Yes about time the opposition warned the buyers as to expectations and buy back at their purchase price, our state housing stock is far too low for a developed nation for this transfer to occur.
The creep of councils flogging public housing is off the radar on this issue.
Labour and every other left party needs to come out and say that they will be rebuilding social housing stock levels. They also need to put in place a law that prevents sales of state assets.
They need to make it clear to the National Party’s owners that Parliament will not be bound by bribes, and that every single time they buy legislation that socialises losses or privatises profits they will lose their shirts.
Assets will be repatriated and there will be no compensation.
There is no alternative.
Then this group report says it takes a pro-market rather than a free-market tack! And refers to the Rachman scandal (1960’s) which will be important to note when thinking about the downward path that the present UNACT NZ government is following. http://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Publication-The-Politics-of-Housing.pdfThe affordability problem dominates England’s housing market: an … total annual completions since the 1970s, and the private sector alone has not built this level …. provided by housing associations which are heavily dependent on benefit ….. exploitation of unscrupulous landlords – epitomised by the Rachman scandal.37.
Very disappointed Phil Twyford as Labours Transport spokesperson was missing in action. You would think Labour (Phil) would back up Peters who is championing this issue, a lost opportunity to get some runs on the board over the importance of stopping further RMA changes by National.
Yes as was wannabe Mayor Phil Goff, however Twyford is transport is he not. The Northland Line and the rail link to Marsden Point is something Labour need to keep the acid right on National, rail does not fit where their roading plans and they are quietly under funding rail to the point where they can close the line.
The other thing is creating a bit of solidarity with NZF/Peters who is doing all the heavry lifting on the issue. Therefore a bit of action from Twyford is not too much
too ask surely.
I think you’re putting the cart before the horse Skinny. It seems to me Sunday’s protest was less about politics and all about a gut reaction from Aucklanders to what they see as a threat to their harbour. For Labour to have rolled out Twyford with a baldfaced political attack on the government and their transport policies would have been a mistake. It’s enough at the moment for Labour to be lining up alongside the views of Aucklanders (National will be trying to do this too of course). The politics can come later.
Aucklanders fighting the council over the loss of their harbour is 100% political. It is a perfect opportunity for Twyford to mention Marsden Point and rail as a solution to the problem. To not do so is dereliction of duty.
Is it churlish to suspect that this harbour protest will get an excellent level of media coverage, on the score that $40,000,000 worth of motor/sail vessels turned out……and yeah, quite alot of people ?
For the avoidance of doubt I am with the people and I thank the vessels.
Mike the Peg, with his extra leg … a Northland children’s delight. I think Osborne is lying anyway. Standing behind NAct ministers doesn’t wear the shoe leather much at all.
The claim from Osborne that he has worn out one and a half pairs of shoes is a preposterous claim.
Those roads of Northland must really be atrocious!
His candidacy was announced on 1st March. So, in about 20 days, he has worn out 1.5 pairs. i.e, 3 shoes! At this unbelievable rate, by election day this coming Saturday, he would have worn out about 2.5 pairs=5 shoes!…in just 30 days! The shoe companies would be thrilled and won’t believe their luck!
But somehow I think Osborne has been a bullshitter about the shoes and quite untrustworthy.
Having a rather weird sense of humour, I have been wondering why he only seems to have two casual shirts – both blue checks although slightly different.
Osborne’s political hero – JOHN KEY ! That’s right……Mr “Anything Is Possible” according to Osborne.
Osborne a sincere, fearless representative of the people of Northland ? Up against the dons Key and Joyce ? No. This is not an “anything”. Can you see Steven Joyce if Osborne wins ? – “Listen boy…….we turned you from Mr Laughing-Stock to Mr Limp-In so get outa my office. And in future……breath through your nose !”
Good God. Northlanders roped into “ShonKey Python’s Flying-Jerk-Us”. Expect a breach of copyright claim additional to Eminem’s.
…and further notes on the tabloid Herald’s bias, the collapse of the government’s social housing policy is (online) listed below articles on Netflix’s charges, McCaw’s girlfriend and a bloke hassling drivers outside a school.
Winston just has to win — apart from obvious reason, but how unbearable will be the increased boasting and OTT arrogance of Key and Joyce in self congratulation … ugh.
The really funny thing to happen would be if Peters were to win the seat in the by-election.
He then resigns his list seat to get another NZF MP into the house.
There is an electoral petition which Winston loses.
He is out of the house until at least 2017.
And no, it wouldn’t help to have another NZF MP being coerced into resigning to open up another vacancy. Winston would not be eligible to take it.
Actually, I think that if Winston was to win in the by-election, and I don’t think it will happen, he won’t resign his list seat. He wouldn’t even consider allowing the above scenario to occur. He doesn’t really give a damn about his party or about Parliament. His sole interest is Winston the 1st.
I think you misunderstand the process.
A recount, if called for, takes place before the final result is declared. This would be the confirmed result. It appears that Winston would have to have resigned his list seat prior to this happening if he was going to be replaced on the list.
An electoral petition is a later thing and normally takes place after the new MP has taken their seat in Parliament. This is what happened when Winston got into Parliament way back in the dark ages. He came out on the right side of an electoral petition against Malcolm Douglas who had won the seat.
So no, although it is not very likely it could happen if Winston hopes to be replaced by another NZF list MP.
Hate to say it, but to a degree Alwyn is possibly correct – but the scenario he paints is highly unlikely but not impossible.
The situation re resignation etc to get in another NZF member is apparently not set in stone in the electoral rules. The Electoral Commission have a view as to what the procedures should be; as do other electoral law experts such as Graeme Edgeler. Don’t have time to find links, but there was considerable Twitter discussion (Edgeler and others) a few weeks ago when Winston Peters first declared he would run in Northland.
National have been pushing the line a win for Winston would benefit Southland with another seat as the next person on the NZF is an Invercargill hairdresser, Ria Bond.
