And the Herald’s intentions with yesterday’s story on Len Brown are revealed in todays editorial. Clearly, a Len Brown run for a third term would be bitterly opposed by the Herald, who annointed Goff their preferred candidate today.
I find their reasoning quite interesting. The clear assumption is Goff will be a right wing mayor, another neo-liberal wolf in sheeps clothing. I guess the big question is this – who is the best candidate to stop privatisation of the CCO’s and ensure the CRL planning goes ahead until such time as a Labour government wins power and Hide’s insane governance model is reformed? If that is your criteria then Goff is as good as any, and his electability is better than anyones.
Diversion tactics 101, find a plausible yet ambiguous topic that you can publish no end of speculation over I.e. no facts or hard evidence required.
Anything but Sabin, northland by election pork barrelling, milk solids price impact of Blingish already BS numbers and how about that 25k liu donation to name a few issues of far more relevance.
Yep – I’ve been thinking along those lines too. Auckland will be sold off (the remains of what hasn’t somehow been sold yet) . Sigh ….. and after all the hard work done by hundreds of Aucklanders backing City Vision trying to keep the super-city intact.
On what Iprent was saying the other day about new/continuation of Nuclear arms race – The centre for public integrity will be publishing some more on the Nuclear issue over the next few days – I’ll keep you posted.
Whangarei MP Shane Reti called the protest group organiser last week and told her to stop “agitating” for tar-sealed roads during the by-election campaign. And if they didn’t stop, their wish may not get fulfilled!
It is outrageous for a Government, a Minister or an MP, in a democracy to tell people who are exercising their legitimate rights of freedom and protesting about any issue (dusty roads that need tar seal in this case), to shut up for two weeks until the by-election is finished. It is even more outrageous to be threatened that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
National’s campaign manager, Steven Joyce, says there were no instructions to MPs to shut down protest groups. Mr Key says he had nothing to do with Dr Reti’s call.
This arrogant and disgraceful MP, Reti should resign or be sacked immediately. There is no other way. Nothing else is good enough. Is there?
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
” ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!”
You give this statement as a direct quote. They don’t appear in the story you link to.
Can you please provide a source for these words being used?
They are not the DIREST exact words of Reti but they may as well be because that IS the intent and implications of his threat and blackmail.
However, I have added a further comment to my original comment as follows:
The end of the second paragraph should read :
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
The moment we all heard about Reti’s comments (up here in the north) we thought he’d taken a leaf out of his master’s book – threatening to withdraw funding for the 10 bridges if the Nats don’t win this by-election. If Shon Key can indulge in a little blackmail to voters, why shouldn’t Reti follow in his footsteps ? Definitely blackmail.
“” The Government’s flagship health cost-cutting scheme has taken out millions of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded loans, despite concerns it could not pay a cent back, new documents reveal. ………………………””
“” The organisation is now the subject of an investigation by the auditor-general. ……..””
“” HBL is being wound down by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman in June, with its programmes transferred to Auckland regional DHB-led services provider HealthAlliance. ………….””
And I’m left wondering why the heck certain southern health boards are going ahead with its ‘frozen food from Auckland for the patients ‘ proposal when it appears to have been such a shonky scheme.
What extraordinary failure …. and who needs $10 million to develop business plans ? Was this using private consultants ? And now Alkd DHB has to absorb the loss of funds? Baby cheeses.
And agree Jenny .. why on earth would Dunedin be buying frozen pre-cooked food from Auckland ? Clearly nothing to do with patient health and well-being. Stupid, stupid people.
( And have to ask now .. was Ryall pushed for incompetence ?)
Thanks Karen. Insightful interview. All those media/security minders! And an interesting trawl through the Northern Advocate.
And the frank and honest response from the PM to the questions asked? Not so much.
Key’s answers read like a Crosby and Textor report card. The interviewer tried, but slippery Key just slimes all over it as usual and never deviates from his scripts.
Personally, I would have offered him the black cup for some mana, so to speak.
Yes Rawshark but at least the way Ms Laird has written up the story just helps show up Shon Key and his slippery non-answers all the more ! And this paper goes out all over the place in the north.
@Karen
Yep thanks for that Karen. Nicely written piece. Key hates being asked tough questions.
Incidentally there was an editorial in the ODT yesterday that was very critical of the behaviour of Key and his government, especially in terms of lack of transparency and what this means for democracy.
How heartening it is to read of Kshama Sawant! I found this bit particularly striking:
“The idea that things have to get a lot worse to have some sort of awakening and bring about an alternative to this corrupt and defunct corporate political system is inaccurate,” she said to me. “What we need is a big surge for an independent working-class political alternative while people are experiencing a sense of confidence, after decades of bitter defeat…
I remember Xtasy, who I think must have left the country, saying we that need a new left wing political party. What we need more is a grassroots political movement that is able to make its presence felt, whether or not it takes the form of a political party.
What we need more is a grassroots political movement that is able to make its presence felt, whether or not it takes the form of a political party.
Ideally it will not be in the form of a political party, but in the form of a pressure/action/education movement which applies leverage to the pressure points of every political party.
I agree with you where New Zealand is concerned. A political party would become an option if the movement’s concerns were not met by existing political vehicles, and the momentum was sufficient to make forming a party look like a goer. But the ability to make our presence felt has to come first.
ideally what would happen is that some capable individuals from the movement would over time eventually join every political party. This would give the movement some voice from within the parties as well, possibly even as candidates and MPs.
However, the independent pressure and presence outside the institutional establishment must always stay strong and separate from those political parties, if the true and honest voice of the people is to be heard true and loud in Wellington. At the moment, it’s not.
I think I see what you are getting at now – that a pressure group outside of the institutional establishment is not open to being transformed into yet another vehicle for the political class. I accept that point, and am mindful as well of the precarious path to a new party’s becoming established. I do not suggest a new party as a desirable outcome (I am a LP member, probably for similar reasons to yours) but would not rule it out altogether where a movement was able to gain real momentum at the grassroots level without also gaining real political influence within the existing establishment.
Yes indeed. The Left needs to re-examine what having “real political influence” means in a modern context. The Right have got the idea very well and exercise their own version of it reasonably ably (sometimes).
Party politics is undemocratic by nature it requires manipulation of the vote to achieve an out come and its is not responsible to the voters only the party
A successful candidate at an election serves his party before the voters or he does not get the favour of the party classic in Northland not much gets done just vote accumulation for the National party’s overall gerrymandering of political system, until now a bunch of false promises and unrealistic political expectations. The destruction of the RMA and the sovereignty of the nations resources in the area ie a sellout to the oil companies spells a F.U.C.K.E.D. PARADISE
Key is a liar and a cheat
Olwyn and CR
Would a left wing think tank be a vehicle that would match what you are talking about they seem very influential and regularly back the memes being presented by RW parties particularly?
I cannot speak for CR, but to me it would be an important part of such a movement. I will have to look up what Sue Bradford has to say about it, since that is the subject of her doctorate. One thing a think tank would hopefully do is pull some of the disparate threads of the left together.
I do not have any beef with either Dotcom or Hone Harawira. I think the lesson there was that money sans connections can be more damaging than no money. There is nothing the powerful hate more than a large sum of money that is not subject to their own concerns and agreements. And I wholeheartedly agree with you about money with corporate strings attached, whether potentially or actively.
How can this be? “She holds a doctorate in economics…” An economist who is driving changes to help the disadvantaged? Must be an aberration. Get rid of her say the powerful country wide elite.
