You now have until Wednesday, 18 April 2018 to have your say on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The Foreign Affairs,Defence and Trade Committee is now inviting submissions on the treaty.
The CPTPP is a free trade agreement negotiated by 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
As soon as these companies start to lose profits because their industry is declining (oil and coal mining comes to mind but there are plenty of industries that are rich but declining) their lawyers will be looking to keep as much profit as possible by using these type agreements to sue for damages.
The current agreement is not fit for purpose for the 21c and climate change and declining wages and increasingly inequality.
They don’t need to successfully sue. It costs millions to defend a position, aka Phillip Morris and OZ.
Having lawyers have the ability to disrupt in international courts which the EU has just ruled are illegal is not OK.
Having lawyer fight it out in the Andrew Little case, he eventually won after two trials, but his life was disrupted, the election was disrupted and I guess he will be much less likely to question corporate donations followed by lucrative government contracts again.
The threat is as much the problem as the rules which are being used weekly to sue governments in these agreements and are out of step with how the public perceives their governments should operate (aka in the public’s interest of their country NOT in the business/lawyers interests).
Labour’s bottom line in that regard was “successfully”. And people aren’t governments. Governments can deal with court cases alongside all sorts of other things.
If you are elected on a party list, you should stay with that party or leave Parliament.
Otherwise you are cheating voters who voted for that party and their list.
Nothing wrong with a bill saying so.
The Waka jumping bill is a classic example of the political scientists, technocrats and experts being at loggerheads with the commonsense of voters. For the expertocracy, the waka jumping bill is an affront to democracy, because they are paid to believe certain bits of constitutional fantasy – like that list MPs are the same as electorate MPs and that MPs in general are elected, and ignore the reality they mostly owe their jobs to being on a party slate.
We need to be real about this. List MPs owe their jobs exclusively to the party list and therefore have an obligation to the party that should require their resignation from parliament if they are no longer members of the party that elected them. Electorate MPs should have the guts to face their voters if they change sides. If they are cowards who move parties for expediency but won’t re-consult their elecotors, then sack them.
Instad of pretending the system operates by a set of rules that are anachronistic, our expert class would be far better employed pointing out that political parties now have major role in our electoral arrangements, yet our constitution is completely silent on their role and this needs to be changed urgently.
List MPs owe their jobs exclusively to the party list and therefore have an obligation to the party that should require their resignation from parliament if they are no longer members of the party that elected them. Electorate MPs should have the guts to face their voters if they change sides.
agree 100% dv. The bill is entirely democratic and sensible.
The attempt to derail this bill is opportunistic and wishful thinking by the Nats that this government could fall in a years time when there is a crisis relating to the behaviour of one or two MP’s in the La/Gr/Nzf coalition causing resignations.
Yep and try and stay in til the next election so you get voted back and they get voted out. Don’t hand the power to them work with the party activists for change.
So you mitigated their damage and were a thorn in their side until then.
A caucus hijacking of a party sooner or later needs to be run by the membership. If you win, the splitters get kicked out. If they win, you were in the wrong damned party anyway.
Mr Shaw wants them both out as soon as possible, and says the rest of the caucus MPs are backing Ms Turei.
“I feel betrayed by the way they have gone about this and so do the rest of the caucus,”
“Tomorrow morning at the caucus meeting I’ll be moving a motion to suspend both of them from the Green party caucus.
“The way that they have chosen to go about it is strongly in violation of every Green Party norm, culture and process that we have.”
The decision was later confirmed by the party. I already know you disagree with them, so there’s no point in repeating that, ad nauseam.
Party hoppers don’t have to give support to any other party. They can choose to continue to support their party on all but those areas of principle on which that party has betrayed their voters or their principles (eg standing behind the actions of a self confessed fraudster).
“Graham broke protocol…”
So Shaw claims. I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster, and they didn’t like it.
I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster….
You would say that, yes. Is there some reason members of the Green Party should give a shit what you, a person who doesn’t share their values and is ignorant of their kaupapa, would say about an internal issue within their party?
A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter. Whatever that shit is that you’re on about is another subject entirely.
What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? Or creating a situation where an innocent guy got death threats? Or a Cabinet Minister uses his power to get a friend preferential treatment. Ora PM assaulting a member of the public, multiple times… what do you call tgat? Business as usual?
“A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter.”
A member disagreeing with a political party effectively condoning benefit fraud is very much a matter for the public.
“What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? ”
If another member of that CM’s party spoke out against that CM, then all power to them. That’s exactly the point I’m making. Why should a political party stamp on an individual MP’s conscience when they are effectively challenging a party who has compromised it’s own principles?
Like Collins leak lead to a guy getting death threats… to her asking tge police to fudge figures for her newsletter… bennett deliberately break the Privacy Law and only a few days National Party broke tge Privacy laws again.
Armed pedestrians would have confronted and shot out the tyres of car involved – but even then, that may not have stopped the car.
This tragedy in Arizona (thoughts and prayers) shows the need to strengthen the 2nd amendment to include small pieces of artillery, like the recoilless 84mm Carl Gustav.
Competent and skilled citizens with recoilless artillery would have stopped this car in its track.
Yes, I suspect human error. The person that was behind the wheel at the time. Especially with a driver unfamiliar with the vehicle, what a part autonomous vehicle can and can’t do without human interaction is a grey area. When the new Model 3 Tesla wants the driver to take the controls, a bell chimes. No system will protect a cyclist that immediately appears in any vehicle’s path. They have a better chance with a system that can react in a quarter of the time it takes a human to stop the vehicle….especially a human scanning his next Uber job.
It’s an issue that has been prevalent with minor tech advances. Like folk driving into corners 10% faster because their new vehicle has ABS and traction control. Black ice takes no prisoners.
Couple of things to remind people about just how fucking bad the new sharing economy is for workers.
‘
Uber and Lyft drivers in the US make a median profit of as little as $8.55 per hour before taxes, according to a new report that suggests a majority of ride-share workers make below minimum wage and that some actually lose money.
Researchers did an analysis of vehicle cost data and a survey of more than 1,100 drivers for the ride-hailing companies for the paper, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. The first draft of the paper, released last month, said the median profit was $3.37 an hour, but the author released a new analysis on Monday following criticism from Uber.
[…]
Other academics and commentators who expressed skepticism about the initial finding said the new numbers seemed more appropriate.
Harry Campbell, founder of the Rideshare Guy, a website that conducts surveys of drivers and had partnered with Zoepf on this research, told the Guardian last week that he thought the $3.37 figure seemed too low. On Monday, he said the new numbers “definitely seem in the right ballpark”.
We will never know the full story of Douglas Schifter, a New York cab and limo driver who completed suicide earlier this week in front of City Hall. Those of us who don’t know him personally have no special insight into his mental health, or what else was going on in his life.
But in his final Facebook note and in trade magazine columns written under his byline, Schifter left a trail of commentary about the stress of surviving as a driver in New York, and with it, a view into how the so-called disruption led by Uber and Lyft, and cities’ mishandling of it, weighs dangerously on workers.
Schifter’s note (which Facebook has since taken down), posted hours before he died, chronicles the economic struggles of a livery driver in New York. He says he worked at least 100 hours every week, and still ended his career in financial ruin.
He blamed the powers that be in New York, pointing at the politicians who allowed more cabs on the road, flooding in more competition, and then adding green cabs too. “There was always meant to be numbers of cars below the demand. That was the guarantee of a steady income,” Schifter wrote.
Mr Turnbull described how, having obtained damaging material on opponents, Cambridge Analytica can discreetly push it onto social media and the internet.
He said: “… we just put information into the bloodstream of the internet, and then, and then watch it grow, give it a little push every now and again… like a remote control. It has to happen without anyone thinking, ‘that’s propaganda’, because the moment you think ‘that’s propaganda’, the next question is, ‘who’s put that out?’.”
“Reportedly, Facebook thought it was allowing a CA partner to pull data for academic purposes only. Data access for academic research tends to be more open than access for commercial uses, so Facebook may have scaled its controls according to the purported use, and thereby let down its guard. According to Wylie, “Facebook could see [massive data collection] was happening. Their security protocols were triggered because [University of Cambridge professor Aleksandr Kogan]’s apps were pulling this enormous amount of data, but apparently Kogan told them it was for academic use. So they were like, ‘Fine’.”
Lots of fun if the timeline covers tRump’s long weekend in Moscow and the compromised position he’s alleged to have found himself in.
Wylie says Cambridge Analytica had tested Trump campaign slogans since 2014: "I was surprised when I saw the Trump campaign and it started, you know, talking about building walls or draining the swamp. And I’m remembering in my head, wait, we tested this." pic.twitter.com/BL8uHeqg8Y— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) March 20, 2018
[I literally cannot tell which are your words and which are from the link. I’ve been asking people to be clear for quite some time now and am sick of asking so from now on I’m just going to delete what I can’t makes sense of. If the commenter is someone I remember warning before I am also likely to moderate. The onus is on the commenter to make it clear what is their own words and what they are quoting. – weka]
So much for “transparency” – that Jacinda promised us eh???
