This is pasted from another post. Re. Polling. Responses please.
If, if and if again. There is one poll that really counts IF you are really, really, serious. If Germany had invaded England in WW2. If the AB’S had taken their own chef and food to the World Cup in South Africa in two thousand and whatever. If Barbie was an All Black! This is what I call Poll Porn. Other countries don’t permit this poll porn, for obvious reasons. Tea leaf reading anyone?
Boot Camp begins at home
If a Boot Camp’s objectives include instilling a sense of discipline and self worth then surely “boot camp” should begin at home.
When the bell rang at 10:30 am on my first day’s teaching on Atiu (outer island of the Cooks) I asked the kids “how long is the break?” They responded that this was lunch time, not break. I learned later that they’d been up since 5:30, feeding the pigs and chickens and doing housework.
There was no classroom “duty roster;” at the close of the school day floors were swept, windows cleaned, shelves tidied. The students buzzed round the room as routinely as one brushed one’s teeth. I marvelled as I watched them using those amazing brooms fashioned from the shredded midribs of palm fronds.
“Looking forward to the holiday?” I asked on last day of term.
“Not really” replied one, “we miss our friends.”
“On an island of only 530 people?”
But holiday time was ‘working in the taro fields time’ with far less opportunity for socialising than during term.
The kids had developed a strong sense of independence. A massive radio mast, the victim of 5 cyclones that struck Cook Islands in the 2004/2005 season, lay sprawled as a wreck of iron and cable right across part of the playing field. It was 4 months before machinery arrived to remove it, and during all that time they played touch during break, jumping over the cables and running round the jagged metal as though it belonged there.
Swimming sports was held in the crude little harbour. At lunch all the staff withdrew for kai under the Casuarina trees, well out of sight. And the kids played unsupervised in the water, from pre-primary through to seniors. Everyone seemed to have an eye on everyone else and it all looked very normal and natural. .
I’m not suggesting they were saints by any means; plenty of mischief reminded me kids will always be kids. But it seems to me the early inculcation of responsibility in the home, at the work place, in care of oneself and of one another is something sadly lacking in western contemporary society.
Why is it so hard for us to grasp the steadying influence of good old fashioned values?
Last year I had a holiday in Rarotonga. One day in the township I struck up a conversation with a policewoman and commented that one outstanding feature was a total lack of bored teenages milling around on the streets, unlike NZ. “We keep them far too busy here” she responded. How cool – they are a valued part of their society, not a nuisance factor, as we seem to regard them. I’ll bet there are few, if any youth suicides there!
After some years on Atiu I taught in Rarotonga. Two student teachers from Australia marvelled at the 90% level of participation in ball games during interval, lamenting that in Oz 90% sit around glued to cell phones when not in class.
see i grew up also with cleaning communal goods i.e. church, school, public yard etc. it was us girls that did the cleaning. I just wanted to make sure that when we speak of ‘good old fashioned’ values, it is not the girls that end up cleaning and the boys playing balls.
good old fashioned means a lot of things to a lot of people. Might be better to point out the values that you are talking about and you will see that they are not forcibly ‘good ‘old’ fashioned values.
“Might be better to point out the values that you are talking about…..”
The entire article, with no mention of gender, points to the values I’m talking about that I noted amongst my students: once again mutual caring, cooperative living, self reliance. These are sadly absent in large swathes of western society.
and yet, you do not talk about community values you talk about ‘good old fashioned values’. Which means something different to many people.
As for saying that these are largely absent, no, thy are not. They might not be exercised in a way that you would count them, but there are many young people involved in the community, there are volunteers tonight going out in rain and hail to put tarp up over roofs blown away, to put out fires and pull animals out of ditches just to name a few.
the kids are alright, its the grown ups that have fucked up society.
i don’t disagree with you, but words and their meaning matters.
Go ask women what ‘good old fashioned values’ mean to them. 🙂
The good old fashioned values I remember – my grandfather’s – were of sharing. He did a lot of fishing, had a smokehouse, and pretty much everyone who knew him got fish. Down here in the south the need to lock doors (or bikes) only came in the last 30-40 years. When AH Reed walked from Cape Reinga to Bluff he could rely on being offered a billet by strangers.
So why’d it all go away? Neo-liberalism was part of it. I suspect the decline of churches as social organizations and the decline of social rugby were part of it too. We have become to some extent deculturalised. It’s a dangerous thing in fact – the folk that ISIS recruit are not mainstream Muslims, but deculturalised ones.
Media prostitutes like Hoskings and Gower are deculturalised – they have no loyalty to public interest. The blame lies in part with those who hire them – the choice to further debase our society is deliberate.
my comment does not refer tot he material status a young one has but to the attitude of our young ones.
And they are ‘all right’, they are helpful, studious, polite, they volunteer, they juggle school, homework, work, they live in a world that is dead set against them and still they are polite, helpful, industrious, and lovely.
Its the old ones that fuck it up. We should own up to that. The ‘oldfashioned values’ were not ‘destroyed by the young ones, but are disregarded by many grown ups. We – old people – set the standard, we don’t get to complain if in the end we dont like what we harvest.
The terminology “good old fashioned values” seems to suggest that they have gone out of fashion here but in other cultures/societies they still exist and still guide, regulate, and shape human actions and interactions. This raises a few interesting questions: why & how did we lose them, and how can we restore or re-establish them (assuming, of course, that we can and want to)? This is Puddleglum material 😉
Eco maori, if the comment you are referring to is your own one praising TOP, I would simply point out to you that it seems strange that a bunch of rich white capitalists will supposedly fix the ills of capitalism for us all. Warning bells should be ringing.
I wish Gareth Morgan well BUT let him bleed the Natz, not us.
You never know he’s sitting on 2%, last time Colin lifted his party from 1% to 4% in a matter of a few weeks. A couple of good TV appearances and Gareth could fly in under the radar.
Garibaldi, apart from making an increadibly racist and sexist comment re white men, you show total ignorance of the makeup of TOP.
Maori, Polynesian and women are all over represented in their office holder ranks. But then why let reality and a little fact checking get in the way of your cliched viewpoints
Warm up – Hicks vs Conway
– Too close to call – has Trump ever resisted a model? and will Melania have anything to say about it? Conway has seen off the likes of Hicks before, I’m sure.
