not rapists, so your “Stop implying all men are rapists ffs” has nothing to do with what he actually wrote, and has more to do with what inferences you are prone to leap to), the group’s behaviour gave them acceptance and social reassurance.
That’s not calling all men rapists. That’s a man pointing out that some bits of blokish culture encourage rapists.
I see donkey going on about Hone Harawira going off to South Africa. What parvenu ringins like key dont realise is that members of parliament are elected to represent the electorate and not just turn up every day in Wellington to get their hands stamped.
(1)A person’s office as member of a local authority is vacated if the person, while holding office as a member of the local authority,—
(a)ceases to be an elector or becomes disqualified for registration as an elector under the Electoral Act 1993; or
(b)is convicted of an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or more.
(2)If subclause (1)(b) applies,—
(a)the disqualification does not take effect—
(i)until the expiration of the time for appealing against the conviction or decision; or
(ii)if there is an appeal against the conviction or decision, until the appeal is determined; and
(b)the person is deemed to have been granted leave of absence until the expiration of that time, and is not capable of acting as a member during that time.
(3)A person may not do an act as a member while disqualified under subclause (1) or while on leave of absence under subclause (2).
_____________________________________________________________________________
(1) Every official is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, whether within New Zealand or elsewhere, corruptly accepts or obtains, or agrees or offers to accept or attempts to obtain, any bribe for himself or any other person in respect of any act done or omitted, or to be done or omitted, by him in his official capacity.
(2) Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who corruptly gives or offers or agrees to give any bribe to any person with intent to influence any official in respect of any act or omission by him in his official capacity.
99 Interpretation
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—
bribe means any money, valuable consideration, office, or employment, or any benefit, whether direct or indirect
official means any person in the service of Her Majesty in right of New Zealand (whether that service is honorary or not, and whether it is within or outside New Zealand), or any member or employee of any local authority or public body, or any person employed in the education service within the meaning of the State Sector Act 1988.
_______________________________________________________________
“AECOM New Zealand managing director Dean Kimpton said the company provided a range of services to the council, including a number of on-going commissions to the IES department.”
___________________________________________________________________________
After a comprehensive search, Auckland Council has appointed Dean Kimpton as its chief operating officer. Chief Executive Doug McKay says Dean is a passionate Aucklander who is excited to be playing a role in shaping the future of Auckland.
“Dean joins us from AECOM NZ where he was Managing Director.
“AECOM is a global leader in all aspects of infrastructure planning, design and delivery.
“Dean has a breadth of experience at the senior executive and governance levels, as well as in the regulatory and infrastructure business of council and its customers and suppliers.
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160-14-093-PS SIMUL8 RAIL OPERATIONAL MODELLING SERVICES PS AECOM NEW ZEALAND LIMITED $88,000.00 Direct Appointment 10 September 2013
314-14-128-PS PS PORTAGE RD CYCLE WAY – LAND USE CONSENT APPLICATION PS AECOM NEW ZEALAND LIMITED $72,050.00 Direct Appointment 10 September 2013
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I am beginning to suspect that all enforcement branches of our state apparatus owe their first loyalties to Washington. While NAct seem to be entirely happy with this, and in fact it aligns police, customs, spooks, air force, etc with the prumstah, what is more worrying to me is that more than a few in Labour seem to accept it. Of course, it is just a deepening of the giving of our economic sovereignty to Wall St and the City by the first ACT government. We need to take control of our country and fight for a true internationalism rather than the internationalism of our business classes, which is the internationalism of a subservient colony.
Greg Davis should be sacked. If he wants to work for the seppos, let him go to Hawaii with Key and they can both ask for jobs there.
Possibly the most repellent Panel pre-show ever.
Radio NZ National, Monday 16 December 2013
Jim Mora, Linda Clark, Jane Clifton
Each week there seems to be at least one edition of this program that is so bad, so depraved, so determinedly ignorant, so vacuous and so vicious that you swear the nadir has been reached. And then along comes a horror show like this one….
JIM MORA: I think Linda Clark is with us right now. I can hear her! Linda are you there? LINDA CLARK:[perkily] Yes I’m here! My God, here I am, chattering away! Hellooooooooooo! MORA: Hello! LINDA CLARK: How ARE you? Merry Christmas! MORA: Thank you! She’s talking to you too, Noelle! NOELLE McCARTHY: Thank you. MORA: It’s Noelle McCarthy with what the WOOOOOORLD’s talking about! ….[suddenly grave]…. And not a nice topic to start the round-up today. Roger Waters the lead singer from Pink Floyd is stirring up a controversy. NOELLE McCARTHY: Yeeee-e-e-e-es. He’s been doing this for a whiii-i-i-i-i-ile now. He has compared the state of Israel to Nazi Germany. MORA:[concerned tone] Mmmmm. NOELLE McCARTHY: But he’s provoked a vigorous response. This is not new for him of course. In one of his concerts last year he had a giant PIG-shaped balloon with a Star of David on it. He says there were a whole lot of political symbols on it, and that he did not single out the Jews—- MORA:[grave tone to indicate moral seriousness] Hmmmm….. NOELLE McCARTHY: Now at least one U.S. rabbi has come out and answered him in print. MORA:[with utmost gravitas] He’s not the first rabbi to speak out about this, is he? NOELLE McCARTHY: The Jewish Chronicle and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre have been keeping a watching brief on him, but he doesn’t seem to be tempering his message however. MORA:[grimly] No he hasn’t. NOELLE McCARTHY:[grave tone] There’s more about this on our Twitface pages. MORA: Twitface—that’s our shorthand for Twitter and Facebook, by the way! LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha! I just love that! NOELLE McCARTHY: Ha ha ha ha ha! We’ve broken the fourth wall! MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! Okay, anything else? NOELLE McCARTHY: Yes, a study shows that girls’ schools are places which enforce conformity more than other schools! MORA: Oh really? They enforce conformity? NOELLE McCARTHY: Yes, there is a lot of pressure on you to be a more “girly” kind of girl! LINDA CLARK: Hmmmmm…. NOELLE McCARTHY: Shall I talk about Kanye? MORA:[sarcastically] Yeah, let’s talk about Kanye! Please! NOELLE McCARTHY: He says rapping is as fraught as fighting the Taliban or serving as a police officer! MORA: Ah, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! NOELLE McCARTHY: He says that when the Taliban start shooting, the soldiers should just stand up and start rapping! MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, THAT is going to work! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! MORA: Jo McCarroll, the editor of Gardening magazine has just texted, saying she thought Kanye was talking about Christmas wrapping! NOELLE McCARTHY: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! MORA: Very good, Jo! Noelle McCarthy, thank you very much!
Incredibly, the show got even more puerile after the 4 o’clock news. But more on that in Part Two.….
“Finance Minister Bill English said the Government didn’t regard estimates of foregone profits as reliable given the risk profile of businesses like those in the asset sales progamme.
He said the Government was happy to have reduced its exposure to risky commercial assets like the companies in the asset sales programme.”
What an amazing thing to say prior to the Genesis sale, so potential purchasers of Genesis will read this and think what???This is a fucken useless government and the amazing thing is that approx. 46% of voters still support these incompetent fools.
“He said the Government was happy to have reduced its exposure to risky commercial assets like the companies in the asset sales programme.”
The risk profile of critical national infrastructure and public utilities?
I used to laugh at America when they first elected(ish) Bush Jnr (well, until the whole Iraq thing) because he’s a complete moron.
I used to say to myself, we’d never do that. We’re smarter in New Zealand.
God, I’m so embarrassed.
Thankfully, Australia stepped up to the challenge and this year knocked us off the “stupidest electorate on the planet” spot that we’ve held since January 20, 2009.
You could never accuse the maori party of being the tail wagging the dog.
” New Zealand is unlikely to introduce plain packaging on cigarettes before trade challenges to Australian legislation are settled, Prime Minister John Key says.
Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia said today that the Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Products and Packaging) Amendment Bill had been lodged with the Clerk of the House.
The legislation was expected to have its first reading in the House early next year before being sent to a parliamentary select committee
Key said that while the legislation would be introduced next year, it would almost certainly not be passed until the outcome of the challenge to Australia was known.
“It will almost certainly be introduced, have its first reading, then go off to the select committee,” he said.
“But it’s very, very unlikely it will be passed. In fact, in my view it shouldn’t be passed until we’ve actually had a ruling out of Australia.
“We think it’s prudent to wait till we see a ruling out of Australia. If there’s a successful legal challenge out of Australia, that would guide us how legislation might be drafted in New Zealand.
“So we’re not going to rush that through, but also equally it’s the type of topic that’s worthy of a significant public debate and we can do that through the select committee process.”
LOL. I really doubt it. 7 sharp got a slap on the wrist for something mostly coming from someone else on the show. Mau would have made her decision a while ago. There are plenty of good reasons for her to leave….. the show’s a dud.
Yeah, with him on TV1 and that other goofy clown TV3 are putting on nightline, the right will need to be careful. All that recycling and their munters might vote Green by accident.
The headline says ‘Further 350,000 votes included in asset sales referendum’
That caught my eye – a further 350,000? That’s a lot of last minute votes…
The article says “A further 350,000 votes cast in the Citizen’s Initiated Referendum on asset sales have been included in the official count released this afternoon…”
But wait: “The extra votes take the turnout to 1,367,340.” Huh?
Then: “Of the additional votes counted, 24,866 were against the asset sales while 10,035 were in favour.”
Hmmm…seems like they mean 35,000 then. Or nearly 35,000, since that only adds up to 34,901.
But wait there’s more:
“The result went strongly against the Government, but the relatively low turnout is seen as indicating the public largely doesn’t feel strongly about the issue or saw little point in opposing a programme that is now largely complete, other than the sale of Genesis Energy earmarked for the first half of next year.”
Can’t resist a wee bit of editorialising in what should be a straight news report now can we?
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
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Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
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Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
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Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
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We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
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It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
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Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
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Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
We get but one birthday a year – why not make it last as long as possible by scheduling as many meals with friends and family as you can? This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. How do you celebrate your birthday? Do you celebrate at ...
A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
‘rawdon-ron’ strikes again..!
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/ed-heh-rawdon-ron-burgandy-christie-has-his-first-ron-burgandy-moment-of-the-day/
ed:..(heh..!..)..i have commented before how rawdon christie is such a ‘ron burgandy’..who has regular ‘ron burgandy’ moments/episodes..
