What a CRUEL, ideologically-driven pack of insipid, bullshit artists a NAct coalesced regime is!
As far as I can see the only “shine” for their existence (apart from greed, the “I’m alright Jack attitude, unfounded aspiration, and complacency) is a lack-lustre 2nd party opposition that still seems welded to the political pendulum that swung right (with TINA) about a quarter century ago.
Along with it, a lazy ‘mainstream media” with no respect for a 4th Estate, let alone any understanding of the concept.
The advantage they (the junta) have of course is that there is an entire generation that has grown over a quarter century that has experienced nothing else – NO-Tina alternative.
(Hence I ‘spose, insipid little people like Hipkisses and Currans whose approaching the mid-life and a wish to make a mark drive a particular attitude: AND who think they have a right to throw bombs and walk away deserve this treatment too
Like others in an “ABC” camp of “I paid me dues – I’m therefore entitled”, it’s an attitude that’s now entrenched in the parly-are-meant wing.
[PATHETIC really when one thinks about it – the potential destruction of a political party due to the want of a few exercising their egos over and above a commitment to basic principles.
NZ’s not alone of course – look what’s happening to Labor across the ditch – which in many ways makes the arrogance of the likes of ABCers even more serious and pathetic! Worse still is that a Curran or two are not exactly unfamiliar with an Australian experience……We’re expected to now take them seriously are we? I think not!
There is now a sizeable proportion of an electorate that’s been hijacked by a hope that somehow they too can be like a Slippery Dick used-car salesman – and if and when they ever manage it, they can lay claim to ‘self made MAN status”.
eww!.
I guess the trip south (swapping a Mt Vic house for a Lyttleton one for one week) had ominous beginnings.
Boarding the flight with me was a Gerry Brownlee. Family and I had always joked about those huge bags that are filled with concrete and used to prop up walls and crumbling embankments – calling them either Greylees or Brownlees. They actually do nothing except prop shit up, and come another big one, they’ll probably shuffle about a bit and just prolong an inevitable unless something realistic is done as soon as possible.
That Prince of Power and supposed reason – the one given Tzar status (by a Parliamentary majority – including Labour Party compliance ffs!
Tzared and installed in order to get things done along with a CERA chief and a number of other initiatives that challenged the whole idea of what democracy, representation and accountability were all about.
I hope those Labour Party people that were part of the enabling process realise what they did. It’s now more than two years since EQC ChCh – and actually sweet fuck all of benefit to the citizens of a fallen city has actually happened.
It might be useful to note that across the ditch, an entire flooded town in QLD has almost been entirely relocated WITHOUT all the insurance bullshit and needless heartbreak that has, and continues to plague Christchurch.
The cynic could reasonably assume that one reason for the delay in actually initiating any sort of RECONSTRUCTION (as opposed to demolition) could have something to do with a desire to balance a budget based on an ideologically-driven belief (a religion).
I initially thought that CERA Chief (I think Rog by name – yep that’s it – that good bloke Rog Sutton) was an OK sort of guy – that is until I saw his one-dimensional thinking in “When A City Falls”. There was Rog talking to a slippery Dick about the benefits of overhead wiring versus underground cables.
On that basis alone – old Rog (actually probably 10 or 20 years younger than me) is quite obviously NOT the sharpest knife in the drawer – although I have NO doubt his salary alone will convince a lot of people that he’s actually quite sharp.
(The cabling thing though – a comment about elasticity, or lack of it with underground electrical reticulation demonstrated the one-dimensional (probably ideologically-driven) thought processes. What a fucking DICKHEAD! It was an eye opener for me anyway – here was someone I thought was a reasonable sort of joker demonstrating the art of cock sucking and arse licking, and at the same time a certain belief that he could justify by logic (trouble is it was Ideologically-driven “logic and TINA-like).
Anyway ……… un-fucking believable…..”offline” I could give him some very basic tips on how to make underground cabling and electrical reticulation “elastic” without any sort of problems with induction or other problems.
Open your frikken mind Rog – its what you’re paid the big bucks for (or so we told). It seems to be that “he’s paid a mint, therefore he must actually be clever” – like the used-car salesman though – it often has more to do with the gift of the bullshit gab.
After a week returning to, and living in the city I was born, I can’t see many signs of reconstruction. I remember Gerry’s comment way back when where he wanted to level the place and start again without any respect for history or respect for the organic nature that produces citites fit for humans to live in.
Still, current Nact are a bunch of philistines – some of their predecessors would be rolling in their graves, and those that have a ‘class breeding’ they’d like to lay claim to don’t have the balls to challenge a Joyce-English-Key style collective ego with its inflated sense of self-worth.
Instead though , we have to see total demolotion – those flat sort of fields we often see with suburban developments whereby all is demolished including foliage, lovely little boxes are built, THEN foliage may (or may not be) replaced. Scorched Earth after which sterility and a supposed antiseptic, compliant society will evolve.
Antiseptic, inorganic, lack-lustre, insipid!.
Not somewhere I’ll ever return to.
Let’s be clear… The government and City COuncil have amounts of land in near environs that is stable enough to let people live on.
How is it that they have not simply done (for example) land swaps with people whose land is fucked? and simply placed the burden for buildings alone on the insurance/EQC industry? Oh
We are talking about 2 plus years now since shit happened! There are people in places like Bexley still shitting in little green cublicles ffs.
It’s reminiscent of dear leader’s promise at Pike – “we’ll do whatever it takes”. Unfortunately he forgot to qualify it by saying – “that is, as long as we can belince the bujit, and I don’t jeopardise my knoithood and making a name for mesef with a bottle of 100 yo whisky, and es long es oi don’t blow me cover with Bronagh.
On top of all this, there are things like the Hekia education experiment centred around Munt City.
I wonder what their “final solution” to it all is.
Apologies to Karol – I vowed I wasn’t going to make further comment on this site – I didn’t lie as such – just like Key, Joyce and English – I bullshitted. There’s FA other forums tho’ in which to express an opinion.
It is always interesting to hear the views of people from outside Chch when they come to visit Tim. There has been much going on since the main earthquakes and I don’t think all of it is going to stand up to the test of time. One example is the amount that has been demolished. Or rather, the lack of buildings that could have been kept to provide some of the fabric to which the new city can be reattached. The underlying fabric has so comprehensively ripped off that we are left with bare rock to reattach to. Silly and short-sighted and unnecessary.
Your point about the organic growth of cities and communities is spot on. That organic nature has been left lying on the floor of Cera and this government and been swept away by the cleaners. No room for anything organic in Brownlees mind.
I am sure the ruling clique of the Labour party are as terrified of democracy as are the National party, Chris Trotter’s ‘permanent government’ and most major corporations. The idea that ‘ordinary’ people through informed decisions will make rational choices is a threat to everything for which these people stand. As Noam Chomsky pointed out recently , throughout the West 100s of billions (if not trillions) has , necessarily, been spent over the last few decades by PR and advertising companies, the corporate media, ‘public’ broadcasting institutions, universities, ministeries, government departments, what-have-you to ensure people make irrational choices based on uniformed decisions.
Considering the function of the mainstream media in the modern western ‘democracy’, I would take issue with Tim’s observation that, “Along with it, a lazy ‘mainstream media” with no respect for a 4th Estate, let alone any understanding of the concept.” As an extension of corporate domination of the socio-economic system, I would argue the mainstream media, in collusion with their PR and Ad. Company cohorts, works diligently to maintain an ideological construct which serves the interests of an insidious plutocracy.
Under totalitarian regimes the media are inherently regarded by most of those subject to the ruling junta as propaganda organs instituted to parrot the party line, whereas the ‘free’ press in the Western sphere must promote the necessary illusion of impartiality while obsequiously conforming to a rigid paradigm. An anecdote by John Pilger sums it up brilliantly , “During the Cold War, a group of Russian journalists toured the United States. On the final day of their visit, they were asked by their hosts for their impressions. “I have to tell you,” said their spokesman, “that we were astonished to find, after reading all the newspapers and watching TV, that all the opinions on all the vital issues were, by and large, the same. To get that result in our country, we imprison people, we tear out their fingernails. Here, you don’t have that. What’s the secret? How do you do it?” ”
As long as we have political apparatchiks who are little more than props in a system designed to maintain the status and influence of an unelected ruling elite we will continue to suffer the likes of the Labour Party caucus and it’s increasingly weird contortionist act. The Labour Party cannot both serve the status quo and act in the interests of the general population, at best they can only provide a slightly less odious alternative to the current regime.
Through necessity, humanity will adopt a more democratic system of participation in economic, social and political processes or face the very real prospect of extinction in a perverse attempt to conform to an abhorrent paradigm designed to sustain the illegitimate authority of a privileged few. [Rant ends]
All the institutions that we’ve surrounded ourselves with over the last few years/centuries have been designed to maintain capitalism and to prevent democracy.
