Chris Hedges: The Imminent Extradition of Julian Assange
& the Death of Journalism
"Julian Assange’s legal options have nearly run out. He could be extradited to the U.S. this week. Should he be convicted, reporting on the inner workings of power will become a crime"
Notice RNZ, The Guardian, BBC, Washington Post…infact all liberal media barely cover Assange….because as we know, they are all guard dogs of Western Hegemony..all in for every single Western intervention and war. or power play…the only questions they will ask power is how high should they jump, Sir…but only after they get up off their knees from licking the boots of power.
“a slow motion execution” indeed. Deeply disturbing stuff whether you support Mr Assange personally or not. I support him as a fellow human, flawed but gave it a damn good shot at “sticking it to the man”. Wikileaks did well on TPPA as well, exposing all those MFAT tossers.
It is a brutal world out there for dissenters re US Imperialism and capitalist hegemony, as we well know in NZ with Nicky Hager’s illegal harassment by the authorities for exposing the inner workings of the ruling class and Military.
Whatever the odds, for those with a class left world view–keep fighting till “the last general is strangled with the innards of the last banker”…
@Tiger Mountain…"whether you support Mr Assange personally or not. I support him as a fellow human, flawed…" yeah I don't really go along with that, it is just a fact that there was a concerted effort to discredit Assange by pretty much all Western MSM, it was a very successful project, because as we know, many of our fellow citizens just take what is fed to them by their 'trusted' news source at face value…I am sure he is 'flawed', but really why should that concern us?
I guess what I am trying to say, is that we shouldn't have to preface out defense of Assange with the usual, he might be this or that, but…..the share scope and scale of what he has done in exposing the inner working of power and more, makes anything he might have done, even if it where true, which they were not..pale into insignificance imo.
I mean it is without a doubt that a shit load more debate and time has given to the allegations against Assange about the two girls, than has been for the 12 innocent humans cut to pieces by a rouge crew of US killers in a gunship over Baghdad on the 12 July 2007…both on this site and in the media…that, my friend, is how successful MSM propaganda is…right there.
And of course I agree completely with your comment.
One of the more egregious examples of successful msm propaganda campaigns…swallowed by a disturbingly large number of left wing organs/people..
Was obama's demonization/execution of gaddaffi…
Gaddaffi was no angel…but there are/were many more much worse..
And one good thing gaddaffi did with all his oil money…was to care for his people..
Libya was about the most secular arab country..
Libyans enjoyed universal free health/dental care…free childcare..free education to post graduate level.. subsidized housing..
And newly married couples were given us$40,000..to help them get started..
And women had full equality of access to education/professions etc..
Wouldn't it be great if we had all that in nz…?
Obama turned that into the fundamentalist hell-hole it is now..
And when those war drums were beating I remember receiving serious opposition in this forum..as I argued against that msm war-mongering consensus building..
I wonder if any of those who drank that msm kool-ade..have rethought their stances back when..?
"The fact is that Obama is an unindicted war-criminal" as is every POTUS since WW2… there is good reason why the USA is seen as the biggest threat to world peace in the world….because they are!
People Worldwide Name US as a Major Threat to World Peace. Here’s Why.
All inevitable when Congress decided to make legal, after the fact, previous "illegal spying" of Americans. Thus US government can now just cite security reasons for continuance of the "practice", confident that this is now all pretty legal.
POTUS Obama said the era of illegal spying as over, as if they know longer do it, confident if anyone did leak anything, MSM would not publish it (be seen as on side with security imperatives).
Thus the refugee status of Snowden, management of whistle blowers and the hunting of Assange (claim of the right to have those who publish/report abroad held accountable), management of non mainstream news media.
"The USA is obscenely vindictive"…you got that one right, look at their treatment of Cuba, Afghanistan, Venezuela to name just a few…and the MSM just go right along with it…soon or probably already the Liberal media will be wringing it's hands about the plight of Afghanistan Woman, all the while running cover for the US who made sure through their outrageous theft of Afghan assets, that the most radical elements of the Taliban would surely take power.
It now appears the govt has not been acting in good faith, in its liaison with the Race Relations Commissioner.
Foon said he received a call from the secretary for justice, Andrew Kibblewhite, on Friday morning, telling him that the minister would be in touch to discuss his future as the race relations commissioner.
Later on Friday, Russell issued a statement via the prime minister’s office, saying he had resigned. Foon said she hadn’t contacted him.
Hipkins said Russell had written to Foon at some point, saying she was accepting his resignation.
So she accepted his resignation on Friday despite him emailing the PM of his intention to resign on Sunday – which he then didn't do due to her decision on Friday to pre-empt him. Nor did she contact him as per the justice secretary's promise. Looks bad.
The PM has taken refuge in a revolutionary new legal doctrine invented by govt lawyers: something actually happens when someone predicts it, not when it does. He has faith in them, believes they got that right. I wonder why?
Meen Foon has got the pip and thinks he was snaked by the minister. He's going to be as bloody minded and do as much performative confusion around the resignation process as possible.
The question is whether or not Deborah Russell followed the process or was sloppy.
Everyone says Meng Foon was an excellent race relations commissioner, but he was a bit fast and loose with conflicts of interest in a way that often trips people up in public office. A pity.
Some in public life are more onto it–such as ex FNDC and current Supercity Auckland Council Mayor Brown.
One of his first acts as Chair of Auckland DHB was to suspend Standing Orders regarding Board Members conflicts of interest! (described in a long Metro magazine article at the time).
The 40th anniversary of Rogernomics/Ruthanasia is next year, and some of the squiggling around among the Public/administrative sector seems a direct result of our embedded neo liberal state. Personal shareholding and business interests are good! Penetration of public infrastructure and services by private capital is good! All good–ok?–for some…
Meng Foon claims he filed a full list of his interests in 2019, but that 40% of his declaration was somehow deleted between his filing and government records. He also said he contributed roughly equal amounts to both National and Labour electorate candidates. I remember him discussing his family's balanced electoral donations from that excellent doco on him TS listed before.
Meng Foon reckons there was no meeting with the government to sit down and sort out what actually happened. Bad process. The hasty media leakage supports the idea there are muck-raking saboteurs somewhere in the Labour camp. Or audio bugs in Ministers' offices. Otherwise that meeting would have taken place before hitting headlines.
Who gives a damn what he said he did and didn’t do.
We know he emailed the prime minister on Friday (late morning) and said he had resigned effective from Sunday. We know this is true because the PM read the email out at his Monday Press conference. Anyone with half a brain knows what that means. He had resigned.
Come Sunday Foon changes his mind and says he hasn't resigned. He comes up with some claim that he didn't tell the PM or anyone else he had resigned.
The Nat/Act ensemble of clowns – with a lot of help from ZB journos in particular – are using the situation to contend that the government is playing silly buggers.
We can see who is playing silly buggers alright – the former Race Relations Conciliator, Meng Foon.
Depends how serious he is, I suspect. That may hinge on how much he regards the threat to his reputation from govt misrepresentation (his view of that). The evidence shows that he never carried out his intention to resign on Sunday.
Since Trump, of course, truthiness has been trendy political behaviour. I don't blame the govt succumbing to that lure – one must keep up with the times. Smoke & mirrors often work well in deluding voters.
I don't expect National or ACT to be able to figure out where the truth lies in this kerfuffle, but you never know. They may suss it out eventually…
Well let's not be unrealistic about what is going on here. The John Key class can ruin any number of productive businesses with private equity firm buyouts and and throw thousands out of work while they do so and end up with Knighthoods and business schools named after them because thjat is "legal" and "legitimate".
Some dude like Meng Foon can try and help to make a difference and if in the process he makes an enemy of the corporate media's funders then the muck rackers will ensure he'll be tripped up over something as literally small as a pair of underpants (just ask Tuku Morgan).
To put it another way, the law is the dominant form within the state of the dominant ideology. The ruling norms, as encoded in law, are constituted and enforced by political violence – something Meng Foon has found out the hard way. The Right understands that whether or not you have broken the law is partly a matter of superior force.
Nonetheless, Foon should have been aware of the nature of political violence that would be directed at him and acted accordingly. He's every right to be annoyed. He knows the real score. But being publically bitter about it is just self-harm at this point in time.