And fancy bringing Seattle to its knees my raising the minimum wage to $15! Sacrilege. Thanks Adam.
Have puzzled for days on the reasons Mark Osborne secured Nat selection … have written several times that I think he must have been ‘bought’ for his silence. No basis for it, other than a gut response to his ineptitude .. and yes, I accept he was approved as candidate when Key arrogantly believed there was never a problem in this safe seat.
But this was posted under a March 12 Dita di Boni Herald story on Northland …
Quote:
“The National ‘candidate’ owns the local beauty parlour where his wife and until the s**t hit the fan, Mike Sabin’s wife did all the work, he is not known for his ‘work ethic’. ”
So I am curious if anyone will confirm this ? That Osborne owns the business where Mrs Sabin and Mrs Osborne worked together, that is until Mrs Sabin didn’t for whatever personal reasons?
So has Osborne been bought for his silence on what has happened to Sabin and his family ?
So how much did Osborne lie to various media when he said he knew nothing of Sabin’s ‘personal matters’ ?
Oh, how I hope Winston bloodies the nose of Key and his crony government. I hope he leaves them reeling and unable to proceed with their anti-NZ agenda.
I think Winston has already bloodied Key’s nose. The fact that the Nats have had to stir themselves and spend big money would never have happened without Winston. Even should Winston not win I am sure that Northland will greatly benefit from the exposure. Woe betide Key if he doesn’t act in the future.
Winston the cunning old dog figured out very quickly that participating in the Northland by-election was a win win for NZ First. Labour eventually figured out that participating in the Northland by-election was going to be a lose-lose for them.
National, they’re just in total reactive mode right now. And ruing how they did not pause for a moment to stick the knife in Winston proper when he was down and out a few years ago.
Nope – I think you’ll find its not Sabin’s wife who is the hairdresser/beautician, but Osborne’s wife. She runs the beauty parlour, so I’ve been told.
But I do have to say , if Osborne didn’t know much about Sabin before the 2014 election, he probably was the only one in the north who wasn’t questionning that very issue !
Would Cunliffe have known about the charges at the time he met this person (if what Cameron Slater says about the person is correct)? I imagine there would have been name suppression? Was it widely rumoured at the time? If Cunliffe were to be assumed knowledge of this person’s alleged crimes, would not the same apply to Key’s knowledge of Sabin’s?
Not just knew, but appointed him to as chairman of Parliament’s law and order committee.
Cunliffe didn’t have any political dealings with that other offender.
It seems to me that parliament is the last place to keep a secret. It strikes me as a very insular, gossipy, incestuous place (I include media gallery in this).
So IF it is the person who cunliffe had lunch with, what do we think the headline will be???
I don’t know how to do it without infesting people… I NEVER go there as a rule, but looking for the date of the lifting of name suppression i wound up there.
Hopefully you can tell me if I have misunderstood what he was trying to assert
After posting my comment @9.3, I saw your (Tracey) comment at 9.2.1.
Reading the WO post at the link, IMO this latest post essentially is saying what I was trying to say – that the prominent NZer whose name suppression expires today unless appealed by 5pm today IS NOT the other prominent NZer who Cunliffe had lunch with.
@Tracey .. go to http://www.donotlink.com .. cut and paste the url of the site you do not wish to directly link with and it makes a new link for you which u can cut and paste anywhere ! It’s marvelous .. I think lprent taught me how !
You can even google the article and ctrl +copy link location (or the equivalent on your device) and paste that into donotlink, and that way you don’t have to open the website even once 🙂
The case of the prominent NZer who Cunliffe met took place down south and has finished, with the person given permanent name suppression – against the wishes of the victim and others.
The court hearing that happened on the same day (30 Jan 2015) as Sabin resigned took place at the other end of the country. Although all details were suppressed, including the District Court where the hearing took place, one online (only) news service (Yahoo) actually published the location.
I will not publish a link but their article is still available via Google, using “disputed facts hearing NZ”; country NZ; and customizing the time period for the search.
[WARNING to anyone who finds the article – DO NOT provide a link or name the location here on TS, as the location suppression still continues until lifted.]
Tracey, re your first sentence in your comment @ 9 – Where and when did Slater say that the person whose name suppression will lapse today (unless appealed) is not Sabin but the person who Cunliffe had lunch with?
I have been going to WO using Donotlink to see what he writes on the suppression case(s) quite regularly as WO claims to know a lot about the case or cases (he has implied that there are more than one) but have not seen him claim what you said.
He has written a number of posts on the subject but has been very careful to not breach suppression and has moderated comments strongly to avoid this.
I am not going to go back there and search his archives, but remember that on occasions (including just a couple of days ago) he has implied that there may be more than one person up on current charges with name suppression – but I do not recall anything that linked these current cases with the closed case down south.
and they were adults in the south case, able to request lifting of their personal name suppression but failed in removing suppression of the felon’s name. Derryn Hinch in Oz made it plain he didn’t like it much.
Re the case where name suppression is due to expire at 5pm today, Graeme Edgeler has just tweeted that he understands that an appeal is being lodged today, so the suppression will not lapse.
Last night, Graeme and Matt Nippert (NZ Herald) also had an interesting Twitter exchange, presumably also related to this case. Matt has been trying to get the terms of the suppression order, without success.
EDIT – the latter case may not be the same as Matt mentions High Court in this twitter exchange, whereas I think the other case is still in the District Court.
I may be in this instance as to whether Matt’s inquiries are about the same case – or a related but separate case.
The situation seems quite similar, however, in terms of not being able to get the terms of the suppression order ……
I think the appeal against the name suppression in the case we are all interested in has to be lodged in the high court. I suspect it is the same case Matt Nippert is talking about because he first applied a month ago and was complaining about the refusal taking so long.
I would be very surprised if an appeal against the lifting of name suppression was not lodged today, and by leaving it until just before the deadline it is not likely to be heard this month. I doubt if there is any justification for the appeal, but certain people will not want it declined in the near future, hence the cynical last minute submission.
Thanks, Karen. I think you are right about the appeal having to be lodged with the High Court. I also think Matt’s application probably is related.
Leaving the lodging of an appeal today will delay matters and is not unexpected as National certainly don’t want anything getting out into the public arena until after the by-election. Don’t think it will do them any good, though!
Victoria Young of NBR has confirmed that an appeal has now been lodged and NBR will have an article up shortly. Graeme Edgeler replied that one or two weeks would normally be enough to file such an appeal – as oppose to four weeks in this case.
The suppression order was made and lifted in the District Court. The appealing of the lifting of the order therefore has to be in the High Court. Lodging the appeal on the last possible day is a cynical move to keep the incidents out of the election campaign. The Herald is applying to the High Court to expedite the appeal with urgency.
FJK and NAct are lower than I had ever thought possible in our country.
well sliced Anne ! This goes to the heart of Nats corruption… secrets kept for three elections. Something will come out, I have to believe it as the alternative is just too awful.
When it comes to the establishment and authoritarian regimes like the police, I have a healthy dose of contempt born out of experience. After a number of years of clandestine bullying, intimidation and some other worse forms of criminal behaviour, I approached the police (half a dozen times in total) and they did nothing. Why? Because there was a strong political element to the case, and I was on the ‘wrong’ side of the political fence. It therefore suited them to treat me and my claims with derision. It all happened 20+ years ago now, but I don’t see that anything much has changed.
Hence I have no qualms calling them out when I perceive it to be appropriate… regardless of consequences.
Here it is … and several media applying for urgency on the appeal …
“A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.”