“If you look at the court stats, most of the crime that has been committed has been committed by fatherless kids.”
It wouldn’t matter that some children, if adopted by a gay couple, had two fathers, because they would still need a mother, he said.
I guess as 1 of 5 to a solo mum, his view would see one or more or all of us with police records.
Sorry to shit all over that one for you, Garth.
No police ever came knocking at my mum’s doorstep over any of us.
Five boys + one mum = Five men.
Come tell me to my face she did it wrong.
I dare you. Bring a TV crew if you’re brave enough.
Today I don’t know what I find more disturbing about this bloke, his attitude to homosexuals or his vision of solo parenting and solo family children.
Single mothers face a lot of pressures in a society geared to marginalising and demonising them. They are likely to have lower incomes than 2 parent families or the majority of single fathers, and they often get treated as second class by those in authority. This creates an environment where some children of sole parents could enter into criminal activities.
It is more likely to be the context and environment than lack of fathers, because research shows children of lesbian parents tend to be better adjusted and more successful in school, etc, than the average.
This study of 78 teenagers with lesbian parents (as reported in November last year) shows:
According to the report from the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, the teens surveyed have GPAs in the A- to B+ range, have numerous close friends who are predominantly heterosexual and consider their parents as shining role models.
‘Adolescents with Lesbian Mothers Describe Their Own Lives’ is part of a larger study conducted by professors at the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law that has tracked same sex families for 26 years as it examines the progress of children raised by two mothers.
The 17-year-olds questioned at this stage consisted of 38 boys and 38 girls.
Nearly all of them are planning to go to college after high school and all boasted strong family bonds with an open-minded attitude to life thanks to their non-traditional family situations.
Though in previous studies on the same sample group a few teens had experienced some form of homophobia within their peergroup, a supportive family environment had helped counteract the negative effects.
And despite these obstacles, findings showed that the children demonstrated fewer behavioural problems than a normative sample of same-aged American youth.
And the report on another longitudinal study, as reported in 2010, shows similar results:
A new study published in the prestigious journal Pediatrics followed a group of children born to lesbian mothers for nearly 25 years to chart their psychological health and development. Previous studies have found no significant differences in psychological health between children reared by lesbian or heterosexual parents [1-4]. …
Compared to established norms, the children of lesbian mothers were rated significantly higher in social, school/academic, and total competence. They were rated significantly lower in social problems, rule breaking, and aggressive problems.
“This creates an environment where some children of sole parents could enter into criminal activities”
Witnessing conflict seems to me to be much more likely to be a cause of later violence and criminality than living in a stable single parent home. There is some evidence to support this, for example…
… the evidence fails to support a conclusion that single-parent families cause crime. Asking whether broken homes are good or bad is misleading; the answer must depend in part on the available alternatives. Family conflict is particularly likely to promote criminal behavior, and the choice to divorce must typically be made by parents who do not get along. Convincingly, David Farrington found that among boys who had not been previously aggressive, marital disharmony of parents when the boys were fourteen predicted subsequent aggressive behavior. Furthermore, effects of living with a single parent vary in relation to the emotional and economic climate in the home. Indeed, in their longitudinal study of family disruption among London boys, Heather Juby and David Farrington (2001) found that those who stayed with their mothers following disruption had delinquency rates that were almost identical to those reared in intact families with low conflict. And in their study of inner-city minority youths living in Chicago, Deborah Gorman-Smith, Patrick Tolan, and David Henry (1999) showed that single-parent status had little impact on delinquency.
That poorer behaviour appears in children from single parent households, if true, ignores the time lag of behaviours witnessed in dysfunctional dual parent homes. Sorting domestic violence is a good start to reducing this problem. In walking away from domestic violence single parents are doing their kids a favour.
And well done to your mum, Al1en – and to you and your brothers.
Thanks, rosy. That makes sense. And, yes, it’s important to state that most children of single parents become well adjusted adults, as with Allen and his family.
if absent fathers leads to crime, surely two dads reduces it? And if crime reduction was simply a matter of parent-counting, keeping the mother in the mix would mean that mcvictim is supporting polyandry. KP might have a word with him about that…
It’s not a simple picture, but absent parents/broken families are one major risk factor in social underachievement, truancy and involvement in the criminal justice system.
To a degree (and there is probably a certain amount of confounding from the factors that contribute to family breakdown), but I was trying to look at it through filters as simple as mcvictim’s.
That’s all well and good, but in my opinion we’re playing to Garth McVicars tune by giving his homophobia too much consideration.
The issue of solo parents is completely separate to gay marriage. However there’s no doubt that solo parents have a harder time to bring up children and their kids are more likely to go off the rails, especially in our current user pays society. That dynamic wouldn’t be influenced much by whether the solo parent was gay or straight. Income is usually the defining factor, and gay people earn a bit more on average than straight people. Therefore the children of gay solo parents would be less likely to end up in jail etc than the children of straight solo parents.
What McVicar is actually saying is that gay people should stop being gay, like it’s a choice. This will stem from his belief that gay people choose to be gay. McVicars will also believe that gay parents are more likely to have gay children, when there is also no evidence to support such a belief.
The only conclusion that can really be reached here is that McVicar is a complete bigot, and should be scorned at every opportunity.
absent parents/broken families are one major risk factor in social underachievement, truancy and involvement in the criminal justice system.
More of a risk factor than the dysfunctional parental relationships that might have preceded the absent parents/broken families? Or a risk factor as a result of the dysfunctional parental relationships that preceded the absent parents/broken families?
Mc Vicar can piss off as far as I am concerned and stop his gay and single parent bashing.
Has Mc Vicar ever looked after two young children full – time e.g. a crawler and a older preschooler? If he has, he would find out how you have to have eyes at the back of your head as the crawler can choke on any little thing the preschooler leaves out.
I would say that single unemployed childless people are more representative than single hard working parents re crime stats.
Why do we engage in political activism? It might be moral or financial support or leaflet distribution, phone calling through to working on policy groups and committees. Why?
Because we believe it matters. We believe that we can, and must, change how society and the economy are structured and operated for the benefit of Kiwis and the planet.
So we come together in political party of like minded people, people with similar values, and organise ourselves in a particular way to effect these changes: the Policy platform and the Constitution and that sort of stuff.
So what if we find that that organisation is no longer effectively able to drive those changes, that it has lost it’s way? That is what has happened to the NZ Labour Party.
A party is made up of people and some get to a point that they no longer listen and interact effectively with the rest. That is what has happened with Annette King, Grant Robertson and Trevor Mallard. They have “lost it” but are trying to retain ego through influencing David Shearer. A few more have attached themselves to the this group as they think it is where power and influence will ultimately lie if Labour wins.
The fatal flaw is that the Leader is getting his advice from dis-connected has-beans rather that the connected active membership. We will never win an election in these circumstances.
That is why each and everyone one of us must directly face our nearest MP and senior office holders and challenge them to make a generational step forward.
The time has come for Annette, Grant and Trevor to go.
The we can get back to driving change that will improve the lot of all voters and non-voters alike.
That’s some pretty harsh lessons you are dishing out there Khandalla. A commentator last year said that because political parties have a reasonable amount of parliamentary funding, they are less and less reliant on members to get that media profile, get the attention, make the meetings happen, generate the publications. They don’t need us. We need them more.
A question that you are posing is whether membership based political parties really matter. And that is the core of the lie that the parliamentary caucus has perpeterated upon itself. I really get the impression that they bring members and supproters together merely as stage props for televisual hits; that when it comes to it all policy is formed by them, seat and list selection processes are opaque at best, our conations are helpful but really a few major business donations would be more efficient.
However that question can only be answered by a vote that includes the members, in February. It is precisely the revised constitution that shifts the fulcral point on the whole axis of power between members and caucus. They may not need us, but for one brief moment every 3 years, we have them.
I have been impressed with how the party under Moira has changed in a year. Caucus leadership got the shock of its life when the Party got those constitutional changes through at Conference.
Those MPs who sought to silence democratic voices within the membership will work against it a leadership vote in February, as they did so very hard in the drafting process going into it. But affiliates and members and I believe sufficient numbers of MPs will want their voice.
As the members said at Conference: “We’re taking our party back.”
Question for you Khandalla: if Mallard and King left by (say) deselection, who is up and coming that would do a better job for a strong and inclusive Labour party?
Question for any Affiliates on this site: do you still want a voice in the leadership by February?
It is not just that they are disconnected, they have a seperate policy agenda. They genuinely do not believe that the system is wrong, they think it needs tweaking and tinkering around the edges.