Main event – Trump Family vs the Koch Bros?
– It’s all terrifying, but for the main event I’ve always thought the Trump family will lose to the Koch Bros. Pence is looking quite the presidential pretender.
Actually the unpleasant symbolism aside, if we run out of rubber, that might be a useful design though definitely be more like the old bikes they called boneshakers. But it seems to work okay.
My rolling average of the last 3 Roy Morgans including August 13 poll just out:
Lab/Gr 41.7 (polling Lab 32.5 Greens 9.0 on August 13)
Lab/Gr/NZF 51.2
Nats 44.0
Nats/ACT/MP 46.3
Nats/ACT/MP/NZF 55.8
NZF 9.5
If Winnie goes as part of the 4-headed monster it’s 55.8 versus 41.7
If Winnie goes with the Lab/Gr bloc it’s 51.2 versus 46.3
Both would give safe majorities.
These figures probably give a better idea of bedrock support, rather than the recent volatile Colmar Brunton, though the Jacinda effect may not be fully reflected.TOP continues to languish. Roy Morgan had Labour on 23% last November.
The big “what if” relates to Winston Peters and NZ First
And though he is adamant he won’t even begin to negotiate until the writs are returned on October 12, people close to him are beginning to believe that he would prefer to go with Labour.
(As election narrows, National hits the fund raising button with high priced dinner with PM – August 18, 2017)
John Armstrong, in this morning´s Herald is arguing that NZ 1st should go with whichever major party receives the largest vote, whether this is Labour or National, apparently because this is what the electorate expect. Do people really expect this in this day and age? I would expect Peters to coalesce with whichever party he has most in common, policy wise, (assuming of course that a government can be formed if he does so) . Am I somehow out of step with the rest of the country?
Armstrong goes on to argue that a vote for the Green Party is a wasted vote irrespective of whether or not they pass 5%, because their presence in parliament will give Peters the ¨wriggle room¨ to go with National, even if it turns out that Labour is the largest party. Maybe – or would it simply mean that the electorate were looking for a coalition that included the Green Party, and should Peters not recognise this?
An interesting and powerful interview by Kim and Charlotte Wood this morning.
At 10.04 – about women and mistreatment.
Australian writer Charlotte Wood is the author of five novels and two books of non-fiction, including Animal People, The Children and The Writer’s Room – a collection of interviews with writers about their work. Her most recent book, The Natural Way of Things, was inspired by an ABC documentary, Exposed to Moral Danger, about the hidden history of one of Australia’s most notorious state institutions, the Hay Institution for Girls.
The Natural Way of Things won the 2016 Stella Prize, the 2016 Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year, and was joint winner of the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. Also last year, Wood was named the Charles Perkins Centre’s inaugural Writer in Residence at the University of Sydney. Wood recently visited Wellington as a guest of Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML).
Good for women, just mentioned 85 year old woman who has gone to Nigeria to look at what is happening to females there! I can’t remember who – they had just mentioned Edna O’Brien and Margaret Drabble.
But this interview is good for men to listen to, to get background on what is enraging some women about sexism and lack of respect etc.
An interview after 11am this morning on stem cell research and human enhancement.
Will end up keeping the elite going looking acceptable on television and holding onto power to suit the elite.
And how will they choose to ‘enhance’ the lower classes? We already can see in present society that the elite have no feeling of connection with the non-elite.
11am RadioNZ
Julian Savulescu is an Australian philosopher and bioethicist. He is Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford, Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Sir Louis Matheson Distinguished Visiting Professor at Monash University, and Head of the Melbourne-Oxford Stem Cell Collaboration, which is devoted to examining the ethical implications of cloning and embryonic stem cell research. He is the editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics.
In addition to his background in applied ethics and philosophy, he also has a background in medicine and completed his MBBS (Hons) at Monash University. He completed his PhD at Monash University, under the supervision of bioethicist Peter Singer. Savulescu’s latest examination of the ethics of the biological enhancement of the human race are contained in The Ethics of Human Enhancement: Understanding the Debate.
The video on this is pretty glitchy, and what I can make out it is heavy on glib optimism and light on details. Though Coleman is talking now and touting the previously announced ICU beds. Seems to have cut out entirely now it has gone to questions.
One billion dollars does sound like a lot, but you can’t help wondering how much could have been saved by timely maintenance over the past decade. Not just in money terms, but also in human misery. Of course, this is Bill English’s National, so I’d have to see the details to know how much of that spend is going to end up as hospital, and how much will line the pockets of consultants (and even then the accountancy is likely to be creative in including operating expenses in the rebuild to inflate the wow number factor of this suspiciously round figure).
I don’t know how I feel about the Wakari option yet. From the perspective of sea level rise, it would be a good idea in the longterm to move away from the harbour flatlands. From the perspective of patient accessibility, there would be problems, especially during the winter when the hills get icey (and dicey). Then there would be the impact on the medical school of separating the University health science buildings and the hospital.
Still, considering how bad things are at the moment, anything would be an improvement to the Dunedin public health system. As an election bribe, it is a bit; too little too late, given that Labour is likely to commit to equal or better the offer. Plus they offer greater transparency, and hopefully the end of the antidemocratic commissioner’s regieme:
The rebuild announcement comes after the Cabinet considered an early stage business case outlining three options… The Dunedin North MP David Clark said that there had been unacceptable delays and secrecy.
“In 2014, I became concerned about ongoing delays in the rebuild project and sought answers from then minister Tony Ryall.”
He gave assurances a business case would be before Cabinet by the end of 2014.
Dr Clark called for the release of the full business-case document to allow greater transparency.
One billion dollars does sound like a lot, but you can’t help wondering how much could have been saved by timely maintenance over the past decade.
If a full new build is the best option now then simple maintenance wouldn’t have cut it. Of course, proper funding and delegation of authority would have had the new build started years ago without the government even having to have a say.
Of course, this is Bill English’s National, so I’d have to see the details to know how much of that spend is going to end up as hospital, and how much will line the pockets of consultants
10 to 15% will disappear in the dead-weight loss of profits.
Considering that they seem to have spent years on this already then I’d expect the consultants to already have cost millions.