But according to the Herald article by Claire Trevett on Saturday, Ria Bond is no longer living in Invercargill but has bee in Wellington working for NZF since August 2014.
Thank you.
You’ll note that I never said it was likely. I only said it would be funny if it should happen.
I’m sure that Winston would find it equally hilarious.
ScottGN, a little bit further down. quotes an opinion from Pundit about ACT possibly taking up an Electoral Petition on the grounds that Winston winning would disturb the proportionality of the house. Like Pundit, I don’t think he has any grounds at all.
Somebody living in the electorate, or a losing candidate in the by-election could however bring one on the grounds, (and this is hypothetical), that Winston had spent more than he is legally allowed to on his campaign, or something of that ilk.
Hilarious would be if Osborne won and had to resign to deal with the same type of family problems as Sabin. A vote for Winnie is a vote for a guy with no secrets, we know he’ll stay on.
But according to the Herald article by Claire Trevett on Saturday, Ria Bond is no longer living in Invercargill but has bee in Wellington working for NZF since August 2014.
And the National Party would know that very well as their staffers would see Ria frequently…
Exactly! The Parliamentary Precinct is a rather small place in reality, where people working there or visiting frequently (eg government officials) know one another and who they are.
Jon Reeves is the most likely person the come through on the NZF list. Very solid chap promoting public transport, be good to add the term silver/green voter.
Reeves may be a solid chap etc, but he is at No 15 on the NZF list.
Ria Bond is at No12, and even if she decided not to come in as a list MP, there is Mataroa Paroro at No 13 (who seems keen according to the Herald article) and Romuald Rudzki at No 14, before Reeves.
Reeves has been very good with NZF’s transport policy. He may leap frog the others since Peters is advocating a port & rail strategy in Northland. He goes alright with media and public speaking too. I maybe a little bias he is a mate.
The rules relating to the filling of a list MP position do not allow leap-frogging – in principle anyway.
The party concerned does not get to pick and choose who they put in the position. The Electoral Commission goes to each person on that Party’s list as set prior to the last General Election in the sequence set in the list and asks them if they want to take up the vacancy. As I noted, there are three people ahead of Reeves – one of whom has apparently expressed interest according to the Herald article.
I can’t see much boasting in the event National holds on to what was a very safe seat with a narrow win. I imagine they’ll just be relieved to have avoided disaster and will be happy to move forward with their numbers restored in the parliament.
Yeah……I’m taking the precaution of travelling to Auckland Friday afternoon……having early voted for the only man in New Zealand right now who can prick the fetid-air balloon of the supreme heister of this entire nation, bar none. Whatever the outcome I need to be in the company of my closest.
If Peters wins it is decidedly the start of the end of TheGodKey. Even if not…..still it is underway. Increasingly we have an entilted little PonceKey in our faces. It will not go beyond 2017. Indeed my appreciation is that significantly before 2017, seeing the writing on the wall, and rather than take electoral defeat, this gutless, narcissistic one will take his baubles, his honorofic, unblind his trusts, and slide off somewhere else.
Wasn’t there some “New Zealander” of some importance (apparently) meant to be having their name suppression lifted around about now, and aren’t the eyes of speculation glancing in the direction of a certain former……………..
If it is to do with Mike Sabin and it all comes out after the by-election instead of before then it will go down very very badly with the electorate…..
…. simply reinforces the lack of honesty and integrity associated with John Key
BG – I am going to be a pedant and say that :having had a request for name suppression refused” does not seem to be the actual situation from the little we know.
Name suppression appears to have been in place prior to 30 January, when a total suppression order was put on by the judge on all details of the case – including the actual location of the court! Then in mid-February some details of the case were released; and the defendant was given four weeks to appeal a lifting of name suppression on 19 March.
As I understand it, this procedure is not the same legally as having had a request for name suppression refused.
I find it hard to imagine that the thing in question would not have asked for a continuation of suppression in February. If they hadn’t, it would have just lapsed and we would have seen it all over the tv. Hence a request was refused, but time was given to appeal the decision. This time has been abused as badly as the innocent children involved.
I don’t necessarily disagree, MR. But we do not know whether that was the case/ But being a pendant, I could not allow a bald statement that name suppression had been refused to go – when we do not know that that was actually the case.
I actually think that the procedures followed by the judge/court which are apparently in accordance with the law is actually in the best interests of justice in the longer term – by not allowing this to be used as a technicality to close the case down.
The by election is therefore a fraud, details surrounding the reasons why it is being called should be made public. Non disclosure has corrupted democracy, I have no doubts that people who have or are going to vote in the Northland electorate will not have/will vote/d for National.
Not when we are hearing of people already casting a vote for Osbourne and then hearing the reason Sabin resigned and the fact Osbourne was a key member of the National Northland electorate executive team. Tarred by association as they say. I am referring to some elderly church folk. People have the right to know the truth surrounding the murky resignation and cast their vote making an informed decision, especially when the timeline of who knew what is being disputed so widely in the media and so publicly.
Another thing insulting is Osbourne claiming he still knows nothing, which then becomes a matter of trust. If he came out and admitted he has heard the rumour’s but doesn’t operate on rumours, instead of blatantly saying ” he still doesn’t know anything regarding Sabin’s resignation”.
So this guy professes to have his finger on the pulse of Northland and is totally blind to what is going on right under his nose. Incredibly insulting to the electorate there are no other words for it.
Yeah – Skinny is right, James. And if the Nats don’t win, then Shon Key’s stuff-up in not replacing Sabin with a proper candidate in the 2014 election will be humiliating for them. Maybe a Winston win will be the end of the Key government ? ? ? hopefully ……
There was no court order in place either before the last election, or even maybe the 2011 election, or on the morning when Sabin resigned. Key has had plenty of chances to be honest with us. He has never taken a single one.
“Another thing insulting is Osbourne claiming he still knows nothing, which then becomes a matter of trust”
Both Key and Osborne have claimed that they knew nothing about Sabin’s stuff at all!