Anybody notice that there were anti neo lib riots in Germany today..350 arrests. Burnt cars. Tear gas. .saw it on RT and BBC. Looked on the rest of the MSN. …Zippo. The revolution will not be televised.
@ Ennui
I heard about the protest.. They are blaming the ECB. A spokesperson for the ECB complained that the protesters did not give them credit for trying to cushion economic blows to the economy. The economy is still alive and well and moving forward in its wheelchair with the help of dedicated attendants. The people are alive and not very well and protesting.
Did you mean Chris Bishop felix? That would be funny, he’s a right little twerp. What a wannabe tough guy this Puckish Rogue numpty is. He has definitely got some guts.
The IPCC report on the pork’s investigation of the Roastbusters is out. No surprises: they were useless and failed at the most basic standards of investigation. Floods of crocodile tears are flowing. Disgusting.
Here’s the form of press releases to follow in all such circumstances in chronological order.
1. There is no problem. Nobody has complained. What’s your problem?
2. You are being mischievous in claiming that there is a problem and undermining public confidence in our good work.
3. There might be a problem, but we are very disappointed that you brought this to public attention when we were really dealing with it.
4. It’s an isolated case.
5. We regret that an external authority has shown us to be absolutely fucking useless because one of the perpetrators was a cop’s son but it’s all historical and everything’s been fixed now so I don’t know why you’re making a fuss about it now.
Summary of Findings
114. The Authority has made the following findings:
114.1 – The initial response to the incidents by GDB and CIB staff was adequate and proper.
114.2 – CPT staff did not adequately follow up and pursue positive lines of enquiry.
114.3 – CPT staff should have more accurately recorded and more adequately assessed information obtained during their respective investigations.
114.4 – Officer B’s supervision and oversight of the cases for which he was responsible was adequate and appropriate.
114.5 – Officer C did not adequately supervise and oversee the cases for which he was responsible.
114.6 – The fact that the father of one of the young men was a Police officer had no influence on Police’s handling of the investigations.
114.7 – CPT staff did not properly evaluate all available offences when determining the outcome of their respective investigations.
114.8 – CPT staff failed to properly consider alternative action to address the potential offending behaviour of the young men involved and their care and protection issues.
114.9 – CPT staff did not adequately communicate and engage with the young men and their families.
114.10 – CPT staff did not adequately consult and communicate with external stakeholders.
114.11 – CPT staff, particularly at supervisory level, did not adequately communicate with each other.
Conclusions and Recommendations
115. The Authority appreciates that the incidents involving the ‘Roastbusters’ presented Police with a complex set of challenges. The reprehensible and unacceptable behaviour demonstrated by this group of young men was further complicated by other issues. These included the vulnerability and fragility of the young women, the impact of peer, familial and social pressures in adolescence, attitudes towards sexual behaviour and the use of alcohol and other drugs, and the influence of youth culture and social media.
116. Indeed, the issues were such that it is unlikely they could have ever been dealt with meaningfully and effectively solely by Police. Regrettably, Police had numerous opportunities to ‘connect the dots’ earlier, to generate a more organised, expansive and cohesive response, and to work in collaboration with CYF, the schools, and the parents of these young men to prevent their behaviour from continuing.
117. While it is evident that the Police investigators were motivated to act in accordance with the wishes of the young women, and in their best interests, they focused on the victim’s wishes about prosecution in each individual case and failed to give adequate weight to the potential risk of harm to other young women. Critically, too, the Police investigations into these cases failed in several significant areas to meet the requirements of a good criminal investigation. Deficiencies in investigation practices, poor knowledge or understanding of legislation, and inadequate supervisory oversight were some of the primary factors that led to assessments that lacked critical analysis and sound, evidence-based, decision-making.
118. In the Authority’s view, most of the deficiencies identified in the Police investigations are a result of poor individual practices and cannot be said to be representative of Police child abuse investigations nationwide. The Authority considers that it was the failure of CPT officers to conduct their investigations to the required level, sufficiently meeting the standards of current policy and guidelines, that has had serious consequences in this instance. However, while existing Police child protection policy and investigation guidelines are sound, the lack of emphasis on prevention may be indicative of a more general problem with policy and practice requiring further attention. Police, themselves, have acknowledged that this is an area requiring further policy development to guide Police practice.
119. In 2007, following the 2004 Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct, Dame Margaret Bazley reported that she was satisfied that child abuse policy (applicable at that time) was being applied consistently by Police and was “working well in practice”. However, a special investigation, the ‘Inquiry into Police Conduct, Practices, Policies and Procedures Relating to the Investigation of Child Abuse, commenced by the Authority in December 2009, found that this was not, in fact, the case in a number of policing districts around the country. In May 2010, at the conclusion of the inquiry, the Authority made 34 recommendations to Police to rectify the shortcomings identified.
120. It is disturbing that several themes identified as a result of the Authority’s child abuse inquiry (such as deficiencies in investigative practices, file recording, collaboration with CYF, and case supervision) have, again, been highlighted in the Authority’s current investigation. This is notwithstanding the fact that the related recommendations made in 2010 to address the deficiencies were accepted and embedded by Police.
121. The Authority’s focus in its investigation has been to identify what went wrong in this case so that similar failings can be avoided in the future. It has not considered what action, if any, should be taken in respect of the individual officers responsible for the performance shortcomings set out in this report. That is a matter for the Police.
IPCA report into; “Roast Busters”, is highly critical of police. But the only mention of reopening the case I’ve seen so far is:
The authority recommended an audit be carried out into current cases being investigated by the Waitemata Child Protection Team to determine whether any individual shortcomings remained
Deficiencies included a failure to follow up and pursue positive lines of inquiry. Investigating staff also failed to properly consider all available offences in determining whether or not to prosecute the young men.
Investigating officers tended to approach each case on an individual, case-by-case, basis simply to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to prosecute offenders for sexual violation. IPCA chair Judge Sir David Carruthers said.
“In the authority’s view the officers should have identified the connections between the various cases and worked with other agencies to develop strategies to reduce the recurrence of what was clearly unacceptable and, in some cases, criminal behaviour. Victims were let down by their failure to do so.”
In the nearly 50 years of being an adult so to speak and having a landline in my home I can’t remember when I received the last of maybe 3 unsolicited ‘research organisation’ calls seeking telephone survey participation.
Last night I took a call from an articulate, pleasent voiced young man seeking that I respond to questions in respect of a “major government department”. I asked for the identity of the party commissioning the survey, noting that if it was the National Party……”not interested mate….”. The caller said “that should be obvious from the first question” but no, he was not allowed to expressly identify. Strange ? Refuse to tell me then tell me.
I went along. There were put numerous questions the first and every one following about “the IRD”. For answer on a scale of 1-5. All boiling down to whether IRD is fair, understanding, uses technology well, etc etc. In the round broad brush stuff.
This afternoon another call this time about the ACC. “We are in the middle of a by-election in Northland and I get two calls in two days to my identifiably Northland landline…….no thank you.”
Call me suspicious…….but the coincidence of there being perhaps two and a half decades between the date of the last such call and the two successive days of the 4th and 5th ? About entities under the purview of a cabinet minister……
Didn’t engage the second call but in yesterday’s – demographic established, level of education including degree/post graduate or not, self employed or not, various other categorisations canvassed. Yesterday’s caller did name the organisation conducting the survey which I don’t recall. Today’s didn’t as I recall but it was a short call.
Of course it was not a coincidence. My God they’re getting desperate! Fancy resorting to the pretense of acting on behalf of two controversial govt. departments – IRD and ACC – to glean the views of your average punter in Northland. Next week, what’s the bet there are going to be two major reforms announced concerning the two departments in question.