“Under recent and little-noticed changes to New Zealand law, Australian citizens now don’t need a visa to live, study or work in the Land of the Long White Cloud. That’s right: Any Australian citizen is entitled to live, study and work there,” he said.
“That means we’re all entitled to the rights and privileges of a subject of New Zealand – not a citizen, with the attached rights and privileges such as voting – but to be a subject of that country, living there, subject to New Zealand law, working or studying. And there’s no doubt that New Zealand is a foreign power.”
According to Angyal, if section 44 were to be taken into account, no Australian would be eligible to be an Australian MP.
Perhaps, if they’re nice to us, we’ll let them rule themselves again 😈
Don’t drop your guard for a minute, nice to us now, Oz will turn around when it suits and bite us in the bum later. But being rather soft in the bum and everywhere else, NZs will just sigh and give them a little pat, and say ‘There, there, you are a bit overwrought. All will be well.’
When you start to see protesters on the streets then something is very wrong. Particularly galling is the National Party using the campaign period to announce big projects which the electoral commission warns against.
Nats don’t get the public – they do get corruption though.
muttonbird
That video is a lot more entertaining than the one I sat through (up at comment 10, though there is a brief snippit of it at the end of this one). It is an interesting point about; “using the campaign period to announce big projects which the electoral commission warns against”.
However, the announcement really boils down to a mere: “$2million in further stop-gap funding to keep the existing hospital running.”. With the business case for the rebuild not even going to cabinet till next year, and a proposed completion date of; “2027, but this depends on the location”. So this billion dollar hospital is a long way off, and in no way certain.
Muttonbird galling is the National Party using the campaign period to announce big projects which the electoral commission warns against.
Last minute promises in an effort to scuttle the opposition: They are particularly important if this is correct: ‘of a poll of [Canadian] voters on election day 25 percent only decided within twenty-four hours of the election, 40 percent had decided in the previous week’
(The Big Red Machine… by Stephen Clarkson)
I came across BaitandSwitch. Have they tried that here? Politics
In lawmaking, “caption bills” that propose minor changes in law with simplistic titles (the bait) are introduced to the legislature with the ultimate objective of substantially changing the wording (the switch) at a later date in order to try to smooth the passage of a controversial or major amendment.
Rule changes are also proposed (the bait) to meet legal requirements for public notice and mandated public hearings, then different rules are proposed at a final meeting (the switch), thus bypassing the objective of public notice and public discussion on the actual rules voted upon. While legal, the political objective is to get legislation or rules passed without expected negative community review. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch#Politics
It is literally almost always in the top current posts being read at present. Right now it has 5 people reading it. We get spikes of this, but usually not sustained spikes over months (unless it is a great photo of a milkbottle)
I’d guess that it is from facebook bearing in mind that it shows up as 3 from facebook, 2 direct.
Yeah. That is to be expected. By why is this facebook thing getting passed around so much, and so recently.
That post was more than a year ago, he is no longer the PM, and the overseas trust ‘industry’ here is now just husk of what it once was as even this favourable towards corruption government was forced to lock out the criminal money laundering that was going on.
There is no apparent reason why this post should be being passed around facebook at this time – and increasing in velocity.
There’s a Facebook group popping up in my feed for National – NZ’s most corrupt government ever (or something like that), with thousands of members, and that post is one of their favourites.
Sounds like a likely kind of source. I guess people are dispersing links to more of these kinds of posts and readers are drilling down more in the approach to the election.
Best guess might be international interest – does it rise during our nighttime? A lot of Latin American journalists are probably looking for stolen money.
There are rumors on Facebook that say, and I’m paraphrasing.
“””Key resigned from being PM, because he was more involved in the Panama papers fiasco than the MSM has even let on. (Up to his eye balls) And he feared that it would come out during the election, and not only destroy his reputation, but that of the national party (TM) as a whole.”””
It comes in a few different versions with a lot more guttural language used in various incarnations.
Some of the more colorful ones coming from people off shore.
I’ve heard quite a few rumors, but at the moment that is what they are, rumors.
My favorite rumor was that his trichophilia had gotten to be unmanageable, and that after a certain incident in the back offices of parliament, he was asked to stand down.
@ Tamati Tautuhi … (16) … Yes, as to be expected Armstrong crawls out from under his rock to perform his once three yearly cycle of contaminated bullshit for his Natz master Herr Joyce!
The Nation: Amy Adams vs Phil Twyford.
Adams very high speed and volume delivery largely obliterated Twyford. I’d love a word count, and Adams had the cheek to accuse Twyford of cutting her off and using more time.
This guy has started appearing the Hawke’s Bay Today on Saturdays apparently as a counter to Mike William’s column. Further proof of the local rag’s pro National leanings and maybe a sign they are worried.
Looking at a history of the Paeroa and District Caledonian Society. I was struck by the cause of its close and selling up.
In 1974 a decision was made to put the Society into recess, a decision not made lightly.
It is ironical that at the time of closing, the Inglesides were still attracting crowds big enough to fill the War Memorial Hall but simply lacked people able or willing to do the work involved in running a dance.
And so, in 1975 the assets of the Society were sold and the money divided between the Crippled Children’s Society, the St. John’s Ambulance and the I H C Building Fund – a sad but fitting conclusion to a Society which, for years, had worked for the good of the community.
Is this, in a nutshell, the background story of why NZ is being sliced, diced and sold off in bits today? If so how can we stop this process? And having got the show together, how do we make sure it continues for the eager community, and keeps the people committed to ensuring it carries on for their children’s children? http://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journals/71-journal-43-september-1999/1581-paeroa-district-caledonian-society
Our farming industry and the massive chunk of our economy is based on cheap, exploited, abused immigrant labour which maintains the low-wage economy and the wage stagnation for the domestic worker. The Government absolutely loves it.
During a Northland meeting on his Heartland tour, John Key met Kerikeri District Business Association president Carolyne Brooks-Quan in a cafe with a journalist present. Key seems to have taken little notice of the journalist, referring to him in a later media interview as ‘a young guy’.
During the meeting Brooks-Quan expressed to Key her concern about calls for employers in New Zealand to pay their workers more:
‘There’s been a lot surrounding the exodus of people to Australia that are lured by higher wages. There are some calls here for employers to pay more. What’s your take on that?
