Written By:
notices and features - Date published:
6:00 am, October 20th, 2015 - 113 comments
Categories: open mike -
Tags:
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.
31 + 12 + 9 = lots of spin from Mr Hooton.
You are right, and there should be more attention to this.
Thanks for admitting it Matty, the spin that is.
Chris Trotter’ view about Hooton.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/20/spinning-spinning-spinning-are-matthew-hootons-tpp-musings-personal-or-professional/
Paul
There are always clues in people’s behaviour. One a blog like this it is always interesting to see what questions people answer and which they never come back to.
He has been quite particular since it was signed on what he is emphasising, over and over again (with minor refinements). he has focused very early on on the 2005 withdrawal clause (no bad jokes please) and is very sure it remains in the agreement ten years later. And he can’t see why anyone would worry about the investor relations clauses which are of course the very clauses the opponents are MOST worried about.
It is all designed to back Labour into a corner and to paint the deal as the best thing we could ever have hoped for.
This can help (but doesn’t completely resolve) the kinds of issues Trotter raises.
“Because if, just for the sake of argument, I belonged to the New Zealand United States Council, a body committed to “fostering and developing a strong and mutually beneficial relationship between New Zealand and the United States.” And if, as an American member of the Council, I was a strong “advocate for the expansion of trade and economic links between the two countries including a comprehensive free trade agreement achieved either bilaterally or in the context of an expanded Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.” Well, you know, I would feel like Exeltium, and Hooton, were really giving me great value for my money.
Not that I have any way of knowing who – if anyone – has contracted Hooton to sell the TPP to an apprehensive New Zealand electorate. But, if I were the editor of a major New Zealand newspaper, then I’m pretty damned sure I’d be asking one of my best reporters to find out.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/20/spinning-spinning-spinning-are-matthew-hootons-tpp-musings-personal-or-professional/#sthash.FRdDjrq7.dpuf
Follow the money.
Chairman = Simon Power
Hooton reckons Labour are on an ’emotional journey’ because the TPP is really not that bad and certainly not the black hole of despair we all thought it was 😉
Hooton is working. He had his lines VERY clear and ready the moment TPP was signed.
His faux outrage at the OIA is the part where he produces credibility for the aforementioned sales pitch
thanks for the link Paul…interesting….Hooton is a master spinner
Campbell has his number too
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2015/10/16/gordon-campbell-on-labour-bashing-over-the-tpp-and-canada/
Given your outrage and the abuse of the OIA system Matthew, are you going to actively lobby for a law change? And given, you know what motivates people to abuse the law, how do you suggest we deal with it?
Add prison sentences for officials (and ministers) who don’t comply with the law.
are you going to actively lobby for a law change? Or at east issue a Press Release calling for Ministers and officials to face imprisonment. Hell ask for it to be retrospective, and name Groser as your first target?
Make it retrospective and name Hooton as the second target.
http://thestandard.org.nz/congratulations-jane-kelsey/#comment-1082926
It’s faux outrage to make himself seem like an impartial observer to give strength to his planned TPP lines.
The man couldn’t lie straight in bed.
Hooton: Add prison sentences for officials (and ministers) who don’t comply with the law.
About as likely to happen as John Key to vote Green.
Oh no, Hooton will release a press release lobbying for it,
True. Maybe exclude ministers? So officials will stand up to ministers when asked to do illegal things?
why didnt you resist?
You misunderstand Tracy. Hooton was a proud pioneer in the techniques of flouting the spirit and intent of the OIA, whilst eventually complying with the letter of the law after leading the ombudsman a merry dance. He now expects us to accept that he is a man of principle, as he acts outraged by the behaviour of those who widened the trail he helped to blaze.
Hooton: Maybe exclude ministers? So officials will stand up to ministers when asked to do illegal things?