If you believe that, I think there are lots and lots of three way bridges in Northland which this government is happily giving away for voters to take away on Trade-me with absolutely No Reserve!
A couple of weeks ago I linked to a news article which described how the death rate for white women in the USA was exploding because of the use of prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. We are talking around a million excess White female deaths in the last few years and climbing. Such an upward shift in mortality is seen by experts as “historic.”
Now here is research which shows that White lower educated women in the USA are experiencing a massive explosion in out of wedlock births. (While Black university educated womens’ out of wedlock birth figures fall dramatically). In other words, while upper class women enjoy traditional family structures more than ever, lower class women are getting smashed with increased family instability and poorer outcomes.
Among the educated elite the traditional family is thriving: fewer than 10% of births to female college graduates are outside marriage—a figure that is barely higher than it was in 1970…However the non-marital birth proportion among high-school-educated whites has quadrupled, to 50%, and the same figure for college-educated blacks has fallen by a third, to 25%. Thus the class divide is growing even as the racial gap is shrinking.
Apparently there was such a thing as the “First Seige” of Sevastapol and over a 120,000 Russians died there defending Crimea from the West and Turkey. I’d only known about the “Second Siege” where the defenders of Sevastapol were eventually ground into dust by the Wehrmacht.
There was a whole war going on at the time. If you’ve ever heard references to Florence Nightingale, or the Charge of the Light Brigade – “Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” – they’re references to that war.
There have probably been more than two over the years, but the other famous one was of course during the Crimean War, which gave us poetry about senseless death, a lady with a lamp, cardigans, and maybe even sandwiches. The senseless death of British cavalrymen was blamed on inferior Turkish infantry rather than English upper class imbecility and the Victoria Cross came into being for excessive zeal in the killing of wogs. Willie Apiata got one for the same thing not long ago and the English lies about Turkish infantry saw our young men die stupidly on the cliffs of Gallipoli. Key will be going this year to show he has guts. It was not gutlessness that made him keep Sabin on, not at all.
Yemen falls into sectarian chaos as yet another US project loses the plot in the ME
The Americans have been conducting regular drone strilkes in Yemen since 2002 in support of the US friendly government there.
Since the fall of that government, hundreds of millions of dollars of modern American made military equipment has now gone to new unapproved owners. ISIS and Al Qaeda recruitment is surging.
US diplomats and US troops have abandoned Yemen as the security situation has gone down the toilet over the last couple of years.
Another great Middle East project “Made in the USA.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20171978
Beverley Forrester – Vocal champion of Wool ( 30′ 41″ )
10:06 Beverley Forrester is a farmer, sheep breeder, fashion designer, yarn manufacturer, tourism operator and a vocal champion of wool. She says a generation of consumers have been bombarded with cheap, mass produced, synthetic alternatives, but she believes there’s a resurgence in demand for the living fibre, and for knitting, which she describes as “the new yoga”. After the sudden death of her farmer husband Jim Forrester just before his 54th birthday, Beverley found herself running their Hurunui farm and sheep stud. She’s developed a successful brand of natural coloured, undyed yarns, which are now sold internationally, as well as her own fashion label. Beverley Forrester talks with Kathryn Ryan about her love of what she believes is New Zealand’s best primary product.
Wools one of the best products in the world: renewable , fire proof , biodegadible any self respecting greeny wouldn’t be caught dead in poly prop clothing or on a synthetic carpet.!!
hi b waghorn, i couldnt agree more, i have been a vocal enthusiast (?) for wool for many a year.
go to the local saleyards in feilding and you would be lucky to get 10% of sheep farmers wearing their own product. most of them are wandering round in recycled milk bottles.
makes me blood boil.
I have noticed that plenty myself. I think the problems is lack of r’n d around making wool products that can compete with plastic clothes . but our government s aren’t big on backing there own.
mmm.. yes, and primary producers not putting their money where their mouth is.
i read on stephanies blog (boots theory) about the rich man who bought expensive shoes while the poorer man bought cheap shoes.
in the lifetime of the better quality footwear the poor man had spent twice as much on his shoes.
while r n d is part of it, the whole economy around wool is screwed up. when it costs the farmer more to remove the wool from the sheep than what the wool is worth, something is rotten.
i was talking to a farmer who says back in the ’50s he was getting a pound for a pound of wool.
The Korean war caused the great wool boom in 1950-51.
And most farmers will tell you there’s no money in wool but the wool clip on the property I work on pays our fertilizer bill which is in the 150k range.
to me wool is a panacea for our times, it grows on less than ideal land, labour intensive to harvest and process (jobs), and as you have mentioned earlier, heaps of uses, clothing, insulation, mulch/fertilizer…
the foxton feltex factory is closed. with a simple stroke of a legislators pen, making wool carpets mandatory in state housing and government offices, it can be reopend and we reinvest in a kiwi town and kiwi resources, win win.
A majority of Auckland councillors are now opposed or want a rethink on port expansion.
The majority was achieved this afternoon when councillor Denise Krum joined councillors Cameron Brewer and Sharon Stewart in calling for the issue to be re-examined.
Auckland’s mayor, Len Brown, who does not want to stop Ports of Auckland plans to build two massive wharf extensions next month, is now in the minority.
………………………………..
A core of eight councillors – Chris Darby, Cathy Casey, Ross Clow, Chris Fletcher, Mike Lee, Wayne Walker, John Walker and George Wood – directly oppose the port expansion into the Waitemata Harbour.
Mr Brown has ignored the message from yesterday’s protest of about 2000 people and 300 boats in the city who want an immediate stop to the extensions to Bledisloe Wharf.
However, he said today he would set up a study of the economic, social and environmental impact of the port on wider Auckland, which he promised in August 2013.
Ms Krum said she was unclear about the council’s position on the wharf extensions and whether legally the council can get back into the trenches on planning provisions for the port precinct in the Unitary Plan.