The coalition is responsible for Auckland city, really?.
“It’s upsetting and stressful,” Bright said
For eleven years Ms Bright availed herself of infrastructure and services financed by folk who do pay their rates, and now she has the gall to squeal poor little me – DFO
/
Penny Bright is largely the author of her own misfortune. I’d also like to drive a truck through various sections of the LG(AC) Act. Alienating allies and making potentially defamatory allegations against public servants are two things I’d try and stay away from though.
NZers notionally support ‘underdogs’, but the responses here to Bright’s protest/campaign/crusade/comeuppance are probably more generous than those of most ratepayers, for whom transparency isn’t a concern.
Was it Bright’s intent to diminish the credibility of everybody seeking to improve local government for citizens? Best of luck with those on-going efforts – good to know someone’s doing it right.
Weka I read this second press release from Penny about the issue of Council selling her home and the point I wanted to make was that she wanted proof of why her rates were always increasing so she said in the press that she was always intending to pay her rates but never was in receipt of the evidence yet, so I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates.
I call that a good call to request the evidence for the rate increases firstly and it was up to the council to provide that firstly.
There was nothing wrong with the content. Please reread my moderation note. I need to know if from now on you will make it clear which are your words and which are quotes from a link.
I will spell out the quote in the article link for you in future.
But I was two months ago told not to use parts of the text of the link in my blog, as you said TS is not a newspaper media service, so I have since been as brief as i could weka.
I doubt that that is what I said (feel free to link). What isn’t ok is to post huge tracts of text in a comment. Make a comment, cut and paste portions of an article that support your point, include a link, and make it obvious which bits are the cut and paste and which are your own words. This isn’t rocket science and as I said, I’m sick of having to explain it. I’d prefer if you thought through what I am asking and see the reasoning behind it.
Mate, we are well into wasting moderator time territory. Are you trying to piss me off even more?
What I’m getting here is that you will comply with my moderator requests when I make them, but are largely unwilling to learn what is being requested, which means I will have to keep going over and over this. I am unwilling to do that, so next time I will just moderate in a way that saves myself a whole bunch of time.
“I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates”
A learned judge disagreed with you – as does all previous case law. Madame Notsobright can demand whatever she wants but there is no legal basis for not either paying her rates or negotiating the standard deferred payment arrangement. There’s nothing brave about being a stubborn dunce.
That sucks. I really hope she has the cash in an account to pay on the last possible day, but it could just as easily turn out that her house will be sold and she’ll be dragged out of it. Then she’ll start harrassing the new residents because she thinks they’re trespassing.
As OAB said, the author of her own misfortune. If you have a good point, don’t get so obsessed you shoot yourself in the foot.
“Intending” doesn’t necessarily mean “cash at the ready”, like many lenders to friends and flatmates find out. When reality hits and the due date is looming, will she be able to keep her home at the last minute? Only she knows.
Sweet, since she was “:always intending” to pay the rates, she will have paid them into a savings or trust account and will have no troubling clearing the debt without losing her house.
I reckon she spent the money instead, which wouldn’t be very “transparent” of her.
That was my point that we need to stand against the loss of “transparency” from any governing body no matter who they are and Auckland was wrong to not give all documents to Penny that she needed to satisfy her rates increases, as we need to be able to hold them to account for the increases don’t we.
weka; the article said that in their article quoting Penny.
Is Bright even left wing? Adopting some left wing rhetoric to oppose cycleways and claim it’s all been initiated by big corporations seems a little off the map.
Sticking up for the interests of comfortable property owners in St Heliers (Unitary Plan) and Westmere (cycleway o doom) is hardly a radical socialist act. Always been easy to get some public support by bagging the council.
More like Winston Peters or Trump than Corbyn or Sanders.
Takeaway from this Cambridge Analytica story should be that powerful people from all over the world are constantly working to undermine democracy and install puppet leaders. The stupidest people alive are doing mental gymnastics to try and pin it all on Russia.
.
When you spend all day trying to find the Russia connection in our heavily globalised society, you’ll find it. But if you think it’ll all unravel once we’ve dealt with that pesky old Vladimir Putin, you’re set to get badly rolled. The calls are coming from inside the house
.
Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.
The Cambridge Analytica story, as far as I can see, indicates a replacement of Crosby Textor, with a new bunch of election and political manipulators and propagandists – ones looking for ways to tap into digital connectivity as well as on the ground political activities.
Like Crosby Textor, the Cambridge Anlytica people in the C4 vid talk about targeting emotions and not bothering about facts.
And it indicates a new bunch of propagandists, some more successful these day than others.
On the UK 2017 election campaign, aiming at wiping out Corbyn, which failed to do that. The Tories paid b=for Crosby’s services during the campaign:
Overall the Conservatives were invoiced £2.1 million ($3.8 million) by Facebook, compared with £577,000 ($1.05 million) to Labour and £412,000 ($744,000) to the Liberal Democrats.
…
The Conservatives also paid £544,000 ($983,000) to the Messina Group; Jim Messina, the strategist behind Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, brought expertise on how to target ‘persuadable’ voters on social media.
May’s chief advisor Nick Timothy, who resigned after the election, blamed “campaign consultants” for the Conservatives’ poor performance.
So it seems to be a highly competitive area of commercial activity – paid propagandists, targeting emotions, and trying to disguise their propaganda as something else. And working through subcontractors to hide their activities and where they are operating around the world.
The C4 video has them saying they often use subcontractors that use ex M15 and ex MI6 operatives. T’is a very murky arena.
“Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.”
If anyone is holding their breath to see whether there will be any change to how Question Time operates today – don’t.
The Green Party has only been allocated one question this week – Question 12 tomorrow, Weds 21 March – so it will be interesting to see whether it is given to National.
Today’s list of oral questions follow the original allocation of 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one NZF.
Tomorrow’s original allocation was 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one Green. So if the Green’s one goes to National it will be 9 National and 3 Labour.
Thursday’s original allocation was 7 National Questions, 4 Labour and one NZF. So there will be no change on Thursday.
Next Green questions originally allocated are one next Tuesday and one next Thursday.
i am really beginning to wonder why the Greens needed a big announcement on Sunday.
Perhaps its more about the co-leader campaign divide between the realo (Genter)and fundo (Davidson) candidates as suggested by Chris Trotter. Never one to pass up a conspiracy theory … LOL.
So in addition to missing the point of the poem, the Greens are doomed because they made an announcement on a Sunday and got pretty decent traction out of it. Hyperbole much?
I think the Greens aren’t meant to be doing it at all. Anything that improves democracy is inherently bad if the right benefit from it too. We must remember this is a war, and National are the enemy and this is the centre of everything else that happens and should inform all decisions.
(not having a go at you VV, this is my impression from the arguments of some others).
that’s not the kind of war they are talking about.
Sun Tzu applies as much to this type of war as any other.
Consider, for example, the “moral law” in this context.
“The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.”
Green principles are laid out for all to see in the charter. I was thinking of this among other things when I said “One way to get people to change sides is to keep your word, especially when it comes to points of principle.”
I still think that is a different kind of war than the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going. Tbh, I think they like it that way and will resist attempts to effect change via principle. If I were being kinder I might say they simply don’t understand it, but I think there is also attachment to the power mongering way of doing things.
Are you saying that the Sun Tzu approach applies where people still want to fight?
the long game … the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going
Sun Tzu said that opposing forces can strive against one another for decades, whereas victory is decided in a single day. He also said siege warfare is the worst kind.
on the long game and opposing forces – what if it’s the wealthy elites, corporations an National Party business types who want to maintain inequalities, power and privilege, and will not really negotiate in good faith?
You’re welcome, Cinny. I probably come across as a “Know all”, but I just get really frustrated at how much time, effort etc that is wasted here by people not checking the facts, rules etc – and the amount of misinformation. Most of this stuff is just a click or two away if you know where to go.
I am a strong believer in civics education being a compulsory subject at school. I spent almost seven years in Washington DC from age 14 – 20+ and had to do several years of civics education to graduate from high school, before going on to university there.
It really sparked an interest that has stayed with me ever since, although I had grown up here in NZ with government/parliament always present in my younger years due to my father’s work. Parliament was always on the radio when the House was sitting, and I was very privileged to know people like Arnold Nordmeyer, Bill Sutch, Jack Marshall and others of that vintage (also Dr Lloyd Geering now 100 and still going strong!) as real people not just names in the newspaper and on the radio. And I followed my father’s footsteps into an interesting career in the NZ public service including some years overseas working for the UK govt as well.
Back to the here and now. I finally re-found this handy little tool on the Parliament website – the Oral Question Roster for the 52nd Parliament drawn up and approved by the Business Committee last Nov which sets out by sitting day, the number of primary Oral Questions allocated to each party making up the 12 Questions for the day.
