One of the headlines of this election is how coal—the prime cause of man-made climate change—lost traction with voters, despite a huge influx of campaign spending by the fossil fuel industry. The industry was hoping to use coal to beat President Obama and win a Senate majority in coal states that also were swing states. In Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana, Democratic senators won against that onslaught of coal messaging and money. And the president won a majority in three of those states. On top of that, no senator who had voted against efforts in the Senate to strip the EPA of its ability to work on climate change ended up being punished at the polls. The coal money going into this campaign was a major effort to punish senators for voting for greenhouse gas controls and against coal and that effort failed—dramatically.
No doubt, that at the secret pre-conference meeting on Friday held behind closed doors between business leaders and the Labour caucus, big coal was present.
The message would have been, shut your traps, or else.
After a year of consultation and remits the members choose new Rules.
Shearer/Robertson mis-interpreted the membership power as a threat: mistake; they should have embraced it.
Shearer let journos rattle him over Cunliffe stating the obvious.
Shearer throws his toys out of the pram (and lost all the benefit of a good speech.)
Shearer calls for a vote that ignores the process just agreed by the members.
Shearer confirms all doubts about his ability under fire.
Shearer needs to study Jack Marshall’s speech after he was rolled by Muldoon in 1974. No doubt a nice guy, but not up to the job.
Clearly, he cannot energize caucus and bring forward the essential fresh faces. The Key government has been in chaos for months, yet rolls on almost unscathed due to incompetent Labour attacks. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, time after time.
No wonder the rank & file are infuriated. It will take more than one mediocre speech to get them enthused.
Totally agree. What Labour needs now, what the country needs now is transparent democracy. National are doing dodgy deals with Sky City and who knows who else behind the public’s back. But what alternative does Labour in its present form offer? We do not need a self interested, vision less cartel to be running Labour into the ground or to be running New Zealand. Shearer and his allies behave like members of the Chinese Communist Party, spreading disinformation, performing hatchet jobs on any perceived threat and conniving in the back room to retain central control of everything. Labour with its present leadership is unvotable, even for someone like myself who has NEVER voted for anyone else. If David Cunliffe does manage to wrestle control away from this bunch it will not be a moment too soon for both the party and New Zealand.
I have heard talk about disciplining and this is amazing. If it occurs it will split the party in two.
The party despite intense pressure tells Caucus that they want to have a greater say in future leadership selection decisions including the endorsement next February.
David Cunliffe has not said he will challenge. He has not ruled it out in the future but there is a right for leadership to be reviewed. A challenge is of course possible and perfectly within his rights under caucus rules.
The ructions that have occurred are because of concern with Shearer’s performance. He had a good day on Sunday and spoke very well. Continued performances like this will mean that leadership issues will become moot.
Shearer should also show leadership by dealing with errant members of caucus. To the leaker who continuously undermines Cunliffe he should be dealt with summarily, Shane Jones undermining of relationships with the Green Party are something that should be dealt with.
Shearer should also deal with caucus and seek to unite it and give positions on merit.
Shearers response to launch the leadership bid within Caucus will (if he wins) tell the rank and file that they have no say on leadership (despite the remits). Key will laugh like crazy as Shearer and his Caucus allies tear the Labour party in two. Is that the mark of the man? Is that the mark of Parliamentary Labour?
I noticed that on Firstline Shearer is all me me me, what happened to whatever is best for the party??? Didn’t take long for him to become a me person.
So he we have Rachael talking to Cunliffe about leadership challenges. And now they say a member on Shearer’s side, (he is live on the phone to Patrick Gower,) is accusing Cunliffe of Treachery!! LIVE on TV3! What a colossal fuckwit! (Mallard comes to mind, he’s spiteful enough) the sooner, this bullshit and idiot that are fanning the flames are hunted down and ejected from the party the better for all.
I mean No wonder the Nats are not losing in the polls, you couldn’t write comedy this good!!
Was any other caucus member asked if they would rule out a future leadership bid?
Surely if Cunliffe was asked and Robertson was not (‘Do you support Shearer?’) is a completely different question) this must be proof of a deliberate stacking of the deck by the reporters concerned.
So many lines appeared to be crossed the past few days, I’ve been wondering about the possibility of a complaint to the broadcasting standards committee. It’s worrying that the media circus appears to now have carte blanche to misrepresent the facts deliberately manipulate future events including public opinion.
Indeed JS – It is the propaganda circus making sure that the people of this country, (those who bother to pay attention), are kept removed from the information, in any way possible.
Just keep confusing all/every message, perhaps people will give up, just to make sure, repeat, repeat, repeat, then litter lies with more lies and deflections, its terrible to see how low the NZ media has sunk over the years.
What do these little cretins think they are achieving, and where are they trained to operate in such dishonest, underhand ways, printing, editing, “reporting” lies!
The more you look at it, the more the media and its operators appear as nothing more than foreign agitators, which is pretty much what the political system is being run by anyway..
Shearers speech is said to be a good one,however, one speech does not make the man,
nothing changes, his ignorance of the internet world,ie commenters,bloggers,etc shows
he has no inclusiveness in mind,he has not even appologized for his statements,neither have
the other ministers.