I agree Meng Foon was a genuine person wanting to make things better for those NZers at the bottom of the heap, and in particular to call out racism whenever he saw it. I expect he was a target of racism himself.
But he's been around the public traps for many years. He should have known you must do everything by the book. He claims he did, but it looks like he took a slack approach to his declarations of pecuniary interests and now he wonders why he is singled out for punishment.
He not only let himself down, but he let the government of the day down too.
The PM has taken refuge in a revolutionary new legal doctrine invented by govt lawyers: something actually happens when someone predicts it, not when it does. He has faith in them, believes they got that right. I wonder why?
Perhaps the new legal doctrine has a link to the rot of common decency and care to treat Govt appointees that seems to occur in longer serving Governments. This kind of legal doctrine may caste a pall over how appointees are treated and inevitably stop the kind of free & frank decsions, ideas that come from the office of some appointees. No matter if Meng Foon and/or Govt has tied themselves in knots about CoI policies it does not derogate from the simple huamn virtue of treating another person with decency/dignity.
Some might call it arrogance but I don't think it is that simple an explanation. It is a mix of 'don't care', 'turbulent priests' (ie a dimishing ability to let a person do their job even if controversial), can't be bothered and the diminshing numbers,as a Govt gets older, of people who could influence on procedure/niceties close to those making a decision.
Emotional intel has been trending since the '90s so we can reasonably expect folks to be increasingly aware of the stuff you mention. Remains to be seen how much of a jaundiced view of Labour this controversy produces amongst floating voters.
However there's an upside to their endorsement of the revolutionary new legal doctrine: they can use it as a campaign tool.
"Look, all we need to do to prevent climate change is for the PM to predict that we will defeat it. According to our new legal doctrine, that defeat will occur at the press conference the instant the PM issues his prediction."
Hipkins would get an instant reputation as a political wizard, his poll ratings would shoot up in response to his wizardry. Legal doctrine is powerful magic.
Yes I forsee a future for this new legal doctrine of being held to a decision when you didn't intend or realise you were making a decision. Harking back it has a ring of a Claytons decision (oldies will pick up this reference)
It will be superbly useful when used in conjunction with those devices to track brain waves/thoughts/speech patterns…but that is somewhere in the future.
In court cases Judges could be quick decision makers just on hearing one side perhaps, or when a person makes a mistake it would be a decision whether just or right.
I foresee a great use of the East Coast eyebrow waggle/affirmation, backward nod, appropriate because that is where Meng Foon is from, to signify that you have made a decision. To capture this though we would all have to wear chest cameras like the police so our waggles could be recorded.
Like the 'what is a woman' question and the quote from the Minister in a Labour Govt I used to work for, it is a bad look in politics when your actions cause others to laugh at you. Pity for the women and Meng Foon who are unwitting casualties in this laughter.
Erasing women and erasing homosexuality. "Style Guides" and policy capture.
"I’m quite convinced that much of this is taking place with the best of intentions, but it is clear that the murder of a gay man in London in 1972 and subsequent police mishandling of the case is being used fifty years later to advance a political agenda by regarding him as a woman for all purposes, because he wore women’s clothes and sometimes used the name “Michelle”. The context in which all of this took place, the endemic and institutional homophobia in England in the 70s, are all lost in this unilateral repurposing of a pivotal case to service a modern agenda. The entire page has been unsexed, with references to homosexuality incrementally erased to pave the way for alternative interpretations of Maxwell’s “gender identity”. Two days ago a photo was added with the caption “The victim, presenting as female”."
The public space lives of gay men of those times involved the late night clubs and the street. That not transvestites were gay men or transgender just adds to the problem of accuracy of narrative about any particular case.
While two men could have legal consorting alone together in privately owned property from 1967 (in the UK), this was not the case in public (and those under 21). Thus the resort to transvestite practice in public life, especially by those more obviously gay.
Migrant living in garage, working illegally after paying thousands for work visa
He said employers take advantage of him knowing that he was working illegally, and the lowest he had been paid was $18 per hour.
the exploitation was happening in many sectors, including construction, hospitality and aged care and involved workers from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and South America.
I'm kinda bemused by this. I do have some sympathy for this guy, but how did he (and the others ) come to be here without definitely solid jobs?
Would that not be part of the visa application….in NZ ? IMO If not, should be.
As…apart from helping to drive down …our hard fought NZ living wage and work conditions , he says lowest (illegal !) work $18. There are unscrupulous people only too keen to take advantage.
Maybe the Nacts should be jumping up and down about unscrupulous employers? Like that would ever happen.
As to Nact, having a pool of literally desperate people, is the future dream.
Well….Do you think its just one? A handful?. IMO there are many more being abused by unscrupulous employers throughout NZ.
Dozens of migrant workers are being exploited by Queenstown employers who are not meeting the minimum conditions required by their visas, the Queenstown Citizens Advice Bureau says.
Connie, who obtained temporary residency after working in New Zealand for five years, said migrant workers, particularly those from the developing world, were seen as cheap labour and treated more like a commodity, rather than as people.
Queenstown Housing Initiative co-founder Hannah Sullivan said the problems were compounded in Queenstown where housing was desperately short and migrant workers accommodation was also often linked to their employer.
"Right now people are being exploited, because it's better than what they can go back to," Sullivan said.
More than half of those in touch with the initiative were migrant workers, she said.
There is never only one cockroach.
The gossip on Chinese social media is that the Albany restaurant assaultee has also had his visa cancelled by his bonded employer. Not that that is an excuse for violence but it desperate people do desperate things.
We had a visit from one of our grand-children over the weekend. She came down from Auckland for a visit. On Sunday she decided that she was going to buy a Lotto ticket. She had worked out a plan to do some good with the $26 million prize in the unlikely event that she won it.
She is only 19 so she still has all the illusions of youth. Things like voting Green because she thinks their policies are sensible. She thinks the tax policy is a great idea.
Anyway I got her to explain what she would do with $26 million in a Green Party tax environment. After she had ben puzzling over it for a little while she went rather quiet and got me to check her numbers.
Her proposal was to spend $2 million on a house in Auckland. In the innocence of youth she thought that that would provide her with everything she could possibly want. The other $24 million would go into 3 year term TDs, providing an income of $1.2 million (at 5%) before tax each year. She would take $100k / year to live on and give away the rest.
Then she worked out what her after tax income would be. Income tax on the $1.2 million would be $512,950. The wealth tax would be $600,000 for a total of $1,112,950. She wouldn't even have left enough for the $100 k she wanted to live on.
I'm not so sure now that she thinks the Green tax policy is quite such a good idea.
She should ask another "grandparent" for advice how to manage that circumstance.
1. She could set up charitable trusts and or
2. Place the capital in growth assets (stocks and property). The dividends and rent income to live off and borrow against the increasing value of the asset to meet wealth tax requirements.
Never, ever, buy shares in an airline. They have enormous social benefits to society but no-one has ever been able to make a profitable business out of one.
Never, ever, buy shares in an airline. They have enormous social benefits to society but no-one has ever been able to make a profitable business out of one.
Well yes, quite – a bit like farming – where would businesses be without 'handouts'.
Still, while airline and farm profitability remains fragile, it's not all doom & gloom.
I'm intrigues that you would mislead your granddaughter Alwyn (not so intrigued that you would mislead us, that's just boring at this point).
If she has $24m, and gets $1.2m in interest/income off that per annum, she would as you say have to pay $600,000 in wealth tax and $512,000 in income tax per year, a total of $1,112,000 annually (I'm rounding). That leaves her with $24,000,000 in assets and $88,000 in income per year.
The money she wants to 'give away', has been given to the government to contribute to the lifting everyone out of poverty. I assume she approves of this given she supports the wealth tax.
She can also do other things with the $24,000,000 after she buys a house, like start a business that generates additional income. Or set up a not for profit and put the ownership into a charitable trust. Or buy a couple of houses and rent them out to give herself the additional income she wants.
She has a lot of options. You make it sound like she doesn't and she will end up with hardly any money, why would you mislead her in that way?
Incognito I am surprised that the Green Party didn't track France's Capital Tax and its complete reversal. Here's a review of its effects, and the effects of its reversal, from 2022.