News just out.
‘Prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault appeals for name suppression.’
A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.’
This has to qualify for some; worst taste ever, award. Using the day of an IPCA report that found that there was; “no indication that because one of the boys fathers was a policeman this had any influence in the early [rape] investigation” to distract from the continued name suppression of an ex-policeman accused of sexual assault. All in aid of not having to explain governmental appointments in the leadup to a rare consultation with those that government supposedly represents!
[If I’m flying too close to the wind for the legal wellbeing of TS in this comment, excise all but the first sentence and: Euuuwwww!!!]
In The North it is very much public knowledge, ackshilly……except that we engage in the charade of discussion with everyone knowing but no one ackshilly saying. As noted by me in a comment here a couple of days ago recounting dancing discussion with a reasonably senior cop. A man I respect very much whom I believe reciprocates that. Wan, ‘not saying’ smiles both sides…….much averting of the eyes.
Notably, this man volunteered as follows when joshingly I enquired as to whether he was voting for Winston – “Well, I’ve always voted National……but this time……really……I dunno.” This man is hard National to coin a phrase ! What’s happening with soft National ? In fact this same man did say he thinks Winston’s gonna piss in.
Which may reflect sentiment he’s privy to on the side of things to which I have minimal access. Although two decent fulla cops I’ve spoken to since are all thumbs up for WP. One had already early-voted.
Completely off that thread – UKTV on in the background – that great wit Stephen Fry – “Confucious said……the good man knows what’s right……the sales man knows what sells !”
Now doesn’t that put you in mind of our very own, variously, simpering, gauche, construct angry, gutless, lying, Richie stalking, Little Churchill man(?), on the 9th floor ?
Which thoroughly accurate various characterisations ackshilly bring us full circle to revisit my policeman friend’s dilemma.
I get a recurring/sporadic/unpredictable problem when putting in clean linkys.
When sending, something inserts extra quotation marks and drops the http: from the address leading to our friend 404, or similar denier of information.
Sometimes I remember to check for it and fix it immediately, now, where did I put that post-it to remind me 🙂
For Post Its I use the old AT Notes programme .. so brilliant but the inventor never did any further work on it, maybe he got bored. But it is still one of the best note systems around imho … so simple and reliable ..
Sometimes it is just aesthetics 🙂
+ you probably know this but if you hover over the clean-link you get the URL at the base of your browser and can always hover + right click for ‘open/copy/save URL” options
Just as well we don’t have nukes! Key doesn’t even know what the gst is on $1.29.
Then again he most likely will tell a made up number for the rate of unemployment and what our govt debt is running at – so it’s all good.
Why dont people get it Key is FASCIST !!!
He has no right to be PM of this country and should be held up as the bastard he is
How much damage can you think of that has directly impacted on those who depend on govt support thru no fault of their own who are being denied the help that any truly free society would ensure was there no matter what the prosperity of the others is
You’d think this country was on the bones of its arse the way national portray it yet it is obvious we are run by a bunch of miserable self serving right wing capitalist who lie, destroy democracy and pander to a war machine that any sound thinking people would not have a bar of
If we are over a monetarist barrel its because we have a traitor for a PM WHO IS NOT A NZER in my view because I grew up with people who had fought in a real war which was about the crap that this govt does without the sanction of a true vote. this govt is corrupt and out of control and we need a new system of representation in govt in this country
Thomas Gallagher points out in Paddy’s Lament that during the first winter of famine, 1846-47, as perhaps 400,000 Irish peasants starved, landlords exported 17 million pounds sterling worth of grain, cattle, pigs, flour, eggs, and poultry—food that could have prevented those deaths. Throughout the famine, as Gallagher notes, there was an abundance of food produced in Ireland, yet the landlords exported it to markets abroad.
Gower on tv3 news tonight was saying Winston is going to make sure the Sabin news will get out before the election.
And Osbourne was saying he knows nothing.
ANDREW LITTLE speaking in Parliament on 10 Feb 2015.
“What about the standards of the Government? What about the promise of 2008 that “The Government I lead will be a Government of good standards.”, and its chance to do something, its chance to demonstrate that National actually is a party of standards in Government? It was confronted with it at the end of last year. One of National’s MPs was under a police investigation. One of its MPs—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! I invite members throughout this debate to be very careful. We know that there was a court case, and we know that all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! There is Standing Order 115. Should any members think I should consider this matter differently, I invite them to use that Standing Order and write to me. At this stage no member has done so. I invite Mr Little to continue.
ANDREW LITTLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I understand and appreciate the caution you are expressing. I make no reference at all and make no comment beyond the fact that it is on the record that a MP was under a police investigation. He is not the first. That Government well knows, because it has drawn the attention of the public to other MPs under a police investigation—a police investigation that led to no outcome at all.
But here is the point. We had an MP under investigation, who was then allowed by this Government to chair the parliamentary committee—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! [Interruption] Order! I have given a ruling that I had given considerable consideration to. If the member continues in this vein, I will have no choice but to terminate his speech. I have given a ruling whereby we acknowledge there is a court case of which all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! This is a time when this Parliament has a responsibility, a duty, to respect the jurisdiction of the court, and I expect that to occur today. I invite Mr Little to continue.” http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/debates/debates/daily/51HansD_20150210/volume-703-week-7-tuesday-10-february-2015
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government 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 ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. 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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
And the Herald’s intentions with yesterday’s story on Len Brown are revealed in todays editorial. Clearly, a Len Brown run for a third term would be bitterly opposed by the Herald, who annointed Goff their preferred candidate today.
I find their reasoning quite interesting. The clear assumption is Goff will be a right wing mayor, another neo-liberal wolf in sheeps clothing. I guess the big question is this – who is the best candidate to stop privatisation of the CCO’s and ensure the CRL planning goes ahead until such time as a Labour government wins power and Hide’s insane governance model is reformed? If that is your criteria then Goff is as good as any, and his electability is better than anyones.
Diversion tactics 101, find a plausible yet ambiguous topic that you can publish no end of speculation over I.e. no facts or hard evidence required.
Anything but Sabin, northland by election pork barrelling, milk solids price impact of Blingish already BS numbers and how about that 25k liu donation to name a few issues of far more relevance.
Sigh
That indeed IS the question….
When Banks didn’t get to be mayor of the ACT/National juggernaut as planned whoever did get in was going to feel the full force of DP.
Dark days ahead
DP?
FOG?
Yep – I’ve been thinking along those lines too. Auckland will be sold off (the remains of what hasn’t somehow been sold yet) . Sigh ….. and after all the hard work done by hundreds of Aucklanders backing City Vision trying to keep the super-city intact.
Nz MSM and Nz politics both have the same controllers it would seem
Quite the conspiracy
Interesting piece on USA weapon sales – http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/03/16/16913/america-remains-top-arms-seller-world
The old adage – “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” – gets play out well in this piece.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/03/17/16895/south-african-who-attacked-nuclear-plant-hero-his-government-and-fellow-citizens
On what Iprent was saying the other day about new/continuation of Nuclear arms race – The centre for public integrity will be publishing some more on the Nuclear issue over the next few days – I’ll keep you posted.
war is a racket…
listen to USA’s exhortations to EU countries that they must spend more more more on their militaries
Whangarei MP Shane Reti called the protest group organiser last week and told her to stop “agitating” for tar-sealed roads during the by-election campaign. And if they didn’t stop, their wish may not get fulfilled!