The wider membership back cunliffe and have for a long time and i am picking that if
shearer stays on then the heart of labour will walk away.
If Cunliffe is ejected from caucus,this will start a strong objection from members,activists,
bloggers,commentators etc.
Shearer needs to do the decent thing and step down,he keeps saying he will be the next
PM, what a joker, no, he simply will be helping that ‘nice’ guy shonkey.
I thought you might like to know which companies are supporting Israel and its murderous policies towards the Palestinians. You might not want to buy their products to tell them what you think of them bombing and killing children and women and keeping the Gaza strip Palestinians starving year after year after year.
Thanks for this. The page links to another that explains how these companies support Israel specifically – helps with the decision-making about whether to boycott or otherwise protest.
It is all about egos between Shearer and Cunliffe.
Shearer’s ego is, I will fight to remain the leader.
Two problems here for me: Shearer cannot ignore what the Labour caucus and the Labour membership want.
Shearer misinterprets political speak due to his inexperience being a politician, I think the misinterpreting makes him come across as being hesitant/indecisive.
Cunliffe’s ego is, I have the ability to be the leader if voted in
Cunliffe does not misinterpret political speak, he does not come across as being hesitant or indecisive.
WTF Apparently Gaza doesn’t have underground shelters for its people. Surely this provision would be a basic, and they have tunnelling expertise which they use for transporting weapons. Which they then use to show Israelis that their opposition is still strong, they are not beaten down.
Then as they send off their missiles they provoke reaction from the extreme firepower that is available to the Jewish state, which then rains down on Gaza and harms their own people. A really vicious circle.
I thought that there was unemployment in Gaza and if so why couldn’t the young men have been assigned to practically help themselves, their families and communities. Maybe they could have something like Coober Pedy has, underground rooms that are cool in the heat. That would depend on their geology though.
Wouldn’t it be great if the USA anounced to Israel that it was going to divert some of the funds and assistance that it gives to them, to development in Gaza to help this war-damaged state. And that every time Gaza attacked Israel, there would be a deduction from the aid funds. And that every time Israel actually used their weapons on the Palestinians there would be a deduction from the weapons assistance program they presently provide to Israel.
As a weapons manufacturer the USA would probably not be allowed to do this because of lobbying opposition. And it is an important part of their economy. And because it also acts as a proxy war and proving ground for weapons, demonstrating USA might to the rest of the world.
WTF Apparently Gaza doesn’t have underground shelters for its people.
Not that it would help much. If a chosen target is assessed to be reinforced against attack, or has a bomb shelter, (US supplied) bunker buster munitions will be used instead of standard ones.
CV
That’s a really ugly scenario. A stain on the USA and Israel both. Old Testament stuff – and we shall rain plagues and fire upon our enemy sort of thing. Jesus came along with an olive branch to bring a new approach.
Re Joyce “threatening” UoA: Interesting to note how the Herald article paints the picture of the UoA being some sort of recalcitrant Leftist organisation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Apart from just talking bollocks, I don’t know how Joyce or a journalist could meet the VC there and decide that he needed guidance on how to understand what is going on.
Leading on from the mindset of the Knowledge Czar, Simon Collins of the Herald is going to take a week to prove that there is no light at the end of tunnel for anyone:
This first introduction simply reflects the limitations of his own opinions and life experience of what is and isn’t possible. For it to be true, a certain number of people would have to cease to exist. People successfully shift industry and the single most influential element is the ability of the employer to possess the kinds of traits that an active affiliation with the arts and humanities encourage. More, not less of these things, will solve the imbalances our working environments tend to experience.
Site is getting a reboot for updates in 30 minutes. I was going to do it on Friday when fast-reacting tech support was available bearing in mind the outage that happened last time I did this, but the site was understandably too active.
So we will be offline for a minute or two at about 11am is everything works ok.
That was a bit more exciting that I’d prefer. I’m not sure yet, but it looks like there was a left over setting from the hardware repair 72 days ago that prevented a clean restart.
There was an active exploit that I needed to get plugged. Wasn’t able to do the reboot last week so I worried about it during the weekend. Did it this morning because I have the time to deal with an outage.
I’ll do another reboot this evening with a hardware tech standing by to see if the restart is actually a real problem.
He is a former overseas Banker
He lives in Central Auckland
He lives in a multi million dollar house
His children go to private schools
He is a multi millionaire
Guess who – Key yea, and ????? our new leader – check the difference
That description could be anyone who owns property in central auckland. If a guy visits Africa and lends someone money expecting interest, does that mean he’s an overseas banker? Maybe Aucklanders should be banned from being holding political positions. Probably do the country good.
There was an interesting interview topic by Kathryn Ryan on 9toNoon this a.m. Morrisey you might be interested. It was about farmers and their problems with interest swop contrivances (better name than derivatives).
It seems that the Australian banks don’t need to worry about a falling Australian economy, they will just milk our milk-based economy with legerdemain in front of farmers who come seeking capital. There will be farmers selling up because of the pressure from the interest rates of these things soon as many suffer a fall in dairy prices. I wonder who will buy their farms then?