There was plenty of capital flight. And of course if New Zealand ever generated a capital tax system substantially greater than Australia's, that's where our capital flight would go.
Capital is way, way more mobile than labour or land or even technology
You won't get any warnings. They just make their decision and it's done.
Sorry about that I have a sub and I forgot about the problem you would have. That was the easiest explanation unfortunately.
As far as I am aware there is no longer any general wealth tax.
There is a tax on land and buildings but nothing else. You have to have more than 1.3 million Euros and the maximum rate is 1.5% on property over 10 million Euros.
There are quite a lot of deductions and reductions in the value assessed. There is also a limit on the percentage of your income that can be charged as tax. It is a great deal less than the roughly 95% the Green Party are proposing.
Here is another explanation. I hope you can read it. It isn't quite as good as the first but you should get the gist of it.
Looks like it is a progressive wealth tax with 6 tax bands and the tax starts at €800,001. Interestingly, it looks like the family home is included. Also, it appears to be based on households, not individuals.
It is a great deal less than the roughly 95% the Green Party are proposing.
I have no idea how you ascertained this and I assume you made it up. If not, I’d like to see your detailed analysis.
"I have no idea how you ascertained this and I assume you made it up. If not, I’d like to see your detailed analysis."
It doesn't need any detailed analysis. The statement is made in the link I have provided. It states.
"The wealth tax ceiling (plafonnement ISF) limits total French and foreign taxes to 75% of income."
As I noted in the original comment on what my grand-daughter found the total of wealth and and income tax, could reach almost 95% of income. If her dream of winning Lotto came true it would be about 93% but if you had even more money it could be even more.
I see, your carefully constructed highly artificial imaginary fairy-tale to spin your narrative that the Green proposal is bad for people who might win the Jackpot + Powerball.
This reminds me what a waste of space & time most of your comments here are.
For your information it was not imaginary, it was not artificial. It was precisely what she did. Still, I don't think you would ever accept that so why should we bother to debate.
Of course the French in assessing the 75% of income, include CG as income.
A system that allows determination of wealth tax liability until sale of property, or ultimately as a form of estate tax (as we also allow for unpaid rates) means tax paid is way less than 75% of income.
If she starts a business she won't have the $24 million any more. She will, instead, have a business that she will have to run. She will tell you, quite reasonably, that she doesn't know how to run a business at this stage in her life.
She also would still have to find, from the business, money to pay the wealth tax. If the business wasn't profitable in any given year she would still have to find the money and it is a great deal harder to sell off a part of a small business than it is to not renew a TD.
She doesn't really want to be a landlord either. Would you when there a proposals to control what rent a private landlord can charge have been floated? Then what is she going to do if she happens to get a really bad tenant who is very difficult to evict.
I think I could readily persuade her that TDs, in this era of inflation is not a good idea and shares would be better but not that the wealth tax is a great idea.
Luckily of course I won't have to worry. Her chances of winning are quite negligible.
Return on invested remainder (amount adjusted per annum): 5%
Wealth tax 2.5% on wealth above 2m
Income tax – using new, higher green-proposed rates including 45% top rate
She can spend 100k per annum for the next 45 years and at the end will have $1.4m and the house remaining without debt. Not a bad situation, without earning any income or having to work at all! And all from money not earned the hard way in the first place (similar to inheriting a stash). Compared to current situation of many people not able to afford basic housing, food or dental care.
Giving stuff away? Sounds great, guess what the higher tax rates do – they give stuff away, but without allowing the wealthy to choose not to give, or to only give to art galleries etc.
Giving stuff away? Sounds great, guess what the higher tax rates do – they give stuff away, but without allowing the wealthy to choose not to give, or to only give to art galleries etc.
or in two cases I know of in Wellington that don't support the point you are making but are none the less common
1) the funding of the SPCA new premises/Op ex in Wellington. SPCA has outreach and low cost programmes to help people on low incomes to keep their pets healthy and spayed/neutered.
2) the funding of ambulances so Wellington can maintain its Free Ambulance Service. (people on low incomes should not have to worry that their urgent trip to hospital is going to be charged to them.
Then we have other people, some not mega rich who give to groups via funds such as the Nikau Foundation.
I believe that ensuring we lift the incomes of our poorest citizens is definitely a Govt action. It should be out there in the open that we are adopring a whole of Govt approach to this with funds allocated every year to mee the needs.
If this wealth tax is to be adopted, and I am hoping it will not in its current form then the
1)family home should be exempted
2) kiwisaver funds built up from individual tax paid funds should be exempted.
3) it should look at way points such as sale or death to ensure funds are allocated to the Govt at these times arther than on a yearly basis
4) The increased tax rates are fine and don't need to be tied to a wealth tax..
Ambulances shouldn't be charity, they should be a core fully-funded public service. SPCA could also receive public funding.
Leaving these things to the whims of the wealthy isn't a great idea – they often choose the super yacht instead. Hence the need for a fair tax system, that doesn't allow the majority of wealth to pay little tax.
The tax system put out by the Greens with its raised top levels is absolutely fine.
Private donations can make the difference between something being done or not at all. I'm well in support of the encouragement of private donations.
These donations to organisations such as the Nikau Foundation where funds from several donors are worked together often would be as much and have far more bang to bucks than the equivalent tax on so-called wealth.
If you add a famiily home and Kiwisaver deductions saved in individual tax paid funds since 2007 (when KS started) and not drawn down yet could get to over $2m without too much trouble.
In the Post today 20/6/23 there is a paywalled article setting out the NZ Law Society's view that
The Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa has given the Government a ticking off over draft laws based on the purported principle that capital gains taxes are a non-political “universally accepted” principle of tax policy.
The Government is seeking to pass the Taxation Principles Reporting Bill, which is designed to “increase the availability of information” about the tax system…………
PM Ardern wisely pulled back on this concept. Ways to ensure compliance with tax regimes for those with incomes subject to the highest brackets need much more thought than has been given so far. Many of those subject to the possible wealth tax, especially those with a home and KS would not be be paying tax currently at the highest rates by any means.
If you add a famiily home and Kiwisaver deductions saved in individual tax paid funds since 2007 (when KS started) and not drawn down yet could get to over $2m without too much trouble.
Perhaps, but even so, there is the option to defer payment of the wealth tax until such time the house is sold.
You appear to be arguing that people who happen to live in a certain area and who happened to buy their house at a certain time, are entitled to keep all the wealth that has accrued from the runaway property market that is now the major driver of poverty in NZ. Whereas the socialists in the room see that as wealth that comes a great cost to others.
The Greens' plan is to get everyone out of poverty. They're the only party I'm aware of that has this goal, and has a plan for how to do it. And yes, that means we have to look at new ways of sharing wealth.
Charity can be fine, but shouldn't be a substitute for public spending. The wealthy in particular prefer the use of charity rather than state spending.
Looking at the Nikau foundation as an example – they gave about $1m to projects in their last reporting year. If NZ's richest man paid tax at the same rate as a factory worker – the state would have available 200x more than the Nikau grants, from a single person. There isn't enough charity in the world to compensate for extreme inequality.
Why don't you look some time at what happens in Australia when people reach 65. The Super from the State is means, and income, tested. I'll give the numbers for a couple who own their own home. The family home is not counted in the asset test. If you have other assets totaling less than $420k you get the full amount which is about $42k/year. If you have assets of more than $950k you get NOTHING.
What people do at that age and with assets of less than about $2 million do is to do up their existing house, or buy a bigger one and also blow their excess money touring the world. Covid may have limited this but it didn't stop it.
If we, God forbid, follow the path the Green Party are pushing for but we exclude the family home people will do exactly the same thing here. Why not have a mansion, which you might enjoy, rather than put up with tax rates on your savings that approach 100%?
I do not fully subscribe to Mao Zedong's saying that “there is great disorder under heaven; the situation is excellent”. But I am of the view that to face the environmental, political and equity challenges of our age we cannot rely on the institutional and social structures which created those challenges.
My reading of history is that disintegration of trust in the old order is an essential prerequisite to substantive change in how human societies work.
He shows us no way forward though. Blind faith in those who wear suits has been on the ebb most of my life. Almost all major social problems have been created & compounded by suit-wearers during the past century. If he were part of the solution he'd show up at board meetings not wearing a suit, right? Authenticity.
