Too many Labour MP’s abandon solidarity with the party when it conflicts with their own self interest as an electorate MP.
Samuels comments reflect this sort of thinking – as does that of Davis the current candidate. The same applies on the West Coast.
In the MMP environment they cost Labour party list votes in the electorate and nationwide.
The idea that whatever it takes to secure for themselves the electorate is doing their job is FPP era thinking. It is in the modern environment feathering their own nest by fouling it for the rest of the party.
What irony that National the party of individual advancement shows more loyalty to the common well being of the party than themselves. There is strength in being united in collective cause as the polls indicate.
The campaign is not looking like one to dislodge the government. If it was then accommodation should be made by Davis to ensure the left gains 3 or 4 more seats through Mana.
The goal is to remove Key. We should be doing whatever it takes.
I think it demonstrates the complete disconnect between the party and the traditional labour electorate.
I do wonder if this isn’t a planned shift, a move away from what Labour was, the physical tradesman type party to a more Woman focused party, the thinking being potential female 50% of the vote + liberal dandy types + gays and Labour could end up with a solid block of votes which could cement themselves as the core component of the Left block.
It’s a real polar shift but it would certainly be more reflective of what modern labour is all about.
No, it’s just that Samuels is more a man and a Northlander than loyal to the Labour Party. This shows he should never have been chosen to represent the party in the first place.
One can remain loyal to the party and say the obvious – it’s a surprise that some feminists think that women need to be protected from unwanted sex because they are so weak they are unable to clearly state they deny consent when this is not what they want. It’s a low opinion of other women that they need a legal protection to the point of placing all men at risk of court action for not getting consent in advance of having sex.
Yes some in the party with leadership aspirations will pander to factions within the party and caucus – thus the recent comments from Cunliffe and Little. That is nothing new, just that women are now one of those factions.
No, it’s just that Samuels is more a man and a Northlander than loyal to the Labour Party. This shows he should never have been chosen to represent the party in the first place.”
Once elected is a constituent MPs first responsibility to his political party, or to the voters who voted him in?
Er once elected he represents all constituents – even those who did not vote for him. Just as a government does at the national level.
But as a candidate for a party he will be voting to implement their manifesto – thus saying he disagrees with his party on some local policy to curry favour with voters at an election is a grand deception – a lie to voters. Because once elected he will be voting with his party.
The one think I do not like about MMP is the primary loyalty of MPs to the party rather than to their area/constituency. I do like tht it better rpresents the electorate as a whole..
In my view, the 60 constituent MPs do have a primary responsibility to the electors, (including those who did not vote them in) and the List MPs have a primary responsibility to the Party who listed them into Parliament.
So come election time, each group will be working primarily for the group who will get them into Parliament. Which, in my view is why the Labour MPs have no, or limited interest in helping the Greens or the IMP
Oh, SPC…..a can of passable Oz peaches last time I looked……off you’re Zionist Gaza gig and onto Dover in the Clover what ? Check around Matauri Bay……you’ll see how peachy they DON’T see the man. Even whanau bearing the name. Understandable. With whom did he once share the NZLP electorate office in Broadway Kaikohe ? You got it……Phoney Jonesy. Now there’s a man……!
Too many Labour MP’s abandon solidarity with the party when it conflicts with their own self interest as an electorate MP.
SPC
Today it seems that solidarity is an old fashioned word in the Labour Party as Labour flatly refuses to send an official spokesperson to the rally against the current war in Palestine.
The official spokesperson could be only one of three people – Cunliffe may still be on holiday with family. So it would be Shearer, or Goff or a spokesperson for disarmament Street, or her understudy.
Key will have finished his Maui briefings and will soon be returning, have you simply decided not to ever comment again on the issue of political interference ?
😆 i hear you Populuxe1 ! and agree wholeheatedly. 😆 t’was a conscious decision, based on the aesthetics of the phonetics, suggesting a modular, manufactured item rather than a big bouncy blob of bobblyness
Do you not realise what a fuck you make yourself look SSLands ?
“Labour also failed to send a spokesperson to the rally for peace in Midland Park in Wellington yesterday.”
Yeah, because demonstrably it wasn’t a ‘peace’ rally. A rally for the New Zealand “Friends of Israel” to stand in solemn solidarity with Zionist Israel’s Nazi Exceptionalism is what it was. Under a thin cover of a longing for ‘peace’. Where in fact ‘peace’ equals abject surrender by the Palestinians. Not to say their ranks don’t include a few honest, hoodwinked people unaware of the true Zionist agenda.
They stage one every time the shooting fish in a barrel recommences in Gaza. Seen them numerous times – mostly older upper middle class shuffling uncomfortably in their anoraks, fulsomely projecting tragic piety. The Foreign Ministry in Tel Aviv probably shouts Esquires coffee end of demo’.
You’re a deluded fool SSLands. To contemplate that anyone believes you anymore. Gave it away in the link for God’s Sake – “nzfoi” – NZ Friends of Israel.
Srylands, maybe you could have done us all a favour and invited a spokesperson from the Conservatives or even National, to your little zionist rally. Maybe, just maybe one or both would have been stupid enough to turn up. Since this country and the whole world is sick if not sickened of these racist butchers it would gift the election to the opposition in a landslide.
What a load of rubbish, BM. It’s Key who’s after the gay vote. Look at how he minces around with gay Tories at the Big Gay Out. He’s also dead against gay debauchery and strongly in favour of traditional Christian values, as shown by his sliming around a few Pasifika pastors in South Auckland.
Homophobic stereotyping much? Mincing? Really? The “gay vote”? “Gay debauchery”?
Gay men do not experience patriarchal or white privilege the way gender normative white men do.
Fuck you.
Ooops. I’ve upset a gay Tory. Bugger. A not very bright one by all accounts, but he is quick with his insults when he doesn’t understand what someone says. Which is most of the time.
Moran.
SPC 7.17
The way I see the situation re the two parties ‘ approaches.
I see National as being more authoritarian than Labour.
Labour is more widely idealistic and people-oriented than National, but if that idealism becomes dominating then authoritarianism grows in Labour too.
Labour individuals often follow their own particular belief system which involves higher principles than National of moral and fair behaviour, and these are individually varied and can lead to splintering of support into factions.
National tends to have one goal, self advancement but Labour can develop divisions and people forget that Labour needs to be cohesive as their goals are far more ambitious than Nationals, and harder to achieve without willingness to work together and compromise somewhat.
Ayman Mohyeldin, the NBC News correspondent who personally witnessed yesterday’s killing by Israel of four Palestinian boys on a Gazan beach and who has received widespread praise for his brave and innovative coverage of the conflict, has been told by NBC executives to leave Gaza immediately. According to an NBC source upset at his treatment, the executives claimed the decision was motivated by “security concerns” as Israel prepares a ground invasion, a claim repeated to me by an NBC executive. But late yesterday, NBC sent another correspondent, Richard Engel, along with an American producer who has never been to Gaza and speaks no Arabic, into Gaza to cover the ongoing Israeli assault (both Mohyeldin and Engel speak Arabic).
Mohyeldin is an Egyptian-American with extensive experience reporting on that region. He has covered dozens of major Middle East events in the last decade for CNN, NBC and Al Jazeera English, where his reporting on the 2008 Israeli assault on Gaza made him a star of the network. NBC aggressively pursued him to leave Al Jazeera, paying him far more than the standard salary for its on-air correspondents.
Yesterday, Mohyeldin witnessed and then reported on the brutal killing by Israeli gunboats of four young boys as they played soccer on a beach in Gaza City. He was instrumental, both in social media and on the air, in conveying to the world the visceral horror of the attack.
Mohyeldin recounted how, moments before their death, he was kicking a soccer ball with the four boys, who were between the ages of 9 and 11 and all from the same family. He posted numerous chilling details on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, including the victims’ names and ages, photographs he took of their anguished parents, and video of one of their mothers as she learned about the death of her young son. He interviewed one of the wounded boys at the hospital shortly before being operated on. He then appeared on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, where he dramatically recounted what he saw.
Doubly odd since they had originally replaced him with yet another journalist, but this time putting one on to the firing line one not as familiar with the region and who didn’t speak Arabic…
No phillip I think Manhire hits the nail on the head as usual.
Though I guess you could argue that Dotcom is giving Key the opportunity to resign by saying he is going to drop the bombshell on 15th September. Really this should be done on 2nd September as voting starts on 3rd September.
I’m loving this John Armstrong – “KDC should do this, KDC should do that – put up or shut up, prove beyond reasonable doubt, the time has come for this and the time has come for that, they should be told today, not tomorrow, not next week and certainly not when it is most politically advantageous for the Internet Mana leadership – Dotcom, Laila Harre and Hone Harawira…”
The right frothing because with KDC they lose the narrative – they lose control of the story, they don’t know how to spin it apart from impotent anger and threats.
He’s in the headlines because he is exposing the liar and that is definitely good for the left. Key’s tipping point will come and he’ll say some smartarse comment that doesn’t sit well with the ‘middle’ and then a groundswell could occur. That’s my hope anyway.
Seems a less risky strategy than waiting on labour…
Well no James, i have moved across from the Green Party to InternetMana and when the ‘roadshow’ reaches Wellington will be on hand to greet them which will be my first attendance at a specific Party event in a long long time,
i hope to get the chance not only to connect with fellow InternetMana-ites here in Wellington with a view to expanding at least the Mana Parties presence and activism here in the Capital, but, also to see if Hone can’t spend some effort here after the 2014 contest gathering together the thin strands of Mana support in the lower North Island into a cohesive entity that has the capability of delivering at least leaflet drops to whole electorates…
Armstrong is the antithesis of a journalist.
See Morrissey’s comment at 2 if you want to see evidence of real journalism…and how the owners of media deal with those independent enough to think for themselves.
“But Dotcom needs a change of government if he is to have any hope of avoiding extradition to the United States.”
So according to John Armstrong the courts no longer have a say in the matter? This is a massively disturbing concept for a journalist to espouse. Our government controls judicial process?
I was aware of that, and of the pinnacle of objectivity that is Gower, but it all points to the conclusion which only adds weight to the theory the National Government allowed Dotcom to stay because they plan to extradite him.
which only adds weight to the theory the National Government allowed Dotcom to stay because they plan to extradite him.
That makes no sense at all.
also
So according to John Armstrong the courts no longer have a say in the matter? This is a massively disturbing concept for a journalist to espouse. Our government controls judicial process?
No shock or surprise here. The Standard is read by a whole lot of people who never comment and sometimes things get written that is completely for their benefit. I presented it as a question because of the fait accompli Armstrong presented.
I thought the raids on his mansion was an abuse of process and law, so I was prepared to cut him a lot of slack. But my sympathy has gone. The sooner this nazi sympathising criminal is gone the better. And today I saw one ACT policy I can agree with! Politicians should stay clear of immigration decisions.
North agreeing with your opinion on the Israel/Palestine matter is not a test of whether the person is capable of taking a moral position or whether their opinion has any credibility on other matters.
One thing that brings disunity to the left is holding grudges against those who take another side on an issue – such as Samuels and others such as Tamihere who side with men when the Labour party addresses the concerns of women.
Tamihere never sided with me. I’m pretty sure I’m a man. The concerns of women are not orthogonal to the concerns of men, although they may be at variance with the concerns of knuckle dragging morans.
Sure, but those people will claim that Labour does not represent them when it addresses the concerns of women. Tamihere abused women in the Labour caucus (for being ranked ahead of him a Maori man who has cultural issues with women in leadership) and Samuels then says he will not vote Labour because of it.
He was a lovely bloke, Karol and absolutely committed to his union members. On one building project he was told that the bosses were being gifted portable TV’s as bonuses for achieving targets. He swiftly and successfully argued that it was his members that actually did the work that triggered the bonuses, so they should get them too.
He was quite a talker, always liked a good yarn, but had the knack of adapting his language to his audience. That is, he would explain the way he saw things in a way that meant that was the way you saw things too.
Would someone like to comment on nadis ‘snida’ comment on Con Devitt? I seem to remember the rusty hulk of BNZ building standing idle for ages. And the adent on concrete thereafter. What was the story?
I’ll reply for you. Personally I’m not anti union, in fact in my business I’m supportive of the clerical staff being union members, it actually makes my life easier as I don’t need to worry about negotiating conditions, salary etc while still leaving me the right to pay or provide more PIK to the really good staff who I want to encourage to stay. But the boilermakers union was the posterboy for every bad practice that gutted the union movement. Legendary practices like holding up the entire job for weeks while a single continuous weld was welded, not quite finished at knock off time, and then started again the next day. They were experts at finding little tasks that could hold up the entire project and then using that as leverage for newer and bigger demands. Requiring a two tradesmen and two assistants to perform task as simple as tightening a single screw on a hose clip.
What was really bizarre about this hard left union behaviour was the “if we can’t win we’ll burn down both our houses” attitude. A lot of the union leadership were “refugees” from the UK where their unions had withered and died because of infexibility in the face of european competition – a lot of these UK unionists came here pre-Thatcher as the heavy industries they had come from were devastated even before Thatcher attacked the public sector unions, those in the private sector were already broken pre-Thatcher due to the 70’s recession. I still can’t believe the attitude of a lot of theses guys, they did exactly the same things that didnt work in the UK in the face of exactly the same pressures that were redefining those traditional occupations here in NZ.