It is outrageous for a Government, a Minister or an MP, in a democracy to tell people who are exercising their legitimate rights of freedom and protesting about any issue (dusty roads that need tar seal in this case), to shut up for two weeks until the by-election is finished. It is even more outrageous to be threatened that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
National’s campaign manager, Steven Joyce, says there were no instructions to MPs to shut down protest groups. Mr Key says he had nothing to do with Dr Reti’s call.
This arrogant and disgraceful MP, Reti should resign or be sacked immediately. There is no other way. Nothing else is good enough. Is there?
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/labour-pm-must-deal-with-bullying-mp-2015031904
The end of the second paragraph should read :
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
Key is responsible for his govt why lie about it culpable
” ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!”
You give this statement as a direct quote. They don’t appear in the story you link to.
Can you please provide a source for these words being used?
They are not the DIREST exact words of Reti but they may as well be because that IS the intent and implications of his threat and blackmail.
However, I have added a further comment to my original comment as follows:
The end of the second paragraph should read :
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
The moment we all heard about Reti’s comments (up here in the north) we thought he’d taken a leaf out of his master’s book – threatening to withdraw funding for the 10 bridges if the Nats don’t win this by-election. If Shon Key can indulge in a little blackmail to voters, why shouldn’t Reti follow in his footsteps ? Definitely blackmail.
alwyn, “…” signifies a quote, not ‘…’
Clemgeopin clearly used the latter
On a different topic – I see in the Dom Post that the infamous health scheme initiated by Ryall owes millions in loans which are not being paid back. That health scheme is now being dismantled.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/67439973/Scheme-can-t-pay-back-loans
“” The Government’s flagship health cost-cutting scheme has taken out millions of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded loans, despite concerns it could not pay a cent back, new documents reveal. ………………………””
“” The organisation is now the subject of an investigation by the auditor-general. ……..””
“” HBL is being wound down by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman in June, with its programmes transferred to Auckland regional DHB-led services provider HealthAlliance. ………….””
And I’m left wondering why the heck certain southern health boards are going ahead with its ‘frozen food from Auckland for the patients ‘ proposal when it appears to have been such a shonky scheme.
What extraordinary failure …. and who needs $10 million to develop business plans ? Was this using private consultants ? And now Alkd DHB has to absorb the loss of funds? Baby cheeses.
And agree Jenny .. why on earth would Dunedin be buying frozen pre-cooked food from Auckland ? Clearly nothing to do with patient health and well-being. Stupid, stupid people.
( And have to ask now .. was Ryall pushed for incompetence ?)
This interview with Key by the Northern Advocate this morning is worth a read:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11419691
Thanks Karen. Great article. It reminds me of Effie Trinket visiting District 12!
Thanks Karen. Insightful interview. All those media/security minders! And an interesting trawl through the Northern Advocate.
And the frank and honest response from the PM to the questions asked? Not so much.
Key’s answers read like a Crosby and Textor report card. The interviewer tried, but slippery Key just slimes all over it as usual and never deviates from his scripts.
Personally, I would have offered him the black cup for some mana, so to speak.
Yes Rawshark but at least the way Ms Laird has written up the story just helps show up Shon Key and his slippery non-answers all the more ! And this paper goes out all over the place in the north.
@Karen
Yep thanks for that Karen. Nicely written piece. Key hates being asked tough questions.
Incidentally there was an editorial in the ODT yesterday that was very critical of the behaviour of Key and his government, especially in terms of lack of transparency and what this means for democracy.
I am surprised the herald picked it up.
As usual, read the comments. Very telling about the true state of the campaign..
Oh ah from Chris Hedges.
Utmost respect for this lady
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_most_dangerous_woman_in_america_20150315
How heartening it is to read of Kshama Sawant! I found this bit particularly striking:
“The idea that things have to get a lot worse to have some sort of awakening and bring about an alternative to this corrupt and defunct corporate political system is inaccurate,” she said to me. “What we need is a big surge for an independent working-class political alternative while people are experiencing a sense of confidence, after decades of bitter defeat…
I remember Xtasy, who I think must have left the country, saying we that need a new left wing political party. What we need more is a grassroots political movement that is able to make its presence felt, whether or not it takes the form of a political party.
Ideally it will not be in the form of a political party, but in the form of a pressure/action/education movement which applies leverage to the pressure points of every political party.
I agree with you where New Zealand is concerned. A political party would become an option if the movement’s concerns were not met by existing political vehicles, and the momentum was sufficient to make forming a party look like a goer. But the ability to make our presence felt has to come first.
ideally what would happen is that some capable individuals from the movement would over time eventually join every political party. This would give the movement some voice from within the parties as well, possibly even as candidates and MPs.
However, the independent pressure and presence outside the institutional establishment must always stay strong and separate from those political parties, if the true and honest voice of the people is to be heard true and loud in Wellington. At the moment, it’s not.
I think I see what you are getting at now – that a pressure group outside of the institutional establishment is not open to being transformed into yet another vehicle for the political class. I accept that point, and am mindful as well of the precarious path to a new party’s becoming established. I do not suggest a new party as a desirable outcome (I am a LP member, probably for similar reasons to yours) but would not rule it out altogether where a movement was able to gain real momentum at the grassroots level without also gaining real political influence within the existing establishment.
Yes indeed. The Left needs to re-examine what having “real political influence” means in a modern context. The Right have got the idea very well and exercise their own version of it reasonably ably (sometimes).
Party politics is undemocratic by nature it requires manipulation of the vote to achieve an out come and its is not responsible to the voters only the party
A successful candidate at an election serves his party before the voters or he does not get the favour of the party classic in Northland not much gets done just vote accumulation for the National party’s overall gerrymandering of political system, until now a bunch of false promises and unrealistic political expectations. The destruction of the RMA and the sovereignty of the nations resources in the area ie a sellout to the oil companies spells a F.U.C.K.E.D. PARADISE
Key is a liar and a cheat
Olwyn and CR
Would a left wing think tank be a vehicle that would match what you are talking about they seem very influential and regularly back the memes being presented by RW parties particularly?
I cannot speak for CR, but to me it would be an important part of such a movement. I will have to look up what Sue Bradford has to say about it, since that is the subject of her doctorate. One thing a think tank would hopefully do is pull some of the disparate threads of the left together.
I think Kshama points out an important issue that was taught to left – the hard way, the last election.
Never take money from the corporations.
Even if that corporation is fighting with other corporations, and may be extradited.
Grass roots is going to be broke – all that means is – it must be smarter.
I do not have any beef with either Dotcom or Hone Harawira. I think the lesson there was that money sans connections can be more damaging than no money. There is nothing the powerful hate more than a large sum of money that is not subject to their own concerns and agreements. And I wholeheartedly agree with you about money with corporate strings attached, whether potentially or actively.
How can this be? “She holds a doctorate in economics…” An economist who is driving changes to help the disadvantaged? Must be an aberration. Get rid of her say the powerful country wide elite.
And fancy bringing Seattle to its knees my raising the minimum wage to $15! Sacrilege. Thanks Adam.
On her thesis – elderly labor supply in a less developed rural economy
http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/citations/2857
marilyn waring has been promoting the idea of unpaid work being valued as part of GDP for decades…
it’s the economists who speak for banks that are trash
The culture of cupidity always has it’s dilettantes.
Have puzzled for days on the reasons Mark Osborne secured Nat selection … have written several times that I think he must have been ‘bought’ for his silence. No basis for it, other than a gut response to his ineptitude .. and yes, I accept he was approved as candidate when Key arrogantly believed there was never a problem in this safe seat.