The actual sequence often changes but the numbers don’t. I doubt that this will be rejigged in light of the Greens decision as this is in essence an informal decision by the Greens and their arrangement with National is outside (but not contrary to) the current formal procedures and rules of the House.
Today is Sitting Day 30. This day number is always at the top of the Order Paper for each sitting day if you get confused. A useful little tool to keep a check on what the Greens do hereon in.
Hi again Cindy
Today I pointed out this Roster to alwyn on Open Mike and he has now suggested that yesterday was in fact Day 28 not 30, and this actually brings the sequencing etc into line! Well spotted by alwyn and shows the worth of peer review.
Today Oral Questions fit exactly with Day 29 – with the Greens Q10 taken up the Nats – Nick Smith. Quite a hot one, actually with Smith coming back later during the General Debate to give a Personal Explanation.
Here is my comment to alwyn today on the above, plus links to another Roster which is the Roster for speeches in the fortnightly General Debates – again with generic numbering not dates. Think today was No 7 sequence. Asked Alwyn to double check!
It was my guess that the policy had come from (strategist) Genter and current co-leader, Shaw. However, If Davidson was co-leader, she would still be able to ask primary questions when necessary. And Shaw has said they will still be asking supplementary questions.
Genter as a Minister cannot question other Ministers under the rules; whereas Davidson is much freer to do so because she is not a Minister.
This applies regardless of which of them ends up as Co-Leader.
So I found it interesting that Trotter brought the Co-Leader campaign into the question issue in the way he did as I had not considered any connection between the two – but you seem to be not surprised at his contention re the Genter camp.
Relevant extract for anyone who has not read the Trotter opinion piece:
“The Greens as a whole are not out in front on this issue. But the Greens realo (realist) faction is, almost certainly, behind it.
Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that at this point in the race for the Green Party’s female co-leadership, the fundi (fundamentalist) Marama Davidson is out in front.
One of the more substantial planks in Marama’s election platform has been her argument that as a Green MP without ministerial responsibilities, she will be well-placed to raise the issues, and voice the concerns, that are exercising the Green Party membership.
How would that be done? Well, she could ask questions of the Labour-NZ First Coalition Government: questions relating to the CPTPP, oil-drilling and climate-change. She could hold Jacinda and Winston (and James?) to account on their commitment to end child poverty and homelessness. It’s a promise with clear appeal to those members of the Green Party already heartily suspicious of the pig they’re being asked to support – and the poke it came in.
But, just how effective could Marama be if there were no questions to ask?
The idea of putting a muzzle on the Greens’ fundi faction would have enormous appeal to those realo members of the party determined not to blow this long-awaited opportunity to demonstrate that Green Ministers can make a real difference.
It would also be received with profound relief by the apprehensive leaders of Labour and NZ First.”
It will be interesting to see how it pans out vis a vis who becomes Co-Leader.
Lilia Harre made the same suggestion on Q & A. Given that she will have inside knowledge of the Greens, I don’t think the suggestion can be dismissed out of hand.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader, especially now that they are in government. Obviously other Greens are widely enthusiastic about the prospect of Marama to provide a more left wing edge to the government.
Just because she is not a minister does not mean that she does not make up part of the government. Her vote is one of the votes that make up the Greens Confidence and Supply Agreement.
I can imagine there are quite a few in the government, across all three parties, that think the government is already sufficiently left wing. Pressure to make it more so not only exposes potential rifts within the government, it also will make it harder to get re-elected.
Just about everything the PM says seems to have this as a key driver; “How will my statements appeal to the electorate.”
She seems to have a clever blend of reassurance that they are safe, coupled with a degree of kiwi adventurism and aspiration (climate change, being Minister to eradicate Child Poverty). I guess that skill is not so surprising for politician with a Bachelor of Communication degree.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader
Do you have a single quote from anyone in the Green Party to illustrate this “obvious” attack of nerves, or are you just repeating the behaviour that earned you your last ban?
tbf, if he linked to what he is talking about he risks people seeing him saying that the only governments that kill spies are Russia and North Korea.
As for what Harre said, she did say the timing with the co-leadership process was interesting, but she didn’t say how or explain what she meant. Only that MD and other newer MPs would lose the ability to ask questions in the House. Which is daft because the Greens have retained the ability to ask Primary Qs when they need to, as well as the Supplementaries.
So I have no idea what she is on about. Mapp agreed with her but likewise didn’t say what the actual point was. Are they suggesting that the caucus came to a consensus decision to silence the perceived left wing MPs and that this is the real reason for the decision? Tui award right there.
Carolyn, the PM doesn’t come across as a liar. She is a sraight shooter. If Government has’t sanctioned something she is asked, she can only give the current position, even if that is frustrating for the questioner.
Yes, I think/hope Trotter is stretching it in terms of seeing the question thing as being a set-up to push the realo faction to the fore.
Initially at the start of the co-leader campaign, I thought that there might be some advantages of having Davidson as Co-Leader and therefore freer to ask questions; but I then realised the situation stays the same regardless of which of them is Co-Leader.
But now the whole situation of any Green MPs asking any questions is going to be a tricky one – and will be used by others in the House to get in little digs etc. There was a tiny bit of this in Question Time today
Re the “tribal” comment, to be fair he did say other things (paraphrasing, that he was anti-patsy questions while in opposition so the ethical thing to do in govt was opt out of them). Fair point, although it does ignore the fact that they didn’t need to be asking patsies (& have been until now, with all of their allocated questions).
Right. So now, having “given away all patsy questions”, what happens when the Greens use one or more of their questions – as they can at any time, given that the decisions will be made on a week-to-week basis?
Will the fact that they’ve ‘suddenly’ “taken one of their questions back from National” be more likely to make the news or not?
From my perspective, this principled move brings pragmatic advantage. I’m probably wrong.
Are you sure about the rule that a Minister cannot question another Minister or do mean only with a Primary Question?
They can and do throw in Supplementary Questions.
For example in Q6 to Shane Jones Winston came in with
“Rt Hon Winston Peters: I wonder whether the Minister could tell us exactly how he has been received around the country, and particularly up north, by the people up there with respect to projects for which they have waited sometimes three decades?”
This did get an answer.
Would you consider that is only an interjection?
I wonder how the Greens will feel about their first gifted #nzqt primary being used to put pressure on the Government to keep New Zealand open for Oil Exploration?
7:50 am – 20 Mar 2018
.
weka
@wekatweets
7m7 minutes ago
Replying to @strewnryan
How is this a problem unless Labour are prevaricating on ending oil exploration in NZ?
Maybe someone can explain the problem to me, because I still don’t get it.
The Government is at a critical point in its decision-making over the future of its oil and gas exploration permits.
Jacinda Ardern said, when accepting Greenpeace’s petition, “I ask now for a bit more time. We’re working hard on this issue and we know it’s something that we can’t afford to spend much time on but we are actively considering it now.”
Because it’s an important issue that should have been developed as Labour policy, and coalition consensus, well before now, instead of asking “for a bit more time”. Your “now” may be different to my “now”. 🙂
Also an underlying implication that because National are evil they should have less say in parliament despite voters having voted for them. That’s not how democracy works.
I would have thought the underlying implication was that because National are evil they shouldn’t have more say in Parliament than what their share of the vote entitles them too. That’s how democracy works.
That argument only works if you believe that QT is functioning well for democracy. Many people, including the Greens, think it is not at needs to be changed. The Greens appear to be saying that QT is for the Opposition to hold the govt to account. The Greens are in govt, and kind of not, but they’re not full time Opposition so it does make sense that they might see themselves as not needing those questions or even being entitled to them. Just because the current system allocates questions the way it does, doesn’t make if fair or right.
It then becomes an issue of what they should do with them. Some are arguing that the Greens should use them to ask meaningful questions of Labour and NZF, essentially being in a ‘hold them to account’ role, but more constructively. I’ve yet to see an explanation of how that would work, but I also wondered why they didn’t. One issue is that the MSM will use the Greens asking hard Qs to shit stir over splits in the govt. See how that works? NZ doesn’t yet know how to think about our current MMP arrangement (that’s a block to better democracy btw).
Another suggestion was to give the questions to the public. I like this one too, and would be interested to go back and look at when this was tried before.
Be fair, weka. No-one’s saying the Nats should have “less say” – they have an allocation of questions already. As they’re the biggest single party they get to ask the most questions already. Hard to see that as “less say”.
Hey, I’m all for reforming how QT is run. I addressed the less issue in my comment above. It’s not about that, it’s about the roles of various parties. If this was Labour in Opposition I doubt there would be the same fuss at all. So much of the argument is partisan, which I understand, but the Greens still have a principle here that is valid.
Maybe Shaw and Ardern got together and agreed that Labour was having a really bad coupla weeks with heaps of negative press and a distraction was needed. On that basis the Greens announcement regarding their questions benefits them and also benefits Labour.
Hehe…It’s a stretch I know, but is the only scenario I can come up with that benefits the coalition as opposed to just the National Party..Also, if you didn’t assume it to be a deliberate beneficial distraction, then the Greens timing is really really bad.