I was personally involved in a fair bit of stuff (strikes, meetings, table pounding about “management scum stealing from the working comrade” as a young union member of a trade related union at this time and then as a (very) junior salaried engineer who spent an awful lot of time sitting in the canteen reading the newspaper while one hour stop work meetings decamped to the pub for an entire day.
nadis can’t comment on Con, greywarbler. Clearly from his comment he didn’t actually know him, but he’s happy to post waffly smears about the boilermakers union as if they were his first hand experiences.
You’re a fool. I never claimed to know him or be associated in any way with the boilermakers union.
But the atrocious behaviour of the boilermakers union was/is very common knowledge as was the fact that the BNZ building was the last major commercial contract let in NZ that ever relied on boilermakers. In fact just google BNZ building, boilermakers union and you’ll find plenty.
It was great to work for companies that employed the boilermakers on heavy engineering jobs,
As a 16 year old i got a job with a small firm engaged in the construction of the then massive Todd Motors complex at Porirua,
This firm built all the heavy hangers which were then hung from the roof of the complex upon which all the car making equipment, spray machinery/welders etc were installed,
My job consisted of, once the platform was hung from the roof in the correct position to climb up to roof height and tighten the sixteen giant bolts that held the structure in place,
On the first day of this mammoth task it took me all of to morning smoko time to complete the task, being keen i hit the foreman up for the next task only to be told to find something interesting to do because the next platform wasn’t arriving until the following day,
That was the sum total of my daily toil, and, even as a labourer the pay was great thanks to the union awards,
Finding something interesting to do as per the instructions from the foreman proved a slightly harder task, one of these which had the whole site in fits was to kidnap passing labourers sloping off from other crews working on site and hold them down while welding their steel-caps together…
It seems that political journalists only do opinion pieces now. It must be too hard for them to compare and contrast policies. How much easier it is for them to indulge their own personal prejudices. See (or don’t bother to read) Tracy Watkin’s latest factless gossip-column standard opinion piece in Stuff.
The September election just went ‘Hot’, from Stuff.co.nz, Winston Peters is saying that if National pull Murray McCully from the East Coast Bays electorate He is well prepared to go head to head with Colon Craig for the seat,
i have been picking NZFirst(who along with Colon’s Conservatives are having a conference this weekend), to be ‘light’ of the 5% needed to get back into the Parliament in election 2014,
Should Peters contest East Coast Bays in a head to head with Craig tho, i think the publicity will not only push NZFirst over the 5% thresh-hold, but, Peters will actually win the seat…
Peters gives Labour a ‘hint’,also from Stuff.co.nz, speaking of the 2011 election where then Labour Leader Phill Goff campaigned upon raising the age of superannuation entitlement Winston Peters said, ”I think that cost them,(Labour), the election in 2011– later adding, ”Don’t they get it”,
Having banged on about the ‘Super issue’ endlessly here at the Standard i can inform Winston that ‘they’ sure as hell just ‘don’t get it’…
Yep. Not even banging on about it at the Labour Party conference in 2013 led many in the party to get it. Stuck in the neoliberal fiscal-balance the books paradigm, fully supported by data from Treasury.
Worse than that CV was David Parker ‘giving the game away’ with His recent comments on ‘future tax cuts’,(enough said, i am trying to keep my focus on a winning election 2014 mindset)…
To be clear, I was mentioning the condition on a purely figurative basis. My lack of impulse control on The Standard is entirely my own responsibility…
Actually, they weren’t so big on the death penalty. Biggest response when I told them to do more god. (Obviously, smacking is core policy for them already.)
Their average expenses are higher than the “average” income for full time workers. the State Services Commissioner has an itemised breakdown of expenses: includes a fair number of overseas visits to meet with “counter[arts”.
Expenses for 1 July 2013 – 30 June 2014
Domestic travel: $4,493.44
International travel: $25,796.68
Hospitality and entertainment given (including gifts): $1,145.83
Hospitality and entertainment received (including gifts): $29.00
Taxi (domestic and international): $2,192.31
Cell phone: $2,143.47
Kim Hill interviews one of America’s most vile propagandists
I listened in mounting fury to Kim Hill interviewing that smooth and vicious liar Alex Gibney this morning. It’s difficult to imagine a sleazier guest. I sent the following email in protest….
Alex Gibney is not fit to judge Lance Armstrong or anyone else
Dear Kim,
Alex Gibney lauds the cycling reporters who were “dedicated to telling the truth.” That’s dark irony, coming from Gibney, whose film We Steal Secrets was a Stalinist-style axe job on the most important truth-teller of our time, Julian Assange.
You really do seem to have a bizarre fixation with Morrissey Felix.
Perhaps if you concentrated as much of your focus on your musical musings you might rise to the equivalent heights that Morrisey has as a media critic.
Until you do put in the hard yards you’ll remain a fourth rate hack.
Colon Craig’s Conservatives are holding a conference this weekend, the Party manifesto rumored to be writ large on rolls of tinfoil and given to members as they enter the venue with instructions on how to use it as ‘a wrap’ is said by Winston Peters to have been plagarized from the NZFirst online policy manifesto,
Another rumor has it that Colon the Conservative had the ‘golden rules’ passed to Him from the space aliens after they had successfully carried Him off one night for a ‘probing’ which along with relieving Colon of 30% of His body weight also reversed His anatomical processes with the lower bowel functions now carried out above the neck,
Wee Matty Hooton, ever desperate for a starring role, with panhandler desperation, pretended? to be a chimp for the opening stanza of the Conservatives Conference held this weekend,
You have to wonder just how much money changed hands to enable Hooton the luxury of dribbling to a live audience of the politically committed, and here, the inquiry isn’t intended to imply that Colon the Conservative passed monies to wee Matty so He could waste space upon the stage,
Colons Conservatives are said to be having the first’ nationwide letterbox drop’ this weekend, people should be advised to burn these pamphlets at the letterbox as there may be some health risk if taken into the home…
Colon’s first print enema arrived in letterboxes today. It is mostly negative pandering to kid whackers etc in English only no reo here, and includes a reactionary quiz–e.g. “prisoners should be working–Yes, No.
Ah. Yeah. Most of the junk mail goes to my landlord’s street-side mail box – except the occasional one that slips through addressed to me personally at my street address. I fail to understand how some people just ignore my PO Box addy.
Some have to of course. Some IRD and NZTA stuff requires a street address.
The trick to a happy P.O.Box is remembering to pay the bill 🙂
Couple of years ago I missed an end of year quarterly payment and they closed and sold the box (I was away and missed their ‘closing box’ notices, but they had my phone number and never used it) I missed out getting a whole stack of Christmas stuff 🙁 One brother just sent the returned card the next year 🙂
@freedom
The bit about NZPost not contacting you about planning on selling your POBox number is one of the slack behaviours that have led to them losing their business. The internet etc is causing it to drop away yes, but if you seek to keep customer’s with you and keep them happy, this maintains the base.
It takes work and attention to detail and involves employing people who have the task as part of their job and are monitored as to how well they are doing it, with sacking for non-performance. It seems to underline the meme that governments end up being slack, careless and inefficient – hence clever private operators can carry out appendectomies on gummint services to relieve the blockage, and our purses!
If that had been the situation that disgraceful Queenstown situation would never have happened. And how much slackness has gone under the radar before, that it took such a doozy of a breakdown in service to come to notice?
The postal side is a mess for sure. Overworked poorly managed. The front-office here though do a really good job considering the broad rural & townie populace they service and also being a Kiwibank branch the demands on their time are intense.
The not ringing me bit is what I very calmly complained about because my number was right there in the Boxholder’s information. But… paying the bill on time was ultimately my responsibility which I failed to meet and on that they were 100% correct.
Nah. Always go to passive discouragement. Can’t get in the door. Can’t leave junk mail.
It is like changing the garage access. Adding a cardswipe from the garage to the stairwell stopped people leaving their cards in their cars. That meant that car thieve getting into the garage couldn’t find a card to drive out of the garage with a car. Car thefts dropped dramatically.
@lprent
The car thief problem is a good example of intelligent problem solving. Good thinking, identify problem, analyse causes, consider various solutions, choose one and check it is suitable and not onerous, and whether it works to solve or alternatively, decimate the problem stats.
Let’s have this approach applied to most problems. If there are cultural concerns for that particular group, or involved groups in the area, then widen the considerations and have numbers of meetings that keep presenting the problem and prioritising the best solutions, to ensure that thinking is kept productively on target and dissimulation does not limit targeted discussion time. Arrive at near consensus, with last minute concerns listened to and provided for.
Still amazes me that the government didn’t include junk mail in the anti-spam legislation. Both waste time and resources and yet junk mail seems to be considered valuable.
It does tho keep a whole industry going, Parts of which we would obviously like to clean up their river polluting ways,
From the trees cut in the forest, to the paper making mills of the Central North Island and onto various printing factories the stuff gets to employ thousands as well as those who continually stuff the (expletive deleted) letterbox with it,
From my letterbox, i being the only unpaid serf in the equation, walk it to my recycle wheelie bin where the paid employee of the City Council whips it via mechanical arm into the back of the dump truck and from there off to be sorted and sent off to a paper recycle facility where it is processed and becomes part of the magic circle,
i would put one of those, ”i am going to commit bodily harm on you if i catch you sticking junk mail in here” signs on my letterbox but the above reasons prevent me from curtailing anyone’s employment even in such a waste of resources junk industry such as the delivered advertising i seldom bother reading…
Which actually amounts to a public subsidy to that industry due to the fact that it is our rates that end up paying for the disposal foisted upon us by the advertisers – a subsidy that we would never choose to pay as no one likes, or wants, junk mail. If junk mail is allowed to continue solely to keep an industry going, especially one that causes so much waste, then we have a problem. Such waste is, by its very definition, uneconomical.
Really Draco, much the same could be said about ‘paper shuffling’ employees of both local and central Government,
So how are you going to achieve full employment again Draco,(that’s rhetorical please don’t answer as my laughter will likely be a danger to my health)…
You really are saying that people should be employed to dig holes and then fill them in. Actually, that would be better than keeping the junk mail option that you advocate.
Certainly Draco so long as they were paid the ‘living wage’ and a rooted tree was inserted into the hole befor the filling back in bit was accomplished…
the american sentencing commission has just voted to give federal judges the ability to radically reduce the sentences of those in america serving mega-sentences for cannabis ‘crimes’..
..when the time comes..we need to do this here..
..the latest obscenity around this here..
..is someone losing half of their house..
..because they had a (single-figure) number of cannabis plants..(!)
..f.f.s..!..how does that come within a bulls’-roar of anything even faintly resembling justice..?
go phil.
cannabis will be legalised in the next term .
At the momen tthe hold up is by justice industry who are making monopoly profits and institutional promotions by criminalising something that would be nothing if it were left to people to sort out for themselves.
the kid who walks out in front of traffic is the same kid who will use drugs just to annoy the authorities when they dont realise that they are just ensuring white collar employment at exorbitant salaries.
Well isn’t that just marvelous, i would assume seeing as you give out such advice that your well practiced in carrying out the same behavior as the norm on your Saturday night,
There are a lot of expletives that i would attach to anyone advising inflicting physical harm to their spouse deep throat, scum, being one that easily springs to mind,
My advice to you F off and engage in the behavior your user-name implies,( i would have reminded you not to foget to swallow but imagine your an expert at that as well)…
Great to get real data thanks Swordfish. Must be tough for the minor parties to see such a small share. And still they box on in spite of the adversity.
Let’s have more new coal mines, deep sea oil wells and frack where ever we can.
Let’s put up the age of Super to keep older folk working longer, and younger people out of jobs longer
Lets leave in place GST rises, and remove tax cuts for the low paid.
Let’s ignore the crisis in Palestine and turn down an invitation to have our representative to speak at the Auckland rally at 2pm in Aotea square today.
I wonder if the missile strike on MH17 would be construed as an attack on Malaysia. If so, we are obligated under the Five Power Defence Arrangements to have consultations with Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the UK.
And to lose 2 airliners in 6 months? Something screwy is going on. Apparently the previous 10 MH-17 flights did not go over Eastern Ukraine, but cleared south of it.
I flew that Malaysian airliner Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route once about 9 years ago and it flew way south of it. In fact it flew straight over Iraq and I remember thinking how weird it was that we where flying over a war zone safely.
“I flew that Malaysian airliner Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route once about 9 years ago and it flew way south of it. In fact it flew straight over Iraq …”
Big whoop. The planned flight path of MH17 would have taken it to within a few hundred km of Iraq anyway if it hadn’t been shot down. If there was wind from a different direction, it might well have gone further south. The routes are not set in stone and they vary according to the conditions.
“You don’t test the water with both feet,” Peters told the Timaru RSA this week, adding that giving hints would weaken his negotiating position.
Although he has primarily targeted National since returning to Parliament following the 2011 election, attacking the Government on its asset sales programme, Peters said Labour was also promoting policies to which NZ First was strongly opposed.
Before the 2011 election, NZ First warned it could not support a Labour government proposing to raise the retirement age and to extend capital gains tax in the way it was proposing. Labour leader David Cunliffe has affirmed both policies going into the September 20 election.
