So, one of Act’s big funders wants Act to follow Brash’s Orewa speech model, of “equal” treatment for Maori and Pakeha.
But behind this egalitarian argument, is a fundamental dislike of Maori culture, and a lac k understanding of the inequalities that result in a high proportion of Maori being poor, unemployed, and without hope:
The biggest donor to the Act Party says he gave the money to Don Brash and John Banks so they could stop special treatment for Maori who were “either in jail or on welfare”.
[…]
The campaign came after the Rugby World Cup, which showcased Maori in a way Mr Crimp opposed.
“It was an embarrassment at the Rugby World Cup, [Maori] coming to shore in canoes, with hardly any clothes on, waving spears and poking their tongues out, all painted up.”
He said it was intended as a welcome but would have terrified visitors.
“Every opportunity the Maoris get they have to do this war dance, whether it is for a funeral or something happy or a wedding. They feel they have to take all their clothes off, stick tongues out and wave spears. That’s not New Zealand.”
He said New Zealand was poorer because of Maori claims, welfare, language revival, television and crime.
“The Maori language, that is the biggest waste of money that New Zealand has ever spent on anything … $500 million a year to promote the Maori language.
“It’s making New Zealand poorer by paying the Maori out the welfare and the language.”
That’s “free speech” for you…. and for that I am grateful…. it enables some people to demonstrate the poverty, and sometimes nastiness, of their beliefs.
Thanks. So in contrast to Crimp’s one law for all Pakeha and Maori, he reckons there’s one law (or set of rules) for everyone else, but he can do what he likes.
he has acted that way for as long as I have known of him (45 plus years). Being at death’s door has done absolutely nothing to sweeten his nature except his generosity to the local SPCA (I have to be fair)
Sorry, didn’t end the quote at the right point. in my7.16am comment.
The extract from the article ends here;
“The Maori language, that is the biggest waste of money that New Zealand has ever spent on anything … $500 million a year to promote the Maori language.
“It’s making New Zealand poorer by paying the Maori out the welfare and the language.”
This last sentence is mine : That’s “free speech” for you…. and for that I am grateful…. it enables some people to demonstrate the poverty, and sometimes nastiness, of their beliefs.
Sorry to burst your bubble, I am all for Culture but there is an enormous waste going on just to keep the Nats in Government. Lots of moneys being spent in all the wrong places. It is disgusting – I repeat: DISGUSTING – that the people in Christchurch have to wait to get a roof over their head while PUBLIC money is being spent on items with NO PRIORITY at this time. i.e.paying Gangs on the belief that they may just change their behavior is unbelievable. No wonder that NZ is being taken to the cleaners, no wonder.
While I don’t think anywhere near enough is being done in Christchurch I also don’t think funding for every other programme should be stopped because of Christchurch.
One thing the Government is doing in Christchurch is spending a lot of money they’re just not doing it in ways that actually help Christchurch aside from consultants in Christchurch.
Sorry Chris, I disagree. If there is only so much money in the public purse (taxpayer money) than spending has to be prioritized. Infrastructure is part of public spending and for people to not have basics of clean water and sanitation vs spending on projects currently not on the top of the list is simply irresponsible. There is no other way of saying this: political correctness will not elevate poverty, it just polarizes the parties trying to get “their” project paid for. I am absolutely certain that there is enough money in the Maori Trusts to fund these projects like I mentioned earlier.
Why should Maori Trusts have to pay for it though Gangs are not solely a Maori problem.
You missed my point though that the problem in Christchurch is not that there isn’t enough money being spent down there because a heap is being spent but it is the way it is being spent that is the problem. That won’t be fixed by cutting every programme that someone determines as non-priority.
Clean water and sanitation are a City Council responsibility.
As for Maori Trusts funding gang projects – it would have to be consistent with their trust deeds and, in most cases, all the gang members would have to whakapapa to that particular trust to qualify. In my experience most trusts only give funding for high school and tertiary education
Absolutely, funding of any gang projects are not necessary race related. However, Maori are at the moment the only one getting PUBLIC funding. This I feel is currently completely out of tough with the real needs of any community.
For a relatively recent immigrant you sure know a lot about what Māori get.
Māori are not the only ones that receive government funding. Any funding specifically targeting Māori must also incorporate non-Māori into the mix (anyone can apply under Whānau Ora).
Public funding was established on the back of Māori largesse – what Māori gave up in order for the public to reside peaceably in this country (land, waterways, status, the capacity to be self-sufficient and autonomous etc)..
I recommend you study more what Māori have lost and then compare it to what we have gained before making judgement on how beneficient the public has / is being towards tāngata whenua.
Another gripe that is frequently thrown at Māori by Pākehā is that we seek to separate (apartheid) however what you are advocating is exactly that – Māori fund Māori issues, although we are also taxpayers, business people, earners. Are you suggesting that whatever taxes we pay into the government coffers also be directed towards our own interests. I could live with that especially when the Maori economy is supposedly worth an estimated $37 billion.
Sorry, foreign waka, I completely missed this on Saturday but evidence please:
What gangs are being publicly funded? Evidence that all members of the gang are Māori (should any gang prove to be publicly funded)
I get more than a little annoyed that such divisive and unsubstantiated canards keep being uttered as if they are true with no evidence to back them up. A lie, no matter how often repeated (or by whom) remains a lie
“I am absolutely certain that there is enough money in the Maori Trusts to fund these projects like I mentioned earlier.”
I’m absolutely certain that there is much much more money in Pakeha trusts to pay for the things they (Pakeha) need than there is an any Maori trusts.
We know from media reports that Pakeha use these trusts to access much state assistance, to deprive women of their matrimonial property, to close down companies and still keep the money they have transferred out of it, to get the state to pay for their residential care when they are elderly and so on.
You’re a bit like those I was at school with who bitched about the (few) Maori kids on scholarships to go to boarding school. I was also a scholarship kid paid for by the state, they were paid for by iwi scholarships – you know their own money.
No student or parent did I ever hear whinge about my scholarship – the constant five year refrain about “these Maori” kids being funded by the taxpayer was just another step in demonstrating the irrational, uneducated premise that many Pakeha have about Maori – most pakeha of whom would never have stepped on a marae in their lives.
Often this rhetoric influences foreigners who come here as does the media portrayal – the fact that foreigners get sucked into this only ever reminds me of Muldoon’s statement about raising the IQ of both countries. It just that on this occasion we are on the receiving end.
To Adele and Descendent of Smith
Firstly, you both assume to know what I know, how I live and what my background is. You are wrong on all accounts by the way. However, in regard to by comments- what I am saying is that 2 wrongs do not make one right. Yes, Maori got the colonial treatment albeit to a somewhat lesser extent (not an excuse!) than in other countries. However, NZ has come a long way to pay reparation and a far as I can see Maoris biggest hurdle these days is not so much the payouts themselves but the lack of the trickling down from the Trusts and Elites (this is so familiar)- Oh I can hear the drums already……
This defensive attitude is what truly stays in the way of further development and is politically used and EVERYBODY outside this can see it. Not the ones actually involved, of cause not – what else is new.
Anyway, my comment was directed at Government spending per see as I feel that any money that is collected by law abiding taxpaying people should be used wisely and appropriately. This means that this country needs to first cover the basics for EVERYBODY before it can decide on any other use of moneys. You are talking about the crown when referring to any moneys that Maori claim and seem to forget that it is in fact your neighbor with the 2.5 kids and a mortgage, worry to hold a job if at all having one, getting by on minimum wages who is now asked to pay. So maybe you have to ask the Queen?
As for the study of Maori, yes I have done some, their history, the genealogy and I was on a marae, meetings etc. Possibly more than your average NZlander. But there you go, this is not about race, this is about right or wrong.
I assume things about you based on your comments and it appears to me, as a person with extensive knowledge and lived experience of Te Ao Māori, that your interactions with Māori history have done you little favour as your ignorance is still woefully apparent, and whoopee that you have been on Marae. The days of feting non-Māori for learning about tāngata whenua are well and truly over.
You are suggesting that Māori Trusts should fund Māori social (and presumably health services) because the country cannot afford to do so under the present recessionary climate. Your suggestion does in fact have precedence in history. The introduction into this country of the old age pension exemplifies how Māori were treated differently as citizens.
When the old age pension was introduced in 1908, Registrars were instructed to make Māori access to the pension as difficult as possible. All Māori claims for the pension had to be filtered through the Native Land Court and placed before a magistrate, effectively slowing the process.
Other mechanisms used to deny Māori equal treatment included removing a swathe of Māori names from the pension rolls. For those Māori that could collect a pension their entitlements were reduced to two-thirds of the amount paid to Pākehā. From 1925 the maximum rate payable to Māori was £32.6s per annum or 71% of the maximum of £45.10s. In 1927, many Māori pensions were below £20, less than half the rate paid to Pākehā.
Koroua and Kuia were literally been starved through this inequitable treatment. The extreme poverty of Māori communities became the rationale for different treatment. Pākehā saw Māori poverty as a sign of lower expectation rather than greater need and by the 1920s living in a pa became a reason to disbar Māori from full pension entitlement. Other types of welfare benefits followed a similar discriminatory pattern. Such treatment continued well into the 1940s.
Your type of thinking is a rehash of the colonial mindset and is discriminatory.
Thank god I learned good manners, I would otherwise get a bit stroppy here. You seem to enlarge the issue ever so much just to further your agenda. Woppee? Well, at least I made an effort. How about you? What have you done so far to learn about the people around you if they are not Maori?