..and he kicked off this morning with an early one..
..an ‘angry-ron’..
..where he stared down the lens and fulminated about those terrible people who go to the city mission xmas dinner and who..in rawdon-rons’ eyes..don’t deserve to be there..
..because they aren’t poor enough..
(cont..)
phillip ure..
From the world of bizarre
SAS soldier buy their own gear!!!!
ttp://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9524403/Soldiers-fend-for-themselves
They’re New Zealand’s fighting elite but when they go into action it’s with gear they’ve got themselves on-line because the Defence Force will not provide or doesn’t do so in time.
News photos of Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers in action over the streets of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul hid the fact that the lanyards stopping them from falling out of helicopters were paid for by the men themselves; online for $100 each.
Soldiers discovered there were not enough of charging handles – crucial to firing their weapons – so they paid $70 apiece to get their own.
I took it upon myself to buy some more,’’ the soldier said, saying he didn’t want to have to stop fighting to clear his eyes.
“The enemy don’t wait and I enjoy my eyesight.’’ He spent US$15000 (NZ$18,000) online to buy his own gear, including body armour, helicopter lanyards and safety boots. Other soldiers did the same.
Completely disgraceful……
it reminds me of the phrase about schools having enough money and the armed forces have to have a cake stall to buy guns.
only problem is while the soldiers dont have enough money now, neither, still, do the schools
Thanks dv for putting that up. A WTF moment.
Sorry my late reply as I’ve been a little bit busy with work and silly season drinks etc.
Old Phil needs too clam down a bit and be careful on what he say’s when opens his mouth as it may come back and bite him in his ass.
All Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen all over the world buy their own or swap gear because their Governments/ Bean counters and the Joe public want to do defence on the cheap. I can tell you from own time in Military the cheapest bidder (90% of the time) isn’t always the best option and as a result I’ve had to buy my own gear, in some cases make our gear such as Gun mounts etc., or using private funds (Social Club funds) or private donors to kit out our wagons when I was serving in the NZDF. (Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps 1993-1998). This was one of many reasons why I left NZ in 1998.
I now served in a foreign defence force and guess what I’ve had to go out buy my own gear here as well. In the last 15 years I’ve spent about 10K on kit from boots, webbing/ belt kits, packs and gas cookers etc. But it’s not as bad as our Kiwi cousins where they are still getting cheap and nasty kit from boots to some of the bigger gear like the OPV’s (which are 100ton over weight) and the RNZAF are still flying around in 50 year aircraft aka C-130 all because the Pollies and the NZ public want to do Defence cheap.
One last thing I’ve seen a report that NZDF are facing $22 Billion Capital Equipment Shortfall over the next 15- 20 years. Some of this Equipment shortfall could’ve sorted out back in the mid 90’s and all the way through to the last Labour Government. If the Equipment was replaced when it was meant to have happened the Capital Equipment Shortfall would be well under $10 Billion.
Have a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to everyone here at the Standard apart for those Tories as you lot are one of the reasons I NZ as well.
The Treasury says the Avatar deal is a turKey:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9524275/Critical-eye-on-Avatar-deal
Crony capitalism at its worst. I guess that in an election year it looks sexier to subsidise Hollywood than the Independent Fisheries.
Or Treasury get it wrong…again
Well it would hardly be the 11th time would it?
or the government got it wrong again
and yet Bill English is championing its (treasury) forecasts this very day.
Sometimes Treasury actually get things right. It’s usually when they come up with a position contrary to that of National and Act. Amazing that eh? 😈
This is an interesting article about economists. It would seem to suggest that the policies followed by National and Act are contrary to what economists actually say and are actually a misunderstanding of economics. Not sure how much I agree with it as I’ve met too many economists who slavishly support NACTs policies.
“Mr English said that there was still a lot of work to do to make the forecasts a reality and the Government was this year still borrowing a net $78 million every week.
In dollar terms, net debt would peak at $64.5 billion in 2015-16.”
Xox
Seems Len Brown can ‘court’ as many as he likes. There is no accountability /authority to bring him into line, other than himself and the public at the next election! Sounds like a corrupt dictatorship is running our largest, out of Control city. This is not going to end well for NZ. This is a very serious mistake. Has Rodney Hyde moved the Gold yet?
If an investor pays up to 25% for a movie production, one would expect the investor would want around 25% of the revenue/profit the movie makes in sales, like cinema tickets, video disks, merchandise etc.
So is the NZ government an investor or are they simply paying for Cameron’s farm or Jackson’s next private plane without expecting a considerable, measurable return on their investment?
@ satty…
..the latter..
phillip ure..
phillip u
Business doesn’t believe in its own bullshit, or rather that of the theorists it employs whose ideas it deigns to notice, and the idea they don’t believe in is that real businesses don’t have subsidies.
It’s only silly little NZ leaders and pollies who actually listen and act on those fanciful economic theories, or have followed them in the past. Now we are confronted with business as it is operated or as it might be called Realbuzinezz.
And we are paying out some good 5% seed money and withholding our 15% Gst tax to get some good business. It’s a compromise we are willing to make. So let all you purists out there who would rather starve to death than put out a begging bowl find your own way to salvation.
@ greywarbler:..i think the point being made/question being asked by satty ..(which i was responding to..)
..is if we are doling out these squillions to squillionaire movie-makers..
..why aren’t we doing deals where that money is an investment..?..where the govt gets a return on that investment..if the film is a success..
..a question which in the case of avatar..is academic..
..i don’t think anyone would argue against the benefits of the movies being made here..
..it is the execution/direction that is being questioned..
..that just hand over fist spilling of squillions…
..with no return on that money..
..as satty asked..yes..it is pure cream/profit for them..
..to be trousered/to pay for new moats..
..and the like..
..it could all be done so much better..for nz..
..phillip ure..
Well yes that’s a point phillip u – we should be getting some return. I know – form a private public partnership with the film company and have a minority shareholding but get some of the returns. Brilliant.
I am so good. Me for Finance Minister. Probably couldn’t do much worse. Except I don’t know how to run a country that is borrowing money all the time and yet says that’s the right way and Labour are a bunch of dreebs. (I warn you that’s going to be my favourite word next year. I understand geeks has gone mainstream and I want a word that pings with condescension.)
cos Mr key would rather gamble on the intanglibl return of “tourism” than actually have some more certainty from having a piece of the film… anyway Warner Bros would have laughed and told him to PO. if he had asked. They are trying to save money not give away profit.
Xox
Seems Len Brown can ‘court’ as many as he likes. There is no accountability /authority to bring him into line, other than himself and the public at the next election! Sounds like a corrupt dictatorship is running our largest, out of Control city. This is not going to end well for NZ. This is a very serious mistake. Has Rodney Hyde moved to the Gold Coast yet?
hides’/the rights’ masterplan was that banks would have all of this unassailable-power..
..that was a close-one..
..phillip ure..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/9523771/Editorial-Referendums-a-waste-of-money
– A well written piece that gets to the nub of the issue
editorials – anonymous wastes of time
unless it suits you.
I guess it’s the perpetual problem though. The line between allowing an elected government to run the country and allowing people an opportunity to strongly object to something. I believe parties ought to declare their interest in coalitions with other parties prior to an election. Voters have the right to know with whom their vote will be bedded. It would certainly strengthen the “we have a mandate” idea.
As I have stated many times if people who didn’t want assets sold voted for National then we got what they deserved. There was NO doubt in my mind that if National were able to they would form a government with anyone who would let them sell assets. For that reason I agree the time to object was in 2008 and 2011.
I am not a fan of binding CIR’s because of the s59a CIR which was so full of deceptions and misleading information. People rely so heavily on those who get printed int he media or who can get postal pamphlets printed to get their information from and so much of it was misleading. Unless and until we have honesty out of the mouths of the politicians and lobbysist and the media who delve before printing press releases, CIR’s are up for hijack.
Politicians are up for hijack. Fixed it for you!
You really think people are that thick, don’t you.
So thick that we should leave important decisions, about all our lives, to 20 or so politicians. Politicians FFS. Politicians that should have their sponsors names on their shirts.
And. Just because, you, or I, individually objected to the results of one referendum, does not invalidate the concept of democracy.
The changes to the bill, which resulted from the concerns many expressed in the lead up to the referendum, improved it greatly. Sent the politicians back to the drawing board.
Why have voting at all. We could just leave everything up to our “wise” choke, politicians.
Worse.
A very media coup of the duly elected Mayor of Auckland. Brown wasn’t going to lose,
so the right made a decision, a choice, between weakening him before the election or
after. Weakening him before would have be the ethical choice and made a stronger
Auckland, and so little power, but weakening him afterwards, led by media, clearly
undermines the will of Auckland. Councilers want seats at the independant Mayor
table! Something they would never had gotten either way, returned or not, had
Brown’s transgressions been brought out before his re-election. And guess what, the
right made such a strong Mayor! designed the system that way! And backed Banks, who
they should have dropped for his failure and not forced him on ACT. But hey, like
voters didn’t know Banks was extreme right, maybe the right would not have so much
trouble had Key pushed moderate right candidates rather than extreme ACT child
passport grave robbers, and what helicopter its no cabbage boat, or perk buster
busted. With company like this no wonder Key’s teflon has gone missing.
Bennett gazumped. CC finds candidate, so political alike as Bennett, but half the
size, to run in North Harbor, insuring National voters a clear choice of one.
Bennett will get listed into pariament, and North Habor will vote in the religious
party into power. North Harbor next Epson! Well unless voters get fedup being pushed
to the right, leaky moldy right wingers. Its possible to be played, sure, but will
some moderate National voters vomit less voting Labour in the seat, instead of
extreme right Nat/CC. If you vote Bennett, why wouldn’t you vote CC instead and get
Key over the line possibly, but of course that’s if you wanted to vote CC and be
played by CC. Its not about serving the voters, its about power plays to get the
rightwing cabal over the line. Desperate
“CC finds candidate, so political alike as Bennett, but half the size …”
Are we really reduced to making snide references to Paula Bennett’s weight?
Note: They are happy to throw progressives a few bones in the form of laws which don’t really cost anything. or seriously change things.
Changing the law doesn’t cost. Increasing parental education and support, does!