She said things had changed over the past three weeks and the council would be negligent to bury its head in the sand.
“We need some leadership with this issue. There is no singular leadership driven, ‘let’s take councillors on a journey here’. Let’s have all the information,” she said.
“I’m also really quite miffed. I have heard nothing from the ports themselves. As someone who wants to back their business because I see the contribution they need to make to Auckland. As a shareholder, where are they in this foray?”
The Ports of Auckland board is meeting today but it is unclear if the the board, chaired by Graeme Hawkins, will make a public statement in response to the public outcry over the plans.
Mr Brewer has today written to Mr Brown asking him to convene a meeting of the governing body to reconsider the council’s position on reclamation rules in the Unitary Plan for mediation.
In August 2013, the council voted for tough “non-complying” rules for reclamation in the Unitary Plan, but twice in the past five weeks it has voted to ease these rules to “discretionary” status requiring public notification.
The council has argued it has not voted for more lenient rules on reclamation, saying the new “discretionary” status and other regulations are tougher than the current rules in the regional coastal plan.
“I have yet to change my vote,” Mr Brewer says in the letter. “But like others, I am calling for these matters to be formally revisited by the governing body in a calm and collected way with all the information new and old presented without fear of favour.
“Given the significant level of public interest, we at least owe that to Aucklanders.”
Earlier today, Mr Brewer reversed his support for the expansion, saying he now wanted a rethink on the issue.
“I invite the mayor to bring this back to the council table and give this another go,” he told the Herald.
The Orakei councillor took part in a secret vote last month on the side of Mr Brown and his deputy Penny Hulse to ease the August 2013 rules for port expansion.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by supporting tightening the old reclamation rules that were in existence from 1987 to 2013, but it’s clear that’s still not going far enough to appease the Auckland community.
“If Aucklanders want no reclamation whatsoever, then lets at least have the debate again with the public sentiment now clearly known.
“It is massive public sentiment. Len Brown needs to look it again,” Mr Brewer said.
______________________________________________________________________________________
The actual article in the Herald had an invite to email them your views on the subject. I sent the following :-
I am totally opposed to any extensions until a full and independent assessment is completed with full and open discussion.
The arrogant attitude by those involved directly in the Ports of Auckland has happened because of the way the governance of this vital infrastructure was set up by the Key Government through their delegated front man , Rodney Hide, who threw out a carefully considered scheme for Auckland City prepared over several years by three knowledgable and experienced Commissioners and replaced it with his hastily prepared alternative devised in about 6 months.
Largely ignored by the citizens of Auckland was the dispute between Ports Of Auckland (POA) and the Maritime Union which has recently been settled after several years of negotiation. The Mayor & the Council that is the elected Councillors refused to get involved in that problem because they were effectively 3 times removed from the POA because of the way that the lines of authority had been set up when the Auckland City plan was devised..
The Mayor of Auckland and the Auckland City Councillors were Democratically elected by the citizens of Auckland to manage the affairs of the City, all the other people in the chains of command of POA including the CEO of POA ( and there are quite a few) are appointed, not elected.
The elected representatives of the citizens of Auckland need to manage this matter effectively NOW or resign and let us elect some new faces who are prepared to sort out this problem.
In the meantime there needs to be an embargo on any expansion whatsoever in my opinion
Well said, John Shears. Hope it gets read, and considered.
And the really stupid part about all of this is that Whangarei – Marsden Point – has the best deep water harbour in NZ, is little used, because both Auckland and Tauranga Ports have not only competing interests in Marsden Port, but their own interests which keeps their ports operating and Marsden lingering at the edges …….. Auckland Port needs to revise their thinking, and make use of Marsden for the bigger vessels coming – instead of trying to squeeze them into what has become a relatively narrow Waitemata harbour and Hauraki Gulf.
Press Release Sue Henry Spokesperson for the Housing Lobby:
“Stop the privatisation of State Housing!”
“The wheels are finally falling off the Government’s scheme to use charity and Iwi groups as a trojan horse to privatise the $18 billion worth of State Housing assets,” says Sue Henry, Spokesperson for the Housing Lobby:
“If it was ‘untenable’ for the Salvation Army to use existing State Housing stock for the failed ‘social housing’ experiment, other NGOs and consortiums will never have the capacity as providers, unless they are bankrolled by foreign property development companies, for speculative gain, which still equates to privatisation.”
“The public were told prior to the 2014 election there would be no further asset sales.”
“There is no electoral mandate for the privatisation of State Housing.”
“The Housing Lobby are calling on the Government to scrap the charity housing model and repeal the 2013 Social Housing, Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act.”
“Housing New Zealand must be reinstated as the ‘one stop shop’ State Housing provider, under the ‘public service’ model,” Sue Henry concluded.
The war on workers continues – an Aussie compnay in auckland wants to remove tea breaks from an industrial site. This is why we need tea breaks abd corporate homicide charges. Forklifts and fatigue don’t mix in a happy way.
“The Prime Minister reassured New Zealanders that ‘post the passing of this law, will you all of a sudden find thousands of workers who are denied having a tea break? The answer is absolutely not’. We now know the Prime Minister’s assurance was misleading,” Mr Reid said today.
Of course, Key and National knew that this would happen. It’s why they changed the law.
hi draco, hate to do this but i have to point out our dear leader was right.
the laws was passed (like a bowel motion) in october, its now march, so that is not sudden.
also this effects dozens not thousands of workers.
all good on planet key. carry on.
Legal action “not taken lightly” indeed ! Well no, but of course the daddies had the 8-10 grand it would have cost. The considerations were constitutional and justice based were they ? Nothing to do with their wedged-up daddies’ determination to pass on down to their offspring the privilege they themselves enjoy. Nah, course not !
