Are all police allowed to lie under oath in any hearing?
And are they allowed indemnity from investigation and prosecution if they are caught out?
Or is the power to lie under oath with indemnity only permitted for senior police in exceptional, or politically charged cases?
In a thinly veiled threat, the Police Association have backed Chief Inspector Grant Wormald, demanding that he must not be investigated for committing perjury in the Kim Dotcom hearing.
With this sort of open (and secret) support, it is little wonder that Chief Inspector Grant Wormald has now been proven to be no stranger to giving false testimony under oath in another hearing.
For allowing senior police to exercise this new power to gain convictions in court against those the state have already determined must be found guilty, I would like to grant the new title of Detective Inspector Wormtongue, in honour of Detective Inspector Grant Wormald for openly and boldy pioneering this new police policy.
Police have always felt free to lie under oath, with a compliant judiciary accepting almost anything they say. What’s new about the Red Devils case is that they have made deceiving the courts central to the operation. If this makes a few judges treat their evidence with the cynicism it deserves, that will be a step forward.
And the police spokesperson shows that Key’s “in charge but oblivious” leadership style is trickling down: “Detective Inspector Wormald was the officer in charge of the investigation but was not a decision-maker in regard to the arrest and prosecution of Mr Wilson”.
Happened under his watch, he might have even known about it, but it wasn’t his decision… [spit]
And it is bullshit that politicians do not influence police decisions or have a quiet word on the side which is called interference. e.g. Banks statement being blacked out.
What gets me is when Key says the police are independent.
Ropata … thanks for the Steven Keen lecture. Some of the material is New Zealand specific and you won’t get these details laid out like this elsewhere.
Highly recommended for anyone here who is even remotely interested in economics. Warning he talks pretty fast and it’s likely a dense download.
The crucial point to grasp is that Keen is a real mathematician, and that much of what he is saying here is backed by the kind of language, tools and thinking that engineers understand works in the real world. This might not be clear from the lecture.
welcome.. keen has a fair bit of ego but he’s a very smart dude.. and shows how NZ’s property bubble (private debt vs GDP) is around the worst in the OECD. (although the UK and USA current account deficits are insanely worse than anyone’s)
OK … just finished listening to the whole thing. In some ways better than the Wgtn lecture I was at, especially the Q+A session at the end. Really worthwhile even though it’s close to a couple of hours long.
You’ve got to remember that being a heterodox economist, Keen was considered an outsider, a lone ranger by the wider (Chicago school/Washingon consensus) economics profession. And he still is by in large, but the GFC greatly changed that and he has also found other audiences now.
Frankly you need a bit of inner fortitude and ego when your neoclassical colleagues are used to dumping on your work from a great height.
I’ve watched the first half hour so far. It’s interesting and useful, though I think I’ll only remember a couple of main points. It’ll probably take me a while to get through the whole 1.5 hours. I will remember the quote(or a version of it) from a delusional mainstream economist that went something like this: he descrbed an increase in uneployment as “an increase in American’s leisure time”.
One key point: the level of economic activity in our modern economies is based on the acceleration of debt. When people get into more debt faster, employment improves and economic activity increases.
When the rate of increase in debt slows down, or shock horror, goes negative, both employment and the economy tanks.
The banks and financiers can tell ahead of time when the housing market is going to go up or down, based on how much mortgage debt they can observe themselves issuing.
And by observing the rate of general debt they are issuing, banks can predict ahead of time whether an entire economy is going to improve or decline.
AND of course the banks aren’t just neutral bystanders. By actively choosing to tighten or loosen the flow of credit into an economy, the banks and financiers can deliberately push an entire economy into a boom or a bust.
Yet, for the population getting their news from MSM and the evening “news”, it would appear all’s well this Labour Weekend, notwithstanding the inevitable road carnage. (police reviewing their vehicle fleet; fuel related? respond to assault with a Volt)
Sustento: Raf Manji’s econ blog:
– how the high dollar is hollowing out the real economy
– why nz needs not QE but ‘monetary dialysis’
– selling your soul: the unintended consequences of asset sales
“To be, or not to be, that is the question,
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them.” Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1.
It seems, after nearly 30 years of deregulated markets, that we face a sea of troubles ourselves. An extreme global debt deleveraging is upon us, the numbers too outrageous to even consider. Not only have we consumed beyond our means, we have mortgaged our future. Whereas once credit was difficult to come by and banks conservative in their lending (can you pay this back?), the brave new world brought us access to unlimited treasures, all paid for on a credit system, which had limited restraint.
As financial models became more complex and debt could be packaged, securitised and sold off, all sense of restraint was lost. Who owed whom was lost in a parallel universe of metaphor: swap, hedge, collateral, obligation, repurchase. Repaying principal and interest, in the old fashioned sense was put to one side. Can you afford the interest? Don’t worry about the principal, that will pay itself off as the price rises! Can’t afford the interest? Don’t worry, we’ll lend that to you as well, or have a holiday (from interest that is….keeps charging but pay it some other time). Tick, tock, tick, tock.
Exactly. And the point of the Hamlet quote is that we need politicians with the balls to act, and protect the people of NZ from the global pillagers of currency/resources/labour.
On our behalf, Hamlet ponders the road ahead:
“The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er, with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action..…”
Save the Ross Sea. Avaaz have enlisted Leonardo di Caprio to spearhead a petition to support the creation of an Antarctic Marine Sanctuary. Russia, South Korea ‘and a few other countries’ want to keep on fishing in those waters. NZ thanks to Gerry Brownlee, Steven Joyce and Whatsit Carter have decided we don’t need to sign that treaty, that it’s ok to ruin that pristine environment.
From reading this I get the impression that Labour are in agreement of the lack of importance in this issue. Why don’t we just mix and match the Lab and Nat MP’s just like we use to do at school into 2 teams. With the captains alternating who was to be picked into each team. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10842069
“Our consistent policy has been to make sure we always use the best science,” Ruth Dyson said, as it had done to support the net bans to protect Maui dolphins.
Ruth Dyson said that while Mr Jones was not the party spokesman on the Ross Sea issue, “he also didn’t say anything that any of us would have gone ‘holy moly – he said what?”‘
Indeed, and sadly the masses believe their thoughts to be originals.
Even the few who are capable of understand the mirage, are still somewhat left to shape thoughts, opinions, behaviours, understandings etc, based on this temporal world.
I’m sure TPTB are sharing all the knowledge with us, for the betterment of humanity /sarc
You have got to wonder why they don’t have a user changeable pin.
My guess the infrastructure is too expensive.
They would nee pin terminals in all the offices and secure computer software to run it.
If PINs are too difficult for the IT whizzes in MSD [lol – probably the same team that ok’d the kiosks] what about the other option you get for credit cards: signatures? Not perfect, or accessible to all, but better than writing it on the card.
Oh but wait, it’s on the back of the card, it’s okay. Damn, couldn’t find the scary movie clip with the photos “they’re all blank!” – “turn them over”
Nah, its another card, another number, another link in the chain a servitude for everyone..
The oldest game plan in the book, is start at the bottom and work your way up while the masses are not paying attention, thinking they are “safe” in theor comfort zones, or too busy to pay attention, possibly both.
Proof from red alert today, as if we needed it, that Labour politicians don’t read left-wing blogs.
The sad thing is, Ms Fenton could have celebrated the hard work and valuable contributions, workers in the paid workforce make, without slapping anyone in the face, not stay-at-home parents, not beneficiaries, not the army of volunteers without whom much of our civilised society would come to a grinding halt, not those caring for a sick or disabled relative, nor the sick, injured or disabled, not the tireless activists who give up a good deal to try and fight injustice and inequality, no-one.