The best article I've seen on the topic, a direct interview with those who produced and apply the weighting factors.
'Bliss [surgical services manager] says it varies from service to service. “Take neurosurgery for instance, clinical priority and days waiting absolutely take precedence over everything else,” he says. But when it comes to low-end routine surgeries Bliss says if the proportion of Māori and Pasifika on the waitlist exceeds their population percentage then a higher weighting is given to ethnicity.
Clinical need is still the first consideration, however.'
Ignores all questions, all evidence, simply repeats stock answer. Pathetic.
Luxon is more repetitious than the average Kiwi politician – similar in interviews to John Banks (as a Nat MP, Auckland's mayor, and particularly as leader of ACT.)
The Govt blew it up and it actually killed it itself.
The Govt came out and actually said they’re going to kill off a fifth of our sheep and beef farmers within 7 years… [hard to believe that our Govt actually said this, but we know what Luxon said – can't trust him]
It’s because the Govt’s blown up consensus and blown up the whole proposal…
And the Govt went and blew it all up…
Is your agricultural spokesman correct in saying that it’s dead, or not?
The He Waka Eke Noa proposal, as it was presented by the industry, and then it was extended by the Govt and, and they they blew it up and they killed it, and so it is dead…
We’re saying we’re deeply committed to agricultural emissions…
But what I can tell you is really unhelpful, Laura, is that the Govt came out, after the industry spent two years trying to get to a place where it could/felt it had quite a leading edge position on how to navigate agricultural emissions. The Govt said ‘Thank-you very much’, went off and blew it up and said ‘We’re going to knock off a fifth of you within 7 years.’
So this is what passes for Climate Action in the National party – being deeply committed to ‘navigating’ agricultural emissions – dullards.
Maybe former Air NZ CEO Luxon will throw his hat in the ring for the next supercity mayoral race – that’s if there are any city assets left to sell.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons supports the Equity Adjustor Score introduced by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand to reduce inequity in the health system. Read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/467HHiB
I still have a modest proposal available to any right wingers complaining about including ethnicity as one if the criteria for judging surgery priority to swiftly bring equality and perhaps even solve some of our housing issues to boot!
When a Labour MP is referred to the Privileges Committee it is the end of days, the apocalypse. See umpteen frothing columns (and a few comments on TS too!). Resign!
Now an ACT MP has been referred to the same Privileges Committee. Look forward to the same pundit wisdom telling us Seymour has lost his "mojo", ACT are falling apart, etc, etc. Resign!
Hi there Morrissey…good to you here see on TS, I haven't been on much myself lately…got banned for some reason I forget right now, but I am sure it was important to someone at the time, so anyway thought that was a good enough reason to take a longer break…but back on now…look forward to following your comments pal.
It's a pleasure to see you again, Adrian. By the way, that comment of mine was originally a reply to your comment on a thread about that laughable "scandal" at RNZ. Considering the fact that Max Blumenthal’s comments are directly concerned with the topic of the thread, I'm sure that I'm not the only person who would be astonished at the judgement of "a moderator" that it was "off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in."
Tried wading through the content you posted, but gave up after a couple of minutes.
'Founded…by Max Blumenthal, The Gray Zone is a far-left news and opinion website that produces long-form journalism…Blumenthal is a writing fellow of the Nation Institute…who is a regular contributor to the Russian news sites, RT and Sputnik..” ' https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-grayzone/
Their content in the clip appears to be anti-US policy in Ukraine. Flicking through other videos at The GrayZone, I see they spend a whole episode on Pussy Riot to take them down, and also attack Ocasio-Cortez for criticising Trump's appearance on the CNN town hall. So looks like Grayzone support both Putin and Trump. Far-left?
You do understand you can both be anti US proxy war in Ukraine and neither support or like Putin and also point out Cortez's and the Democrat's and their supporting media (sadly including RNZ) outrageous double standards/hypocrisy on anything to do with Trump and not support him…right…I mean seriously,,you do understand that don't you?
You didn't try very hard. Or does that constitute serious study for you?
… appears to be anti-US policy in Ukraine…
You got that right, at least. Do you actually support the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine?
they spend a whole episode on Pussy Riot to take them down…
I think the word you are looking for is "critique"; the Gray Zone is a serious and rigorous journalism site. You should spend more than a couple of minutes on it one of these days and decide for yourself.
So looks like Grayzone support both Putin and Trump.
No, they support neither, as you would know if you read/watched them for more than a couple of minutes. They're journalists—real journalists, not like those parrots on RNZ National and TVNZ that you take your talking points from.
Far-left?
You're just throwing around a label as a term of abuse. What do you mean by "far left"?
So has anyone else noticed the public service are pulling back from assisting this government in legislative drafting with bills in Select Committee or close to it?
I know Sir Geoffrey Palmer complained strongly last week about officials gaming and re-drafting the 3-waters legislation well beyond their ambit, but I'm aware of officials doing the same on another one as well.
Another case of a predatory child sex offending man with a case of "prison onset gender dysphoria" showered with female pronouns and referred to a a 'woman".
#not our crimes.
"A prisoner who claimed she was unfairly punished by being put in segregation because she formed romantic relationships with other inmates has lost her bid for judicial review.
From the article,I got that a man who was imprisoned for predatory sexual behaviour on young boys is in preventative detention, ie, probably won't be leaving prison for a while. He transitions to trans woman status (before self-id), and moves to a womens' prison in South Auckland.
They then become a nuisance by developing intimate relationships with women, after which they are moved into solitary on 4 occasions, before being moved back to a mens' prison.
Sounds like a sexual predator abusing the system to me, and the system has caught the behaviour and shut it down. Some long-term prisoners in the UK will convert to Islam inside, because it gets you get better food and time out for daily prayer. They often stop behaving as Muslim on being freed. People can abuse the system to their benefit. Doesn't mean the system is wrong in protecting a prisoner’s right to freedom of religion or gender expression.
You have missed one of the current rallying cries/concerns that women have mentioned by Visubversa.
#not our crimes.
The crimes of this penis haver or male puberty passers and others like him will now be counted as female crimes just as the sporting records won by penis havers or male puberty passers in womens races will be classed as womens records.
I guess that is all fine and dandy in the world we have nowdays where biology can be overtaken by wishful thinking.
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. 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 economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – 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 ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
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 ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
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 Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
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 ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
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 ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
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Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Chris Hedges: The Imminent Extradition of Julian Assange
& the Death of Journalism
"Julian Assange’s legal options have nearly run out. He could be extradited to the U.S. this week. Should he be convicted, reporting on the inner workings of power will become a crime"
Notice RNZ, The Guardian, BBC, Washington Post…infact all liberal media barely cover Assange….because as we know, they are all guard dogs of Western Hegemony..all in for every single Western intervention and war. or power play…the only questions they will ask power is how high should they jump, Sir…but only after they get up off their knees from licking the boots of power.
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/06/19/chris-hedges-the-imminent-extradition-of-julian-assange-the-death-of-journalism/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=2fe114be-83dd-4d19-8bc0-cfd9281c3bcb
Chomsky pretty much unpacks MSM in this one short clip…yeah I know we have all seen it,but it is well worth re-watching every know and again….
“a slow motion execution” indeed. Deeply disturbing stuff whether you support Mr Assange personally or not. I support him as a fellow human, flawed but gave it a damn good shot at “sticking it to the man”. Wikileaks did well on TPPA as well, exposing all those MFAT tossers.
It is a brutal world out there for dissenters re US Imperialism and capitalist hegemony, as we well know in NZ with Nicky Hager’s illegal harassment by the authorities for exposing the inner workings of the ruling class and Military.
Whatever the odds, for those with a class left world view–keep fighting till “the last general is strangled with the innards of the last banker”…
This got held in spam, maybe check spelling in name and email
It is because of what's in Pre-Mod
thanks, fixed now. Didn't realise it did that.