John, ever the business-friendly politician, replied:
‘We would love to see wages drop. The way we want to see wages increase is because productivity is greater. So people can afford more. Not just inflationary reasons, otherwise it’s a bit of a vicious circle as it comes back to you in higher interest rates. We really want to drive that out.’
So while low income workers are on the bones of there arses, and the middle is squeezed, after 9 long years we’re still waiting for the simplistic productivity/wage growth formula to produce an income bonanza for working people. Real wages and purchasing power lagging productivity.
Also slightly amusing to see Don Brash defend his basic understanding of an aspect of neo lib economics against Bryan Gould pointing out that he was wrong. Bryan Gould quoted the British but Don Brash probably repeating something schooled in by Harvard.
http://www.bryangould.com/the-fallout-from-brashs-downfall/ He had, after all, been the country’s top banker, and that is to say nothing of his eventual emergence as a “hard right” politician – leading first the National party and then Act, and only narrowly failing to become our Prime Minister in 2005.
As Governor of the Reserve Bank, he had been the principal champion and practitioner of the neo-liberal economic policies which became known as “Rogernomics”. Are we happy that our economic fortunes were entrusted to a single individual who understood so little of his subject, and that ministers applauded themselves for their disclaimer of any responsibility for the decisions he made?
His woeful attempt to deny what is now accepted must cast huge doubt on the continuing legacy of “Rogernomics” in our economic policies. The whole myth of prudent economic management under neo-liberal policies must be reconsidered in the light of what we now know is the banks’ self-interested creation (or “printing”) of billions of new money.
The frequent condemnations of any suggestion that governments might “print money” (unless it is “quantitative easing”, with the purpose of bailing out the banks) must now be viewed against the relaxed attitude towards the banks doing precisely that – day in, day out, and on a massive scale – for their own profit-making purposes.
An acknowledgment of the true role of the banks should lead us to reconsider many of the hitherto accepted nostrums in tackling economic problems. Inflation? No, not created by greedy workers claiming higher wages but by banks printing more and more money to boost their profits.
Why have we been knuckle-dragging for the last nine years? Because we are all ignorant, but have covered that with a mantle of slick confidence which is reinforced by the small groups of self-interest repeating their mantras, and disrespecting the caution of professionals.
Perhaps because of the assured and derogatory response to intellectual thought from Cameron Slater 20/4/17 (Whaleoil) “all round know it all academic tosspot, Bryan Gould, has been schooled on NCEA economics by Don Brash.”
So disgusting the shameful way a chunk of the dairy industry treats these people. So our waterways are polluted AND people are treated like shit – wtf are the good points about this industry again? Oh that’s right some owners and others make lots of money from it – meanwhile the environment, the water and the workers are fucked. Thanks dairy farmers, thanks a lot.
People would rather die of cancer, or have their guts cutout than admit they are being lied to by politicians/doctors/MSM, etc
People would rather indirectly kill their own children than admit they are being lied to.
The first step to being cured of most illnesses, is accepting you are being fed buckets of shit daily.
The next step is to accept that EVERY politician doesn’t give a flying fuck about you.
It doesn’t matter if they are black, green, blue, red, or fucking pink polka dot, they are all lying, except the ban 1080 party, every other group is a selfish bunch of bastards, just pulling your strings.
The human die off will start in earnest, in a few short months, but no one gives fuck.
Maternity wards, and voting are the evidence that the general dumb public/the walking dead, haven’t a clue.
No Marty
The cure for cancer is first accepting you are being lied to, then thinking for yourself, outside the box.
The irony is @ nearly 60, I have a medical condition that if not for ‘the pills’ would see me dead, so no I will not be saying “I told you so” for long.
The Politicians only allow me 3 months worth at a time, so yes a very short future for me.
Sorry to hear that. You should also be allowed access to quality weed for pain relief, nausea control or pretty well any reason you want at this time – subsidised and accessible – fuck the stupid repressive Victorian attitudes imposed in this country.
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The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
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This is pasted from another post. Re. Polling. Responses please.
If, if and if again. There is one poll that really counts IF you are really, really, serious. If Germany had invaded England in WW2. If the AB’S had taken their own chef and food to the World Cup in South Africa in two thousand and whatever. If Barbie was an All Black! This is what I call Poll Porn. Other countries don’t permit this poll porn, for obvious reasons. Tea leaf reading anyone?
Boot Camp begins at home
If a Boot Camp’s objectives include instilling a sense of discipline and self worth then surely “boot camp” should begin at home.
When the bell rang at 10:30 am on my first day’s teaching on Atiu (outer island of the Cooks) I asked the kids “how long is the break?” They responded that this was lunch time, not break. I learned later that they’d been up since 5:30, feeding the pigs and chickens and doing housework.
There was no classroom “duty roster;” at the close of the school day floors were swept, windows cleaned, shelves tidied. The students buzzed round the room as routinely as one brushed one’s teeth. I marvelled as I watched them using those amazing brooms fashioned from the shredded midribs of palm fronds.
“Looking forward to the holiday?” I asked on last day of term.
“Not really” replied one, “we miss our friends.”
“On an island of only 530 people?”
But holiday time was ‘working in the taro fields time’ with far less opportunity for socialising than during term.
The kids had developed a strong sense of independence. A massive radio mast, the victim of 5 cyclones that struck Cook Islands in the 2004/2005 season, lay sprawled as a wreck of iron and cable right across part of the playing field. It was 4 months before machinery arrived to remove it, and during all that time they played touch during break, jumping over the cables and running round the jagged metal as though it belonged there.
Swimming sports was held in the crude little harbour. At lunch all the staff withdrew for kai under the Casuarina trees, well out of sight. And the kids played unsupervised in the water, from pre-primary through to seniors. Everyone seemed to have an eye on everyone else and it all looked very normal and natural. .
I’m not suggesting they were saints by any means; plenty of mischief reminded me kids will always be kids. But it seems to me the early inculcation of responsibility in the home, at the work place, in care of oneself and of one another is something sadly lacking in western contemporary society.
Why is it so hard for us to grasp the steadying influence of good old fashioned values?