As for equal rights to benefits, I belief it these are paid on equal footing. I am not referring to a time some 80 years ago but to the time right now. My comments were specifically to the plight of families and elderly in Christchurch. But with all that politicking that point seem to get lost on you. It is in fact your ignorance that seem to put just yourself into the center and hence no one else counts. Meanwhile, there is hardship due to a major natural event and every cent is needed to get the people back to a reasonable state of affairs. We are not talking about luxuries when providing sanitary facilities and drinking water which are too expensive for any City Council to cover. I belief that in light of this need funding of none urgent items should be suspended – such as benefits to Gangs.
As to your assertion of discrimination, I really don’t follow how you get this out of my comments. Because a civilized, democratic society provides for EVERYBODY equally and that means also for the folks in Christchurch.
Discrimination is such an easy throw around word these days that it seem to be often just used to put someone else at unease. In response to your assumptions, I am tempted to give you more insight but then again, it wont help the issue as your point of view is set and seemingly in a frame of mind that is not really open to any conversation.
The provision of safe drinking water and the provision of sanitation are both core business for territorial and local authorities in New Zealand. That Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn councils have to face an unprecedented bill due to earthquake damage doesn’t change that.
Many councils are faced with similar issues post flooding.
This in no way makes acceptable that some are still waiting to know what will happen to their properties, and hence, whether or not water and sanitation will be supplied to their property in the future. That is in the hands of CERA and the Minister.
There are many who would agree that a lot of the money Government is supposed to be invested in Christchurch is difficult to see at the flaxroots, that again is something that you might want to consider investigating via OIA requests.
What that has to do though with diverting money from educational, well health and other social issues, particularly those to ‘Māori’ is unclear to me. What is even more unclear is why my iwi,hapū and whanau trusts should pay for what are government and community initiatives. Our investment strategies are clear: for us, and for the generations to come. That means that we as the members get our ‘dividend’ in ways other than an annual sum in the bank. Our choice, no one elses business, and certainly not to be spent as you or any politician decides. We suffered too much for too long to give away our hard won financial independence. (BTW, if you think that recompense of approximately 1% of the calculated loss is unreasonable, imagine the cost to the country of proper restitution. )
Lastly, why should the Queen pay the restitution. The profits made from illegal land purchases and sales didn’t flow to the Queen, it went, as usual, to the bankers, pastoralists and other colonial parasites, not Queen Victoria.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koe. If I may just flow on from your words.
Foreign Boat
I have exceptional manners, unless I am confronted by ignorance, especially from someone who should know better. In a discussion on Crimp’s blatant racism you introduce into the Kōrero a back-hander about public money going into all the wrong places (Māori) while the good citizens of Christchurch SUFFER because of inadequate resourcing. Your opinion says that in such dire circumstances, culture (Māori) is expendable and Māori initiatives should have no priority insofar as public spending is concerned. The greater good must prevail. You do not recommend that SPCA funding be curtailed or Creative New Zealand funds be re-directed.
You raise the evil spectre of Gangs receiving public funds at the expense of the neighbour with 2.5 kids, and a mortgage while STRUGGLING to hold onto a minimum wage job. For added emotional effect, you ought to have included the little old lady having to eat cat food because some Maori received funding to attend a well catered hui. Crimp would creak with glee at the hyperbole.
Apparently, Māori are blind to the excesses being poured into their coffers by the generous but increasingly (and rightly) indignant public. The generosity you speak of obviously includes welfare – but numbers show the largest burden to the welfare state is superannuation – and very few Māori receive the super (32,000 as opposed to 550,000 non-Māori). There is also roughly a ten year difference in life expectancy between Māori and Pākehā.
If the generosity includes treaty settlements, Ngai Tahu settlement monies (as an example) equates to roughly $120 for every acre that was stolen, dishonestly acquired, or confiscated. If the generosity includes government spending on targeted social and health services, the health spend (as an example) equates to roughly $90 per Māori head of population in the South Island or 3% of available health funding.
I am fairly sure that the gangster incident that provoked your ‘crimpness’ was when a Dunedin based gang received funding under whānau ora for $50,000. However, compare that amount to the $8billion being siphoned off the rest of the country including Māori communities, businesses, workers, and taxpayers to fuel the Christchurch rebuild – whose stunted progress is more about government ineptitude rather than lack of resources.
I should mention that Ngai Tahu is currently offering accelerated trade training to Māori to help with the rebuild and that Māori organisations across the country were quick to respond to the aftermath of the earthquakes, Rotorua (as an example) sent a team of 18 doctors and nurses to Christchurch to aid in recovery.
If I accuse you of being discriminatory in your viewpoints, to quote koro Crimp “the truth hurts.”
Your comments are such that I will just end this with a short reply:
1/ I was not aware that NZ has Tribal Law instead of an all encompassing State Law.
2/ There is no excuse of Apartheid politics, neither in social nor any other matter and this goes for all sides.
3/ It becomes increasingly obvious that one cannot voice a point of view without being berated in such manner that it seem that no other voice is allowed because of past events.
I am of the view that I am treated in this way because I have identified myself as an immigrant and thus I can reassure you, feel discriminated against. Not that I really care, mind you.
So, as far as I am concerned I will draw my own conclusion and leave it at that.
I’m so glad the Herald gave Crimp such a good hearing. The more that NZ sees what is behind ACT the quicker ACT will be gone.
He said the party had to be more direct, although it was not able to position itself as “anti-Maori”.
Asked if his political views could be labelled racist, he said: “I don’t give a stuff what I’m called. You have to look at the facts and figures. This is the problem with New Zealanders. Most of them dislike the Maoris intensely – I won’t say hate – but they don’t like to say so.”
Would love to know who Crimp spends his time with. And who he does business with in Invercargill.
He goes on to say that there are hardly any Maoris down there, LOL. What a dick.
That interview with the horrible Mr Crimp was so outrageously awful I actually laughed. But sadly, he’s only saying what South Island rednecks are thinking, or saying on talkback/down the pub.
I don’t think so Sookie. Even within the redneck communities I think the subset that believe what Crimp does is very small. He is very extreme. He is a white supremacist and what he is saying is basically promoting cultural genocide. He hates Maoris and he thinks that their culture should not exist because it’s not NZ. The rednecks I know might think that Maori shouldn’t get special treatment etc but I don’t often hear the outright white supremacist stuff.
Yeah Andrews Housing, that bastion of good business ethics and practice.
Give RadioNZ a call, they’re usually open to getting a heads up on things. They’ve had ACT commenting on what the Herald reported about Crimp on the news today.
Exactly! He probably doesn’t realise that tuatara is a Maori word. A surprising number of children to whom I taught Te Reo didn’t realise just how many words had been borrowed into NZ English
Thanks Zorr and TED. A pity that our current Government doesn’t see the connection between taxing the very rich to get the funds for investment which allows the Middle class to grow. TED is probably another nail in the heart of the Austerity plan. The middle Low classes are being harmed but the very rich have no dents and reports say the very rich NZers have increased their wealth. Not fair!
National down 2.5 points to 44.5% and Labour up 1.5 points to 30% in the Roy Morgan Poll.
Disappointing. They have been on the back foot for months and Labour gains less than the margin of error. We had plenty of opportunities but failed to put the boot (or knife) in. Where is Labour’s “mongrel”? Has Labour changed strategists since the failure of last year? Are the same strategists doing the same things and hoping for a different outcome? WTF!!
I’m not keen on Labour’s current strategies. But I take polls with a grain of salt. Long term trends in polls have more value than individual ones. And the 1% difference between National’s loss and Labour’s gain is margin of error stuff.
“Autoparts manufacturer Delphi has developed a diesel-like ignition engine running on gasoline, providing a potential 50 percent efficiency improvement over existing gas-powered engines. Engineers have long sought to run diesel-like engines on gasoline for its higher efficiency and low emissions. Delphi’s engine, using a technique called gasoline-direct-injection compression ignition, could rival the performance of hybrid automobiles at a cheaper cost.”
Not necessarily. The whole thing about oil-based transportation is that there’s no technology in progress that can substantially increase energy efficiency. Well there’s one right there.
I’m not suggesting this engine is going to replace the vehicle fleet in any significant way. More that existing vehicles will simply be scrapped, we’ll have 1/20th the number of cars on the road as we do now, but with this particular type of engine we might end up with 1/10th instead.
Also things like trucks and construction vehicles are much more vital to the industrial economy than private personal transport, so efficiencies of these types will help to keep those vehicles running.
Not necessarily. The whole thing about oil-based transportation is that there’s no technology in progress that can substantially increase energy efficiency. Well there’s one right there.
No, the problem is that there’s no energy source available to replace oil. That one will extend petrol vehicles for a time if it actually works as envisaged (I think it probably will) and it get widely used but to get that will require the government to remove older engines from the road.
I’ve never been as pessimistic as RA and AFKTT. I think industrial society will continue but that it will have to shrink to fit into the energy constrained future. This tech will help there and agree that trucks are more important than cars, trains are also more important than trucks.
There’s a lot that needs planning for and leaving it to the market won’t work. Actually, leaving it to the market invariably leads to collapse.
DTB a product called graphene could make electric motors lighter and more efficient.
The infernal combustion motor will have its day sooner than later!
Its something, but showing that Labour is back in the same spot as Aug 2011 is neither here nor there, given that National has hit multiple scandals so far this year.
Muzza, yet again, I agree. Economy wise, NZ is just a couple of islands off the coast of Australia.
Is the media saying any more about the French politicans taking a 30% pay cut?
I agree with you there muzza. But there’s only one view you get when you are shackled to debt and time worn habits that compel you to persist in chasing personal material gain (if only to pay the mortgage and other debts or tread water) : the wall you are shackled to.
