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
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 😉
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?
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?
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.
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.
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
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.”
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….
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.
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.
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.
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….
+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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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..
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.)
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.
“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:
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.
Basically, Sapolsky expected the troop to return to normal, with the remaining male baboons sliding into the roles of the alphas who had died.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, the surviving male baboons were like…
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.
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The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
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Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LT2k4uR4ho&feature=player_embedded
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWFNl0K18A4
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWFNl0K18A4
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei50lM6ab1c
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..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxsYrfKf_pc
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?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhEPyjolGQQ
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:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYG0ZuTv5rs
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.