Guys/gals, that three are throw-backs to the old right wing Labour party, Helen sat tightly on them. We now need to bade them farewell.
And their conservative politics.
Only 3, being of a ‘right wing bias in the Labour Caucus???, i think you will find that at least 50% of that Caucus is of the ‘don’t rock the boat’ centrist/right wing school of ‘thought’,
Helen Clark’s 3 terms as Prime Minister were all about the same thing, interest free student loans, working for families, don’t rock the boat, buy the support of the middle class…
To Bad12 – Helen DID rock the boat – the s59 repeal of the Crimes Act, the attempt to get healthier food into schools, the anti-violence campaign ….. she was a cautious PM but she was getting Labour back to its roots. Pity people don’t remember that.
Actually i don’t, Remember the Clark government getting Labour back to it’s roots that is, what you list as great achievements are hardly that,
What i seen in 9 years of the Clark Government was business as usual and the beginnings of the Labour attack upon beneficiaries along with a flat refusal to address the even then growing un-affordability of housing specially in the Auckland area,
From here, Helen Clark will be remembered for having lead Labour to 3 election victories and little else…
along with a flat refusal to address the even then growing un-affordability of housing specially in the Auckland area,
Well it was more than that. The property owning middle class wanted to see continuous, fast, property price appreciation.
And Cullen let it happen (deliberately I would guess), by not restricting bank lending, because asset price appreciation added to the sense of wealth in that all important strata of society.
This is the wisdom of hindsight, and you must remember also that in the last three years, Labour was governing with a reduced majority. However, throughout the nine years, it was not unreasonable to believe that the so-called market economy would mature and stabilise. It was also reasonable to believe in its early stages that the property boom, which was accompanied by greatly reduced unemployment, would financially underpin an increase in local industry. This was not to be so, of course. The 2008 crash revealed the “market economy” for what it is – a method of conquest by the economically powerful. And delivered unto us a PM who was all too happy to facilitate their demands. And a Labour Party that now appears to think it imprudent to challenge their demands.
Do you see that line of continuously increasing private debt to GDP?
You can’t tell me that no one on Cullen’s staff, or Cullen himself noticed this, even as they were deliberately paring down public sector debt.
It was also reasonable to believe in its early stages that the property boom, which was accompanied by greatly reduced unemployment, would financially underpin an increase in local industry.
I agree that its only in the last 5 years that economists like Steve Keen have zeroed in on the crucial role of increasing debt in keeping unemployment low.
However, going to dinner parties and cocktail parties month after month after month where the main topic of conversation amongst the property investing class was how to leverage up further to buy a few more properties to flip, it was very clear that a speculative bubble was being built and that nothing was going into the productive economy.
With regard to the property investment class: true, and vile it was, but that was quite late in the piece; certainly in final couple of years of their last term.
I have been impressed with how the party under Moira has changed in a year. Caucus leadership got the shock of its life when the Party got those constitutional changes through at Conference.
Yes. Moira Coatsworth has done a magnificent job. It is she who steered the rejuvenation of
organisational aspects of the constitution through all its processes. I doubt the changes to the leadership vote – and other related matters – would have seen the light of day without the effort she has put into ‘democratising’ the party.
In some ways I think she might be unpopular with a few senior Labour MPs. 🙂
The harder test for her I think will be how the complaints that the New Lynn LEC made after Conference are handled. If Hipkins gets basic backing for “he was doing his job” rather than “bullying and ridicule must be eliminated from this workplace”, then we know that whatever rules are put in place by the party, the caucus really does rule, and writes the rules.
Anyone have any idea when the results are due on that complaint?
Anyone have any idea when the results are due on that complaint?
Yes ad I’ve been wondering about that too. I suspect the hold up lies with the senior parliamentary team. Moira and co. are still waiting to hear their side of the story. What’s the bet they won’t get an answer until AFTER the Feb. leadership has been resolved.
When people can finally accept, the reasons for the continued *failure* of our political system/services to function for the benefit of NZ, and its people, is due to massive corruption, then the actions of certain policiticans becomes understandable.
King, Mallard etc have not *lost it*, they are operating under instruction!
David Shearer is not getting bad advise, he is getting exactly what he will expect, as part of his role brief!
John Key did not arrive by accident, these people are lined up, and interjected into our political system with pre-assigned roles and responsibilities..
The question is, how is it they are being controlled to such degrees, that the structures which support the heart beat of NZ, continue to decay!
Keep looking for conventional answers, and nothing can EVER change!
STIMULUS:
standard allegation of local political conspiracy theories.
CONSPIRACIES NAMED: none. Allusion only.
WORD EMPHASIS: random, “*”, single word capitalization
RESPONSE:
rolly eyes.
NOTES:
bwahahaha! My experiment is going according to plan!
Six more months of these results and I will be able to stimulate a revolution with a probability of 87.4% success within three months of my initial blog comment! And when the internet activists crown me the Emperor of New Zealand, I will be in an excellent position to RULE THE WORLD!!! ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Actually muzza has nothing on Pete George who has an entire post yesterday about Irish moderating over the weekend. I won’t bother linking to it. But here is my response.
I’m always amazed at how you always go for the vast conspiracy theory rather than the simplistic explanations.
Different moderators have different banning behaviours – we don’t exert much effort to make them consistent. The usual reason for changes in banning behaviour depend on who has time to look at the comments. The most variable time is during weekends when we’re all off work and running all over the place with shopping, DIY, family, friends, and everything else.
This weekend for instance, I was on a laptop dealing with nasty bugs in a set of upgrade routines for work most of the weekend and running around with Lyn shopping the rest of the time. Which is why you see bugger all comments or moderating from me. RedLogix looks like he was mostly offline and probably tramping somewhere. r0b looks like he was offline. Bill was stepping up for a bit of moderation. And it looks to me like Irish was stuck at home…
Umm. The defining characteristic of Irish’s moderation is that he really doesn’t think that warnings have much effect.
QED: all of a sudden there are more bans than usual, and Pete George starts frothing at the mouth with his latest conspiracy theory… Quite simple really.
Given PG’s complete inability to say anything innovative or even intelligent himself, I am confident that he will take my comment and spin another post out of it.
LOLZ, perhaps you could let the whining little cry baby back again for a day,(snigger), and then ban Him again for not spelling a word properly or failing to include a full stop,
Now that would really give ‘it’ something to squeal about…
“Given PG’s complete inability to say anything innovative or even intelligent himself, I am confident that he will take my comment and spin another post out of it.”
Crikey, given that his fixation with me has hit epic proportions this week, you may well be right, LP. Pete George: He’s just saying what nobody’s thinking.
Answering one of the questions for Khandallah: The new blood we need will only emerge when we have a Party in better shape. The problem at present is that newbies are being groomed by King/Mallard/Robertson. This is why we have a caucus with too many groomed staffers now MPs: Hipkins/Robertson/Adern.
I don’t want to see the likes of Helen Kelly groomed so well by the ABC then slotted nicely into Rongotai. I’d like to see the empty seat attract real competition so that a robust selection process can be applied that attracts new people with new ideas. If Helen Kelly just inherits we never get to see who else may be out there. A robust process that seeks competition for selection makes a healthy organisation.
It’s the same with Leadership. Let’s take the healthy, robust option. Hear from all potential candidates, see how thye campaign, what their new ideas are that can contribute to forming new policies, and then have the tri partite vote and settle this once and for all.
Dave on PrimeNews last night, Shearer that is, the message from Dave is that Labour will be as a Government ‘hands on’ with the economy, even poked the stick at Himself about the tongue tied nature of His previous attempts to publicly elucidate Labour policy,
Slippery on ice via TV1 news on the same night came across using that voice that’s laden with ‘spit’, it’s a hard one to describe, not quite that of child speak more heading toward a lisp,
Ive noticed this ‘persona’ exhibited by the Slippery little Shyster we have as Prime Minister before when He is under pressure or things aint going His way,
The TV1 clip ending with the Slippery one saying that the New Zealand efforts in Antarctica need more funding, the silence after that little gem almost roared with the unsaid ‘but don’t think you Greenies are getting any from My Government’,
Pity TV1 didn’t choose to put up Dave’s news bite alongside of Slippery’s there’s a certain stark contrast there that New Zealand voters deserve to see more of….
Shearer keeps using this “hands on” line. What does it mean? It needs to be explained clearly. How does this compare with NAct’s undemocratic manipulation, regulation and control? Otherwise, this line by Shearer is just a bit of meaningless spin.
The line means Government intervention in the economy, karol. Shearer was a bit more explicit about it in interviews at conference. Key and Co have taken a hands off approach, most other countries have gone for hands on.