One farmer is said to have paid $4 million to get out of the break clause that most of us would know about through our house mortgagors. Mine was too high to change from fixed to floating at one time. The farmers are involved in huge costs to do so!
Overseas they are suing banks about their deceptions or inadequate explanations of these financial instruments – of torture. Here we are just getting started but there are people working on it, despite Federated Farmers who apparently has an ex-banker leading its management team who is pushing the personal responsibility and liability line. Damen O’Connor is doing some sterling work on this.
Water Care – Loss 60m
Auckland Council – Loss 167m
Both these are only this years losses on the instruments, and who knows what the contract positions looks like!
The farmer situations will force the farms into foreign hands, which it given the swaps were designed to reek havoc, one must conclude that this was the desired outcome.
Hooton said Cunliffe was following the TV cameras around. What I saw was the exact opposite. The TV cameras followed Cunliffe around and wouldn’t leave him alone. It was harassment.
Aye. Cunliffe sat ensconced with the New Lynn delegates for most of the conference. On Saturday he did not move during the vote on the constitutional changes. He did not lobby anyone. Every time he went for a pee the cameras jumped on him.
Hooton should not channel Mallard so often and take his comments with a grain of salt …
I didn’t see him lobbying anyone. I did not hear of him lobbying anyone.
I did hear of a lot of lobbying by caucus members to prevent the 60% leadership trigger going through both directly and via the calls, mail and texts that people were sending through. Thank you for doing that and thank you for your trust. Us poor struggling psuedo-journalists like your support.
…This re-birthing process cannot be avoided for the sake of some short term show of “unity’ staged to please the political pundits. Of late, Labour has been led by someone who cannot manage either his party’s best talent or the rogue elements within his own caucus – while the alternative option as leader seems to be deeply resented by many of the senior Labour MPs. Too bad for the party faithful. Evidently, they will need to wait a little while longer for a leadership that’s able to get really tough on John Key, rather than on its own dissatisfied elements.
Learning civics is a good idea
Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.
Gullible 16 year olds indoctrinated by left leaning teachers then going out and voting, just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour
I’d prefer raising the voting age to 20, unless you’re working then you can vote from 18 onwards.
I would have thought that most 16 year olds haven’t got much knowledge of or interest in politics and would most likely follow their parent’s voting habits.
“Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.”
Highly debatable. It’s just as easy to make the case that a teenage mindset naturally aligns well with extreme right wing libertarianism. The entire philosophy can be pretty well summed up as “STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO I KNOW MY RIGHTS YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!!”
Remember when you were a teenager and you wanted the freedom to make all your own decisions but you still expected your folks to supply you with a roof over your head and food in the fridge? That’s ACT policy.
Most people go through a bit of that as a teen. Most of us grow out of it.
“just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour”
Gullible 16 year olds indoctrinated by left leaning teachers
Its a wonder teachers can seem to walk straight when so many of them are known by all to be left-leaning. Some probably have to be carried around reposing horizontally on a palanquin because of the way they are always sloping off.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7966662/Financial-squeeze-goes-on-the-once-well-off
How many of these people would still have their retirement funds had Key not have ended the deposit guarantee scheme? And why did they no hedge and put some of their funds into banks and secured investments in Australia where there is such a scheme. Now they need the welfare system, a salutatory tale indeed, that once high fliers rightly should get the safety net.
Kiwis born in NZ, who never stepped foot in NZ, could be eligible for student loans when they attend NZ universities? And why would NZ want Kiwis in Australia to get citizenship for their children and so create a class of dual citizens who could quite easily bridge the tasman, owning rentals in Auckland why sunning it in Australia? How does that help our economy?
Dismissing the Reserve Bank’s projections, dismissing Statistics New Zealand and the current unemployment rate, lies concerning youth employment, confusion about interest rates, dishonesty concerning the CGT and dismissing the growing divide between rich and poor just to mention a bit of John Keys recent disingenuous propaganda…
And consider the looming question of knowing or not knowing about Kim Dotcom. According to the wise Mr Hooton, If Key is proven to have known and been involved, then Key would have to resign from Parliament. March next year?
Could be sooner… There’s the SkyCity convention centre deal, which is the subject of an inquiry by the Auditor-General that has Keys dirty mits all over it. Here’s an interesting exchange between Green MP Denise Roche and Steven Joyce from a few days ago.
Do the rank and file have any say about choosing the Leader in the National Party?
It seems that the rank and file decision to have a say is usual in most Western Democracies, and now in Labour. How about the Nats? Democratic are they?
In respect of unemployment – two stories – both of which make me frustrated and sad/angry.
