Open mike 18/11/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 18th, 2015 - 184 comments
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184 comments on “Open mike 18/11/2015 ”

  1. vto 1

    The Women of Pike River doco exposes…

    The laws failed to protect the 29 men. Why doesn’t the chief law-maker take some responsibility?

    The owners failed to protect the 29 men. Why don’t the owners take some responsibility?

    Governments – irresponsible and not trustworthy

    Owners – irresponsible and not trustworthy

    Failures all round

    Complete and deadly failures from our current system.

    THE CURRENT SYSTEM IS FUCKED

    • tc 1.1

      Yup and the system failed to hold anyone accountable which was no surprise at all with this owned govt.

    • Pascals bookie 1.2

      Yep V. Just disgusting all round.

    • rawshark-yeshe 1.3

      Of all the promises Key has broken, his promises to these courageous families are the very worst example of his natural venality.

      Key’s legacy is a trail of snail slime across all we hold dear and decent.

      Brilliant in-depth documentary making; so rare in these tabloid days. Here if you missed it:

      https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/tvnz/ondemand/shows/t/the-women-of-pike-river.html

      Brave natural warriors, defeated by unnatural justice and criminality.

      • Rosie 1.3.1

        Last nights doco is essential viewing. Thanks for posting it rawshark-yeshe, for those that missed it.

        The grief, already unbearable for some of those women, is made so much worse by the massive injustice of no justice, no accountability, no burial for the men, an uncaring government and Key’s lies and insincerity.

        Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary. Love and respect to all families.

        • vto 1.3.1.2

          Yep.

          No respect to John Key or government

          No respect to owners

          No respect to people who support and vote for this neoliberal system.

          Shameful. Especially as these people are the ones who constantly call for accountability and responsibility from so many others. Scum bastards

          • Rosie 1.3.1.2.1

            “No respect to people who support and vote for this neoliberal system.”

            vto. I have some real confusion about the National supporting voting patterns of the West Coast.

            They were betrayed and mislead by the Key Government. Forget about what damage the Key regime has done to NZ society in general, It IS personal, in their communities. Surely they can see that, but then post Pike River, in 2011 and then in 2014 they party voted National in the 44% – ish range.

            Why did they do that? Why did the community not stand in solidarity with the victims and do their bit to vote the bastards that betrayed them out?

            • vto 1.3.1.2.1.2

              Don’t know Rosie, all I can put it down to is a lack of knowledge, understanding and thinking….

              I have a family member who always votes National yet complains about the things they do. When questioned on why the continued support the answer is nowhere to be seen amongst the mumbling and excuses ….

              With Pike River, very few people understand how the situation arose. It takes time to read, consider and come to a conclusion – few people do that. They only allocate time for a wave, pandas and flags.

              • Grindlebottom

                What’s your family member’s occupation vto, out of interest?

              • Rosie

                You’re probably quite right. Even so, you would not have had to read the commissions findings or Rebecca McFie’s excellent book, if you lived in the area, instead, relying on local talk, I would have thought.

                I throw my hands up. Really, I do.

                PS. One thing that did bring a little smile to my face watching the doco last night was seeing Jo Hall in the background of some of the shots, outside the hall Key was entering and in a meeting room. I couldn’t see all the writing on her t shirt but you could see FERAL on part of it. Whatever it said in full, it must have been a fingers up to Slater.

                Good on her. She suffered so much. losing so many sons and those bastards (Key and Slater) kicked her while she was down.

    • ianmac 1.4

      It seems strange that those who break even the most minor laws are examined, taken through the Courts and punished without fear or favour. Except for those who ran Pike River. Very alarming.

      • savenz 1.4.1

        Agree with all of the above. Pike River is shocking in every way.

        No justice has been served.

  2. Citizens Resistance 2

    Great result against bad New Zealand Corporate Talley’s, locked out workers gain a win. Interesting to see the details of the Employment Courts finding today.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/289923/meatworkers-win-dispute-with-affco

    • Ad 2.1

      Awesome work from the Unions there, and I sincerely hope that the Maori lrunholders who were called on to boycott Talley’s for supply do so.

      I never, ever buy Talley’s anything at the supermarket.

    • tracey 2.2

      Talley’s probably shold have focused on their workers rather than the Royal visit…

    • Rosie 2.3

      Yes, a rare bit of great news yesterday! Well done workers for hanging in there for what was a really hard slog up against the Talleys.

  3. North 3

    Obama to Key re TPP…….” Well done ‘my son’ “.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11546856

    Kelvin Davis…..I guess you’re noting that cheap old “my son” line in Parliament the other day was never original.

    • Paul 3.1

      From the article you link:

      ‘They will talk about a formal signing ceremony early next year and how other countries may join the existing grouping of 12 TPP countries’

      It’s not signed yet.

      Remind everyone you know.

  4. Paul 4

    Dairy prices in decline again.
    Kids living in garages.
    Unemployment expected to stay high.

    Who will Bennett and English blame next?

    Beneficiaries
    Lazy workers
    The Labour Party
    The GFC
    The Christchurch earthquakes
    Other

    What distraction will Key pull out of the Crosby Textor handbook next?

    Polar bears and pandas
    A surprise visit by Will and Kate
    The knighting of the whole All Black team
    A selfie with Barack Obama
    Declaring war on Syria
    Another Instagram by Max?
    Other

  5. b waghorn 5

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11546915
    As someone who feels a little like a pakeha tuhoe and would love to see the uruwera lifted out of the doldrems this is very interesting.
    BTW Mr Climo is the reason I love reading .and I’ve meet Nikapuru several times .

    • weka 5.1

      Nice one b, that’s a very interesting read and good to see something a bit more indepth. The thing that stands out for me is the core of it is Tūhoe identity and the importance of maintaining culture.

      There’s going to be a challenge for lefties. It’s time we started seeing iwi as having governance rights rather than being private enterprises. If Tūhoe want to manage welfare, education, health etc for their people, let them.

      I’m a strong believer in the state providing for the common good, but it’s obvious now that the state is no longer competent at many of those things. Let Māori lead the way on this. The tricky thing is going to be the power structures used, but for Māori at least it’s hard to see them being any worse off than they are now.

      • Rosie 5.1.1

        Looking at your last paragraph made me click on b waghorn’s link out of interest, but it is coming up with an error notice. I’m wondering if the article is about Tuhoe self governance.

        They have a strong and proud past of being self sufficient and independent under the leadership of Rua Kenana and his community at Maungapohotu in Te Urewera in the early 20th century.
        Tragically this independence caused real irritation among the authorities and had disastrous consequences for the community during Te Urewera’s first Police raids, well before they returned in 2007.