If they were a couple of little Maori boys in Kaikohe, one’d be appearing in the Youth Court, one’d be in the District Court……and the 17 year old particularly would be on bail terms so oppressive that he’d be bound to breach……and then who knows ? Night in the cells in Whangarei before he’s ‘let off’ with a formally recorded bail warning ? Another meaningless breach. Oh God, not custody……then on down to UK investor owned/profiting, Serco/Mt Eden/”The Jungle”.
In our justice system you’re sweet if you’re white with a wedged up daddy. I know that to be a freakish and disgusting truth. During 40 years with the opportunity to observe it I’ve seen it countless times. It’s this; the actors in the justice system ‘sign-up’, not consciously or wittingly, but it’s ‘sign-up’ nevertheless.
It starts off rather light-hearted, but gets grimmer and grimmer as it goes along. Anyone who cares at all about the environment will be vomiting blood by the end.
Of course this was always going to happen. Greed, like rust, never sleeps. The wicked thing is that its promoters don’t even see it is as greed, it is no-brainer rationality. Of course one will operate one’s undertaking to the outer edge of what is lawful. Why would one not ? And under ThePonceKey greed is increasingly encouraged never to sleep. Apologies for any mixed metaphors there. Like ThePonceKey ‘m not verrr lit-rit, ecksshilly !
It looks as though we are getting closer and closer to a situation where the victims must take a serious stand. Strikes, pickets, appealing to the souls of would-be-scabs, defiance of legal process proscribing the standing up for essential rights……a network of moral and financial support for those on PlanetPonceKey with the ‘temerity’ to say “No – Enough !” Hit them in the very place from which prances forth the lusty greed…….the pocket. Hopefully that will have them (an unintended consequence of course) the financial pariahs they are in moral terms.
The more the people do nothing the harder they’ll go. There are no moral questions come into play with these people. Greed (sorry, ‘maximisation of profit”) just never sleeps !
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It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
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The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
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After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
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There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
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The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
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Snowden files: GCSB spies monitored diplomats in line for World Trade Organisation job http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421371
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421371
This is outrageous!
Yep post coming up.
On a side note-
Noticed the NZH managed to supply a link to the document, a link they failed to offer re the RoastBusters’ report last week 🙁
Salvation Army derail Key’s plan to sell off state houses.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421462
They’ll be flogged off to his developer mates..
Was always the plan
Yes about time the opposition warned the buyers as to expectations and buy back at their purchase price, our state housing stock is far too low for a developed nation for this transfer to occur.
The creep of councils flogging public housing is off the radar on this issue.
+1
Labour and every other left party needs to come out and say that they will be rebuilding social housing stock levels. They also need to put in place a law that prevents sales of state assets.
Not exactly.
They need to make it clear to the National Party’s owners that Parliament will not be bound by bribes, and that every single time they buy legislation that socialises losses or privatises profits they will lose their shirts.
Assets will be repatriated and there will be no compensation.
There is no alternative.
Good idea but just as with the Genesis and MRP sell off, Labour is never going to alienate its upper middle class supporters in that way.
They get to look “reasonable” by suggesting a compromise then: no jailtime for anyone found to have a conflict of interest.
Umm no Paul, salvos do as expected allowing key to flog them to financiers and developers as was always the intention.
Here are keywords which will bring up a number of headings on google which look as if they would give worthwhile background to the social housing subject.
Here is a link to a study on what the Dutch did which is different to the Britisgh course of public housing which declined from the 1970’s largely because of their right-to-buy policy.
Why Dutch social housing did not follow the British path … dropped off from the 1970s onwards, whereas Dutch construction levels during the 1980s …. controlled by private non-profit housing associations rather than public organisations, and (2) ….. his predecessor succumbed to the massive financial scandal, and social …
Then this group report says it takes a pro-market rather than a free-market tack! And refers to the Rachman scandal (1960’s) which will be important to note when thinking about the downward path that the present UNACT NZ government is following.
http://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Publication-The-Politics-of-Housing.pdfThe affordability problem dominates England’s housing market: an … total annual completions since the 1970s, and the private sector alone has not built this level …. provided by housing associations which are heavily dependent on benefit ….. exploitation of unscrupulous landlords – epitomised by the Rachman scandal.37.
And this discusses the private landlord in Britain and gives part of a document on the time from post WW2 till now.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444329414.fmatter/pdf
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Rachman
Politicians from all spectrum attend protest against environmental vandalism, arrogance and greed of the Ports of Auckland.
We need our RMA.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11421470
Very disappointed Phil Twyford as Labours Transport spokesperson was missing in action. You would think Labour (Phil) would back up Peters who is championing this issue, a lost opportunity to get some runs on the board over the importance of stopping further RMA changes by National.
Labour was represented pretty well by the local List MP for Auckland Central Jacinda Adern.
Yes as was wannabe Mayor Phil Goff, however Twyford is transport is he not. The Northland Line and the rail link to Marsden Point is something Labour need to keep the acid right on National, rail does not fit where their roading plans and they are quietly under funding rail to the point where they can close the line.
The other thing is creating a bit of solidarity with NZF/Peters who is doing all the heavry lifting on the issue. Therefore a bit of action from Twyford is not too much
too ask surely.
I think you’re putting the cart before the horse Skinny. It seems to me Sunday’s protest was less about politics and all about a gut reaction from Aucklanders to what they see as a threat to their harbour. For Labour to have rolled out Twyford with a baldfaced political attack on the government and their transport policies would have been a mistake. It’s enough at the moment for Labour to be lining up alongside the views of Aucklanders (National will be trying to do this too of course). The politics can come later.
Aucklanders fighting the council over the loss of their harbour is 100% political. It is a perfect opportunity for Twyford to mention Marsden Point and rail as a solution to the problem. To not do so is dereliction of duty.
Is it churlish to suspect that this harbour protest will get an excellent level of media coverage, on the score that $40,000,000 worth of motor/sail vessels turned out……and yeah, quite alot of people ?
For the avoidance of doubt I am with the people and I thank the vessels.
If that was well represented, I’d hate to see what a poor job was.