“I think that lost them [Labour] the election [in 2011],” Peters said in an interview this week. “Don’t they get it?”
On the Need for a Media Shakeup once the Labour Left Coalition Wins the Election
By Martyn Bradbury / July 19, 2014
“With a survey out this week reminding us that 83% of all New Zealanders watch traditional television every day, it’s no wonder the media generated hate figure of Cunliffe results in poll ratings as low as they currently are.
I started the daily blog in the wake of the 2012 Labour Party conference. I was very close to Cunliffe at the time and had been pestering him constantly during the conference about whether or not he would push a challenge against David Shearer as the blogs had been advocating when the membership changed the voting rules. His response surprised me, it was a flat out no with a very impassioned, ‘I am a servant to the Party’ styled justification.
This was annoying and frustrating. Unfortunately for the blogger in me, there would be no scoop because David Cunliffe was far too principled to launch a coup against Shearer. The disappointment quickly evaporated into jaw dropping shock as I watched Patrick Gower manufacture a false narrative about a leadership coup and crucified Cunliffe on the 6pm News. I know there was no coup because I was the one sitting on Cunliffe’s elbow saying, “you should take out Shearer’ and Cunliffe was point blank refusing to do that.
Watching Cunliffe then get punished for that loyalty was a burning injustice that inspired my decision to gather together the best bloggers the left have and put them all on one site to review the news daily in an attempt to give the other side of the story to the one the mainstream media manufacture. If Gower could deliberately spike a story and twist it that far from reality, then what hope for a well informed citizenry to engage with the civic issues of our day?
This counter narrative seems more important to the NZ media landscape than ever before. The current level of negative bias being exhibited by the conservative corporate media towards David Cunliffe suggests National’s infamous Australian consultants, Crosby-Textor, have suddenly gained editorial staff positions on every branch of broadcasting….
…Voters who have written Cunliffe off based on the media generated bias will be forced to challenge those views when they see him in action on the campaign trail and in the all essential debates.
If their boy Key does fail to win a majority, watch how quickly the media will start proclaiming Cunliffe and Labour have no mandate to govern. Even if Labour win, they will never get a break from the rightwing media and they shouldn’t expect one.
If Cunliffe leads the country after September 20th, a better Public Broadcasting policy needs to be in his top 5 list”.
The State Services Commission has found that the Government’s restructuring of the Department of Conservation (DOC) is not working, the Green Party said today.
The report identifies that managerial roles which were eliminated by the National Government are returning in an ad-hoc way out of necessity. Staff are concerned about ongoing workplace stress and a concerning increase in injury rates. The report identifies two areas which are weak, 11 areas that need development, no areas where the department is strong and only three in which it is well placed.
National’s restructuring proven to have failed New Zealand – again.
Last year set records for high temperatures around the world, giving New Zealand its warmest winter, and Australia its hottest year since records began.
The warming climate also brought with it droughts, floods and storms – the only silver lining was that Kiwis were a bit less likely to get sunburnt.
Over the past two summers, the ozone hole was smaller, weaker and broke up sooner than in past years, according to the State of the Climate in 2013 report, published yesterday by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[…]
Victoria University climatologist James Renwick, who collaborated on the report, said the conclusions showed the globe was continuing to heat up. While many Kiwis might take comfort in warmer winters, he warned such seasons came hand-in-hand with more severe storms, droughts, floods, and sea level rise.
“You hear about global warming of two or three degrees and you think that’s the difference between 9 o’clock in the morning and midday. But what we consider a warm year now will be considered a cold year in future.”
Renwick said last year’s North Island drought was a warning that the agricultural industry would increasingly feel the pinch. It was adaptable – farmers might swap cold-climate crops such as apples to dry-suited pineapples and bananas – but without significant emissions changes, it was unavoidable, he said.
No. Labour will be mocked mercilessly for a policy like that.
Remember “show me the money” last time? Unless Labour can put forward a comprehensive costing showing how they will fund it, then they will be toast. (again)
Chernobyling the Green and IMP vote to save some Labour MPs arses, is hadly a winning strategy.
IMP is a good enough reason for the “missing 800,000” to come out and vote, but I cant see them turning out on election day.
James-Peters could go with Labour on the proviso that both they Greens and IMP are kept out of the coalition. He would love that. He would also insist as a bottom line that the pension age remain at 65.
Meanwhile the Greens and IMP would have no option other than to support Labour/NZF on confidence and supply.
There is another option Bearded git, one which i quite like the thought of, both the Green Party and InternetMana if faced with a ‘lockout’ by a Labour/NZFirst bloc in the Parliament could simply offer nothing to anybody and trade support on an issue by issue basis to whichever bloc in the Parliament gives up to the Green/InternetMana bloc the most policy gains…
I think we may be seeing the start of a shift from having a government that is only a part of parliament to parliament being government. From there we get more democracy.
Mmmm your comments tho smacks of the recipe of the stuffed shirt, the last Labour/NZFirst and the current National/ACT Government were of course really really good at stability, delivering nothing less than poverty as the stable diet for far too many…
James, what Pop said. Winston’s been working with the Greens these last six years. He’s just given Cunliffe the excuse he’ll need to deny Hone/Annette/Laila a Cabinet Club seat.
They’ve heard of Ministers outside of Cabinet Club too, I expect.
From the Colon Craig Conservative Conference via the NZHerald, ”We Are Not Loonies” so spoke Conservative’s CEO Christine Rankin in Her opening words,
Phew, thank the various deity for that, we all really really needed to have that point clarified,
Christine the CEO and also candidate for the electorate of um? aah?,(ssssh its a secret), an unnamed electorate is pictured on the stage at the conference with Party Leader Colon,(again courtesy of the NZHerald), and, as every picture is either worth a 1000 words, or, tells a story,(yes its multi choice day),
i deduce from the picture accompanying the Herald story that (a) the look Colon is giving Christine says ”i know what your thinking”, or (b), ”you are in my power”,
Christine of course will have to forgive both myself and the Heralds photographer as the picture depicts Her remarkably looking like a ‘survivor’ from an early 1980’s NZ mental health institution having been released after having undergone ‘the full treatment’…
” the picture depicts Her remarkably looking like a ‘survivor’ from an early 1980′s NZ mental health institution having been released after having undergone ‘the full treatment’…”
She is such a survivor. Of WINZ. Or whatever it was called at the time. Recall how she fought like fuck through the courts for readmission. And failed. The judge got it right. There’s no institution in the western world can handle narcissistic entitlement like hers.
Moroney broke electoral law in Hamilton by putting up the wrong sized hoardings so now they’re all covered with chunks of white core flute to bring them down to the correct size.
I struggle to believe some one as experienced as Moroney didn’t know the rules and regs regarding this.
Labour have no money…and it looks like they will not be putting their leaders photo on the billboards which sort of tells me that they in a self preservation mode, as we see from Davis, Mallard and O’Connor.
Hoarding photos have been all over Facebook today. Did you not bother to check your facts before trotting out the Nats’ doom-and-gloom lines? http://instagram.com/p/qniLRAiAzi/
And now Rupert Murdoch is demanding that businesses have even more say in our democracies:
“Business is just as entitled to express its opinion as unions are,” the News Corporation executive chairman told the B20 summit of business leaders in Sydney.
“The trouble, I find, is usually unions represent hundreds of thousands of voters whereas a business represents just one.”
He obviously doesn’t like the one person, one vote nature of democracy.
@ Draco T Bastard 1.04
Just thinking of the quote you put above.
Hundreds of thousands of workers getting income at either existence level or declining wages own how much of the wealth which brings power, in the world?
One hugely wealthy businessman with huge assets, needed media and information infrastructure plus a megabyte full of assets : O- ! -oxo> how is the power balance unfair
to the wealthy one?
No matter how bad the news is for John Key and the NACTs, the polls and the MSM show that National are way ahead of Labour in the polls and the MSM can’t wait to have a go at Labour and David Cunliffe. This is not surprising when you look at who makes up the main body of the press/TV political scene.
The following people/organisations are National friendly but more importantly they are ANTI-LEFT:
NZ Herald
TV1
TV3
Talkback radio
John Armstrong
Vernon Small
John Roughan
Tracy Watkins
Claire Trevett
Fran O’Sullivan
Matthew Hooton
Bill Ralston & wife
Sean Plunket
Guyon Espiner
Susan Wood
Claire Robinson
Michelle Boag
Bob Jones
Audrey Young
David Farrar
Cameron Slater
Jane Clifton
Jim Mora
Kerry McIvor
Bryce Edwards.
These people/organisations can’t wait to have a go at the Left/David Cunliffe. They may not write positive pieces about the NACTs (lets face it, there aren’t many good things you can say about them) but they do something far worse – they are relentless in their critism of the left. The left have NO CHANCE they say, David Cunliffe should resign, they say, ad nauseum.
Opposing these forces you have a few who mostly support the left:
Rod Oram
Martyn Bradbury
Chris Trotter (when he is not criticising them as well)
Jose Pagani (ditto)
Mike Williams (ditto)
anyone else?
How does the left counter this fire power? I don’t know, but unless they do then this election is as good as lost right now. We can only hope that something happens that wakes the electorate out of it’s stupor and looks a little deeper and beyond the main headlines and soundbites.
I apologise up front for not being able to participate fully in any discussion arising from this comment but I am restricted by other commitments, sorry.
We do what the right are so good at – we collectivise. We get all left leaning political parties to have a weekly fee of $1 to $5 each to belong to the party. We then have it so that say 1/5th of that goes to a left journalist organisation that investigates and reports on what’s happening in politics and economics and is distributed through it’s own broadcast media and website. An organisation not dependent upon government because you can be sure that a National government will cut public broadcasting again.
all the left needs are micro pulse radio stations.they are low powered but work on line of sight.
one on the top of any Auckland volcano will cover the whole area.
its not fucking rocket science but the problem seems to be persuading some on the left who should know better to fork out!
How’s life [deleted] – always enjoy your random musings.
[lprent: No speculating on peoples in real life identities and especially trying to out them, unless they offer it themselves. I get irritated about it and it violates our policies. Banned 4 weeks.]
Um, free education and healthcare, public transport, near-universal enfranchisement (with the ugly exception of National’s stripping the right to vote from prison inmates), progressive taxation, power companies, Soviet era communism, no, wait…
And yet the nation has been going slowly more to the right over the last thirty years. The right-wing have been undermining society for that long because of their ownership of the MSM and their ruthless undermining of of state departments.
We need to stop that and the way to do it is to work together. Not as a single block but communicated out to the rest of the nation through a single channel that is not dependent upon state funds or advertisers.
Well no Draco, when ‘i’ have an idea ‘i’ usually take steps to see how much traction such an idea has in whatever community the idea is intended to benefit,
So, your idea will work or fail depending how much work, other than sitting on your posterior going tap tap tap on the computer, you personally put in to promoting it,
Good luck with trotting such an ‘idea’ round the various political parties i can really,(incoming sarc),see them all falling all over each other in a headlong rush to print out the $50–250 a year levy forms to tax their members,
i can also see ‘the mass movement’ leaping into action once your ‘idea’ became known to the various members of the various Parties, the mass movement out the door as they all canceled their memberships that is,
Hey its not all doom and gloom,(more incoming sarc), You could be installed as the editor and as Phillip fancies Himself as some sort of journalist He could be used to babble incoherently in a print version of His usual ravings from here,
Your editorials, with a few hundred dots inserted here and there could be disguised as incoherence, which would probably be a blessing, because if the Parties of the left adopted your collected ravings as a policy platform, along with having lost all the memberships via your ‘idea’ of an imposed levy, they would lose 99% of their actual voters…
Now how many years have you in particular Draco been sitting here going tap tap tap with your ‘discussions’,
The expectation that you seem to have that your effete efforts will have the slightest effect is tragically laughable,
i can well suppose that you think such ‘ideas’ that you periodically dredge from your nether regions will fire and inspire the ‘mass movement’ which only exists in your and other equally tragic minds,
The fact is Draco that the only mass being moved from your ruminations and lofty expounding of life on Planet Draco is from your poor tortured bowels in the direction of the device of ablutions,(unless you manage to get it into written form first that is)…
@bad
yoo have never had an idea in your life.
all you have done in life is what you have been told to do.
you have a desperate need to kiss arse and have your head patted by your betters for being a good little sickophant.
i would bother to disagree with you but find i cannot be bothered to engage with a sad arsehole that publicly advises people that they should get pissed and assault their spouses…
If you cant recognise irony then you must be pissed.
Besides any body who doesn’t capitalise the first person pronoun doesn’t think much of themselves anyway.
The inevitable result of too much alcohol.
It also induces sycophancy and reliance on others for self esteem.
You are the sad cat.
have another woody.
You just a really sad person.
I dont believe a word you say.
You dont seem to understand anything about the world except kissing tory arses so they will like you and throw a few crumbs in your direction.
You need to look inside yourself and ask yourself some questions about why you feel the way you do.
You obviously need the services of a shrink or a drunk counselor deep throat,(why didn’t you just cut to the chase and put up c**k-sucker as your user-name),
i could advise you of the name of some really bad ones, shrinks that is, but, i am sure a women hater/beater like you have made yourself appear to be tonight will sooner or later have one compulsorily applied to your (head)case by the courts so there is little need…
I see you are talking to yourself now.
that is maundering and a sure sign of alcoholism.
all you have done here tonight is cast slurs and demean everyone else without making one constructive argument for or against.