Yes, I know it might be about the Greens just wanting to improve democracy… but then they could have waited a coupla weeks maybe.. (unless it was a distraction of course)
Facebook’s chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation, according to current and former employees briefed on the matter.
Mr. Stamos had been a strong advocate inside the company for investigating and disclosing Russian activity on Facebook, often to the consternation of other top executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, the social network’s chief operating officer, according to the current and former employees, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.
BREAKING: Facebook WAS inside Cambridge Analytica's office but have now "stood down" following dramatic intervention by UK Information Commissioner's Office..— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 19, 2018
To be clear, @facebook was trying to "secure evidence" ahead of the UK authorities. Nice try, @facebook. The UK Information Commissioner's Office cracking whip…British legal investigation MUST take precedence over US multibillion $ company.. https://t.co/CNNXwv1M3R— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 19, 2018
Please note our call for “no more neglect please for lack of our rail services.”
Our HB/Gisborne rail support communities are somewhat surprised today and heartened when we heard Shane Jones warning another public transport SOE (Air NZ) ” not to neglect our regions” transport services, as he did when warning Air NZ not to “neglect” Gisborne as they did Kapiti.
Since National took over in 2008 they have systematically run down our regional rail services by lack of funds and caused the blocked drains that washed out the rail line closing it in 2012.
So we now expect Shane jones along with the minister of SOE (Hon’ Winston Peters to warn kiwirail also not to neglect our regions on the current lack of services we have yet to have retrurned to us after 6 long years of national/Kiwirail neglect.
Minister to Air NZ: Don’t neglect regions
From Nine To Noon, 9:09 am today
The Minister for Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has criticised Air New Zealand for degrading its services to the regions. Mr Jones’s comments come after Air New Zealand’s abrupt withdrawal from flights into Kapiti – it gave the region just three weeks notice that it would pull out. Kathryn Ryan speaks with Minister Jones and with the mayors of Gisborne and Whangarei districts, Meng Foon and Sheryl Mai.
It was more of a threat from the way article reads.
Interesting move by Jones good on him but I don’t think it make any difference to what Air NZ will do they are a listed corporate and if a service is making a loss they can end it.
Some in the regions will hail him as sticking up for them and increase support for NZF.
I know NZF policy as I have been to several public meetings over the last several years and Shane is very much saying NZ first here to AirNZ as it is sending a clear message to the board to come home with services, not be just a global player, and todnights feedback on the media had some positive feedback for his stand to drive a policy for NZ first to be serviced by our soe that was funded by the NZ taxpayer.
We now see Winston again entering into the argument as “Minister of SOE”.
So maybe this is NZF pushing for a scrap with those SOE’s weho are turning their backs on the local services market that we all pay for as taxpayers, of all these publicly owned SOE’s.
Time will tell if our challenge to Shane on (13) to return our rail service as another bad example of yet another “SOE “neglected” public regional service?.
Air NZ is not a SOE, the govt is a majority shareholder and has some representatives on the board. It is listed company on the stock exchange so they have a responsibility to all shareholders to be profitable.
I would say that operating a regional service would be very expensive as you can only use small planes and they would spreading the cost over less punters and if it is poorly used then it would end up costing money.
Rail in NZ has been poorly run for years and years and we have lost many opportunities to have a regional rail service, but the questions comes down to cost again, servicing a small community with rail or for that matter flights who pays.
Does it mean increased rates or taxes to cover the infrastructure costs as it would take a lot of passengers to make it break even. Lets say I live in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch should I have to pay for a regional train service that I would never use.
I dont know the answer but I would prefer to see rail in the regions be for cargo mainly and remove trucks from the roads and then the cost is paid by those using it.
The answer is that significant ongoing state investment in public infrastructure, utilities and services creates an environment in which people and business can flourish, not least because of the certainty it provides.
great to see you back, always enjoy your contributions.
In todays environment that has a cost and the money has to come from somewhere to fund it which would be above and beyond current spending.
To have a full regional rail network, that opportunity was lost long ago when they closed them, it would require considerable investment and would it be used to justify the spending.
Looking at Air NZ I am sure they wouldn’t close a regular service if it was making a profit I don’t think they should be forced to keep them going if they are losing money as that has other risks.
So profit & money is considered before the cost to the environment or our health.
We will suffer because of the loss in safe transport be it air or rail passenger services as trucks increase road use at 6% a year (NZTA) figures.
Now our windy narrow fraile regional roads are falling apart and we see these PPP beginning to use our former SOE’s as cash cows by squeezing every dollar of profit out while the ratepayer is left to foot the road repairs and propping up air transport.
Also we will suffer health effects of climate change increased air pollution, and airborne diseases from warmer hot air mass and circulation under high winds and dust conditions but our public health cost will also increase at the same time so again the taxpayer is left to prop up these so called business ventures.
“You can’t get blood out of a stone” a fitting term.
I guess we’ll find out just how truly vile this man is.
#BREAKING@WeinsteinFilms announces bankruptcy deal. "The Weinstein Company Holdings LLC today entered into a “stalking horse” agreement with an affiliate of Lantern Capital Partners, a Dallas-based private equity company." — statement pic.twitter.com/hbUAfYl9p2— John Stempin (@johnstempinNPR) March 20, 2018
"It has been reported that Harvey Weinstein used non-disclosure agreements as a secret weapon to silence his accusers. Effective immediately, those “agreements” end. The Company expressly releases any confidentiality provision to the extent it has prevented individuals….— John Stempin (@johnstempinNPR) March 20, 2018
Great to welcome my friend @FrankLuntz to NZ. Thanks for taking time to come by & share your insights with a broad range of Kiwi friends. pic.twitter.com/CYwg6xbgGs— Ambassador Brown (@USAmbNZ) March 20, 2018
Okay Twitter, here's your chance to get rid of me…It’s no longer legal for Americans to buy property in New Zealand, but this house started construction before the law. pic.twitter.com/GNesWpX9ke— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 18, 2018
What should I do?— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 18, 2018
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – 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 is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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 is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
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. ...
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. ...
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 ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
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 ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
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It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the “Insular Cases” — a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
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CPTPP: Extended submission deadline
You now have until Wednesday, 18 April 2018 to have your say on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The Foreign Affairs,Defence and Trade Committee is now inviting submissions on the treaty.
The CPTPP is a free trade agreement negotiated by 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1803/S00180/cptpp-extended-submission-deadline.htm
Thanks SaveNZ!
Awesome savenz “lets do this”
I watched David parker blurbing his crap today in parliament and he showed that he is not truly confident that we wont be sued by any other party now.
he should have thought of this before he signed iot.
Now we are forced to accept this for 35yrs because of him.
As soon as these companies start to lose profits because their industry is declining (oil and coal mining comes to mind but there are plenty of industries that are rich but declining) their lawyers will be looking to keep as much profit as possible by using these type agreements to sue for damages.
The current agreement is not fit for purpose for the 21c and climate change and declining wages and increasingly inequality.
It should be stopped.
successfully sued.
They don’t need to successfully sue. It costs millions to defend a position, aka Phillip Morris and OZ.
Having lawyers have the ability to disrupt in international courts which the EU has just ruled are illegal is not OK.
Having lawyer fight it out in the Andrew Little case, he eventually won after two trials, but his life was disrupted, the election was disrupted and I guess he will be much less likely to question corporate donations followed by lucrative government contracts again.
The threat is as much the problem as the rules which are being used weekly to sue governments in these agreements and are out of step with how the public perceives their governments should operate (aka in the public’s interest of their country NOT in the business/lawyers interests).
Yawn.
Labour’s bottom line in that regard was “successfully”. And people aren’t governments. Governments can deal with court cases alongside all sorts of other things.
In February alone the US national debt grew by $215 billion.
That’s more than the GDP of NZ.
US debt is increasing 36% faster than the US economy.
Relax the Donald’s a financial genius….just ask him.
Donald Figjam Trump ?
And it’s probably the only thing that’s keeping the US economy afloat – until it crashes it completely.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/15/96985/academics-slam-waka-jumping-bill#
C’mon Greens you’re on a roll, do the right thing and stop this bill
If you are elected on a party list, you should stay with that party or leave Parliament.
Otherwise you are cheating voters who voted for that party and their list.
Nothing wrong with a bill saying so.
The Waka jumping bill is a classic example of the political scientists, technocrats and experts being at loggerheads with the commonsense of voters. For the expertocracy, the waka jumping bill is an affront to democracy, because they are paid to believe certain bits of constitutional fantasy – like that list MPs are the same as electorate MPs and that MPs in general are elected, and ignore the reality they mostly owe their jobs to being on a party slate.
We need to be real about this. List MPs owe their jobs exclusively to the party list and therefore have an obligation to the party that should require their resignation from parliament if they are no longer members of the party that elected them. Electorate MPs should have the guts to face their voters if they change sides. If they are cowards who move parties for expediency but won’t re-consult their elecotors, then sack them.