I’m certainly glad to read that Labour is aware of the erosions of the rights, working conditions and wages of paid workers and that it intends to make things better when next in government, even though exactly what they intend to do is always left unsaid.
But to use the headline “Thank You to NZs Workers”, and then write that piece in today, in 2012 is to demonstrate culpably negligent ignorance. And a very dangerous attitude.
I kind of predicted that you’d be the first to say bollocks. The difference is, because you read left-wing blogs you immediately knew what I was talking about, whether you think it is rubbish or not. So you’re ahead of Ms Fenton.
I’m hoping the union movement is evolving in its, in some cases, draconian attitudes on this issue too. Just being aware that there is alternative viewpoint to default assumptions is an important first step, and you’ve already made it whether you wanted to or not, TRP.
I read it, and I agree with js – Fenton, like Shearer, clearly thinks that paid work is the be-all and end-all of human existence.
You can see it right there where she says: They are often the forgotten part of the economic equation, but without workers, no business and no public service could get ahead.
And without unpaid stay-at-home parents, our economy would be fucked. Without an available pool of unemployed people, our economy would be fucked. Without volunteers going unpaid providing the kinds of social support which any government with a soul would be backing, our economy and society would be fucked.
I’m pretty sure it’s possible for Darien Fenton and David Shearer to say “yeah, go workers!” without shitting all over people whose unpaid labour is far more frequently ignored and demeaned.
But that might involve a little backpedalling on Labour’s “deserving poor” rhetoric.
It’s a post about labour day, ffs. Fenton does not “shit on” anyone, nor does she “slap” anyone. Is Fenton supposed to telepathically guess what js and you think needs mentioning in a short blog post about the annual celebration of working NZers? Or is this the start of a campaign to change the name of the day to Labour (and anyone else js and QoT think is worth mentioning) Day?
Yes, you’ve definitely spotted out cunning plan there, TRP.
Or it could be that we think experienced politicians could exercise a modicum of thought when making broad sweeping statements which alienate vast swathes of the population who Labour then expects will vote for them.
Disclaimer: the above statement is in no way intended to be any criticism or derogation, implied or explicit, of any person or persons unable for any reason at all to contribute in any way to the thread referred to, with or without interesting comments under any definition of “interesting” defined as “reasonable” under existing case law, inclusive of but not excluding other groups and expecially not stay-at-home parents, not beneficiaries, not the army of volunteers without whom much of our civilised society would come to a grinding halt, not those caring for a sick or disabled relative, nor the sick, injured or disabled, not the tireless activists who give up a good deal to try and fight injustice and inequality, nor unpaid stay-at-home parents, without whom our economy would be fucked, nor an available pool of unemployed people without whom our economy would be fucked, nor volunteers going unpaid providing the kinds of social support which any government with a soul would be backing, without whom our economy and society would be fucked.
TRP, I’m pretty sure I mentioned paid and unpaid work, beneficiaries etc, in my short-ish blog post on Labour Weekend, “Backwards to the future”. It’s not hard. I’m sure Fenton would also have been up to it, maybe in a different way – there are probably many ways it can be done.
In focusing on the things to celebrate about what was achieved when Labour Day was introduced, it’s quite relevant to update the issues for current conditions. If you look at that link in my post, to the Dunedin 1894 Labour Day Parade image, you will find it says this:
…you can see one of the floats has a banner reading ‘Otago Central Railway We Must Have It’. From the beginning Labour Day parades were often used to draw attention to other political or economic issues – in this case urging the government to complete a controversial regional transport project.
Yep, Karol and I’m sure other commentators made the same link, just as I’m sure many didn’t. Your excellent post was longer and more wide ranging than Fenton’s. Yours was written to bring out the wider implications of work, unemployment, underemployment, non paid work and to bring those strands together. Fenton just wrote a short blog on Labour day for those to whom the day is dedicated. There isn’t a damn thing wrong with either blog post and it’s going to be a sad day if people are condemned for what they didn’t write rather than what they did. Bring back the thought police, I say!
Again, what is your point, QoT? Fenton also completely failed to mention meerkats, the late Elvis Presley and the comedic music hall stylings of the even later Arthur Askey. And she outrageously refused to acknowlege the real significance of today’s date. Yes, it’s Kim Kardashian’s birthday, as we all know. Damn her eyes! Damn her, I say!
A brief Labour Day blogbost from Bowalley Road. In which Chris doesn’t insult those who work outside the paid workforce because from the start he’s completely clear about who he’s talking about. And he doesn’t even mention any other category of worker . It’s really not that hard TRP.
It wasn’t long ago that workers were routinely referred to as ‘men’ and many would have screamed (and some still would, but I don’t think you’d be among them) Political-Correctness-gone-Mad!! if a politician who used such a term was called on it.
Fenton doesn’t insult those ‘outside the paid workforce’, js. You are making shit up. She does actually mention workers who have been laid off, so the whole point of your wankery dissolves right there.
… which still reinforces the idea that paid work = only source of “dignity”, per Shearer.
But given your pathetic little “meerkats” comments above I’m just going to assume from this point that you have no actual interest in debating the actual points js and I have been making.
Ah, that explains it. You’ve got some kind of plug-in installed which replaces all of my and js’ comments with “LALALALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU.”
Let’s be honest, TRP. You think unpaid workers are like meerkats, and as such you see no problem in the Labour Party ignoring their existence and shafting a good proportion of the people who, come election day, Labour will be outraged don’t dutifully show up to vote for them.
TRP, seems like there’s very little faith left to go around.
What happens to a church when the people lose faith in it? Congregations and donations go down. The church becomes less relevant to the every day life of the community.
I wonder what happens when people lose faith in Labour?
Nope, QoT, I was taking the piss, exaggerating for effect. If you want to expound further on why you think the unemployed resemble meerkats, but not Arthur Askey or Elvis, fire away.
Debating ‘what people should have said’ is equally mindless. That’s my complaint about js’s comment, way back up there. Mountain, meet molehill.
Also, gosh, you weren’t literally serious about the meerkats comment? I truly had NO IDEA. I thought you were totally advocating that meerkats’ roles in our economy were equal to unpaid workers’.
You are so right, TRP. In future we can only ever discuss the words people said, and can never, ever infer their meaning, or consider the things they left unsaid, and we can definitely never put their comments into existing context.
So that’s every single post on every single statement ever made by John Key banned by your edict, I suppose. Every suggestion of alternative policies tossed in the bin. Every criticism of every weasel-worded government policy out of line. Wait, no, that’s fucking ridiculous.
Just be honest, TRP – all you really want is for no one to criticise Labour/Darien Fenton, for whatever reason, and you’ll make up blatantly stupid principles of discussion to justify yourself.
I know you aren’t listening TRP, but for anyone else reading this debate please try and imagine this. I could have used any of a wide variety of kinds of examples, but this one is close to my heart.
You are the elderly sole parent and carer of a now adult child with severe disabilities and high needs. You’ve just finished the morning toileting, washing, dressing, and breakfast tasks. It’s taken you just over 3 and a half hours, and you’re already tired though the day has barely begun. Your child is now set for a wee while so you get on the computer with a well-earned cup of tea for a flick around the ‘sphere.
You may not even know it’s Labour day because you don’t get any holidays, your toil is 24/7 and you’re never ever going to have a retirement. You go to Red Alert. God know’s why, it’s not like the Labour Party represents your interests in any way. But hope springs eternal for some.