        Can yourself or bw direct me to a google search related to the article perhaps?

        • weka 5.1.1.1

          Looks like the Herald site in general is down, I’d try again a bit later. The article is about the intitiatives that Tūhoe are taking to address the welfare, health and education needs of the people in their rohe, according to their own kaupapa. That includes to what extent they can get the funding to replace state services. It’s definitely worth a read if it comes back.

          edit, it’s back now.

      • b waghorn 5.1.2

        When it comes to welfare I still don’t have a strong set of opinions due to its complexity but surely a one size fits all method is going to fail.
        Nikipuru or Joe as I knew him had his house tipped over in the Tuhoe raids so to come through all he has and be on a positive path is awesome.

    • maui 5.2

      It will be very interesting to see how this turns out over the years. All power to Tuhoe if they can give their people’s lives more meaning. I wonder if they can create some sort of Co-op scheme where they house and feed their people in return for modest labour or casual work.

      I think they’ll take a more holistic approach to governance and will be much more adaptive. Considering most of the rest of the country’s ruling institutions are enslaved to neo-liberal ideas, Tuhoe might get through the economic and climate disasters that the 21st century throws at us the best.

  6. millsy 6

    I dont think privatization of social services into the hands of a tribal elite is going to help anyone. It seems to me that Tamiti Kruger wants his own fiefdom and control the lives of those in his rohe.

    • b waghorn 6.1

      Have you got any evidence he’s just in it for himself.? Is it possible that trying something else might work.?

  7. Whispering Kate 7

    Listening on the news this morning about Auckland’s homeless, hearing the Salvation Army spokeswoman talking of a homeless family living in a Housing Corp garage being evicted from it. They had a child who had a terminal illness and the S.A. lady was saying that Housing Corp could have at least allowed them to stay in the garage.

    What a vindictive, nasty underbelly we have in this country in our Government social agencies. What is this punishing element getting out of kicking people out of their homes because their income cannot support housing rents. Very saddening that it has become a “punishment regime” they are now putting in place. Vindictive is all I can say about evicting a family out of a garage and on to the street with a very sick child who needs vital warmth and a roof over its head. The people seen sleeping on the streets is a national disgrace.

    We, each and every one of us is a heart beat away from homelessness from many different circumstances. We should be very very afraid.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1

      +1

    • Rosemary McDonald 7.2

      Perhaps someone could ask Paula Rebstock how these families are to survive when their rent is about the same as her hourly rate of pay.

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/289946/minister-wanted-to-pay-panel-chair-$3000-a-day

      It bodes ill for Natrad airing these stories…http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/289945/akl-kids-sleeping-in-cars-and-garages

      The “vindictive, nasty underbelly” WK comes not only from the elected representatives but also from those who have been part of the bureaucracy for years.

      These “public servants” can be so removed from the real world that they forget they are making policy that actually puts the lives of children at risk.

      Perhaps they really don’t care.

      (I have looked in the eyes of some of these public servants..cold, dead, and happy to condemn)

      • Whispering Kate 7.2.1

        Rosemary I think its a bit rich this country calling Australia in for their Human Rights abuses with Christmas Island – what about the basic Human Right of having a roof over one’s head. Absolutely appalling the track this Government is going down – reminds me of Rachett Ruth in the ’90’s.

        I wonder how low the National voters of this country will stoop before their conscience and moral compass sees the light – it will take the AK housing market to crash and then lets see them whinging. Sickening.

        • Draco T Bastard 7.2.1.1

          I wonder how low the National voters of this country will stoop before their conscience and moral compass sees the light

          I’m sure that many would be happy with the return of the poorhouses and even with outright slavery. Some don’t actually have a conscience.

          • North 7.2.1.1.1

            While they’re so alive with the ‘Cocktail Party Grimace’ and the “Gorgeous Darling…..” and the fucking ‘Double Shot’ coffee wank. Pigs ! All of them !

            “Well you must admit……many of these people just don’t want to work……wah wah wah”

            While their fucking idols the Talleys are found guilty of bad faith in the workplace thereby shitting on a fundamental plank of The Law while His Gaucheness gives the Big Talley the knighthood quid pro quo the funding.

            And Marie Antoinette Tolley plumps for three times the already outrageous grand a day of public money for soldier Rebstock to produce the goods politically convenient for her.

            Where the fuck are we ? Haiti ? Papa Doc ? We’re meant to respect their daubed gargoyles ?

    • tracey 7.3

      well said

  8. ianmac 8

    Anyone else getting multiple Pledgeme Scoop requests? 5 more late last night?

  9. tracey 9

    Josie Pagani tweeted that ISIS is worse than TPP but you can’t tell that from the protests.

    Has she taken to the streets for anything in the last 20 years? Her sneering disregard for those who choose to protest is frightening in one who claims such strong Labour affiliations. I wonder if she tweeted it from a cafe in a wealthy area while she supped coffee during a wroking day.

    • maui 9.1

      Sounds like she should be joining our troops in Taji cheering them on. Ignoring hospitals that get caught in the crossfire and the like. She is on a war footing and the baddies need to be wiped off the face of the earth.

    • Barfly 9.2

      “Josie Pagani tweeted that ISIS is worse than TPP but you can’t tell that from the protests.”

      But Josie…New Zealand isn’t signing up with ISIS……………

      • tracey 9.2.1

        and our PM has been fighting the war on terrorism for months or years, hasn’t he? That’s why we sent troops, that’s why we have to be surveilled. It’s like Josie doesn’t know that ISIS is being eradicated already.

    • North 9.3

      Pagani is a fraudulent thing. Just like that other goon who departed his claimed leftist roots years ago but still flaunts and vaunts.

  10. For those of you interested in learning more about the events in Paris I’ll be on Raglan radio at 9:35 am. That is in five minutes:

    http://www.raglanradio.com/

  11. Penny Bright 11

    Currently – I’m over in Brisbane at the 2015 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.

    However – Im taking the time to post this ‘Whistle-blower ALERT’ – which may be controversial to some people.

    So be it.

    Please be reminded of the following?

    STATE housing is PUBLIC.

    SOCIAL housing is PRIVATE.

    Alan Johnson, Co-convenor of the Child Poverty Action Group, and employee of the Salvation Army, supports SOCIAL housing, and supports the Tamaki Redevelopment Company (TRC).

    Please note that the Salvation Army ‘Policy and Research Unit’ – for which Alan Johnson works – is an ‘honorary member’ of the private sector lobby group, the Committee for Auckland.