No worries. It does actually explain it above the editor box, so I thought it was deliberate, for some reason …
When I saw another pending comment this morning, it did puzzle me for a few seconds because I couldn’t find anything wrong with it 😉
@Tiger Mountain…"whether you support Mr Assange personally or not. I support him as a fellow human, flawed…" yeah I don't really go along with that, it is just a fact that there was a concerted effort to discredit Assange by pretty much all Western MSM, it was a very successful project, because as we know, many of our fellow citizens just take what is fed to them by their 'trusted' news source at face value…I am sure he is 'flawed', but really why should that concern us?
I guess what I am trying to say, is that we shouldn't have to preface out defense of Assange with the usual, he might be this or that, but…..the share scope and scale of what he has done in exposing the inner working of power and more, makes anything he might have done, even if it where true, which they were not..pale into insignificance imo.
I mean it is without a doubt that a shit load more debate and time has given to the allegations against Assange about the two girls, than has been for the 12 innocent humans cut to pieces by a rouge crew of US killers in a gunship over Baghdad on the 12 July 2007…both on this site and in the media…that, my friend, is how successful MSM propaganda is…right there.
And of course I agree completely with your comment.
Fair point Adrian, simple as that. A qualification was not needed.
The Chris Hedges piece was powerful indeed.
Roger that Tiger Mountain.
One of the more egregious examples of successful msm propaganda campaigns…swallowed by a disturbingly large number of left wing organs/people..
Was obama's demonization/execution of gaddaffi…
Gaddaffi was no angel…but there are/were many more much worse..
And one good thing gaddaffi did with all his oil money…was to care for his people..
Libya was about the most secular arab country..
Libyans enjoyed universal free health/dental care…free childcare..free education to post graduate level.. subsidized housing..
And newly married couples were given us$40,000..to help them get started..
And women had full equality of access to education/professions etc..
Wouldn't it be great if we had all that in nz…?
Obama turned that into the fundamentalist hell-hole it is now..
And when those war drums were beating I remember receiving serious opposition in this forum..as I argued against that msm war-mongering consensus building..
I wonder if any of those who drank that msm kool-ade..have rethought their stances back when..?
The fact is that Obama is an unindicted war-criminal..
"The fact is that Obama is an unindicted war-criminal" as is every POTUS since WW2… there is good reason why the USA is seen as the biggest threat to world peace in the world….because they are!
People Worldwide Name US as a Major Threat to World Peace. Here’s Why.
https://truthout.org/articles/people-worldwide-name-us-as-a-major-threat-to-world-peace-heres-why/
And the twist in the tail of this one is that about the only good thing that can be said about trump… is that he didn't do that…
He didn't do an obama on anyone..
I would exempt jimmy carter from your wholesale denunciation of u.s. presidents…
Would that we had more like him..
All inevitable when Congress decided to make legal, after the fact, previous "illegal spying" of Americans. Thus US government can now just cite security reasons for continuance of the "practice", confident that this is now all pretty legal.
POTUS Obama said the era of illegal spying as over, as if they know longer do it, confident if anyone did leak anything, MSM would not publish it (be seen as on side with security imperatives).
Thus the refugee status of Snowden, management of whistle blowers and the hunting of Assange (claim of the right to have those who publish/report abroad held accountable), management of non mainstream news media.
The USA is obscenely vindictive in it's prosecution of Assange. With the total complicity of the UK.
"The USA is obscenely vindictive"…you got that one right, look at their treatment of Cuba, Afghanistan, Venezuela to name just a few…and the MSM just go right along with it…soon or probably already the Liberal media will be wringing it's hands about the plight of Afghanistan Woman, all the while running cover for the US who made sure through their outrageous theft of Afghan assets, that the most radical elements of the Taliban would surely take power.
Biden releases $7bn in frozen Afghan funds to split between 9/11 families and aid
US freezes Afghan central bank’s assets of $9.5bn
It now appears the govt has not been acting in good faith, in its liaison with the Race Relations Commissioner.
So she accepted his resignation on Friday despite him emailing the PM of his intention to resign on Sunday – which he then didn't do due to her decision on Friday to pre-empt him. Nor did she contact him as per the justice secretary's promise. Looks bad.
The PM has taken refuge in a revolutionary new legal doctrine invented by govt lawyers: something actually happens when someone predicts it, not when it does. He has faith in them, believes they got that right. I wonder why?
Meen Foon has got the pip and thinks he was snaked by the minister. He's going to be as bloody minded and do as much performative confusion around the resignation process as possible.
The question is whether or not Deborah Russell followed the process or was sloppy.
Everyone says Meng Foon was an excellent race relations commissioner, but he was a bit fast and loose with conflicts of interest in a way that often trips people up in public office. A pity.
Some in public life are more onto it–such as ex FNDC and current Supercity Auckland Council Mayor Brown.
One of his first acts as Chair of Auckland DHB was to suspend Standing Orders regarding Board Members conflicts of interest! (described in a long Metro magazine article at the time).
The 40th anniversary of Rogernomics/Ruthanasia is next year, and some of the squiggling around among the Public/administrative sector seems a direct result of our embedded neo liberal state. Personal shareholding and business interests are good! Penetration of public infrastructure and services by private capital is good! All good–ok?–for some…
Meng Foon Monday on RNZ Checkpoint
Meng Foon claims he filed a full list of his interests in 2019, but that 40% of his declaration was somehow deleted between his filing and government records. He also said he contributed roughly equal amounts to both National and Labour electorate candidates. I remember him discussing his family's balanced electoral donations from that excellent doco on him TS listed before.
Meng Foon reckons there was no meeting with the government to sit down and sort out what actually happened. Bad process. The hasty media leakage supports the idea there are muck-raking saboteurs somewhere in the Labour camp. Or audio bugs in Ministers' offices. Otherwise that meeting would have taken place before hitting headlines.
Who gives a damn what he said he did and didn’t do.
We know he emailed the prime minister on Friday (late morning) and said he had resigned effective from Sunday. We know this is true because the PM read the email out at his Monday Press conference. Anyone with half a brain knows what that means. He had resigned.
Come Sunday Foon changes his mind and says he hasn't resigned. He comes up with some claim that he didn't tell the PM or anyone else he had resigned.
The Nat/Act ensemble of clowns – with a lot of help from ZB journos in particular – are using the situation to contend that the government is playing silly buggers.
We can see who is playing silly buggers alright – the former Race Relations Conciliator, Meng Foon.
Depends how serious he is, I suspect. That may hinge on how much he regards the threat to his reputation from govt misrepresentation (his view of that). The evidence shows that he never carried out his intention to resign on Sunday.
Since Trump, of course, truthiness has been trendy political behaviour. I don't blame the govt succumbing to that lure – one must keep up with the times. Smoke & mirrors often work well in deluding voters.
I don't expect National or ACT to be able to figure out where the truth lies in this kerfuffle, but you never know. They may suss it out eventually…
Well let's not be unrealistic about what is going on here. The John Key class can ruin any number of productive businesses with private equity firm buyouts and and throw thousands out of work while they do so and end up with Knighthoods and business schools named after them because thjat is "legal" and "legitimate".
Some dude like Meng Foon can try and help to make a difference and if in the process he makes an enemy of the corporate media's funders then the muck rackers will ensure he'll be tripped up over something as literally small as a pair of underpants (just ask Tuku Morgan).
To put it another way, the law is the dominant form within the state of the dominant ideology. The ruling norms, as encoded in law, are constituted and enforced by political violence – something Meng Foon has found out the hard way. The Right understands that whether or not you have broken the law is partly a matter of superior force.
Nonetheless, Foon should have been aware of the nature of political violence that would be directed at him and acted accordingly. He's every right to be annoyed. He knows the real score. But being publically bitter about it is just self-harm at this point in time.
I agree Meng Foon was a genuine person wanting to make things better for those NZers at the bottom of the heap, and in particular to call out racism whenever he saw it. I expect he was a target of racism himself.
But he's been around the public traps for many years. He should have known you must do everything by the book. He claims he did, but it looks like he took a slack approach to his declarations of pecuniary interests and now he wonders why he is singled out for punishment.
He not only let himself down, but he let the government of the day down too.
You…never…do…that…without…consequences.
Yep, you summed it up well Anne.