The rhetoric is that Key’s government has been hands off, but that’s just neoliberal spin. The reality is they are hands on when it suits them. So Shearer is just responding to spin. If Shearer really wants to counter the NAct agenda, they need to focus on inequality, not the debatable issue of government intervention.
It’s not so much an issue of hands on or off, but where and how the intervention is done.
And which countries have gone for hands on? The US? The UK? Germany? DO you really think these countries have stopped supporting the interests of the powerful and wealthy elites?
I do think tho that Labour along with ‘a hands on approach to the economy’ needs to broaden the message,
Not necessarily with the major announcements on economic policy but in broad brush terms, simply put, Dave should be saying the Labour as the Government will be hands on with the economy AND as a Government it will be Dave’s responsibility to create employment and where employment cannot be created Labour will provide affordable housing and security of welfare benefit for those it has been unable to find that employment for,
There has to be somewhere in the political spectrum the ‘honesty’ to admit, even functioning at 3% growth/inflation the New Zealand economy cannot, and never will, deliver employment to all those able and willing to work…
Best indication of that was the housing policy, coupled with a Capital Gains Tax. Bold. They are not enough by themselves, but I can already imagine what a “hands on” Labour government with “hands on” Labour Ministers not beholden to old non-interventionist ways could mean for the people, and the Cities, of New Zealand. It would be tremendously exciting.
But it would take a real no-more-excuses first term to achieve the housing and rebuild policy goals. If King goes to the Wellington mayoralty, who in caucus would be bold enough to take that task on?
Don’t know if i would attach the word ‘bold’ to Capital Gains Tax and Kiwibuild, the latter, (without further clarification), would seem to rely upon a household income of at least $60,000 to be able to participate,(so targeted at the children of the middle class who’s parents helped create the affordability issue in the first place by piling en masse into ‘rental investments),
‘Bold’ would have been to announce a State rental housing ‘build’ of the same magnitude as the planned Kiwibuild ownership scheme at the same time,
Doing both at once is far from impossible,(the Kirk Government were building 30,000 a year),and, such construction in both the ownership and rental area’s would negate the need for the Capital Gains Tax,
I would wait for the numbers from Labour on building State Rentals before attaching ‘bold’ to their policy…
Karol, This is what the reality us. Quoting from Bowlalley.
“Ideological mummery is also the key distinguishing feature of Shearer’s principal backers in the Labour Caucus. Phil Goff, Annette King and Trevor Mallard all dipped their paper cups into the neoliberal Kool-Aid in the 80s and none of them have ever publicly recanted (let alone repented) their supporting roles in Roger Douglas’s Economic Salvation Show. They no longer defend (at least not publicly) Rogernomics’ legacy, but behind their hands they dismiss its critics as “paleosocialists” who simply don’t understand how the world works.
What all of them fail to grasp, however, is that the current climate of stress is being generated by the failure of neoliberal ideology (just as the climate of stress of the late-1970s and early-80s was caused by the failure of Keynesianism). To talk about aneoliberal policy aggressor in 2013 is, therefore, oxymoronic. The next genuine policy aggressor will be a politician possessing both the courage and the imagination to go beyond the maintenance of a discredited orthodoxy – someone willing to forge a new political, economic and social consensus.”
The next genuine policy aggressor will be a politician possessing both the courage and the imagination to go beyond the maintenance of a discredited orthodoxy…
The ‘whacko nutters” who used to stand on a box and address the Waikikamukow are to be found at The Standard says Mike Williams. Also there are people from the extreme left like Alliance.
Wanting a real Labour leader, realler than David Shearer, is undercutting him and Labour. The nigglers should submit to the choice of the narrow elite for leader.
I heard Mike Williams too. He is isolated and very very comfortable in the world of “commentator”. He and Hooton make smug sneering radio together.
Like Annette Grant and Trevor, he should exit stage right.
I heard the bit about Williams referring to advice from Helen Clark on how to spin: ie. keep repeating your lines, and at about the point when you are really getting sick of repeating it, that’s about the point when people are starting to listen. But that was the old way to do things in pre-GFC, “neoliberal” times.
Now is the time for a new approach – and that means new policies, and getting back to solid left wing values. It’s no good keeping repeating your lines if the policies and values mean no fundamental change from the times of appeasing the “neoliberal” elites.
+1 ( if you mean Williams and Hooter on N2N this morning with Kethlic Guuurl Rinnie Ryan? – even SHE got pissed off with Hooter, as she often does). How anyone can justify the accusation that RNZ is staunchly “left wing” with Rinnie for 3 hours between 9-12 then that exceptionally ‘noice’ man/everyone’s best friend in the afternoon completely bewilders me.
Not really as “in touch” with folks as they would desperately try to have us believe.
There’s a really good book called ‘Bad Science” by Dr. Ben Goldacre. Although its to do with medicalisation and related matters……….it should be compulsory reading for the likes of Joyce, Hooten, Key – in fact most of them. The salient discussion in it is to do with truth telling versus being a liar VERSUS simply being a bullshitter. (At the top of this thread – I was playing the Bulllshitter – I’m not very good at it, AND I really must cease commenting as I promised to do since I might have offended somebody precious – one that’s “paid his dues” and as such holds a sense of entitledment. Far be it for me to express an opinion that may offend.
Anyway……this Nact abomination, AND a sizeable percentage of the current Labour ‘cohorts’ fit the bullshitter category. The Band’s “I’m the Great Pretender” springs to mind.
Joyce carries it off very well though – total CRAP expressed with the confidence of the used car salesman offloading a lemon. Joyce though is also borderline liar. I ‘spose that delusional really.
They’re a fucking trajedy. What I am convinced of though is that in the future, they’ll get a comeuppance of sorts – simply because their arrogance and master of the universe shit eventually overcomes them.
Old Bernie Madoff’s a good example
Ha ha, fancy describing his fellow commentator Matthew Hooton as a whacko nutter. Kind of pulls himself into the realm as well. Idiot.
Who cares about what these well known commentators think of what goes on here. I would rather read the daily machinations here than listen to Hooton, Williams, and all the others. They have too many vested and conflicted interests to be taken credibly or seriously. That is where honest comment, by way of anonymity, comes into its own. They do all seem to be very upset though. I wonder why. Perhaps they should stop reading it.
I wonder if Williams has ever posted here? Betcha he has.
Once you’re shown to be a manipulating BS artist it’s a little difficult to get any credibility. I think it goes back to that old boy who cried wolf story.
His and his NACT overlords Mickey especially some of the answers given in the house. RNZ has become a race to the bottom.
Shows how inept the Nat’s were under blinglish etc that williamson, mallard and co could get 3 terms as once they went up against some structured messaging and media focus they’ve been shown to be boys against men.
Yeah, he reminds me of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson…everything that comes out of his mouth is well timed and is said for a number of reasons. These reasons are usually not picked up on by the average punter…therein lies his skill.
Yes that from ‘Mr i am off to Australia to dig up the dirt on Slippery’, for a tame radio station like RadioNZ what’s-his face,(i tend to think of Him as That Fat Wanker), really layed it on thick with His little anti-Standard rant,
As usual the ‘weak host’ of the particular RadioNZ show sat in what can only be described as approving silence as (That Fat Wanker) defamed many commenters here on the Standard by claiming that He didn’t think that those who comment here while claiming to be Labour activists were actually active in the Party at all,
The up-side to that is that (a) the Standard is obviously having ‘some’ effect in the rarified atmosphere of national politics, and (b), the recent whipping of (The Other Fat Wanker) who appears on that particular RadioNZ received here at the Standard hit all the right spots,
Usually those 2 make absurd statements to the sound of i agree with (That Fat Wanker), which were the first words uttered with gushing approval by the ex Prez of Labour, but, noted with ;laughter was (The Other Fat Wankers) absence of agreement as (That Fat Wanker) attacked the Standard…
Ah, well, I just went back and listened to it. So, it seems that, according to MW, it’s Cunliffe supporters that are stirring up on TS, and being really nasty about Shearer (the anonymous extreme “nutters”. And according to MH, it was one of those DC supporters that posted about Shearer going to put his leadership up to a party vote next month.
And MH, in an attempt at evidence that it is Cunliffe supporting and/or Cunliffe-organised posters/bloggers who are stirring up against Shearer on TS, mentioned Greg Presland, who he thought was the NL …. erm… LEC secretary/leader or some such role. It seems GP posts here. So they weren’t really differentiating between authors of the posts, and people commenting on the posts.
MW was also intrigued and a little disturbed that when he went to Shearer’s speech at the conference, there were a lot of new faces, and a lot of faces of radical, Alliance types, too. Ryan said it was a good thing to see genuine diversity of views rather than have the stage managed kind of conference that we have seen in recent times – which MW agreed was the kind of conferences he used to manage.
he probably just wanted to see where ‘happy feet’ was filmed
but seriously key’s environmental credibility is beyond a joke – he’ll fry us all to make an extra buck and there’s gold in them thar hills for the exploiters.