    Check for yourselves.

    http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz membership

    The TRC is jointly owned by the Crown and Auckland Council (Central and Local Government).

    Alan Johnson supports the transfer of 2,800 Housing NZ properties (STATE houses) to the TRC.

    (Alan Johnson told me this to my face).

    Once these 2,800 STATE houses are transferred to the TRC – the next step will be their privatisation to ‘social housing’ providers / developers.

    Beware the ‘weasel words’!

    That is why I for one am opposed to the ‘Hikoi for homes’ – because in my view, there is another agenda, a PRIVATISATION agenda happening behind the scenes.

    I support some of the work being done by Child Poverty Action Group, but NOT this action on housing.

    I’m a ‘whistle-blower’ and will call it as I see it, based upon FACTS and EVIDENCE.

    I stand with those directly affected State tenants who are opposing the privatisation of STATE housing, and opposing the TRANSFER of 2,800 Housing NZ properties to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company.

    In my view – it is time for a major review and ROLL BACK of neo-liberal ‘Rogernomic$’.

    In my view, essential services such as the provision of STATE housing, should be owned, operated and managed under the ‘not for profit’ PUBLIC SERVICE, not the ‘commercialised / corporatised / PRIVATISED ‘model.

    Throwing the ‘corporatised’ Housing NZ baby out with the bath water and replacing it with the PRIVATE ‘social housing’ model, in my view is fundamentally flawed.

    In my view, STATE housing should remain under public ownership, operation and management, where looking after State tenants and State houses, should be the Numbef One priority.

    This WAR on the POOR – has got to stop.

    In my view, people need to be aware Remember folks!

    STATE housing is PUBLIC.

    SOCIAL housing is PRIVATE.

    Alan Johnson, Co-convenor of the Child Poverty Action Group, and employee of the Salvation Army, supports SOCIAL housing, and supports the Tamaki Redevelopment Company (TRC).

    Please note that the Salvation Army ‘Policy and Research Unit’ – for which Alan Johnson works – is an ‘honorary member’ of the private sector lobby group, the Committee for Auckland.

    Check for yourselves.

    http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz membership

    The TRC is jointly owned by the Crown and Auckland Council (Central and Local Government).

    Alan Johnson supports the transfer of 2,800 Housing NZ properties (STATE houses) to the TRC.

    (Alan Johnson told me this to my face).

    Once these 2,800 STATE houses are transferred to the TRC – the next step will be their privatisation to ‘social housing’ providers / developers.

    Beware the ‘weasel words’!

    That is why I for one am opposed to the ‘Hikoi for homes’ – because in my view, there is another agenda, a PRIVATISATION agenda happening behind the scenes.

    I support some of the work being done by Child Poverty Action Group, but NOT this action on housing.

    I’m a ‘whistle-blower’ and will call it as I see it, based upon FACTS and EVIDENCE.

    I stand with those directly affected State tenants who are opposing the privatisation of STATE housing, and opposing the TRANSFER of 2,800 Housing NZ properties to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company.

    Penny Bright.

  12. Penny Bright 12

    Apologies for the duplication in my previous post.

    Don’t know how that happened, and although I clicked on ‘edit’ – it wouldn’t let me 🙁

    Sorry about that.

    Penny Bright

  13. tracey 13

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/289946/tolley-wanted-to-pay-chair-%243000-a-day

    Tolley wanted to pay Rebstock 3000k per day, sow e need to be very grateful she ONLY got 2000k a day, thanks to Paula Bennett. WHAT planet are these peopel living on… look at the struggles of those Talley’s workers while a Government supporter was breaking our laws.

    • Morrissey 13.1

      If that had been a Labour minister advocating such a pay extravaganza, we would hear about it morning, noon and night, on radio, television and in the papers until the next election.

      • Ch-ch Chiquita 13.1.1

        Oh, but you don’t understand. If we will not pay such amounts they will take all their talent and go overseas (/sarc).

        I volunteer to deliver these people, and their feeling of entitlement, their plane ticket.

  14. Morrissey 14

    She’s notoriously soft on politicians, but she’s a terror to choreographers.
    Is Susie Ferguson the weakest performer on RNZ National?

    Morning Report, RNZ National, Wednesday 18 November 2015, 8:50 a.m.

    If you’ve endured TV3’s pisspoor The Nation you may have noticed RNZ National’s Susie Ferguson, who occasionally appears as a panelist. She sits silent most of the time, with a sardonic half grin on her lips, rarely contributing anything of value or interest to the discussions.

    Susie Ferguson first came to our attention two years ago, like a woman unwittingly blundering into the crosshairs of Chris Kyle’s semi-automatic 7.62 NATO Mk 11 sniper rifle, when she conducted a particularly foolish radio interview with movie executive Neil Foley….
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25072013/#comment-667846

    This morning she was back at it, when she interviewed Justin Bieber’s choreographer Paris Goebel, who is a New Zealander. Ferguson’s producer must have thought that was an idiot-proof assignment. Unfortunately, Ferguson took it into her head to treat Paris Goebel as if she were not a choreographer, but a felon….

    SUSIE FERGUSON: In these clips you’ve got quite a few New Zealanders, and quite a lot of the filming was done in New Zealand as well. Is that right?

    PARIS GOEBEL: Yep.

    SUSIE FERGUSON: Why was it that yoooouuu… chose to go THAT way?

    Long, awkward pause…

    PARIS GOEBEL: Ahhhhmmm, ‘cos I’m FROM New Zealand?

    SUSIE FERGUSON: [closing in for the kill] But was it as straightforward as that? ‘Cos obviously, you know, you’ve worked in a lot of different places, why was it for this, for Justin Bieber’s album, y’know he’s a Canadian, and I guess, y’know, you just wanted to go back to your roots.

    PARIS GOEBEL: I guess it just makes sense….

    ….ad absurdum….

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201779216/justin-bieber-makes-kiwi-moves-thanks-to-nz-choreographer

    More Susie Ferguson inanity….
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24122014/#comment-943759
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17082015/#comment-1059699
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-05112015/#comment-1091267

  15. Draco T Bastard 15

    This is why abortions need to be freely available:

    A new study quantifies some of those fears: At least 100,000 Texas women—and as many as 240,000—between the ages of 18 and 49 have attempted to self-induce abortions, according to a report released today by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP). The study also found that it is possible that the rate of women attempting to self-induce abortions is rising in Texas as a result of the state’s additional restrictions on abortion care. The report points to previous studies that have explored the correlation between a rise in abortion restrictions and the prevalence of self-induced abortions. A 2008 national study found that about 2 percent of women reported that they tried to terminate pregnancies on their own. In 2012, a year after Texas passed several new abortion restrictions, a study of Texas women seeking care at an abortion clinic found that about 7 percent reported attempting to end their pregnancies without medical assistance before seeking clinic care.