You are just a creep now fuck off.
Its time for my milo now and the sleep of the just.
so dont forget now.
Thats fuck off!
You know, bad, your anger issues (and related symptoms such as homophobia) can be addressed and changed for the better. The first step is to acknowledge to yourself that you need help. Check out these places or just try talking to a trusted friend. And, no, I’m not trying to wind you up.
TRP, so you have given up your position as the Liar in Chief,(such Lies covered up with glib false claims of mistakes made), in favor of the pretense of knowing whether or not any particular person is angry or not,
Such faux claims from the likes of you and the other tragic i have just had the displeasure of having a conversation with are laughable,(which is pretty much applied round here to anything you happen to publish on any given day),
Take your pretend analysis TRP,(stranger to the truth), and shove it up your arse, the day i take advice from you will be the day that hell freezes over,
Feel free to continue to whine tho, such exchanges are much appreciated round here for the laughter,at you, they provoke…
It’s ok, bad. Just check the websites out. You don’t have to tell anyone here you’ve done so and they really can help. Kirwin’s one is good too. All the best.
Brilliant list and so correct Kenny. Add to it on the right the Otago Daily Times, notably so-called political correspondent Dene McKenzie. Oh and the Dominion Post.
kenny-we all forgot John Campbell who is sympathetic to the left. I think Cunliffe should arrange go on Campbell’s show if possible. As part of this Cunliffe needs to get the male vote back-this is urgently needed given the polls showing falling male support. (This is not to criticise what he said about violence against women which has been taken out of context and twisted on purpose by the MSM).
If Cunliffe fishes, he should be seen fishing. If he hunts he should be seen hunting. A policy should be announced for the huntin/fishin /4WD brigade to latch on to-announce this live on Campbell’s show.
He also needs to be seen at the rugby etc etc.
We all know Cunliffe is clever but I also think Cunliffe needs to show some animal and come out fighting a bit more. Maybe some tub thumping street corner speeches. Something to break the mold of the devious MSM’s dialogue.
just received the first installment of colin craigs bummf in the mailbox.
more waste of paper.
felling forests and filling the rivers with chlorine bleach to make crap that people throw away.
thats progress I suppose.
He is not a christian.
He thinks he is Moses.
Jesus gives people the option.
Craig is disposed to TELLING people what to do.
Him and his crew have just confabulated a whole lot of guff and now they think they are christians.
nooooooooooo.
So much to talk about and respond to but not enough time!
I do have to say though driving, through Tawa earlier I noticed a very large professionally sign written sign attached to the fence of ITM.
“David
You may be sorry for being a man
BUT WE ARE NOT!!!
Toot if you’re a man”
What a freaking 🙄 moment that was. I will be writing to the manager of the Tawa store as well as the general manager for ITM New Zealand, and educate them on the meaning of David Cunliffe’s FULL statement at the Women’s Refuge conference and let them just how much that meant to me as a woman.
I wish there was some way I could get a photo of it up on TS. It would be fantastic if we could get some men speaking with ITM as well.
We don’t need idiotic crap like this in Ohariu, this is a seat Labour has to take from Dunne!
Oh crap. Thanks karol. Look’s like a counter campaign is needed. I won’t visit Kiwiblog or fail oil, I can only imagine what has been said.
On the plus side, in the hour that we were in close proximity to that area only one driver tooted their horn, but then again I see it was picked up by the herald on 14th July so maybe the locals are over their tooting.
@ karol 4.15
I see the words the necklace is far from charming on The Hairy site? What’s that? Is it left over from the last image that was there? Anybody explain? And that looks like a professionally painted sign. Definitely not the sort or size that I attempt at home.
It is sign writing by a skilled hand. No doubt about that. (An evaporating skill set)
There is an appropriate image lower down the page using the tag, so most likely a layout oversight from whenever the page was updated to include the toot image.
Being purposefully left to promote ‘jewellery is not manly’?
An unlikely stretch,
I hope 😕
well most tory voters have had the snip and they are just capons.
they are not men.
just frightened little boys fixated on toys and and any consumer goods that make them look like big shots.
I see the ABC’s are now reported as being pissed off with DC taking a holiday. Yeah, don’t you hate that work/life balance thing… or maybe public shows of disloyalty are what we should really hate. If these reports are true then Phil Goff, David Shearer and Anette King seem to be determined to screw things up for Labour.
The behaviour biases of the media are effecting the election being fair. The media are constantly branding political parties in one way or other except for National. Their obsession with National and the way they are framing questions to other parties is biased. They attack like a pack of rabid dogs and twist what others say constantly interrupting them with incorrect interpretations of what has been said.
How many times I am left wanting to say to the interviewer, “Shut up and let the person you are interviewing speak. Listen to what they are saying and stop putting your own spin on it.”
This is not journalism it is some get you game imported from overseas. I can make up my own mind about what the politician says, I don’t need you to put your own twist on it. Even panel members on Q+A like the Horton guy who is putting a negative quip about Cunliffe and the Greens or whatever in every answer he makes. Get him off. I want intelligent commentary from well informed unbiased people. Maybe the tv current affairs shows are so short of panel members they have to be constantly including people who are ex Act members or ultra conservative National members.
I’m thinking the whole political decision making may be better off without all this media contamination. Well certainly what is being dished up on TV and the papers.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Too many Labour MP’s abandon solidarity with the party when it conflicts with their own self interest as an electorate MP.
Samuels comments reflect this sort of thinking – as does that of Davis the current candidate. The same applies on the West Coast.
In the MMP environment they cost Labour party list votes in the electorate and nationwide.
The idea that whatever it takes to secure for themselves the electorate is doing their job is FPP era thinking. It is in the modern environment feathering their own nest by fouling it for the rest of the party.
What irony that National the party of individual advancement shows more loyalty to the common well being of the party than themselves. There is strength in being united in collective cause as the polls indicate.
True and Correct.
The campaign is not looking like one to dislodge the government. If it was then accommodation should be made by Davis to ensure the left gains 3 or 4 more seats through Mana.
The goal is to remove Key. We should be doing whatever it takes.
But it seems that Davis is only out for Davis. And bugger the bigger picture too.
I think it demonstrates the complete disconnect between the party and the traditional labour electorate.
I do wonder if this isn’t a planned shift, a move away from what Labour was, the physical tradesman type party to a more Woman focused party, the thinking being potential female 50% of the vote + liberal dandy types + gays and Labour could end up with a solid block of votes which could cement themselves as the core component of the Left block.
It’s a real polar shift but it would certainly be more reflective of what modern labour is all about.
No, it’s just that Samuels is more a man and a Northlander than loyal to the Labour Party. This shows he should never have been chosen to represent the party in the first place.
One can remain loyal to the party and say the obvious – it’s a surprise that some feminists think that women need to be protected from unwanted sex because they are so weak they are unable to clearly state they deny consent when this is not what they want. It’s a low opinion of other women that they need a legal protection to the point of placing all men at risk of court action for not getting consent in advance of having sex.
Yes some in the party with leadership aspirations will pander to factions within the party and caucus – thus the recent comments from Cunliffe and Little. That is nothing new, just that women are now one of those factions.
“SPC 1.2.1
19 July 2014 at 9:42 am
No, it’s just that Samuels is more a man and a Northlander than loyal to the Labour Party. This shows he should never have been chosen to represent the party in the first place.”
Once elected is a constituent MPs first responsibility to his political party, or to the voters who voted him in?
Just wondering……
Er once elected he represents all constituents – even those who did not vote for him. Just as a government does at the national level.
But as a candidate for a party he will be voting to implement their manifesto – thus saying he disagrees with his party on some local policy to curry favour with voters at an election is a grand deception – a lie to voters. Because once elected he will be voting with his party.
I guess I didnt state my thoughts very well.
The one think I do not like about MMP is the primary loyalty of MPs to the party rather than to their area/constituency. I do like tht it better rpresents the electorate as a whole..
In my view, the 60 constituent MPs do have a primary responsibility to the electors, (including those who did not vote them in) and the List MPs have a primary responsibility to the Party who listed them into Parliament.
So come election time, each group will be working primarily for the group who will get them into Parliament. Which, in my view is why the Labour MPs have no, or limited interest in helping the Greens or the IMP
Oh, SPC…..a can of passable Oz peaches last time I looked……off you’re Zionist Gaza gig and onto Dover in the Clover what ? Check around Matauri Bay……you’ll see how peachy they DON’T see the man. Even whanau bearing the name. Understandable. With whom did he once share the NZLP electorate office in Broadway Kaikohe ? You got it……Phoney Jonesy. Now there’s a man……!
No man is an island, not even an electorate MP. They must go south and converge with others and form a team.
That means not identifying people by what issues they disagree on but by what united them as a team in the first place.
Spot on, North. What I saw was that he was almost despised in Matauri Bay, as someone who just wanted to line his own pockets.
Today it seems that solidarity is an old fashioned word in the Labour Party as Labour flatly refuses to send an official spokesperson to the rally against the current war in Palestine.
The official spokesperson could be only one of three people – Cunliffe may still be on holiday with family. So it would be Shearer, or Goff or a spokesperson for disarmament Street, or her understudy.
Good. Labour also failed to send a spokesperson to the rally for peace in Midland Park in Wellington yesterday.
http://www.nzfoi.org/events_categories/upcoming-event/
🙄 and again 🙄 ….
15 days now srylands, are you ever going to answer framu’s simple question ?
Key will have finished his Maui briefings and will soon be returning, have you simply decided not to ever comment again on the issue of political interference ?
Since when has hypocrisy stopped sspylands from making a comment?
you’d think someone had asked him to quantify pi using a jello abacus 😯
“Jelly” for god’s sake. We are not Americans yet.
😆 i hear you Populuxe1 ! and agree wholeheatedly. 😆
t’was a conscious decision, based on the aesthetics of the phonetics, suggesting a modular, manufactured item rather than a big bouncy blob of bobblyness
Do you not realise what a fuck you make yourself look SSLands ?
“Labour also failed to send a spokesperson to the rally for peace in Midland Park in Wellington yesterday.”
Yeah, because demonstrably it wasn’t a ‘peace’ rally. A rally for the New Zealand “Friends of Israel” to stand in solemn solidarity with Zionist Israel’s Nazi Exceptionalism is what it was. Under a thin cover of a longing for ‘peace’. Where in fact ‘peace’ equals abject surrender by the Palestinians. Not to say their ranks don’t include a few honest, hoodwinked people unaware of the true Zionist agenda.
They stage one every time the shooting fish in a barrel recommences in Gaza. Seen them numerous times – mostly older upper middle class shuffling uncomfortably in their anoraks, fulsomely projecting tragic piety. The Foreign Ministry in Tel Aviv probably shouts Esquires coffee end of demo’.
You’re a deluded fool SSLands. To contemplate that anyone believes you anymore. Gave it away in the link for God’s Sake – “nzfoi” – NZ Friends of Israel.
Srylands, maybe you could have done us all a favour and invited a spokesperson from the Conservatives or even National, to your little zionist rally. Maybe, just maybe one or both would have been stupid enough to turn up. Since this country and the whole world is sick if not sickened of these racist butchers it would gift the election to the opposition in a landslide.
http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/arabs-dont-hate-jews-and-jews-dont-hate-arabs-or-why-you-should-go-to-auckland-to-demonstrate-against-the-genocide-in-gaza/
Labour can’t be seen to support target practice with live Palestinian targets, SSlands. Have you booked a seat at the Sderot cinema yet?
🙄
my thoughts exactly. The stereotyping amongst other things is so mind boggling in 2014
What a load of rubbish, BM. It’s Key who’s after the gay vote. Look at how he minces around with gay Tories at the Big Gay Out. He’s also dead against gay debauchery and strongly in favour of traditional Christian values, as shown by his sliming around a few Pasifika pastors in South Auckland.
Homophobic stereotyping much? Mincing? Really? The “gay vote”? “Gay debauchery”?
Gay men do not experience patriarchal or white privilege the way gender normative white men do.
Fuck you.
Have you ever tried reading anything in context, Pop?
Ooops. I’ve upset a gay Tory. Bugger. A not very bright one by all accounts, but he is quick with his insults when he doesn’t understand what someone says. Which is most of the time.
Moran.
+100 SPC
“What irony that National the party of individual advancement shows more loyalty to the common well being of the party than themselves”
Perfectly summed up. I think this is the only real advantage National have.
This isn’t just irony, it is irony to the power of irony.
SPC 7.17
The way I see the situation re the two parties ‘ approaches.
I see National as being more authoritarian than Labour.
Labour is more widely idealistic and people-oriented than National, but if that idealism becomes dominating then authoritarianism grows in Labour too.
Labour individuals often follow their own particular belief system which involves higher principles than National of moral and fair behaviour, and these are individually varied and can lead to splintering of support into factions.
National tends to have one goal, self advancement but Labour can develop divisions and people forget that Labour needs to be cohesive as their goals are far more ambitious than Nationals, and harder to achieve without willingness to work together and compromise somewhat.