Perhaps the new legal doctrine has a link to the rot of common decency and care to treat Govt appointees that seems to occur in longer serving Governments. This kind of legal doctrine may caste a pall over how appointees are treated and inevitably stop the kind of free & frank decsions, ideas that come from the office of some appointees. No matter if Meng Foon and/or Govt has tied themselves in knots about CoI policies it does not derogate from the simple huamn virtue of treating another person with decency/dignity.
Some might call it arrogance but I don't think it is that simple an explanation. It is a mix of 'don't care', 'turbulent priests' (ie a dimishing ability to let a person do their job even if controversial), can't be bothered and the diminshing numbers,as a Govt gets older, of people who could influence on procedure/niceties close to those making a decision.
Emotional intel has been trending since the '90s so we can reasonably expect folks to be increasingly aware of the stuff you mention. Remains to be seen how much of a jaundiced view of Labour this controversy produces amongst floating voters.
However there's an upside to their endorsement of the revolutionary new legal doctrine: they can use it as a campaign tool.
"Look, all we need to do to prevent climate change is for the PM to predict that we will defeat it. According to our new legal doctrine, that defeat will occur at the press conference the instant the PM issues his prediction."
Hipkins would get an instant reputation as a political wizard, his poll ratings would shoot up in response to his wizardry. Legal doctrine is powerful magic.
Yes I forsee a future for this new legal doctrine of being held to a decision when you didn't intend or realise you were making a decision. Harking back it has a ring of a Claytons decision (oldies will pick up this reference)
It will be superbly useful when used in conjunction with those devices to track brain waves/thoughts/speech patterns…but that is somewhere in the future.
In court cases Judges could be quick decision makers just on hearing one side perhaps, or when a person makes a mistake it would be a decision whether just or right.
I foresee a great use of the East Coast eyebrow waggle/affirmation, backward nod, appropriate because that is where Meng Foon is from, to signify that you have made a decision. To capture this though we would all have to wear chest cameras like the police so our waggles could be recorded.
Like the 'what is a woman' question and the quote from the Minister in a Labour Govt I used to work for, it is a bad look in politics when your actions cause others to laugh at you. Pity for the women and Meng Foon who are unwitting casualties in this laughter.
Through his handling of Meng Foon, Hipkins has made it crystal clear what he is going to do with Michael Wood once the inquiry is released.
Michael Wood is Destination Fucked.
Erasing women and erasing homosexuality. "Style Guides" and policy capture.
"I’m quite convinced that much of this is taking place with the best of intentions, but it is clear that the murder of a gay man in London in 1972 and subsequent police mishandling of the case is being used fifty years later to advance a political agenda by regarding him as a woman for all purposes, because he wore women’s clothes and sometimes used the name “Michelle”. The context in which all of this took place, the endemic and institutional homophobia in England in the 70s, are all lost in this unilateral repurposing of a pivotal case to service a modern agenda. The entire page has been unsexed, with references to homosexuality incrementally erased to pave the way for alternative interpretations of Maxwell’s “gender identity”. Two days ago a photo was added with the caption “The victim, presenting as female”."
https://www.voidifremoved.co.uk/p/the-war-on-tenor
The public space lives of gay men of those times involved the late night clubs and the street. That not transvestites were gay men or transgender just adds to the problem of accuracy of narrative about any particular case.
While two men could have legal consorting alone together in privately owned property from 1967 (in the UK), this was not the case in public (and those under 21). Thus the resort to transvestite practice in public life, especially by those more obviously gay.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/23/fifty-years-gay-liberation-uk-barely-four-1967-act
I'm kinda bemused by this. I do have some sympathy for this guy, but how did he (and the others ) come to be here without definitely solid jobs?
Would that not be part of the visa application….in NZ ? IMO If not, should be.
As…apart from helping to drive down …our hard fought NZ living wage and work conditions , he says lowest (illegal !) work $18. There are unscrupulous people only too keen to take advantage.
Maybe the Nacts should be jumping up and down about unscrupulous employers? Like that would ever happen.
As to Nact, having a pool of literally desperate people, is the future dream.
IMO : our nightmare.
"How did how did he (and the others ) come to be here without definitely solid jobs?"
They did have jobs to come to, as stated in your linked article:
"Welldone Construction manager Jerry Zhang said the man did have a contract with the company and it knew his visa had been approved in January.
He said the agent Johnson Yang only told the firm this month that the worker had arrived and had been doing other jobs.
The company decided to cancel the man's visa."
He is a victim of an immigration scam
Well….Do you think its just one? A handful?. IMO there are many more being abused by unscrupulous employers throughout NZ.
There is never only one cockroach.
The gossip on Chinese social media is that the Albany restaurant assaultee has also had his visa cancelled by his bonded employer. Not that that is an excuse for violence but it desperate people do desperate things.
We had a visit from one of our grand-children over the weekend. She came down from Auckland for a visit. On Sunday she decided that she was going to buy a Lotto ticket. She had worked out a plan to do some good with the $26 million prize in the unlikely event that she won it.
She is only 19 so she still has all the illusions of youth. Things like voting Green because she thinks their policies are sensible. She thinks the tax policy is a great idea.
Anyway I got her to explain what she would do with $26 million in a Green Party tax environment. After she had ben puzzling over it for a little while she went rather quiet and got me to check her numbers.
Her proposal was to spend $2 million on a house in Auckland. In the innocence of youth she thought that that would provide her with everything she could possibly want. The other $24 million would go into 3 year term TDs, providing an income of $1.2 million (at 5%) before tax each year. She would take $100k / year to live on and give away the rest.
Then she worked out what her after tax income would be. Income tax on the $1.2 million would be $512,950. The wealth tax would be $600,000 for a total of $1,112,950. She wouldn't even have left enough for the $100 k she wanted to live on.
I'm not so sure now that she thinks the Green tax policy is quite such a good idea.
There would be nothing left to give away.
Wow what an uplifting story ! All true I'm sure. Did it warm your heart to crush this "grandchilds" "innocent" dream?
Hopefully once the visit finished…"she" remained untainted by your Grinch like advice.
If at all possible…..have a nice Day : )
She should ask another "grandparent" for advice how to manage that circumstance.
1. She could set up charitable trusts and or
2. Place the capital in growth assets (stocks and property). The dividends and rent income to live off and borrow against the increasing value of the asset to meet wealth tax requirements.
Just like that eh, how having $26 million becomes a burden and a problem.
Ahh, the trials and tribulations of hypothetical extreme wealth – we've all been there.
Your grand-daughter seems to have the right idea; it's a shame that not everyone is so generous with their 'burden'.
From a half-remembered Lotto ad:
The one to remember from remarks in that vein.
Q. How do you make a small fortune?
A. Start with a large fortune and buy an airline.
Never, ever, buy shares in an airline. They have enormous social benefits to society but no-one has ever been able to make a profitable business out of one.
Well yes, quite – a bit like farming – where would businesses be without 'handouts'.
Still, while airline and farm profitability remains fragile, it's not all doom & gloom.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/232513/net-profit-of-commercial-airlines-worldwide/
From 'interesting' times to turbulent times – up, up and awaaay we go!
I'm intrigues that you would mislead your granddaughter Alwyn (not so intrigued that you would mislead us, that's just boring at this point).
If she has $24m, and gets $1.2m in interest/income off that per annum, she would as you say have to pay $600,000 in wealth tax and $512,000 in income tax per year, a total of $1,112,000 annually (I'm rounding). That leaves her with $24,000,000 in assets and $88,000 in income per year.
The money she wants to 'give away', has been given to the government to contribute to the lifting everyone out of poverty. I assume she approves of this given she supports the wealth tax.
She can also do other things with the $24,000,000 after she buys a house, like start a business that generates additional income. Or set up a not for profit and put the ownership into a charitable trust. Or buy a couple of houses and rent them out to give herself the additional income she wants.
She has a lot of options. You make it sound like she doesn't and she will end up with hardly any money, why would you mislead her in that way?
Of course the option she would take is to go and live somewhere else and take her wealth with her.
As did the vast number of rich people who left countries where this foolishness was instituted.
Ask France why they changed their mind.
This is all semantics anyway, no major party will ever agree to this, it is electoral suicide.
that sounds like an argument for permanent poverty.
If you want the super wealthy and no limit to inequality, then permanent poverty for many is the inevitable flip side..
link required – I smell BS.