A friend in the energy management profession told me something interesting in the pub last night. The hydro lakes are very low this year, so low that in a non-asset sales year they would be issuing warnings to the public. The companies up for sale are deliberately not saying anything about the problem as that would affect their share price, no doubt because the government ordered them to shut the hell up. Certainly the lakes looked very low when I was up in the Mackenzie a couple of weeks ago. Oh for some media coverage, but of course it will be ignored as usual by this useless bunch of Nat lickspittles we’re stuck with.
There was something on Checkpoint (5-7pm National Radio weeknight news) about this, although they didn’t say it was because of the asset sales. I can’t remember everything, but the guy was saying that the new structure of the industry in NZ encourages thermal energy providers to produce power whereas in the past they didn’t have as much incentive. They mentioned the new law that says if the power companies are forced to implement a rationing scheme then they must actually pay customers money as compensation – a very strong market force to do everything possible to avoid that situation.
Russell Brown has written a brilliantly funny satircal piece over at Public Address where he ruthlessly parodies the faddish foodism of a completely out of touch and pampered New Zealand middle class.
The great thing is the deadpan way in which the whole post appears to be completely serious.
After a lifetime of avoiding all food-fads like the plague I finally fell for this one in Feb this year.
Since then I’ve lost 12 kg and have never enjoyed my food more in my life. And I’m fit again, 8-10 hr tramping days are easy, and I can do real forehand chin-ups again. This at an age when our grandparents were considered ‘old’. This is nothing like usual yo-yo ‘diet’ either… I’m eating as much as I need to feel satisfied and the flab keeps melting off.
And I’m busy DOING things in my life again, doing a new qualification, contemplating a new building project, leading a community project, tackling a major new project at work… and enjoying it.
It’s also why I haven’t had the time for The Standard so much recently…I still drop in daily to read the threads, but I’ve got the energy now to live life the way I believe in; as compared to just sitting around typing about it.
Ultimately food IS political, and my own personal experience convinces me of this. Because there is no doubt in my mind that the standard dietary ‘food pyramid’ serves no-one other than the food industry conglomerates while harming us ordinary people who eat it.
Oh and our grocery bill is around 2/3rds of what it was last year.
That’s great RL. The Paleo diets are pretty interesting. Don’t work for everyone one, but many people seem to get alot of benefit, and there is sound science and evidence to back it up. It’d be good to see the political blogosphere get more nutritionally literate.
I don’t think Mana is anything close to being a Marxist party.
That said, WTF has that got to do with the article? And, perhaps, the electorate doesn’t show favour for Marx due to the spin and BS that has been propagated about over the last century which, as the article shows, was wrong.
On that note, do you have anything to say about what the article highlights, specifically, the failure of capitalism as predicted by Marx?
Dialectical Materialism, though a fascinating bit of the history of philosophy, is a Fail.
Reminds of a John Ralston Saul quip about Marxism in a nutshell being economic determinism and the belief society is a wide open battle field – therefore the only practicing Marxists these days are the neo cons and the big corporate executives.
A story from The Independent about the effects of the international hate campaign against beneficiaries. Excerpt below.
I was talking with a friend in Auckland the other night who was in tears about being vilified for being a beneficiary.
…Earlier this year, a Sunday Times article featured the headline “End the something for nothing culture”. Below was a picture of the Gallagher family from the comedy-drama Shameless, as though these fictional caricatures were real life. This one-time paper of record quoted a Whitehall official on benefit recipients: “If we want them to tap dance, then they will tap dance.” Rod Liddle – who dresses up the boorish rants of a thick pub bore as journalism – claimed that his new year’s resolution “was to become disabled”, perhaps with a “newly invented” illness like fibromyalgia, so he could claim benefits. As the economic catastrophe that began four years ago led to a national jobs’ crisis – there are now over six million people looking for full-time work – the “scrounger'”caricature perversely has become more and more popular.
It is tempting to ignore the ramblings of glorified internet trolls like Liddle, but their projected ignorance has consequences. Six of the biggest disability charities have warned that the campaign of demonisation – by both journalists and politicians – has led to a surge in abuse towards people with disabilities. According to Scope, two-thirds reported abuse in September last year, up from 41 per cent just four months earlier.…
What an utter horror! The Western World is heading in a direction that is just terrifying. We are becoming like swamp birds with cell phones, and with the capacity to do much greater damage.
Of course it’s a horror Olwyn. And so many people love to wallow in it nowadays.
It will get worse because our owners want it to get worse. They want us divided and fighting over the scraps they deign to let trickle our way. The one thing they cannot afford it for us ordinary people realise what has happened and to turn our attention on those who perpetrated it.
Yes. That poor family is portrayed as a drain on society, the person who killed their youngest kids is now a mass murderer, while David Cameron and that shock jock woman make themselves another G & T, and think about how they can make use of this tragedy, if they think about it at all. We often say we must wake up before it’s too late – for the Philpotts and many others it is already too late.
The only thing going to plan in the latest dotcom scam seems to be the tax dodge.
The big pop in Facebook Inc. shares never came.
Buyers did not rush into the market to snap up shares of the social networker. And the big Wall Street banks that brought Facebook public scrambled to prevent the stock from collapsing into declines.
The underwriters averted a potential debacle by scooping up shares of the company during the Nasdaq debut. This propped up the stock, keeping it above the $38 offering price through most of the day.
Regarding bullying brought up in the context of millionaire Act Party donor, actually being a bully seems to be a central part of Maori behaviour.
I remember three Maori co workers. One told me about how she went to school with black eyes from the step father, but “at least it made me FUCKIN tough!”. Oh yeah she was tough as nails for sure, and had one HUGE anger management problem.
Another one told me his father had all kinds of belts, including automotive lol, and he would put the kids names on them so they knew what he would thrash them with.
The 3rd one had a lesbian lover and used fake names to open bank accounts etc. She would demand we call her one name then a month later demand we call her another. When she answered to her lesbian lover over the phone, she would go all meek and pathetic, squeaking “Yes maam… yes maam…yes maam”.
I told them I can remember clearly the times I got smacked as a kid because it only happened twice.
They just stared at me speechless.
Another one told me his father had all kinds of belts, including automotive lol, and he would put the kids names on them so they knew what he would thrash them with.
lol? You must be very proud of the superior human being you have shaped yourself into being KP
And btw, anecdotes from a few acquaintances, even when true, do not consitiute proof of anything about a wider group.
Ever heard of the phrase “If I didn’t laugh I’d cry”.
Drop the self righteous attitude js.
“btw, anecdotes from a few acquaintances, even when true, do not consitiute proof of anything about a wider group.”
I could keep going all day with the anecdotes dude. How about one of the “bros” who rocks on up to the family holiday get together with his girlfriend – he keeps her in the car THE WHOLE WEEKEND, she was only allowed out a couple of times to use the bathroom.
Plus all the Maori social/economic stats.
Guess you think “Once Were Warriors” is only fiction and in no way reflects on Maori. That would be RACIST!
Actually, “Once Were Warriors” is fiction, I heard it from the authors own mouth.
Of course there are people for whom alcohol, anger, violence, poverty is a problem. They come in all ethnicities, religious beliefs or lack of them and in every strata of society
Actually, “Once Were Warriors” is fiction, I heard it from the authors own mouth.
Maybe, yes, however I lived something rather similar until I gathered my courage, left him, and lost custody of my son to him! 🙁
However, it’s true that such things happen in all ethnicities etc.
I could keep going all day with the anecdotes dude.
And they’d still be just that – anecdotes.
BTW, I read a few years back that Maori didn’t hit their kids until after the arrival of the Pakeha. Don’t know how accurate that is but there are numerous cultures around the world that don’t have a culture of hitting their children. The most high profile culture that does, though, is English culture.
The Crimes Act is being revised where it will be a criminal offence to ignore harm being perpetrated on children or vulnerable adults. I have stood up to gangsters and bullies in defence of others whereas you have used the suffering of others to perpetuate your bigoted slant on all Māori.
If anecdote is evidence, I know heaps of Māori that love and respect their children, their old people, and even Pākehā. I know heaps of Māori that will never raise their hands towards another. I know heaps of Māori that will give willingly to help others without payment.
A Pākehā mate of mine just last week had to call into a petrol station on her way to Taupo as she was running out of petrol. Unfortunately for her she had left her purse at home. The Māori proprietors gave her $20 without making her beg or mortgage her home as security.
Prometheus supposedly championed the cause of mankind – your views are so small-minded that I suggest a renaming should take place to whatever Greek God is the champion of lost causes.
The stats are there, the anecdotes are there. Other people have made the same observations.
But you will just keep screaming “Racist! It’s all the whities fault!.”
Had a Maori room mate at the backpackers, he comes back 3am blind drunk reeking of it, and proceeds to try to take a leak in the middle of the room. I jumped out of bed “Whoa dude not there!”, opened the door and he headed for the light – “Oh thanks bro!”
He comes back in and starts crashing around, so the young English tourist back packer in the bunk above him ask him to be quiet. So the Maori guy threatens him “Me and my bros will deal to you!”.
He was always hanging around the social room drinking and smoking. He felt a special affection for the Irish backpackers because of “the Englosh!”. The affection wasn’t reciprocated.
The reason I asked about your descriptor “lesbian” is that it confused me. I didn’t understand how it related to the story and I thought maybe I had missed some important aspect of the story, and that if you could explain it for me I’d be up to speed with everyone else.
lol you do have some funny ideas about me k_p. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything I’d call a “feminist critique”. I mostly read technical manuals.