Nope. Still wouldn’t happen. Ministers rely on officials to assist them to avoid releasing uncomfortable or damaging info. This government is never going to legislate to make that a serious problem for their officials.
he isnt serious. he is just pretending to have remorse so people will swallow his latest swill
He isn’t taken seriously, whether he is being serious or not
No tax on sugar.
The cheerleaders for the food industry are delighted.
Profits for big sugar beat our kids’ health.
No wonder Key says we don’t get sued by big business.
His government bows down to them.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1510/S00611/nz-fgc-taxpayers-union-cheer-obesity-package.htm
Radio New Zealand gets heading wrong.
Writes ‘Government tackles childhood obesity.’
Should have written ‘Government fails to tackle childhood obesity.’
Or maybe the French tackled Julian Savea.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/287423/government-tackles-childhood-obesity
+1
yes interesting doctors are saying that a referral for obesity is not going to do anything
imo for what it is worth
….all kids should be taught vege gardening and how to make easy cheap vegetarian meals using lentils , rice, potatoes, vege soups, pasta, eggs, porridge
…and meat dishes using cheap cuts of meat( eg slow cooking stewing steak, liver, kidneys…)…curries and spices for taste
…gluten free flour, olive oil and butter for cooking….and water/ milk/tea/coffee for drinking
…with the emphasis that home cooking is best
taxes and red warning stickers should be put on products…soft drinks and anything supposedly healthy bought with excessive amounts of sugar eg. milo , baked beans,
…exercising /walking for an hour a day is also good…especially when so much time is spent on computers
(btw… i don’t follow my own advice)
add to this …teaching kids how to make salads and fruit/vege smoothies with yoghurt
Chooky,
I have no complaint with your suggestions but the “obesity problem” is NOT with the consumers.
The multi-national criminals peddle poisons in the guise of the “free market.”
I see no difference between tobacco and alcohol profiteers and fast food, sugar, and fizzy drink peddlers of death.
They KNOW what they sell KILLS.
They bribe the media and government to block any restrictions on their “right” to kill. They are the food version of the American gun lobby. “Poison foods don’t kill, only eating them does.”
That’s always been true of National. They’re the party of the rich, for the rich at everyone else’s expense.
The rise of begging in New Zealand.
What happened to that lovely place that used to be NZ?
It nows appears such a heartless place.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/201774947/the-rise-of-begging-in-new-zealand
I blame everyone who has voted for the election winners every three years, for voting in the governments that have implemented the policies to cause this….
vote them out
Because make no mistake – it is government policies that have caused this.
Government policies of the last 30 years.
Totally agree vto.
The biggest lie.
Trickle down economics.
Supply side, voodoo economics whatever term you use it’s been proven to be an abject failure with decades of evidence to debunk this trickle down meme.
And the ‘comfortable’ middle class count their profits from real estate and still believe the neo-liberal lie about there being no such thing as society.
Sadly, it appears the zeitgeist will only change once catastrophic climate change or a serious economic collapse slaps them in the face.
Until then, selfish New Zealanders will care more about celebrities, reality TV and sport than the needs of their fellow humans and the planet they live on.
What happened to that kind place that NZ used to be?
Those are easy lines to throw out there, but I am coming around to agree…
… have had cause, in our community of late, to wonder about its base standards and drivers. There have been two events, one around children’s sports, the other about neighbour issues, which have led to this. Both events had factors intertwined with how they were dealt with which were very much from the me-me-me, self-interest driver programme. The end results were disappointing and reflective of today’s society’s drivers.
The policies of the last 30 years have embedded themselves in the base structures of our society now and I know we are worse off because of it.
A starting point to understand how our culture has been turned from empathy and altruism to the naked individualism of today is the documentary ‘The Century of Self’ by Adam Curtis.
Will look into the doco Paul. Thanks for the tip.
This is a hugely interesting social change to observe vto. I would love to discuss at length but have to dash out the door. I see it all around too and have experienced several neighbourhood incidents to highlight this slide from collective care to self promoting concerns, among individuals and within communities.