And the headline says “Thank You to NZ’s Workers”
It’s not like you get much acknowlegment let alone thanks for your valuable contribution to your community so you read on. And what do you find? The morning slog that has worn you out and set your arthritic body throbbing, along with the last forty years of similar toil has not been work. You had thought you would literally work until the moment you drop dead. You’ve probably saved the country millions in the cost of institutional care, but more importantly, you always done your very best for your beloved child. But in fact this is not work because there is no pay cheque (or holidays, sick days, minimum conditions or labour regualtions) it’s actually something else that will drain all your resources until you die :leisure.
A point well made js. I see where you’re coming from now, but I’m sure the labour blog didn’t deliberately exclude carers and volunteers. Love isn’t measured in dollar terms but without it our society has no soul.
ropata, the problem isn’t just Darien Fenton’s blog making unpaid workers invisible. It’s that it comes right after Shearer did a speech which quite clearly spelled out that if you’re not in paid work, you have no dignity and make no contribution to your community.
That’s the context Fenton’s blog post sits in, which is why her however-accidental erasing of people’s unpaid work is seriously problematic to me.
Well yes I’ve read both and I can take something I like from both. And yes if I had to choose I’d pick Chris Trotter’s post for two reasons:
1. Unlike some around here I’ve long admired Chris for the steadfastness of his moral compass. Sure there are some themes and topics he’s definitely not PC on, but I’m prepared to set them aside. And even on a bad day he still writes the arse off anyone else on the left in this country.
2. Chris goes somewhat deeper into the root of the issue; the madness that is the neo-liberal experiment; an experiment that was perhaps implemented more ruthlessly in this country than any other.
But then Darien is a Labour Party MP, the party of union workers, not the ‘non-workers’. And after 30 years of neo-liberalism the interests of unionised workers cannot be decoupled from the interests of the state and business owners. After all no business = no jobs. This equation has always been an achilles heel for labour, creating an incipient fault-line for the right to drive wedges down.
There are far too many low-paid working families, working 80hrs or more a week, broken shifts and a broken family life who look across the back fence to a DPB family who don’t seem to be all that much worse off. Frankly it just does not feel fair and fuels resentment.
Of course the root cause is the miserable wages the working family is getting, yet a National govt will re-frame this unfairness with the welfare family cast as bludgers, whose miserable existence should be made even more dire in order to make things right in the world again.
Let’s try and be a little clearer who the real opponent is here.
Pitting the working class against the underclass would have to be one of the stupidest things we could do at this point in time.
Of course Fenton technically didn’t do anything other than render non-employed workers invisible. If on the rest of the year those workers were acknowledged and respected then it wouldn’t matter that on Labour Day only the paid workers were (and the historical context honoured). But they aren’t, so I have to agree with QoT, it’s a very significant omission.
Other than that, the blogpost is a pretty poor showing from a political party that is meant to be based on workers.
Unite is a union for low paid workers unemployed and beneficiaries. The Waitemata Branch of Unite includes students, mothers, carers, those with illnesses or disabilities, unemployed, full time and casual workers. We are all members of the working class and united we will win!
I’m certainly glad to read that Labour is aware of the erosions of the rights, working conditions and wages of paid workers and that it intends to make things better when next in government, even though exactly what they intend to do is always left unsaid.
That, IMO, is because they don’t actually intend to do anything.
A relaxing change from dealing with topics of great importance to us and the world!! Attendees even doze off during the day’s sessions. The Boring Lectures. Sounded intriguing on Radionz this morning. Blurb:
Labour Day 22/10 – 10:25 James Ward
James Ward is a boredom enthusiast who blogs at I Like Boring Things. He is the founder and organiser of the annual Boring Conference in London. Boring 2012 takes place in November.
On Labour Day the NZ Herald takes the oppurtunity to rip into David Shearer simply for saying that NZ workers should have first dibs on earthquake recovery jobs.
God forbid we should start training up our own workforce, instead of just importing it, as what has been happening for the past 20 years, resulting in mass unemployment and low wages.
Turn the immigration taps off, and youth unemployment will vanish overnight.
A Film 🙂
How Far Is Heaven: a film by Christopher Pryor & Miriam Smith
Official Selection New Zealand International Film Festival 2012
It is about Hiruharama on the Whanganui River.
Did you know, that the Turkish Government attempted to prosecute citizen publishers of Chomsky’s
“Manufacturing Consent” under laws concerning Destabilisation of Society? I wonder how long before freedom of speech becomes circumscribed here; not to say, I do not think Hate Speech is helping the cohesion of our society at all, in fact, I am perpetually perplexed how TPTB allow it to proliferate the way that it has, and is continuing to. As Ellul challenges, “What price freedom?”
Mark Solomon presented the position of Iwi well on the MSM current affairs I thought; he is correct, that individual dividends to all whanau would not stretch very far, and that like the Police, members are as varied in outlook as the people that make up our Nation
And, I think the political labelling “maori mafia” is not very helpful; Do the MSM label the Business Round Tables the “capitalist cartels” ?
I have not heard Darien Fenton utter anything useful in my observations, and Jacinda comes across as “whiny”
I saw an attitude written on a postcard recently; “Oh well, What shall I complain about today?”;
Made me stop and reflect, as I do everytime I read personality labels, narcissist, psychopath, sociopath, etc; I revised on this this morning and the presence of these traits in our society reflect the change in Values we have witnessed in our lifetimes, particularly pertaining to the significance of children, as children remain children for increasingly short time-spans these days..and Personality is a construct that varies within people across contexts and time (thankfully)
Now, having been to the Supermarket, and being the observant chappie that I am, there does appear to be a developing trend for consumers to select more primary whole foods for their trolleys than the sugar and fat laden processed cardboard…round the outside..round the outside
there are different types of flesh, yet, all flesh is grass.
if you will, you can become all flame
-sayings of the desert fathers 103 (that’s where I’m headed, that’s where I belong; sure I do more harm than help occasionally)
same. Only costs $40 to feed me for a week (not counting fish and chips)
protein-beef, lamb or salmon
green and coloured vegetables
1 loaf of wholegrain bread
avocados
butter.cheese
vegemite
changing diet and habits after decades of “modern socialised living” is unsettling though
I read today that prescriptions for anti-depressants are up 40% in our province over last six years, and my previous GP is an apologist for them; I understand his position, yet, much dis-ease is socio-genic in etiology, and it is just so corrupt that investors are profiting off peoples social misery; that is why I started commenting on this blog, as in Hamlet above; Interestingly, despite their detractors, the socially oriented Christian Churches, amongst other faiths, are labouring at the coal face in very real terms to alleviate the suffering brought about by this government in particular.
many Christians are not motivated by “increasing” their congregations size or contribution; It is just the power of the gospels; Imagine the Industrial Revolution, Fordism, Modern War and Modern Economic and Political Ideologies without the handbrakes of Judeo-Christian based Values?
Critics always refer to the “evils” carried out in the name of God; Humans carried out those actions.
Most people I read or hear who are scathing of faith have no depth of background in philosophy, history, theology or science holistically; The proverbs that guide Christian conduct begin with Wisdom is to Fear God. (that’s why I never debate my faith)
and the mystery just increases in a comforting way every day.
God Bless
Sample of the actual religion of our society … “Kraft International, especially in developing markets, should continue to realize solid growth as it leverages the Cadbury acquisition and benefits from continued Cadbury cost synergies. The company is likely to realize $300 million of revenue synergies in 2012 by distributing Kraft’s biscuit products in Cadbury outlets in Mexico (approximately 380,000 outlets), distributing Oreo and Tang products in Cadbury outlets (approximately 380,000 outlets) in India and doubling its distribution in Brazil with this acquisition (from 300,000 to 600,000 outlets).”