The sneaky cutting of funds to child mental health services, for just one example, is very obvious to us.
Watch them ignore it, if we had a referendum on changing the underlying causes of child poverty in NZ. Something which, will, like stopping asset sales, cost NACT’s sponsors money.
There was an hilarious letter in the letters column just below the editorial in the Dom/Post today.
The heading above the letter was “Helen Clark would’ve heeded the result”.
After a general whinge against John Key, saying he would plough on with asset sales, that he was telling New Zealanders their opinions don’t count, etc, etc, etc he then drifted of into a patch of inspired lunacy.
He said “By contrast, it’s my feeling that the way former prime minister Helen Clark, for example, might have handled a result that she was personally opposed to would have been to have the decency to say: “It’s not the result I personally believe is best for New Zealand, but we’re a democracy, and I respect the will pf the people. Asset sales will stop for now, but we welcome further discussion on this topic”. That’s the kind of leader I want”.
Is there anyone out there in the Blogosphere who also resides in the letter writer’s strange fantasy world where Parliament must have 99 MPs and the “anti-smacking” bill was repealed?
Not sure she would have plowed through with the same “Damn the torpedos!” attitude and two fingered salute to the NZ electorate the way Key has.
With any policy that was controversial or of national importance, she worked with the opposition to reach a consensus. Examples being the Free Trade agreement with China, and the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007.
Also, I dont think Cullen would have let her enagage in such financial idiocy in the first place, so the question is moot.
It is strange though, every step along the way Key has said they would only sell if they got a good price. And it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the opposition, treasury, as well as independant economists that from a financial point of view, the sales will leave the government books in a worse position, and lead to higher power rises, which have knock on effects for businesses with increasing overhead, as well as more strain on the health system as more people struggle to heat their homes in the winter.
It is also very clear that the cabinet are very aware of the damage to the government books, wider economy and society.
Another thing that has not been mentioned very often is the huge missed opportunity for New Zealand small businesses.
Stock markets over the past few years have been running hot, primarily with printed money looking for actual businesses and assets to invest in.
It’s has been the perfect time for startups that have found their market, and have a good business model to float for capital and expand.
If you are a New Zealand company that was looking at an IPO; the government just ate your lunch.
And not just a bite, they ate the fucking lot.
KiwiSaver Costs, ‘cheap as chips’?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11173368
or another political hot-dog…
Not sure why they framed it as “Govt blows $5b on KiwiSaver in five years”.
That money is a down-payment on peoples retirement, and in the mean time is invested. Be nice if there was a requirement for all Kiwisaver funds to be reinvested in the New Zealand economy. In any case, it’s has not been wasted.
It’s not as if they actually got a few billion dollars in a big pile and just torched it, they way they have with the sale of New Zealands public utilities.
Perhaps we should describe the KiwiSaver scheme in something along these lines.
“KiwiSaver is a means of returning to the taxpayer some of the excessive tax levies that have been imposed on them. It is a means of allowing the normal citizen a means of choose where their retirement savings should be invested rather than having it done by an overarching state bureaucracy”.
There that would get all the National voters in favour of it and all the Labour supporters demanding that it be abolished.
The problem of forcing all the funds to be invested solely in New Zealand is that you can’t get the spread of investments that reduce risk. It is something that the Greens in particular don’t understand. They wanted to print money to restock the earthquake repair reserves and then to invest that money in New Zealand.
Similarly the Labour party seem to want to start an insurance company that will operate only in New Zealand
I would agree with you if it gets invested in the same industry within New Zealand, or if the entire New Zealand economy gets wiped off the face of the earth – Which is much more likely under a National Government (or the 4th Labour Govt – wankers).
With regard to the redistribution of tax, I imagine the rump of the National Party would be opposed to it on ideological grounds. Mind you, my dad likes Kiwisaver – and he worships the ground Roger Douglas walks on – his reasoning is that there are so many stupid people out there, that if the Govt didn’t do something to ensure they helped themselves he’s have to pay to support the lazy bludgers in the end anyway.
I think the Labour Partys Insurance thing is a good idea, but its hardly an amazing, “wow”, kinda policy.
Introduce into the market a company that is required to re-insure to appropriate levels and doesn’t make excessive profits to keep the rest of the buggers from taking the piss. And any profits stay in NZ Same principle as KiwiBank
It’s not rocket surgery.
The Greens paper detailing QE through earthquake bonds, was actually a well thought out idea, for that particular place and time.
It would have reduced borrowing, kicked inflation up a couple of points when it had completely flatlined due to zero demand, stabilised the exchange rate, resulted in a much better balance of payments, and saved some, if not a significant number of the 40,000 manufacturing jobs that went to the wall over that 12 month period.
The “sky is falling” reaction to Dr Normans paper was quite bizaare as it was obvious that most people didnt read it, and really didn’t understand the principles behind it.
It would have been nice if there had been at least a rational, reality based conversation about it.
Instead, we borrowed a shitload of money that someone else printed.
We got higher government debt, inflation (and demand) remained flatlined, manufacturers and exporters (along with 10’s of thousands of jobs) went to the wall, and our balance of payments got worse.
Result! Good work Mr English.
If you want examples of utter fiscal incompetence, you need look no further than the current government.
Hmm. I won’t get into a catfight with you over which party is the worst economic manager. Let’s just agree to disagree.
The description of KiwiSaver I offered was just a lighthearted attempt to describe it in such a way that both sides of politics might reflexively take the opposite line to their normal one.
If you are going to set up an insurance company that only operates in New Zealand you would have to reinsure almost all the house and contents cover overseas. Surely that would be accomplished most easily by having the insurance offered by multinationals that are inherently globally spread. Why bring in a middleman? As for a KiwiAssure being somehow “better” and “fairer” etc than an overseas version? Well you are aware that KiwiBank are under the gun for the unfair fees they have been accused of charging, aren’t you?
As far as the Earthquake fund goes. It is a long time since I looked at it but if my memory serves me they wanted to invest the fund in New Zealand. That is absolutely insane. If you ever needed the money, after another earthquake in Wellington say, it would be exactly the time that you didn’t have the werewithal to sell assets and use the funds to pay out on the earthquake damage. A good chunk of the assets would have been destroyed and would need replacing themselves. If you think you can simply print money and invest it overseas than you have a great deal more faith in the cupidity of International bankers than I do. I may have forgotten the details of Norman’s proposal of course but I do remember thinking that what he was suggesting would only lead to inflation. That may have been what he wanted of course. It gives you a good opportunity to claim that people have made (fake) capital gains and to tax the hell out of them.
it’s ok, English is setting himself for a lolly scramble in election year with veiled comments about tax cuts… and no mention of the 65b government debt despite this from English
“Now it’s time to pay down debt and get our books in order.” English 2013
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Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) for Tuesday, 2 July 2013
6. State-owned Assets, Sales—Purpose and Use of Proceeds
[Sitting date: 02 July 2013. Volume:691;Page:11416. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]
6. Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) to the Minister of Finance: Are the proceeds from selling power companies and other assets being used to pay down debt, to build schools and hospitals, to fund irrigation projects, to rebuild Christchurch, or to fund Auckland transport projects?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) : The Government has been clear that the proceeds of the share offer programme will be used to buy a variety of new public assets and will help the Government avoid having to borrow to procure those assets. The Future Investment Fund was outlined in Budget 2012 and further details were provided in Budget 2013. The purpose of that fund is to ensure complete transparency about the spending of the proceeds from asset sales. The Budget confirmed another $1.5 billion of these proceeds will be invested in schools, Christchurch hospitals, KiwiRail, and irrigation projects. However, the share offer proceeds are only a proportion of the Government’s overall new capital spending.
Hon David Parker : Does he agree with John Key that asset sales are necessary to “avoid a credit downgrade”, or does he agree with Tony Ryall that asset sales are necessary to pay down debt, or does he agree with another John Key that asset sales would be used to build new schools and hospitals, or does he agree with Nathan Guy that money would be used to subsidise irrigation on multimillion-dollar farms, or does he agree with Gerry Brownlee that asset sales money be used to rebuild Christchurch, or does he agree with yet another John Key that asset sales will fund the Auckland rail link?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : Yes.
Hon David Parker : How much funding has already been allocated for spending from asset sales via the Future Investment Fund, and how much has actually been raised for the Future Investment Fund from asset sales to date?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : The details of that are set out in the Budget, but, as the member will be aware, the Government’s programme hopes to realise between $5 billion and $7 billion, which is, actually, quite a lot of money. I would have to say that that $5 billion to $7 billion is much more useful as cash than it is as 49 percent shares in electricity companies owned by the Government.
Hon David Parker : I seek leave to table documents showing that $1.7 billion has so far been raised—
Mr SPEAKER : What is the source of the document?
Hon David Parker : There is a combination of documents: the National Party manifesto and Treasury documents.
Mr SPEAKER : No, both are freely available to members if they so want it. Has the member got a supplementary question?
Hon David Parker : Yes. Why does he continue to claim asset sales will reduce debt when Treasury—his own department—states that from 2017 the Crown is worse off to the tune of $50 million a year, growing to $100 million a year worse off because of asset sales thereafter?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : We do not claim it will reduce debt. What we have said it will mean is that the Crown does not have to go and borrow the money from overseas bankers. We have never understood why Labour and the Greens would rather borrow money from offshore bankers than get the money from New Zealanders who want to invest in a large New Zealand company.
Hon David Parker : Has he been advised that in January 2011 John Key said the Government needed to sell power companies and other State assets to avoid a credit downgrade; if so, is he aware that 8 months later New Zealand was downgraded by both Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings?
Hon BILL ENGLISH : Yes, I am aware of those things. I am also aware that the sale of the assets means that 49 percent of the ownership has gone largely to New Zealanders but also to some offshore investors. In return for that, they have put cash in the Government’s bank account. I know it is profoundly irritating to the Labour Party, but we are able to use that cash to buy new public assets. The public is starting to understand that Labour’s arguments against the asset sales were poorly conceived and wrong.”
I recall when cullen did this in 2008 it was “lolly scramble”
” English told reporters at the Treasury lockup today that tax cuts were “unlikely” next year, although the $1b of ACC cuts in the pipeline are a proxy for that.