The first; the other night I set out to make an application to the ACC call centre (yes, but that’s how desperate I am). Through several pages on their website, save and continue, so far so good… Then, page 7, voice recording. The applicant must phone a number in any of the four main centres, and make a 30 second recording, entering a 5 digit ID code to do so. So, I disconnect, being that I am on dial up, make the recording, and return to the continue the application. Sadly, when I return, and re-connect, the page refreshes and gives me a new ID number – and tells me that I have not made a recording, having lost all the information I entered under the old ID number. So, I try again, same story. I phone their ‘if you have a problem’ number and leave a message for the HR bunny. She emailed me today, with the totally useless advice that I ‘use a friend’s phone’, or my ‘mobile phone’. Clearly, whatever someone’s reason for having to use dial up, someone with dial-up is excluded from applying for this job.
[The most amazing thing – I have just finished a phone screening by an ACC HR person, in response to my angry email! Wish me luck!]
Story # 2 – which is sadder and more frustrating. I know a guy on Facebook, who I think is about 20 or 21 years old. He’s been unemployed for years, and has made as many applications as I have – 1000+. Now, he’s decided to join the IDF and go off to Israel. (To be fair, he has other reasons for choosing the IDF, reasons I find utterly incomprehensible, but still. My father did the same thing in 1938, for the same reasons – joining the British Army in his case. The consequences for his life and ours, were horrendous. Granted, in his case he would probably have joined the army anyway. However these two incidents (my father and this guy) both demonstrate the kind of person who ends up actually being on the frontline in any war.
I sugges “worker volunteer brigades” to be established in NZ. Sadly most are too corrupted and complacent to even consider active resistance and to stand up for rights. They rather sell their bodies to make ends meet, as MSM tv media and so actualy encourage “alternative” lifestyles. Resistance is non existent in this dumbed down, manipulated and brainwashed country. They do not get it. So it is one against the other, shit on each other and the likes. I see it every day. Kiwis have become the worst cowards in the western world, no guts to even consider taking a stand, hence the flood to Australia. NO NATION, NO DIGNITY, NO WORTH: A SELL OUT COUNTRY IN SHORT!!!
In amongst all the beat up about/by Labour there’s this bit of news:
* 75% of Aucklanders want integrated bus-rail improvements to their public transport
* 64% support building the major City Rail Link (CRL) project, only 14% oppose
* 64% of those who support the CRL want it built “as soon as possible”, 22% by 2020
* Only 3% of CRL supporters think that it does not need to be complete by 2020
* If the CRL increases train frequency to every 15 minutes in peak hours, 6% would switch to using rail to travel to work
* Using conservative assumptions (see report), it is calculated that rail trips in the Auckland area could increase in peak by 5,230,000 trips a year and off peak trips by 1,640,000
* The extra 6,870,000 trips would lift rail patronage 65% above current figures
Depression hit me today, or rather yesterday, about Labour and the left. But I had to get some senses together and chose some musical distractions, of which some are:
Shit, this Opera browser is CRAP too, not showing links, I had enough of all this shit going on. Where are we heading? It is total big brother dictatorship and manipulation. I am starting to realise where not only “Che” came from but even more extreme ones of earlier days. NO faith in this society, that is my conclusion. Draw your own, but you will be an idiot to “trust”. I know too much, and some media may soon come out with some of that!
NZ is an oligopoly commercial dictatorship, media included, that is the bloody truth. Never compromise with that, you may better commit suicide as it is NOT worth living in or under such dictatorship!
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It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
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. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
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Coal Kills
Kill Coal
Coal kills people
Coal kills planets
Coal kills, Ban it
From the US elections:
http://earthjustice.org/blog/2012-november/climate-change-re-elected-as-political-issue
[lprent: off topic. Sent to OpenMike ]
No doubt, that at the secret pre-conference meeting on Friday held behind closed doors between business leaders and the Labour caucus, big coal was present.
The message would have been, shut your traps, or else.
A global call to arms from “anonymous” to all internet activists.
Anonymous attacks 10,000 Israeli websites over Gaza
National Radio rather hilariously described it as “data bombardment”.
Bombardment Bomber Harris bombardment
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/israeli-government-websites-under-mass-hacking-attack
.
Sold out: http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/cameron-slater-admits-to-taking-pr.html
.
Oh thanks I did need a good laugh this morning.
Excellent. So now we can assume that all posts by WO are paid-for spin.
I was thinking that an exhaustive analysis of previous campaigns by WO and speculating about who paid for them could be interesting.
yeah but would we have to actually read his posts or visit his site? [shudder]
What happened this weekend?
After a year of consultation and remits the members choose new Rules.
Shearer/Robertson mis-interpreted the membership power as a threat: mistake; they should have embraced it.
Shearer let journos rattle him over Cunliffe stating the obvious.
Shearer throws his toys out of the pram (and lost all the benefit of a good speech.)
Shearer calls for a vote that ignores the process just agreed by the members.
Shearer confirms all doubts about his ability under fire.
Shearer needs to study Jack Marshall’s speech after he was rolled by Muldoon in 1974. No doubt a nice guy, but not up to the job.
Clearly, he cannot energize caucus and bring forward the essential fresh faces. The Key government has been in chaos for months, yet rolls on almost unscathed due to incompetent Labour attacks. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, time after time.
No wonder the rank & file are infuriated. It will take more than one mediocre speech to get them enthused.
Until you need a 5 second sound bite then he’s all at sea!