But this was posted under a March 12 Dita di Boni Herald story on Northland …
Quote:
“The National ‘candidate’ owns the local beauty parlour where his wife and until the s**t hit the fan, Mike Sabin’s wife did all the work, he is not known for his ‘work ethic’. ”
So I am curious if anyone will confirm this ? That Osborne owns the business where Mrs Sabin and Mrs Osborne worked together, that is until Mrs Sabin didn’t for whatever personal reasons?
So has Osborne been bought for his silence on what has happened to Sabin and his family ?
Comment by Barnzy at 11.07 am .. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11415670
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11415670
So how much did Osborne lie to various media when he said he knew nothing of Sabin’s ‘personal matters’ ?
Oh, how I hope Winston bloodies the nose of Key and his crony government. I hope he leaves them reeling and unable to proceed with their anti-NZ agenda.
I think Winston has already bloodied Key’s nose. The fact that the Nats have had to stir themselves and spend big money would never have happened without Winston. Even should Winston not win I am sure that Northland will greatly benefit from the exposure. Woe betide Key if he doesn’t act in the future.
Winston the cunning old dog figured out very quickly that participating in the Northland by-election was a win win for NZ First. Labour eventually figured out that participating in the Northland by-election was going to be a lose-lose for them.
National, they’re just in total reactive mode right now. And ruing how they did not pause for a moment to stick the knife in Winston proper when he was down and out a few years ago.
they look panicked… and some who have so far been unquestioning of this Government, imust begin to wonder why…
@ianmac — yes, much woe betiding 😀 But i want Winston to complete the fight.
and CR .. I thought they did stick the knife in again and again and think him finished. What a lovely horror story for them.
rawshark yeshe
Shades of the Terminator reforming from small pools of metal that roll together, coalesce and rise! I will be back says Winston.
You cant put anything past this govt when it comes to lying and cheating, its head honcho is the master of lies for the whole western alliance
In the future? With what FJK did, he should have resigned already.
Nope – I think you’ll find its not Sabin’s wife who is the hairdresser/beautician, but Osborne’s wife. She runs the beauty parlour, so I’ve been told.
But I do have to say , if Osborne didn’t know much about Sabin before the 2014 election, he probably was the only one in the north who wasn’t questionning that very issue !
The average New Zealand Beauty Salon employs five people. It’s entirely possible that they worked together.
Mark and Jodi Osborne are the owners of Doubtless Beauty in Mangonui, which is just over the hill from Coopers Beach.
According to Slater the prominent NZer who has name suppression that will lapse today is not Mike Sabin but the person Cunliffe had lunch with.
If true, Hooton was particularly mischievious by referring to this in a thread where I asked if Sabin was forgotten.
http://thestandard.org.nz/key-crosses-a-bridge-too-far/#comment-984313
http://thestandard.org.nz/chutzpah-in-northland/#comment-985564
Would Cunliffe have known about the charges at the time he met this person (if what Cameron Slater says about the person is correct)? I imagine there would have been name suppression? Was it widely rumoured at the time? If Cunliffe were to be assumed knowledge of this person’s alleged crimes, would not the same apply to Key’s knowledge of Sabin’s?
Perfect logic Tracey … but we can’t expect Key and msm to play by the same rules they apply to Labour !
Funny, I believe Cunliffe had no idea, but Key knew everything.
Not just knew, but appointed him to as chairman of Parliament’s law and order committee.
Cunliffe didn’t have any political dealings with that other offender.
It seems to me that parliament is the last place to keep a secret. It strikes me as a very insular, gossipy, incestuous place (I include media gallery in this).
So IF it is the person who cunliffe had lunch with, what do we think the headline will be???
Have you got a link for whaleoil?
I don’t know how to do it without infesting people… I NEVER go there as a rule, but looking for the date of the lifting of name suppression i wound up there.
Hopefully you can tell me if I have misunderstood what he was trying to assert
http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whaleoil.co.nz%2F2015%2F02%2Fprominent-new-zealander-to-lose-name-suppression-march-19%2F&ei=MgYKVYyAHIfAmAW62oDYDw&usg=AFQjCNGojAAZOgB_efdovSedsVhwdQOn_g&sig2=lkE95svADMm6jnQxquXNPw&bvm=bv.88528373,d.dGY
After posting my comment @9.3, I saw your (Tracey) comment at 9.2.1.
Reading the WO post at the link, IMO this latest post essentially is saying what I was trying to say – that the prominent NZer whose name suppression expires today unless appealed by 5pm today IS NOT the other prominent NZer who Cunliffe had lunch with.
agree vv. it is not the one from the south.
I DID misunderstand… apologies to all impugned by my misunderstanding.
@Tracey .. go to http://www.donotlink.com .. cut and paste the url of the site you do not wish to directly link with and it makes a new link for you which u can cut and paste anywhere ! It’s marvelous .. I think lprent taught me how !
this new link for yr story:
http://www.donotlink.com/e656
thanks
You can even google the article and ctrl +copy link location (or the equivalent on your device) and paste that into donotlink, and that way you don’t have to open the website even once 🙂
GREAT
Your link took my browser straight to the actual whaleoil site. Probably not what you meant to do, but that’s what happened. Thanks but no thanks.
I don’t know how not to CV, and people wanted to know where my source was… I think I have completely understood…
CR .. see my donotlink above at 9.2.1.2
Different ends of the country, Tracey.
The case of the prominent NZer who Cunliffe met took place down south and has finished, with the person given permanent name suppression – against the wishes of the victim and others.
The court hearing that happened on the same day (30 Jan 2015) as Sabin resigned took place at the other end of the country. Although all details were suppressed, including the District Court where the hearing took place, one online (only) news service (Yahoo) actually published the location.
I will not publish a link but their article is still available via Google, using “disputed facts hearing NZ”; country NZ; and customizing the time period for the search.
[WARNING to anyone who finds the article – DO NOT provide a link or name the location here on TS, as the location suppression still continues until lifted.]
Tracey, re your first sentence in your comment @ 9 – Where and when did Slater say that the person whose name suppression will lapse today (unless appealed) is not Sabin but the person who Cunliffe had lunch with?
I have been going to WO using Donotlink to see what he writes on the suppression case(s) quite regularly as WO claims to know a lot about the case or cases (he has implied that there are more than one) but have not seen him claim what you said.
He has written a number of posts on the subject but has been very careful to not breach suppression and has moderated comments strongly to avoid this.
I am not going to go back there and search his archives, but remember that on occasions (including just a couple of days ago) he has implied that there may be more than one person up on current charges with name suppression – but I do not recall anything that linked these current cases with the closed case down south.
Thanks, googled. I posted the link above…
and they were adults in the south case, able to request lifting of their personal name suppression but failed in removing suppression of the felon’s name. Derryn Hinch in Oz made it plain he didn’t like it much.
LOL – I am sure that searches for Derryn Hinch’s blog site have gone up since the southern case!
Maybe he is friend’s with Winston ?
UPDATE
Re the case where name suppression is due to expire at 5pm today, Graeme Edgeler has just tweeted that he understands that an appeal is being lodged today, so the suppression will not lapse.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/578338832250118145
Last night, Graeme and Matt Nippert (NZ Herald) also had an interesting Twitter exchange, presumably also related to this case. Matt has been trying to get the terms of the suppression order, without success.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/578135219494109184
EDIT – the latter case may not be the same as Matt mentions High Court in this twitter exchange, whereas I think the other case is still in the District Court.
confusion again then ?