But they surely cannot be ruled out longer term, though he is not about to get ahead of himself, or blow a powerful political weapon for the next campaign by signalling them this early.
Next year, though, a contingent promise of tax cuts – at the least a move on the thresholds to counter the “fiscal creep” that pushes taxpayers into higher tax brackets – must at least be an option on these numbers.” English 2013
“National Party Finance spokesman Bill English says if Michael Cullen is not planning an election year spend-a-thon, why did Helen Clark say ‘it has taken a while to build up the kitty for a substantial tax package’?
He is responding to a speech today in which the Finance Minister referred to Labour’s laughable claim that it is maintaining a ‘tight fiscal stance’ and the statement that there will be no ‘lolly scramble’ in election year.
“Dr Cullen has presided over the biggest spending Government in New Zealand history. Labour’s spending has consistently outstripped economic growth, productivity growth has slumped, and Kiwis have been leaving for Australia in droves.
“It has taken Dr Cullen eight years to start thinking about refunding some of the money he has taken from hard-working Kiwis through over-taxation.Â
“In the last Budget he signed off on some $4 billion in total of over-spending, even though he warned his colleagues that not sticking to their limit would keep interest rates higher for longer.
“Kiwi households are paying for Labour’s last lolly scramble, with interest rates which are among the highest in the developed world, coupled with rates that put us in the top half of the OECD for being overtaxed.”
The ANZ makes it clear in its latest Market Focus newsletter that ‘the biggest losers in an inflationary environment are middle to low income households’.” English 2007
Hone was very good on Morning Report this morning, a stark contrast to Key’s whining.
Key really doesn’t get the Mandela/anti-Apartheid thing. Not only does he take a delegation of largely pro-tour representatives (Sharples, late in the day, claiming he was there to represent the protesters, though nobody can remember him protesting) to SA but he then slags off Hone Harawira, who everyone accepts did lead protests, for attending several memorial services and Mandela shrines/museums, in a trip undertaken for the express purpose of representing the protesters.
I’ve never thought Key was much of a politician, or much of a charmer for that matter, but he is really digging himself into a hole here.
That’s because he likely has given the issue literally, no moral thought. Not the issue of the South Africa trip; the issue of apartheid and the oppression of the majority by a small minority. It’s what he does every day, for goodness sakes.
CV +1
“I’ve never thought Key was much of a politician, or much of a charmer for that matter, but he is really digging himself into a hole here.”
Actually if you looked at the comments on stuff when it was first announced that Hone was going to go, there was a huge anti-Hone backlash.
If those people are representative of middle NZ, then Key slamming Hone, for absolutely anything Hone does except turn water into wine, is a vote-winner for him.
You’re onto it there Lanthanide.
Key is simply doing a Brash and tapping into the swathe of kiwis who will support anything to put Maori “in their place”.
Key is an outright racist for this.
edit: actually, not quite onto it lanth. your assumption that this reflects “middle” is out there
I don’t assume it. I said “if those…”
Having grown up in middle class pakeha Auckland, it’s representative of a lot more than I think most people realise.
And that’s not even considering the uneducated rednecks.
@ Lanthanide(8.2), VTO(8.2.1) and Naturesong(8.2.1.2)
Oh that sounds like it might be horribly accurate what you both say 🙁
…perhaps I might exchange ‘political institutions’ for ‘political spin’ or ‘dogwhistles’ and I think this following quote of Rousseau sums up my views on the attitudes of the group of NZers you speak of.
Its truly deeply saddening if what you say is correct.
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
A ‘Jolly’, so says Slippery the Prime Minister of Mana Party leader Hone Harawira’s trip to the funeral of Nelson Mandela,
Whining that Harawira wasn’t part of the ‘official party’ and therefor should not have gone to the funeral in South Africa would seem on the surface to be from the PM a simple attempt at diversion, the diversion from what can only be described as an atrocious display from Slippery the PM and the British Prime Minister David Cameron as they were photographed at the ‘official service’ for Mandela laughing uproariously,
No matter what any of us think of Nelson Mandela, He is respected the world over as one of the ‘great’ Statesmen of our age and for the Prime Minister of New Zealand to be publicly seen to be making ‘light’ of the official funeral service for leaders from across the whole world, giving the gravity of the service the air of a mere scherzando, a joke, shows our Prime Minister as unfit to hold this office,
Far from being asked to explain His actions during the approved trip by the House Speaker, Harawira should be applauded for attending services including a private ceremony at the Mandela House, the Speaker should be writing to Slippery the PM asking why He felt the need to breach the Parliamentary Convention that Members do not comment on other Members absence from the Parliament as this is a Privelege reserved entirely to the House Speaker,
What tho is exercising Slippery’s sphincter this early on in the week after the Parliament has risen for the year, did the ‘spin-meisters’ on the ninth floor give Him the message that every time He attacks the Green Party, far from the desired effect, they go up in the polls,
Or did the latest round of National Party internal polling give the PM’s arse muscle cause to tighten in such a painful manner that His vocal chords began a litany in the language of the ‘Clown’ as they exposed for the PM ‘the elephant in the room’ in the form of Mana having enough support to bring into the next Parliament the form of John Minto on the Party List…
i think a lot of people would like to see john minto in parliament..
..y’see..he has this record of being on the right side of history..eh..?
..phillip ure..
Not nearly enough to get him there though Phil.
Mana got 24,168 votes in the end. To get Minto into Parliament, assuming that all the other parties got the same number of votes as they did at the election, Mana would have had to have got 45,810 votes. They only got about half the number they needed.
But they have a much better shot at it in the upcoming election. Remember 2011 was the first election Mana had contested.
It’s possible although the polls don’t seem to point that way. Three seats needs about 2.3% of the vote and I haven’t seen any polls giving Mana a figure that high.
If Labour run Kelvin Davis against Hone though it might all be moot as Hone might be beaten.
@alwyn..also the media ignored harawira last time..
..that wont happen next time..
..plus the poverty-fighting policies etc of mana (and the do-something-about-it!-imperatives are much more urgent than they were last time..
..plus the disintergration of the maori party is almost complete..
..and again..this was not the case last time around..
..so mana doubling their vote (at the very least)..
..and thus getting minto in as an mp..
..is eminently do-able..
..and as an aside.. personally..i reckon one of the few good things to come from the death of nelson mandela..
..has been what i see as the seachange in attitude of many mainstream nz’ers/media towards minto and the other demonstrators against apartheid..
..what has been bought sharply into their focus..is how they..(not the muldoons/bolgers/mckinnons/keys)..were on the right side of history..and on the right side of right/wrong..
..and how in the grand new zealand scheme of things..
..for their moral courage/convictions..
..minto et.al are their generations’ heroes..warriors even..
..they were all standing on the right side of history..
..and on the right side of that right/wrong divide..
..phillip ure..
Not sure about the sea change.
The media in New Zealand defaults toward advertising, and if giving the National Party a bit of a stir every now and again sells a few papers, they are happy to do so. It also allows them to say “look, we’re unbiased – see, we really took it to John Key on that social issue”.
I had expected the honeymoon to end when John Key had jack booted thugs charge into the herald offices at the last election.
But for the editors, and owners of New Zealands mainstream media organisations Upton Sinclair comes to mind
And for the rump of the National Party, Carl Sagan
Speaking of Minto and Mandela, here’s a (typically) excellent audio comment by Wayne Brittenden (Nat Rad, Sunday Morning, 15 Dec 2013 11:36am) on Obama living up to his own soaring rhetoric at Mandela’s funeral.
Here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/2579951
This is an excerpt form 1:24 – 3:19: “Obama also spoke of the great inspiration of Mandela, the importance of inclusion, generosity and truth, the power of action and of taking risks. The (US) President has the perfect opportunity for promoting those values by taking a tough stand against another State practising a form of Apartheid – an ally, Israel. Even South Africa’s Apartheid never built a Wall – twice the height of the Berlin one, complete with sniper-posts and checkpoints limiting free Palestinian movement and economic development. There are even buses and roads that are segregated. The World rose up against the injustices in South Africa – it has yet to do the same against the long-standing injustices in Gaza and on the West Bank.
Exactly 13 years ago, Nelson Mandela attended the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people and called for their self-determination and statehood. He said that his own people’s freedom was incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians…….The truth is Israeli-style Apartheid wouldn’t be possible without the immense political and economic backing of the US. What better way then for Obama to honour the memory of the man he so deeply admired than by slashing the 3 Billion dollars that the US gives Israel each year in military aid, along with the caterpillars that demolish houses, water supplies and Olive Orchards.”
Wayne Brittenden
gets my vote for taking over from Chris Laidlaw.
A little bit on him from Paper Plus he has written a book on NZ Theatre)
Biography
Wayne Brittenden is a New Zealand journalist who has worked overseas for most of his career. A former National Radio correspondent in Tokyo, he later worked for the BBC and now works as an independent documentary maker, based in London. He has done extensive research in New Zealand for this book.
Then there is something interesting about him near the end of page on Wikipedia about Political Compass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_compass
Cheers, greywarbler. I’ve sat the Political Compass test myself (Left and Liberal, as it turns out). But I had no idea Wayne Brittenden was behind it !
On the SA Apartheid / Israeli Apartheid comparisons, I’d say that, if anything, Brittenden doesn’t quite go far enough. For a start, the most important point about the so-called ‘Separation Wall’ is surely that Israel has built it DEEP inside Palestinian territory, to act as a defacto future border – completely and utterly in contravention of International Law.
And, it’s a little to mild to say “There are even buses and roads that are segregated.” Israel has constructed a whole series of Jewish Settler-only Highways throughout the Palestinian West Bank (as part of its ethnic-cleansing and land-appropriation goals). So, it’s systematic segregation throughout the Occupied Territories on land, water resources, building and so on.
But, it’s the ethnic cleansing itself that bears a striking resemblance to the latter stages of SA Apartheid – the same attempt to force the occupied/oppressed population into small Bantustan-style enclaves, thus enforcing dispossession.
Israel sounds Fascist. Would you define it as being in that part of the political scene?
And idle curiosity. Is Swordfish chosen because of thinking about an old type of plane? I saw a mention of one in a photo history of WW2.
Well, you know, greywarbler, the Zionism on which Israel was established derives from precisely the same deeply reactionary, anti-Enlightenment ideological mix that so inspired the Nazis. Namely, German Imperialism and East-Central European Romantic Nationalism. ‘Blut und Bone’.