Totally agree. What Labour needs now, what the country needs now is transparent democracy. National are doing dodgy deals with Sky City and who knows who else behind the public’s back. But what alternative does Labour in its present form offer? We do not need a self interested, vision less cartel to be running Labour into the ground or to be running New Zealand. Shearer and his allies behave like members of the Chinese Communist Party, spreading disinformation, performing hatchet jobs on any perceived threat and conniving in the back room to retain central control of everything. Labour with its present leadership is unvotable, even for someone like myself who has NEVER voted for anyone else. If David Cunliffe does manage to wrestle control away from this bunch it will not be a moment too soon for both the party and New Zealand.
It looks like they aren’t just going to demote Cunliffe – they are going to expel him from the caucus?!?
Where’s that coming from, bomber?
Yep, looks like he’s getting the boot.
No room for back stabbers.
^^^ noise
I have heard talk about disciplining and this is amazing. If it occurs it will split the party in two.
The party despite intense pressure tells Caucus that they want to have a greater say in future leadership selection decisions including the endorsement next February.
David Cunliffe has not said he will challenge. He has not ruled it out in the future but there is a right for leadership to be reviewed. A challenge is of course possible and perfectly within his rights under caucus rules.
The ructions that have occurred are because of concern with Shearer’s performance. He had a good day on Sunday and spoke very well. Continued performances like this will mean that leadership issues will become moot.
Shearer should also show leadership by dealing with errant members of caucus. To the leaker who continuously undermines Cunliffe he should be dealt with summarily, Shane Jones undermining of relationships with the Green Party are something that should be dealt with.
Shearer should also deal with caucus and seek to unite it and give positions on merit.
Shearers response to launch the leadership bid within Caucus will (if he wins) tell the rank and file that they have no say on leadership (despite the remits). Key will laugh like crazy as Shearer and his Caucus allies tear the Labour party in two. Is that the mark of the man? Is that the mark of Parliamentary Labour?
Shearer needs to jump on Cunliffe with jackboots, he’s fighting for his political career.
Time to get bloody.
You mean Shearer should now get rid of a bunch of his MPs, leaving only his closest supporters left standing in caucus?
I suppose it’s one way to win a 60% confidence vote, but for Labour it will be a disaster.
BM: 19 November 2012 at 8:06am
^^^ lousy signal. more noise.
Cunlliffe represents the Alliance
Shearer represents Labour.
There’s no room for both, one has to go and I’d put money on it that it ain’t going to be Shearer.
So credible, so relevant. Do you have any more infinitely wise and noble delusions?
BM: 19 November 2012 at 8:23am
^^^ Rubbish and lots more noise.
Neither of them represent NZ!
I noticed that on Firstline Shearer is all me me me, what happened to whatever is best for the party??? Didn’t take long for him to become a me person.
So he we have Rachael talking to Cunliffe about leadership challenges. And now they say a member on Shearer’s side, (he is live on the phone to Patrick Gower,) is accusing Cunliffe of Treachery!! LIVE on TV3! What a colossal fuckwit! (Mallard comes to mind, he’s spiteful enough) the sooner, this bullshit and idiot that are fanning the flames are hunted down and ejected from the party the better for all.
I mean No wonder the Nats are not losing in the polls, you couldn’t write comedy this good!!
His interview on National Radio was frankly weird and aggressive. He sounded very angry.
Who is ‘he’?
Shearer on firstline:
“I’m not gonna say what I’m gonna do what I’m gonna say I’m gonna do is moving forward…”
Okaaay.
More brilliance from Puddleglum. This time on Key’s “jocular” nature.
http://www.thepoliticalscientist.org/?p=1138#more-1138
you cultural devil you
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/devil-wife-all-hell-breaks-loose-when-a-japanese-woman-wants-a-career-and-a-family-8326937.html
(just saying)
:)-no cookie for me
Little question maybe someone can help me with:
Was any other caucus member asked if they would rule out a future leadership bid?
Surely if Cunliffe was asked and Robertson was not (‘Do you support Shearer?’) is a completely different question) this must be proof of a deliberate stacking of the deck by the reporters concerned.
So many lines appeared to be crossed the past few days, I’ve been wondering about the possibility of a complaint to the broadcasting standards committee. It’s worrying that the media circus appears to now have carte blanche to misrepresent the facts deliberately manipulate future events including public opinion.
Indeed JS – It is the propaganda circus making sure that the people of this country, (those who bother to pay attention), are kept removed from the information, in any way possible.
Just keep confusing all/every message, perhaps people will give up, just to make sure, repeat, repeat, repeat, then litter lies with more lies and deflections, its terrible to see how low the NZ media has sunk over the years.
What do these little cretins think they are achieving, and where are they trained to operate in such dishonest, underhand ways, printing, editing, “reporting” lies!
The more you look at it, the more the media and its operators appear as nothing more than foreign agitators, which is pretty much what the political system is being run by anyway..
The world is but a stage…..
Shearers speech is said to be a good one,however, one speech does not make the man,
nothing changes, his ignorance of the internet world,ie commenters,bloggers,etc shows
he has no inclusiveness in mind,he has not even appologized for his statements,neither have
the other ministers.