– Ashish Sharma, “Kraft Foods: Safe Stock with Upside Potential”, The Motley Fool Blog Network, 13 August 2012
When Kraft bought Cadbury (weep for the Quaker brothers, for they had a vision of a socially just society – eg they championed the emerging working class, and boycotted beans from African slavery plantations),
Kraft was less interested in Cadbury chocolates, but more greedily wanted to grab and control the distribution networks.
Mana’s solution to abolishing GST is to bring in a financial transaction tax – first mooted by a bunch of Social Credit weirdos driving Skodas and now openly advocated by crazies like the president of France. If you want to know how this much-maligned tax, also known as a “Hone Heke tax”, would work, go to an automatic banking machine. Every time you make a transaction you pay a small fee. If you travel overseas and change money, you also pay a financial transaction tax, except that foreign exchange dealers call it commission. When a bank taxes you on a transaction it’s called responsible financial management. When Hone Harawira suggests that the government do the same, it’s crazy Maori radical activism.
A bank ATM has no problem charging you $1 to withdraw $60 in cash. A 1.7% tax by the bank.
Most proposed FTT’s are around 1/20 or 1/50 this sum. And of course, that’s because FTT’s are designed to penalise financial speculators who conduct high frequency financial markets trading.
Yep. Yet the banks will scream at a 0.1% FTT while they are more than happy to charge you and me a 3% difference when changing NZD into Australian dollars.
To be honest I’m a little frustrated that we keep on re-inventing the wheel here. Gareth Morgan has pretty much nailed it … all the essential components of a thorough reform of the tax system are there and he’s done a credible job of crunching the numbers. Why not take it more seriously?
Is it just because Morgan isn’t perceived as a proper leftie?
Damn, now I’m trying to remember if Morgan had an FTT in with his CCT.
The thing about our tax system is that it’s had centuries of build up of little fixes. It really needs to be taken back to basics and redesigned completely then give about a years notice that the old rules and precedents are going out and an entirely new system coming in.
And it’s not just “Hone and Hollande” but that well known Skoda driver and social anarchist Angela Merkel – as well as finance ministers from 11 Euro zone countries: Eleven euro states back ftt
On Tuesday 23 October 2012 – the Government is planning to consider and approve an Order in Council for Cabinet and the Executive Council to remove Mighty river Power from the State Owned Enterprises Act.
Voting machine and results scrutiny in the USA for the 2004 election and others by
blackboxvoting.org definitely show skullduggery. The attitude of all officials involved seems shamelessly casual to me.
Blackbox have a video recording all that they do. One move was to search for records themselves that had been requested under their information act. The dockets they had been supplied had been recently prepared and they had asked for copies of the signed originals.. So a search at the electoral processing facility brought to light rubbish bags with voting figure dockets signed by the clerks at the time of finalising, and these were being thrown out although by law they should have been held for 22 months I think. At least one docket differed by more than 100 votes from the recently issued one presented to them.
Let’s not have electronic voting by anyone. And allowing private companies to run this essential government procedure is criminal. Up against the wall and firing squad criminal. That excuse that required information is commercially sensitive is just one of the reasons for not having a bar of private involvement, even contractor help.
If the idea ever comes up in NZ it needs to be sunk once and for all.
It’s a change that’s going to happen and you can’t stop it. The best idea would be to ensure that we don’t use the same system as the US – in other words, engage with the process.
Make it done by government department rather than private business. Make it OpenSource so that people can actually see it and test it. Make it so that people can check how their vote was recorded and be able to change it if it was recorded incorrectly. Make it a three part entry system using either a security token or the same system that Kiwibank uses. Both systems are nearly impossible to break.
Online voting paves the way for even more democracy and less corruption. Leaving it as is leaves all the power in the hands of the politicians and their owners.
Online voting paves the way for even more democracy and less corruption. Leaving it as is leaves all the power in the hands of the politicians and their owners.
I think you are far too optimistic about the use of technology, all these pins and barriers to make the information safe, don’t make it easier and it would become more burdensome for some people than travelling or walking to what should be a nearby polling booth for most.
And there is the means for computer programmers and companies employing them to make small secret changes that negatively affect the probity of the system and large numbers of voters, and their ability to make decisions as to who is going to assist or constrain their lives. I say again you are too positive. I know programmers who are good people for sure but everybody doesn’t hold to sacred ethics of the highest behaviour. Especially when there is money in it and its hard to uncover.
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
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 ...
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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” ...
Are all police allowed to lie under oath in any hearing?
And are they allowed indemnity from investigation and prosecution if they are caught out?
Or is the power to lie under oath with indemnity only permitted for senior police in exceptional, or politically charged cases?
In a thinly veiled threat, the Police Association have backed Chief Inspector Grant Wormald, demanding that he must not be investigated for committing perjury in the Kim Dotcom hearing.
With this sort of open (and secret) support, it is little wonder that Chief Inspector Grant Wormald has now been proven to be no stranger to giving false testimony under oath in another hearing.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/7845990/Dotcom-raid-officer-headed-bike-gang-probe
For allowing senior police to exercise this new power to gain convictions in court against those the state have already determined must be found guilty, I would like to grant the new title of Detective Inspector Wormtongue, in honour of Detective Inspector Grant Wormald for openly and boldy pioneering this new police policy.
What does this all mean for civil liberties?
Will judges continue to give greater weight to police testimony against conflicting testimony from those who find themselves in the dock?
Will the fact that police are now allowed to lie under oath and not face any indemnity see defence witness testimony given equal weight in court?
Apart from the macro questions of police indemnity from prosecution for perjury…..
Will Officer Wormtongue ever again personally lead an investigation where he will be required to give evidence in court?
What would it mean for the police case if he did?
Would all evidence of previous inconsistent testimony from Officer Wormtongue be disallowed and ruled out of order?
Could this be called justice?
Police have always felt free to lie under oath, with a compliant judiciary accepting almost anything they say. What’s new about the Red Devils case is that they have made deceiving the courts central to the operation. If this makes a few judges treat their evidence with the cynicism it deserves, that will be a step forward.
Police lie in the courts, at an inquiry, to the IPCA and to their employer (when an individual tries to expose them).
Hells Angel fights to get drug charge thrown out
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/gangs/news/article.cfm?c_id=217&objectid=10812623
Police do not up hold the law by breaking it.
Damned straight.
And the police spokesperson shows that Key’s “in charge but oblivious” leadership style is trickling down: “Detective Inspector Wormald was the officer in charge of the investigation but was not a decision-maker in regard to the arrest and prosecution of Mr Wilson”.
Happened under his watch, he might have even known about it, but it wasn’t his decision… [spit]
And it is bullshit that politicians do not influence police decisions or have a quiet word on the side which is called interference. e.g. Banks statement being blacked out.
What gets me is when Key says the police are independent.
Memo to Shearer:
Hire Lynton Crosby ?
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2012/10/pay-whatever-it-takes-hire-lynton-crosby-and-hire-him-now.html
How to survive a political campaign and not lose your integrity, soul .. whatever
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/how-to-survive-a-campaign-and-not-sell-your-soul-20120608-2015d.html
bsprout : hugh fletcher slates laissez faire economics
outlines the worst failures of the past 3 decades of econ policy. CAFCA was right!
canty uni: steve keen public talk in christchurch
shows how the current GFC is twice as bad as the great depression… possibly worse
ropata
Thanks for great links.