Not to mention taking that huge entourage with him, the amount of sewage that lot would have created and all the food and drink (no doubt high quality) necessary to keep all those journos happy… the mind boggles at the expense both cash and environmental.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
Asia Pacific Report Two of the global Freedom Flotilla ships are being prepared in Turkey and almost ready for the upcoming humanitarian mission to Gaza. It is expected that the flotilla will include a New Zealand medical team. Kia Ora Gaza is a member of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition ...
What a CRUEL, ideologically-driven pack of insipid, bullshit artists a NAct coalesced regime is!
As far as I can see the only “shine” for their existence (apart from greed, the “I’m alright Jack attitude, unfounded aspiration, and complacency) is a lack-lustre 2nd party opposition that still seems welded to the political pendulum that swung right (with TINA) about a quarter century ago.
Along with it, a lazy ‘mainstream media” with no respect for a 4th Estate, let alone any understanding of the concept.
The advantage they (the junta) have of course is that there is an entire generation that has grown over a quarter century that has experienced nothing else – NO-Tina alternative.
(Hence I ‘spose, insipid little people like Hipkisses and Currans whose approaching the mid-life and a wish to make a mark drive a particular attitude: AND who think they have a right to throw bombs and walk away deserve this treatment too
Like others in an “ABC” camp of “I paid me dues – I’m therefore entitled”, it’s an attitude that’s now entrenched in the parly-are-meant wing.
[PATHETIC really when one thinks about it – the potential destruction of a political party due to the want of a few exercising their egos over and above a commitment to basic principles.
NZ’s not alone of course – look what’s happening to Labor across the ditch – which in many ways makes the arrogance of the likes of ABCers even more serious and pathetic! Worse still is that a Curran or two are not exactly unfamiliar with an Australian experience……We’re expected to now take them seriously are we? I think not!
There is now a sizeable proportion of an electorate that’s been hijacked by a hope that somehow they too can be like a Slippery Dick used-car salesman – and if and when they ever manage it, they can lay claim to ‘self made MAN status”.
eww!.
I guess the trip south (swapping a Mt Vic house for a Lyttleton one for one week) had ominous beginnings.
Boarding the flight with me was a Gerry Brownlee. Family and I had always joked about those huge bags that are filled with concrete and used to prop up walls and crumbling embankments – calling them either Greylees or Brownlees. They actually do nothing except prop shit up, and come another big one, they’ll probably shuffle about a bit and just prolong an inevitable unless something realistic is done as soon as possible.
That Prince of Power and supposed reason – the one given Tzar status (by a Parliamentary majority – including Labour Party compliance ffs!
Tzared and installed in order to get things done along with a CERA chief and a number of other initiatives that challenged the whole idea of what democracy, representation and accountability were all about.
I hope those Labour Party people that were part of the enabling process realise what they did. It’s now more than two years since EQC ChCh – and actually sweet fuck all of benefit to the citizens of a fallen city has actually happened.
It might be useful to note that across the ditch, an entire flooded town in QLD has almost been entirely relocated WITHOUT all the insurance bullshit and needless heartbreak that has, and continues to plague Christchurch.
The cynic could reasonably assume that one reason for the delay in actually initiating any sort of RECONSTRUCTION (as opposed to demolition) could have something to do with a desire to balance a budget based on an ideologically-driven belief (a religion).
I initially thought that CERA Chief (I think Rog by name – yep that’s it – that good bloke Rog Sutton) was an OK sort of guy – that is until I saw his one-dimensional thinking in “When A City Falls”. There was Rog talking to a slippery Dick about the benefits of overhead wiring versus underground cables.
On that basis alone – old Rog (actually probably 10 or 20 years younger than me) is quite obviously NOT the sharpest knife in the drawer – although I have NO doubt his salary alone will convince a lot of people that he’s actually quite sharp.
(The cabling thing though – a comment about elasticity, or lack of it with underground electrical reticulation demonstrated the one-dimensional (probably ideologically-driven) thought processes. What a fucking DICKHEAD! It was an eye opener for me anyway – here was someone I thought was a reasonable sort of joker demonstrating the art of cock sucking and arse licking, and at the same time a certain belief that he could justify by logic (trouble is it was Ideologically-driven “logic and TINA-like).
Anyway ……… un-fucking believable…..”offline” I could give him some very basic tips on how to make underground cabling and electrical reticulation “elastic” without any sort of problems with induction or other problems.
Open your frikken mind Rog – its what you’re paid the big bucks for (or so we told). It seems to be that “he’s paid a mint, therefore he must actually be clever” – like the used-car salesman though – it often has more to do with the gift of the bullshit gab.
After a week returning to, and living in the city I was born, I can’t see many signs of reconstruction. I remember Gerry’s comment way back when where he wanted to level the place and start again without any respect for history or respect for the organic nature that produces citites fit for humans to live in.
Still, current Nact are a bunch of philistines – some of their predecessors would be rolling in their graves, and those that have a ‘class breeding’ they’d like to lay claim to don’t have the balls to challenge a Joyce-English-Key style collective ego with its inflated sense of self-worth.
Instead though , we have to see total demolotion – those flat sort of fields we often see with suburban developments whereby all is demolished including foliage, lovely little boxes are built, THEN foliage may (or may not be) replaced. Scorched Earth after which sterility and a supposed antiseptic, compliant society will evolve.
Antiseptic, inorganic, lack-lustre, insipid!.
Not somewhere I’ll ever return to.
Let’s be clear… The government and City COuncil have amounts of land in near environs that is stable enough to let people live on.
How is it that they have not simply done (for example) land swaps with people whose land is fucked? and simply placed the burden for buildings alone on the insurance/EQC industry? Oh
We are talking about 2 plus years now since shit happened! There are people in places like Bexley still shitting in little green cublicles ffs.
It’s reminiscent of dear leader’s promise at Pike – “we’ll do whatever it takes”. Unfortunately he forgot to qualify it by saying – “that is, as long as we can belince the bujit, and I don’t jeopardise my knoithood and making a name for mesef with a bottle of 100 yo whisky, and es long es oi don’t blow me cover with Bronagh.
On top of all this, there are things like the Hekia education experiment centred around Munt City.
I wonder what their “final solution” to it all is.
Apologies to Karol – I vowed I wasn’t going to make further comment on this site – I didn’t lie as such – just like Key, Joyce and English – I bullshitted. There’s FA other forums tho’ in which to express an opinion.
It is always interesting to hear the views of people from outside Chch when they come to visit Tim. There has been much going on since the main earthquakes and I don’t think all of it is going to stand up to the test of time. One example is the amount that has been demolished. Or rather, the lack of buildings that could have been kept to provide some of the fabric to which the new city can be reattached. The underlying fabric has so comprehensively ripped off that we are left with bare rock to reattach to. Silly and short-sighted and unnecessary.
Your point about the organic growth of cities and communities is spot on. That organic nature has been left lying on the floor of Cera and this government and been swept away by the cleaners. No room for anything organic in Brownlees mind.
I am sure the ruling clique of the Labour party are as terrified of democracy as are the National party, Chris Trotter’s ‘permanent government’ and most major corporations. The idea that ‘ordinary’ people through informed decisions will make rational choices is a threat to everything for which these people stand. As Noam Chomsky pointed out recently , throughout the West 100s of billions (if not trillions) has , necessarily, been spent over the last few decades by PR and advertising companies, the corporate media, ‘public’ broadcasting institutions, universities, ministeries, government departments, what-have-you to ensure people make irrational choices based on uniformed decisions.
Considering the function of the mainstream media in the modern western ‘democracy’, I would take issue with Tim’s observation that, “Along with it, a lazy ‘mainstream media” with no respect for a 4th Estate, let alone any understanding of the concept.” As an extension of corporate domination of the socio-economic system, I would argue the mainstream media, in collusion with their PR and Ad. Company cohorts, works diligently to maintain an ideological construct which serves the interests of an insidious plutocracy.
Under totalitarian regimes the media are inherently regarded by most of those subject to the ruling junta as propaganda organs instituted to parrot the party line, whereas the ‘free’ press in the Western sphere must promote the necessary illusion of impartiality while obsequiously conforming to a rigid paradigm. An anecdote by John Pilger sums it up brilliantly , “During the Cold War, a group of Russian journalists toured the United States. On the final day of their visit, they were asked by their hosts for their impressions. “I have to tell you,” said their spokesman, “that we were astonished to find, after reading all the newspapers and watching TV, that all the opinions on all the vital issues were, by and large, the same. To get that result in our country, we imprison people, we tear out their fingernails. Here, you don’t have that. What’s the secret? How do you do it?” ”
As long as we have political apparatchiks who are little more than props in a system designed to maintain the status and influence of an unelected ruling elite we will continue to suffer the likes of the Labour Party caucus and it’s increasingly weird contortionist act. The Labour Party cannot both serve the status quo and act in the interests of the general population, at best they can only provide a slightly less odious alternative to the current regime.