Instad of pretending the system operates by a set of rules that are anachronistic, our expert class would be far better employed pointing out that political parties now have major role in our electoral arrangements, yet our constitution is completely silent on their role and this needs to be changed urgently.
1000%
agree 100% dv. The bill is entirely democratic and sensible.
The attempt to derail this bill is opportunistic and wishful thinking by the Nats that this government could fall in a years time when there is a crisis relating to the behaviour of one or two MP’s in the La/Gr/Nzf coalition causing resignations.
The Greens should support the bill.
“If you are elected on a party list, you should stay with that party or leave Parliament.”
But what if that party abandons the policies and principles on which in was elected?
Then stay in the party and work to put it back on track. Don’t be a coward or a grandstander and leave
Yeah, work to rule. Make the bastards get rid of you for advocating party policy.
Yep and try and stay in til the next election so you get voted back and they get voted out. Don’t hand the power to them work with the party activists for change.
“…so you get voted back and they get voted out.”
And you know this will happen how? If you are a list MP, and your party abandons it’s principles, the chances are you’ll all get voted out!
So you mitigated their damage and were a thorn in their side until then.
A caucus hijacking of a party sooner or later needs to be run by the membership. If you win, the splitters get kicked out. If they win, you were in the wrong damned party anyway.
So someone who upholds party principles in the face of the party machine is a ‘coward’ and ‘grandstander’? Nice.
“If politics transgresses conscience, politics must cede.”
Dr Kennedy Graham.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11905539
Graham broke protocol and ignored the party’s principles.
The decision was later confirmed by the party. I already know you disagree with them, so there’s no point in repeating that, ad nauseam.
And he also eventually resigned from caucus.
Rather than giving support to the nats, like a party-hopper would.
Party hoppers don’t have to give support to any other party. They can choose to continue to support their party on all but those areas of principle on which that party has betrayed their voters or their principles (eg standing behind the actions of a self confessed fraudster).
Either way. Kennedy Graham is not an example of party hopping.
True. I just liked his quote!
A quote which, given his own actions, is irrelevant to the discussion about party-hopping.
“Graham broke protocol…”
So Shaw claims. I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster, and they didn’t like it.
Yes, as previously noted, that’s what you’d say, ad nauseam.
I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster….
You would say that, yes. Is there some reason members of the Green Party should give a shit what you, a person who doesn’t share their values and is ignorant of their kaupapa, would say about an internal issue within their party?
A co-leader of a political party admitting historical benefit fraud is not ‘an internal issue within their party’.
As to the party’s values and kaupapa…https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-02-2018/my-old-party-is-betraying-its-own-proud-history-on-the-waka-jumping-bill/
A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter. Whatever that shit is that you’re on about is another subject entirely.
What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? Or creating a situation where an innocent guy got death threats? Or a Cabinet Minister uses his power to get a friend preferential treatment. Ora PM assaulting a member of the public, multiple times… what do you call tgat? Business as usual?
“A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter.”
A member disagreeing with a political party effectively condoning benefit fraud is very much a matter for the public.
“What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? ”
If another member of that CM’s party spoke out against that CM, then all power to them. That’s exactly the point I’m making. Why should a political party stamp on an individual MP’s conscience when they are effectively challenging a party who has compromised it’s own principles?
Like Collins leak lead to a guy getting death threats… to her asking tge police to fudge figures for her newsletter… bennett deliberately break the Privacy Law and only a few days National Party broke tge Privacy laws again.
100% KIT,
National love the bill as they can jump into a opposition Party and wreck them then switch to national afterwards.
Unfortunately, they probably will. Doing so would be the wrong thing to do especially when ~80% of the populace wants it.
We know why National wants it not to pass – they remember the 1990s when enough waka jumpers kept them in power.
After year on year of multi billion dollar losses, Uber’s way to profit depends on ditching humans. Die Uber, die.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/woman-dies-in-arizona-after-being-hit-by-uber-self-driving-car/ar-BBKqSzV
Armed pedestrians would have confronted and shot out the tyres of car involved – but even then, that may not have stopped the car.
This tragedy in Arizona (thoughts and prayers) shows the need to strengthen the 2nd amendment to include small pieces of artillery, like the recoilless 84mm Carl Gustav.
Competent and skilled citizens with recoilless artillery would have stopped this car in its track.
You right, what will be required is a citizens militia armed with Bazookas, better an innocent passenger die that an errant driverless car go free.
Reading that it sounds like she would have been killed even if it was a human driver.
And, yes, we need to do something about the unearned income that is the whole point of capitalism.
Yes, I suspect human error. The person that was behind the wheel at the time. Especially with a driver unfamiliar with the vehicle, what a part autonomous vehicle can and can’t do without human interaction is a grey area. When the new Model 3 Tesla wants the driver to take the controls, a bell chimes. No system will protect a cyclist that immediately appears in any vehicle’s path. They have a better chance with a system that can react in a quarter of the time it takes a human to stop the vehicle….especially a human scanning his next Uber job.
It’s an issue that has been prevalent with minor tech advances. Like folk driving into corners 10% faster because their new vehicle has ABS and traction control. Black ice takes no prisoners.
Couple of things to remind people about just how fucking bad the new sharing economy is for workers.
‘
Uber and Lyft drivers in the US make a median profit of as little as $8.55 per hour before taxes, according to a new report that suggests a majority of ride-share workers make below minimum wage and that some actually lose money.
Researchers did an analysis of vehicle cost data and a survey of more than 1,100 drivers for the ride-hailing companies for the paper, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. The first draft of the paper, released last month, said the median profit was $3.37 an hour, but the author released a new analysis on Monday following criticism from Uber.
[…]
Other academics and commentators who expressed skepticism about the initial finding said the new numbers seemed more appropriate.
Harry Campbell, founder of the Rideshare Guy, a website that conducts surveys of drivers and had partnered with Zoepf on this research, told the Guardian last week that he thought the $3.37 figure seemed too low. On Monday, he said the new numbers “definitely seem in the right ballpark”.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/01/uber-lyft-driver-wages-median-report.
We will never know the full story of Douglas Schifter, a New York cab and limo driver who completed suicide earlier this week in front of City Hall. Those of us who don’t know him personally have no special insight into his mental health, or what else was going on in his life.
But in his final Facebook note and in trade magazine columns written under his byline, Schifter left a trail of commentary about the stress of surviving as a driver in New York, and with it, a view into how the so-called disruption led by Uber and Lyft, and cities’ mishandling of it, weighs dangerously on workers.
Schifter’s note (which Facebook has since taken down), posted hours before he died, chronicles the economic struggles of a livery driver in New York. He says he worked at least 100 hours every week, and still ended his career in financial ruin.
He blamed the powers that be in New York, pointing at the politicians who allowed more cabs on the road, flooding in more competition, and then adding green cabs too. “There was always meant to be numbers of cars below the demand. That was the guarantee of a steady income,” Schifter wrote.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/neqb58/before-he-died-a-new-york-taxi-driver-wrote-about-how-the-gig-economy-ruined-his-life?utm_source=mbtwitter
C4 in the UK did an undercover investigation and recorded Cambridge Analytica people talking dodgy tactics and boasting about interfering in elections in many countries across the globe.
They’re talking honey traps, bribes and more.
Eh. Cambridge Analytics was also involved in widespread FB privacy breaches
https://iapp.org/news/a/what-privacy-pros-can-learn-from-the-facebook-cambridge-analytica-incident/
“Reportedly, Facebook thought it was allowing a CA partner to pull data for academic purposes only. Data access for academic research tends to be more open than access for commercial uses, so Facebook may have scaled its controls according to the purported use, and thereby let down its guard. According to Wylie, “Facebook could see [massive data collection] was happening. Their security protocols were triggered because [University of Cambridge professor Aleksandr Kogan]’s apps were pulling this enormous amount of data, but apparently Kogan told them it was for academic use. So they were like, ‘Fine’.”
Lots of fun if the timeline covers tRump’s long weekend in Moscow and the compromised position he’s alleged to have found himself in.
https://twitter.com/CNNTonight/status/975928148910051328
There you have an insight. Key did not operate within the rules of fair play. If you operate outside the rules you must be a cheat.
Of course he cheats. Psychological responses in games parallel real life.
I see Penny’s fight with the council is reaching its conclusion.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12016222
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/102419024/auckland-protesters-home-to-be-sold-following-11-years-of-unpaid-rates
[delete]
[I literally cannot tell which are your words and which are from the link. I’ve been asking people to be clear for quite some time now and am sick of asking so from now on I’m just going to delete what I can’t makes sense of. If the commenter is someone I remember warning before I am also likely to moderate. The onus is on the commenter to make it clear what is their own words and what they are quoting. – weka]
The coalition is responsible for Auckland city, really?.