Ropata … thanks for the Steven Keen lecture. Some of the material is New Zealand specific and you won’t get these details laid out like this elsewhere.
Highly recommended for anyone here who is even remotely interested in economics. Warning he talks pretty fast and it’s likely a dense download.
The crucial point to grasp is that Keen is a real mathematician, and that much of what he is saying here is backed by the kind of language, tools and thinking that engineers understand works in the real world. This might not be clear from the lecture.
welcome.. keen has a fair bit of ego but he’s a very smart dude.. and shows how NZ’s property bubble (private debt vs GDP) is around the worst in the OECD. (although the UK and USA current account deficits are insanely worse than anyone’s)
keen has a fair bit of ego
Yes that was pretty much my own impression until I met him in person … once he stops ‘lecturing’ he’s quite different.
And even then I admire his drive and commitment to his ideas.
OK … just finished listening to the whole thing. In some ways better than the Wgtn lecture I was at, especially the Q+A session at the end. Really worthwhile even though it’s close to a couple of hours long.
Keen’s intellectual ambit is quite remarkable.
You’ve got to remember that being a heterodox economist, Keen was considered an outsider, a lone ranger by the wider (Chicago school/Washingon consensus) economics profession. And he still is by in large, but the GFC greatly changed that and he has also found other audiences now.
Frankly you need a bit of inner fortitude and ego when your neoclassical colleagues are used to dumping on your work from a great height.
I’ve watched the first half hour so far. It’s interesting and useful, though I think I’ll only remember a couple of main points. It’ll probably take me a while to get through the whole 1.5 hours. I will remember the quote(or a version of it) from a delusional mainstream economist that went something like this: he descrbed an increase in uneployment as “an increase in American’s leisure time”.
This is a slightly more approachable presentation by Steve Keen (its a BBC interview). If you start here you’ll pick the rest up more easily.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01j5h51/Analysis_Steve_Keen_Why_Economics_Is_Bunk/
One key point: the level of economic activity in our modern economies is based on the acceleration of debt. When people get into more debt faster, employment improves and economic activity increases.
When the rate of increase in debt slows down, or shock horror, goes negative, both employment and the economy tanks.
Thanks, CV. Actually, I’ll look at the BBC link later. It might help sme things stick in my mind. I already grasped your “One key point”.
🙂
I’ll follow up with a second order tidbit then:
The banks and financiers can tell ahead of time when the housing market is going to go up or down, based on how much mortgage debt they can observe themselves issuing.
And by observing the rate of general debt they are issuing, banks can predict ahead of time whether an entire economy is going to improve or decline.
AND of course the banks aren’t just neutral bystanders. By actively choosing to tighten or loosen the flow of credit into an economy, the banks and financiers can deliberately push an entire economy into a boom or a bust.
Don’t ya just love the adjective “tanks” TankGirl?
Yet, for the population getting their news from MSM and the evening “news”, it would appear all’s well this Labour Weekend, notwithstanding the inevitable road carnage. (police reviewing their vehicle fleet; fuel related? respond to assault with a Volt)
nobody questions the beer barons or Nat tax policy after another holiday marred by alcohol abuse
Sustento: Raf Manji’s econ blog:
– how the high dollar is hollowing out the real economy
– why nz needs not QE but ‘monetary dialysis’
– selling your soul: the unintended consequences of asset sales
Did Hamlet sound crazy? Other would consider him one of the sane in a crazy society.
Exactly. And the point of the Hamlet quote is that we need politicians with the balls to act, and protect the people of NZ from the global pillagers of currency/resources/labour.
On our behalf, Hamlet ponders the road ahead:
Save the Ross Sea. Avaaz have enlisted Leonardo di Caprio to spearhead a petition to support the creation of an Antarctic Marine Sanctuary. Russia, South Korea ‘and a few other countries’ want to keep on fishing in those waters. NZ thanks to Gerry Brownlee, Steven Joyce and Whatsit Carter have decided we don’t need to sign that treaty, that it’s ok to ruin that pristine environment.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_southern_ocean_5/?cgkRPab
From reading this I get the impression that Labour are in agreement of the lack of importance in this issue. Why don’t we just mix and match the Lab and Nat MP’s just like we use to do at school into 2 teams. With the captains alternating who was to be picked into each team.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10842069
“Our consistent policy has been to make sure we always use the best science,” Ruth Dyson said, as it had done to support the net bans to protect Maui dolphins.
Ruth Dyson said that while Mr Jones was not the party spokesman on the Ross Sea issue, “he also didn’t say anything that any of us would have gone ‘holy moly – he said what?”‘
Yet again, this is one of the very many signs revealing poor Labour leadership and that the Labour Party is not ready to win the government benches.
Reinforcement:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/Propaganda_Jacques_Ellul_1973.jpg
Indeed, and sadly the masses believe their thoughts to be originals.
Even the few who are capable of understand the mirage, are still somewhat left to shape thoughts, opinions, behaviours, understandings etc, based on this temporal world.
I’m sure TPTB are sharing all the knowledge with us, for the betterment of humanity /sarc
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/7846531/Insecure-benefit-cards-slammed
The Pin for the benefit cards in printed on the back of the card!!!!!
DUH DUH
Sloppy, no Jacinda, that is yet another deliberate “privacy cockup’!
You have got to wonder why they don’t have a user changeable pin.
My guess the infrastructure is too expensive.
They would nee pin terminals in all the offices and secure computer software to run it.
AND isn’t the card supposed to be helping the clients with financial management.
One of the FIRST rule of PIN nos financial management is Don’t share them!!!
If PINs are too difficult for the IT whizzes in MSD [lol – probably the same team that ok’d the kiosks] what about the other option you get for credit cards: signatures? Not perfect, or accessible to all, but better than writing it on the card.
Oh but wait, it’s on the back of the card, it’s okay. Damn, couldn’t find the scary movie clip with the photos “they’re all blank!” – “turn them over”
The privacy and security of poor kids isn’t important.
Nah, its another card, another number, another link in the chain a servitude for everyone..
The oldest game plan in the book, is start at the bottom and work your way up while the masses are not paying attention, thinking they are “safe” in theor comfort zones, or too busy to pay attention, possibly both.
The experiment ploughs on, with little resistence
http://blog.labour.org.nz/2012/10/22/thank-you-to-nzs-workers/
Proof from red alert today, as if we needed it, that Labour politicians don’t read left-wing blogs.
The sad thing is, Ms Fenton could have celebrated the hard work and valuable contributions, workers in the paid workforce make, without slapping anyone in the face, not stay-at-home parents, not beneficiaries, not the army of volunteers without whom much of our civilised society would come to a grinding halt, not those caring for a sick or disabled relative, nor the sick, injured or disabled, not the tireless activists who give up a good deal to try and fight injustice and inequality, no-one.
I’m certainly glad to read that Labour is aware of the erosions of the rights, working conditions and wages of paid workers and that it intends to make things better when next in government, even though exactly what they intend to do is always left unsaid.
But to use the headline “Thank You to NZs Workers”, and then write that piece in today, in 2012 is to demonstrate culpably negligent ignorance. And a very dangerous attitude.
Oh, bollocks. Did you actually read the post, js? Can you point out the bit where the author “slaps” anyone in your list?
Yes I did TRP. Did you?
I kind of predicted that you’d be the first to say bollocks. The difference is, because you read left-wing blogs you immediately knew what I was talking about, whether you think it is rubbish or not. So you’re ahead of Ms Fenton.