Last year I had a holiday in Rarotonga. One day in the township I struck up a conversation with a policewoman and commented that one outstanding feature was a total lack of bored teenages milling around on the streets, unlike NZ. “We keep them far too busy here” she responded. How cool – they are a valued part of their society, not a nuisance factor, as we seem to regard them. I’ll bet there are few, if any youth suicides there!
After some years on Atiu I taught in Rarotonga. Two student teachers from Australia marvelled at the 90% level of participation in ball games during interval, lamenting that in Oz 90% sit around glued to cell phones when not in class.
Wouldn’t that be dependent upon which old fashioned values?
The community based ones you describe or the capitalist ones we have.
I emphasized good old fashioned values….which would surely rule out capitalism.
define ‘good’ old fashioned values.
thanks.
In the context of the article how about care of one another, cooperative living, self-reliance, honouring individuality.
see i grew up also with cleaning communal goods i.e. church, school, public yard etc. it was us girls that did the cleaning. I just wanted to make sure that when we speak of ‘good old fashioned’ values, it is not the girls that end up cleaning and the boys playing balls.
good old fashioned means a lot of things to a lot of people. Might be better to point out the values that you are talking about and you will see that they are not forcibly ‘good ‘old’ fashioned values.
“Might be better to point out the values that you are talking about…..”
The entire article, with no mention of gender, points to the values I’m talking about that I noted amongst my students: once again mutual caring, cooperative living, self reliance. These are sadly absent in large swathes of western society.
and yet, you do not talk about community values you talk about ‘good old fashioned values’. Which means something different to many people.
As for saying that these are largely absent, no, thy are not. They might not be exercised in a way that you would count them, but there are many young people involved in the community, there are volunteers tonight going out in rain and hail to put tarp up over roofs blown away, to put out fires and pull animals out of ditches just to name a few.
the kids are alright, its the grown ups that have fucked up society.
i don’t disagree with you, but words and their meaning matters.
Go ask women what ‘good old fashioned values’ mean to them. 🙂
The good old fashioned values I remember – my grandfather’s – were of sharing. He did a lot of fishing, had a smokehouse, and pretty much everyone who knew him got fish. Down here in the south the need to lock doors (or bikes) only came in the last 30-40 years. When AH Reed walked from Cape Reinga to Bluff he could rely on being offered a billet by strangers.
So why’d it all go away? Neo-liberalism was part of it. I suspect the decline of churches as social organizations and the decline of social rugby were part of it too. We have become to some extent deculturalised. It’s a dangerous thing in fact – the folk that ISIS recruit are not mainstream Muslims, but deculturalised ones.
Media prostitutes like Hoskings and Gower are deculturalised – they have no loyalty to public interest. The blame lies in part with those who hire them – the choice to further debase our society is deliberate.
Deculturalised or nihilist? What is the countervailing voice, to use Monbiot’s phrasing?
Sharing is a powerful (trans)action with very deep symbolism and meaning.
“….the kids are alright, its the grown ups that have fucked up society”.
Our kids are NOT alright, they are suffering. I agree about the adults.
Jun 15, 2017 – A report by Unicef contains a shocking statistic – New Zealand has by far the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world.
my comment does not refer tot he material status a young one has but to the attitude of our young ones.
And they are ‘all right’, they are helpful, studious, polite, they volunteer, they juggle school, homework, work, they live in a world that is dead set against them and still they are polite, helpful, industrious, and lovely.
Its the old ones that fuck it up. We should own up to that. The ‘oldfashioned values’ were not ‘destroyed by the young ones, but are disregarded by many grown ups. We – old people – set the standard, we don’t get to complain if in the end we dont like what we harvest.
The terminology “good old fashioned values” seems to suggest that they have gone out of fashion here but in other cultures/societies they still exist and still guide, regulate, and shape human actions and interactions. This raises a few interesting questions: why & how did we lose them, and how can we restore or re-establish them (assuming, of course, that we can and want to)? This is Puddleglum material 😉
There a good blog on yesterday’s go out to vote
Eco maori, if the comment you are referring to is your own one praising TOP, I would simply point out to you that it seems strange that a bunch of rich white capitalists will supposedly fix the ills of capitalism for us all. Warning bells should be ringing.
I wish Gareth Morgan well BUT let him bleed the Natz, not us.
the Jacinda effect has killed tops chances ,
You never know he’s sitting on 2%, last time Colin lifted his party from 1% to 4% in a matter of a few weeks. A couple of good TV appearances and Gareth could fly in under the radar.
Garibaldi, apart from making an increadibly racist and sexist comment re white men, you show total ignorance of the makeup of TOP.
Maori, Polynesian and women are all over represented in their office holder ranks. But then why let reality and a little fact checking get in the way of your cliched viewpoints
Morning smiles.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-internet-hilariously-said-bye-bye-to-steve-bannon_us_59972287e4b0a2608a6c1628?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
🙂
Only Pence and Trump left from the first intake…. I wonder who will be the only one left?
I was thinking Pence has been fronting the media a bit more lately.
Outside of family, you mean?
I reckon it’ll come down to the cage fight between Hope Hicks and Kellyanne.
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,
If one green bottle should accidentally fall
There’ll be nine green bottles hanging ….. etc.
(Old rhyme)
Unfortunately, I think it may be more like this.
Could segue nicely into a rousing chorus of “Humpty Trumpty”…
Cage F(r)ight draw:
Warm up – Hicks vs Conway
– Too close to call – has Trump ever resisted a model? and will Melania have anything to say about it? Conway has seen off the likes of Hicks before, I’m sure.
Main event – Trump Family vs the Koch Bros?
– It’s all terrifying, but for the main event I’ve always thought the Trump family will lose to the Koch Bros. Pence is looking quite the presidential pretender.
Steve Bannon spotted on his way home from The White House.
http://imgur.com/7zTCuWv
All a plan for him to go to war for his special friend trump apparently.
Easier to undermine McMaster from the outside.
https://www.axios.com/anti-mcmaster-campaign-is-about-to-get-uglier-2472606148.html
Actually the unpleasant symbolism aside, if we run out of rubber, that might be a useful design though definitely be more like the old bikes they called boneshakers. But it seems to work okay.