Ugly and sad stuff. It alienates, isolates and breaks down life affirming bonds. I find it absolutely depressing.
Gotta go, but would like to return to this
Centuries of evidence actually. That’s why I’m truly amazed that the economists still push the same failed hypothesis.
Key calls Kelvin Davis’ mission a “publicity stunt”, and so do his media parrots;
And Andrew Little lets Nadine Chalmers Ross get away with it unscathed.
Tuesday 20 October 2015
For some weeks now, Labour M.P. Kelvin Davis has been on the notorious Christmas Island detention centre, trying hard to speak up for the inmates there. The government of course has been utterly disparaging of his efforts, dismissing them as a “publicity stunt”. The government’s media parrots have also assiduously worked at undermining Davis. An example of this occurred just before the seven o’clock news this morning on One’s pisspoor Breakfast program…..
NADINE CHALMERS-ROSS: Doesn’t Kelvin Davis swooping in like a super-hero not end up looking like a bit of a publicity stunt?
In response to that nasty little provocation, Labour “leader” Andrew Little said something unmemorable.
Meanwhile, one of the detainees at the Christmas Island detention centre did something that Little seems frightened of doing: he spoke plainly and honestly in response to Key’s call for the detainees to come straight “home”, and bypass Christmas Island. Key of course is parroting the Australian government’s line that “home” for these people is New Zealand rather than Australia, which is their real home.
John Key, the detainee said, is “full of rubbish.”
Maybe the Labour front bench should be replaced with a line-up of these detainees. They couldn’t do a worse job.
On a side issue. Morrissey, I’m surprised I haven’t seen you comment yet on Mr Joubert’s refereeing of the Scotland vs Australia match.
I’ve been composing a little piece about this on and off over the last thirty-six hours. I’ll put it up soon.
The most interesting part about this is the way people have expressed sympathy for poor little Scotland, compared to the lack of sympathy for big bad France four years ago after a far, far worse display from Joubert.
Of course, I and millions of disgusted rugby fans (most of them French, naturally) have been on Joubert’s case for the last four years. My most recent comment was earlier this month….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13102015/#comment-1081758
Jane Kelsey should be leader of the opposition.
Just imagine if any member of the Labour Party challenged the TPPA in similar fashion.
+1 – they can do the 2nd best thing and actually meet and (listen) to what she has to say. Likewise other high profile capable people like Nicky Hager, who have knowledge on the subject.
I mean what do Labour have to lose? And a lot more to gain to appear to be ‘fair and reasonable’ at actually educating themselves about issues and since Kelsey have won in court they could get a few ideas.
She does what she does very well. Let’s leave her there.
“Every pic is a dick pic.”
John Oliver on Our Leader’s finest media moment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11531913
The single greatest political interview of all time, simpers Fairfax.
Apparently the notion that a comedian’s idea of “greatest” might not exactly be a compliment hasn’t occurred to them, and of course they missed the part where he described the Prime Minister as a dick.
John Oliver’s contribution to New Zealand current affairs reporting far outweighs Fairfax’s feeble dreck.
“The American late-night talk show enjoys mocking New Zealand”
He enjoys mocking Our Leader…and why not? When the raw material is readily available, he’d be a fool not to exploit it.
However, “…mocking New Zealand” might also be on the mark… His star seems to rise and rise…
A greyed out caption to the photo at the very bottom of the story is not balance.
Most people won’t read further than the headline, of those that do, two-thirds won’t read beyond the first paragraph.
“do I have a choice”? said Key. To be honest John? That was the telling bit for me.
Yeah nah. There’s no way Key would front up without an agreed format: I expect his office sought and received an assurance to that effect.
agreed.
my point of course is that he considers that being honest is dependent on whether he feels he has a “choice”
My point is that it was a scripted (or at the very least anticipated) line, not an off-the-cuff remark.
yup, got that. Thought you had mistaken my point
No, I think your point is a massive stretch.
“Key said he was unprepared for the types of questions he was asked” – so he was (typically) lying then.