I’m hoping the union movement is evolving in its, in some cases, draconian attitudes on this issue too. Just being aware that there is alternative viewpoint to default assumptions is an important first step, and you’ve already made it whether you wanted to or not, TRP.
Top prediction js. Let me guess your thought process:
js: If I write some complete bollocks, I bet TRP will call me on it.
js, 2 minutes later: ‘wow, that complete bollocks strategy really works!’
I read it, and I agree with js – Fenton, like Shearer, clearly thinks that paid work is the be-all and end-all of human existence.
You can see it right there where she says: They are often the forgotten part of the economic equation, but without workers, no business and no public service could get ahead.
And without unpaid stay-at-home parents, our economy would be fucked. Without an available pool of unemployed people, our economy would be fucked. Without volunteers going unpaid providing the kinds of social support which any government with a soul would be backing, our economy and society would be fucked.
I’m pretty sure it’s possible for Darien Fenton and David Shearer to say “yeah, go workers!” without shitting all over people whose unpaid labour is far more frequently ignored and demeaned.
But that might involve a little backpedalling on Labour’s “deserving poor” rhetoric.
It’s a post about labour day, ffs. Fenton does not “shit on” anyone, nor does she “slap” anyone. Is Fenton supposed to telepathically guess what js and you think needs mentioning in a short blog post about the annual celebration of working NZers? Or is this the start of a campaign to change the name of the day to Labour (and anyone else js and QoT think is worth mentioning) Day?
Yes, you’ve definitely spotted out cunning plan there, TRP.
Or it could be that we think experienced politicians could exercise a modicum of thought when making broad sweeping statements which alienate vast swathes of the population who Labour then expects will vote for them.
Or they could write a short blog on Labour Day celebrating NZ workers.
What an interesting thread.
Disclaimer: the above statement is in no way intended to be any criticism or derogation, implied or explicit, of any person or persons unable for any reason at all to contribute in any way to the thread referred to, with or without interesting comments under any definition of “interesting” defined as “reasonable” under existing case law, inclusive of but not excluding other groups and expecially not stay-at-home parents, not beneficiaries, not the army of volunteers without whom much of our civilised society would come to a grinding halt, not those caring for a sick or disabled relative, nor the sick, injured or disabled, not the tireless activists who give up a good deal to try and fight injustice and inequality, nor unpaid stay-at-home parents, without whom our economy would be fucked, nor an available pool of unemployed people without whom our economy would be fucked, nor volunteers going unpaid providing the kinds of social support which any government with a soul would be backing, without whom our economy and society would be fucked.
+1m internets!!
without taxpayers nz would be truly fucked so a big THANK YOU is in order to the nz labour party for remembering their roots on LABOUR day.
how foolish and ungracious are some people …
No-one has denied that paid workers deserve a big thank you. They most certainly do.
Are you being disingenuous, or are you just not paying attention?
just a little bemused by this heinous crime perpetrated by the Red Alert blog …
TRP, I’m pretty sure I mentioned paid and unpaid work, beneficiaries etc, in my short-ish blog post on Labour Weekend, “Backwards to the future”. It’s not hard. I’m sure Fenton would also have been up to it, maybe in a different way – there are probably many ways it can be done.
In focusing on the things to celebrate about what was achieved when Labour Day was introduced, it’s quite relevant to update the issues for current conditions. If you look at that link in my post, to the Dunedin 1894 Labour Day Parade image, you will find it says this:
How ironic given that Central Otago rail is now a bike track.
Yep, Karol and I’m sure other commentators made the same link, just as I’m sure many didn’t. Your excellent post was longer and more wide ranging than Fenton’s. Yours was written to bring out the wider implications of work, unemployment, underemployment, non paid work and to bring those strands together. Fenton just wrote a short blog on Labour day for those to whom the day is dedicated. There isn’t a damn thing wrong with either blog post and it’s going to be a sad day if people are condemned for what they didn’t write rather than what they did. Bring back the thought police, I say!
Darien Fenton is a full-time politician and the Labour Party’s spokesperson on Labour.
Somehow I feel sure she’s capable of doing just a teensy bit more than “a short blog post” on Labour Day.
Again, what is your point, QoT? Fenton also completely failed to mention meerkats, the late Elvis Presley and the comedic music hall stylings of the even later Arthur Askey. And she outrageously refused to acknowlege the real significance of today’s date. Yes, it’s Kim Kardashian’s birthday, as we all know. Damn her eyes! Damn her, I say!
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
Spot the difference
A brief Labour Day blogbost from Bowalley Road. In which Chris doesn’t insult those who work outside the paid workforce because from the start he’s completely clear about who he’s talking about. And he doesn’t even mention any other category of worker . It’s really not that hard TRP.
It wasn’t long ago that workers were routinely referred to as ‘men’ and many would have screamed (and some still would, but I don’t think you’d be among them) Political-Correctness-gone-Mad!! if a politician who used such a term was called on it.
Fenton doesn’t insult those ‘outside the paid workforce’, js. You are making shit up. She does actually mention workers who have been laid off, so the whole point of your wankery dissolves right there.
… which still reinforces the idea that paid work = only source of “dignity”, per Shearer.
But given your pathetic little “meerkats” comments above I’m just going to assume from this point that you have no actual interest in debating the actual points js and I have been making.
It’s hard to debate what doesn’t exist, QoT. Ask a Christian.
Ah, that explains it. You’ve got some kind of plug-in installed which replaces all of my and js’ comments with “LALALALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU.”
Let’s be honest, TRP. You think unpaid workers are like meerkats, and as such you see no problem in the Labour Party ignoring their existence and shafting a good proportion of the people who, come election day, Labour will be outraged don’t dutifully show up to vote for them.
TRP, seems like there’s very little faith left to go around.
What happens to a church when the people lose faith in it? Congregations and donations go down. The church becomes less relevant to the every day life of the community.
I wonder what happens when people lose faith in Labour?
Nope, QoT, I was taking the piss, exaggerating for effect. If you want to expound further on why you think the unemployed resemble meerkats, but not Arthur Askey or Elvis, fire away.
Debating ‘what people should have said’ is equally mindless. That’s my complaint about js’s comment, way back up there. Mountain, meet molehill.
Debating ‘what people should have said’ is equally mindless.
Good to know you dismiss a large proportion of the posts on this site and in the blogosphere in general, then.
Also, gosh, you weren’t literally serious about the meerkats comment? I truly had NO IDEA. I thought you were totally advocating that meerkats’ roles in our economy were equal to unpaid workers’.
Yep, I have high standards and debating made up shit doesn’t meet the mark. Why not discuss what Fenton actually said?
You are so right, TRP. In future we can only ever discuss the words people said, and can never, ever infer their meaning, or consider the things they left unsaid, and we can definitely never put their comments into existing context.
So that’s every single post on every single statement ever made by John Key banned by your edict, I suppose. Every suggestion of alternative policies tossed in the bin. Every criticism of every weasel-worded government policy out of line. Wait, no, that’s fucking ridiculous.
Just be honest, TRP – all you really want is for no one to criticise Labour/Darien Fenton, for whatever reason, and you’ll make up blatantly stupid principles of discussion to justify yourself.
I know you aren’t listening TRP, but for anyone else reading this debate please try and imagine this. I could have used any of a wide variety of kinds of examples, but this one is close to my heart.
You are the elderly sole parent and carer of a now adult child with severe disabilities and high needs. You’ve just finished the morning toileting, washing, dressing, and breakfast tasks. It’s taken you just over 3 and a half hours, and you’re already tired though the day has barely begun. Your child is now set for a wee while so you get on the computer with a well-earned cup of tea for a flick around the ‘sphere.