Osborne from Northland said that he has worn out one and a half pairs of shoes. Is that three shoes?
Does that mean he’s “Jake the Peg”?
Mike the Peg, with his extra leg … a Northland children’s delight. I think Osborne is lying anyway. Standing behind NAct ministers doesn’t wear the shoe leather much at all.
As ever Jane Bowron is quite funny on this
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/67473983/Sideways-glances-from-an-off-course-Osborne
@Scott
Interesting that Focus NZ (1,700 votes at the Gen Election) have been advised to vote for Peters. That could swing it.
The claim from Osborne that he has worn out one and a half pairs of shoes is a preposterous claim.
Those roads of Northland must really be atrocious!
His candidacy was announced on 1st March. So, in about 20 days, he has worn out 1.5 pairs. i.e, 3 shoes! At this unbelievable rate, by election day this coming Saturday, he would have worn out about 2.5 pairs=5 shoes!…in just 30 days! The shoe companies would be thrilled and won’t believe their luck!
But somehow I think Osborne has been a bullshitter about the shoes and quite untrustworthy.
Having a rather weird sense of humour, I have been wondering why he only seems to have two casual shirts – both blue checks although slightly different.
And would Osborne walk as much as he is driven by Joyce?
And it was no surprise to see Claire Trevett doing her bit for Osborne’s campaign in this morning’s Herald.
This article in the Herald precedes Trev’s pumping up of Osborne this morning. It’s bloody hilarious but very, very sadly, true.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421110
Peters’ political hero – Churchill
Prime’s political hero – Michael Joseph Savage
Osborne’s political hero – JOHN KEY ! That’s right……Mr “Anything Is Possible” according to Osborne.
Osborne a sincere, fearless representative of the people of Northland ? Up against the dons Key and Joyce ? No. This is not an “anything”. Can you see Steven Joyce if Osborne wins ? – “Listen boy…….we turned you from Mr Laughing-Stock to Mr Limp-In so get outa my office. And in future……breath through your nose !”
Good God. Northlanders roped into “ShonKey Python’s Flying-Jerk-Us”. Expect a breach of copyright claim additional to Eminem’s.
@North
This article is a attempt by the Herald to promote the race as a 3-way affair and so split the anti-National vote.
A vote for Prime is a wasted vote.
…and further notes on the tabloid Herald’s bias, the collapse of the government’s social housing policy is (online) listed below articles on Netflix’s charges, McCaw’s girlfriend and a bloke hassling drivers outside a school.
Winston just has to win — apart from obvious reason, but how unbearable will be the increased boasting and OTT arrogance of Key and Joyce in self congratulation … ugh.
What da ya rekon
Peters will repeat history, and win on a judicial recount.
The really funny thing to happen would be if Peters were to win the seat in the by-election.
He then resigns his list seat to get another NZF MP into the house.
There is an electoral petition which Winston loses.
He is out of the house until at least 2017.
And no, it wouldn’t help to have another NZF MP being coerced into resigning to open up another vacancy. Winston would not be eligible to take it.
Actually, I think that if Winston was to win in the by-election, and I don’t think it will happen, he won’t resign his list seat. He wouldn’t even consider allowing the above scenario to occur. He doesn’t really give a damn about his party or about Parliament. His sole interest is Winston the 1st.
You sad hopeful scenario will not happen because the result has to be confirmed before anyone changes seat.
I think you misunderstand the process.
A recount, if called for, takes place before the final result is declared. This would be the confirmed result. It appears that Winston would have to have resigned his list seat prior to this happening if he was going to be replaced on the list.
An electoral petition is a later thing and normally takes place after the new MP has taken their seat in Parliament. This is what happened when Winston got into Parliament way back in the dark ages. He came out on the right side of an electoral petition against Malcolm Douglas who had won the seat.
So no, although it is not very likely it could happen if Winston hopes to be replaced by another NZF list MP.
Hate to say it, but to a degree Alwyn is possibly correct – but the scenario he paints is highly unlikely but not impossible.
The situation re resignation etc to get in another NZF member is apparently not set in stone in the electoral rules. The Electoral Commission have a view as to what the procedures should be; as do other electoral law experts such as Graeme Edgeler. Don’t have time to find links, but there was considerable Twitter discussion (Edgeler and others) a few weeks ago when Winston Peters first declared he would run in Northland.
National have been pushing the line a win for Winston would benefit Southland with another seat as the next person on the NZF is an Invercargill hairdresser, Ria Bond.
But according to the Herald article by Claire Trevett on Saturday, Ria Bond is no longer living in Invercargill but has bee in Wellington working for NZF since August 2014.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11420760
Thank you.
You’ll note that I never said it was likely. I only said it would be funny if it should happen.
I’m sure that Winston would find it equally hilarious.
ScottGN, a little bit further down. quotes an opinion from Pundit about ACT possibly taking up an Electoral Petition on the grounds that Winston winning would disturb the proportionality of the house. Like Pundit, I don’t think he has any grounds at all.
Somebody living in the electorate, or a losing candidate in the by-election could however bring one on the grounds, (and this is hypothetical), that Winston had spent more than he is legally allowed to on his campaign, or something of that ilk.
Hilarious would be if Osborne won and had to resign to deal with the same type of family problems as Sabin. A vote for Winnie is a vote for a guy with no secrets, we know he’ll stay on.
And the National Party would know that very well as their staffers would see Ria frequently…
Exactly! The Parliamentary Precinct is a rather small place in reality, where people working there or visiting frequently (eg government officials) know one another and who they are.
Jon Reeves is the most likely person the come through on the NZF list. Very solid chap promoting public transport, be good to add the term silver/green voter.
Reeves may be a solid chap etc, but he is at No 15 on the NZF list.
Ria Bond is at No12, and even if she decided not to come in as a list MP, there is Mataroa Paroro at No 13 (who seems keen according to the Herald article) and Romuald Rudzki at No 14, before Reeves.