Either that or his office forgot to tell him, or they told him and he forgot.
Yeah nah, he’s lying.
that he picks and chooses when he lies? Is a stretch? Okay
A more likely interpretation of his remark is that he was answering Wells’ invitation to play the “game”, that’s all.
A highly scripted “laissez faire” act, not easy, and I have to admit he (usually) pulls it off
In the article to which OAB refers, it reads-“Key said he was unprepared for the types of questions he was asked, and did not listen to Hauraki so had no idea what to expect.
He said he answered the questions because ‘what else do you do’. ”
What else does a Prime Minister do? He gets information from his aides as to what kind of show, what kinds of questioning and discusses the format and scope of the show.
A Prime Minister then makes it clear that he is not some sort of instant celebrity but the most senior elected politician in New Zealand, the latest holder in a post that demands gravitas and dignity.
The Prime Minister then refuses on grounds of dignity, respect and mana to answer such questions.
That’s what he does.
Oh yes, he then gives his event organiser one hell of a shellacking for putting him in there.
But our Prime Minister is different. He knew what kind of questioning he would get. He likes risk and instant response situations. He has shown he does not care for dignity or appropriate behaviour.
He is a ‘starlatan’.
Any reason Matthew, why the PR company for which you work – Exceltium – is NOT a member of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ)?
Kind regards
Penny Bright
Matthew is VERY busy today Penny
😉
Did you Matthew, or the PR company for which you work – Exceltium – ever lobby against New Zealand legislating for more controls on lobbyists, such as a Register of Lobbyists, or a ‘Code of Conduct’ for Lobbyists?
Just asking?
Nicely.
Kind regards
Penny Bright
I hear the Canadians are going of Harper… Just NZ that still finds right-wing BS 50% appealing…
36% of the electorate that still finds… fify
I was referring to Key’s popularity rating
Yeah imagine a country getting sick of someone after leading them for 10 years (or however long its been)
‘Democracy – for developers’ under the disastrous Auckland ‘Supercity’?
Seen THIS?
______________________________________________________
Heritage protection to be slashed
Monday, 19 October 2015
The New Zealand Herald
Thousands of homes across Auckland have been stripped of heritage protection, according to new maps presented to councillors at a confidential briefing on Friday.
Entire suburbs, including Mission Bay, Kohimarama, St Heliers, Takapuna, Milford and Belmont, have virtually no heritage protection, leaving them open for demolition.
Other suburbs, notably Grey Lynn, have had their historic character areas increased. Parts of Westmere have been recognised for their collective value of bungalows.
The maps also highlight anomalies. Several streets of villas in Mt Eden and Balmoral – Grange and Fairview Rds and Marsden Ave – are only partially protected.
Several blocks of Art Deco apartments on Jervois Rd in Herne Bay have missed out on protection.
Councillors and Local Board chairs were given a copy of the maps on Friday and five days to provide feedback at a confidential session of the Unitary Plan committee on Wednesday. The maps will be finalised and approved at Wednesday’s meeting.
The elected representatives have been forbidden from sharing the information with Aucklanders, whose homes and neighbourhoods could be affected.
Once the committee has made changes behind closed doors, the maps will be forwarded to the independent hearings panel for the Unitary Plan and made public.
Only submitters to the pre-1944 heritage rules in the proposed plan are allowed to give feedback.
The city’s growth and housing shortage is putting pressure on the council to relax heritage and density controls in the Unitary Plan, with the independent hearings panel not convinced controls on pre-1944 houses were justified.
After applying a blanket demolition control across the city’s pre-1944 houses, teams of council staff and contractors have assessed every house covered by the rules in the proposed plan.
….
______________________________________
Penny Bright
The council planners can’t wait to turn the suburbs into the wreck of 1990’s CBD for cash. In particular make the ability to create 3 story mansions, high rise apartments blocks, large, ugly and without any heritage merit as well as being unaffordable to most families, and have poor sun and outdoor living, houses built right up to the boundary with concrete walls. Welcome to Chatswood in the city. Thanks dumbo Auckland council, lobbyists and commissioners for making Auckland the worlds least liveable city under secrecy.