You may not even know it’s Labour day because you don’t get any holidays, your toil is 24/7 and you’re never ever going to have a retirement. You go to Red Alert. God know’s why, it’s not like the Labour Party represents your interests in any way. But hope springs eternal for some.
And the headline says “Thank You to NZ’s Workers”
It’s not like you get much acknowlegment let alone thanks for your valuable contribution to your community so you read on. And what do you find? The morning slog that has worn you out and set your arthritic body throbbing, along with the last forty years of similar toil has not been work. You had thought you would literally work until the moment you drop dead. You’ve probably saved the country millions in the cost of institutional care, but more importantly, you always done your very best for your beloved child. But in fact this is not work because there is no pay cheque (or holidays, sick days, minimum conditions or labour regualtions) it’s actually something else that will drain all your resources until you die :leisure.
A point well made js. I see where you’re coming from now, but I’m sure the labour blog didn’t deliberately exclude carers and volunteers. Love isn’t measured in dollar terms but without it our society has no soul.
ropata, the problem isn’t just Darien Fenton’s blog making unpaid workers invisible. It’s that it comes right after Shearer did a speech which quite clearly spelled out that if you’re not in paid work, you have no dignity and make no contribution to your community.
That’s the context Fenton’s blog post sits in, which is why her however-accidental erasing of people’s unpaid work is seriously problematic to me.
Well yes I’ve read both and I can take something I like from both. And yes if I had to choose I’d pick Chris Trotter’s post for two reasons:
1. Unlike some around here I’ve long admired Chris for the steadfastness of his moral compass. Sure there are some themes and topics he’s definitely not PC on, but I’m prepared to set them aside. And even on a bad day he still writes the arse off anyone else on the left in this country.
2. Chris goes somewhat deeper into the root of the issue; the madness that is the neo-liberal experiment; an experiment that was perhaps implemented more ruthlessly in this country than any other.
But then Darien is a Labour Party MP, the party of union workers, not the ‘non-workers’. And after 30 years of neo-liberalism the interests of unionised workers cannot be decoupled from the interests of the state and business owners. After all no business = no jobs. This equation has always been an achilles heel for labour, creating an incipient fault-line for the right to drive wedges down.
There are far too many low-paid working families, working 80hrs or more a week, broken shifts and a broken family life who look across the back fence to a DPB family who don’t seem to be all that much worse off. Frankly it just does not feel fair and fuels resentment.
Of course the root cause is the miserable wages the working family is getting, yet a National govt will re-frame this unfairness with the welfare family cast as bludgers, whose miserable existence should be made even more dire in order to make things right in the world again.
Let’s try and be a little clearer who the real opponent is here.
+1
I have become highly sensitized to the negation of wirk. Labour should take care that it doesn’t sound more like RedNational on this issue.
I take it you mean this post.
Trotter’s pointed clarity > Fenton’s slightly fluffier piece, but they generally make the same point.
Pitting the working class against the underclass would have to be one of the stupidest things we could do at this point in time.
Of course Fenton technically didn’t do anything other than render non-employed workers invisible. If on the rest of the year those workers were acknowledged and respected then it wouldn’t matter that on Labour Day only the paid workers were (and the historical context honoured). But they aren’t, so I have to agree with QoT, it’s a very significant omission.
Other than that, the blogpost is a pretty poor showing from a political party that is meant to be based on workers.
Pitting the working class against the underclass would have to be one of the stupidest things we could do at this point in time.
But so easy to do because our current tax and redistribution system is so broken. Which is exactly WHY National will keep it broken.
Last union I was a member of had this under its objects : ‘recruit and organise workers (waged or uneaged, free or incarcerated.)’
So, y’know..if a union can recognise all workers, why can’t a bloody politician.
Indeed. eg Waitemata Unite
http://waitemataunite.blogspot.co.nz/
At least there was this admission. Finally.
That, IMO, is because they don’t actually intend to do anything.
This seems to have slipped past the news cycle.
http://news.discovery.com/earth/largest-iron-fertilization-test-blooms-criticism-120719.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/15/pacific-iron-fertilisation-geoengineering
That wasn’t the only one going on.
A relaxing change from dealing with topics of great importance to us and the world!! Attendees even doze off during the day’s sessions. The Boring Lectures. Sounded intriguing on Radionz this morning. Blurb:
Labour Day 22/10 – 10:25 James Ward
James Ward is a boredom enthusiast who blogs at I Like Boring Things. He is the founder and organiser of the annual Boring Conference in London. Boring 2012 takes place in November.
Clearly the US is in no position to lecture Russia about Pussy Riot. Free the Grand Jury Resistors!
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/11/third_northwest_activist_jailed_for_staying_silent/
(For reasons currently unknown Leah-Lynn Plante has since been freed; Matt Duran and Katherine “Kteeo” Olejnik remain in prison).
On Labour Day the NZ Herald takes the oppurtunity to rip into David Shearer simply for saying that NZ workers should have first dibs on earthquake recovery jobs.
God forbid we should start training up our own workforce, instead of just importing it, as what has been happening for the past 20 years, resulting in mass unemployment and low wages.
Turn the immigration taps off, and youth unemployment will vanish overnight.
A Film 🙂
How Far Is Heaven: a film by Christopher Pryor & Miriam Smith
Official Selection New Zealand International Film Festival 2012
It is about Hiruharama on the Whanganui River.
Did you know, that the Turkish Government attempted to prosecute citizen publishers of Chomsky’s
“Manufacturing Consent” under laws concerning Destabilisation of Society? I wonder how long before freedom of speech becomes circumscribed here; not to say, I do not think Hate Speech is helping the cohesion of our society at all, in fact, I am perpetually perplexed how TPTB allow it to proliferate the way that it has, and is continuing to. As Ellul challenges, “What price freedom?”
Mark Solomon presented the position of Iwi well on the MSM current affairs I thought; he is correct, that individual dividends to all whanau would not stretch very far, and that like the Police, members are as varied in outlook as the people that make up our Nation
And, I think the political labelling “maori mafia” is not very helpful; Do the MSM label the Business Round Tables the “capitalist cartels” ?
I have not heard Darien Fenton utter anything useful in my observations, and Jacinda comes across as “whiny”
I saw an attitude written on a postcard recently; “Oh well, What shall I complain about today?”;
Made me stop and reflect, as I do everytime I read personality labels, narcissist, psychopath, sociopath, etc; I revised on this this morning and the presence of these traits in our society reflect the change in Values we have witnessed in our lifetimes, particularly pertaining to the significance of children, as children remain children for increasingly short time-spans these days..and Personality is a construct that varies within people across contexts and time (thankfully)
Now, having been to the Supermarket, and being the observant chappie that I am, there does appear to be a developing trend for consumers to select more primary whole foods for their trolleys than the sugar and fat laden processed cardboard…round the outside..round the outside
there are different types of flesh, yet, all flesh is grass.
if you will, you can become all flame
-sayings of the desert fathers 103 (that’s where I’m headed, that’s where I belong; sure I do more harm than help occasionally)
-James Morrison
there does appear to be a developing trend for consumers to select more primary whole foods for their trolleys
Word is quietly getting around.