Roy Morgan poll.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/08/19/latest-roy-morgan-poll-national-42-5-labour-32-5-green-9-nz-first-11-5/
Polling period 31 July-13 August … this latest roy morgan is not usable data too much has happened to change stuff in the period
My rolling average of the last 3 Roy Morgans including August 13 poll just out:
Lab/Gr 41.7 (polling Lab 32.5 Greens 9.0 on August 13)
Lab/Gr/NZF 51.2
Nats 44.0
Nats/ACT/MP 46.3
Nats/ACT/MP/NZF 55.8
NZF 9.5
If Winnie goes as part of the 4-headed monster it’s 55.8 versus 41.7
If Winnie goes with the Lab/Gr bloc it’s 51.2 versus 46.3
Both would give safe majorities.
These figures probably give a better idea of bedrock support, rather than the recent volatile Colmar Brunton, though the Jacinda effect may not be fully reflected.TOP continues to languish. Roy Morgan had Labour on 23% last November.
Young Dickie Harman at Politik
(As election narrows, National hits the fund raising button with high priced dinner with PM – August 18, 2017)
his sign in our backwaters here
Had Enough?
🙂
everyone keep swimming, there is no land in sight.
True that is Swordfish,
We have family inside the Party that confirms what you highlighted there.
John Armstrong, in this morning´s Herald is arguing that NZ 1st should go with whichever major party receives the largest vote, whether this is Labour or National, apparently because this is what the electorate expect. Do people really expect this in this day and age? I would expect Peters to coalesce with whichever party he has most in common, policy wise, (assuming of course that a government can be formed if he does so) . Am I somehow out of step with the rest of the country?
Armstrong goes on to argue that a vote for the Green Party is a wasted vote irrespective of whether or not they pass 5%, because their presence in parliament will give Peters the ¨wriggle room¨ to go with National, even if it turns out that Labour is the largest party. Maybe – or would it simply mean that the electorate were looking for a coalition that included the Green Party, and should Peters not recognise this?
An interesting and powerful interview by Kim and Charlotte Wood this morning.
At 10.04 – about women and mistreatment.
Australian writer Charlotte Wood is the author of five novels and two books of non-fiction, including Animal People, The Children and The Writer’s Room – a collection of interviews with writers about their work. Her most recent book, The Natural Way of Things, was inspired by an ABC documentary, Exposed to Moral Danger, about the hidden history of one of Australia’s most notorious state institutions, the Hay Institution for Girls.
The Natural Way of Things won the 2016 Stella Prize, the 2016 Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year, and was joint winner of the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. Also last year, Wood was named the Charles Perkins Centre’s inaugural Writer in Residence at the University of Sydney. Wood recently visited Wellington as a guest of Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML).
Good for women, just mentioned 85 year old woman who has gone to Nigeria to look at what is happening to females there! I can’t remember who – they had just mentioned Edna O’Brien and Margaret Drabble.
But this interview is good for men to listen to, to get background on what is enraging some women about sexism and lack of respect etc.
I thought that was a great interview greywarshark.
An interview after 11am this morning on stem cell research and human enhancement.
Will end up keeping the elite going looking acceptable on television and holding onto power to suit the elite.
And how will they choose to ‘enhance’ the lower classes? We already can see in present society that the elite have no feeling of connection with the non-elite.
11am RadioNZ
Julian Savulescu is an Australian philosopher and bioethicist. He is Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford, Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Sir Louis Matheson Distinguished Visiting Professor at Monash University, and Head of the Melbourne-Oxford Stem Cell Collaboration, which is devoted to examining the ethical implications of cloning and embryonic stem cell research. He is the editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics.
In addition to his background in applied ethics and philosophy, he also has a background in medicine and completed his MBBS (Hons) at Monash University. He completed his PhD at Monash University, under the supervision of bioethicist Peter Singer. Savulescu’s latest examination of the ethics of the biological enhancement of the human race are contained in The Ethics of Human Enhancement: Understanding the Debate.
The video on this is pretty glitchy, and what I can make out it is heavy on glib optimism and light on details. Though Coleman is talking now and touting the previously announced ICU beds. Seems to have cut out entirely now it has gone to questions.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/least-1b-rebuild
One billion dollars does sound like a lot, but you can’t help wondering how much could have been saved by timely maintenance over the past decade. Not just in money terms, but also in human misery. Of course, this is Bill English’s National, so I’d have to see the details to know how much of that spend is going to end up as hospital, and how much will line the pockets of consultants (and even then the accountancy is likely to be creative in including operating expenses in the rebuild to inflate the wow number factor of this suspiciously round figure).
I don’t know how I feel about the Wakari option yet. From the perspective of sea level rise, it would be a good idea in the longterm to move away from the harbour flatlands. From the perspective of patient accessibility, there would be problems, especially during the winter when the hills get icey (and dicey). Then there would be the impact on the medical school of separating the University health science buildings and the hospital.
Still, considering how bad things are at the moment, anything would be an improvement to the Dunedin public health system. As an election bribe, it is a bit; too little too late, given that Labour is likely to commit to equal or better the offer. Plus they offer greater transparency, and hopefully the end of the antidemocratic commissioner’s regieme:
If a full new build is the best option now then simple maintenance wouldn’t have cut it. Of course, proper funding and delegation of authority would have had the new build started years ago without the government even having to have a say.
10 to 15% will disappear in the dead-weight loss of profits.
Considering that they seem to have spent years on this already then I’d expect the consultants to already have cost millions.
From earlier in the showing just how unpopular Ms Hipango is here in Whanganui but alas, South Taranaki.
A Wanganui Chronicle reader poll has revealed a big lead for Labour’s Steph Lewis as preferred Member of Parliament for the Whanganui electorate.
The online poll was run over the past two weeks and 617 readers responded.
Most indicated a preference for Ms Lewis as MP with 52 per cent support.
National’s Harete Hipango ran second with 37 per cent. The Greens Nicola Patrick attracted 9 per cent and ACT’s Alan Davidson two per cent.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11903825
Good discussion today of the vile ideology that is neoliberalism:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/aug/18/neoliberalism-the-idea-that-changed-the-world
NZ law could disqualify all Australians from their Parliament
Perhaps, if they’re nice to us, we’ll let them rule themselves again 😈
Don’t drop your guard for a minute, nice to us now, Oz will turn around when it suits and bite us in the bum later. But being rather soft in the bum and everywhere else, NZs will just sigh and give them a little pat, and say ‘There, there, you are a bit overwrought. All will be well.’