Through necessity, humanity will adopt a more democratic system of participation in economic, social and political processes or face the very real prospect of extinction in a perverse attempt to conform to an abhorrent paradigm designed to sustain the illegitimate authority of a privileged few. [Rant ends]
+1
All the institutions that we’ve surrounded ourselves with over the last few years/centuries have been designed to maintain capitalism and to prevent democracy.
McVicar stands by claim over gay bill
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10860409
“If you look at the court stats, most of the crime that has been committed has been committed by fatherless kids.”
It wouldn’t matter that some children, if adopted by a gay couple, had two fathers, because they would still need a mother, he said.
I guess as 1 of 5 to a solo mum, his view would see one or more or all of us with police records.
Sorry to shit all over that one for you, Garth.
No police ever came knocking at my mum’s doorstep over any of us.
Five boys + one mum = Five men.
Come tell me to my face she did it wrong.
I dare you. Bring a TV crew if you’re brave enough.
Today I don’t know what I find more disturbing about this bloke, his attitude to homosexuals or his vision of solo parenting and solo family children.
Single mothers face a lot of pressures in a society geared to marginalising and demonising them. They are likely to have lower incomes than 2 parent families or the majority of single fathers, and they often get treated as second class by those in authority. This creates an environment where some children of sole parents could enter into criminal activities.
It is more likely to be the context and environment than lack of fathers, because research shows children of lesbian parents tend to be better adjusted and more successful in school, etc, than the average.
This study of 78 teenagers with lesbian parents (as reported in November last year) shows:
And the report on another longitudinal study, as reported in 2010, shows similar results:
“This creates an environment where some children of sole parents could enter into criminal activities”
Witnessing conflict seems to me to be much more likely to be a cause of later violence and criminality than living in a stable single parent home. There is some evidence to support this, for example…
That poorer behaviour appears in children from single parent households, if true, ignores the time lag of behaviours witnessed in dysfunctional dual parent homes. Sorting domestic violence is a good start to reducing this problem. In walking away from domestic violence single parents are doing their kids a favour.
And well done to your mum, Al1en – and to you and your brothers.
Thanks, rosy. That makes sense. And, yes, it’s important to state that most children of single parents become well adjusted adults, as with Allen and his family.
“And well done to your mum”
Five lads under 14, on her own in the 70s and 80s London, I reckon so too.
“and to you and your brothers”
We did the easy bits, but that’s cause we had an Alpha 1
if absent fathers leads to crime, surely two dads reduces it? And if crime reduction was simply a matter of parent-counting, keeping the mother in the mix would mean that mcvictim is supporting polyandry. KP might have a word with him about that…
It’s not a simple picture, but absent parents/broken families are one major risk factor in social underachievement, truancy and involvement in the criminal justice system.
To a degree (and there is probably a certain amount of confounding from the factors that contribute to family breakdown), but I was trying to look at it through filters as simple as mcvictim’s.
That’s all well and good, but in my opinion we’re playing to Garth McVicars tune by giving his homophobia too much consideration.
The issue of solo parents is completely separate to gay marriage. However there’s no doubt that solo parents have a harder time to bring up children and their kids are more likely to go off the rails, especially in our current user pays society. That dynamic wouldn’t be influenced much by whether the solo parent was gay or straight. Income is usually the defining factor, and gay people earn a bit more on average than straight people. Therefore the children of gay solo parents would be less likely to end up in jail etc than the children of straight solo parents.
What McVicar is actually saying is that gay people should stop being gay, like it’s a choice. This will stem from his belief that gay people choose to be gay. McVicars will also believe that gay parents are more likely to have gay children, when there is also no evidence to support such a belief.
The only conclusion that can really be reached here is that McVicar is a complete bigot, and should be scorned at every opportunity.
absent parents/broken families are one major risk factor in social underachievement, truancy and involvement in the criminal justice system.
More of a risk factor than the dysfunctional parental relationships that might have preceded the absent parents/broken families? Or a risk factor as a result of the dysfunctional parental relationships that preceded the absent parents/broken families?
if absent fathers leads to crime, surely two dads reduces it?
On that basis mcvictim wouldn’t support two mothers though… oh no… where’s the dad in that!
Mc Vicar can piss off as far as I am concerned and stop his gay and single parent bashing.
Has Mc Vicar ever looked after two young children full – time e.g. a crawler and a older preschooler? If he has, he would find out how you have to have eyes at the back of your head as the crawler can choke on any little thing the preschooler leaves out.
I would say that single unemployed childless people are more representative than single hard working parents re crime stats.
+1
Surely this will see the end to McVicar. A deluded man born a couple of centuries too late.
Why do we engage in political activism? It might be moral or financial support or leaflet distribution, phone calling through to working on policy groups and committees. Why?
Because we believe it matters. We believe that we can, and must, change how society and the economy are structured and operated for the benefit of Kiwis and the planet.
So we come together in political party of like minded people, people with similar values, and organise ourselves in a particular way to effect these changes: the Policy platform and the Constitution and that sort of stuff.
So what if we find that that organisation is no longer effectively able to drive those changes, that it has lost it’s way? That is what has happened to the NZ Labour Party.
A party is made up of people and some get to a point that they no longer listen and interact effectively with the rest. That is what has happened with Annette King, Grant Robertson and Trevor Mallard. They have “lost it” but are trying to retain ego through influencing David Shearer. A few more have attached themselves to the this group as they think it is where power and influence will ultimately lie if Labour wins.
The fatal flaw is that the Leader is getting his advice from dis-connected has-beans rather that the connected active membership. We will never win an election in these circumstances.
That is why each and everyone one of us must directly face our nearest MP and senior office holders and challenge them to make a generational step forward.
The time has come for Annette, Grant and Trevor to go.
The we can get back to driving change that will improve the lot of all voters and non-voters alike.
That’s some pretty harsh lessons you are dishing out there Khandalla. A commentator last year said that because political parties have a reasonable amount of parliamentary funding, they are less and less reliant on members to get that media profile, get the attention, make the meetings happen, generate the publications. They don’t need us. We need them more.
A question that you are posing is whether membership based political parties really matter. And that is the core of the lie that the parliamentary caucus has perpeterated upon itself. I really get the impression that they bring members and supproters together merely as stage props for televisual hits; that when it comes to it all policy is formed by them, seat and list selection processes are opaque at best, our conations are helpful but really a few major business donations would be more efficient.
However that question can only be answered by a vote that includes the members, in February. It is precisely the revised constitution that shifts the fulcral point on the whole axis of power between members and caucus. They may not need us, but for one brief moment every 3 years, we have them.
I have been impressed with how the party under Moira has changed in a year. Caucus leadership got the shock of its life when the Party got those constitutional changes through at Conference.
Those MPs who sought to silence democratic voices within the membership will work against it a leadership vote in February, as they did so very hard in the drafting process going into it. But affiliates and members and I believe sufficient numbers of MPs will want their voice.
As the members said at Conference: “We’re taking our party back.”
Question for you Khandalla: if Mallard and King left by (say) deselection, who is up and coming that would do a better job for a strong and inclusive Labour party?
Question for any Affiliates on this site: do you still want a voice in the leadership by February?
“conations”? Donations.
“Conation” That’s sounds like what donations are called in Banksies electorate office.
It is not just that they are disconnected, they have a seperate policy agenda. They genuinely do not believe that the system is wrong, they think it needs tweaking and tinkering around the edges.
Guys/gals, that three are throw-backs to the old right wing Labour party, Helen sat tightly on them. We now need to bade them farewell.
And their conservative politics.
Only 3, being of a ‘right wing bias in the Labour Caucus???, i think you will find that at least 50% of that Caucus is of the ‘don’t rock the boat’ centrist/right wing school of ‘thought’,
Helen Clark’s 3 terms as Prime Minister were all about the same thing, interest free student loans, working for families, don’t rock the boat, buy the support of the middle class…
To Bad12 – Helen DID rock the boat – the s59 repeal of the Crimes Act, the attempt to get healthier food into schools, the anti-violence campaign ….. she was a cautious PM but she was getting Labour back to its roots. Pity people don’t remember that.