    Eventually this will result in death.

    • mac1 15.1

      My immediate reaction to “Eventually this will result in death”, is that abortions do…………… always.

      • tracey 15.1.1

        death has many guises. Did you think of the notion of sacrificing a woman for a child too?

        • mac1 15.1.1.1

          Tracey, I am very aware of that notion, and the conflict brought between the two separate rights.

          I believe that it has been most poignantly expressed in the song “Queen Jane” which is one of the Child ballads. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Queen_Jane

          The song has been beautifully sung by Micheal Domnhaill and by Loreena McKennit. This is Domnhaill’s version. It is one of the most moving pieces of music I know, especially with the uillean pipes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aeNwpU19pA

          Then of course the problem was not the issue between abortion and allowing birth, but between caesarean section and the death of both mother and probably the child, in times of medical inadequacy. But the rights of the mother versus the child and the inherent danger to a mother in pregnancy and childbirth were the issues. The song speaks both of the sacrifice which Queen Jane considers and wants to happen, and the agonising of the father, King Henry.

          The song though does beautifully portray the notion of sacrifice and danger.

          • Tracey 15.1.1.1.1

            I only asked, mac1, because through history women have been sacrificed over and over and over for the hope of, or the fact of, a boy child.

            The song is about a woman at full term.

      • Draco T Bastard 15.1.2

        Nope, a foetus isn’t alive.

        • Grindlebottom 15.1.2.1

          That depends on the definition of alive, doesn’t it? I’d class a foetus as alive, just not capable of independent survival in the early stages of development. Some will object to the characterisation but looked at objectively, like any other developing offspring in a womb, it’s parasitic on the mother.

          • McFlock 15.1.2.1.1

            It also lacks sentience.

            • Ergo Robertina 15.1.2.1.1.1

              That’s a very unequivocal statement – are you sure about that?
              When does sentience begin – all at once?

              It puzzles me the seemingly ideological determination of people to run this argument and, essentially, deny reality.
              I support abortion law reform but that’s because I’m uncomfortable about abortion – in other words, it’s more humane to carry out the procedure as early as possible.

              • McFlock

                The earlier in the development, the more sure I am.

                • weka

                  The problem I have with the ‘it’s not viable’ argument is what happens when science gets to the point of making it viable.

                  • McFlock

                    Well, my impulse is to say that it’s still not viable. It still ceases to function almost immediately without intensive support.

                    But then the alternative treatment to abortion might end up being to transfer it from the womb into some artificial equivalent.

          • Draco T Bastard 15.1.2.1.2

            just not capable of independent survival in the early stages of development.

            Which is what prevents it from being classified as life.

            • Colonial Viper 15.1.2.1.2.1

              stop kidding yourself with cleverness DTB.

              Next you’ll claim that murder of a woman in her first trimester doesn’t also involve the murder of the foetus.

            • Grindlebottom 15.1.2.1.2.2

              Your definition is too narrow DTB. What characterises life is an organism that has all or most of several characteristics. A foetus has an organised multicellular structure, its cells respond to external stimuli, it consumes nutrients & expels waste, undergoes cell division and multiplication, increases in complexity and size as it grows and develops. It has life, even if it’s completely dependent on its mother for continued survival as it develops.

              I’m not talking about when a foetus should be considered a conscious human being which is a separate matter altogether.

              I should correct my earlier observation that a foetus is parasitic. I was wrong. To be parasitic it has to be a separate species from the host.

              • weka

                It’s part of the woman’s body, and like other parts she gets to decide what happens to it.

                • Grindlebottom

                  I don’t have any argument with that up to the point where the foetus is viable weka. After that it’s a grey area for me. I wouldn’t like a woman aborting in the 9th month for example if there was no health or safety issue for her. It becomes a bit more complicated for me working back from there as we’ve a baby born at 20 weeks in the family who’s survived & thrived.

                  Edit: Actually 20 weeks can’t be right: I need to check that. But it was an emergency caesarian and not many weeks beyond 20. The baby was perfectly formed but would fit in my hand.

              • Draco T Bastard

                Your definition is too narrow DTB.

                No it’s not as I included the entire scientific definition:

                The smallest contiguous unit of life is called an organism. Organisms are composed of one or more cells, undergo metabolism, maintain homeostasis, can grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce (either sexually or asexually) and, through evolution, adapt to their environment in successive generations.[1]

                By that definition a foetus is not a life.

        • Magisterium 15.1.2.2

          Why is that relevant? Mosquitos are alive and I kill every one of those I see.

        • Ergo Robertina 15.1.2.3

          Why do you say that, Draco?
          How could a foetus not be alive?

          • Draco T Bastard 15.1.2.3.1

            Because it’s not self sustainable. Sure, it’s in the formation stage of life but it is not yet life.

            • Ergo Robertina 15.1.2.3.1.1

              So a month-old baby who depends on its parents to sustain its life with food and shelter is not alive?

              • McFlock

                A month old baby is has brain activity and is not a lump of decaying and cyanotic cells within moments of being removed from the body of a specific person.

                Anybody can feed or house a particular baby. But a particular fetus needs a particular womb to reproduce its cells enough to one day possibly become a living, thinking, person.

                • Ergo Robertina

                  What about a baby born at 24 weeks’ gestation connected to an incubator to enable survival? Are they alive?

                  • McFlock

                    meh.
                    legally, yes.
                    Personally, I wouldn’t be committing to it until it can live for more than a few minutes outside of an artificial environment. And then whether it has any higher brain function.

                    Babies are ok, but they’re pretty one-dimensional for the first few months after full term.

                    • Ergo Robertina

                      But given your comments below, you see the life as being ”legally” equivalent with that of a plant? How does that work?

                    • McFlock

                      At the moment there seem to be three different uses of the word “life” in this conversation:

                      biological, as in a cluster of cells, such as a plant;
                      legal, as in whether the killing of that thing would count as homocide in a court of law; and
                      the one that is most relevant to the abortion ethics discussion: human life. Not just a cluster of cells, a human being.

                  • Grindlebottom

                    Biologically a growing foetus is alive. So is a premature baby. I explain why above. If it is alive it must have life. When it ceases to do all those things I mention above it is dead. It is no longer alive.