When you start to see protesters on the streets then something is very wrong. Particularly galling is the National Party using the campaign period to announce big projects which the electoral commission warns against.
Nats don’t get the public – they do get corruption though.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/95949112/new-1bn-hospital-for-dunedin-govt-announces
Poor old Bill. He had to run away.
I’m kinda hoping that that attempt by National to rort the system for their own benefit is going to bite them.
muttonbird
That video is a lot more entertaining than the one I sat through (up at comment 10, though there is a brief snippit of it at the end of this one). It is an interesting point about; “using the campaign period to announce big projects which the electoral commission warns against”.
However, the announcement really boils down to a mere: “$2million in further stop-gap funding to keep the existing hospital running.”. With the business case for the rebuild not even going to cabinet till next year, and a proposed completion date of; “2027, but this depends on the location”. So this billion dollar hospital is a long way off, and in no way certain.
There’s a post up now.
https://thestandard.org.nz/equal-pay-protestors-chase-the-government-out-of-the-dunedin-hospital/
Muttonbird galling is the National Party using the campaign period to announce big projects which the electoral commission warns against.
Last minute promises in an effort to scuttle the opposition: They are particularly important if this is correct:
‘of a poll of [Canadian] voters on election day 25 percent only decided within twenty-four hours of the election, 40 percent had decided in the previous week’
(The Big Red Machine… by Stephen Clarkson)
I came across BaitandSwitch. Have they tried that here?
Politics
In lawmaking, “caption bills” that propose minor changes in law with simplistic titles (the bait) are introduced to the legislature with the ultimate objective of substantially changing the wording (the switch) at a later date in order to try to smooth the passage of a controversial or major amendment.
Rule changes are also proposed (the bait) to meet legal requirements for public notice and mandated public hearings, then different rules are proposed at a final meeting (the switch), thus bypassing the objective of public notice and public discussion on the actual rules voted upon. While legal, the political objective is to get legislation or rules passed without expected negative community review.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch#Politics
And from a different viewpoint.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201011/promises-promises-when-politicians-don-t-deliver
Has anyone got an idea why one of largest posts over the last few months is Simon Louisson post from last year.
https://thestandard.org.nz/why-was-john-key-singled-out-by-panama-papers-hacker/
It is literally almost always in the top current posts being read at present. Right now it has 5 people reading it. We get spikes of this, but usually not sustained spikes over months (unless it is a great photo of a milkbottle)
I’d guess that it is from facebook bearing in mind that it shows up as 3 from facebook, 2 direct.
people coming in from a Facebook post and looking around?
Yeah. That is to be expected. By why is this facebook thing getting passed around so much, and so recently.
That post was more than a year ago, he is no longer the PM, and the overseas trust ‘industry’ here is now just husk of what it once was as even this favourable towards corruption government was forced to lock out the criminal money laundering that was going on.
There is no apparent reason why this post should be being passed around facebook at this time – and increasing in velocity.
There’s a Facebook group popping up in my feed for National – NZ’s most corrupt government ever (or something like that), with thousands of members, and that post is one of their favourites.
Sounds like a likely kind of source. I guess people are dispersing links to more of these kinds of posts and readers are drilling down more in the approach to the election.
milk bottle?
We can’t tell where on FB or direct people are coming from though right?
Best guess might be international interest – does it rise during our nighttime? A lot of Latin American journalists are probably looking for stolen money.
I noticed it on fbook maybe someone shared it.
There are rumors on Facebook that say, and I’m paraphrasing.
“””Key resigned from being PM, because he was more involved in the Panama papers fiasco than the MSM has even let on. (Up to his eye balls) And he feared that it would come out during the election, and not only destroy his reputation, but that of the national party (TM) as a whole.”””
It comes in a few different versions with a lot more guttural language used in various incarnations.
Some of the more colorful ones coming from people off shore.
Heard he was actually pushed ?
I’ve heard quite a few rumors, but at the moment that is what they are, rumors.
My favorite rumor was that his trichophilia had gotten to be unmanageable, and that after a certain incident in the back offices of parliament, he was asked to stand down.
Can you educate me what is trichophilia ?
Hair fetish.
Sounds like either a bot or someone trying to rank that page.
See National’s choirboy John Armstrong is back writing nonsense again for the Nanny Herald ?
@ Tamati Tautuhi … (16) … Yes, as to be expected Armstrong crawls out from under his rock to perform his once three yearly cycle of contaminated bullshit for his Natz master Herr Joyce!
The Nation: Amy Adams vs Phil Twyford.
Adams very high speed and volume delivery largely obliterated Twyford. I’d love a word count, and Adams had the cheek to accuse Twyford of cutting her off and using more time.
she said it was all labours fault , classic
This guy has started appearing the Hawke’s Bay Today on Saturdays apparently as a counter to Mike William’s column. Further proof of the local rag’s pro National leanings and maybe a sign they are worried.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11902562
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503459&objectid=11906514
Who the hell is Jerry Flay anyway?
A quick google says he’s a professional email spammer accused of dirty local body politics on Waiheke who’s been cited approvingly by blubber boy.
http://onewaiheke.org/2014/08/dirty-waiheke-politics/
Looking at a history of the Paeroa and District Caledonian Society. I was struck by the cause of its close and selling up.
In 1974 a decision was made to put the Society into recess, a decision not made lightly.
It is ironical that at the time of closing, the Inglesides were still attracting crowds big enough to fill the War Memorial Hall but simply lacked people able or willing to do the work involved in running a dance.
And so, in 1975 the assets of the Society were sold and the money divided between the Crippled Children’s Society, the St. John’s Ambulance and the I H C Building Fund – a sad but fitting conclusion to a Society which, for years, had worked for the good of the community.