Reeves has been very good with NZF’s transport policy. He may leap frog the others since Peters is advocating a port & rail strategy in Northland. He goes alright with media and public speaking too. I maybe a little bias he is a mate.
The rules relating to the filling of a list MP position do not allow leap-frogging – in principle anyway.
The party concerned does not get to pick and choose who they put in the position. The Electoral Commission goes to each person on that Party’s list as set prior to the last General Election in the sequence set in the list and asks them if they want to take up the vacancy. As I noted, there are three people ahead of Reeves – one of whom has apparently expressed interest according to the Herald article.
http://www.elections.org.nz/voting-system/mmp-voting-system/filling-vacancy-list-seat
Agree that Reeves sounds as though he would make a good choice, but it would take the three ahead to all decide not to take the position.
With ‘ I do things my way Peters’ it easy seeing a game of leap frog developing. Winston First does ring true from time to time.
Alwynger
Stop crying in your beersies
You couldn’t be grosser
Spying and lying PorKeys a poser
Winnie will win
And all the S..in will be exposed.
I think I’ll stick with Messrs Edgeler and Geddis on this actually:
http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/the-northland-by-election-or-the-so-called/
http://pundit.co.nz/content/if-were-gonna-go-that-way-youre-gonna-need-a-bigger-knife
I can’t see much boasting in the event National holds on to what was a very safe seat with a narrow win. I imagine they’ll just be relieved to have avoided disaster and will be happy to move forward with their numbers restored in the parliament.
Yeah……I’m taking the precaution of travelling to Auckland Friday afternoon……having early voted for the only man in New Zealand right now who can prick the fetid-air balloon of the supreme heister of this entire nation, bar none. Whatever the outcome I need to be in the company of my closest.
If Peters wins it is decidedly the start of the end of TheGodKey. Even if not…..still it is underway. Increasingly we have an entilted little PonceKey in our faces. It will not go beyond 2017. Indeed my appreciation is that significantly before 2017, seeing the writing on the wall, and rather than take electoral defeat, this gutless, narcissistic one will take his baubles, his honorofic, unblind his trusts, and slide off somewhere else.
Ka Ki Te !
Wasn’t there some “New Zealander” of some importance (apparently) meant to be having their name suppression lifted around about now, and aren’t the eyes of speculation glancing in the direction of a certain former……………..
yeah, what’s going on?
Usual authoritarian dirty tricks.
If it is to do with Mike Sabin and it all comes out after the by-election instead of before then it will go down very very badly with the electorate…..
…. simply reinforces the lack of honesty and integrity associated with John Key
Anything to do with palms being greased and astonishing powers of persuasion coming into effect among the elites and certain professions?
It feels we’re so corrupt now nothing would be beyond belief.
Dirt and slime is the New Black.
Eleventh hour filing of an appeal against the lifting of name suppression filed on Thursday afternoon before 5pm deadline.
A number of media have filed for an urgent hearing of the appeal – otherwise it is unlikely to be heard for at least 3 – 4 weeks.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=11419961
Thank you VV……………
There really is some heavy duty identity protection going on there. It has the whiff of desperation around it.
@Rosie But surely the “whiff” is drifting over the Northland electorate?
And having had a request for name supression refused what possible new grounds could there be?
BG – I am going to be a pedant and say that :having had a request for name suppression refused” does not seem to be the actual situation from the little we know.
Name suppression appears to have been in place prior to 30 January, when a total suppression order was put on by the judge on all details of the case – including the actual location of the court! Then in mid-February some details of the case were released; and the defendant was given four weeks to appeal a lifting of name suppression on 19 March.
As I understand it, this procedure is not the same legally as having had a request for name suppression refused.
@veuto Thanks for that, nicely clarified
I find it hard to imagine that the thing in question would not have asked for a continuation of suppression in February. If they hadn’t, it would have just lapsed and we would have seen it all over the tv. Hence a request was refused, but time was given to appeal the decision. This time has been abused as badly as the innocent children involved.
I don’t necessarily disagree, MR. But we do not know whether that was the case/ But being a pendant, I could not allow a bald statement that name suppression had been refused to go – when we do not know that that was actually the case.
I actually think that the procedures followed by the judge/court which are apparently in accordance with the law is actually in the best interests of justice in the longer term – by not allowing this to be used as a technicality to close the case down.
You pendants are all the same…
LOL! Some of us just cannot help ourselves!
The by election is therefore a fraud, details surrounding the reasons why it is being called should be made public. Non disclosure has corrupted democracy, I have no doubts that people who have or are going to vote in the Northland electorate will not have/will vote/d for National.
How can it be fraud?
He resigned – and now there is a by election.
Its pretty simple.
Not when we are hearing of people already casting a vote for Osbourne and then hearing the reason Sabin resigned and the fact Osbourne was a key member of the National Northland electorate executive team. Tarred by association as they say. I am referring to some elderly church folk. People have the right to know the truth surrounding the murky resignation and cast their vote making an informed decision, especially when the timeline of who knew what is being disputed so widely in the media and so publicly.
Another thing insulting is Osbourne claiming he still knows nothing, which then becomes a matter of trust. If he came out and admitted he has heard the rumour’s but doesn’t operate on rumours, instead of blatantly saying ” he still doesn’t know anything regarding Sabin’s resignation”.
So this guy professes to have his finger on the pulse of Northland and is totally blind to what is going on right under his nose. Incredibly insulting to the electorate there are no other words for it.
Yeah – Skinny is right, James. And if the Nats don’t win, then Shon Key’s stuff-up in not replacing Sabin with a proper candidate in the 2014 election will be humiliating for them. Maybe a Winston win will be the end of the Key government ? ? ? hopefully ……
how can it be fraud when the information was subject to a court order????
aresholes
deceivers
manipulators
but not illegal to not tell folks when it is in a suppression order, surely.