Actually i don’t, Remember the Clark government getting Labour back to it’s roots that is, what you list as great achievements are hardly that,
What i seen in 9 years of the Clark Government was business as usual and the beginnings of the Labour attack upon beneficiaries along with a flat refusal to address the even then growing un-affordability of housing specially in the Auckland area,
From here, Helen Clark will be remembered for having lead Labour to 3 election victories and little else…
Well it was more than that. The property owning middle class wanted to see continuous, fast, property price appreciation.
And Cullen let it happen (deliberately I would guess), by not restricting bank lending, because asset price appreciation added to the sense of wealth in that all important strata of society.
This is the wisdom of hindsight, and you must remember also that in the last three years, Labour was governing with a reduced majority. However, throughout the nine years, it was not unreasonable to believe that the so-called market economy would mature and stabilise. It was also reasonable to believe in its early stages that the property boom, which was accompanied by greatly reduced unemployment, would financially underpin an increase in local industry. This was not to be so, of course. The 2008 crash revealed the “market economy” for what it is – a method of conquest by the economically powerful. And delivered unto us a PM who was all too happy to facilitate their demands. And a Labour Party that now appears to think it imprudent to challenge their demands.
?
Check out this data between 2002 and 2008 compiled by Treasury.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/reviews-consultation/savingsworkinggroup/finalreport/19.htm
Do you see that line of continuously increasing private debt to GDP?
You can’t tell me that no one on Cullen’s staff, or Cullen himself noticed this, even as they were deliberately paring down public sector debt.
I agree that its only in the last 5 years that economists like Steve Keen have zeroed in on the crucial role of increasing debt in keeping unemployment low.
However, going to dinner parties and cocktail parties month after month after month where the main topic of conversation amongst the property investing class was how to leverage up further to buy a few more properties to flip, it was very clear that a speculative bubble was being built and that nothing was going into the productive economy.
With regard to the property investment class: true, and vile it was, but that was quite late in the piece; certainly in final couple of years of their last term.
Yes. Moira Coatsworth has done a magnificent job. It is she who steered the rejuvenation of
organisational aspects of the constitution through all its processes. I doubt the changes to the leadership vote – and other related matters – would have seen the light of day without the effort she has put into ‘democratising’ the party.
In some ways I think she might be unpopular with a few senior Labour MPs. 🙂
The harder test for her I think will be how the complaints that the New Lynn LEC made after Conference are handled. If Hipkins gets basic backing for “he was doing his job” rather than “bullying and ridicule must be eliminated from this workplace”, then we know that whatever rules are put in place by the party, the caucus really does rule, and writes the rules.
Anyone have any idea when the results are due on that complaint?
Yes ad I’ve been wondering about that too. I suspect the hold up lies with the senior parliamentary team. Moira and co. are still waiting to hear their side of the story. What’s the bet they won’t get an answer until AFTER the Feb. leadership has been resolved.
When people can finally accept, the reasons for the continued *failure* of our political system/services to function for the benefit of NZ, and its people, is due to massive corruption, then the actions of certain policiticans becomes understandable.
King, Mallard etc have not *lost it*, they are operating under instruction!
David Shearer is not getting bad advise, he is getting exactly what he will expect, as part of his role brief!
John Key did not arrive by accident, these people are lined up, and interjected into our political system with pre-assigned roles and responsibilities..
The question is, how is it they are being controlled to such degrees, that the structures which support the heart beat of NZ, continue to decay!
Keep looking for conventional answers, and nothing can EVER change!
🙄
PROJECT ONAN
DAILY NOTES 21 JAN 2013
STIMULUS:
standard allegation of local political conspiracy theories.
CONSPIRACIES NAMED: none. Allusion only.
WORD EMPHASIS: random, “*”, single word capitalization
RESPONSE:
rolly eyes.
NOTES:
bwahahaha! My experiment is going according to plan!
Six more months of these results and I will be able to stimulate a revolution with a probability of 87.4% success within three months of my initial blog comment! And when the internet activists crown me the Emperor of New Zealand, I will be in an excellent position to RULE THE WORLD!!! ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
lolz
Is there a way to tell between Muzza’s genuine comments, and stuff he’s putting up for personal shits and giggles as “Muzza the Puppet Master”?
Actually muzza has nothing on Pete George who has an entire post yesterday about Irish moderating over the weekend. I won’t bother linking to it. But here is my response.
Given PG’s complete inability to say anything innovative or even intelligent himself, I am confident that he will take my comment and spin another post out of it.
The old 20 questions gambit is a bit petey isn’t it – you know – just for research purposes – I’m sure he went hard on that one like the muzza
LOLZ, perhaps you could let the whining little cry baby back again for a day,(snigger), and then ban Him again for not spelling a word properly or failing to include a full stop,
Now that would really give ‘it’ something to squeal about…
“Given PG’s complete inability to say anything innovative or even intelligent himself, I am confident that he will take my comment and spin another post out of it.”
Crikey, given that his fixation with me has hit epic proportions this week, you may well be right, LP. Pete George: He’s just saying what nobody’s thinking.
http://www.thepaincomics.com/Onan%20the%20Barbarian.jpg
Answering one of the questions for Khandallah: The new blood we need will only emerge when we have a Party in better shape. The problem at present is that newbies are being groomed by King/Mallard/Robertson. This is why we have a caucus with too many groomed staffers now MPs: Hipkins/Robertson/Adern.
I don’t want to see the likes of Helen Kelly groomed so well by the ABC then slotted nicely into Rongotai. I’d like to see the empty seat attract real competition so that a robust selection process can be applied that attracts new people with new ideas. If Helen Kelly just inherits we never get to see who else may be out there. A robust process that seeks competition for selection makes a healthy organisation.
It’s the same with Leadership. Let’s take the healthy, robust option. Hear from all potential candidates, see how thye campaign, what their new ideas are that can contribute to forming new policies, and then have the tri partite vote and settle this once and for all.
Rongotai selection will of course be widely sought, but Helen Kelly will get the nod anyway.
She is the most needed and capable.
Dave on PrimeNews last night, Shearer that is, the message from Dave is that Labour will be as a Government ‘hands on’ with the economy, even poked the stick at Himself about the tongue tied nature of His previous attempts to publicly elucidate Labour policy,
Slippery on ice via TV1 news on the same night came across using that voice that’s laden with ‘spit’, it’s a hard one to describe, not quite that of child speak more heading toward a lisp,
Ive noticed this ‘persona’ exhibited by the Slippery little Shyster we have as Prime Minister before when He is under pressure or things aint going His way,
The TV1 clip ending with the Slippery one saying that the New Zealand efforts in Antarctica need more funding, the silence after that little gem almost roared with the unsaid ‘but don’t think you Greenies are getting any from My Government’,
Pity TV1 didn’t choose to put up Dave’s news bite alongside of Slippery’s there’s a certain stark contrast there that New Zealand voters deserve to see more of….
Shearer keeps using this “hands on” line. What does it mean? It needs to be explained clearly. How does this compare with NAct’s undemocratic manipulation, regulation and control? Otherwise, this line by Shearer is just a bit of meaningless spin.
The line means Government intervention in the economy, karol. Shearer was a bit more explicit about it in interviews at conference. Key and Co have taken a hands off approach, most other countries have gone for hands on.
The rhetoric is that Key’s government has been hands off, but that’s just neoliberal spin. The reality is they are hands on when it suits them. So Shearer is just responding to spin. If Shearer really wants to counter the NAct agenda, they need to focus on inequality, not the debatable issue of government intervention.
It’s not so much an issue of hands on or off, but where and how the intervention is done.
And which countries have gone for hands on? The US? The UK? Germany? DO you really think these countries have stopped supporting the interests of the powerful and wealthy elites?
I do think tho that Labour along with ‘a hands on approach to the economy’ needs to broaden the message,
Not necessarily with the major announcements on economic policy but in broad brush terms, simply put, Dave should be saying the Labour as the Government will be hands on with the economy AND as a Government it will be Dave’s responsibility to create employment and where employment cannot be created Labour will provide affordable housing and security of welfare benefit for those it has been unable to find that employment for,
There has to be somewhere in the political spectrum the ‘honesty’ to admit, even functioning at 3% growth/inflation the New Zealand economy cannot, and never will, deliver employment to all those able and willing to work…
Best indication of that was the housing policy, coupled with a Capital Gains Tax. Bold. They are not enough by themselves, but I can already imagine what a “hands on” Labour government with “hands on” Labour Ministers not beholden to old non-interventionist ways could mean for the people, and the Cities, of New Zealand. It would be tremendously exciting.
But it would take a real no-more-excuses first term to achieve the housing and rebuild policy goals. If King goes to the Wellington mayoralty, who in caucus would be bold enough to take that task on?