+1
NBC News Pulls Veteran Reporter from Gaza After Witnessing Israeli Attack on Children
by GLENN GREENWALD,17 Jul 2014
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/07/17/nbc-removes-ayman-mohyeldin-gaza-coverage-witnesses-israeli-beach-killing-four-boys/
Ayman Mohyeldin, the NBC News correspondent who personally witnessed yesterday’s killing by Israel of four Palestinian boys on a Gazan beach and who has received widespread praise for his brave and innovative coverage of the conflict, has been told by NBC executives to leave Gaza immediately. According to an NBC source upset at his treatment, the executives claimed the decision was motivated by “security concerns” as Israel prepares a ground invasion, a claim repeated to me by an NBC executive. But late yesterday, NBC sent another correspondent, Richard Engel, along with an American producer who has never been to Gaza and speaks no Arabic, into Gaza to cover the ongoing Israeli assault (both Mohyeldin and Engel speak Arabic).
Mohyeldin is an Egyptian-American with extensive experience reporting on that region. He has covered dozens of major Middle East events in the last decade for CNN, NBC and Al Jazeera English, where his reporting on the 2008 Israeli assault on Gaza made him a star of the network. NBC aggressively pursued him to leave Al Jazeera, paying him far more than the standard salary for its on-air correspondents.
Yesterday, Mohyeldin witnessed and then reported on the brutal killing by Israeli gunboats of four young boys as they played soccer on a beach in Gaza City. He was instrumental, both in social media and on the air, in conveying to the world the visceral horror of the attack.
Mohyeldin recounted how, moments before their death, he was kicking a soccer ball with the four boys, who were between the ages of 9 and 11 and all from the same family. He posted numerous chilling details on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, including the victims’ names and ages, photographs he took of their anguished parents, and video of one of their mothers as she learned about the death of her young son. He interviewed one of the wounded boys at the hospital shortly before being operated on. He then appeared on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, where he dramatically recounted what he saw.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/07/17/nbc-removes-ayman-mohyeldin-gaza-coverage-witnesses-israeli-beach-killing-four-boys/
Shocking, yet so predictable.
It now looks like NBC may have agreed to put the journalist back on the job in Gaza, due to social media pressure…
Overall sucks though.
how odd, given their employerly concern for his safety
Doubly odd since they had originally replaced him with yet another journalist, but this time putting one on to the firing line one not as familiar with the region and who didn’t speak Arabic…
just a coincidence I guess 😉
What has the UN security council said
the herald/msm clearly has dotcom-jitters..
..their ‘mouth-pieces’/hacks’ are all lined-up..like whining/petulant/spoilt children..
..stamping their feet in unison..
..and getting quite hot and bothered that dotcom won’t play to their agenda/timetable/demands..
..on an audio level..it resembles a concerted high-pitched group-tantrum..
..heh..!
..even manhire seems to have lost his/any reason..and has joined in…(!)
No phillip I think Manhire hits the nail on the head as usual.
Though I guess you could argue that Dotcom is giving Key the opportunity to resign by saying he is going to drop the bombshell on 15th September. Really this should be done on 2nd September as voting starts on 3rd September.
i can see the argument for 2 sept…
..but as there is still a huge tranche of undecided-voters five days out..
..i can also appreciate the epic giant-killer drama/poss. outcomes from such timing..
..and of course.. the 2 sept argument is also further undermined by the clear heralding of this date/timing…
..and any undecideds can wait ’till they see just what it is that dotcom has..eh..?
for whose sake? Dotcom is fighting extradition, he hasno obligation to anyone else over his legal strategy andhow he deals with it.
bit of a mono-dimensional-view there..?
..and can you not see ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ in play here..
..even taking yr one-dimensional/(rightwing) view..
yea, having a mono dimensional view can make one myopic, obsessive and boring.
you get todays’ p.a-award..
..(passive-aggressive-award..
..are you a green..?..)
I’m loving this John Armstrong – “KDC should do this, KDC should do that – put up or shut up, prove beyond reasonable doubt, the time has come for this and the time has come for that, they should be told today, not tomorrow, not next week and certainly not when it is most politically advantageous for the Internet Mana leadership – Dotcom, Laila Harre and Hone Harawira…”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11295776
The right frothing because with KDC they lose the narrative – they lose control of the story, they don’t know how to spin it apart from impotent anger and threats.
Edit – snap phil
Is KDC in the headlines really serving any good for us on the left though. He is a distraction and preventing the positive message we have being told.
I for one am getting angry with this side show at such an important point in our history.
“..I for one am getting angry with this side show at such an important point in our history..”
many cd/wd say this about key/this corrupt/sell-out government..eh..?
Yes…which is why his removal is so important.
He’s in the headlines because he is exposing the liar and that is definitely good for the left. Key’s tipping point will come and he’ll say some smartarse comment that doesn’t sit well with the ‘middle’ and then a groundswell could occur. That’s my hope anyway.
Seems a less risky strategy than waiting on labour…
Heh…I can’t disagree with your last comment.
@ e.e on m.m..
..+ 1..
i could name another Party that seems to have taken on all the aspects of ‘a sideshow’, politeness at this stage though prohibits me from doing so…
I think there are a lot more people that are getting sick of him than hold him in admiration.
I think he could do untold damage to Mana for the long term.
Well no James, i have moved across from the Green Party to InternetMana and when the ‘roadshow’ reaches Wellington will be on hand to greet them which will be my first attendance at a specific Party event in a long long time,
i hope to get the chance not only to connect with fellow InternetMana-ites here in Wellington with a view to expanding at least the Mana Parties presence and activism here in the Capital, but, also to see if Hone can’t spend some effort here after the 2014 contest gathering together the thin strands of Mana support in the lower North Island into a cohesive entity that has the capability of delivering at least leaflet drops to whole electorates…
@ james..
..and the packed halls the harawira/harre/dotcom roadshow is getting up north..
..are indicitive of what..?..exactly..?
Armstrong is the antithesis of a journalist.
See Morrissey’s comment at 2 if you want to see evidence of real journalism…and how the owners of media deal with those independent enough to think for themselves.
“But Dotcom needs a change of government if he is to have any hope of avoiding extradition to the United States.”
So according to John Armstrong the courts no longer have a say in the matter? This is a massively disturbing concept for a journalist to espouse. Our government controls judicial process?
The Extradition Act 1999 says the Justice Minister can say no “for any other reason the Minister considers that the person should not be surrendered”.
Hopefully you’re not that naive to think he’s entered politics to “make NZ a better place”
Here’s an article by Patrick Gower that goes into more detail.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Opinion-Labour-Greens-willing-to-free-Dotcom/tabid/1382/articleID/331730/Default.aspx
I was aware of that, and of the pinnacle of objectivity that is Gower, but it all points to the conclusion which only adds weight to the theory the National Government allowed Dotcom to stay because they plan to extradite him.
How that plan was formulated …….?
That makes no sense at all.
also
Why the shock and surprise if you already knew?
No shock or surprise here. The Standard is read by a whole lot of people who never comment and sometimes things get written that is completely for their benefit. I presented it as a question because of the fait accompli Armstrong presented.
I thought the raids on his mansion was an abuse of process and law, so I was prepared to cut him a lot of slack. But my sympathy has gone. The sooner this nazi sympathising criminal is gone the better. And today I saw one ACT policy I can agree with! Politicians should stay clear of immigration decisions.
Yeah you were prepared to cut him some slack cos thats the kind of rational thinking guy you are… Rolleyes
OnceWasPete @ 5 – “nazi sympathising……” KDC ?
Consistency check please. Your relatively untroubled ‘moral comfort’ sitting alongside the IDF non-terrorists ?
North agreeing with your opinion on the Israel/Palestine matter is not a test of whether the person is capable of taking a moral position or whether their opinion has any credibility on other matters.
One thing that brings disunity to the left is holding grudges against those who take another side on an issue – such as Samuels and others such as Tamihere who side with men when the Labour party addresses the concerns of women.
Tamihere never sided with me. I’m pretty sure I’m a man. The concerns of women are not orthogonal to the concerns of men, although they may be at variance with the concerns of knuckle dragging morans.
Sure, but those people will claim that Labour does not represent them when it addresses the concerns of women. Tamihere abused women in the Labour caucus (for being ranked ahead of him a Maori man who has cultural issues with women in leadership) and Samuels then says he will not vote Labour because of it.
Is that the new flaccid equivalent of “I voted Labour once…”, so transparently insincere and feeble, much?
A nasty liar and propagandist is live on air right now
Tune into Radio NZ National if you can bear it
Right now (8:25 a.m.) Kim Hill is interviewing one of the sleaziest people in America, Alex Gibney. He’s one of the “liberal” scourges of Julian Assange….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13072013/#comment-662336
I’ve never heard of this guy before – shows my lack of knowledge back in my younger days.
But he sounds quite an impressive guy – from the shipyards of Clydeside, to NZ Boilermakers Union. Sounds like a worthy life, now ended.
Con Devitt, RIP.
He was a lovely bloke, Karol and absolutely committed to his union members. On one building project he was told that the bosses were being gifted portable TV’s as bonuses for achieving targets. He swiftly and successfully argued that it was his members that actually did the work that triggered the bonuses, so they should get them too.
He was quite a talker, always liked a good yarn, but had the knack of adapting his language to his audience. That is, he would explain the way he saw things in a way that meant that was the way you saw things too.
Sad to see him go.
We so need more people to realise that. It’s not the management that does the work.
..and it shouldn’t be the poor wot gets the blame..
..and little else..
He did such good work with the BNZ building in Wellington. The last time boilermakers were ever used on a large building project in NZ.
He did such good work with the BNZ building in Wellington. The last time boilermakers were ever used on a large building project in NZ.
Would someone like to comment on nadis ‘snida’ comment on Con Devitt? I seem to remember the rusty hulk of BNZ building standing idle for ages. And the adent on concrete thereafter. What was the story?
I’ll reply for you. Personally I’m not anti union, in fact in my business I’m supportive of the clerical staff being union members, it actually makes my life easier as I don’t need to worry about negotiating conditions, salary etc while still leaving me the right to pay or provide more PIK to the really good staff who I want to encourage to stay. But the boilermakers union was the posterboy for every bad practice that gutted the union movement. Legendary practices like holding up the entire job for weeks while a single continuous weld was welded, not quite finished at knock off time, and then started again the next day. They were experts at finding little tasks that could hold up the entire project and then using that as leverage for newer and bigger demands. Requiring a two tradesmen and two assistants to perform task as simple as tightening a single screw on a hose clip.
What was really bizarre about this hard left union behaviour was the “if we can’t win we’ll burn down both our houses” attitude. A lot of the union leadership were “refugees” from the UK where their unions had withered and died because of infexibility in the face of european competition – a lot of these UK unionists came here pre-Thatcher as the heavy industries they had come from were devastated even before Thatcher attacked the public sector unions, those in the private sector were already broken pre-Thatcher due to the 70’s recession. I still can’t believe the attitude of a lot of theses guys, they did exactly the same things that didnt work in the UK in the face of exactly the same pressures that were redefining those traditional occupations here in NZ.
I was personally involved in a fair bit of stuff (strikes, meetings, table pounding about “management scum stealing from the working comrade” as a young union member of a trade related union at this time and then as a (very) junior salaried engineer who spent an awful lot of time sitting in the canteen reading the newspaper while one hour stop work meetings decamped to the pub for an entire day.
Very different world to now.
nadis can’t comment on Con, greywarbler. Clearly from his comment he didn’t actually know him, but he’s happy to post waffly smears about the boilermakers union as if they were his first hand experiences.
You’re a fool. I never claimed to know him or be associated in any way with the boilermakers union.
But the atrocious behaviour of the boilermakers union was/is very common knowledge as was the fact that the BNZ building was the last major commercial contract let in NZ that ever relied on boilermakers. In fact just google BNZ building, boilermakers union and you’ll find plenty.
Good to know that you haven’t got any first hand experience of the man, but you feel brave enough to run him down when he’s dead.
It was great to work for companies that employed the boilermakers on heavy engineering jobs,
As a 16 year old i got a job with a small firm engaged in the construction of the then massive Todd Motors complex at Porirua,
This firm built all the heavy hangers which were then hung from the roof of the complex upon which all the car making equipment, spray machinery/welders etc were installed,
My job consisted of, once the platform was hung from the roof in the correct position to climb up to roof height and tighten the sixteen giant bolts that held the structure in place,
On the first day of this mammoth task it took me all of to morning smoko time to complete the task, being keen i hit the foreman up for the next task only to be told to find something interesting to do because the next platform wasn’t arriving until the following day,
That was the sum total of my daily toil, and, even as a labourer the pay was great thanks to the union awards,
Finding something interesting to do as per the instructions from the foreman proved a slightly harder task, one of these which had the whole site in fits was to kidnap passing labourers sloping off from other crews working on site and hold them down while welding their steel-caps together…
It seems that political journalists only do opinion pieces now. It must be too hard for them to compare and contrast policies. How much easier it is for them to indulge their own personal prejudices. See (or don’t bother to read) Tracy Watkin’s latest factless gossip-column standard opinion piece in Stuff.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/10285813/Cunliffe-needs-us-to-like-trust-him
Won’t bother.
The corporate media in this country is not worth reading.