For eleven years Ms Bright availed herself of infrastructure and services financed by folk who do pay their rates, and now she has the gall to squeal poor little me – DFO
/
‘It’s so unfair’ wails innocent victim (annotated image via RNZ twitter) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYt-dkjUQAApsC_.jpg
Oh dear, that interview.
Penny Bright is largely the author of her own misfortune. I’d also like to drive a truck through various sections of the LG(AC) Act. Alienating allies and making potentially defamatory allegations against public servants are two things I’d try and stay away from though.
She is unfortunately too daft to know which laws apply. Diminishes the credibility of everybody seeking to improve local government for citizens.
NZers notionally support ‘underdogs’, but the responses here to Bright’s protest/campaign/crusade/comeuppance are probably more generous than those of most ratepayers, for whom transparency isn’t a concern.
Was it Bright’s intent to diminish the credibility of everybody seeking to improve local government for citizens? Best of luck with those on-going efforts – good to know someone’s doing it right.
moderation note for you to respond to.
Weka I read this second press release from Penny about the issue of Council selling her home and the point I wanted to make was that she wanted proof of why her rates were always increasing so she said in the press that she was always intending to pay her rates but never was in receipt of the evidence yet, so I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates.
I call that a good call to request the evidence for the rate increases firstly and it was up to the council to provide that firstly.
This was a matter of consumers rights.
There was nothing wrong with the content. Please reread my moderation note. I need to know if from now on you will make it clear which are your words and which are quotes from a link.
Sure weka,
I will spell out the quote in the article link for you in future.
But I was two months ago told not to use parts of the text of the link in my blog, as you said TS is not a newspaper media service, so I have since been as brief as i could weka.
I doubt that that is what I said (feel free to link). What isn’t ok is to post huge tracts of text in a comment. Make a comment, cut and paste portions of an article that support your point, include a link, and make it obvious which bits are the cut and paste and which are your own words. This isn’t rocket science and as I said, I’m sick of having to explain it. I’d prefer if you thought through what I am asking and see the reasoning behind it.
LOL
Mate, we are well into wasting moderator time territory. Are you trying to piss me off even more?
What I’m getting here is that you will comply with my moderator requests when I make them, but are largely unwilling to learn what is being requested, which means I will have to keep going over and over this. I am unwilling to do that, so next time I will just moderate in a way that saves myself a whole bunch of time.
“I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates”
A learned judge disagreed with you – as does all previous case law. Madame Notsobright can demand whatever she wants but there is no legal basis for not either paying her rates or negotiating the standard deferred payment arrangement. There’s nothing brave about being a stubborn dunce.
That sucks. I really hope she has the cash in an account to pay on the last possible day, but it could just as easily turn out that her house will be sold and she’ll be dragged out of it. Then she’ll start harrassing the new residents because she thinks they’re trespassing.
As OAB said, the author of her own misfortune. If you have a good point, don’t get so obsessed you shoot yourself in the foot.
Yes McFlock;
In the article Penny specifically said she “was always intending to pay her rates” but requested evidence for the rate rises before hand.
“Intending” doesn’t necessarily mean “cash at the ready”, like many lenders to friends and flatmates find out. When reality hits and the due date is looming, will she be able to keep her home at the last minute? Only she knows.
Russell Brown reckons Bright will get a capital gains windfall from the sale.
God yes, if she’s owned a house in Auckland for more than ten years.
She’d still get kicked out, though.
Sweet, since she was “:always intending” to pay the rates, she will have paid them into a savings or trust account and will have no troubling clearing the debt without losing her house.
I reckon she spent the money instead, which wouldn’t be very “transparent” of her.
Whether you agree with Penny’s stance or not she must be admired for carrying through with her convictions. No chardonay socalist this one!
If she was willing to lose her home, I’d agree.
If she loses her home because she was in denial about the chances of her success, on the other hand…
True. A scrapper through and through
Agreed Jim, 100%
That was my point that we need to stand against the loss of “transparency” from any governing body no matter who they are and Auckland was wrong to not give all documents to Penny that she needed to satisfy her rates increases, as we need to be able to hold them to account for the increases don’t we.
weka; the article said that in their article quoting Penny.
Is Bright even left wing? Adopting some left wing rhetoric to oppose cycleways and claim it’s all been initiated by big corporations seems a little off the map.
Sticking up for the interests of comfortable property owners in St Heliers (Unitary Plan) and Westmere (cycleway o doom) is hardly a radical socialist act. Always been easy to get some public support by bagging the council.
More like Winston Peters or Trump than Corbyn or Sanders.
Short twitter thread,
radiohead revisionist
@oriwa_
Takeaway from this Cambridge Analytica story should be that powerful people from all over the world are constantly working to undermine democracy and install puppet leaders. The stupidest people alive are doing mental gymnastics to try and pin it all on Russia.
.
When you spend all day trying to find the Russia connection in our heavily globalised society, you’ll find it. But if you think it’ll all unravel once we’ve dealt with that pesky old Vladimir Putin, you’re set to get badly rolled. The calls are coming from inside the house
.
Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.
https://twitter.com/oriwa_/status/975866285908086784
The Cambridge Analytica story, as far as I can see, indicates a replacement of Crosby Textor, with a new bunch of election and political manipulators and propagandists – ones looking for ways to tap into digital connectivity as well as on the ground political activities.
Like Crosby Textor, the Cambridge Anlytica people in the C4 vid talk about targeting emotions and not bothering about facts.
This from The Oz Age today about Crosby, points to Crosby Textor being on the way out.
And it indicates a new bunch of propagandists, some more successful these day than others.
On the UK 2017 election campaign, aiming at wiping out Corbyn, which failed to do that. The Tories paid b=for Crosby’s services during the campaign:
The Messina Group (Jim Messina) worked for the Obama campaigns before working for the UK Tories.
So it seems to be a highly competitive area of commercial activity – paid propagandists, targeting emotions, and trying to disguise their propaganda as something else. And working through subcontractors to hide their activities and where they are operating around the world.
The C4 video has them saying they often use subcontractors that use ex M15 and ex MI6 operatives. T’is a very murky arena.
“Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.”
Lol…succinct
If anyone is holding their breath to see whether there will be any change to how Question Time operates today – don’t.
The Green Party has only been allocated one question this week – Question 12 tomorrow, Weds 21 March – so it will be interesting to see whether it is given to National.
Today’s list of oral questions follow the original allocation of 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one NZF.
Tomorrow’s original allocation was 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one Green. So if the Green’s one goes to National it will be 9 National and 3 Labour.
Thursday’s original allocation was 7 National Questions, 4 Labour and one NZF. So there will be no change on Thursday.
Next Green questions originally allocated are one next Tuesday and one next Thursday.
i am really beginning to wonder why the Greens needed a big announcement on Sunday.
Perhaps its more about the co-leader campaign divide between the realo (Genter)and fundo (Davidson) candidates as suggested by Chris Trotter. Never one to pass up a conspiracy theory … LOL.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/03/20/questioning-the-greens/
The sky is falling, the sky is falling!
(or, the Greens just moved on one of their projects, reforming how politics is done).
“For whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
John Donne 1624
That went over my head.
We’re all in this together
That’s the point of the poem, but is it Veutoviper’s meaning, and does it therefore translate to “the Greens are doomed and so are we”?
Not “and so are we”.
So in addition to missing the point of the poem, the Greens are doomed because they made an announcement on a Sunday and got pretty decent traction out of it. Hyperbole much?
Since you think it will prove an unpopular move, no doubt you can see the sense of doing it in the first year of being in government.
I think the Greens aren’t meant to be doing it at all. Anything that improves democracy is inherently bad if the right benefit from it too. We must remember this is a war, and National are the enemy and this is the centre of everything else that happens and should inform all decisions.
(not having a go at you VV, this is my impression from the arguments of some others).
They have a point. The National Party’s owners aren’t going to stop.
However, the highest art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
true, but that’s not the kind of war they are talking about.
that’s not the kind of war they are talking about.
Sun Tzu applies as much to this type of war as any other.
Consider, for example, the “moral law” in this context.
Green principles are laid out for all to see in the charter. I was thinking of this among other things when I said “One way to get people to change sides is to keep your word, especially when it comes to points of principle.”
yes, and that is the long game.
I still think that is a different kind of war than the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going. Tbh, I think they like it that way and will resist attempts to effect change via principle. If I were being kinder I might say they simply don’t understand it, but I think there is also attachment to the power mongering way of doing things.
Are you saying that the Sun Tzu approach applies where people still want to fight?
the long game … the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going
Sun Tzu said that opposing forces can strive against one another for decades, whereas victory is decided in a single day. He also said siege warfare is the worst kind.
I’m backing the Greens 🙂
on the long game and opposing forces – what if it’s the wealthy elites, corporations an National Party business types who want to maintain inequalities, power and privilege, and will not really negotiate in good faith?
“That’s the point of the poem”
Yes. I said that.
Yes you did. No man is an island.
Thanks for the update VV, was just eyeing up the oral questions for today wondering where everything fits it.