Don’t know if i would attach the word ‘bold’ to Capital Gains Tax and Kiwibuild, the latter, (without further clarification), would seem to rely upon a household income of at least $60,000 to be able to participate,(so targeted at the children of the middle class who’s parents helped create the affordability issue in the first place by piling en masse into ‘rental investments),
‘Bold’ would have been to announce a State rental housing ‘build’ of the same magnitude as the planned Kiwibuild ownership scheme at the same time,
Doing both at once is far from impossible,(the Kirk Government were building 30,000 a year),and, such construction in both the ownership and rental area’s would negate the need for the Capital Gains Tax,
I would wait for the numbers from Labour on building State Rentals before attaching ‘bold’ to their policy…
Karol, This is what the reality us. Quoting from Bowlalley.
“Ideological mummery is also the key distinguishing feature of Shearer’s principal backers in the Labour Caucus. Phil Goff, Annette King and Trevor Mallard all dipped their paper cups into the neoliberal Kool-Aid in the 80s and none of them have ever publicly recanted (let alone repented) their supporting roles in Roger Douglas’s Economic Salvation Show. They no longer defend (at least not publicly) Rogernomics’ legacy, but behind their hands they dismiss its critics as “paleosocialists” who simply don’t understand how the world works.
What all of them fail to grasp, however, is that the current climate of stress is being generated by the failure of neoliberal ideology (just as the climate of stress of the late-1970s and early-80s was caused by the failure of Keynesianism). To talk about aneoliberal policy aggressor in 2013 is, therefore, oxymoronic. The next genuine policy aggressor will be a politician possessing both the courage and the imagination to go beyond the maintenance of a discredited orthodoxy – someone willing to forge a new political, economic and social consensus.”
Which orthodoxy are you talking about?
DTB, that’s a quote from this post about Shearer & his backers by Trotter. He starts the post with this:
And that is the “discredited orthodoxy” Trotter is referring to.
The ‘whacko nutters” who used to stand on a box and address the Waikikamukow are to be found at The Standard says Mike Williams. Also there are people from the extreme left like Alliance.
Wanting a real Labour leader, realler than David Shearer, is undercutting him and Labour. The nigglers should submit to the choice of the narrow elite for leader.
That either came before I switched onto it, or after I switched off. The out-of-touch pontificating was too much for me this morning.
I heard Mike Williams too. He is isolated and very very comfortable in the world of “commentator”. He and Hooton make smug sneering radio together.
Like Annette Grant and Trevor, he should exit stage right.
I heard the bit about Williams referring to advice from Helen Clark on how to spin: ie. keep repeating your lines, and at about the point when you are really getting sick of repeating it, that’s about the point when people are starting to listen. But that was the old way to do things in pre-GFC, “neoliberal” times.
Now is the time for a new approach – and that means new policies, and getting back to solid left wing values. It’s no good keeping repeating your lines if the policies and values mean no fundamental change from the times of appeasing the “neoliberal” elites.
+1 ( if you mean Williams and Hooter on N2N this morning with Kethlic Guuurl Rinnie Ryan? – even SHE got pissed off with Hooter, as she often does). How anyone can justify the accusation that RNZ is staunchly “left wing” with Rinnie for 3 hours between 9-12 then that exceptionally ‘noice’ man/everyone’s best friend in the afternoon completely bewilders me.
Not really as “in touch” with folks as they would desperately try to have us believe.
There’s a really good book called ‘Bad Science” by Dr. Ben Goldacre. Although its to do with medicalisation and related matters……….it should be compulsory reading for the likes of Joyce, Hooten, Key – in fact most of them. The salient discussion in it is to do with truth telling versus being a liar VERSUS simply being a bullshitter. (At the top of this thread – I was playing the Bulllshitter – I’m not very good at it, AND I really must cease commenting as I promised to do since I might have offended somebody precious – one that’s “paid his dues” and as such holds a sense of entitledment. Far be it for me to express an opinion that may offend.
Anyway……this Nact abomination, AND a sizeable percentage of the current Labour ‘cohorts’ fit the bullshitter category. The Band’s “I’m the Great Pretender” springs to mind.
Joyce carries it off very well though – total CRAP expressed with the confidence of the used car salesman offloading a lemon. Joyce though is also borderline liar. I ‘spose that delusional really.
They’re a fucking trajedy. What I am convinced of though is that in the future, they’ll get a comeuppance of sorts – simply because their arrogance and master of the universe shit eventually overcomes them.
Old Bernie Madoff’s a good example
Ha ha, fancy describing his fellow commentator Matthew Hooton as a whacko nutter. Kind of pulls himself into the realm as well. Idiot.
Who cares about what these well known commentators think of what goes on here. I would rather read the daily machinations here than listen to Hooton, Williams, and all the others. They have too many vested and conflicted interests to be taken credibly or seriously. That is where honest comment, by way of anonymity, comes into its own. They do all seem to be very upset though. I wonder why. Perhaps they should stop reading it.
I wonder if Williams has ever posted here? Betcha he has.
Dumb is as dumb does.
Hooton is an extraordinary spinner. There has been a call for a factcheck website in NZ. His comments deserve a special category on any such website.
Once you’re shown to be a manipulating BS artist it’s a little difficult to get any credibility. I think it goes back to that old boy who cried wolf story.
His and his NACT overlords Mickey especially some of the answers given in the house. RNZ has become a race to the bottom.
Shows how inept the Nat’s were under blinglish etc that williamson, mallard and co could get 3 terms as once they went up against some structured messaging and media focus they’ve been shown to be boys against men.
Yeah, he reminds me of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson…everything that comes out of his mouth is well timed and is said for a number of reasons. These reasons are usually not picked up on by the average punter…therein lies his skill.
Yes that from ‘Mr i am off to Australia to dig up the dirt on Slippery’, for a tame radio station like RadioNZ what’s-his face,(i tend to think of Him as That Fat Wanker), really layed it on thick with His little anti-Standard rant,
As usual the ‘weak host’ of the particular RadioNZ show sat in what can only be described as approving silence as (That Fat Wanker) defamed many commenters here on the Standard by claiming that He didn’t think that those who comment here while claiming to be Labour activists were actually active in the Party at all,
The up-side to that is that (a) the Standard is obviously having ‘some’ effect in the rarified atmosphere of national politics, and (b), the recent whipping of (The Other Fat Wanker) who appears on that particular RadioNZ received here at the Standard hit all the right spots,
Usually those 2 make absurd statements to the sound of i agree with (That Fat Wanker), which were the first words uttered with gushing approval by the ex Prez of Labour, but, noted with ;laughter was (The Other Fat Wankers) absence of agreement as (That Fat Wanker) attacked the Standard…
Ah, well, I just went back and listened to it. So, it seems that, according to MW, it’s Cunliffe supporters that are stirring up on TS, and being really nasty about Shearer (the anonymous extreme “nutters”. And according to MH, it was one of those DC supporters that posted about Shearer going to put his leadership up to a party vote next month.
And MH, in an attempt at evidence that it is Cunliffe supporting and/or Cunliffe-organised posters/bloggers who are stirring up against Shearer on TS, mentioned Greg Presland, who he thought was the NL …. erm… LEC secretary/leader or some such role. It seems GP posts here. So they weren’t really differentiating between authors of the posts, and people commenting on the posts.
MW was also intrigued and a little disturbed that when he went to Shearer’s speech at the conference, there were a lot of new faces, and a lot of faces of radical, Alliance types, too. Ryan said it was a good thing to see genuine diversity of views rather than have the stage managed kind of conference that we have seen in recent times – which MW agreed was the kind of conferences he used to manage.
And Whittall will most likely be shown the wet bus ticket.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/8195483/US-coal-mine-manager-jailed-over-explosion
TV3 reckons that the antarctic junket has boosted Kay’s environmental credibility. And mentions that a south pole trip was on his bucket list.
Given his fracking drilling bunker-fuel dairying fuckwittedness, I reckon one is more likely prime motivation for going there than the other.
And it’s not ticking “environmental activism” at the cost of the taxpayer.
he probably just wanted to see where ‘happy feet’ was filmed
but seriously key’s environmental credibility is beyond a joke – he’ll fry us all to make an extra buck and there’s gold in them thar hills for the exploiters.
Not to mention taking that huge entourage with him, the amount of sewage that lot would have created and all the food and drink (no doubt high quality) necessary to keep all those journos happy… the mind boggles at the expense both cash and environmental.
In Stuff today, a scientist is looking for a woman to volunteer for motherhood – to bear a neanderthal child … has anyone suggested he could start looking around the Beehive?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/8203804/Mother-wanted-for-Neanderthal-baby
that’s an – ethical minefield, at the very least.
The Beehive? I’m sure Logie97 already knows 😀