I guess the Governments actions on TPP endorse this sort of disgusting behaviour of secret deals.
Government and council planner policy, open the floodgates to immigration and foreign investment, get rid of planning regulations and bank the cheques for 5 years until the leaky lawsuits start coming in. Wow what a strategy!
Oh and no public transport either with all the new houses so Kiwis are forced further out have to leave home hours earlier, increase air pollution into our city and spend less time with their families. Good one! NOT.
The reason that immigrants want to live in Auckland may possibly be because it is the way it is right now with space around houses for outside activities, gardens, and for children to play etc -something many of them have never had. If all that is taken away with only terrace houses and apartments on offer why would people want to move to Auckland? It will then be just like every other large city in the world. Why do they want to move to Auckland in the first place? – we should find that out for starters. The other thing to consider is the residents of Auckland right now – they are the ones who have built the city, paid rates for decades and they like it the way it is. Why are their views not being considered? Why are they of less importance than some future immigrants? Why ruin our city to cater for some faceless foreigners a long way down the track and to line the pockets of some greedy developers? And as for the young people wanting a home, why can’t they do what young people did a few decades ago – move further out and create new areas like Conifer Grove etc. NZ has a lot of land, why would families want to be squashed up in apartments – Apartments are suitable for singles, couples and maybe some retirees and that is fine, but why allow suburban neighbourhoods to be destroyed – I would imagine most of these new apartments and terraces will be in places where sea-views are to be had, and I would also imagine that none of them will be in any way cheap or affordable for a young family. A while ago I heard on the radio that a study had been done on new entrants at school and it was found that children who lived in apartments had delayed physical skills and development compared to children who live in a house with land. Can’t give a link, just something I heard. Maybe someone else heard it and can provide a link?
I hope you proof read that Hami S before releasing it. If you did, how come you couldn’t split it up into say three paras.
Canadian eastern time is 17 hours behind us so election coverage should begin at noon our time.
Elections Canada- http://enr.elections.ca/National.aspx?lang=e
CBC- http://www.cbc.ca/includes/federalelection/dashboard/index.html
CBC radio- http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/daily/2015/10/19/cbc_radio_one/?t=1445207854358
CBC stream- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWFNl0K18A4 (9.30am our time)
https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadaPolitics/
Keeping an eye on the fix – #pollwatch
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/3pdudu/reports_coming_in_from_all_over_canada_premarked/
http://www.citynews.ca/2015/10/19/voting-issues-reported-at-gta-polling-stations/
https://twitter.com/geoffnoxon/status/656194235209674752
Talking heads stream.
http://www.cpac.ca/en/
btw, the CBC election stream has started
Awesome, thanks for the links.
exciting stuff!
Vice stream.
Hosted by Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham, tune in to get your up to-the-minute election results, with special guests including Chris Hedges, Kardinal Offishall, and former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford.
All of Atlantic canada has gone to the Liberals so far, that is 30 of the 170 seats needed for a majority. This includes the canine states, New Foundland and Labrador 🙂 Could this be a landslide..
CBC calling it a Liberal win already and Trudeau as the new PM, meanwhile British Colombia is still voting..
A forecast based on the results so far has been announced:
The Liberal Party is expected to form a government and:
JUSTIN TRUDEAU WILL BE THE NEXT PM OF CANADA.
Three cheers for Trudeau!!!
Look at the scope and level of detail of the Canadian Liberal policy platform. Amazing.
https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/
Strewth! Now that’s a real vote for change.
If Labour NZ did something as extensive as this they’d be onto a winner. (Would pay to make sure you could click straight back to where you were on the list from whatever policy you’ve clicked on to read in detail without having to start scrolling back down the whole list to find your place again.)