Really appreciate the information and knowledge you share here, especially on said topic, personally I find it incredibly helpful.
Thanks again 🙂
You’re welcome, Cinny. I probably come across as a “Know all”, but I just get really frustrated at how much time, effort etc that is wasted here by people not checking the facts, rules etc – and the amount of misinformation. Most of this stuff is just a click or two away if you know where to go.
I am a strong believer in civics education being a compulsory subject at school. I spent almost seven years in Washington DC from age 14 – 20+ and had to do several years of civics education to graduate from high school, before going on to university there.
It really sparked an interest that has stayed with me ever since, although I had grown up here in NZ with government/parliament always present in my younger years due to my father’s work. Parliament was always on the radio when the House was sitting, and I was very privileged to know people like Arnold Nordmeyer, Bill Sutch, Jack Marshall and others of that vintage (also Dr Lloyd Geering now 100 and still going strong!) as real people not just names in the newspaper and on the radio. And I followed my father’s footsteps into an interesting career in the NZ public service including some years overseas working for the UK govt as well.
Back to the here and now. I finally re-found this handy little tool on the Parliament website – the Oral Question Roster for the 52nd Parliament drawn up and approved by the Business Committee last Nov which sets out by sitting day, the number of primary Oral Questions allocated to each party making up the 12 Questions for the day.
The actual sequence often changes but the numbers don’t. I doubt that this will be rejigged in light of the Greens decision as this is in essence an informal decision by the Greens and their arrangement with National is outside (but not contrary to) the current formal procedures and rules of the House.
Today is Sitting Day 30. This day number is always at the top of the Order Paper for each sitting day if you get confused. A useful little tool to keep a check on what the Greens do hereon in.
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCBUDeterminations201711081/8711510daa40c86a56295e2b6e5cbece93abf7da
You don’t come across as a ‘know it all’ at all.
Your comments are always interesting and informative.
VV ….. Awesome, thanks ever so much for your reply + the link and explanation, fantastico 🙂
Unfortunately was not taught civics at school, politics however, was never off the agenda around the family dinner table 🙂 Grateful for that
Civics needs to be included in the core curriculum for all students, it would change so many lives for the better.
Brigid.. + 100%
Hi again Cindy
Today I pointed out this Roster to alwyn on Open Mike and he has now suggested that yesterday was in fact Day 28 not 30, and this actually brings the sequencing etc into line! Well spotted by alwyn and shows the worth of peer review.
Today Oral Questions fit exactly with Day 29 – with the Greens Q10 taken up the Nats – Nick Smith. Quite a hot one, actually with Smith coming back later during the General Debate to give a Personal Explanation.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-03-2018/#comment-1464096
Here is my comment to alwyn today on the above, plus links to another Roster which is the Roster for speeches in the fortnightly General Debates – again with generic numbering not dates. Think today was No 7 sequence. Asked Alwyn to double check!
It was my guess that the policy had come from (strategist) Genter and current co-leader, Shaw. However, If Davidson was co-leader, she would still be able to ask primary questions when necessary. And Shaw has said they will still be asking supplementary questions.
Genter as a Minister cannot question other Ministers under the rules; whereas Davidson is much freer to do so because she is not a Minister.
This applies regardless of which of them ends up as Co-Leader.
So I found it interesting that Trotter brought the Co-Leader campaign into the question issue in the way he did as I had not considered any connection between the two – but you seem to be not surprised at his contention re the Genter camp.
Relevant extract for anyone who has not read the Trotter opinion piece:
“The Greens as a whole are not out in front on this issue. But the Greens realo (realist) faction is, almost certainly, behind it.
Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that at this point in the race for the Green Party’s female co-leadership, the fundi (fundamentalist) Marama Davidson is out in front.
One of the more substantial planks in Marama’s election platform has been her argument that as a Green MP without ministerial responsibilities, she will be well-placed to raise the issues, and voice the concerns, that are exercising the Green Party membership.
How would that be done? Well, she could ask questions of the Labour-NZ First Coalition Government: questions relating to the CPTPP, oil-drilling and climate-change. She could hold Jacinda and Winston (and James?) to account on their commitment to end child poverty and homelessness. It’s a promise with clear appeal to those members of the Green Party already heartily suspicious of the pig they’re being asked to support – and the poke it came in.
But, just how effective could Marama be if there were no questions to ask?
The idea of putting a muzzle on the Greens’ fundi faction would have enormous appeal to those realo members of the party determined not to blow this long-awaited opportunity to demonstrate that Green Ministers can make a real difference.
It would also be received with profound relief by the apprehensive leaders of Labour and NZ First.”
It will be interesting to see how it pans out vis a vis who becomes Co-Leader.
Nothing surprises me these days, veuto. I have seen Genter as being a major strategist for the GP, given one or 2 comments she’s made.
I do think there is a bit of a struggle between the left and right wings of the GP, as there is in Labour.
However, Trotter is probably stretching it by linking it to the co-leader campaign.
We shall see how QT and the co-leader results pan out.
Carolyn
Lilia Harre made the same suggestion on Q & A. Given that she will have inside knowledge of the Greens, I don’t think the suggestion can be dismissed out of hand.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader, especially now that they are in government. Obviously other Greens are widely enthusiastic about the prospect of Marama to provide a more left wing edge to the government.
Just because she is not a minister does not mean that she does not make up part of the government. Her vote is one of the votes that make up the Greens Confidence and Supply Agreement.
I can imagine there are quite a few in the government, across all three parties, that think the government is already sufficiently left wing. Pressure to make it more so not only exposes potential rifts within the government, it also will make it harder to get re-elected.
Just about everything the PM says seems to have this as a key driver; “How will my statements appeal to the electorate.”
She seems to have a clever blend of reassurance that they are safe, coupled with a degree of kiwi adventurism and aspiration (climate change, being Minister to eradicate Child Poverty). I guess that skill is not so surprising for politician with a Bachelor of Communication degree.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader
Do you have a single quote from anyone in the Green Party to illustrate this “obvious” attack of nerves, or are you just repeating the behaviour that earned you your last ban?
LOL – Welcome back, how was your latest ban?
tbf, if he linked to what he is talking about he risks people seeing him saying that the only governments that kill spies are Russia and North Korea.
As for what Harre said, she did say the timing with the co-leadership process was interesting, but she didn’t say how or explain what she meant. Only that MD and other newer MPs would lose the ability to ask questions in the House. Which is daft because the Greens have retained the ability to ask Primary Qs when they need to, as well as the Supplementaries.
So I have no idea what she is on about. Mapp agreed with her but likewise didn’t say what the actual point was. Are they suggesting that the caucus came to a consensus decision to silence the perceived left wing MPs and that this is the real reason for the decision? Tui award right there.
In December 2016, Laila Harré announced she had rejoined the Labour Party 27 years after she left to join New Labour.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11766724
Carolyn, the PM doesn’t come across as a liar. She is a sraight shooter. If Government has’t sanctioned something she is asked, she can only give the current position, even if that is frustrating for the questioner.
Wayne, I am aware that a few National Party MPs/supporters would prefer the GP co-leader to be Genter.
So, you are obviously on message.
Yes, I think/hope Trotter is stretching it in terms of seeing the question thing as being a set-up to push the realo faction to the fore.
Initially at the start of the co-leader campaign, I thought that there might be some advantages of having Davidson as Co-Leader and therefore freer to ask questions; but I then realised the situation stays the same regardless of which of them is Co-Leader.
But now the whole situation of any Green MPs asking any questions is going to be a tricky one – and will be used by others in the House to get in little digs etc. There was a tiny bit of this in Question Time today
It’s interesting to have Newsroom today reporting that Shaw made the decision re QT without consulting members.
Mr Shaw then said he made the decision without consulting party membership. When asked if they were happy with that, he replied:
“Some of them are some of them aren’t, there are people who are really partisan and they’re really tribal.
“they’re really tribal”
Fuksake
I might just go bush
Re the “tribal” comment, to be fair he did say other things (paraphrasing, that he was anti-patsy questions while in opposition so the ethical thing to do in govt was opt out of them). Fair point, although it does ignore the fact that they didn’t need to be asking patsies (& have been until now, with all of their allocated questions).
Right. So now, having “given away all patsy questions”, what happens when the Greens use one or more of their questions – as they can at any time, given that the decisions will be made on a week-to-week basis?
Will the fact that they’ve ‘suddenly’ “taken one of their questions back from National” be more likely to make the news or not?
From my perspective, this principled move brings pragmatic advantage. I’m probably wrong.
Why is that interesting? The caucus are empowered by the party to make decisions without consulting the party. That’s how it’s always been.
I would be very surprised if Shaw made the decision himself though.
Can’t find the original audio to see what he actually said.
100% Carolyn well said, I agree.
Are you sure about the rule that a Minister cannot question another Minister or do mean only with a Primary Question?
They can and do throw in Supplementary Questions.