Her you can have a brief history of the failings of French attempts at a wealth tax.
https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/education/2021/02/11/lessons-from-history-france-s-wealth-tax-did-more-harm-than-good/#:~:text=The%20tax%20was%20repealed%20two,and%20ultimately%20proved%20politically%20unsustainable.
Can’t read it, as it requires a subscription.
Are you (and Alan) implying that France does not have a wealth tax?
Incognito I am surprised that the Green Party didn't track France's Capital Tax and its complete reversal. Here's a review of its effects, and the effects of its reversal, from 2022.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2022/10/24/the-abolition-of-france-s-wealth-tax-still-has-no-proven-effect-on-the-economy_6001505_5.html
There was plenty of capital flight. And of course if New Zealand ever generated a capital tax system substantially greater than Australia's, that's where our capital flight would go.
Capital is way, way more mobile than labour or land or even technology
You won't get any warnings. They just make their decision and it's done.
France does not have a wealth tax?
Capital is underpinned by collateral…collateral isnt quite so mobile
Sorry about that I have a sub and I forgot about the problem you would have. That was the easiest explanation unfortunately.
As far as I am aware there is no longer any general wealth tax.
There is a tax on land and buildings but nothing else. You have to have more than 1.3 million Euros and the maximum rate is 1.5% on property over 10 million Euros.
There are quite a lot of deductions and reductions in the value assessed. There is also a limit on the percentage of your income that can be charged as tax. It is a great deal less than the roughly 95% the Green Party are proposing.
Here is another explanation. I hope you can read it. It isn't quite as good as the first but you should get the gist of it.
https://axis-finance.com/tax/wealth-tax-france/
Yes, I can read that one, thanks.
Looks like it is a progressive wealth tax with 6 tax bands and the tax starts at €800,001. Interestingly, it looks like the family home is included. Also, it appears to be based on households, not individuals.
I have no idea how you ascertained this and I assume you made it up. If not, I’d like to see your detailed analysis.
"I have no idea how you ascertained this and I assume you made it up. If not, I’d like to see your detailed analysis."
It doesn't need any detailed analysis. The statement is made in the link I have provided. It states.
"The wealth tax ceiling (plafonnement ISF) limits total French and foreign taxes to 75% of income."
As I noted in the original comment on what my grand-daughter found the total of wealth and and income tax, could reach almost 95% of income. If her dream of winning Lotto came true it would be about 93% but if you had even more money it could be even more.
75% is a great deal less than 95% isn't it?
I see, your carefully constructed highly artificial imaginary fairy-tale to spin your narrative that the Green proposal is bad for people who might win the Jackpot + Powerball.
This reminds me what a waste of space & time most of your comments here are.
You really do not like being shown up do you?
For your information it was not imaginary, it was not artificial. It was precisely what she did. Still, I don't think you would ever accept that so why should we bother to debate.
Thankfully, you’re giving up and leaving this site and I don’t have to scan your silly trollish comments any longer. This made my day!
Of course the French in assessing the 75% of income, include CG as income.
A system that allows determination of wealth tax liability until sale of property, or ultimately as a form of estate tax (as we also allow for unpaid rates) means tax paid is way less than 75% of income.
And the French have an estate tax, do they not?
You are aware a wealth tax impacts on 1% of the people.
And other OECD nations have CGT and wealth and or estate taxation?
She is 19 years old.
If she starts a business she won't have the $24 million any more. She will, instead, have a business that she will have to run. She will tell you, quite reasonably, that she doesn't know how to run a business at this stage in her life.
She also would still have to find, from the business, money to pay the wealth tax. If the business wasn't profitable in any given year she would still have to find the money and it is a great deal harder to sell off a part of a small business than it is to not renew a TD.
She doesn't really want to be a landlord either. Would you when there a proposals to control what rent a private landlord can charge have been floated? Then what is she going to do if she happens to get a really bad tenant who is very difficult to evict.
I think I could readily persuade her that TDs, in this era of inflation is not a good idea and shares would be better but not that the wealth tax is a great idea.
Luckily of course I won't have to worry. Her chances of winning are quite negligible.
Just made a quick spreadsheet and modeled this.
Assumptions:
house $2m. Value doesn't change.
Return on invested remainder (amount adjusted per annum): 5%
Wealth tax 2.5% on wealth above 2m
Income tax – using new, higher green-proposed rates including 45% top rate
She can spend 100k per annum for the next 45 years and at the end will have $1.4m and the house remaining without debt. Not a bad situation, without earning any income or having to work at all! And all from money not earned the hard way in the first place (similar to inheriting a stash). Compared to current situation of many people not able to afford basic housing, food or dental care.
Giving stuff away? Sounds great, guess what the higher tax rates do – they give stuff away, but without allowing the wealthy to choose not to give, or to only give to art galleries etc.
or in two cases I know of in Wellington that don't support the point you are making but are none the less common
1) the funding of the SPCA new premises/Op ex in Wellington. SPCA has outreach and low cost programmes to help people on low incomes to keep their pets healthy and spayed/neutered.
2) the funding of ambulances so Wellington can maintain its Free Ambulance Service. (people on low incomes should not have to worry that their urgent trip to hospital is going to be charged to them.
Then we have other people, some not mega rich who give to groups via funds such as the Nikau Foundation.
I believe that ensuring we lift the incomes of our poorest citizens is definitely a Govt action. It should be out there in the open that we are adopring a whole of Govt approach to this with funds allocated every year to mee the needs.
If this wealth tax is to be adopted, and I am hoping it will not in its current form then the
1)family home should be exempted
2) kiwisaver funds built up from individual tax paid funds should be exempted.
3) it should look at way points such as sale or death to ensure funds are allocated to the Govt at these times arther than on a yearly basis
4) The increased tax rates are fine and don't need to be tied to a wealth tax..
Ambulances shouldn't be charity, they should be a core fully-funded public service. SPCA could also receive public funding.
Leaving these things to the whims of the wealthy isn't a great idea – they often choose the super yacht instead. Hence the need for a fair tax system, that doesn't allow the majority of wealth to pay little tax.
The tax system put out by the Greens with its raised top levels is absolutely fine.
Private donations can make the difference between something being done or not at all. I'm well in support of the encouragement of private donations.
These donations to organisations such as the Nikau Foundation where funds from several donors are worked together often would be as much and have far more bang to bucks than the equivalent tax on so-called wealth.
If you add a famiily home and Kiwisaver deductions saved in individual tax paid funds since 2007 (when KS started) and not drawn down yet could get to over $2m without too much trouble.
In the Post today 20/6/23 there is a paywalled article setting out the NZ Law Society's view that
https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/business/350022127/govt-told-capital-gains-tax-is-not-a-universally-accepted-taxation-principle
PM Ardern wisely pulled back on this concept. Ways to ensure compliance with tax regimes for those with incomes subject to the highest brackets need much more thought than has been given so far. Many of those subject to the possible wealth tax, especially those with a home and KS would not be be paying tax currently at the highest rates by any means.
Forget about KS; the main contribution to one’s wealth comes and will come from property ownership for a long time still.
Perhaps, but even so, there is the option to defer payment of the wealth tax until such time the house is sold.
You appear to be arguing that people who happen to live in a certain area and who happened to buy their house at a certain time, are entitled to keep all the wealth that has accrued from the runaway property market that is now the major driver of poverty in NZ. Whereas the socialists in the room see that as wealth that comes a great cost to others.
The Greens' plan is to get everyone out of poverty. They're the only party I'm aware of that has this goal, and has a plan for how to do it. And yes, that means we have to look at new ways of sharing wealth.
Charity can be fine, but shouldn't be a substitute for public spending. The wealthy in particular prefer the use of charity rather than state spending.
Looking at the Nikau foundation as an example – they gave about $1m to projects in their last reporting year. If NZ's richest man paid tax at the same rate as a factory worker – the state would have available 200x more than the Nikau grants, from a single person. There isn't enough charity in the world to compensate for extreme inequality.
"family home should be exempted".
Why don't you look some time at what happens in Australia when people reach 65. The Super from the State is means, and income, tested. I'll give the numbers for a couple who own their own home. The family home is not counted in the asset test. If you have other assets totaling less than $420k you get the full amount which is about $42k/year. If you have assets of more than $950k you get NOTHING.