The wider membership back cunliffe and have for a long time and i am picking that if
shearer stays on then the heart of labour will walk away.
If Cunliffe is ejected from caucus,this will start a strong objection from members,activists,
bloggers,commentators etc.
Shearer needs to do the decent thing and step down,he keeps saying he will be the next
PM, what a joker, no, he simply will be helping that ‘nice’ guy shonkey.
But he won’t. He has changed into a ME person!
Labour are really looking like they are the government in waiting.
Dicks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5Sa2Yq-2g
Flanked
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/middle_east/view/20121118syrian_civil_war_spillover_draws_israeli_fire/
Indeed, Entry of the Gladiators.
🙂
almost Wagnerian
Very apt there, Gormless.
I thought you might like to know which companies are supporting Israel and its murderous policies towards the Palestinians. You might not want to buy their products to tell them what you think of them bombing and killing children and women and keeping the Gaza strip Palestinians starving year after year after year.
Thanks for this. The page links to another that explains how these companies support Israel specifically – helps with the decision-making about whether to boycott or otherwise protest.
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-brands.html
Thank you for that! I am checking it out now…
Brotherhood
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/9686616/Gaza-conflict-Egypt-tries-to-reassert-itself-as-diplomatic-leader-of-Arab-world.html
It is all about egos between Shearer and Cunliffe.
Shearer’s ego is, I will fight to remain the leader.
Two problems here for me: Shearer cannot ignore what the Labour caucus and the Labour membership want.
Shearer misinterprets political speak due to his inexperience being a politician, I think the misinterpreting makes him come across as being hesitant/indecisive.
Cunliffe’s ego is, I have the ability to be the leader if voted in
Cunliffe does not misinterpret political speak, he does not come across as being hesitant or indecisive.
Cliff
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-16/world-s-wealthiest-lose-26-billion-as-fiscal-cliff-nears.html
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1016351-why-america-is-about-to-join-europe-s-austerity-mess-and-what-to-do-about-it
some of our “own” opinion Stuff
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/7920364/
WTF Apparently Gaza doesn’t have underground shelters for its people. Surely this provision would be a basic, and they have tunnelling expertise which they use for transporting weapons. Which they then use to show Israelis that their opposition is still strong, they are not beaten down.
Then as they send off their missiles they provoke reaction from the extreme firepower that is available to the Jewish state, which then rains down on Gaza and harms their own people. A really vicious circle.
I thought that there was unemployment in Gaza and if so why couldn’t the young men have been assigned to practically help themselves, their families and communities. Maybe they could have something like Coober Pedy has, underground rooms that are cool in the heat. That would depend on their geology though.
Wouldn’t it be great if the USA anounced to Israel that it was going to divert some of the funds and assistance that it gives to them, to development in Gaza to help this war-damaged state. And that every time Gaza attacked Israel, there would be a deduction from the aid funds. And that every time Israel actually used their weapons on the Palestinians there would be a deduction from the weapons assistance program they presently provide to Israel.
As a weapons manufacturer the USA would probably not be allowed to do this because of lobbying opposition. And it is an important part of their economy. And because it also acts as a proxy war and proving ground for weapons, demonstrating USA might to the rest of the world.
Not that it would help much. If a chosen target is assessed to be reinforced against attack, or has a bomb shelter, (US supplied) bunker buster munitions will be used instead of standard ones.
CV
That’s a really ugly scenario. A stain on the USA and Israel both. Old Testament stuff – and we shall rain plagues and fire upon our enemy sort of thing. Jesus came along with an olive branch to bring a new approach.
These people lived together in peace and harmony for centuries. They have more in common than not. It’s very unfortunate.
They still do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn4ZX99Fbxs
Correct CV, which is why it is so garlingly obvious that both sides of any “war”, are controlled by the same puppet masters!
Joyce the “knowledge czar”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10848413
110% Pure Fiction Bilbo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10848410
Re Joyce “threatening” UoA: Interesting to note how the Herald article paints the picture of the UoA being some sort of recalcitrant Leftist organisation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Apart from just talking bollocks, I don’t know how Joyce or a journalist could meet the VC there and decide that he needed guidance on how to understand what is going on.
Leading on from the mindset of the Knowledge Czar, Simon Collins of the Herald is going to take a week to prove that there is no light at the end of tunnel for anyone:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10848317
This first introduction simply reflects the limitations of his own opinions and life experience of what is and isn’t possible. For it to be true, a certain number of people would have to cease to exist. People successfully shift industry and the single most influential element is the ability of the employer to possess the kinds of traits that an active affiliation with the arts and humanities encourage. More, not less of these things, will solve the imbalances our working environments tend to experience.
Joyce is a nasty little fascist.
Blimey, things have turned really nasty in caucus …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/court/7942505/Shearer-hit-workmate-breaking-tooth
😉
(sorry, just needed a laugh this Monday morning …)
😈
Site is getting a reboot for updates in 30 minutes. I was going to do it on Friday when fast-reacting tech support was available bearing in mind the outage that happened last time I did this, but the site was understandably too active.