                    • McFlock

                      this bit?

                      A foetus has an organised multicellular structure, its cells respond to external stimuli, it consumes nutrients & expels waste, undergoes cell division and multiplication, increases in complexity and size as it grows and develops.

                      well, yes, in the sense that a plant is alive.

                      But somehow I think the protestors I saw outside the hospital the other day weren’t saying people shouldn’t mow their lawn…

                    • Grindlebottom

                      But somehow I think the protestors I saw outside the hospital the other day weren’t saying people shouldn’t mow their lawn…

                      Ahhh, yup … lost me a bit there, but as long as we’re agreed something alive has life the above I think is another issue.

                    • McFlock

                      Yes. A fetus has just as much “life” as a plant.
                      How that strictly biological interpretation applies to the abortion discussion, I have no idea.

                    • Grindlebottom

                      The claim was made above that a foetus is not alive. It is. That’s all. The abortion discussion is therefore not about whether a foetus is alive.
                      The debate is about whether and when that life should be deliberately terminated. I’m of the view it’s the woman’s right to decide, and I don’t like the idea of women being forced to carry a child they don’t want to. But I’m conflicted about it when the foetus is a fully formed and viable child. The issue of viability itself is even more complicated now by improved technology.

                    • Grindlebottom

                      Seen. The question of whether something is alive is biological. Whether and when it is considered an independent human being is another matter. I explain my view on that in the abortion context above. It is not set in stone. Good night McFlock.

                    • ropata

                      IMO a foetus is “nascent life” not actual life and not a full human person.

                    • McFlock

                      Grindlebottom, cutting plants is not murder, even though plants are “alive”.
                      The abortion discussion is about whether it’s ending a human life, not plant life.

                    • Grindlebottom

                      McFlock. Yes. I have already agreed that. The issue of abortion is not whether a foetus is alive but whether and when it is a human and whether and when that life can/should be terminated.

                    • McFlock

                      Well, only if you’re a biologist sticking purely to the meaning of “life” that is most irrelevant to the discussion

                    • Grindlebottom

                      It wasn’t irrelevant to the discussion McFlock.

                      http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18112015/#comment-1097566

                      The discussion just persisted way past the point where it needed to because the abortion debate is not about whether a foetus is alive. It is, which you grudgingly acknowledge.

                      The abortion debate is on issues like whether and when a human foetus is a human person, whether and when it is a child and independently viable outside a womb (subject to someone being willing to care for it), and whether and when it has an independent and inherent “right to life” – which in the abortion context means the right not to have its life terminated.

                    • McFlock

                      It is a biological cluster of human tissue cells. By a strictly biological definition it is “human” and “alive”.

                      But it is not a human life, or a live human.

                    • Grindlebottom

                      You can choose to believe that. Others can choose to believe otherwise. It’s a matter of semantics what a human being is. A human foetus to me is a human being, just in its embryonic developing form, not its juvenile developing or adult form.
                      I don’t consider it a human person though.

                    • McFlock

                      this entire subthread has been semantics.

        • Colonial Viper 15.1.2.4

          “Nope, a foetus isn’t alive.”

          OMG what bullshit. At least be honest about what you are advocating for. Termination of a pregnancy is termination of a life. Support it if you want, but dont kid yourself.

          • Chooky 15.1.2.4.1

            too many people on the planet is also termination of life

            …it is about time people woke up to this fact

            …and stopped being so anthropocentric

            …not to mention chauvinist ( eg Catholic Church )

            …too many humans ( in the billions) on this planet are causing this planet to die …and with it all other forms of life

            …abortion is the least of our problems

    • tracey 15.2

      but only to women

    • tracey 15.3

      Note how quickly and substantively the responses moved to the unborn child, ignoring the danger being faced by already alive women?

  16. Morrissey 16

    Inanity Watch
    No. 11: HEATHER DU PLESSIS-ALLAN

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    “The next step for the people of Paris is the process of healing up.”

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    —-Heather Du Plessis-Allan, Story, TV3, Tuesday 17 November 2015

    Inanity Watch, also known as Mediocrity Watch, aims to keep you informed of—or, to quote the epically mediocre Simon Dallow, to be “right across”—the shoddiest, least professional, most insulting journalism and taxpayer-subsidised-sensitive-singer-songwriting from all over the world, but especially New Zealand. It is produced by DeakerWatch®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.

    More inanity and mediocrity….
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15122013/#comment-745112

  17. alwyn 18

    What did we expect from Annette King?
    MP for Rongatai, Ms King, has shown she is either a liar or else merely completely stupid.
    When claiming that the standards for getting on the waiting list for surgery she compared the minimum pain value for getting surgery in 2013 with the average value in 2015 and claimed that people were worse off.
    I suppose it was worth it though. The hard-left, and lazy, journalists in the MSM happily published her claims without checking them and they became a front page story.
    The real numbers get fitted into the paper on an inside page some days later.
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/74122871/annette-king-accused-of-misleading-house-over-surgery-figures
    I suppose we have to accept these things from the OAP in Wellington’s south. She has to try something of course. I have heard rumours, from some Labour party supporting friends, that she is under severe pressure to relinquish the Labour nomination in the seat to little Andie. Anyone more closely involved willing to comment?

    • Clean_power 18.1

      Mrs King will never leave of her own volition. Mr Little wants her there and she will hang on to the job/perk/sinecure forever and a day.

      • tracey 18.1.1

        If only Labour had 300k per intended retiree to sweeten the post like National, aye clean-power (seeing as you are a fan of uninformed comment)

    • joe90 18.2

      average acuity (severity of the condition) for patients who had received surgery for their hip or knee. We said 70.

      On the upside, those on fifty points will be delighted to know they’ll be treated at seventy.
      //

      • alwyn 18.2.1

        Good God Joe.
        You really are as stupid, or mendacious, as Annette is.

        • joe90 18.2.1.1

          In pain, with little or no hope of anything other than m-Eslon SR and we are unable to offer surgery at this time, actually.

          • alwyn 18.2.1.1.1

            I have commented before on this subject and the fact is that at least you are told the truth. Under King you would have been put on the waiting list and then dropped after 6 months so they could claim that nobody was on the waiting list for more than that period.
            You have my sympathy about the m-Eslon.
            Horrible stuff isn’t it? I couldn’t stop taking it fast enough after the op.

        • greywarshark 18.2.1.2

          alwyn
          This is a good subject for your grandstanding. You can always claim the high ground by going all emotional about the matter whenever commenters discuss it. What it means for the afflicted, young as well as old, when there is a budget just keeping up with minimal inflation and failing to meet needs based on population numbers, plus increased need from antibiotic failure, new organisms from overseas visitors, and RW desire to reduce taxes for the wealthy and run down services for everyone else.