Zionism’s always been, first and foremost, about ethnically-cleansing the Palestinians in order to carve-out an overwhelmingly Jewish (they’d prefer ENTIRELY Jewish) ‘Greater Israel’. Much like the Nazis wanted an entirely German, ethnically-cleansed, Eastern Europe (and Ukraine, Belorussia and Baltic States).
And, of course, the Israeli Right were openly fascist during the first half of 20C. (Jabotinsky’s Revisionist movement – which included future Israeli PMs Shamir and Begin). Not that I’m suggesting the Israeli Labour Party is much better. The differences across the mainstream Israeli political spectrum are far more marginal (particularly with respect to aims and strategies in the Occupied Territories) than a lot of people in the West would like to think.
Bad mistake for Labour Party people here to assume its entirely the fault of Lukid and its allies (although, pleasingly, very few do these days). In fact, in some ways, the Israeli Lab Party’s been worse. Throughout the so-called ‘Peace-Process’ of the 1990s, for instance, both Labour and Lukid governments alike massively expanded their illegal network of Jewish Settler-only Highways throughout the West Bank. And the supposedly “dovish” Labour Party under first Rabin and then Peres, have an even worse record than Lukid in that regard.
Swordfish. No, I’m something of a Tom Waits fan and I’ve always particularly liked his 1983 stand-out album ‘Swordfishtrombones’. But, I’m also a bit of a lazy bugger, at least to the extent that, after writing “swordfish”, I just couldn’t be arsed typing out the rest of the name. Sad but true.
But, yeah, I do have a vague idea that the swordfish was a British Naval aircraft during WW2.
Also known as the stringbag because it was a biplane. Top speed was something like 90mph. But it did some very nasty damage to the Italian fleet at ? Taranto.
So I heard, with a good headwind, Italian battleships could outrun them. Played a major role in disabling the Bismarck.
Good album too.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why Key has launched this broadside at Harawira. Probably it boils down to nothing more than his ego is bruised by being laughed about as the ‘unidentified guest’ at Cameron’s side and he wants to create a bit of a diversion. Such are the weighty issues of moment on Planet Key.
See my reply at 8.2: http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17122013/#comment-746327
because he suspects swing voters are anti-Maori?
and yet not one word against Mr Bank’s behaviour.
Didn’t even read the Banks report!!!
“Far from being asked to explain His actions during the approved trip by the House Speaker, Harawira should be applauded for attending services including a private ceremony at the Mandela House, the Speaker should be writing to Slippery the PM asking why He felt the need to breach the Parliamentary Convention that Members do not comment on other Members absence from the Parliament as this is a Privelege reserved entirely to the House Speaker”………….
Indeed Harawira should be applauded. He did the right thing and in the right spirit. Key knows nothing of mana and nothing of the heart and just saw a cheap opportunity to be divisive and wanky.
Key has shot to buffoon level 10 for his tacky comments.
Perhaps you could ask the same question of Winston Peters and some of the Labour MPs. They quite happily pont out in Question time that Key is never there on a Thursday. No Prime Minister, or Leader of the Opposition does attend on Thursday of course, at least in the last 20 years, but it doesn’t stop the Opposition rabbiting on of course.
alwyn, the assertion you make here has all the appearnce of an out-right LIE, Slippery the Prime Minister is also well known for this type of conversation,
Provide us the proof of the assertion you make…
I’ll track down the reference after you do the following.
Provide us with the proof that John Key has pointed out that a member of the opposition was absent from the house.
I don’t feel like bothering to justify my comments to someone who makes unsubstantiated statements of his/her own.
Bullshit. You’re making the claim. Back it up.
Yesterday, as reported on Stuff.
As quoted in the article, Key says the same in the accompanying video:
I watch Question time quite a lot. I’ve never heard opposition MPs comment about Key’s absence from the House on Thursdays.
I’ve seen non-Mp commenters here comment on it.
Maybe they have, maybe they haven’t.
I don;t really give a shit.
Key brought this up. It’s a fight he wanted to start for some reason.
Go read kiwiblog comments on it and you’ll see why.
Flat out racist dog whistle. “The lazy Maori, who does he think he is? How dare he be right”
You will note that the statement made by Rosie. It said that “the speaker should be writing to the PM asking why he felt the need to breach the Parliamentary convention etc, etc”. The Parliamentary convention she is referring to one of the Rules of the House and relates to what a member can say in the chamber. It has nothing whatsoever to do with what any member says outside the house. If the Rules of the House applied to everything a member said in all circumstances we wouldn’t have any of them left.
So no, your quotation doesn’t answer what I am asking for.
Actually Winston’s complaint, as I remember it, was when he complained about the Government transferring a question to another Minister so that John Key could avoid being in Parliament that day.
I am not sure whether I should feel sorry for you or congratulate you on your bravery for wathching Question time. I generally read it through but I don’t think I could take watching it.
In terms of being in the House on Thursday, no PM or Leader of the Opposition is ever there. John Key isn’t and Helen Clark wasn’t. Neither were the various Leaders of the Opposition on both sides.
If you read QT as thouroughly as you read this thread then it’s little wonder you have no idea who is saying what in the house.
In terms of being in the House on Thursday, no PM or Leader of the Opposition is ever there. John Key isn’t and Helen Clark wasn’t. Neither were the various Leaders of the Opposition on both sides.
FFS, we all know that, and it has nothing to do with the issue.
Winnie’s complaint sounds like ones he would make about Key deliberately dodging answering questions in the House. Key does that one slippery way or another. It’s not the same as being critical of someone not being in the House.
LOL. The statement was made by bad12. I was quoting him. Theres two parts to that statement. One is about applauding Hone for being in S.A, the second about Shoneky inappropriately raising Hone’s absence in parliament (in a mocking way – those 4 words are mine)
My main response was around Hone doing the right thing. I had a swipe at Key, as an aside.
My comment is a mere agreement with bad12 who went to the bother to thoughtfully reflect on shonkey’s lack of parliamentary protocol and general desperation which manifests in his petty outbursts.
+1 Rosie (9.4)
+100 …Good on Harawira for going to South Africa as NZ’s real representative !
( Harawira puts John Key to shame ….and Key’s false wannabe pretenders hangers on…NZ’s shame! contingent )
….and GO GREENS for also showing up Key and his moribund NACT Party…and getting under Key’s skin ….
Something in the polling has scared John Key . The prospect of Mana MP’s and Labour party vote in all the Maori seats? This feels a lot like the attacks on Winston Peters before the 2008 election. Trying to tie Hone up in a negative fight and maybe even cost him large lawyer’s fees.
So congrats Hone, Nact see you as a real threat.
The ‘unidentified guest’ at the Mandela memorial service used the term ‘jollies’ in referring to Speaker approved pilgrimage of Hone Harawira MP. The latter represented the spirit of anti-apartheid New Zealanders in places of spiritual significance while the former took his pro-racist ex MP/PM stooges to the forum of the grand-standers to joke with his mate Dave. Once again, John Key has resorted to Textor Crosby type smear lines when he has been upstaged by a person who often demonstrates the sort of statesmanship that the petulant Prime Minister is never likely to attain.
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Please Fair Observer do stand for the mayoralty of wherever you are or even as councillor.
NZ needs exemplary people like you counting the cents, and checking on the cleanliness of toilets, and phoning all the homes of fellow dignitaries to see if they are home and tucked up in bed (with their own spouses) by 10 pm. We need people who have high moral energy to get a good night’s sleep ready to attend to the duties of their office and who keep their orifices clean as well.
You are wasted as someone just sitting sniping at the miscreants. There’s a saying that if you want a job done properly, do it yourself – it’s just so right. Creeping corruption must be dealt with and you’re the person to do it.
And yet he will win the next mayoral election. And the one after that and the one after that …
Would you be pleased with such an outcome? Why?
Would prefer Penny Hulse. Her attempts to work on affordable housing and her voting record against SkyCity would give her my vote. Have my fingers crossed that Len will stand down next election and she will step up to the plate.
I will be watching to see how Hulse performs at the Thursday public meeting. The problem is that she also needs to draw in campaign funds & the usual way to do that is to
suck upappeal to some of those who lean more to “neoliberalism”.Hulse always comes across well (as caring for the less well off, etc) in interviews/panel discussions.
She also gets actual work done.
And seems to take the job of representing her constituents seriously.
Perhaps you missed this Karol?
24 June 2013
‘Open Letter’ from Auckland Mayoral candidate Penny Bright to Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse:
“Are you a genuine community advocate or corporate /property developer MOUTH PIECE?”
Dear Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse,
In the 2010 Auckland Council election, you stood as an ‘Independent’, and quoted the following glowing endorsement from Sir Ron Carter, about your ‘commitment and ability to look after business interests’ :
http://www.elections2010.co.nz/2010/candidates/penny-hulse
Commercial Activities
I think the endorsement of my campaign for Auckland Council by Sir Ron Carter speaks volumes about my commitment and ability to look after business interests. Ron says “Our city needs Councillors who will apply their knowledge and experience for the good of all. A great Council team will be built from those who respect and commit to each other. Penny’s wisdom and consensus style will help create a Council for all Aucklanders. We need her on our Council.”
Who is Sir Ron Carter:
In 2010 – Sir Ron Carter was the Chair of the Committee for Auckland:
http://www.unitec.ac.nz/news-events/ftf/unitec-forum-for-the-future-2010.cfm
Session 1, July 20th – Why? – What’s the case for creating a super city? Why do we need to change regional governance structures to do so?
Panelists:
Peter Salmon, Chairman of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance,
Bob Harvey, Waitakere City Mayor, and
Sir Ron Carter, Committee for Auckland Chairman.
_____________________________________________________________________
Who are the Committee for Auckland:
http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/
“Our vision: Auckland as a global city.
In 2013 we will be an influential voice for all of Auckland, creating cross-sectoral solutions to the city’s issues andfocusing on a future beyond the electoral cycle helping New Zealand’s only world-ranked city to achieve its potential for the region and the country.
The Committee for Auckland (CFA) has played a prominent role in galvanising positive change for our city. Our members are all specialists in the city’s issues and fervent advocates for its success. Having contributed significantly to the new shape of Auckland as one city, 2013 is the platform for a re-focused Committee to drive the agenda for Auckland as a world leading destination as well as the welcoming gateway to New Zealand.”