The September election just went ‘Hot’, from Stuff.co.nz, Winston Peters is saying that if National pull Murray McCully from the East Coast Bays electorate He is well prepared to go head to head with Colon Craig for the seat,
i have been picking NZFirst(who along with Colon’s Conservatives are having a conference this weekend), to be ‘light’ of the 5% needed to get back into the Parliament in election 2014,
Should Peters contest East Coast Bays in a head to head with Craig tho, i think the publicity will not only push NZFirst over the 5% thresh-hold, but, Peters will actually win the seat…
That’s for the heads up. This Stuff article.
The NZ Herald goes with Peters’ claim that Craig has stolen a load of NZF policies.
Peters gives Labour a ‘hint’,also from Stuff.co.nz, speaking of the 2011 election where then Labour Leader Phill Goff campaigned upon raising the age of superannuation entitlement Winston Peters said, ”I think that cost them,(Labour), the election in 2011– later adding, ”Don’t they get it”,
Having banged on about the ‘Super issue’ endlessly here at the Standard i can inform Winston that ‘they’ sure as hell just ‘don’t get it’…
Indeed.
Thanks for these which I didn’t see when I posted #19 below.
Yep. Not even banging on about it at the Labour Party conference in 2013 led many in the party to get it. Stuck in the neoliberal fiscal-balance the books paradigm, fully supported by data from Treasury.
Worse than that CV was David Parker ‘giving the game away’ with His recent comments on ‘future tax cuts’,(enough said, i am trying to keep my focus on a winning election 2014 mindset)…
yeah it’s hard to stay focussed, keeping that Tourette’s under control isn’t easy…
My how you must suffer CV, you should have told all the readers you suffered from such a debilitating disease long ago…
To be clear, I was mentioning the condition on a purely figurative basis. My lack of impulse control on The Standard is entirely my own responsibility…
and hooton was the conservatives guest speaker advising them to go big on
Smacking
death penalty
Religion
They cheered him roundly. I wonder how much he was paid to preach to the concerted on those topics
Actually, they weren’t so big on the death penalty. Biggest response when I told them to do more god. (Obviously, smacking is core policy for them already.)
I thought the smacking bit was compulsory
what did they pay you to tell them what they already knew?
So burning books about Darwin outside our schools then?
A new low for you, Matthew. The state killing its own citizens.
So much for your small govt liberalism, eh?
So heads of ministries are required to make public annual declarations of their expenses to June. This year’s have been uploaded to ministry websites, Stuff reports.
Their average expenses are higher than the “average” income for full time workers. the State Services Commissioner has an itemised breakdown of expenses: includes a fair number of overseas visits to meet with “counter[arts”.
Ian Fletcher’s expenses are not itemised. This is how he has publicly reported them:
Kim Hill interviews one of America’s most vile propagandists
I listened in mounting fury to Kim Hill interviewing that smooth and vicious liar Alex Gibney this morning. It’s difficult to imagine a sleazier guest. I sent the following email in protest….
Alex Gibney is not fit to judge Lance Armstrong or anyone else
Dear Kim,
Alex Gibney lauds the cycling reporters who were “dedicated to telling the truth.” That’s dark irony, coming from Gibney, whose film We Steal Secrets was a Stalinist-style axe job on the most important truth-teller of our time, Julian Assange.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
I commented on this vicious propagandist last year…..
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13072013/#comment-662336
Casting a side eye at the cavalier trivialisation of rape culture. Fancy that.
Just been banned at Whaleoil
Damn! Should have been nicer….
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/07/whaleoil-general-debate-28/#comment-1491931972
You don’t appear to have been banned. Just told to pull your head in.
Yeah but he had to read it very quickly and only had time to jot down the gist of it.
He never said it was a literal report.
However his impression is guaranteed to be word perfect.
etc.
You really do seem to have a bizarre fixation with Morrissey Felix.
Perhaps if you concentrated as much of your focus on your musical musings you might rise to the equivalent heights that Morrisey has as a media critic.
Until you do put in the hard yards you’ll remain a fourth rate hack.
Fuck off Morrisey
lolz
chuckle
Colon Craig’s Conservatives are holding a conference this weekend, the Party manifesto rumored to be writ large on rolls of tinfoil and given to members as they enter the venue with instructions on how to use it as ‘a wrap’ is said by Winston Peters to have been plagarized from the NZFirst online policy manifesto,
Another rumor has it that Colon the Conservative had the ‘golden rules’ passed to Him from the space aliens after they had successfully carried Him off one night for a ‘probing’ which along with relieving Colon of 30% of His body weight also reversed His anatomical processes with the lower bowel functions now carried out above the neck,
Wee Matty Hooton, ever desperate for a starring role, with panhandler desperation, pretended? to be a chimp for the opening stanza of the Conservatives Conference held this weekend,
You have to wonder just how much money changed hands to enable Hooton the luxury of dribbling to a live audience of the politically committed, and here, the inquiry isn’t intended to imply that Colon the Conservative passed monies to wee Matty so He could waste space upon the stage,
Colons Conservatives are said to be having the first’ nationwide letterbox drop’ this weekend, people should be advised to burn these pamphlets at the letterbox as there may be some health risk if taken into the home…
Colon’s first print enema arrived in letterboxes today. It is mostly negative pandering to kid whackers etc in English only no reo here, and includes a reactionary quiz–e.g. “prisoners should be working–Yes, No.
funny how no one is lambasting craig for starting a party to make it legal to hit his children…
“Colons Conservatives are said to be having the first’ nationwide letterbox drop’ this weekend”
Return to Sender?
Whyte n Craig on the Nation today. Nutter vs nutter
ahhh the joy of P.O.Boxes __ no unsolicited junkmail 🙂
Ah. Yeah. Most of the junk mail goes to my landlord’s street-side mail box – except the occasional one that slips through addressed to me personally at my street address. I fail to understand how some people just ignore my PO Box addy.
Some have to of course. Some IRD and NZTA stuff requires a street address.
The trick to a happy P.O.Box is remembering to pay the bill 🙂
Couple of years ago I missed an end of year quarterly payment and they closed and sold the box (I was away and missed their ‘closing box’ notices, but they had my phone number and never used it) I missed out getting a whole stack of Christmas stuff 🙁 One brother just sent the returned card the next year 🙂
@freedom
The bit about NZPost not contacting you about planning on selling your POBox number is one of the slack behaviours that have led to them losing their business. The internet etc is causing it to drop away yes, but if you seek to keep customer’s with you and keep them happy, this maintains the base.
It takes work and attention to detail and involves employing people who have the task as part of their job and are monitored as to how well they are doing it, with sacking for non-performance. It seems to underline the meme that governments end up being slack, careless and inefficient – hence clever private operators can carry out appendectomies on gummint services to relieve the blockage, and our purses!
If that had been the situation that disgraceful Queenstown situation would never have happened. And how much slackness has gone under the radar before, that it took such a doozy of a breakdown in service to come to notice?
The postal side is a mess for sure. Overworked poorly managed. The front-office here though do a really good job considering the broad rural & townie populace they service and also being a Kiwibank branch the demands on their time are intense.
The not ringing me bit is what I very calmly complained about because my number was right there in the Boxholder’s information. But… paying the bill on time was ultimately my responsibility which I failed to meet and on that they were 100% correct.
interesting billboards in epsom
ACT have two, one for seymour and one with unclecousin for party. Internet mana for party, and john key for party vote. NO Goldsmith billboard.
ACT is saying TOUGHER ON CRIME , 🙂
The joy of having the letter boxes on the inside of the magnetically locked door at my apartment block. NZ Post has a card, the junk mailers do not.
I am picturing banks of scanners and laser sight cross hairs trained on junk-mail carriers 👿
Nah. Always go to passive discouragement. Can’t get in the door. Can’t leave junk mail.
It is like changing the garage access. Adding a cardswipe from the garage to the stairwell stopped people leaving their cards in their cars. That meant that car thieve getting into the garage couldn’t find a card to drive out of the garage with a car. Car thefts dropped dramatically.
@lprent
The car thief problem is a good example of intelligent problem solving. Good thinking, identify problem, analyse causes, consider various solutions, choose one and check it is suitable and not onerous, and whether it works to solve or alternatively, decimate the problem stats.
Let’s have this approach applied to most problems. If there are cultural concerns for that particular group, or involved groups in the area, then widen the considerations and have numbers of meetings that keep presenting the problem and prioritising the best solutions, to ensure that thinking is kept productively on target and dissimulation does not limit targeted discussion time. Arrive at near consensus, with last minute concerns listened to and provided for.
Still amazes me that the government didn’t include junk mail in the anti-spam legislation. Both waste time and resources and yet junk mail seems to be considered valuable.
It does tho keep a whole industry going, Parts of which we would obviously like to clean up their river polluting ways,
From the trees cut in the forest, to the paper making mills of the Central North Island and onto various printing factories the stuff gets to employ thousands as well as those who continually stuff the (expletive deleted) letterbox with it,
From my letterbox, i being the only unpaid serf in the equation, walk it to my recycle wheelie bin where the paid employee of the City Council whips it via mechanical arm into the back of the dump truck and from there off to be sorted and sent off to a paper recycle facility where it is processed and becomes part of the magic circle,
i would put one of those, ”i am going to commit bodily harm on you if i catch you sticking junk mail in here” signs on my letterbox but the above reasons prevent me from curtailing anyone’s employment even in such a waste of resources junk industry such as the delivered advertising i seldom bother reading…
Which actually amounts to a public subsidy to that industry due to the fact that it is our rates that end up paying for the disposal foisted upon us by the advertisers – a subsidy that we would never choose to pay as no one likes, or wants, junk mail. If junk mail is allowed to continue solely to keep an industry going, especially one that causes so much waste, then we have a problem. Such waste is, by its very definition, uneconomical.
Really Draco, much the same could be said about ‘paper shuffling’ employees of both local and central Government,
So how are you going to achieve full employment again Draco,(that’s rhetorical please don’t answer as my laughter will likely be a danger to my health)…
You really are saying that people should be employed to dig holes and then fill them in. Actually, that would be better than keeping the junk mail option that you advocate.
Certainly Draco so long as they were paid the ‘living wage’ and a rooted tree was inserted into the hole befor the filling back in bit was accomplished…
just like jellymeat.
think of all them poor nags.
two massive industrys producing utter meaningless crap and stinking up the planet.
““Colons Conservatives are said to be having the first’ nationwide letterbox drop’ this weekend”
In the middle of wind and rain! 🙂 I found one in my letter box and others which had blown down the street. A lot of money spent for very little.
Vicky
the american sentencing commission has just voted to give federal judges the ability to radically reduce the sentences of those in america serving mega-sentences for cannabis ‘crimes’..
..when the time comes..we need to do this here..
..the latest obscenity around this here..
..is someone losing half of their house..
..because they had a (single-figure) number of cannabis plants..(!)
..f.f.s..!..how does that come within a bulls’-roar of anything even faintly resembling justice..?
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/46k-drugs-prisoners-could-get-reduced-sentences-comment-ed-we-need-to-do-this-here/
You will be long in your box befor the ‘time comes here’ Phillip…
go phil.
cannabis will be legalised in the next term .
At the momen tthe hold up is by justice industry who are making monopoly profits and institutional promotions by criminalising something that would be nothing if it were left to people to sort out for themselves.
the kid who walks out in front of traffic is the same kid who will use drugs just to annoy the authorities when they dont realise that they are just ensuring white collar employment at exorbitant salaries.
Lolz, and i thought Phillip was the only one delusional enough to think that Marijuana will be decriminalized by the next Parliament,
Laughable, you should start communicating in … as well…so we could all recognize the brotherhood…as…we scroll down the page…
have a tui mate.
you’ll get over it.
maybe half a doz.
then sink a few woodies and go and beat your wife up coz she doesn’t look as good as pammie!
[lprent: Don’t advocate violence on this site even in some kind of perverted jest. Or I will demonstrate how banning operates here. ]
Well isn’t that just marvelous, i would assume seeing as you give out such advice that your well practiced in carrying out the same behavior as the norm on your Saturday night,
There are a lot of expletives that i would attach to anyone advising inflicting physical harm to their spouse deep throat, scum, being one that easily springs to mind,
My advice to you F off and engage in the behavior your user-name implies,( i would have reminded you not to foget to swallow but imagine your an expert at that as well)…
For those interested in the Minor parties, I’ve just set out details of their poll support this year, here…….http://sub-z-p.blogspot.co.nz/
Dasvidaniya.
Great to get real data thanks Swordfish. Must be tough for the minor parties to see such a small share. And still they box on in spite of the adversity.
thanks fish
‘
Boiling the Frog stuff.co.nz July 19, 2014
Let’s have more new coal mines, deep sea oil wells and frack where ever we can.
Let’s put up the age of Super to keep older folk working longer, and younger people out of jobs longer
Lets leave in place GST rises, and remove tax cuts for the low paid.
Let’s ignore the crisis in Palestine and turn down an invitation to have our representative to speak at the Auckland rally at 2pm in Aotea square today.
Let’s lose the election so we can bury the Left.
I wonder if the missile strike on MH17 would be construed as an attack on Malaysia. If so, we are obligated under the Five Power Defence Arrangements to have consultations with Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the UK.
Ahhhh good questions.