I’m not going to keep asking you about the lesbian aspect of your story as you clearly don’t want to talk about it.
And that’s ok. Writers often get tired of explaining the choices they make. I do think it’s something you might like to think about though for the sake of your craft.
For every ‘Maori are bashers’ anecdote you can tell, I can source you with Dutch, Sots, Irish, English, etc, etc. People, especially disadvantaged people, can express anger and frustration in inappropriate ways.
My ex was physically, verbally, emotionally and sexually abusive to me. I may be Maori but he was a Scottish New Zealander. So, by your standards, am I to blame because I am Maori or was he just an angry, bitter man who chose his fists, feet and temper to bully and coerce?
My ex was physically, verbally, emotionally and sexually abusive to me. I may be Maori but he was a Scottish New Zealander.
FWIW Hateatea, my ex was the same to me. I am an English/Scots New Zealander, he was a Maori (he died 5 months ago). His family is very different, he was a distinct oddity (drug and alcohol dependent) and so it just goes to show it’s going on amongst all peoples… 🙁
k p, the truth hurts. You have upset a lot of people. I would say your critics are bleeding badly and since you have cut deep they can only use irrational, personal abuse as defence. I would not have the time or courage to discuss the subjects with anyone on this site. They only recognise their own faults in other people.
The Press (today) has several very good articles on the departure of Manners, Courtesy and Respect For Others during the last 50 years. Your critics are an example.
Your critics only want to hear from people who will confirm what they already believe. Even some site Moderators are not without fault.
John 8:7 “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
I haven’t seen Michael Valley posting here recently on why we have to liberate all those poor brown people from their despots all over the middle east and his MSM propaganda slant may have something to do with it but I sometimes think about him and this is one of the moments. I would really like to read his spin on this one.
I had to laugh while reading a speech given by Tim Groser yesterday in which he claims that people who promote localized food production and security of supply are acting instinctually and that not wanting to rely on other countries for food is rooted in people’s hunter and gatherer DNA, which is a little insane to say the least…
Help please.
I see something that will come up in parliament soon that is based on some pretty solid misinformation being bandied about. Nothing unusual about that. Now I want to go lobbying. I can go and see the spokeperson that each party has for this area taking along, I imagine, with a short written document as back up. Do I also go and see each individual MP as well . What else would be effective?
Secondly is there any way here of ensuring that a post goes into moderation deliberately?
There are certain words that guarantee moderation. Mentioning the surname of a famous Austrian with a Chaplin moustache and a fetish for Wagner will do it.
Several months ago I told you that because of my revised view of my 2001 study of reparative therapy changing sexual orientation, I was considering writing something that would acknowledge that I now judged the major critiques of the study as largely correct. After discussing my revised view of the study with Gabriel Arana, a reporter for American Prospect, and with Malcolm Ritter, an Associated Press science writer, I decided that I had to make public my current thinking about the study. Here it is.
Basic Research Question. From the beginning it was: “can some version of reparative therapy enable individuals to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual?” Realizing that the study design made it impossible to answer this question, I suggested that the study could be viewed as answering the question, “how do individuals undergoing reparative therapy describe changes in sexual orientation?” – a not very interesting question.
The Fatal Flaw in the Study – There was no way to judge the credibility of subject reports of change in sexual orientation. I offered several (unconvincing) reasons why it was reasonable to assume that the subject’s reports of change were credible and not self-deception or outright lying. But the simple fact is that there was no way to determine if the subject’s accounts of change were valid.
I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy. I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some “highly motivated” individuals.
Robert Spitzer. M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry,
Columbia University
The advocates of “cure” are frequently those who also insist that sexual orientation is a matter of personal choice – the thrust being that it’s as simple as one’s preference for rugby union over rugby league or pale ale over stout.
The late Phil (?) Raffills, the vehemently anti-gay former principal of Avondale College and religious right Auckland City councillor was one of those on that buzz.
The obvious question I mentally posed when he was in full piety about this: “OK Phil…….tell me about the time when you made the personal choice to be straight rather than gay.”
As I recall the whole thing turned to spectacular farce when a recent past head prefect of Avondale College, personally chosen by Raffills, came out and “confessed” to being gay.
This Young Gay Man Of Disgusting Choice also hinted that Raffills, the educator darling of the Right at the time, was something of a moral bully.
I’m wondering whether the apology will be recognised by the knuckle draggers who’ve been trotting out Spitzers original conclusion to support their bigotry.
It may not be spin you smell…….it may be the stench of a rotten egg. Why ?
Well I don’t know for sure but I do know that in Moerewa and other parts of the North the stunning Ms Parata is known to a number as “Heki Pirau” Parata – translation – “Rotten Egg” Parata.
Granted, BUT, the wharfies would not have got to $91K without media support. Is that capitalism? I do not know. (Q. “Much is invested in having us believe everything we read in newspapers and everything our government tells us. If we are not thinking for ourselves we are easy targets for control and manipulation”. Printed in USA 15 years ago.)
As I see it, the media are just selling to a population pictured in “Corination Streed” .
I hope you mean “public misperception that wharfies routinely take home $91k/yr would not have happened without media support”.
Actually, the Daily Show had a fascinating observation recently, after Obama’s comments about gay marriage: in five years the Fox debate has gone from “gay marriage will end the world” to “he only said it because it’s popular”. While most money comes from corporates, media still need to sell stuff in order to make money – if nobody buys what’s being advertised, the advertisers back off, so the media has to find the balance between money and believability. That’s why Glenn Beck is off air, even though he was their biggest herald. Capitalism is cannibalism.
But the media also shapes perception, so it’s a complex system of persuasion then token acquiescence.
I share your skepticism Muzza. I found this document on the minedu site which does suggest that it is $71k per annum. I presume this includes headmasters salaries which would drive the average up.
@ Foreign Waka 7pm 22/05/2012
I didn’t say that there IS tribal law in New Zealand, I said that the understanding of rangatira in 1840 was that within Te Tiriti, whānau, hapū and iwi would manage their own affairs including their forests, fisheries and traditions while the settlers would manage their people. Given the significant population imbalance in the favour of iwi, this was a reasonable assumption. This they saw as tino rangatiratanga for iwi while the tāngata tiriti would have kawanatanga. This did not turn out to be the case, population ratios changed, the huge influx of new settlers were told nothing of Te Tiriti and the base for grievance was set.
As we saw ourselves (and still do to a degree) as separate nations living side by side with other nations, I would not accept your definition as apartheid, however, I cannot ‘control’ how you see things, nor would I wish to. I merely offered some background and an alternative viewpoint to yours and others. Whether you choose to ponder upon my views, do more research or blithely continue on your particular path is entirely up to you.
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Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
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The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
So, one of Act’s big funders wants Act to follow Brash’s Orewa speech model, of “equal” treatment for Maori and Pakeha.
But behind this egalitarian argument, is a fundamental dislike of Maori culture, and a lac k understanding of the inequalities that result in a high proportion of Maori being poor, unemployed, and without hope:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10806938
Mr Crimp is not a nice man as many could attest to. This story in today’s Southland Times is but one of hundreds of similar tales I have heard over the past 45 years or so. He is a wealthy bully.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/6950115/Quake-report-too-expensive#share
Thanks. So in contrast to Crimp’s one law for all Pakeha and Maori, he reckons there’s one law (or set of rules) for everyone else, but he can do what he likes.
he has acted that way for as long as I have known of him (45 plus years). Being at death’s door has done absolutely nothing to sweeten his nature except his generosity to the local SPCA (I have to be fair)
That does seem to be normal for rich pricks.
Sorry, didn’t end the quote at the right point. in my7.16am comment.
The extract from the article ends here;
This last sentence is mine :
That’s “free speech” for you…. and for that I am grateful…. it enables some people to demonstrate the poverty, and sometimes nastiness, of their beliefs.
Sorry to burst your bubble, I am all for Culture but there is an enormous waste going on just to keep the Nats in Government. Lots of moneys being spent in all the wrong places. It is disgusting – I repeat: DISGUSTING – that the people in Christchurch have to wait to get a roof over their head while PUBLIC money is being spent on items with NO PRIORITY at this time. i.e.paying Gangs on the belief that they may just change their behavior is unbelievable. No wonder that NZ is being taken to the cleaners, no wonder.
While I don’t think anywhere near enough is being done in Christchurch I also don’t think funding for every other programme should be stopped because of Christchurch.
One thing the Government is doing in Christchurch is spending a lot of money they’re just not doing it in ways that actually help Christchurch aside from consultants in Christchurch.
Sorry Chris, I disagree. If there is only so much money in the public purse (taxpayer money) than spending has to be prioritized. Infrastructure is part of public spending and for people to not have basics of clean water and sanitation vs spending on projects currently not on the top of the list is simply irresponsible. There is no other way of saying this: political correctness will not elevate poverty, it just polarizes the parties trying to get “their” project paid for. I am absolutely certain that there is enough money in the Maori Trusts to fund these projects like I mentioned earlier.
Why should Maori Trusts have to pay for it though Gangs are not solely a Maori problem.
You missed my point though that the problem in Christchurch is not that there isn’t enough money being spent down there because a heap is being spent but it is the way it is being spent that is the problem. That won’t be fixed by cutting every programme that someone determines as non-priority.
Clean water and sanitation are a City Council responsibility.
As for Maori Trusts funding gang projects – it would have to be consistent with their trust deeds and, in most cases, all the gang members would have to whakapapa to that particular trust to qualify. In my experience most trusts only give funding for high school and tertiary education
Absolutely, funding of any gang projects are not necessary race related. However, Maori are at the moment the only one getting PUBLIC funding. This I feel is currently completely out of tough with the real needs of any community.