Membership of the Committee for Auckland:
http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/membership
“Membership to the Committee for Auckland is by invitation. Members meet quarterly and are invited to be involved in those aspects of the work programme that interest them.
Members are Chairs of Boards, Directors and Chief Executives
Corporate Membership annual fee $10,000. ……”
The current list of members of the Committee for Auckland:
http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/membership/member-organisations
(It is interesting to note how members of this VERY powerful private lobby group are intertwined with Auckland Council and Auckland Council ‘Council Controlled Organisations’ (CCOs).
For starters…………….
Doug McKay Chief Executive Officer Auckland Council
Brett O’Riley Chief Executive Officer ATEED
Robert Domm Chief Executive Officer Regional Facilities Auckland
Mark Ford Chief Executive Officer Watercare
John Dalzell Chief Executive Officer Waterfront Auckland
Also, how the Committee for Auckland includes key members of the NZ Property Council and property developers, such as…………)
Connal Townsend National Director Property Council of NZ
Evan Davies Chief Executive Officer Todd Property Ltd
____________________________________________________________________
On the face of it, Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse, your range of ‘community credentials’ appears impressive:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/about-us/about-penny-hulse/
About Penny Hulse
Penny has strong links with her community and cares passionately about the Auckland region.
Her community involvement includes Patron of Waitakere Special Olympics, Community Waitakere Charitable Trust, Henderson Riding for the Disabled, The Trust Waitakere Brass Band, Northern Football Association, Trustee of Swanson Railway Station Trust, Waitakere Anti Violence Essential Services and former Director of EECA Board.
Penny’s special areas of interest are Climate Change, Sustainable City Development, Environmental Advocacy, Community Development and Youth. …………”
________________________________________________________
However, the reality, in my considered opinion, is that you cannot work simultaneously both for the community (the ‘99%’ ), and corporations/property developers (the ‘1%’).
It is my intention as a 2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate to continue to ‘blow the whistle’, against the the ‘corrupt corporate coup’ which set up the Auckland ‘Supercity’, and those who are serving the interests of the ‘1%’.
In my considered opinion, Auckland Council Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse, you are NOT a genuine community advocate – you are in fact, a corporate /property developer MOUTH PIECE, working for the ‘1%’.
No disrespect – but I shall ‘call it as I see it’.
(I don’t expect you to like it).
So be it.
Yours sincerely
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
(For more evidence linking the Committee for Auckland with Auckland Council :
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/OCCUPY-AUCKLAND-APPEAL-APPLICATION-BY-APPELLANT-BRIGHT-TO-ADDUCE-NEW-EVIDENCE-pdf.pdf
Yes, Penny. I’ve seen that before.
I disagree.
Hulse was deputy mayor for Waitakere City and worked well within that structure. The problem is as much the way the amalgamated Auckland Council has been set up. It/’s impossible for anybody to become mayor without some support in the business community, corporations etc. It may not be my ideal. But as far as I can see, Hulse is about the best potential candidate that I am aware of at the moment. She would be better than Brown.
I have not seen any evidence of corruption by Hulse. She does have a fairly consultative consensus building style.
if it’s a choice between the likes of Brewer or Hulse. I’ll take Hulse.
Good on you for taking a strong stand against corruption and the rule of the elites. But meanwhile, many people in Auckland are struggling to survive. Hulse does have a heart.
Well can the ratepayers ask if they are footing the $10,000 annual membership per corporation joining the Committe for Auckland? I’ll bet they are and it’l be used for stuff they I don’t agree with I bet.
Actually that committee for Auckland, while it includes a lot of corporates, also includes Unis, The City Mission, The Salvation Army and others.
Yes the membership fee seems pretty high. What do they do with it? Ah, they have projects.
Like matching skills of migrants and others to employers. Why the focus first on migrants?
But I would need to see evidence of how they go about doign things before I can make a decision.
And, ultimately, it seems to me the problems with Auckland Council re far wider than any one individual. The problem is the CCOs, which have too much power and are unaccountable.; and with the relative lack of power for the elected representatives.
That’s what needs to be the focus.
Thanks Karol. I’m always a bit suspicious about what happens to this sort of funding – out of the public eye as it is.
And before they can bring in guest workers why do these companies not have to prove they or their industry has a well established training facilty plus paid internships for younger people/students and a pathways in programme for older people in need of a career change before they can plead skills shortages and bring in people from overseas.
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Yep. Brown will continue to win every mayoral election he stands in. Call it the Clinton factor, if you like, but the right have no answer for him.
Good on the councillors for taking a stand. They are trying to take a small step to make Hide’s anit-democratic monstrosity into something a little more democratic.
The whole Auckland Council infrastructure needs to be reviewed and restructured – with more real say for councillors and local boards. These are the people who are meant to represent their local communities. We don’t need a presidential style mayor. Nor do we need the undemocratic CCOs with their overpaid chief execs.
The real corruption was done in 2010, by Hide and Key’s mob. imagine what dodgy John Banks would have done if elected mayor? Major pay-back to Dotcom, Sky City etc?
“National has a big asset sale problem” Peter Dunne does too, in his electorate. The fabulous chart in yesterdays article shows a 49.1% turnout with a 64.6% NO vote for the electorate. Will that make Dunney boy squirm?
So this interesting result doesn’t go unnoticed, we at People’s Power Ohariu have been busy with our placard making. Every time something awkward comes up for Dunne (GCSB vote, Sky City vote, meridian sale failure etc) we turn that into a message on one of our “Hey Peter!” themed placards that we put in place in a few of the neighbourhoods in the electorate.
Currently on display is
“Hey Peter! Ohariu 65% NO. Sold out by 1 vote: Yours!”
Our signs look like this
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=61648
The next one, all ready to go is “Hey Peter! Family Man? Voting No on Feed the Kids?”
Keep up the good pressure
Well done Rosie and People’s Power Ohariu!
It is a minor revelation of the year that asset sales were/are not supported by a lot of tory voters. This was well known anecdotally but there is now more solid information following the referendum.
Now you need to get the Greens to agree not to stand against Dunne. Urgent this.
They have already selected their candidate BG. I can’t remember where I read it so can’t link it. I read it about two weeks ago. They are standing a guy who I think stood for Rimutaka last time. His background is in Civil Defense.
Disappointing. I thought Greens and Labour may have come to an agreement. In the meantime I’ve written to the NZLP via their website and asked when they will announce their candidate. Am really keen to know who it is.
Cyclists don’t have disk breaks, they don’t have mirrors, road works means they can’t hear you. Worse! Cyclists need to turn right, cyclists are human, they make mistakes, but like cars, who you give way to because of the cost of a dent, you still need to give way to because you would give way to bad car drivers. So imagine my shock to have a motorcyclist shout something out, could not make out what, possible somehow I infringed on his line. Is breaking for a cyclist is so bad? In a suburb back street where you should be slowing down anyway, cyclists aren’t cars but that still doesn’t mean you get to ride or drive up to them close, because bicycles are also something else, they are unstable, with unstable humans on them, unprotected by a high powered engine and working power brakes. Geez, already.
Sounds like we’ve got a Bike culture to fight and overcome.
Seems that the UK SFO is also having problems doing their job?
https://theconversation.com/hamstrung-sfo-not-capable-of-holding-bankers-to-account-21545
Penny Bright
Some SFO successes in NZ but the main focus of Government is using vast resources on catching the Benefit Fraudsters. 10 Benefit marshals for every SFO marshal sent to catch million dollar fraud.
How Wall Street Crooks Get Out of Jail Free
Not just NZ/UK SFO but the US equivalent as well.
But then it could just be a lot of cases of affluenza
There is to be a protest calling on Len Brown to resign tomorrow – Wednesday – outside the Town Hall at 12 noon and for councillors to unite and move a motion of no confidence in the mayor. Anyone wanting to support the calling for Brown’s resignation will be welcome. Several of the councillors have been asked to address the gathering.
As far as I know, the only councillor calling for Brown to resign is Dick Quax. Are you his PR person?
Certainly not karol. I have no affiliation to any political party, I am an Auckland ratepayer who has had enough of the dishonourable attitudes and deeds shown to hold office in Auckland. It should not be a divisive right vs left issue. unity and honour should be the ambition of our council.
“Ratepayer”, huh? Defining yourself thus is also telling.
Euan is a WO regular who once suggested scab workers at the Ports of Auckland should get commendations from the council. Just another frothing flea.
Thanks, TRP. Figures. My experience of people who label themselves as (neutral) “ratepayers”, seem to think property owners (especially the more wealthy ones) have a privileged status in local democracy. They don’t usually speak for the less well off in Auckland, nor for us renters (who pay rates indirectly through rent).
Unite left and right? Yeah, right. T’is WO & Quax who have been trying to usurp democracy and pressure Brown to resign by fair means or foul.
I’ll wait to see what the majority of councillors have to say at the Auckland meeting on Thursday.
“It should not be a divisive right vs left issue”
So if Brown resigns, who becomes mayor?
Someone who can proudly wear the title of ‘Honourable’. Anyone who can represent Auckland and, as I noted above, has the ambition to unite. The majority of Aucklanders couldn’t give a care if the new mayor was left right or centre, as long as they really did have a passion about Auckland and our future together.
Banks>? for instance……………………..
He would not get my support!
Yet you voted for him. Funny old world, eh?
Your memory is good. But you didn’t mention that it was under protest, and that I would never vote for him again. But hey, don’t let the truth get in the way of how you want things spun, and before you go off half cocked again, the comment I made was that he would not get my vote for mayor, and yes I would happily vote for a left leaning mayor if I believed she or he would be honourable and capable of leading this city.
how stupid do you have to be to vote for someone “under protest”?
Really, really stupid. And deluded.
Haha.
Voted for Banks under protest.
Aww. Bless.
So cute. Like a little lost puppy 😛
The Fabian Society in London has released a report on the problems facing London.. A few similarities to those facing us here at home.
It was instigated by the Labour MP for Tooting, Sadiq Khan who believes Housing, housing, housing is the priority for London.