          • alwyn 18.2.1.2.1

            I remember when I was studying Economics someone I knew did a study on what could be done with the money in the health budget. I was asked to check the numbers as they thought they must have made an arithmetic error.
            At that time, about 30 years ago, it would have cost more than New Zealand’s total health budget to treat, to the maximum possible extent, kidney disease. That was it, just kidney disease! There would have been nothing else to spend on all the other health needs of the country.
            With the best will in the world it is impossible to treat to the limit all the health needs of the country and why “rationing” is inevitable. I can only assume that the current situation is worse.
            That is why Thomas Carlyle had a grain of truth in his reference to Economics as being the dismal science.
            On the other hand don’t make him one of your heroes. He thought that Slavery was morally superior to a market economy.

    • tracey 18.3

      Except anecdotally she has a point, I have a friend who waited 4 years for his hip replacement, finally getting it last year ONCE the 8 panadol every 4 hours ceased to work on the pain.

      The other hip has needed replacing too. He is back on 8 panadol every 4 hours (and its resultant impact on his stomach) but it is no longe renough for him to be in pain at this dosage to get on the waiting list.

      • b waghorn 18.3.1

        My boss had lots of hip problems which led to him stacking the weight on the hips have been done but his knees are buggered and they won’t do them till he cuts his weight. How someone is supposed to lose weight when they can’t get around is beyond me.

        • tracey 18.3.1.1

          and then there is the depression from being in pain all the time and not being able to go anywhere, including the garden of your own home.

      • alwyn 18.3.2

        I think that your numbers are a trifle out. The maximum recommended dose of paracetamol (Panadol) is, I believe, 8 500mg tablets per day.
        You are quoting 48/day which seems unlikely. I’m am not a Doctor so don’t take that remark as gospel.

        • tracey 18.3.2.1

          Nope, that is the number. I stayed with him and helped him take the dose his GP told him to take. And it was 8 every 4 hours, which kinda makes Ms King’s point if you think about it… GP’s over prescribing drugs, beyond recommended doses? I wonder why they might do that alwyn?

          • alwyn 18.3.2.1.1

            As I say I’m not a doctor. It sounds awfully high though.
            I always thought it was 4000mg/day (usually 8 tablets)
            http://www.drugs.com/paracetamol.html
            I never found it worked anyway. m-Eslon does but it leaves you feeling very strange and it is addictive I believe.
            I repeat. This is an uninformed opinion based solely on what worked for me. I am not recommending anything. Go see your doctor.

            • Colonial Viper 18.3.2.1.1.1

              permanent kidney failure is a major risk at these extremely high doses.

            • Tracey 18.3.2.1.1.2

              You mean he should go see the doctor who prescribed that dose because he doesn’t yet feel enough pain through the high doses to qualify for a hip replacement? That is the system you advocate he utilises?

              • alwyn

                No Tracey, I am not advocating anything at all.
                I was simply stating that the dose you said he was taking seemed to be very high. On the standard 500mg tablet size it would seem to be about 6 times the normal limit. I was surprised that that was what you nominated. I have no opinion at all on what the Doctor may have prescribed because I am not a doctor and I don’t know anything about the patient.

    • tracey 18.4

      If journalists checked claims before publishing Key would be a backbencher

    • North 18.5

      Hey Trollwyn……you still haven’t given us the link to verify your fantastical report of a couple of days ago of the Kelvin Davis / Paremoremo / Serco number. You got no balls Trollwyn ?

  18. Morrissey 19

    Paris and What Should Be Done
    by RON PAUL, November 17, 2015
    http://original.antiwar.com/paul/2015/11/16/paris-and-what-should-be-done/

    The horrific attacks in Paris on Friday have, predictably, led to much over-reaction and demands that we do more of the exact things that radicalize people and make them want to attack us. The French military wasted no time bombing Syria in retaliation for the attacks, though it is not known where exactly the attackers were from. Thousands of ISIS fighters in Syria are not Syrian, but came to Syria to overthrow the Assad government from a number of foreign countries — including from France and the US.

    Ironically, the overthrow of Assad has also been the goal of both the US and France since at least 2011.

    Because the US and its allies are essentially on the same side as ISIS and other groups – seeking the overthrow of Assad – many of the weapons they have sent to the more “moderate” factions also seeking Assad’s ouster have ended up in the hands of radicals. Moderate groups have joined more radical factions over and over, taking their US-provided training and weapons with them. Other moderate groups have been captured or killed, their US-provided weapons also going to the radicals. Thus the more radical factions have become better equipped and better trained, while occasionally being attacked by US or allied planes.

    Does anyone not believe this is a recipe for the kind of disaster we have now seen in Paris? The French in particular have been very active in arming even the more radical groups in Syria, as they push for more political influence in the region. Why do they still refuse to believe in the concept of blowback? Is it because the explanation that, “they hate us because we are free,” makes it easier to escalate abroad and crack down at home?

    It may not be popular to say this as emotions run high and calls ring out for more bombing in the Middle East, but there is another way to address the problem. There is an alternative to using more military intervention to address a problem that was caused by military intervention in the first place.

    That solution is to reject the militarists and isolationists. It is to finally reject the policy of using “regime change” to further perceived US and western foreign policy goals, whether in Iraq, Libya, Syria, or elsewhere. It is to reject the foolish idea that we can ship hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons to “moderates” in the Middle East and expect none of them to fall into the hands of radicals.

    More bombs will not solve the problems in the Middle East. But a more promising approach to the Middle East is currently under fire from the isolationists in Washington. The nuclear deal with Iran ends UN sanctions and opens that country to international trade. Just last week the presidents of France and Iran met to discuss a number of trade deals. Other countries have followed. Trade and respect for national sovereignty trumps violence, but Washington still doesn’t seem to get it. Most presidential candidates compete to thump the table loudest against any deal with Iran. They will use this attack to propagandize against approving trade with Iran even though Iran has condemned the attack and is also in the crosshairs of ISIS.

    Here is the alternative: Focus on trade and friendly relations, stop shipping weapons, abandon “regime change” and other manipulations, respect national sovereignty, and maintain a strong defense at home including protecting the borders from those who may seek to do us harm.

    We should abandon the failed policies of the past, before it’s too late.