And to lose 2 airliners in 6 months? Something screwy is going on. Apparently the previous 10 MH-17 flights did not go over Eastern Ukraine, but cleared south of it.
will it hinder the Malaysian bid for the Asian seat on the UN Security Council?
I flew that Malaysian airliner Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route once about 9 years ago and it flew way south of it. In fact it flew straight over Iraq and I remember thinking how weird it was that we where flying over a war zone safely.
And your evidence for this other than the GPS chip the illuminati aliens inserted in your brain?
Evidence for what P? You’re deteriorating you know. You used to be funny once.
How did you know you were flying over Iraq? I hope you weren’t relying on the tiny little plane flying over the map on the screen…
And you’re calling me paranoid and a tin foil hat wearer?
If the tin foil hat fits….
Neh, It looks really good on you. 😆
No can do. It interferes with my bullshit detectors.
“I flew that Malaysian airliner Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route once about 9 years ago and it flew way south of it. In fact it flew straight over Iraq …”
Big whoop. The planned flight path of MH17 would have taken it to within a few hundred km of Iraq anyway if it hadn’t been shot down. If there was wind from a different direction, it might well have gone further south. The routes are not set in stone and they vary according to the conditions.
Populux, Yep Mine too.
TRP. My point exactly. Your point?
Willie Jackson is on fire! Tuned in to watch Paul Henry and Michele Boag all set to demolish Kim Dot Com and Labour. After a dreary smug start from Michelle, Kaboom! Willie took over and rubbished the Henry/Boag position. Hilarious.
Start 17:35min
http://www.tv3.co.nz/THE-PAUL-HENRY-SHOW-Friday-July-18-2014/tabid/3692/articleID/101430/MCat/3901/Default.aspx
I wont watch paul henry but good to hear jackson doing a job on boag
paul who? Isn’t he famous in Australia?
Nah..can’t watch it. But all power to Willie.
This may be of interest to you all:
“You don’t test the water with both feet,” Peters told the Timaru RSA this week, adding that giving hints would weaken his negotiating position.
Although he has primarily targeted National since returning to Parliament following the 2011 election, attacking the Government on its asset sales programme, Peters said Labour was also promoting policies to which NZ First was strongly opposed.
Before the 2011 election, NZ First warned it could not support a Labour government proposing to raise the retirement age and to extend capital gains tax in the way it was proposing. Labour leader David Cunliffe has affirmed both policies going into the September 20 election.
“I think that lost them [Labour] the election [in 2011],” Peters said in an interview this week. “Don’t they get it?”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10285548/Peters-keeps-mum-on-who-he-d-back
(Hamish Rutherford)
My comment is awaiting moderation (apologies, I typed an incomplete name in the field).
On the Need for a Media Shakeup once the Labour Left Coalition Wins the Election
By Martyn Bradbury / July 19, 2014
“With a survey out this week reminding us that 83% of all New Zealanders watch traditional television every day, it’s no wonder the media generated hate figure of Cunliffe results in poll ratings as low as they currently are.
I started the daily blog in the wake of the 2012 Labour Party conference. I was very close to Cunliffe at the time and had been pestering him constantly during the conference about whether or not he would push a challenge against David Shearer as the blogs had been advocating when the membership changed the voting rules. His response surprised me, it was a flat out no with a very impassioned, ‘I am a servant to the Party’ styled justification.
This was annoying and frustrating. Unfortunately for the blogger in me, there would be no scoop because David Cunliffe was far too principled to launch a coup against Shearer. The disappointment quickly evaporated into jaw dropping shock as I watched Patrick Gower manufacture a false narrative about a leadership coup and crucified Cunliffe on the 6pm News. I know there was no coup because I was the one sitting on Cunliffe’s elbow saying, “you should take out Shearer’ and Cunliffe was point blank refusing to do that.
Watching Cunliffe then get punished for that loyalty was a burning injustice that inspired my decision to gather together the best bloggers the left have and put them all on one site to review the news daily in an attempt to give the other side of the story to the one the mainstream media manufacture. If Gower could deliberately spike a story and twist it that far from reality, then what hope for a well informed citizenry to engage with the civic issues of our day?
This counter narrative seems more important to the NZ media landscape than ever before. The current level of negative bias being exhibited by the conservative corporate media towards David Cunliffe suggests National’s infamous Australian consultants, Crosby-Textor, have suddenly gained editorial staff positions on every branch of broadcasting….
…Voters who have written Cunliffe off based on the media generated bias will be forced to challenge those views when they see him in action on the campaign trail and in the all essential debates.
If their boy Key does fail to win a majority, watch how quickly the media will start proclaiming Cunliffe and Labour have no mandate to govern. Even if Labour win, they will never get a break from the rightwing media and they shouldn’t expect one.
If Cunliffe leads the country after September 20th, a better Public Broadcasting policy needs to be in his top 5 list”.
.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/07/19/wow-the-press-gallery-really-felt-bitter-about-backing-grant-robertson-didnt-they/#sthash.jFefxXIH.dpuf
Yes, that about covers it.
Also Bradbury’s comment re the (alleged) left wing bias of the MSM.
DOC restructuring a failure
National’s restructuring proven to have failed New Zealand – again.
Well done Dr Smith no doubt at the command of Genius Joyce.
What we had was something to be proud of.
What we have now is shameful.
ah, joyce, the man who rubbished labours garage grants for a few days and then announced his own.
It would be nice to hear something from Labour’s spokesperson for the environment too.
Stuff has a broken link on the top of it’s main page. I found the original and still working link to the Dom Post article via google:
“Weather outlook, we’re warming up”
bookmark this one..!
..craig vs. whyte..on the nation..
..see whyte sulk his way thru the whole performance..
..at the same time so looking down his nose..
..he’ll likely need some chiropractic-treatment for his neck..
..it’s quite funny..bless him..!..eh..?
..whyte continues his stellar run of disasterous/laugh-out-loud media appearances..
..and knock me over with a feather..!
..i like one half of craigs’ tax-policy..(!)..(eek..!..)
..the first twenty grand tax-free part..
..it’s positively socialist..!
..and makes/shows labours’ non-efforts in this area as piss-weak as they actually are..
does anyone really think that if labour came out with a poverty-denting tax-free threshold..
..that they wd not see a jump in the polls..?
and of course..still flying that tattered/stained/rancid raising the pension age policy..
..that wouldn’t be having a negative effect on labours’ polling..?
..would it..?
(so..there ya go..!..ditch that useless flag..and dent that poverty..
..and then sit back and watch yr stocks rise..
..it is quite basic poltical-science..that formula..eh..?
..to not do both..will have the opposite effect..
..and for the raising the pension one especially..
..you are going to get hammered by national/crosby-textor..
..they will push the buttons of all those who only hear..’raising the pension-age’..
..and this will further hurt labour..
..does anyone really think it won’t..?
and why is labour so scared of the populism of their roots..?
..have they been away so long..they can’t find their way back..?
..labour needs to promise real change from this key govt..
..’we’re not quite as bad as them’..isn’t enough….
..it meeds to out-mana mana..
..it needs to out-green the greens..
..it needs to promise to end poverty..
..to take us to the new zealand most of us want..
..and then together with internet/mana..greens..
…to get that mandate to make those changes..
..and then to get cracking/on with it..
..shorthand:..labour needs to grow/show a set of (non-gender-specific) policy-balls..
..for many to start believing in them..again..
No. Labour will be mocked mercilessly for a policy like that.
Remember “show me the money” last time? Unless Labour can put forward a comprehensive costing showing how they will fund it, then they will be toast. (again)
Chernobyling the Green and IMP vote to save some Labour MPs arses, is hadly a winning strategy.
IMP is a good enough reason for the “missing 800,000” to come out and vote, but I cant see them turning out on election day.
“..Unless Labour can put forward a comprehensive costing showing how they will fund it..”
..financial transaction tax on the banksters..(treasury said that would raise as much as that tax that hurts the poorest most..gst..does..)
..and as part of a concerted effort to turn around the ever-yawning inequality. in new zealand…?
..a land tax wd be a good place to start..
sadly to get it you also get beating your children, ridiculous knee jerks criminal justice system and no decent sex and relationship ed in schools
not if labour do it..
Awesome news this morning. Just heard that Peters has ruled out working with Internet Mana.
Thats a good sign.
He hates the Greens, and now wont work with Kim’s party.
Not going to help the ‘left’ block at all.
If he gets past 5% and goes with the Nats – the left will be decimated.
James-Peters could go with Labour on the proviso that both they Greens and IMP are kept out of the coalition. He would love that. He would also insist as a bottom line that the pension age remain at 65.
Meanwhile the Greens and IMP would have no option other than to support Labour/NZF on confidence and supply.
There is another option Bearded git, one which i quite like the thought of, both the Green Party and InternetMana if faced with a ‘lockout’ by a Labour/NZFirst bloc in the Parliament could simply offer nothing to anybody and trade support on an issue by issue basis to whichever bloc in the Parliament gives up to the Green/InternetMana bloc the most policy gains…
mmm not really a recipe for stable government that.
I think we may be seeing the start of a shift from having a government that is only a part of parliament to parliament being government. From there we get more democracy.
Mmmm your comments tho smacks of the recipe of the stuffed shirt, the last Labour/NZFirst and the current National/ACT Government were of course really really good at stability, delivering nothing less than poverty as the stable diet for far too many…
funny to read someone on the right trusting winstons wors
Show me where it says Winston has ruled out working with the Greens?
He hasn’t.
James, what Pop said. Winston’s been working with the Greens these last six years. He’s just given Cunliffe the excuse he’ll need to deny Hone/Annette/Laila a Cabinet
Clubseat.They’ve heard of Ministers outside of Cabinet
Clubtoo, I expect.From the Colon Craig Conservative Conference via the NZHerald, ”We Are Not Loonies” so spoke Conservative’s CEO Christine Rankin in Her opening words,
Phew, thank the various deity for that, we all really really needed to have that point clarified,
Christine the CEO and also candidate for the electorate of um? aah?,(ssssh its a secret), an unnamed electorate is pictured on the stage at the conference with Party Leader Colon,(again courtesy of the NZHerald), and, as every picture is either worth a 1000 words, or, tells a story,(yes its multi choice day),
i deduce from the picture accompanying the Herald story that (a) the look Colon is giving Christine says ”i know what your thinking”, or (b), ”you are in my power”,
Christine of course will have to forgive both myself and the Heralds photographer as the picture depicts Her remarkably looking like a ‘survivor’ from an early 1980’s NZ mental health institution having been released after having undergone ‘the full treatment’…
Pretty good Bad !
” the picture depicts Her remarkably looking like a ‘survivor’ from an early 1980′s NZ mental health institution having been released after having undergone ‘the full treatment’…”
She is such a survivor. Of WINZ. Or whatever it was called at the time. Recall how she fought like fuck through the courts for readmission. And failed. The judge got it right. There’s no institution in the western world can handle narcissistic entitlement like hers.
Arabs Don’t Hate Jews And Jews Don’t Hate Arabs Or Why You Should Go To Auckland To Demonstrate Against The Genocide In Gaza!
Oops, here is why. My bad!
Oops looks like I may have to change this to:
Te Tai Tokerau Constituency
Green, Labour and Internet-Mana supporters Candidate Vote Hone Harawira
Epsom Constituency
Green, Labour and Internet-Mana supporters Candidate Vote National-Paul Goldsmith
East Coast Bays Constituency
Green, Labour and Internet-Mana supporters Candidate Vote NZF-Winston Peters
Ohariu Constituency
Green, Labour and Internet-Mana supporters Candidate Vote Labour-Virginia Andersen
Watch this space…
What’s Labour doing with hoardings this election?
All I’ve seen so far are the ones from 2011 with no pictures.
I hope they’re not seriously considering repeating that particular experiment.
Moroney broke electoral law in Hamilton by putting up the wrong sized hoardings so now they’re all covered with chunks of white core flute to bring them down to the correct size.
I struggle to believe some one as experienced as Moroney didn’t know the rules and regs regarding this.
Shiftiness or incompetence, neither a winner.
Labour hasnt any in epsom. ?. Yet…
ACT has seymour on one for electorate and unclecousin being tough on crime
Nats have the liar in chief working for nz inc but nothing gor goldsmith, biographer of don brash
Internet Mana party vote
Party vote Nats in Epsom! Goldsmith for the New Era!
Labour have no money…and it looks like they will not be putting their leaders photo on the billboards which sort of tells me that they in a self preservation mode, as we see from Davis, Mallard and O’Connor.
Hoarding photos have been all over Facebook today. Did you not bother to check your facts before trotting out the Nats’ doom-and-gloom lines?
http://instagram.com/p/qniLRAiAzi/
And so much for the MSM journos saying Cunliffe was holed up in Queenstown on holiday.
Hey Alex
Evidence?
Have you just made such a statement and sent it to the NZ Herald?
Another fecking liar. I have spent all day putting up vote positive billboards with David’s face on them …
And David was out campaigning today and helping with the billboard effort …
And now Rupert Murdoch is demanding that businesses have even more say in our democracies:
He obviously doesn’t like the one person, one vote nature of democracy.
@ Draco T Bastard 1.04
Just thinking of the quote you put above.