The report notes the difference between calling developments affordable housing, and the actuality of it being affordable. Brings to mind the trumpeting of Isaac Davidson for Nick Smith and the “success” of the newly released tranche of SHA’s.
Another Labour Party selection has just been announced.
Rob McCann selected as Otaki Candidate
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1312/S00237/rob-mccann-selected-as-otaki-candidate.htm
I know nothing about Rob other than what is in the (very good) press release, but his credentials look very positive.
Rob McCann is a communications and marketing expert, and has been the White Ribbon Campaign Manager since 2009. He was a press secretary to Ruth Dyson in the last Labour Government and more recently headed the drive to collect signatures for the Asset sales referendum in the Otaki electorate. Educated at Otago University with a Law and Drama degree, he is a keen debater and was a former president of the Otago University debating society.
Mr McCann is also the chair of the Paraparaumu Branch of the Labour Party, chaired the Region Three Labour Party Conference, and sits on the Labour Rural & Regional Sector Council.
Otaki had the highest turnout in the referendum at 54% with Nos at 66.7% so an excellent result.
I also like the quotes attributed to Rob in the press statement on the Otaki result – clear and to the point.
I am currently looking at moving from Wellington (Rongotai electorate) to the Kapiti coast and this could be another incentive to do so.
Wasn’t there another Labour candidate announced yesterday?
There have been several announced over the last few days. I thought there were some comments on TS yesterday but cannot find them (cursory look only).
Here is the first on Sunday – Dr Deborah Russell for Rangitikei.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1312/S00220/labour-completes-first-formal-selection-for-2014-election.htm
Farrar has a post up at KB (my first visit for months earlier today – then had a shower) on Deborah’s selection and posters there seem to think that there have been other LP selections in the last few days (eg Tauranga) , but I cannot find any announcements on Scoop or the LP website.
A comment on the KB post says
“To add to Deborah Russell and Rachel Jones, Clare Curren tweeted yesterday that Liz Craig (Clutha Southland) and Glenda Alexander (Waitaki) have also been selected for Labour.
It would seem that the manban is already well into top gear.”
As you can imagine the thread there deteriorates into manban and slating Deborah etc – despite Farrar having praised Deborah in his post.
Thanks. I can only find those two candidates as well.
It is a shame these are not winnable seats …
I don’t know the others but I do know Liz Craig. She is highly intelligent and dedicated and would be great in Parliament, hopefully through the list. I hope not to sound too defensive but the day we win Clutha Southland …
Remember that Waitaki, albeit with different boundaries, was held by David Parker for one term.
Have National chosen a real farmer this time or a pretend one like English he career bureaucrat?
I strongly suspect that Farrar’s problem is that he has been personally manbanned from the social lives of any women who get within a kilometre of him. If the “manban” can get rid of Goff, Mallard, Jones, and Parker, I’m all for it. I’d willingly accept 100% women in parliament. I doubt if much of any substance would change, except that under a leftish government, the police might move a bit quicker on roastbuster type rubbish.
now, now, I’m sure there’s someone for everyone…
I think you’ll find Farrar has very recently met the person he considers his life-partner and soul-mate. I am, of course, referring to senior Labour MP, Trevor Mallard. Suspect we’ll hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet in 9 months time (and I’m not only talking about Farrar’s).
I think it was the business part of the news after noon. There was something about derivatives and hedge funds and why they are needed.
And it occurred to me what a good way these financial instruments, or Instruments of Torture, are for making a great income by the few. First you create an unstable financial sea, and then you sell lifeboats that people have to carry with them to ensure they negotiate it. Or you might say the financiers set up a sea of uncertainty and then sell little hedge coracles that enable businesses to float and and guide themselves with a little dessertspoon of an oar. Fucking nuts really. When you think of trying to manage our livings personally and for countries, in this way..
Or you might say that the financiers set up a virtual world like Chriss? in The Truman Show. Truman thought he was in Real Life but in actual fact it was a stage set and he was being manipulated and surveilled for the benefit of everyone else who was in the know who found him irresistible and watching him compulsive viewing. He didn’t suffer from TB consumption, it was TV consumption. In real life, out here today, those watching are really the top 10% or so who are in the know to some extent. The rest of us are watching each other, but imagining we personally are part of the 10%.
Metaphor, allegory, the spectacle of Total Recall or futuristic thing where someone had to save their life by running away watched by TV cameras and home audiences. Isn’t that another view of us. What about working out better systems and super-imposing them on the poorer systems now working? Wait a minute that’s how elections and governments and government service departments making policy are supposed to be working. Okay you monkeys, let’s see you dance for your taxes, while we play the barrel organ.
Never heard of Rob McCann and he maybe a creditable candidate but these two statements from his press release sum up the Labour party selection processes that is not engaging with voters.
He’s another journalist/press secretary who worked in parliament for the Labour party and is moving from his Wellington base ……
…. ffs another one
Watching, Rob is a top bloke. He organised the the first of the LP leadership meetings in Otaki, got an amazing turnout on the day and did a great job setting the scene for the rest of that campaign by marshalling the throng of media that turned up. He is well respected in the party generally and in the central region particularly. If he can get rid of the odious berk (Guy Smiley? Something like that) currently pretending to represent the interests of the Horowhenua then all power to him.
Ps Where did you get the quote about moving from Rongotai from? It’s not in the press release and it’s not actually the case, as he lives on the Kapiti coast.
Thanks for that TRP.
And Watching needs to read more carefully. I, moi, am thinking of moving to Kapiti – not Rob – as per the last sentence of my original comment at 18 above.
LOL. Watching jumped too fast. (And the press release states that Rob lives in Kapiti with his partner and two children!)
Yeah, I by no means disagree with the broad thrust of your argument, here, Watching. In general, we could probably do without more Parliamentary Staffers as Candidates. But, you wrongly suggest McCann is: “currently looking at moving from Wellington (Rongotai electorate) to the Kapiti coast. In fact, that was veutoviper’s assertion about his/her own plans. McCann lives in the Otaki seat (Otaihanga) and is chair of the Paraparaumu Branch.
Thanks for clarifying the Rongotai thing, swordfish, I hadn’t seen Veuto’s comment.
To be equally clear, Rob is not a Parliamentary staffer. He worked for Ruth Dyson over 5 years ago and is currently campaign manager for the White Ribbon anti-violence group.
So right at the bottom of this article about how National is going to get a $75m surplus, there’s an explanation for the u-turn on reducing ACC levies on cars: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9526871/Govt-upbeat-but-surplus-on-knife-edge
It came out in the media a few weeks ago and then Collins made some rather baffling statements about why the government wasn’t going to do it, including the ridiculous statement that if ACC is going to offer subsidies to some car owners it therefore logically follows that they must be increasing costs on others.
no mention of the 50b debt?
The Continuing Saga of the Chorus Ransom
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11173870
Customs : Integrated Targeting Operations Centre Tongue the FBI
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11173895
Treasury announced that the partial ale of assets will see the Government forgo $327 million in dividends, thanks to the reduced sale price, bad timing, etc.
John Key, master trader – right. How to lose money and control of your country in one easy lesson.
They say a fool and his money are easily parted – New Zealand must be a nation of fools.
Pale ale, dooh!
While the author of this opinion piece is on the money, the direction is lost and all at sea at the last sentence and falls into stereotyping and men-bashing, or bloke-bashing… “Painful as it might be, we’re going to have to give the concept of the Kiwi Bloke a right old do-over.”
Stop implying all men are rapists ffs. Bloody generalisations, derogatory implications, it just goes on and on and on. Take the fight to the rapists and leave the non-rapists out of it. Sick of it. Saps the cred. Does the fight no good.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/rape-in-nz-join-the-debate/9523204/Rape-in-NZ-Kiwi-bloke-needs-a-do-over
It doesn’t imply that at all, vto. Or can you show me where it does? it’s about rape culture. And I would think, going by the author’s name (Daniel Copeland), it’s written by a man. Some extracts that show it’s about how rape culture contributes to a climate where some men rape (actually, the article states, “where “some people commit rape”). Copeland begins with a story about a bus of guys returning from a rugby match:
Absolutely Karol, the sentence I quoted implies exactly that. That is why I quoted it and highlighted it.
nope. Your inference has nothing to do with the bit you quoted (or indeed anything in the article).
The bit where Copeland says that “For some of them, hopefully, most of them, it would have been just a joke” clearly states that not all men, even in bloke-culture, are rapists. Indeed, in any particular sample, most of them might not be rapists.
But the problem, the bit that “needs a do-over”, is that for the one or two rapists who statistically were probably in that group (i.e., just to spell it out for you, if the group only contains one or two rapists, then all the others in the group are not rapists, so your “Stop implying all men are rapists ffs” has nothing to do with what he actually wrote, and has more to do with what inferences you are prone to leap to), the group’s behaviour gave them acceptance and social reassurance.
That’s not calling all men rapists. That’s a man pointing out that some bits of blokish culture encourage rapists.
To many things are considered just a ‘joke’ or just for ‘fun’ when they are not. Rape is not fun or a joke. It is a serious violation of human rights.
It’s like you and I read a different article. Was yours in french?
I see donkey going on about Hone Harawira going off to South Africa. What parvenu ringins like key dont realise is that members of parliament are elected to represent the electorate and not just turn up every day in Wellington to get their hands stamped.
No I don’t think he gets that he probably assumes all parliamentarians are ‘bought’ in to represent the elites
FYI – this is the LAW that applies to Local Government elected representatives:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0084/latest/DLM175643.html
Vacation of office by members
1Disqualification of members
(1)A person’s office as member of a local authority is vacated if the person, while holding office as a member of the local authority,—
(a)ceases to be an elector or becomes disqualified for registration as an elector under the Electoral Act 1993; or
(b)is convicted of an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or more.
(2)If subclause (1)(b) applies,—
(a)the disqualification does not take effect—
(i)until the expiration of the time for appealing against the conviction or decision; or
(ii)if there is an appeal against the conviction or decision, until the appeal is determined; and
(b)the person is deemed to have been granted leave of absence until the expiration of that time, and is not capable of acting as a member during that time.
(3)A person may not do an act as a member while disqualified under subclause (1) or while on leave of absence under subclause (2).
_____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM328753.html
105 Corruption and bribery of official
(1) Every official is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, whether within New Zealand or elsewhere, corruptly accepts or obtains, or agrees or offers to accept or attempts to obtain, any bribe for himself or any other person in respect of any act done or omitted, or to be done or omitted, by him in his official capacity.