  19. Grim 20

    In this web exclusive, Sean Stone sits down with Virginia state Senator Dick Black to talk about the ongoing crisis in Syria, and what policies the US and other world powers should adopt to return the region to peace and stability.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXe4gy_ABf8&feature=youtu.be

  20. Ovid 21

    RIP Jonah Lomu. A legendary sportsman and a great human being.

  21. Magisterium 22

    RIP Jonah 🙁

  22. esoteric pineapples 23

    Inappropriate stock photo of sexy female butt in jeans (if I can be so blunt) used to illustrate story about drycleaning worker who loses her employment case. Even names the worker in question. I don’t have a problem with the photo in itself. Just feel it is out of context for the nature of the story, particularly where the person is named.

    “A dry-cleaning worker who claimed she was told she could not wear pants to work and was criticised and threatened after rolling her eyes has lost her case against her former employer.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11547297

  23. greywarshark 24

    “Rolls eyes!”

  24. esoteric pineapples 25

    Marijuana blamed for Paris bombings (sort of)

    “Paris terror attacks: Ex-wife of suicide bomber calls him a lazy pothead”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11547260

  25. Chooky 26

    Let the hacking war commence

    ‘#OpParis: Anonymous takes down 5,500 ISIS Twitter accounts’

    https://www.rt.com/news/322427-anonymous-isis-twitter-accounts/

    “Hacktivist group Anonymous has reported that more than 5,500 Twitter accounts belonging to Islamic State have been taken down. It comes after the collective declared a “total war” on the militant group following the Paris attacks…

  26. Grindlebottom 27

    Probably not the smartest idea in hindsight to call for one minute’s silence in Turkey.
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-game/74150336/paris-attacks-turkey-fans-boo-minutes-silence-for-paris-victims-before-friendly

  27. I’ll be on Vinny Eastwood’s who 5 pm NZ. We’ll talk about Paris, ISIS, False flags and how we know this is one too!

    • Chooky 28.1

      This is interesting too…will the Paris crisis be used by USA and friends ( Saudi Arabia , Israel) for further attacks on Assad ( undermining Russia) and eventually an attack on Iran?

      https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/322247-mourning-victims-paris-attack/

      “As we all grieve for Paris in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks, some very hard and painful questions must be addressed to what degree are the attacks in Paris blowback for Western meddling in the Middle East? And has the West’s war on terror only generated more terror?

      CrossTalking with Mark Sleboda, Dmitry Babich, and John Laughland.”

      https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/322473-terror-sinai-plane-crash/

      “It is official – the Russian plane flying from Egypt was indeed a victim of terror. Who is really responsible remains unclear, nonetheless there can be no doubt much of the terrorism coming out of the Middle East has its origins in the West.CrossTalking with Alexander Mercouris, David Swanson, and Mohammad Marandi.”

  28. Grindlebottom 29

    Not enough notice. What about a summary?

  29. Morrissey 30

    Jeremy Corbyn: “Who’s funding ISIS? Who’s arming ISIS?”

    Why can’t our Labour leader speak as plainly and honestly as Corbyn does?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeVTKVKe0Ao

    • Expat 30.1

      Hi Morrissey, tell me the last time you saw a member of the media behave towards any labour representative the same as Jeremy’s interviewer did, this is example of unbiased journalism, which is what’s sadly missing in NZ, allowing people to have their say regardless of their own personal view point.

      Corbyn is a good man, I hope he is successful.

      • Rodel 30.1.1

        A good interviewer..as you say Expat, unbiased.
        Compare her professional manner to that of Hoskings, Gower, Henry and co.
        Also can’t help comparing Corbyn’s manner to Key’s.

  30. Expat 31

    I am curious to find out why so many left leaning bloggers are happy to bag the Labour party, they’re not the ones in power, and haven’t been for seven years, any body blaming them for anything has lost sight of the goal.

    There will never be a hard left wing govt in modern NZ, it’s economic suicide, and there will never be enough voters to support it any way, however, the current govt is a hard right wing govt, not centre as they would have you believe. For any person with any degree of compassion, empathy, and fairness for all, will disagree with the current direction NZ is heading, and that’s understandable.

    In todays modern society there are some basic fundamentals that we need to accept, commercial aspects of any economy require businesses, corporations and banks to help build the economy, right leaning govts tend to support this group through all sorts of law and policy changes, the sale public assets, that benefit them, and usually results in a poor outcome for society, to say the least, left leaning govts still need these businesses, banks and corporations to help build the economy but the crucial difference is recognising the need to have policies and laws that protect ordinary citizens and NZ’s long term interests while still allowing all these businesses, banks and corporations to operate profitably.

    If you want to see a change of govt, supporting “all” left leaning parties is mandatory, a lot of people don’t like labour, but without them, there is no one to fill the void, “some times you have to support the lesser of two evils” to at least get a step in the right direction, and changing the govt is the first step.

    For a coalition of left leaning parties to be successful, there needs to be a high level of cohesion and support for one another, no stupid criticisms on public TV, trust needs to be regained. Public support of each others policies that they are in agreement to, show NZ that there is another choice, a credible choice.

    But if you want to change the govt……

    • Anne 31.1

      Thank-you Expat for your sane, sensible comments. It’s a pleasure to read them.

      As far as the Labour knockers go, I think it has become a bit of a sport in NZ. I put it down to a lack of political maturity especially among our so-called political journalists and interviewers. The chances of a Labour leader in particular being treated with respect in NZ is low. More often than not they are continuously interrupted and shouted down by ego-centric interveiwers who are more interested in turning everything into a studio version of a bull-fight.

    • b waghorn 31.2

      My gut feeling on why some bag labour (including the odd journo ) is the frustration at the fact that a crooked little shister like key is in his third term and labour s issues are in no small way part of why.

    • Colonial Viper 31.3

      please explain why we should bother changing the National Government when the replacement one is 90% plus aligned with the National one?

      And I’m not the only one who thinks this way.

      ” In todays modern society there are some basic fundamentals that we need to accept, commercial aspects of any economy require businesses, corporations and banks to help build the economy”

      this is a nonsense.Transnational corporate power is destroying local economies and undermining sovereignty at every turn. It is the core rationale of the TPP.

      If you cant see that you are clearly part of the ruling establishment or its professional courtiers.

      • weka 31.3.1

        “when the replacement one is 90% plus aligned with the National one”

        Citation needed for that.

        • Colonial Viper 31.3.1.1

          why is a citation needed? Why not just trust your own eyes.

          voted for Nationals social welfare legislation.
          For Nationals spying and terrorism legislation.
          greenlight most of the TPPA
          greenlight oil and gas drilling
          keep blowing up the property bubble
          won’t enforce a living wage

          etc.