So we will be offline for a minute or two at about 11am is everything works ok.
That was a bit more exciting that I’d prefer. I’m not sure yet, but it looks like there was a left over setting from the hardware repair 72 days ago that prevented a clean restart.
One 30 minute outage later….
TS now working fine for me.
Questions were asked on Twitter.
There was an active exploit that I needed to get plugged. Wasn’t able to do the reboot last week so I worried about it during the weekend. Did it this morning because I have the time to deal with an outage.
I’ll do another reboot this evening with a hardware tech standing by to see if the restart is actually a real problem.
Responded on twitter – thanks.
Bumble Dee and Tumble Weed
He is a former overseas Banker
He lives in Central Auckland
He lives in a multi million dollar house
His children go to private schools
He is a multi millionaire
Guess who – Key yea, and ????? our new leader – check the difference
If you are imputing David Cunliffe in this, please say so plainly.
got a spare room next to the pinot noir cellar?
That description could be anyone who owns property in central auckland. If a guy visits Africa and lends someone money expecting interest, does that mean he’s an overseas banker? Maybe Aucklanders should be banned from being holding political positions. Probably do the country good.
There was an interesting interview topic by Kathryn Ryan on 9toNoon this a.m. Morrisey you might be interested. It was about farmers and their problems with interest swop contrivances (better name than derivatives).
It seems that the Australian banks don’t need to worry about a falling Australian economy, they will just milk our milk-based economy with legerdemain in front of farmers who come seeking capital. There will be farmers selling up because of the pressure from the interest rates of these things soon as many suffer a fall in dairy prices. I wonder who will buy their farms then?
One farmer is said to have paid $4 million to get out of the break clause that most of us would know about through our house mortgagors. Mine was too high to change from fixed to floating at one time. The farmers are involved in huge costs to do so!
Overseas they are suing banks about their deceptions or inadequate explanations of these financial instruments – of torture. Here we are just getting started but there are people working on it, despite Federated Farmers who apparently has an ex-banker leading its management team who is pushing the personal responsibility and liability line. Damen O’Connor is doing some sterling work on this.
banks who sell high risk toxic products to their clients should be done for it.
Water Care – Loss 60m
Auckland Council – Loss 167m
Both these are only this years losses on the instruments, and who knows what the contract positions looks like!
The farmer situations will force the farms into foreign hands, which it given the swaps were designed to reek havoc, one must conclude that this was the desired outcome.
More ways for banks to clip the ticket. I wonder how these types can sleep at night.
Time to tune in to radio nz to find out what Trevor’s been telling Matthyawn.
MH said “Cunliffe over-played his hand during the weekend.”
Hooton said Cunliffe was following the TV cameras around. What I saw was the exact opposite. The TV cameras followed Cunliffe around and wouldn’t leave him alone. It was harassment.
Aye. Cunliffe sat ensconced with the New Lynn delegates for most of the conference. On Saturday he did not move during the vote on the constitutional changes. He did not lobby anyone. Every time he went for a pee the cameras jumped on him.
Hooton should not channel Mallard so often and take his comments with a grain of salt …
I didn’t see him lobbying anyone. I did not hear of him lobbying anyone.
I did hear of a lot of lobbying by caucus members to prevent the 60% leadership trigger going through both directly and via the calls, mail and texts that people were sending through. Thank you for doing that and thank you for your trust. Us poor struggling psuedo-journalists like your support.
Overplayed??? I didn’t see anyone threatening to instigate an early leadership vote during the weekend…uh, except Shearer’s team.
Some sober and wise ananlysis from gordon Campbell.
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2012/11/19/gordon-campbell-on-the-labour-party-ructions/
He concludes:
Is is true that Labour would like to lower the voting age to 16?
Have a look at http://thestandard.org.nz/labour-conference-2012-policy-remits/
Learning civics is a good idea
Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.
Gullible 16 year olds indoctrinated by left leaning teachers then going out and voting, just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour
I’d prefer raising the voting age to 20, unless you’re working then you can vote from 18 onwards.
the agenda of the first four lines are more than just a Bowel Movement
I would have thought that most 16 year olds haven’t got much knowledge of or interest in politics and would most likely follow their parent’s voting habits.
“Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.”
Highly debatable. It’s just as easy to make the case that a teenage mindset naturally aligns well with extreme right wing libertarianism. The entire philosophy can be pretty well summed up as “STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO I KNOW MY RIGHTS YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!!”
Remember when you were a teenager and you wanted the freedom to make all your own decisions but you still expected your folks to supply you with a roof over your head and food in the fridge? That’s ACT policy.
Most people go through a bit of that as a teen. Most of us grow out of it.
“just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour”
Uh huh, whatevs.
“I’d prefer raising the voting age to 20”
Hilar.
Its a wonder teachers can seem to walk straight when so many of them are known by all to be left-leaning. Some probably have to be carried around reposing horizontally on a palanquin because of the way they are always sloping off.