Whole rows I never go down anymore.
same. Only costs $40 to feed me for a week (not counting fish and chips)
protein-beef, lamb or salmon
green and coloured vegetables
1 loaf of wholegrain bread
avocados
butter.cheese
vegemite
changing diet and habits after decades of “modern socialised living” is unsettling though
I read today that prescriptions for anti-depressants are up 40% in our province over last six years, and my previous GP is an apologist for them; I understand his position, yet, much dis-ease is socio-genic in etiology, and it is just so corrupt that investors are profiting off peoples social misery; that is why I started commenting on this blog, as in Hamlet above; Interestingly, despite their detractors, the socially oriented Christian Churches, amongst other faiths, are labouring at the coal face in very real terms to alleviate the suffering brought about by this government in particular.
many Christians are not motivated by “increasing” their congregations size or contribution; It is just the power of the gospels; Imagine the Industrial Revolution, Fordism, Modern War and Modern Economic and Political Ideologies without the handbrakes of Judeo-Christian based Values?
Critics always refer to the “evils” carried out in the name of God; Humans carried out those actions.
Most people I read or hear who are scathing of faith have no depth of background in philosophy, history, theology or science holistically; The proverbs that guide Christian conduct begin with Wisdom is to Fear God. (that’s why I never debate my faith)
and the mystery just increases in a comforting way every day.
God Bless
🙂
Sample of the actual religion of our society …
“Kraft International, especially in developing markets, should continue to realize solid growth as it leverages the Cadbury acquisition and benefits from continued Cadbury cost synergies. The company is likely to realize $300 million of revenue synergies in 2012 by distributing Kraft’s biscuit products in Cadbury outlets in Mexico (approximately 380,000 outlets), distributing Oreo and Tang products in Cadbury outlets (approximately 380,000 outlets) in India and doubling its distribution in Brazil with this acquisition (from 300,000 to 600,000 outlets).”
– Ashish Sharma, “Kraft Foods: Safe Stock with Upside Potential”, The Motley Fool Blog Network, 13 August 2012
The High Priests have spoken. Hallelujah.
When Kraft bought Cadbury (weep for the Quaker brothers, for they had a vision of a socially just society – eg they championed the emerging working class, and boycotted beans from African slavery plantations),
Kraft was less interested in Cadbury chocolates, but more greedily wanted to grab and control the distribution networks.
an interesting opinion piece on Stuff:
Exactly.
A bank ATM has no problem charging you $1 to withdraw $60 in cash. A 1.7% tax by the bank.
Most proposed FTT’s are around 1/20 or 1/50 this sum. And of course, that’s because FTT’s are designed to penalise financial speculators who conduct high frequency financial markets trading.
The forgien curreny trade in nz in 2010 averaged 9 billion per day!!
A tax of 0.1% would raise 90m per day or 36 billion per year
Yep. Yet the banks will scream at a 0.1% FTT while they are more than happy to charge you and me a 3% difference when changing NZD into Australian dollars.
Took me a while , but the TOTAL NZ tax take is expected to be in the order of 55 billion
So the FTT raising 36billion on foreign currency transactions would get pretty close to removing GST.
AND if the FTT was applied to all bank transactions, I suspect you MAY be able to remove all direct Tax.
And you woul not need an ird!!
Remember that that is at present levels of transactions which an FTT is likely to decrease.
To be honest I’m a little frustrated that we keep on re-inventing the wheel here. Gareth Morgan has pretty much nailed it … all the essential components of a thorough reform of the tax system are there and he’s done a credible job of crunching the numbers. Why not take it more seriously?
Is it just because Morgan isn’t perceived as a proper leftie?
Damn, now I’m trying to remember if Morgan had an FTT in with his CCT.
The thing about our tax system is that it’s had centuries of build up of little fixes. It really needs to be taken back to basics and redesigned completely then give about a years notice that the old rules and precedents are going out and an entirely new system coming in.
Flash back to Aug 2011
http://thestandard.org.nz/gareth-morgans-big-kahuna/
Although it doesnt really say if Morgan proposed an FTT, the comments were certainly full of the idea.
The currency trade transaction would decrease, but ot the internal transactions.
Does any one know the value of the turnover of money through the banks?
Oops 3.6 Billion
Nice link DTB
And it’s not just “Hone and Hollande” but that well known Skoda driver and social anarchist Angela Merkel – as well as finance ministers from 11 Euro zone countries: Eleven euro states back ftt
Well, she’s a nuclear chemist…
KIWIS! DON’T BUY INTO THE SELLOFF OF OUR PRECIOUS ELECTRICITY ASSETS!
PROTEST OUTSIDE MIGHTY RIVER POWER OFFICE!
ANZ Building 23 -29 Albert St Auckland City
https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=mighty+river+power+auckland&fb=1&gl=nz&hq=mighty+river+power&hnear=0x6d0d47fb5a9ce6fb%3A0x500ef6143a29917%2CAuckland&cid=0%2C0%2C14661661492653781907&ei=Iu-EUM-0La6higfJyoG4Dg&ved=0CGYQ_BIwAQ
TUESDAY 23 OCTOBER 2012
12 noon – 2pm
On Tuesday 23 October 2012 – the Government is planning to consider and approve an Order in Council for Cabinet and the Executive Council to remove Mighty river Power from the State Owned Enterprises Act.
http://www.johnkey.co.nz/archives/1537-PM-announces-next-steps-for-Mighty-River-sale.html
UNITE AND FIGHT THE PRIVATISATION OF MIGHTY RIVER POWER BY SWITCHING OFF MERCURY ENERGY!
http://switchoffmercuryenergy.org/how-to-switch-off-merucry-energy/
Protest called by Penny Bright, Jax Taylor and James Heremaia from the SWITCH OFF MERCURY ENERGY community group.
Voting machine and results scrutiny in the USA for the 2004 election and others by
blackboxvoting.org definitely show skullduggery. The attitude of all officials involved seems shamelessly casual to me.
Blackbox have a video recording all that they do. One move was to search for records themselves that had been requested under their information act. The dockets they had been supplied had been recently prepared and they had asked for copies of the signed originals.. So a search at the electoral processing facility brought to light rubbish bags with voting figure dockets signed by the clerks at the time of finalising, and these were being thrown out although by law they should have been held for 22 months I think. At least one docket differed by more than 100 votes from the recently issued one presented to them.
Let’s not have electronic voting by anyone. And allowing private companies to run this essential government procedure is criminal. Up against the wall and firing squad criminal. That excuse that required information is commercially sensitive is just one of the reasons for not having a bar of private involvement, even contractor help.
No electronic voting, no internet voting. If the idea ever comes up in NZ it needs to be sunk once and for all.
Seriously, these systems are designed to be shit and easy to compromise. You might as well design ATMs to accept random pin numbers.
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/09/new_diebold_vul.html
It’s a change that’s going to happen and you can’t stop it. The best idea would be to ensure that we don’t use the same system as the US – in other words, engage with the process.
Make it done by government department rather than private business. Make it OpenSource so that people can actually see it and test it. Make it so that people can check how their vote was recorded and be able to change it if it was recorded incorrectly. Make it a three part entry system using either a security token or the same system that Kiwibank uses. Both systems are nearly impossible to break.
Online voting paves the way for even more democracy and less corruption. Leaving it as is leaves all the power in the hands of the politicians and their owners.
DTB
I think you are far too optimistic about the use of technology, all these pins and barriers to make the information safe, don’t make it easier and it would become more burdensome for some people than travelling or walking to what should be a nearby polling booth for most.
And there is the means for computer programmers and companies employing them to make small secret changes that negatively affect the probity of the system and large numbers of voters, and their ability to make decisions as to who is going to assist or constrain their lives. I say again you are too positive. I know programmers who are good people for sure but everybody doesn’t hold to sacred ethics of the highest behaviour. Especially when there is money in it and its hard to uncover.