Foreign Boat
For a relatively recent immigrant you sure know a lot about what Māori get.
Māori are not the only ones that receive government funding. Any funding specifically targeting Māori must also incorporate non-Māori into the mix (anyone can apply under Whānau Ora).
Public funding was established on the back of Māori largesse – what Māori gave up in order for the public to reside peaceably in this country (land, waterways, status, the capacity to be self-sufficient and autonomous etc)..
I recommend you study more what Māori have lost and then compare it to what we have gained before making judgement on how beneficient the public has / is being towards tāngata whenua.
Another gripe that is frequently thrown at Māori by Pākehā is that we seek to separate (apartheid) however what you are advocating is exactly that – Māori fund Māori issues, although we are also taxpayers, business people, earners. Are you suggesting that whatever taxes we pay into the government coffers also be directed towards our own interests. I could live with that especially when the Maori economy is supposedly worth an estimated $37 billion.
Sorry, foreign waka, I completely missed this on Saturday but evidence please:
What gangs are being publicly funded? Evidence that all members of the gang are Māori (should any gang prove to be publicly funded)
I get more than a little annoyed that such divisive and unsubstantiated canards keep being uttered as if they are true with no evidence to back them up. A lie, no matter how often repeated (or by whom) remains a lie
“I am absolutely certain that there is enough money in the Maori Trusts to fund these projects like I mentioned earlier.”
I’m absolutely certain that there is much much more money in Pakeha trusts to pay for the things they (Pakeha) need than there is an any Maori trusts.
We know from media reports that Pakeha use these trusts to access much state assistance, to deprive women of their matrimonial property, to close down companies and still keep the money they have transferred out of it, to get the state to pay for their residential care when they are elderly and so on.
You’re a bit like those I was at school with who bitched about the (few) Maori kids on scholarships to go to boarding school. I was also a scholarship kid paid for by the state, they were paid for by iwi scholarships – you know their own money.
No student or parent did I ever hear whinge about my scholarship – the constant five year refrain about “these Maori” kids being funded by the taxpayer was just another step in demonstrating the irrational, uneducated premise that many Pakeha have about Maori – most pakeha of whom would never have stepped on a marae in their lives.
Often this rhetoric influences foreigners who come here as does the media portrayal – the fact that foreigners get sucked into this only ever reminds me of Muldoon’s statement about raising the IQ of both countries. It just that on this occasion we are on the receiving end.
To Adele and Descendent of Smith
Firstly, you both assume to know what I know, how I live and what my background is. You are wrong on all accounts by the way. However, in regard to by comments- what I am saying is that 2 wrongs do not make one right. Yes, Maori got the colonial treatment albeit to a somewhat lesser extent (not an excuse!) than in other countries. However, NZ has come a long way to pay reparation and a far as I can see Maoris biggest hurdle these days is not so much the payouts themselves but the lack of the trickling down from the Trusts and Elites (this is so familiar)- Oh I can hear the drums already……
This defensive attitude is what truly stays in the way of further development and is politically used and EVERYBODY outside this can see it. Not the ones actually involved, of cause not – what else is new.
Anyway, my comment was directed at Government spending per see as I feel that any money that is collected by law abiding taxpaying people should be used wisely and appropriately. This means that this country needs to first cover the basics for EVERYBODY before it can decide on any other use of moneys. You are talking about the crown when referring to any moneys that Maori claim and seem to forget that it is in fact your neighbor with the 2.5 kids and a mortgage, worry to hold a job if at all having one, getting by on minimum wages who is now asked to pay. So maybe you have to ask the Queen?
As for the study of Maori, yes I have done some, their history, the genealogy and I was on a marae, meetings etc. Possibly more than your average NZlander. But there you go, this is not about race, this is about right or wrong.
Hmmm the closest I came to mentioning you was you remind me of.
It’s a bit of an extrapolation to take that to me suggesting what you think and know.
Disagreement and a differing view isn’t a personal attack.
Foreign Boat,
I assume things about you based on your comments and it appears to me, as a person with extensive knowledge and lived experience of Te Ao Māori, that your interactions with Māori history have done you little favour as your ignorance is still woefully apparent, and whoopee that you have been on Marae. The days of feting non-Māori for learning about tāngata whenua are well and truly over.
You are suggesting that Māori Trusts should fund Māori social (and presumably health services) because the country cannot afford to do so under the present recessionary climate. Your suggestion does in fact have precedence in history. The introduction into this country of the old age pension exemplifies how Māori were treated differently as citizens.
When the old age pension was introduced in 1908, Registrars were instructed to make Māori access to the pension as difficult as possible. All Māori claims for the pension had to be filtered through the Native Land Court and placed before a magistrate, effectively slowing the process.
Other mechanisms used to deny Māori equal treatment included removing a swathe of Māori names from the pension rolls. For those Māori that could collect a pension their entitlements were reduced to two-thirds of the amount paid to Pākehā. From 1925 the maximum rate payable to Māori was £32.6s per annum or 71% of the maximum of £45.10s. In 1927, many Māori pensions were below £20, less than half the rate paid to Pākehā.
Koroua and Kuia were literally been starved through this inequitable treatment. The extreme poverty of Māori communities became the rationale for different treatment. Pākehā saw Māori poverty as a sign of lower expectation rather than greater need and by the 1920s living in a pa became a reason to disbar Māori from full pension entitlement. Other types of welfare benefits followed a similar discriminatory pattern. Such treatment continued well into the 1940s.
Your type of thinking is a rehash of the colonial mindset and is discriminatory.
Thank god I learned good manners, I would otherwise get a bit stroppy here. You seem to enlarge the issue ever so much just to further your agenda. Woppee? Well, at least I made an effort. How about you? What have you done so far to learn about the people around you if they are not Maori?
As for equal rights to benefits, I belief it these are paid on equal footing. I am not referring to a time some 80 years ago but to the time right now. My comments were specifically to the plight of families and elderly in Christchurch. But with all that politicking that point seem to get lost on you. It is in fact your ignorance that seem to put just yourself into the center and hence no one else counts. Meanwhile, there is hardship due to a major natural event and every cent is needed to get the people back to a reasonable state of affairs. We are not talking about luxuries when providing sanitary facilities and drinking water which are too expensive for any City Council to cover. I belief that in light of this need funding of none urgent items should be suspended – such as benefits to Gangs.
As to your assertion of discrimination, I really don’t follow how you get this out of my comments. Because a civilized, democratic society provides for EVERYBODY equally and that means also for the folks in Christchurch.
Discrimination is such an easy throw around word these days that it seem to be often just used to put someone else at unease. In response to your assumptions, I am tempted to give you more insight but then again, it wont help the issue as your point of view is set and seemingly in a frame of mind that is not really open to any conversation.
The provision of safe drinking water and the provision of sanitation are both core business for territorial and local authorities in New Zealand. That Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn councils have to face an unprecedented bill due to earthquake damage doesn’t change that.
Many councils are faced with similar issues post flooding.
This in no way makes acceptable that some are still waiting to know what will happen to their properties, and hence, whether or not water and sanitation will be supplied to their property in the future. That is in the hands of CERA and the Minister.
There are many who would agree that a lot of the money Government is supposed to be invested in Christchurch is difficult to see at the flaxroots, that again is something that you might want to consider investigating via OIA requests.
What that has to do though with diverting money from educational, well health and other social issues, particularly those to ‘Māori’ is unclear to me. What is even more unclear is why my iwi,hapū and whanau trusts should pay for what are government and community initiatives. Our investment strategies are clear: for us, and for the generations to come. That means that we as the members get our ‘dividend’ in ways other than an annual sum in the bank. Our choice, no one elses business, and certainly not to be spent as you or any politician decides. We suffered too much for too long to give away our hard won financial independence. (BTW, if you think that recompense of approximately 1% of the calculated loss is unreasonable, imagine the cost to the country of proper restitution. )
Lastly, why should the Queen pay the restitution. The profits made from illegal land purchases and sales didn’t flow to the Queen, it went, as usual, to the bankers, pastoralists and other colonial parasites, not Queen Victoria.
Tēnā koe, Hateatea
Ngā mihi nui ki a koe. If I may just flow on from your words.
Foreign Boat
I have exceptional manners, unless I am confronted by ignorance, especially from someone who should know better. In a discussion on Crimp’s blatant racism you introduce into the Kōrero a back-hander about public money going into all the wrong places (Māori) while the good citizens of Christchurch SUFFER because of inadequate resourcing. Your opinion says that in such dire circumstances, culture (Māori) is expendable and Māori initiatives should have no priority insofar as public spending is concerned. The greater good must prevail. You do not recommend that SPCA funding be curtailed or Creative New Zealand funds be re-directed.
You raise the evil spectre of Gangs receiving public funds at the expense of the neighbour with 2.5 kids, and a mortgage while STRUGGLING to hold onto a minimum wage job. For added emotional effect, you ought to have included the little old lady having to eat cat food because some Maori received funding to attend a well catered hui. Crimp would creak with glee at the hyperbole.
Apparently, Māori are blind to the excesses being poured into their coffers by the generous but increasingly (and rightly) indignant public. The generosity you speak of obviously includes welfare – but numbers show the largest burden to the welfare state is superannuation – and very few Māori receive the super (32,000 as opposed to 550,000 non-Māori). There is also roughly a ten year difference in life expectancy between Māori and Pākehā.