I may be in this instance as to whether Matt’s inquiries are about the same case – or a related but separate case.
The situation seems quite similar, however, in terms of not being able to get the terms of the suppression order ……
we shall see what we can see then … and thanks for twitter links.
I think the appeal against the name suppression in the case we are all interested in has to be lodged in the high court. I suspect it is the same case Matt Nippert is talking about because he first applied a month ago and was complaining about the refusal taking so long.
I would be very surprised if an appeal against the lifting of name suppression was not lodged today, and by leaving it until just before the deadline it is not likely to be heard this month. I doubt if there is any justification for the appeal, but certain people will not want it declined in the near future, hence the cynical last minute submission.
Thanks, Karen. I think you are right about the appeal having to be lodged with the High Court. I also think Matt’s application probably is related.
Leaving the lodging of an appeal today will delay matters and is not unexpected as National certainly don’t want anything getting out into the public arena until after the by-election. Don’t think it will do them any good, though!
and so the appeal lodged today will take revelation past the Northland election date?
The National voters of northland need to drink a can of give a fuck and do the right thing.
Thx Karen … how cynical they are. Interesting you doubt any justification for the appeal ? I expect it due to ‘family matters’.
Key must be sweating blood …. and it couldn’t happen to a better politician.
FURTHER UPDATE
Victoria Young of NBR has confirmed that an appeal has now been lodged and NBR will have an article up shortly. Graeme Edgeler replied that one or two weeks would normally be enough to file such an appeal – as oppose to four weeks in this case.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/578372179143704576
The suppression order was made and lifted in the District Court. The appealing of the lifting of the order therefore has to be in the High Court. Lodging the appeal on the last possible day is a cynical move to keep the incidents out of the election campaign. The Herald is applying to the High Court to expedite the appeal with urgency.
FJK and NAct are lower than I had ever thought possible in our country.
Slater is lying. The charges are different.
or maybe I have completely misunderstood…. so many maybes…
so maybe have a nice cuppa ? we got there in the end .. well, as far as we could ! 🙂
I’m cutting to the chase!
The suppression order which lapsed today is [deleted]. Of course an appeal was lodged. [deleted]
The MSM if they had any guts would – en masse – ignore the judiciary and print/speak what they know.
[lprent: Too far and too much danger for the site. ]
well sliced Anne ! This goes to the heart of Nats corruption… secrets kept for three elections. Something will come out, I have to believe it as the alternative is just too awful.
Someone needs to (and I never thought I would write that)
When it comes to the establishment and authoritarian regimes like the police, I have a healthy dose of contempt born out of experience. After a number of years of clandestine bullying, intimidation and some other worse forms of criminal behaviour, I approached the police (half a dozen times in total) and they did nothing. Why? Because there was a strong political element to the case, and I was on the ‘wrong’ side of the political fence. It therefore suited them to treat me and my claims with derision. It all happened 20+ years ago now, but I don’t see that anything much has changed.
Hence I have no qualms calling them out when I perceive it to be appropriate… regardless of consequences.
Here it is … and several media applying for urgency on the appeal …
“A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11419961
I blame the toffee pops and my complete inability to resist them… addled me poor brain (and the guy mowing lawns for 1.5 hours)
i need toffee pops today ….
They are EVIL!!!!!!!!! They pretend to be good but they want to harm you….
a National Govt biscuit ? Oh dear …. might have to go back to toblerone …
Anybody notice that there were anti neo lib riots in Germany today..350 arrests. Burnt cars. Tear gas. .saw it on RT and BBC. Looked on the rest of the MSN. …Zippo. The revolution will not be televised.
@ Ennui
I heard about the protest.. They are blaming the ECB. A spokesperson for the ECB complained that the protesters did not give them credit for trying to cushion economic blows to the economy. The economy is still alive and well and moving forward in its wheelchair with the help of dedicated attendants. The people are alive and not very well and protesting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/67441821/teens-stood-down-from-school-after-attack-on-gang-member
Stood down? Should get a commendation.
Commending vigilante/gang prospect behaviour. Yeah, cool mate.
Sometimes the police need a little help every now and then so I’m comfortable with it
How can you be so certain of that, when the amount of information in your link is so sparse?
If some of us attack and assault some MPs who voted against feeding children, will you champion us for commendation?
Go for it and I’ll let you know 🙂
I thought as much.
Seeing as you and others on here wouldn’t commit such an act (wouldn’t have the courage) it seemed a rather pointless question
Assault = courage?
Nice to know, thanks chris.
Did you mean Chris Bishop felix? That would be funny, he’s a right little twerp. What a wannabe tough guy this Puckish Rogue numpty is. He has definitely got some guts.
I meant “chris73” which is one of the many other names “Puckish Rogue” (PR) uses here, although we’re not supposed to say so.
You’re welcome
says the big man with the fake name…
Really? Theres good reasons why people use fake names on here, including but not limited to job security
I thought we were discussing courage… coward
The IPCC report on the pork’s investigation of the Roastbusters is out. No surprises: they were useless and failed at the most basic standards of investigation. Floods of crocodile tears are flowing. Disgusting.
Here’s the form of press releases to follow in all such circumstances in chronological order.
1. There is no problem. Nobody has complained. What’s your problem?
2. You are being mischievous in claiming that there is a problem and undermining public confidence in our good work.
3. There might be a problem, but we are very disappointed that you brought this to public attention when we were really dealing with it.
4. It’s an isolated case.
5. We regret that an external authority has shown us to be absolutely fucking useless because one of the perpetrators was a cop’s son but it’s all historical and everything’s been fixed now so I don’t know why you’re making a fuss about it now.
Repeat the next time it inevitably happens.
The 44 page document from the IPCA can be found here: 19 March 2015 IPCA Public Report – Report on Police’s handling of the alleged offending by ‘Roastbusters’.pdf.
Thanks Rhinocrates and Molly, have created a post
pork?
Yes, an unclean beast.
IPCA report into; “Roast Busters”, is highly critical of police. But the only mention of reopening the case I’ve seen so far is:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/67443183/ipca-roast-busters-report-slams-police
Surely this can’t be the end of it when:
114.6 – The fact that the father of one of the young men was a Police officer had no influence on Police’s handling of the investigations.
How can Sir David Carruthers make such a definitive statement ? I suggest it would be well-nigh impossible to find out the veracity of such a claim.
and fair to suggest Sir David would know exactly that …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/public-healthcare/news/article.cfm?c_id=294&objectid=11419782
10,000 Kiwi kids in need have support cut …
But, but, but we need a new flag ???
In the nearly 50 years of being an adult so to speak and having a landline in my home I can’t remember when I received the last of maybe 3 unsolicited ‘research organisation’ calls seeking telephone survey participation.
Last night I took a call from an articulate, pleasent voiced young man seeking that I respond to questions in respect of a “major government department”. I asked for the identity of the party commissioning the survey, noting that if it was the National Party……”not interested mate….”. The caller said “that should be obvious from the first question” but no, he was not allowed to expressly identify. Strange ? Refuse to tell me then tell me.
I went along. There were put numerous questions the first and every one following about “the IRD”. For answer on a scale of 1-5. All boiling down to whether IRD is fair, understanding, uses technology well, etc etc. In the round broad brush stuff.
This afternoon another call this time about the ACC. “We are in the middle of a by-election in Northland and I get two calls in two days to my identifiably Northland landline…….no thank you.”