The thing is that Labour DID release that much policy but they didn’t it present it nearly as well as that.
True, and that’s what I should’ve said.
Lot of verve in that joe90. Jolly good.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation projects a Liberal government
Thanks for that Ovid. I was feeling sorry for the one Green candidate who wasn’t showing up at all on either column. I hope she scrapes in but people may be determined to get rid of Harper this time that it’s all in for that cause. You would have thought that Canada would have a Green presence by now. I notice in the people’s declaration song against Harper that joe90 put up that environment was mentioned.
TTIP is a ‘revolution against international law’, says UN Expert
http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/blog/2015/oct/16/ttip-‘revolution-against-international-law’-says-un-expert#.ViLlDdgCwJc.facebook
And there’s more.
“Experience shows that many of the 608 arbitration awards that have become known, have overridden national law and hindered States in the sovereign determination of fiscal and budgetary policy, labour, health and environmental regulation, and have had adverse human rights impacts, also on third parties, including a “chilling effect” with regard to the exercise of democratic governance.”
Officially known as Investor State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, corporate courts bring us closer to a private international system of law which threatens the whole basis of human rights and democracy. De Zayas says:
Definitely worth reading the full text.
very urged to put this up for no reason at all..
At first I thought Hide had scored a film role.
But But BUT Matthew Hooton says it’s just fine
Haahhh ….. the country in which I had spent so much time and loved.
When is it a chip and not a chunk? Lol. Not talking about feesh and cheeps here.
DPMC staff behaving like pre-puberty kids being evasive:
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-alcohol-preferences-remain-secret-as-penny-wong-lambasts-utopia-bureaucrats-20151019-gkd0pz.html
Thatcher talks about the problem and how her government is going to fix it, but how did things get so bad in the first place?
I went on to watch the clip of Corbyn winding up the Tories, lol.
I apologise for the crassness of the title but there you have it. That is what the Prime Minister’s office has come too.
Open letter to National voters 2: On Shaving Pubic Hair, Pissing In The Shower, Feeding Chickens…
This week: Why Don’t Economists?… presented by Marie McCahery.
It’s about banking and how the private banks create money. People may want to get hold of the earlier episodes.
Goldman Sachs not making enough in NZ so it is off to Oz
” Goldman Sachs is looking to shift its New Zealand-based securities business across the Tasman.
Goldman bosses Andrew Barclay and Simon Rothery informed staff this morning of a proposal to make changes to the firm’s securities trading, settlements and clearing functions in New Zealand.
“In early 2016 we are proposing to relocate our New Zealand-based market trading activities and implement an integrated coverage model from Sydney,” Barclay and Rothery said.
“
“From a psychological perspective, though, the people backing Trump are perfectly normal. Interviews with psychologists and other experts suggest one explanation for the candidate’s success — and for the collective failure to anticipate it: The political elite hasn’t confronted a few fundamental, universal and uncomfortable facts about the human mind.
We like people who talk big.
We like people who tell us that our problems are simple and easy to solve, even when they aren’t.
And we don’t like people who don’t look like us.”
An interesting analysis of Trump’s success.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/15/i-asked-psychologists-to-analyze-trump-supporters-this-is-what-i-learned/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_2_na
Well, I suppose he’s lucky he’s a big talker as he appears to be a failure at business.
and Key
We hear a lot from the RWNJs that our nature is set and that we need to cater to it and thus we need capitalism. But, that’s probably not true:
Capitalism seems to be based upon myths perpetuated by the 1% in justification for them having more than anyone else.
The video on that page is a must watch as it shows the path that we as a society need to take to make life better for everyone. It includes getting rid of the hierarchy that is killing us.
Video:
Liars of Our Time
No. 51: BINYAMIN NETANYAHU
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Israel is a law-abiding state.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Al Jazeera news, 4p.m., Tuesday 20 October 2015
More liars HERE….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07062015/#comment-1026357
Awaiting your analysis of Joubert.
It will be interesting.