If the generosity includes treaty settlements, Ngai Tahu settlement monies (as an example) equates to roughly $120 for every acre that was stolen, dishonestly acquired, or confiscated. If the generosity includes government spending on targeted social and health services, the health spend (as an example) equates to roughly $90 per Māori head of population in the South Island or 3% of available health funding.
I am fairly sure that the gangster incident that provoked your ‘crimpness’ was when a Dunedin based gang received funding under whānau ora for $50,000. However, compare that amount to the $8billion being siphoned off the rest of the country including Māori communities, businesses, workers, and taxpayers to fuel the Christchurch rebuild – whose stunted progress is more about government ineptitude rather than lack of resources.
I should mention that Ngai Tahu is currently offering accelerated trade training to Māori to help with the rebuild and that Māori organisations across the country were quick to respond to the aftermath of the earthquakes, Rotorua (as an example) sent a team of 18 doctors and nurses to Christchurch to aid in recovery.
If I accuse you of being discriminatory in your viewpoints, to quote koro Crimp “the truth hurts.”
Kia Ora Hateaea
Your comments are such that I will just end this with a short reply:
1/ I was not aware that NZ has Tribal Law instead of an all encompassing State Law.
2/ There is no excuse of Apartheid politics, neither in social nor any other matter and this goes for all sides.
3/ It becomes increasingly obvious that one cannot voice a point of view without being berated in such manner that it seem that no other voice is allowed because of past events.
I am of the view that I am treated in this way because I have identified myself as an immigrant and thus I can reassure you, feel discriminated against. Not that I really care, mind you.
So, as far as I am concerned I will draw my own conclusion and leave it at that.
I’m so glad the Herald gave Crimp such a good hearing. The more that NZ sees what is behind ACT the quicker ACT will be gone.
Would love to know who Crimp spends his time with. And who he does business with in Invercargill.
He goes on to say that there are hardly any Maoris down there, LOL. What a dick.
How many of National’s big donors also think this way? Many, I suspect.
That interview with the horrible Mr Crimp was so outrageously awful I actually laughed. But sadly, he’s only saying what South Island rednecks are thinking, or saying on talkback/down the pub.
I don’t think so Sookie. Even within the redneck communities I think the subset that believe what Crimp does is very small. He is very extreme. He is a white supremacist and what he is saying is basically promoting cultural genocide. He hates Maoris and he thinks that their culture should not exist because it’s not NZ. The rednecks I know might think that Maori shouldn’t get special treatment etc but I don’t often hear the outright white supremacist stuff.
Even the rightwing bloggers have come out and slammed the old cretinous fool!
Exactly! Rabid nutmegs, by the looks…
If there were any real journalists in this country, they’d have been asking him probing questions about his business dealings. http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/155763/documents How convenient for him that everything is mysteriously “Not Available”.
Yeah Andrews Housing, that bastion of good business ethics and practice.
Give RadioNZ a call, they’re usually open to getting a heads up on things. They’ve had ACT commenting on what the Herald reported about Crimp on the news today.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/106194/act-president-distances-party-from-anti-maori-remarks
So this fuckwit ACToid who hates everything maori (including te reo) owns a business called Tuatara.
Righto.
Exactly! He probably doesn’t realise that tuatara is a Maori word. A surprising number of children to whom I taught Te Reo didn’t realise just how many words had been borrowed into NZ English
That’s surprising and very sad…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBx2Y5HhplI
The TED talk that TED won’t post… such a shame because it is so very excellent and full of truisms that have been forgotten in our corporate world…
What’s it about?
The fact that millionaires aren’t job creators – the community is.
Thanks Zorr and TED. A pity that our current Government doesn’t see the connection between taxing the very rich to get the funds for investment which allows the Middle class to grow. TED is probably another nail in the heart of the Austerity plan. The middle Low classes are being harmed but the very rich have no dents and reports say the very rich NZers have increased their wealth. Not fair!
Transcript and a couple of background pieces.
http://roundtable.nationaljournal.com/2012/05/the-inequality-speech-that-ted-wont-show-you.php
http://nationaljournal.com/features/restoration-calls/too-hot-for-ted-income-inequality-20120516
http://www.geekwire.com/2012/controversial-ted-post-nick-hanauers-talk-taxing-rich/
http://www.nationaljournal.com/features/restoration-calls/the-1-percent-solution-20120517
Wonder why the Republicans dislike such talk? Would Bill English welcome such heresy?
National down 2.5 points to 44.5% and Labour up 1.5 points to 30% in the Roy Morgan Poll.
Disappointing. They have been on the back foot for months and Labour gains less than the margin of error. We had plenty of opportunities but failed to put the boot (or knife) in. Where is Labour’s “mongrel”? Has Labour changed strategists since the failure of last year? Are the same strategists doing the same things and hoping for a different outcome? WTF!!
http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2012/4776
I’m not keen on Labour’s current strategies. But I take polls with a grain of salt. Long term trends in polls have more value than individual ones. And the 1% difference between National’s loss and Labour’s gain is margin of error stuff.
More research shows why a completely pessimistic view about oil isn’t warranted:
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/05/18/1538252/diesel-like-engine-could-boost-fuel-economy-by-50
We’ve already hit Peak Oil and it will be years and more probably decades before the new engine is common enough to make a difference.
Not necessarily. The whole thing about oil-based transportation is that there’s no technology in progress that can substantially increase energy efficiency. Well there’s one right there.
I’m not suggesting this engine is going to replace the vehicle fleet in any significant way. More that existing vehicles will simply be scrapped, we’ll have 1/20th the number of cars on the road as we do now, but with this particular type of engine we might end up with 1/10th instead.
Also things like trucks and construction vehicles are much more vital to the industrial economy than private personal transport, so efficiencies of these types will help to keep those vehicles running.
No, the problem is that there’s no energy source available to replace oil. That one will extend petrol vehicles for a time if it actually works as envisaged (I think it probably will) and it get widely used but to get that will require the government to remove older engines from the road.
I’ve never been as pessimistic as RA and AFKTT. I think industrial society will continue but that it will have to shrink to fit into the energy constrained future. This tech will help there and agree that trucks are more important than cars, trains are also more important than trucks.
There’s a lot that needs planning for and leaving it to the market won’t work. Actually, leaving it to the market invariably leads to collapse.
DTB a product called graphene could make electric motors lighter and more efficient.
The infernal combustion motor will have its day sooner than later!
Look here
http://dimpost.wordpress.com/tracking-poll/
Labour is consistently on the up since late last year. When was Shearer elected again?
Its something, but showing that Labour is back in the same spot as Aug 2011 is neither here nor there, given that National has hit multiple scandals so far this year.
It would not matter if Labour were leading a government today, the outcomes are still going to be the same, the journey there a little different.
Time for people to accept responsibility, and stop looking to a failed system to save them!
Muzza, yet again, I agree. Economy wise, NZ is just a couple of islands off the coast of Australia.
Is the media saying any more about the French politicans taking a 30% pay cut?
I agree with you there muzza. But there’s only one view you get when you are shackled to debt and time worn habits that compel you to persist in chasing personal material gain (if only to pay the mortgage and other debts or tread water) : the wall you are shackled to.
As one trader confirms after a visit to Europe the collapse much worse than the MSM let’s on. How much? Border controls are back in place!
Well, well well!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/6950783/Former-staff-rehired-as-consultants
A friend in the energy management profession told me something interesting in the pub last night. The hydro lakes are very low this year, so low that in a non-asset sales year they would be issuing warnings to the public. The companies up for sale are deliberately not saying anything about the problem as that would affect their share price, no doubt because the government ordered them to shut the hell up. Certainly the lakes looked very low when I was up in the Mackenzie a couple of weeks ago. Oh for some media coverage, but of course it will be ignored as usual by this useless bunch of Nat lickspittles we’re stuck with.
There was something on Checkpoint (5-7pm National Radio weeknight news) about this, although they didn’t say it was because of the asset sales. I can’t remember everything, but the guy was saying that the new structure of the industry in NZ encourages thermal energy providers to produce power whereas in the past they didn’t have as much incentive. They mentioned the new law that says if the power companies are forced to implement a rationing scheme then they must actually pay customers money as compensation – a very strong market force to do everything possible to avoid that situation.
Russell Brown has written a brilliantly funny satircal piece over at Public Address where he ruthlessly parodies the faddish foodism of a completely out of touch and pampered New Zealand middle class.
The great thing is the deadpan way in which the whole post appears to be completely serious.
lols.
russell brown to me epitomises why the liberal elite in this country has consistently lost to the business elite.
oh, they have values, but navel-gazing and self-indulgence are much more fun than fighting for those values.
Check the comments.
What makes you think it is satirical?
After a lifetime of avoiding all food-fads like the plague I finally fell for this one in Feb this year.
Since then I’ve lost 12 kg and have never enjoyed my food more in my life. And I’m fit again, 8-10 hr tramping days are easy, and I can do real forehand chin-ups again. This at an age when our grandparents were considered ‘old’. This is nothing like usual yo-yo ‘diet’ either… I’m eating as much as I need to feel satisfied and the flab keeps melting off.
And I’m busy DOING things in my life again, doing a new qualification, contemplating a new building project, leading a community project, tackling a major new project at work… and enjoying it.
It’s also why I haven’t had the time for The Standard so much recently…I still drop in daily to read the threads, but I’ve got the energy now to live life the way I believe in; as compared to just sitting around typing about it.
Ultimately food IS political, and my own personal experience convinces me of this. Because there is no doubt in my mind that the standard dietary ‘food pyramid’ serves no-one other than the food industry conglomerates while harming us ordinary people who eat it.