          • weka 31.3.1.1.1

            I think the 90% is an exaggeration and minimises the distinct differences.

            • Colonial Viper 31.3.1.1.1.1

              please name four of those “distinct differences ” you say exists which are more than just tinkering on the edges. I cant think of them…

              • weka

                welfare reforms

                asset sales

                restoring Ecan

                GCSB

                Corporate manslaughter

                Living wage

                I’m sure I could pull a few more things off Labour’s policy page but that’ll do to start with.

                • Pat

                  think it is the economic model supporting everything that is the issue Weka…..what you have listed is that which is considered “at the edges” by those espousing a tangible difference between National and Labour.

                  • weka

                    That’s a bit academic Pat. I was taking it at the level of why should people bother voting Labour instead of National. The reason is that Labour have some actual good policies (despite not being left wing enough) and they will do far less damage than National. That Labour will still do some damage is not a good reason to vote National, that’s daft. Lesser of evils is not nothing.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Labour voted for National’s spying and anti-terror legislation.
                      Labour voted for National’s welfare reforms.

                      There is no daylight between National and Labour on those issues.

                      Labour talks about a living wage. Is Labour going to lift the minimum wage up to a minimum wage level? No, it is not.

                      Restoring ECAN – so what – that is tinkering.

                      Corporate manslaughter – has Labour drawn up a bill on this?

                      Asset sales – is Labour going to reverse an of National’s asset sales – no.

                      So sorry, your list is irrelevant or just tinkering or posturing.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      That Labour will still do some damage is not a good reason to vote National, that’s daft. Lesser of evils is not nothing.

                      Labour is part of the problem weka. And you know what the problem is – a slide into societal destruction via climate change, fossil fuel depletion and corporation led austerity.

                    • Pat

                      “academic” it may be Weka, but if you believe that the underlying cause of society’s ills is a fundamentally flawed model of course you would seek wholesale change for anything less would be perceived as having no impact on those things you seek to change….we can all go to hell at 90 mph or 100 mph ..either way were still heading for the same destination.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      BTW weka, thank you for pointing out those instances where people have been making up shit about me. You taking the time to do that is very much appreciated, cheers.

                    • Ad

                      Personally I’m looking for something more than that Weka.

                      I want someone to say that “this is the kind of country I want, and I have the courage to operate the instruments to achieve it.”

                      I want poverty eradicated as a goal, and housing for everyone, food on the table for families, cities that work, jobs for everyone, and I want a strong well funded state that can help everyone do that for generations to come.

                      I am so over abstract nouns about love, country, hope, vision, etc.

                      I want a political party with a plan. And I’ll start being interested in party politics again when I see that.

                    • Chris

                      It’s easy to be seduced by the argument that Labour’s the better of two evils but it’s not that simple. In a political system like ours where there’s two main parties and both of those parties are as good as the same in a number of key areas there’s no room for an alternative. It’s the cultural damage this causes which we should be worried about. When the thinking of a nation becomes so entrenched over generations. User pays in tertiary education is one example. Ask a student whether they think education should be free and they’ll look at you like you’re from another planet. Labour needs to start thinking about this kind of damage that’s caused by an ineffective opposition, rather than constantly looking to work out what to say to become the government. If Labour gets its values right first getting into government will follow.

                    • weka

                      ok, you all get that I’m a Green party member right? And I’ve been voting Green since they first stood for parliament. In regards the actual change needed, you’re trying to teach your grandmother to suck eggs here.

                      CV asks what’s the point of changing the govt when the two main parties are so similar. I guess he’s being rhetorical, but hey, I took the question at face value. I’m not making a case that Labour are doing the right things or that they’re going to radically change the way NZ is governed in the way that we all want They’re not. I’m saying that there are still significant differences between National and Labour (esp if we got a Labour/GP govt) that make it worthwhile voting on the left.

                      If we cede that bit of ground, as CV is apparently suggesting, the non-vote will increase, and we will have another term of NACT. Now if we had time, it could be argued that a 4th term could be galvanising to the left. Maybe Labour would finally collapse/split. Or another party would emerge. Or people would finally vote Green. But the whole point is we simply we don’t have time. AGW is here, now. We have a rapidly shrinking window to do the things to lessen the chance of runaway CC. I’m not saying that Labour will do those things. They won’t. I’m saying that the rest of us will have more of a chance under a left wing govt of shifting the culture so we all do those things. Government is not going to save us, we are going to lead the way and government will eventually get in behind. Thus as it ever was.

                      This is why the lesser of evils is significantly better. Even just to give activists some breathing space to refocus on what’s important instead of running round putting out fires all the time.

                      CV, you’re welcome. And I think your list of tinkering is wrongly characterised, if I get the chance later I’ll hash it out.

                • Expat

                  Hi Weka, What about human rights, to add to the list.

                  If C Viper thinks there is no difference between the main parties then he must have his head in the sand or been listening to the MSM, brainwashed by BS

                  Wake up NZ, there can be no change in direction without changing the govt, and getting rid of NZ’s most dishonest govt ever!

    • Tracey 31.4

      I’m curious to find out why a small number on here and in the Labour Party are happy to bag the Green Party because they are not the ones in power, and although never held Treasury benches have been able to implement some of their policies from outside that structure (both under Labour and the national Party). If you want to see a change of govt, supporting “all” left leaning parties is mandatory, a lot of people don’t like the Greens, but without them, there is no left government in any form base don current polling, “some times you have to support the lesser of two evils” to at least get a step in the right direction, and changing the govt is the first step.

      For a coalition of left leaning parties to be successful, there needs to be a high level of cohesion and support for one another, no stupid criticisms on public TV, trust needs to be regained. Public support of each others policies that they are in agreement to, show NZ that there is another choice, a credible choice.

      But only if you want to change the govt…… and if you want to see a different way of leading change rather than a harsher or smilier version of what we have had for too many decades, you will see the place the Greens have in NZ. As long as some in LP and here see the Green party as the enemy, national wins, again, and again, with short hiatus for a slightly right leaning LP

  31. Chooky 32

    +100…”For a coalition of left leaning parties to be successful, there needs to be a high level of cohesion and support for one another, no stupid criticisms on public TV, trust needs to be regained. Public support of each others policies that they are in agreement to, show NZ that there is another choice, a credible choice…”

    Thus far Labour and NZF seem to be supporting each other…but the Greens have been undercutting Labour and NZF…a decided turn off of former Green voters

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    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    3 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    4 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    12 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
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    1 day ago
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