(2) Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who corruptly gives or offers or agrees to give any bribe to any person with intent to influence any official in respect of any act or omission by him in his official capacity.
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM328730.html
99 Interpretation
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—
bribe means any money, valuable consideration, office, or employment, or any benefit, whether direct or indirect
official means any person in the service of Her Majesty in right of New Zealand (whether that service is honorary or not, and whether it is within or outside New Zealand), or any member or employee of any local authority or public body, or any person employed in the education service within the meaning of the State Sector Act 1988.
_______________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
(Complaint to SFO available here: http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz )
Auckland ‘Supercity’ for the 1%?
Whose interests are being served?
Follow the money …..?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10833136
City acts on contractors’ complaint
By Bernard Orsman
5:30 AM Tuesday Sep 11, 2012
“AECOM New Zealand managing director Dean Kimpton said the company provided a range of services to the council, including a number of on-going commissions to the IES department.”
___________________________________________________________________________
http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/newseventsculture/OurAuckland/mediareleases/Pages/newchiefoperatingofficerappointed.aspx
New chief operating officer appointed
21/06/2013
After a comprehensive search, Auckland Council has appointed Dean Kimpton as its chief operating officer. Chief Executive Doug McKay says Dean is a passionate Aucklander who is excited to be playing a role in shaping the future of Auckland.
“Dean joins us from AECOM NZ where he was Managing Director.
“AECOM is a global leader in all aspects of infrastructure planning, design and delivery.
“Dean has a breadth of experience at the senior executive and governance levels, as well as in the regulatory and infrastructure business of council and its customers and suppliers.
___________________________________________________________________
http://www.aucklandtransport.govt.nz/about-us/ProcurementAndSuppliers/Awarded-Contracts/Documents/AwardedContracts.pdf
160-14-093-PS SIMUL8 RAIL OPERATIONAL MODELLING SERVICES PS AECOM NEW ZEALAND LIMITED $88,000.00 Direct Appointment 10 September 2013
314-14-128-PS PS PORTAGE RD CYCLE WAY – LAND USE CONSENT APPLICATION PS AECOM NEW ZEALAND LIMITED $72,050.00 Direct Appointment 10 September 2013
________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11173895
Ruh Roh Customs.
‘Brownie points’ from the FBI for feeding them tidbits about Dotcom? And no one wants to comment? Seems legit.
I am beginning to suspect that all enforcement branches of our state apparatus owe their first loyalties to Washington. While NAct seem to be entirely happy with this, and in fact it aligns police, customs, spooks, air force, etc with the prumstah, what is more worrying to me is that more than a few in Labour seem to accept it. Of course, it is just a deepening of the giving of our economic sovereignty to Wall St and the City by the first ACT government. We need to take control of our country and fight for a true internationalism rather than the internationalism of our business classes, which is the internationalism of a subservient colony.
Greg Davis should be sacked. If he wants to work for the seppos, let him go to Hawaii with Key and they can both ask for jobs there.
Possibly the most repellent Panel pre-show ever.
Radio NZ National, Monday 16 December 2013
Jim Mora, Linda Clark, Jane Clifton
Each week there seems to be at least one edition of this program that is so bad, so depraved, so determinedly ignorant, so vacuous and so vicious that you swear the nadir has been reached. And then along comes a horror show like this one….
JIM MORA: I think Linda Clark is with us right now. I can hear her! Linda are you there?
LINDA CLARK: [perkily] Yes I’m here! My God, here I am, chattering away! Hellooooooooooo!
MORA: Hello!
LINDA CLARK: How ARE you? Merry Christmas!
MORA: Thank you! She’s talking to you too, Noelle!
NOELLE McCARTHY: Thank you.
MORA: It’s Noelle McCarthy with what the WOOOOOORLD’s talking about! ….[suddenly grave]…. And not a nice topic to start the round-up today. Roger Waters the lead singer from Pink Floyd is stirring up a controversy.
NOELLE McCARTHY: Yeeee-e-e-e-es. He’s been doing this for a whiii-i-i-i-i-ile now. He has compared the state of Israel to Nazi Germany.
MORA: [concerned tone] Mmmmm.
NOELLE McCARTHY: But he’s provoked a vigorous response. This is not new for him of course. In one of his concerts last year he had a giant PIG-shaped balloon with a Star of David on it. He says there were a whole lot of political symbols on it, and that he did not single out the Jews—-
MORA: [grave tone to indicate moral seriousness] Hmmmm…..
NOELLE McCARTHY: Now at least one U.S. rabbi has come out and answered him in print.
MORA: [with utmost gravitas] He’s not the first rabbi to speak out about this, is he?
NOELLE McCARTHY: The Jewish Chronicle and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre have been keeping a watching brief on him, but he doesn’t seem to be tempering his message however.
MORA: [grimly] No he hasn’t.
NOELLE McCARTHY: [grave tone] There’s more about this on our Twitface pages.
MORA: Twitface—that’s our shorthand for Twitter and Facebook, by the way!
LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha! I just love that!
NOELLE McCARTHY: Ha ha ha ha ha! We’ve broken the fourth wall!
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! Okay, anything else?
NOELLE McCARTHY: Yes, a study shows that girls’ schools are places which enforce conformity more than other schools!
MORA: Oh really? They enforce conformity?
NOELLE McCARTHY: Yes, there is a lot of pressure on you to be a more “girly” kind of girl!
LINDA CLARK: Hmmmmm….
NOELLE McCARTHY: Shall I talk about Kanye?
MORA: [sarcastically] Yeah, let’s talk about Kanye! Please!
NOELLE McCARTHY: He says rapping is as fraught as fighting the Taliban or serving as a police officer!
MORA: Ah, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
NOELLE McCARTHY: He says that when the Taliban start shooting, the soldiers should just stand up and start rapping!
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, THAT is going to work! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Jo McCarroll, the editor of Gardening magazine has just texted, saying she thought Kanye was talking about Christmas wrapping!
NOELLE McCARTHY: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Very good, Jo! Noelle McCarthy, thank you very much!
Incredibly, the show got even more puerile after the 4 o’clock news. But more on that in Part Two.….
Morrissey: see my comments here (Open Mike) between 9.1.2 and 9.2
Thanks, swordfish. I read them, and I was very impressed by them.
A ‘Real’ Rabbi ; God save us from the inane.
Did Bill English really say this prior to the sale of Genisis…as if the asset sales haven’t already been a flop…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11173948
“Finance Minister Bill English said the Government didn’t regard estimates of foregone profits as reliable given the risk profile of businesses like those in the asset sales progamme.
He said the Government was happy to have reduced its exposure to risky commercial assets like the companies in the asset sales programme.”
What an amazing thing to say prior to the Genesis sale, so potential purchasers of Genesis will read this and think what???This is a fucken useless government and the amazing thing is that approx. 46% of voters still support these incompetent fools.
Yes he did, but he won’t remember if you ask him today
“He said the Government was happy to have reduced its exposure to risky commercial assets like the companies in the asset sales programme.”
The risk profile of critical national infrastructure and public utilities?
I used to laugh at America when they first elected(ish) Bush Jnr (well, until the whole Iraq thing) because he’s a complete moron.
I used to say to myself, we’d never do that. We’re smarter in New Zealand.
God, I’m so embarrassed.
Thankfully, Australia stepped up to the challenge and this year knocked us off the “stupidest electorate on the planet” spot that we’ve held since January 20, 2009.
electricity companies are notoriously risky, we are well rid of them. We are better off spending money to entice tourists to NZ who watch movies.
Except that there was no risk in owning power generators because it’s something everyone needs.
some DP ; open the channels through those membranes.
You could never accuse the maori party of being the tail wagging the dog.
” New Zealand is unlikely to introduce plain packaging on cigarettes before trade challenges to Australian legislation are settled, Prime Minister John Key says.
Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia said today that the Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Products and Packaging) Amendment Bill had been lodged with the Clerk of the House.
The legislation was expected to have its first reading in the House early next year before being sent to a parliamentary select committee
Key said that while the legislation would be introduced next year, it would almost certainly not be passed until the outcome of the challenge to Australia was known.
“It will almost certainly be introduced, have its first reading, then go off to the select committee,” he said.
“But it’s very, very unlikely it will be passed. In fact, in my view it shouldn’t be passed until we’ve actually had a ruling out of Australia.
“We think it’s prudent to wait till we see a ruling out of Australia. If there’s a successful legal challenge out of Australia, that would guide us how legislation might be drafted in New Zealand.
“So we’re not going to rush that through, but also equally it’s the type of topic that’s worthy of a significant public debate and we can do that through the select committee process.”
Colin Craig seems to have had victory.
Clearly he’s not so silly after all , 7 Sharp has a vacancy, coincidence ?? I doubt it.
LOL. I really doubt it. 7 sharp got a slap on the wrist for something mostly coming from someone else on the show. Mau would have made her decision a while ago. There are plenty of good reasons for her to leave….. the show’s a dud.
Won’t be a dud when Hoskings arrives.
Yeah, with him on TV1 and that other goofy clown TV3 are putting on nightline, the right will need to be careful. All that recycling and their munters might vote Green by accident.
All we need is Paul Henry with Mike Hosking, now that would be a show!
Fun with the MSM:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11174017
The headline says ‘Further 350,000 votes included in asset sales referendum’
That caught my eye – a further 350,000? That’s a lot of last minute votes…
The article says “A further 350,000 votes cast in the Citizen’s Initiated Referendum on asset sales have been included in the official count released this afternoon…”
But wait: “The extra votes take the turnout to 1,367,340.” Huh?
Then: “Of the additional votes counted, 24,866 were against the asset sales while 10,035 were in favour.”
Hmmm…seems like they mean 35,000 then. Or nearly 35,000, since that only adds up to 34,901.
But wait there’s more:
“The result went strongly against the Government, but the relatively low turnout is seen as indicating the public largely doesn’t feel strongly about the issue or saw little point in opposing a programme that is now largely complete, other than the sale of Genesis Energy earmarked for the first half of next year.”
Can’t resist a wee bit of editorialising in what should be a straight news report now can we?
Sigh.
Colon craig has proven he’s bigger idiot