Oh and our grocery bill is around 2/3rds of what it was last year.
That’s great RL. The Paleo diets are pretty interesting. Don’t work for everyone one, but many people seem to get alot of benefit, and there is sound science and evidence to back it up. It’d be good to see the political blogosphere get more nutritionally literate.
Karl Marx is still right.
Good article.
If the NZ electorate wanted a marxist govt, the closet part we’ve got in the public eye being the Mana Party, wouldn’t their polling be higher?
I don’t think Mana is anything close to being a Marxist party.
That said, WTF has that got to do with the article? And, perhaps, the electorate doesn’t show favour for Marx due to the spin and BS that has been propagated about over the last century which, as the article shows, was wrong.
On that note, do you have anything to say about what the article highlights, specifically, the failure of capitalism as predicted by Marx?
dtb even main stream economists are saying neoliberalism doesn’t work in post industrial countries now.
It’s not just neo-liberalism but capitalism as a whole – it quite simply doesn’t work.
Dialectical Materialism, though a fascinating bit of the history of philosophy, is a Fail.
Reminds of a John Ralston Saul quip about Marxism in a nutshell being economic determinism and the belief society is a wide open battle field – therefore the only practicing Marxists these days are the neo cons and the big corporate executives.
Cognitive dissonance news of the day. Count the many ways you can see how amazingly wrong Tracy Watkins is
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6950260/Kiwis-are-tolerating-moderate-austerity
Sycophants underpants anyone?
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-hatred-of-those-on-benefits-is-dangerously-out-of-control-7763793.html
A story from The Independent about the effects of the international hate campaign against beneficiaries. Excerpt below.
I was talking with a friend in Auckland the other night who was in tears about being vilified for being a beneficiary.
…Earlier this year, a Sunday Times article featured the headline “End the something for nothing culture”. Below was a picture of the Gallagher family from the comedy-drama Shameless, as though these fictional caricatures were real life. This one-time paper of record quoted a Whitehall official on benefit recipients: “If we want them to tap dance, then they will tap dance.” Rod Liddle – who dresses up the boorish rants of a thick pub bore as journalism – claimed that his new year’s resolution “was to become disabled”, perhaps with a “newly invented” illness like fibromyalgia, so he could claim benefits. As the economic catastrophe that began four years ago led to a national jobs’ crisis – there are now over six million people looking for full-time work – the “scrounger'”caricature perversely has become more and more popular.
It is tempting to ignore the ramblings of glorified internet trolls like Liddle, but their projected ignorance has consequences. Six of the biggest disability charities have warned that the campaign of demonisation – by both journalists and politicians – has led to a surge in abuse towards people with disabilities. According to Scope, two-thirds reported abuse in September last year, up from 41 per cent just four months earlier.…
What an utter horror! The Western World is heading in a direction that is just terrifying. We are becoming like swamp birds with cell phones, and with the capacity to do much greater damage.
Of course it’s a horror Olwyn. And so many people love to wallow in it nowadays.
It will get worse because our owners want it to get worse. They want us divided and fighting over the scraps they deign to let trickle our way. The one thing they cannot afford it for us ordinary people realise what has happened and to turn our attention on those who perpetrated it.
Yes. That poor family is portrayed as a drain on society, the person who killed their youngest kids is now a mass murderer, while David Cameron and that shock jock woman make themselves another G & T, and think about how they can make use of this tragedy, if they think about it at all. We often say we must wake up before it’s too late – for the Philpotts and many others it is already too late.
My giddy aunt! That’s horrific…
The only thing going to plan in the latest dotcom scam seems to be the tax dodge.
The big pop in Facebook Inc. shares never came.
Buyers did not rush into the market to snap up shares of the social networker. And the big Wall Street banks that brought Facebook public scrambled to prevent the stock from collapsing into declines.
The underwriters averted a potential debacle by scooping up shares of the company during the Nasdaq debut. This propped up the stock, keeping it above the $38 offering price through most of the day.
There’s been a few observations in the last 2 years about another dot.com bubble. Here’s the proof I guess.
Regarding bullying brought up in the context of millionaire Act Party donor, actually being a bully seems to be a central part of Maori behaviour.
I remember three Maori co workers. One told me about how she went to school with black eyes from the step father, but “at least it made me FUCKIN tough!”. Oh yeah she was tough as nails for sure, and had one HUGE anger management problem.
Another one told me his father had all kinds of belts, including automotive lol, and he would put the kids names on them so they knew what he would thrash them with.
The 3rd one had a lesbian lover and used fake names to open bank accounts etc. She would demand we call her one name then a month later demand we call her another. When she answered to her lesbian lover over the phone, she would go all meek and pathetic, squeaking “Yes maam… yes maam…yes maam”.
I told them I can remember clearly the times I got smacked as a kid because it only happened twice.
They just stared at me speechless.
Another one told me his father had all kinds of belts, including automotive lol, and he would put the kids names on them so they knew what he would thrash them with.
lol? You must be very proud of the superior human being you have shaped yourself into being KP
And btw, anecdotes from a few acquaintances, even when true, do not consitiute proof of anything about a wider group.
“lol?”
Ever heard of the phrase “If I didn’t laugh I’d cry”.
Drop the self righteous attitude js.
“btw, anecdotes from a few acquaintances, even when true, do not consitiute proof of anything about a wider group.”
I could keep going all day with the anecdotes dude. How about one of the “bros” who rocks on up to the family holiday get together with his girlfriend – he keeps her in the car THE WHOLE WEEKEND, she was only allowed out a couple of times to use the bathroom.
Plus all the Maori social/economic stats.
Guess you think “Once Were Warriors” is only fiction and in no way reflects on Maori. That would be RACIST!
Yeah, and white people have no domestic violence or anger problems.
Not on the level of Maori, I know that from what I have seen and what is in the stats.
“Not on the level of Maori, I know that from what I have seen and what is in the stats.”
So what is the statistical difference between Maori and Pakeha? Where is the research that proves that Maori are better at bullying than non-Maori?
Why didn’t you let her out of the car?
+ 100 felix
We got a felix groupie here. You go girl! lol
There’s no “we”, k_p. Get your own groupies.
I have never been anyone’s groupie before and I don’t know felix that well but I would rather be his / hers than yours!
:”>
Oh that was a story related to me from a close family member, she was frightened and ended up leaving the get together.
Also, why didn’t she leave the car herself?
Oh I assumed it was your family gathering, what with him being your bro and all.
Was your friend frightened for the whole weekend? Sounds awful.
Is it just the three maoris that you’ve met yourself then?
Actually, “Once Were Warriors” is fiction, I heard it from the authors own mouth.
Of course there are people for whom alcohol, anger, violence, poverty is a problem. They come in all ethnicities, religious beliefs or lack of them and in every strata of society
Sorry, I used “only” in the sense that it must be untrue.
Like Charles Dickens – it is fiction but certainly tells us a lot about life, especially for kids, in 18th C England.
Maybe, yes, however I lived something rather similar until I gathered my courage, left him, and lost custody of my son to him! 🙁
However, it’s true that such things happen in all ethnicities etc.
And they’d still be just that – anecdotes.
BTW, I read a few years back that Maori didn’t hit their kids until after the arrival of the Pakeha. Don’t know how accurate that is but there are numerous cultures around the world that don’t have a culture of hitting their children. The most high profile culture that does, though, is English culture.
Like I said the stats are there too.
Predictably enough, racked with white liberal guilt, you seek to explicate maori and blame all the bad stuff on Whities.
White liberal guilt? No, that’s just another delusion from your fragmented mind.
Kiwi Prometheus
The Crimes Act is being revised where it will be a criminal offence to ignore harm being perpetrated on children or vulnerable adults. I have stood up to gangsters and bullies in defence of others whereas you have used the suffering of others to perpetuate your bigoted slant on all Māori.
If anecdote is evidence, I know heaps of Māori that love and respect their children, their old people, and even Pākehā. I know heaps of Māori that will never raise their hands towards another. I know heaps of Māori that will give willingly to help others without payment.
A Pākehā mate of mine just last week had to call into a petrol station on her way to Taupo as she was running out of petrol. Unfortunately for her she had left her purse at home. The Māori proprietors gave her $20 without making her beg or mortgage her home as security.
Prometheus supposedly championed the cause of mankind – your views are so small-minded that I suggest a renaming should take place to whatever Greek God is the champion of lost causes.
What does the word “lesbian” have to do with your story, k_p?
I’m sorry, I don’t understand felix, have I done something wrong?
That’s ok. A lot of people don’t understand felix.
I don’t know if you’ve done something wrong. Why do you ask?
“A lot of people don’t understand felix.”
Is that why felix seems angry and frustrated all the time?
“Why do you ask?”
Just that I mention the “L” word and suddenly you are all over my arse.
I am curious too – in the context of Maori bashing, you slipped in a lesbian. Are you homophobic as well as racist?
See, another bully tactic, scream “Racist!” at anyone who doesn’t tow the PC line.
Defensive, much?? If the cap fits, wear it.
You are happy to stereotype when it suits your agenda. I ma happy to reciprocate using the evidence you have personally supplied
I haven’t stereotyped.
The stats are there, the anecdotes are there. Other people have made the same observations.
But you will just keep screaming “Racist! It’s all the whities fault!.”
Had a Maori room mate at the backpackers, he comes back 3am blind drunk reeking of it, and proceeds to try to take a leak in the middle of the room. I jumped out of bed “Whoa dude not there!”, opened the door and he headed for the light – “Oh thanks bro!”