Have you ever taught 16-20 year olds? You know many of them are as likely to want to say or do the opposite of what a teacher tells them, don’t you?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7966662/Financial-squeeze-goes-on-the-once-well-off
How many of these people would still have their retirement funds had Key not have ended the deposit guarantee scheme? And why did they no hedge and put some of their funds into banks and secured investments in Australia where there is such a scheme. Now they need the welfare system, a salutatory tale indeed, that once high fliers rightly should get the safety net.
Kiwis born in NZ, who never stepped foot in NZ, could be eligible for student loans when they attend NZ universities? And why would NZ want Kiwis in Australia to get citizenship for their children and so create a class of dual citizens who could quite easily bridge the tasman, owning rentals in Auckland why sunning it in Australia? How does that help our economy?
John Keys worst performance ever
Dismissing the Reserve Bank’s projections, dismissing Statistics New Zealand and the current unemployment rate, lies concerning youth employment, confusion about interest rates, dishonesty concerning the CGT and dismissing the growing divide between rich and poor just to mention a bit of John Keys recent disingenuous propaganda…
And consider the looming question of knowing or not knowing about Kim Dotcom. According to the wise Mr Hooton, If Key is proven to have known and been involved, then Key would have to resign from Parliament. March next year?
Could be sooner… There’s the SkyCity convention centre deal, which is the subject of an inquiry by the Auditor-General that has Keys dirty mits all over it. Here’s an interesting exchange between Green MP Denise Roche and Steven Joyce from a few days ago.
Key asked about CGT. Said he was open to debate. That its NO to a CGT. And that we already have one. All in one reply on Q&A. Key is irrelevant.
Do the rank and file have any say about choosing the Leader in the National Party?
It seems that the rank and file decision to have a say is usual in most Western Democracies, and now in Labour. How about the Nats? Democratic are they?
Can someone please explain the meaning of “refutes” to Fairfax’s headline writers?
In respect of unemployment – two stories – both of which make me frustrated and sad/angry.
The first; the other night I set out to make an application to the ACC call centre (yes, but that’s how desperate I am). Through several pages on their website, save and continue, so far so good… Then, page 7, voice recording. The applicant must phone a number in any of the four main centres, and make a 30 second recording, entering a 5 digit ID code to do so. So, I disconnect, being that I am on dial up, make the recording, and return to the continue the application. Sadly, when I return, and re-connect, the page refreshes and gives me a new ID number – and tells me that I have not made a recording, having lost all the information I entered under the old ID number. So, I try again, same story. I phone their ‘if you have a problem’ number and leave a message for the HR bunny. She emailed me today, with the totally useless advice that I ‘use a friend’s phone’, or my ‘mobile phone’. Clearly, whatever someone’s reason for having to use dial up, someone with dial-up is excluded from applying for this job.
[The most amazing thing – I have just finished a phone screening by an ACC HR person, in response to my angry email! Wish me luck!]
Story # 2 – which is sadder and more frustrating. I know a guy on Facebook, who I think is about 20 or 21 years old. He’s been unemployed for years, and has made as many applications as I have – 1000+. Now, he’s decided to join the IDF and go off to Israel. (To be fair, he has other reasons for choosing the IDF, reasons I find utterly incomprehensible, but still. My father did the same thing in 1938, for the same reasons – joining the British Army in his case. The consequences for his life and ours, were horrendous. Granted, in his case he would probably have joined the army anyway. However these two incidents (my father and this guy) both demonstrate the kind of person who ends up actually being on the frontline in any war.
I sugges “worker volunteer brigades” to be established in NZ. Sadly most are too corrupted and complacent to even consider active resistance and to stand up for rights. They rather sell their bodies to make ends meet, as MSM tv media and so actualy encourage “alternative” lifestyles. Resistance is non existent in this dumbed down, manipulated and brainwashed country. They do not get it. So it is one against the other, shit on each other and the likes. I see it every day. Kiwis have become the worst cowards in the western world, no guts to even consider taking a stand, hence the flood to Australia. NO NATION, NO DIGNITY, NO WORTH: A SELL OUT COUNTRY IN SHORT!!!
In amongst all the beat up about/by Labour there’s this bit of news:
Draco,we know all that, but also: None of them want to pay for it! That is NZ!!!
Well that’s the MSM vindicated, sorry M8 )-: they were being played merrily.
Another knee jerk assumption from some blogger with a pseudonym 😀
Depression hit me today, or rather yesterday, about Labour and the left. But I had to get some senses together and chose some musical distractions, of which some are:
Shit, this Opera browser is CRAP too, not showing links, I had enough of all this shit going on. Where are we heading? It is total big brother dictatorship and manipulation. I am starting to realise where not only “Che” came from but even more extreme ones of earlier days. NO faith in this society, that is my conclusion. Draw your own, but you will be an idiot to “trust”. I know too much, and some media may soon come out with some of that!
NZ is an oligopoly commercial dictatorship, media included, that is the bloody truth. Never compromise with that, you may better commit suicide as it is NOT worth living in or under such dictatorship!
Ananau Alborado Peru
and others are ethnic music performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZYpGocxxfo
something worth studying! Tihuanaco!