Hundreds of thousands of workers getting income at either existence level or declining wages own how much of the wealth which brings power, in the world?
One hugely wealthy businessman with huge assets, needed media and information infrastructure plus a megabyte full of assets : O- ! -oxo> how is the power balance unfair
to the wealthy one?
It’s not – it’s unfair to the workers and Murdoch wants to make it even more unfair to them.
how many unions spoke at the B20 Summit
roopit seems to have a case of raging megalomania that is in no way ameliorated by senile dementia.
Labour and the left have a big problem.
No matter how bad the news is for John Key and the NACTs, the polls and the MSM show that National are way ahead of Labour in the polls and the MSM can’t wait to have a go at Labour and David Cunliffe. This is not surprising when you look at who makes up the main body of the press/TV political scene.
The following people/organisations are National friendly but more importantly they are ANTI-LEFT:
NZ Herald
TV1
TV3
Talkback radio
John Armstrong
Vernon Small
John Roughan
Tracy Watkins
Claire Trevett
Fran O’Sullivan
Matthew Hooton
Bill Ralston & wife
Sean Plunket
Guyon Espiner
Susan Wood
Claire Robinson
Michelle Boag
Bob Jones
Audrey Young
David Farrar
Cameron Slater
Jane Clifton
Jim Mora
Kerry McIvor
Bryce Edwards.
These people/organisations can’t wait to have a go at the Left/David Cunliffe. They may not write positive pieces about the NACTs (lets face it, there aren’t many good things you can say about them) but they do something far worse – they are relentless in their critism of the left. The left have NO CHANCE they say, David Cunliffe should resign, they say, ad nauseum.
Opposing these forces you have a few who mostly support the left:
Rod Oram
Martyn Bradbury
Chris Trotter (when he is not criticising them as well)
Jose Pagani (ditto)
Mike Williams (ditto)
anyone else?
How does the left counter this fire power? I don’t know, but unless they do then this election is as good as lost right now. We can only hope that something happens that wakes the electorate out of it’s stupor and looks a little deeper and beyond the main headlines and soundbites.
I apologise up front for not being able to participate fully in any discussion arising from this comment but I am restricted by other commitments, sorry.
We do what the right are so good at – we collectivise. We get all left leaning political parties to have a weekly fee of $1 to $5 each to belong to the party. We then have it so that say 1/5th of that goes to a left journalist organisation that investigates and reports on what’s happening in politics and economics and is distributed through it’s own broadcast media and website. An organisation not dependent upon government because you can be sure that a National government will cut public broadcasting again.
+1
all the left needs are micro pulse radio stations.they are low powered but work on line of sight.
one on the top of any Auckland volcano will cover the whole area.
its not fucking rocket science but the problem seems to be persuading some on the left who should know better to fork out!
How’s life [deleted] – always enjoy your random musings.
[lprent: No speculating on peoples in real life identities and especially trying to out them, unless they offer it themselves. I get irritated about it and it violates our policies. Banned 4 weeks.]
Snigger,(only on planet Draco)…
It’s because of attitudes like yours that we on the left fail to do anything.
Um, free education and healthcare, public transport, near-universal enfranchisement (with the ugly exception of National’s stripping the right to vote from prison inmates), progressive taxation, power companies, Soviet era communism, no, wait…
We do plenty.
/facepalm
And yet the nation has been going slowly more to the right over the last thirty years. The right-wing have been undermining society for that long because of their ownership of the MSM and their ruthless undermining of of state departments.
We need to stop that and the way to do it is to work together. Not as a single block but communicated out to the rest of the nation through a single channel that is not dependent upon state funds or advertisers.
And perhaps not a single channel per se, as that is not resilient enough, but a network of lighter, smaller alternative media channels.
Add in digital broadcasting too (secured from GCHQ & other spying/manipulative attempts) – a project that can be led by IMP and KDC?
They could do that quite comfortably on just $750K of the $3M KDC gifted IMP.
Well no Draco, when ‘i’ have an idea ‘i’ usually take steps to see how much traction such an idea has in whatever community the idea is intended to benefit,
So, your idea will work or fail depending how much work, other than sitting on your posterior going tap tap tap on the computer, you personally put in to promoting it,
Good luck with trotting such an ‘idea’ round the various political parties i can really,(incoming sarc),see them all falling all over each other in a headlong rush to print out the $50–250 a year levy forms to tax their members,
i can also see ‘the mass movement’ leaping into action once your ‘idea’ became known to the various members of the various Parties, the mass movement out the door as they all canceled their memberships that is,
Hey its not all doom and gloom,(more incoming sarc), You could be installed as the editor and as Phillip fancies Himself as some sort of journalist He could be used to babble incoherently in a print version of His usual ravings from here,
Your editorials, with a few hundred dots inserted here and there could be disguised as incoherence, which would probably be a blessing, because if the Parties of the left adopted your collected ravings as a policy platform, along with having lost all the memberships via your ‘idea’ of an imposed levy, they would lose 99% of their actual voters…
Yep, as I thought – you’re an idiot.
This whole forum is a place to have such discussions.
Now how many years have you in particular Draco been sitting here going tap tap tap with your ‘discussions’,
The expectation that you seem to have that your effete efforts will have the slightest effect is tragically laughable,
i can well suppose that you think such ‘ideas’ that you periodically dredge from your nether regions will fire and inspire the ‘mass movement’ which only exists in your and other equally tragic minds,
The fact is Draco that the only mass being moved from your ruminations and lofty expounding of life on Planet Draco is from your poor tortured bowels in the direction of the device of ablutions,(unless you manage to get it into written form first that is)…
@bad
yoo have never had an idea in your life.
all you have done in life is what you have been told to do.
you have a desperate need to kiss arse and have your head patted by your betters for being a good little sickophant.
i would bother to disagree with you but find i cannot be bothered to engage with a sad arsehole that publicly advises people that they should get pissed and assault their spouses…
If you cant recognise irony then you must be pissed.
Besides any body who doesn’t capitalise the first person pronoun doesn’t think much of themselves anyway.
The inevitable result of too much alcohol.
It also induces sycophancy and reliance on others for self esteem.
You are the sad cat.
have another woody.
Women beaters like what you appear to be deep throat always find an excuse for their behavior when called upon it,
i do not drink, haven’t for a number of years so you had better do a quick change in your pretend analysis of me,
As above i suggest you F off and engage with someone in the behavior your user-name implies you to be an expert in…
You just a really sad person.
I dont believe a word you say.
You dont seem to understand anything about the world except kissing tory arses so they will like you and throw a few crumbs in your direction.
You need to look inside yourself and ask yourself some questions about why you feel the way you do.
You obviously need the services of a shrink or a drunk counselor deep throat,(why didn’t you just cut to the chase and put up c**k-sucker as your user-name),
i could advise you of the name of some really bad ones, shrinks that is, but, i am sure a women hater/beater like you have made yourself appear to be tonight will sooner or later have one compulsorily applied to your (head)case by the courts so there is little need…
I see you are talking to yourself now.
that is maundering and a sure sign of alcoholism.
all you have done here tonight is cast slurs and demean everyone else without making one constructive argument for or against.
You are just a creep now fuck off.
Its time for my milo now and the sleep of the just.
so dont forget now.
Thats fuck off!
🙄 have two 🙄 …
You know, bad, your anger issues (and related symptoms such as homophobia) can be addressed and changed for the better. The first step is to acknowledge to yourself that you need help. Check out these places or just try talking to a trusted friend. And, no, I’m not trying to wind you up.
http://www.angermanagement.org.nz/
http://aucklandtherapy.co.nz/Counselling+issues/Anger+management+counselling.htm
http://manalive.org.nz/
TRP, so you have given up your position as the Liar in Chief,(such Lies covered up with glib false claims of mistakes made), in favor of the pretense of knowing whether or not any particular person is angry or not,
Such faux claims from the likes of you and the other tragic i have just had the displeasure of having a conversation with are laughable,(which is pretty much applied round here to anything you happen to publish on any given day),
Take your pretend analysis TRP,(stranger to the truth), and shove it up your arse, the day i take advice from you will be the day that hell freezes over,
Feel free to continue to whine tho, such exchanges are much appreciated round here for the laughter,at you, they provoke…
It’s ok, bad. Just check the websites out. You don’t have to tell anyone here you’ve done so and they really can help. Kirwin’s one is good too. All the best.
This 🙄 is all your comments are worth TRP, a 🙄 couple of them to put you on a par with the previous lightweight…
Kim Hill?
Native Affairs
Andrea Vance?
Brilliant list and so correct Kenny. Add to it on the right the Otago Daily Times, notably so-called political correspondent Dene McKenzie. Oh and the Dominion Post.
And add Brian Gould on the left.
BG and the rest, unfortunately we need quick answers….
I forgot Helen Kelly and Robert Reid also.
kenny-we all forgot John Campbell who is sympathetic to the left. I think Cunliffe should arrange go on Campbell’s show if possible. As part of this Cunliffe needs to get the male vote back-this is urgently needed given the polls showing falling male support. (This is not to criticise what he said about violence against women which has been taken out of context and twisted on purpose by the MSM).
If Cunliffe fishes, he should be seen fishing. If he hunts he should be seen hunting. A policy should be announced for the huntin/fishin /4WD brigade to latch on to-announce this live on Campbell’s show.
He also needs to be seen at the rugby etc etc.
We all know Cunliffe is clever but I also think Cunliffe needs to show some animal and come out fighting a bit more. Maybe some tub thumping street corner speeches. Something to break the mold of the devious MSM’s dialogue.
just received the first installment of colin craigs bummf in the mailbox.
more waste of paper.
felling forests and filling the rivers with chlorine bleach to make crap that people throw away.
thats progress I suppose.
He is not a christian.
He thinks he is Moses.
Jesus gives people the option.
Craig is disposed to TELLING people what to do.
Him and his crew have just confabulated a whole lot of guff and now they think they are christians.
nooooooooooo.
“He is not a christian.
He thinks he is Moses.
Jesus gives people the option.
Craig is disposed to TELLING people what to do.”
Agreed!
Here are the first pics from the Demonstration against the Genocidal Israeli attack on Gaza held in Auckland!
So much to talk about and respond to but not enough time!
I do have to say though driving, through Tawa earlier I noticed a very large professionally sign written sign attached to the fence of ITM.
“David
You may be sorry for being a man
BUT WE ARE NOT!!!
Toot if you’re a man”
What a freaking 🙄 moment that was. I will be writing to the manager of the Tawa store as well as the general manager for ITM New Zealand, and educate them on the meaning of David Cunliffe’s FULL statement at the Women’s Refuge conference and let them just how much that meant to me as a woman.
I wish there was some way I could get a photo of it up on TS. It would be fantastic if we could get some men speaking with ITM as well.
We don’t need idiotic crap like this in Ohariu, this is a seat Labour has to take from Dunne!
Thanks Rosie, it’s already been picked up (in nasty and negative ways)
by the NZ Herald. Also by KB and WO.
Oh crap. Thanks karol. Look’s like a counter campaign is needed. I won’t visit Kiwiblog or fail oil, I can only imagine what has been said.
On the plus side, in the hour that we were in close proximity to that area only one driver tooted their horn, but then again I see it was picked up by the herald on 14th July so maybe the locals are over their tooting.
it seems its better to stand for nothing like dunne than apologise for some of the things done in the name of boys being boys
@ karol 4.15
I see the words the necklace is far from charming on The Hairy site? What’s that? Is it left over from the last image that was there? Anybody explain? And that looks like a professionally painted sign. Definitely not the sort or size that I attempt at home.
It is sign writing by a skilled hand. No doubt about that. (An evaporating skill set)
There is an appropriate image lower down the page using the tag, so most likely a layout oversight from whenever the page was updated to include the toot image.
Being purposefully left to promote ‘jewellery is not manly’?
An unlikely stretch,
I hope 😕
well most tory voters have had the snip and they are just capons.
they are not men.
just frightened little boys fixated on toys and and any consumer goods that make them look like big shots.
I see the ABC’s are now reported as being pissed off with DC taking a holiday. Yeah, don’t you hate that work/life balance thing… or maybe public shows of disloyalty are what we should really hate. If these reports are true then Phil Goff, David Shearer and Anette King seem to be determined to screw things up for Labour.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10287781/Skiing-holiday-puts-Cunliffe-on-slippery-slope
The behaviour biases of the media are effecting the election being fair. The media are constantly branding political parties in one way or other except for National. Their obsession with National and the way they are framing questions to other parties is biased. They attack like a pack of rabid dogs and twist what others say constantly interrupting them with incorrect interpretations of what has been said.
How many times I am left wanting to say to the interviewer, “Shut up and let the person you are interviewing speak. Listen to what they are saying and stop putting your own spin on it.”
This is not journalism it is some get you game imported from overseas. I can make up my own mind about what the politician says, I don’t need you to put your own twist on it. Even panel members on Q+A like the Horton guy who is putting a negative quip about Cunliffe and the Greens or whatever in every answer he makes. Get him off. I want intelligent commentary from well informed unbiased people. Maybe the tv current affairs shows are so short of panel members they have to be constantly including people who are ex Act members or ultra conservative National members.
I’m thinking the whole political decision making may be better off without all this media contamination. Well certainly what is being dished up on TV and the papers.