He comes back in and starts crashing around, so the young English tourist back packer in the bunk above him ask him to be quiet. So the Maori guy threatens him “Me and my bros will deal to you!”.
He was always hanging around the social room drinking and smoking. He felt a special affection for the Irish backpackers because of “the Englosh!”. The affection wasn’t reciprocated.
I guess your mate behaved that way because he’s maori.
(See how much better it works when you don’t confuse the issue by making him Jewish or gay or disabled as well?)
I’m in a state of zen-like calm.
The reason I asked about your descriptor “lesbian” is that it confused me. I didn’t understand how it related to the story and I thought maybe I had missed some important aspect of the story, and that if you could explain it for me I’d be up to speed with everyone else.
You didn’t just appear out of no where to question me about the “L” word. If you are accusing me of something spit it out.
You are quite the political animal, felix.
It’s not a swear word. You don’t need to use the initial.
But why did you use it in your story? What information does it convey to the reader? What changes if the word is omitted?
As a writer of fiction these are the questions you need to ask yourself constantly.
Well you would know from all the feminist “critiques” you have read or written.
lol you do have some funny ideas about me k_p. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything I’d call a “feminist critique”. I mostly read technical manuals.
I’m not going to keep asking you about the lesbian aspect of your story as you clearly don’t want to talk about it.
And that’s ok. Writers often get tired of explaining the choices they make. I do think it’s something you might like to think about though for the sake of your craft.
For every ‘Maori are bashers’ anecdote you can tell, I can source you with Dutch, Sots, Irish, English, etc, etc. People, especially disadvantaged people, can express anger and frustration in inappropriate ways.
My ex was physically, verbally, emotionally and sexually abusive to me. I may be Maori but he was a Scottish New Zealander. So, by your standards, am I to blame because I am Maori or was he just an angry, bitter man who chose his fists, feet and temper to bully and coerce?
FWIW Hateatea, my ex was the same to me. I am an English/Scots New Zealander, he was a Maori (he died 5 months ago). His family is very different, he was a distinct oddity (drug and alcohol dependent) and so it just goes to show it’s going on amongst all peoples… 🙁
Wow, were where you working?
k p, the truth hurts. You have upset a lot of people. I would say your critics are bleeding badly and since you have cut deep they can only use irrational, personal abuse as defence. I would not have the time or courage to discuss the subjects with anyone on this site. They only recognise their own faults in other people.
The Press (today) has several very good articles on the departure of Manners, Courtesy and Respect For Others during the last 50 years. Your critics are an example.
Your critics only want to hear from people who will confirm what they already believe. Even some site Moderators are not without fault.
John 8:7 “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
John72………I guess your full name is John1872.
Get a life in the 21st century for Christ’s Sake.
Manners Courtesy Respect indeed.
I haven’t seen Michael Valley posting here recently on why we have to liberate all those poor brown people from their despots all over the middle east and his MSM propaganda slant may have something to do with it but I sometimes think about him and this is one of the moments. I would really like to read his spin on this one.
Better hurry on down to MSN news where their straw poll today is who would you vote for.
Hooton has already massed his troops so make your vote count.
Don’t stress about it – the Nats are obviously on a steady downward projectory regardless of marketing ploys like instant polls.
Groser promotes ecological disaster
I had to laugh while reading a speech given by Tim Groser yesterday in which he claims that people who promote localized food production and security of supply are acting instinctually and that not wanting to rely on other countries for food is rooted in people’s hunter and gatherer DNA, which is a little insane to say the least…
Jackal He must be back on the happy baccky again.
Fossils promoting fossil fuel !
But I like sugar.
Then grow it. We don’t need to import that stuff either.
Actually, we could grow sugar cane here quite easily, it just needs plenty of sun and fresh water 😛
Got some growing up the driveway. It’s a tasty chew.
I like mangoes too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango
Could probably grow them in Northland if they don’t already.
Help please.
I see something that will come up in parliament soon that is based on some pretty solid misinformation being bandied about. Nothing unusual about that. Now I want to go lobbying. I can go and see the spokeperson that each party has for this area taking along, I imagine, with a short written document as back up. Do I also go and see each individual MP as well . What else would be effective?
Secondly is there any way here of ensuring that a post goes into moderation deliberately?
There are certain words that guarantee moderation. Mentioning the surname of a famous Austrian with a Chaplin moustache and a fetish for Wagner will do it.
On the second thing – putting “tr*ll” (sub * for o) will chuck a post into the moderation queue.
The birther nonsense that’s been going on over at the sewer recently prompted me to track down something I saw a few weeks ago.
Abraham Africanus I : his secret life, revealed under the mesmeric influence ; mysteries of the White House. New York : J.F. Feeks [1864]
Psychiatry Giant Sorry for Backing Gay ‘Cure’
A draft of Spitzers letter of apology
Several months ago I told you that because of my revised view of my 2001 study of reparative therapy changing sexual orientation, I was considering writing something that would acknowledge that I now judged the major critiques of the study as largely correct. After discussing my revised view of the study with Gabriel Arana, a reporter for American Prospect, and with Malcolm Ritter, an Associated Press science writer, I decided that I had to make public my current thinking about the study. Here it is.
Basic Research Question. From the beginning it was: “can some version of reparative therapy enable individuals to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual?” Realizing that the study design made it impossible to answer this question, I suggested that the study could be viewed as answering the question, “how do individuals undergoing reparative therapy describe changes in sexual orientation?” – a not very interesting question.
The Fatal Flaw in the Study – There was no way to judge the credibility of subject reports of change in sexual orientation. I offered several (unconvincing) reasons why it was reasonable to assume that the subject’s reports of change were credible and not self-deception or outright lying. But the simple fact is that there was no way to determine if the subject’s accounts of change were valid.
I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy. I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some “highly motivated” individuals.
Robert Spitzer. M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry,
Columbia University
Interesting post and link there Joe90.
The advocates of “cure” are frequently those who also insist that sexual orientation is a matter of personal choice – the thrust being that it’s as simple as one’s preference for rugby union over rugby league or pale ale over stout.
The late Phil (?) Raffills, the vehemently anti-gay former principal of Avondale College and religious right Auckland City councillor was one of those on that buzz.
The obvious question I mentally posed when he was in full piety about this: “OK Phil…….tell me about the time when you made the personal choice to be straight rather than gay.”
As I recall the whole thing turned to spectacular farce when a recent past head prefect of Avondale College, personally chosen by Raffills, came out and “confessed” to being gay.
This Young Gay Man Of Disgusting Choice also hinted that Raffills, the educator darling of the Right at the time, was something of a moral bully.
Yep, sounds right.
I’m wondering whether the apology will be recognised by the knuckle draggers who’ve been trotting out Spitzers original conclusion to support their bigotry.
And I’ve always wanted to ask someone like the late Raffills or his ilk when did you decide that you were straight?.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10806979
Parata is quoting average teacher salary of 71,000 , only reached after several years experience.
that is the top of the scale for a class room teacher AND it started on the 13th of may this year.
So the 71k cannot be the average for the ‘ordinary’ teacher.
I smell spin.
It may not be spin you smell…….it may be the stench of a rotten egg. Why ?
Well I don’t know for sure but I do know that in Moerewa and other parts of the North the stunning Ms Parata is known to a number as “Heki Pirau” Parata – translation – “Rotten Egg” Parata.
Teacher average = 71
Warfies average = 91
Both spun the wrong way , these numbers stink!
Someone needs more media support. Does the media care about you and me or is it just making money?
welcome to capitalism.
Granted, BUT, the wharfies would not have got to $91K without media support. Is that capitalism? I do not know. (Q. “Much is invested in having us believe everything we read in newspapers and everything our government tells us. If we are not thinking for ourselves we are easy targets for control and manipulation”. Printed in USA 15 years ago.)
As I see it, the media are just selling to a population pictured in “Corination Streed” .
I hope you mean “public misperception that wharfies routinely take home $91k/yr would not have happened without media support”.
Actually, the Daily Show had a fascinating observation recently, after Obama’s comments about gay marriage: in five years the Fox debate has gone from “gay marriage will end the world” to “he only said it because it’s popular”. While most money comes from corporates, media still need to sell stuff in order to make money – if nobody buys what’s being advertised, the advertisers back off, so the media has to find the balance between money and believability. That’s why Glenn Beck is off air, even though he was their biggest herald. Capitalism is cannibalism.
But the media also shapes perception, so it’s a complex system of persuasion then token acquiescence.
I share your skepticism Muzza. I found this document on the minedu site which does suggest that it is $71k per annum. I presume this includes headmasters salaries which would drive the average up.
Sugar beet would probably grow much better than sugar cane in Aotearoa.
@ Foreign Waka 7pm 22/05/2012
I didn’t say that there IS tribal law in New Zealand, I said that the understanding of rangatira in 1840 was that within Te Tiriti, whānau, hapū and iwi would manage their own affairs including their forests, fisheries and traditions while the settlers would manage their people. Given the significant population imbalance in the favour of iwi, this was a reasonable assumption. This they saw as tino rangatiratanga for iwi while the tāngata tiriti would have kawanatanga. This did not turn out to be the case, population ratios changed, the huge influx of new settlers were told nothing of Te Tiriti and the base for grievance was set.
As we saw ourselves (and still do to a degree) as separate nations living side by side with other nations, I would not accept your definition as apartheid, however, I cannot ‘control’ how you see things, nor would I wish to. I merely offered some background and an alternative viewpoint to yours and others. Whether you choose to ponder upon my views, do more research or blithely continue on your particular path is entirely up to you.
Kia tau te rangimarie