Call me suspicious…….but the coincidence of there being perhaps two and a half decades between the date of the last such call and the two successive days of the 4th and 5th ? About entities under the purview of a cabinet minister……
Didn’t engage the second call but in yesterday’s – demographic established, level of education including degree/post graduate or not, self employed or not, various other categorisations canvassed. Yesterday’s caller did name the organisation conducting the survey which I don’t recall. Today’s didn’t as I recall but it was a short call.
This PM does not indulge in coincidence. Have you asked at kiwiblog? Afterall Farrar has dipped his toe in ethics, hasn’t he? You know after DP?
Incidentally I got a refund cheque fro IRD. had to wait for it to clear. Started to worry the government had bankrupted us 😉
Of course it was not a coincidence. My God they’re getting desperate! Fancy resorting to the pretense of acting on behalf of two controversial govt. departments – IRD and ACC – to glean the views of your average punter in Northland. Next week, what’s the bet there are going to be two major reforms announced concerning the two departments in question.
Golden days for Davey boys Curia, him and the other players like Matty are simply loving the extra work desparation is throwing their way.
Cripes they could bill any value and it would get paid the way listing ship NACT is behaving in order to get it back upright.
Don’t know about Matty, I thought he was still in the dog box. DP Farrar though, mad overtime.
News just out.
‘Prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault appeals for name suppression.’
A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11419961
Waited until the last day …
Unbelievable corruption.
Well dirty is – what dirty does.
I’m sure the amoral person is happy to help justice.
Nothing to fear – nothing to hide?
Yes interesting how some folk are allowed their own privacy.
But don’t want the rest of us any privacy through the TPPA.
Privacy is the tool for the rich, to keep us in the dark, about the fact, they have no morals.
Wonder how public this knowledge is.
very, but not yet enough. http://www.donotlink.com/e67z
This has to qualify for some; worst taste ever, award. Using the day of an IPCA report that found that there was; “no indication that because one of the boys fathers was a policeman this had any influence in the early [rape] investigation” to distract from the continued name suppression of an ex-policeman accused of sexual assault. All in aid of not having to explain governmental appointments in the leadup to a rare consultation with those that government supposedly represents!
[If I’m flying too close to the wind for the legal wellbeing of TS in this comment, excise all but the first sentence and: Euuuwwww!!!]
yes. very noticeable isn’t it ? then I thought I was just being toooo cynical. Yeah? Nah.
In The North it is very much public knowledge, ackshilly……except that we engage in the charade of discussion with everyone knowing but no one ackshilly saying. As noted by me in a comment here a couple of days ago recounting dancing discussion with a reasonably senior cop. A man I respect very much whom I believe reciprocates that. Wan, ‘not saying’ smiles both sides…….much averting of the eyes.
Notably, this man volunteered as follows when joshingly I enquired as to whether he was voting for Winston – “Well, I’ve always voted National……but this time……really……I dunno.” This man is hard National to coin a phrase ! What’s happening with soft National ? In fact this same man did say he thinks Winston’s gonna piss in.
Which may reflect sentiment he’s privy to on the side of things to which I have minimal access. Although two decent fulla cops I’ve spoken to since are all thumbs up for WP. One had already early-voted.
Completely off that thread – UKTV on in the background – that great wit Stephen Fry – “Confucious said……the good man knows what’s right……the sales man knows what sells !”
Now doesn’t that put you in mind of our very own, variously, simpering, gauche, construct angry, gutless, lying, Richie stalking, Little Churchill man(?), on the 9th floor ?
Which thoroughly accurate various characterisations ackshilly bring us full circle to revisit my policeman friend’s dilemma.
If this already got mentioned and I missed it, then just enjoy it all over again 🙂
before you begin to shake with fear recalling these idiots have nukes
didn’t link anywhere, freedom .. maybe check it ?
fixed 🙂
I get a recurring/sporadic/unpredictable problem when putting in clean linkys.
When sending, something inserts extra quotation marks and drops the http: from the address leading to our friend 404, or similar denier of information.
Sometimes I remember to check for it and fix it immediately,
now, where did I put that post-it to remind me 🙂
For Post Its I use the old AT Notes programme .. so brilliant but the inventor never did any further work on it, maybe he got bored. But it is still one of the best note systems around imho … so simple and reliable ..
http://atnotes.free.fr/download.html
I find it easier to just post the link as its own visible self. We get to see the URL that way too, which is often helpful.
Sometimes it is just aesthetics 🙂
+ you probably know this but if you hover over the clean-link you get the URL at the base of your browser and can always hover + right click for ‘open/copy/save URL” options
if we had button html instead of having to type it, I’d probably be more aesthetic too 😉
Harder to see the URL on a phone, have to open a popup, although the txt size on my laptop isn’t that great either.
Just as well we don’t have nukes! Key doesn’t even know what the gst is on $1.29.
Then again he most likely will tell a made up number for the rate of unemployment and what our govt debt is running at – so it’s all good.
Why dont people get it Key is FASCIST !!!
He has no right to be PM of this country and should be held up as the bastard he is
How much damage can you think of that has directly impacted on those who depend on govt support thru no fault of their own who are being denied the help that any truly free society would ensure was there no matter what the prosperity of the others is
You’d think this country was on the bones of its arse the way national portray it yet it is obvious we are run by a bunch of miserable self serving right wing capitalist who lie, destroy democracy and pander to a war machine that any sound thinking people would not have a bar of
If we are over a monetarist barrel its because we have a traitor for a PM WHO IS NOT A NZER in my view because I grew up with people who had fought in a real war which was about the crap that this govt does without the sanction of a true vote. this govt is corrupt and out of control and we need a new system of representation in govt in this country
Just in case there wasn’t enough crappy news today, in barges Rupert Murdoch :
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/67448840/rupert-murdochs-news-corp-takes-apn-stake
Why the Real Story of the Irish Exodus to America Isn’t Taught in Schools
And the same is happening today in NZ. As our children go hungry the capitalists export food.
Gower on tv3 news tonight was saying Winston is going to make sure the Sabin news will get out before the election.
And Osbourne was saying he knows nothing.
It’s Osborne…
ANDREW LITTLE speaking in Parliament on 10 Feb 2015.
“What about the standards of the Government? What about the promise of 2008 that “The Government I lead will be a Government of good standards.”, and its chance to do something, its chance to demonstrate that National actually is a party of standards in Government? It was confronted with it at the end of last year. One of National’s MPs was under a police investigation. One of its MPs—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! I invite members throughout this debate to be very careful. We know that there was a court case, and we know that all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! There is Standing Order 115. Should any members think I should consider this matter differently, I invite them to use that Standing Order and write to me. At this stage no member has done so. I invite Mr Little to continue.
ANDREW LITTLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I understand and appreciate the caution you are expressing. I make no reference at all and make no comment beyond the fact that it is on the record that a MP was under a police investigation. He is not the first. That Government well knows, because it has drawn the attention of the public to other MPs under a police investigation—a police investigation that led to no outcome at all.
But here is the point. We had an MP under investigation, who was then allowed by this Government to chair the parliamentary committee—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! [Interruption] Order! I have given a ruling that I had given considerable consideration to. If the member continues in this vein, I will have no choice but to terminate his speech. I have given a ruling whereby we acknowledge there is a court case of which all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! This is a time when this Parliament has a responsibility, a duty, to respect the jurisdiction of the court, and I expect that to occur today. I invite Mr Little to continue.”
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/debates/debates/daily/51HansD_20150210/volume-703-week-7-tuesday-10-february-2015
How can that idiot speaker claim to be protecting the integrity of parliament?