For example in Q6 to Shane Jones Winston came in with
“Rt Hon Winston Peters: I wonder whether the Minister could tell us exactly how he has been received around the country, and particularly up north, by the people up there with respect to projects for which they have waited sometimes three decades?”
This did get an answer.
Would you consider that is only an interjection?
Ryan
@strewnryan
I wonder how the Greens will feel about their first gifted #nzqt primary being used to put pressure on the Government to keep New Zealand open for Oil Exploration?
7:50 am – 20 Mar 2018
.
weka
@wekatweets
7m7 minutes ago
Replying to @strewnryan
How is this a problem unless Labour are prevaricating on ending oil exploration in NZ?
Maybe someone can explain the problem to me, because I still don’t get it.
https://twitter.com/strewnryan/status/975806726350954496
The Government is at a critical point in its decision-making over the future of its oil and gas exploration permits.
Jacinda Ardern said, when accepting Greenpeace’s petition, “I ask now for a bit more time. We’re working hard on this issue and we know it’s something that we can’t afford to spend much time on but we are actively considering it now.”
Possibly prevaricating, certainly pusillanimous.
So why would National asking them hard questions as a way to get them to decide to allow more exploration be a problem?
No idea, I don’t see it as one
She is saying they are actively making a decison now. How is that indecisive/pusillanimous?
Because it’s an important issue that should have been developed as Labour policy, and coalition consensus, well before now, instead of asking “for a bit more time”. Your “now” may be different to my “now”. 🙂
Labour policy may even have been decided beforehand but negotiating with coalition partners could add a little time (geologically speaking).
Jacinda Ardern timid? LOL LOL pusillanimous indeed! Ho Ho!!.
Seems to be a fear that allowing someone to ask a question must result in losing the argument.
Also an underlying implication that because National are evil they should have less say in parliament despite voters having voted for them. That’s not how democracy works.
I would have thought the underlying implication was that because National are evil they shouldn’t have more say in Parliament than what their share of the vote entitles them too. That’s how democracy works.
That argument only works if you believe that QT is functioning well for democracy. Many people, including the Greens, think it is not at needs to be changed. The Greens appear to be saying that QT is for the Opposition to hold the govt to account. The Greens are in govt, and kind of not, but they’re not full time Opposition so it does make sense that they might see themselves as not needing those questions or even being entitled to them. Just because the current system allocates questions the way it does, doesn’t make if fair or right.
It then becomes an issue of what they should do with them. Some are arguing that the Greens should use them to ask meaningful questions of Labour and NZF, essentially being in a ‘hold them to account’ role, but more constructively. I’ve yet to see an explanation of how that would work, but I also wondered why they didn’t. One issue is that the MSM will use the Greens asking hard Qs to shit stir over splits in the govt. See how that works? NZ doesn’t yet know how to think about our current MMP arrangement (that’s a block to better democracy btw).
Another suggestion was to give the questions to the public. I like this one too, and would be interested to go back and look at when this was tried before.
Be fair, weka. No-one’s saying the Nats should have “less say” – they have an allocation of questions already. As they’re the biggest single party they get to ask the most questions already. Hard to see that as “less say”.
Hey, I’m all for reforming how QT is run. I addressed the less issue in my comment above. It’s not about that, it’s about the roles of various parties. If this was Labour in Opposition I doubt there would be the same fuss at all. So much of the argument is partisan, which I understand, but the Greens still have a principle here that is valid.
Maybe Shaw and Ardern got together and agreed that Labour was having a really bad coupla weeks with heaps of negative press and a distraction was needed. On that basis the Greens announcement regarding their questions benefits them and also benefits Labour.
Hehe…It’s a stretch I know, but is the only scenario I can come up with that benefits the coalition as opposed to just the National Party..Also, if you didn’t assume it to be a deliberate beneficial distraction, then the Greens timing is really really bad.
Yes, I know it might be about the Greens just wanting to improve democracy… but then they could have waited a coupla weeks maybe.. (unless it was a distraction of course)
Must be some shit show they’re covering up.
Facebook’s chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation, according to current and former employees briefed on the matter.
Mr. Stamos had been a strong advocate inside the company for investigating and disclosing Russian activity on Facebook, often to the consternation of other top executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, the social network’s chief operating officer, according to the current and former employees, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/facebook-alex-stamos.html?referer=
Trying to dispose of the body, snapped!.
Gisborne/HB challenge to Shane jones today;; –
Please note our call for “no more neglect please for lack of our rail services.”
Our HB/Gisborne rail support communities are somewhat surprised today and heartened when we heard Shane Jones warning another public transport SOE (Air NZ) ” not to neglect our regions” transport services, as he did when warning Air NZ not to “neglect” Gisborne as they did Kapiti.
Since National took over in 2008 they have systematically run down our regional rail services by lack of funds and caused the blocked drains that washed out the rail line closing it in 2012.
So we now expect Shane jones along with the minister of SOE (Hon’ Winston Peters to warn kiwirail also not to neglect our regions on the current lack of services we have yet to have retrurned to us after 6 long years of national/Kiwirail neglect.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018636845/minister-to-air-nz-don-t-neglect-regions
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018636845
Minister to Air NZ: Don’t neglect regions
From Nine To Noon, 9:09 am today
The Minister for Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has criticised Air New Zealand for degrading its services to the regions. Mr Jones’s comments come after Air New Zealand’s abrupt withdrawal from flights into Kapiti – it gave the region just three weeks notice that it would pull out. Kathryn Ryan speaks with Minister Jones and with the mayors of Gisborne and Whangarei districts, Meng Foon and Sheryl Mai.
It was more of a threat from the way article reads.
Interesting move by Jones good on him but I don’t think it make any difference to what Air NZ will do they are a listed corporate and if a service is making a loss they can end it.
Some in the regions will hail him as sticking up for them and increase support for NZF.
I dunno really Monty,
I know NZF policy as I have been to several public meetings over the last several years and Shane is very much saying NZ first here to AirNZ as it is sending a clear message to the board to come home with services, not be just a global player, and todnights feedback on the media had some positive feedback for his stand to drive a policy for NZ first to be serviced by our soe that was funded by the NZ taxpayer.
We now see Winston again entering into the argument as “Minister of SOE”.
So maybe this is NZF pushing for a scrap with those SOE’s weho are turning their backs on the local services market that we all pay for as taxpayers, of all these publicly owned SOE’s.
Time will tell if our challenge to Shane on (13) to return our rail service as another bad example of yet another “SOE “neglected” public regional service?.
Air NZ is not a SOE, the govt is a majority shareholder and has some representatives on the board. It is listed company on the stock exchange so they have a responsibility to all shareholders to be profitable.
I would say that operating a regional service would be very expensive as you can only use small planes and they would spreading the cost over less punters and if it is poorly used then it would end up costing money.
Rail in NZ has been poorly run for years and years and we have lost many opportunities to have a regional rail service, but the questions comes down to cost again, servicing a small community with rail or for that matter flights who pays.
Does it mean increased rates or taxes to cover the infrastructure costs as it would take a lot of passengers to make it break even. Lets say I live in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch should I have to pay for a regional train service that I would never use.
I dont know the answer but I would prefer to see rail in the regions be for cargo mainly and remove trucks from the roads and then the cost is paid by those using it.
The answer is that significant ongoing state investment in public infrastructure, utilities and services creates an environment in which people and business can flourish, not least because of the certainty it provides.
Hi
great to see you back, always enjoy your contributions.
In todays environment that has a cost and the money has to come from somewhere to fund it which would be above and beyond current spending.
To have a full regional rail network, that opportunity was lost long ago when they closed them, it would require considerable investment and would it be used to justify the spending.
Looking at Air NZ I am sure they wouldn’t close a regular service if it was making a profit I don’t think they should be forced to keep them going if they are losing money as that has other risks.
And herein lies the problem, with essential natural monopoly services, being used as profit taking business
100% KIT.
So profit & money is considered before the cost to the environment or our health.
We will suffer because of the loss in safe transport be it air or rail passenger services as trucks increase road use at 6% a year (NZTA) figures.
Now our windy narrow fraile regional roads are falling apart and we see these PPP beginning to use our former SOE’s as cash cows by squeezing every dollar of profit out while the ratepayer is left to foot the road repairs and propping up air transport.
Also we will suffer health effects of climate change increased air pollution, and airborne diseases from warmer hot air mass and circulation under high winds and dust conditions but our public health cost will also increase at the same time so again the taxpayer is left to prop up these so called business ventures.
“You can’t get blood out of a stone” a fitting term.
In todays environment that has a cost
It’s called “investment”, as per my previous comment.
Facebook is going to do everything that Cambridge Analytica did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2gy2j5pz20
It’s time to regulate Facebook, and all the rest of them.
https://thestandard.org.nz/break-up-social-media-itself/
I’m looking for an alternative social media site. Looking at gnu social, but so far it looks to be inhabited by many news bots.
I guess we’ll find out just how truly vile this man is.
https://twitter.com/johnstempinNPR/status/975918219209986050
Stay the fuck away.