What people do at that age and with assets of less than about $2 million do is to do up their existing house, or buy a bigger one and also blow their excess money touring the world. Covid may have limited this but it didn't stop it.
If we, God forbid, follow the path the Green Party are pushing for but we exclude the family home people will do exactly the same thing here. Why not have a mansion, which you might enjoy, rather than put up with tax rates on your savings that approach 100%?
Rob Campbell targets democracy (by implication):
He shows us no way forward though. Blind faith in those who wear suits has been on the ebb most of my life. Almost all major social problems have been created & compounded by suit-wearers during the past century. If he were part of the solution he'd show up at board meetings not wearing a suit, right? Authenticity.
Nothing new there …he demonstrated the same attitudes 40 years ago when Roger had sway.
Instead, trust the algorithm?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ethnicity-a-factor-in-surgery-waitlists-for-years
The best article I've seen on the topic, a direct interview with those who produced and apply the weighting factors.
'Bliss [surgical services manager] says it varies from service to service. “Take neurosurgery for instance, clinical priority and days waiting absolutely take precedence over everything else,” he says. But when it comes to low-end routine surgeries Bliss says if the proportion of Māori and Pasifika on the waitlist exceeds their population percentage then a higher weighting is given to ethnicity.
Clinical need is still the first consideration, however.'
thanks for that. Unfortunately in the 24 hours that people had to have their reactionary politics, some ideas seem to have cemented in.
Beat me to it!
This is Luxon on the issue, at Parliament today, full transcript. Ignores all questions, all evidence, simply repeats stock answer. Pathetic.
https://twitter.com/benmackey/status/1670944628009467906
Luxon is more repetitious than the average Kiwi politician – similar in interviews to John Banks (as a Nat MP, Auckland's mayor, and particularly as leader of ACT.)
So this is what passes for Climate Action in the National party – being deeply committed to ‘navigating’ agricultural emissions – dullards.
Maybe former Air NZ CEO Luxon will throw his hat in the ring for the next supercity mayoral race – that’s if there are any city assets left to sell.
The Herald on better equity for Maori on surgery lists.
(paywalled but you know what to do https://archive.ph/ )
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/surgery-wait-lists-maori-pacific-prioritised-why-ethnicity-is-a-factor/EDUXXOWQ4NFPRFV5FLCVZRRQ5M/
The cutter's statement.
RACSurgeons
@RACSurgeons
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons supports the Equity Adjustor Score introduced by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand to reduce inequity in the health system. Read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/467HHiB
https://twitter.com/RACSurgeons/status/1670706936617005059
I still have a modest proposal available to any right wingers complaining about including ethnicity as one if the criteria for judging surgery priority to swiftly bring equality and perhaps even solve some of our housing issues to boot!
Wait Chippy is reviewing the policy? Grow a fuckin pair and also maybe visit Auckland where a decent chunk of your votes should be.
Considering voting either of the other left options if Hipkins is unable to defend policy that is working.
Always good to see the boomerang …
When a Labour MP is referred to the Privileges Committee it is the end of days, the apocalypse. See umpteen frothing columns (and a few comments on TS too!). Resign!
Now an ACT MP has been referred to the same Privileges Committee. Look forward to the same pundit wisdom telling us Seymour has lost his "mojo", ACT are falling apart, etc, etc. Resign!
Sure.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/act-mp-simon-court-referred-to-privileges-committee/XOMOHAQWQ5GZZFXXC2I5SHQ3ZU/
This shameful episode was analysed by Max Blumenthal on Friday.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Hi there Morrissey…good to you here see on TS, I haven't been on much myself lately…got banned for some reason I forget right now, but I am sure it was important to someone at the time, so anyway thought that was a good enough reason to take a longer break…but back on now…look forward to following your comments pal.
It's a pleasure to see you again, Adrian. By the way, that comment of mine was originally a reply to your comment on a thread about that laughable "scandal" at RNZ. Considering the fact that Max Blumenthal’s comments are directly concerned with the topic of the thread, I'm sure that I'm not the only person who would be astonished at the judgement of "a moderator" that it was "off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in."
https://thestandard.org.nz/when-you-pay-peanuts-you-get-propaganda/#comment-1955080
I hear you….it sure is a minefield at times.
Tried wading through the content you posted, but gave up after a couple of minutes.
'Founded…by Max Blumenthal, The Gray Zone is a far-left news and opinion website that produces long-form journalism…Blumenthal is a writing fellow of the Nation Institute…who is a regular contributor to the Russian news sites, RT and Sputnik..” ' https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-grayzone/
Their content in the clip appears to be anti-US policy in Ukraine. Flicking through other videos at The GrayZone, I see they spend a whole episode on Pussy Riot to take them down, and also attack Ocasio-Cortez for criticising Trump's appearance on the CNN town hall. So looks like Grayzone support both Putin and Trump. Far-left?
You do understand you can both be anti US proxy war in Ukraine and neither support or like Putin and also point out Cortez's and the Democrat's and their supporting media (sadly including RNZ) outrageous double standards/hypocrisy on anything to do with Trump and not support him…right…I mean seriously,,you do understand that don't you?
Tried wading through the content you posted, …
Good! That's an encouraging sign.
… but gave up after a couple of minutes.
You didn't try very hard. Or does that constitute serious study for you?
… appears to be anti-US policy in Ukraine…
You got that right, at least. Do you actually support the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine?
they spend a whole episode on Pussy Riot to take them down…
I think the word you are looking for is "critique"; the Gray Zone is a serious and rigorous journalism site. You should spend more than a couple of minutes on it one of these days and decide for yourself.
So looks like Grayzone support both Putin and Trump.
No, they support neither, as you would know if you read/watched them for more than a couple of minutes. They're journalists—real journalists, not like those parrots on RNZ National and TVNZ that you take your talking points from.
Far-left?
You're just throwing around a label as a term of abuse. What do you mean by "far left"?
So has anyone else noticed the public service are pulling back from assisting this government in legislative drafting with bills in Select Committee or close to it?
I know Sir Geoffrey Palmer complained strongly last week about officials gaming and re-drafting the 3-waters legislation well beyond their ambit, but I'm aware of officials doing the same on another one as well.
Anyone seeing this kind of behaviour?
Another case of a predatory child sex offending man with a case of "prison onset gender dysphoria" showered with female pronouns and referred to a a 'woman".
#not our crimes.
"A prisoner who claimed she was unfairly punished by being put in segregation because she formed romantic relationships with other inmates has lost her bid for judicial review.
Maxien Stevens is a prisoner serving a sentence of preventive detention for child sex offending.
Since beginning her sentence in July 2016, Stevens, 37, has transitioned to identify as a woman."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300909517/prisoner-claims-she-was-punished-for-romantic-relationships-with-other-inmates
From the article,I got that a man who was imprisoned for predatory sexual behaviour on young boys is in preventative detention, ie, probably won't be leaving prison for a while. He transitions to trans woman status (before self-id), and moves to a womens' prison in South Auckland.
They then become a nuisance by developing intimate relationships with women, after which they are moved into solitary on 4 occasions, before being moved back to a mens' prison.
Sounds like a sexual predator abusing the system to me, and the system has caught the behaviour and shut it down. Some long-term prisoners in the UK will convert to Islam inside, because it gets you get better food and time out for daily prayer. They often stop behaving as Muslim on being freed. People can abuse the system to their benefit. Doesn't mean the system is wrong in protecting a prisoner’s right to freedom of religion or gender expression.
You have missed one of the current rallying cries/concerns that women have mentioned by Visubversa.
#not our crimes.
The crimes of this penis haver or male puberty passers and others like him will now be counted as female crimes just as the sporting records won by penis havers or male puberty passers in womens races will be classed as womens records.
I guess that is all fine and dandy in the world we have nowdays where biology can be overtaken by wishful thinking.
I'm confused. Is Maxien Stevens a man or a woman?
God Bless these leaders from Africa.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/17/war-in-ukraine-must-stop-south-africas-ramaphosa-tells-putin
Question for weka – does not the web address appear in the bottom left of screen when you scroll over the hyperlink?
not as easy on a phone.