Is this, in a nutshell, the background story of why NZ is being sliced, diced and sold off in bits today? If so how can we stop this process? And having got the show together, how do we make sure it continues for the eager community, and keeps the people committed to ensuring it carries on for their children’s children?
http://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journals/71-journal-43-september-1999/1581-paeroa-district-caledonian-society
On your way out the door…
Our farming industry and the massive chunk of our economy is based on cheap, exploited, abused immigrant labour which maintains the low-wage economy and the wage stagnation for the domestic worker. The Government absolutely loves it.
A shameful report has come out detailing the amount of exploitation and abuse of Filipino dairy workers http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11907236
John Key stated he did not want us to be tennant’s in our own country, then did exactly the opposite selling of NZ Housing and Farm Land ?
Bill English said we are a low wage economy and is driving it as hard as he can ?
What happened about the old National Policy of trying to get the NZ average wage up to the Australian Level ?
“What happened about the old National Policy of trying to get the NZ average wage up to the Australian Level ?”
Bill’s right and it never was a National policy to get wages up to the Australian level, that was just editing for the massess.
https://thestandard.org.nz/transcript-proves-key-is-lying/
So while low income workers are on the bones of there arses, and the middle is squeezed, after 9 long years we’re still waiting for the simplistic productivity/wage growth formula to produce an income bonanza for working people. Real wages and purchasing power lagging productivity.
Key-lite coming out with his rote learning.
Also slightly amusing to see Don Brash defend his basic understanding of an aspect of neo lib economics against Bryan Gould pointing out that he was wrong. Bryan Gould quoted the British but Don Brash probably repeating something schooled in by Harvard.
http://www.bryangould.com/the-fallout-from-brashs-downfall/
He had, after all, been the country’s top banker, and that is to say nothing of his eventual emergence as a “hard right” politician – leading first the National party and then Act, and only narrowly failing to become our Prime Minister in 2005.
As Governor of the Reserve Bank, he had been the principal champion and practitioner of the neo-liberal economic policies which became known as “Rogernomics”. Are we happy that our economic fortunes were entrusted to a single individual who understood so little of his subject, and that ministers applauded themselves for their disclaimer of any responsibility for the decisions he made?
His woeful attempt to deny what is now accepted must cast huge doubt on the continuing legacy of “Rogernomics” in our economic policies. The whole myth of prudent economic management under neo-liberal policies must be reconsidered in the light of what we now know is the banks’ self-interested creation (or “printing”) of billions of new money.
The frequent condemnations of any suggestion that governments might “print money” (unless it is “quantitative easing”, with the purpose of bailing out the banks) must now be viewed against the relaxed attitude towards the banks doing precisely that – day in, day out, and on a massive scale – for their own profit-making purposes.
An acknowledgment of the true role of the banks should lead us to reconsider many of the hitherto accepted nostrums in tackling economic problems. Inflation? No, not created by greedy workers claiming higher wages but by banks printing more and more money to boost their profits.
13/4/17 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11836928
Bryan Gould: Banking should be under closer Government control
28/4/17 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11845670
OPINION
Bryan Gould: Brash doesn’t seem to understand banking
5/5/17 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11849995
OPINION
Don Brash: The banking system creates money, not banks
Why have we been knuckle-dragging for the last nine years? Because we are all ignorant, but have covered that with a mantle of slick confidence which is reinforced by the small groups of self-interest repeating their mantras, and disrespecting the caution of professionals.
Perhaps because of the assured and derogatory response to intellectual thought from Cameron Slater 20/4/17 (Whaleoil) “all round know it all academic tosspot, Bryan Gould, has been schooled on NCEA economics by Don Brash.”
But a detailed look at the argument here:
https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/04/29/brash-vs-gould-vs-brash/
So disgusting the shameful way a chunk of the dairy industry treats these people. So our waterways are polluted AND people are treated like shit – wtf are the good points about this industry again? Oh that’s right some owners and others make lots of money from it – meanwhile the environment, the water and the workers are fucked. Thanks dairy farmers, thanks a lot.
Funny as fuck, I know the cure for cancer … but I haven’t got a clue how to cure cognitive dissonance. And because of that I won’t tell you 😉
Puzzling. This is in response to what?
Robert won’t tell you 😉
Because of whose cognitive dissonance?
I think it’s mine that’s the problem but what would I know?
Robert, please enlighten us.
People would rather die of cancer, or have their guts cutout than admit they are being lied to by politicians/doctors/MSM, etc
People would rather indirectly kill their own children than admit they are being lied to.
The first step to being cured of most illnesses, is accepting you are being fed buckets of shit daily.
The next step is to accept that EVERY politician doesn’t give a flying fuck about you.
It doesn’t matter if they are black, green, blue, red, or fucking pink polka dot, they are all lying, except the ban 1080 party, every other group is a selfish bunch of bastards, just pulling your strings.
The human die off will start in earnest, in a few short months, but no one gives fuck.
Maternity wards, and voting are the evidence that the general dumb public/the walking dead, haven’t a clue.
I told you so.
okay, so the sure for cancer is death – thanks for that great insight robert –
now onto the weather…
and I hope you aren’t going to “I told you so” right through the demise of our species – that would be poor form old boy, very poor.
No Marty
The cure for cancer is first accepting you are being lied to, then thinking for yourself, outside the box.
The irony is @ nearly 60, I have a medical condition that if not for ‘the pills’ would see me dead, so no I will not be saying “I told you so” for long.
The Politicians only allow me 3 months worth at a time, so yes a very short future for me.
I thought you were going the weed way – lots like that approach.
My ‘cure’ is legal and cheap. but alas it will not replace the equivalent of a severed leg
ie, I cured my 20 year gut complaint in 12 days for $20.00.
Robert i wish you all the best for the difficult times ahead. Thank you for your years of trying to get people to listen – thank you again.
I can afford to buy a 5 year unsubsidized supply, but the don’t give a fuck politicians will not let me.
Sorry to hear that. You should also be allowed access to quality weed for pain relief, nausea control or pretty well any reason you want at this time – subsidised and accessible – fuck the stupid repressive Victorian attitudes imposed in this country.
Rechargeable alkaline batteries!.
https://www.wired.com/story/bill-joy-finds-the-jesus-battery/
this could be very fun to watch
http://washingtonjournal.com/2017/08/16/newly-leaked-emails-just-revealed-trump-family-implicated-350-million-fraud-investigation/