There was no court order in place either before the last election, or even maybe the 2011 election, or on the morning when Sabin resigned. Key has had plenty of chances to be honest with us. He has never taken a single one.
well said, murray, thank you …
“Another thing insulting is Osbourne claiming he still knows nothing, which then becomes a matter of trust”
Both Key and Osborne have claimed that they knew nothing about Sabin’s stuff at all!
If you believe that, I think there are lots and lots of three way bridges in Northland which this government is happily giving away for voters to take away on Trade-me with absolutely No Reserve!
Cool bananas!
https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=browse&cat=740
Good article on beer from Dom Post here by Dave Armstrong. Particularly like the last paragraph.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/67473832/Dave-Armstron-Craft-beers-doing-very-nicely
A couple of weeks ago I linked to a news article which described how the death rate for white women in the USA was exploding because of the use of prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. We are talking around a million excess White female deaths in the last few years and climbing. Such an upward shift in mortality is seen by experts as “historic.”
Now here is research which shows that White lower educated women in the USA are experiencing a massive explosion in out of wedlock births. (While Black university educated womens’ out of wedlock birth figures fall dramatically). In other words, while upper class women enjoy traditional family structures more than ever, lower class women are getting smashed with increased family instability and poorer outcomes.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-22/after-fed-crushed-middle-class-it-targeting-american-family
The Economist has a stark conclusion:
National Party Northland candidate plonker.
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/northland-debate-mark-vs-winston-part-1-video-6260167
Russian propaganda doco on the history of Crimea
Apparently there was such a thing as the “First Seige” of Sevastapol and over a 120,000 Russians died there defending Crimea from the West and Turkey. I’d only known about the “Second Siege” where the defenders of Sevastapol were eventually ground into dust by the Wehrmacht.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xURFKxliGh8
There was a whole war going on at the time. If you’ve ever heard references to Florence Nightingale, or the Charge of the Light Brigade – “Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” – they’re references to that war.
There have probably been more than two over the years, but the other famous one was of course during the Crimean War, which gave us poetry about senseless death, a lady with a lamp, cardigans, and maybe even sandwiches. The senseless death of British cavalrymen was blamed on inferior Turkish infantry rather than English upper class imbecility and the Victoria Cross came into being for excessive zeal in the killing of wogs. Willie Apiata got one for the same thing not long ago and the English lies about Turkish infantry saw our young men die stupidly on the cliffs of Gallipoli. Key will be going this year to show he has guts. It was not gutlessness that made him keep Sabin on, not at all.
Yemen falls into sectarian chaos as yet another US project loses the plot in the ME
The Americans have been conducting regular drone strilkes in Yemen since 2002 in support of the US friendly government there.
Since the fall of that government, hundreds of millions of dollars of modern American made military equipment has now gone to new unapproved owners. ISIS and Al Qaeda recruitment is surging.
US diplomats and US troops have abandoned Yemen as the security situation has gone down the toilet over the last couple of years.
Another great Middle East project “Made in the USA.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/22/yemen-sunnis-al-qaida-isis-islamic-state-shia-houthis-sanaa
NZs of current Note:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20171978
Beverley Forrester – Vocal champion of Wool ( 30′ 41″ )
10:06 Beverley Forrester is a farmer, sheep breeder, fashion designer, yarn manufacturer, tourism operator and a vocal champion of wool. She says a generation of consumers have been bombarded with cheap, mass produced, synthetic alternatives, but she believes there’s a resurgence in demand for the living fibre, and for knitting, which she describes as “the new yoga”. After the sudden death of her farmer husband Jim Forrester just before his 54th birthday, Beverley found herself running their Hurunui farm and sheep stud. She’s developed a successful brand of natural coloured, undyed yarns, which are now sold internationally, as well as her own fashion label. Beverley Forrester talks with Kathryn Ryan about her love of what she believes is New Zealand’s best primary product.
Wools one of the best products in the world: renewable , fire proof , biodegadible any self respecting greeny wouldn’t be caught dead in poly prop clothing or on a synthetic carpet.!!
hi b waghorn, i couldnt agree more, i have been a vocal enthusiast (?) for wool for many a year.
go to the local saleyards in feilding and you would be lucky to get 10% of sheep farmers wearing their own product. most of them are wandering round in recycled milk bottles.
makes me blood boil.
I have noticed that plenty myself. I think the problems is lack of r’n d around making wool products that can compete with plastic clothes . but our government s aren’t big on backing there own.
mmm.. yes, and primary producers not putting their money where their mouth is.
i read on stephanies blog (boots theory) about the rich man who bought expensive shoes while the poorer man bought cheap shoes.
in the lifetime of the better quality footwear the poor man had spent twice as much on his shoes.
while r n d is part of it, the whole economy around wool is screwed up. when it costs the farmer more to remove the wool from the sheep than what the wool is worth, something is rotten.
i was talking to a farmer who says back in the ’50s he was getting a pound for a pound of wool.
The Korean war caused the great wool boom in 1950-51.
And most farmers will tell you there’s no money in wool but the wool clip on the property I work on pays our fertilizer bill which is in the 150k range.
ahh! thats right, wool for uniforms.
to me wool is a panacea for our times, it grows on less than ideal land, labour intensive to harvest and process (jobs), and as you have mentioned earlier, heaps of uses, clothing, insulation, mulch/fertilizer…
the foxton feltex factory is closed. with a simple stroke of a legislators pen, making wool carpets mandatory in state housing and government offices, it can be reopend and we reinvest in a kiwi town and kiwi resources, win win.
What a government legislate for the good of small town NZ wash you’re mouth out 🙂
Knitting – also known as “Scottish Valium”. Relaxing and cheap.
‘Where the people lead – the politicians will follow’?
“Earlier today, Mr Brewer reversed his support for the expansion, saying he now wanted a rethink on the issue.”
Bernard Orsman Bernard Orsman is Super City reporter for the NZ Herald.
Len Brown loses support on Auckland port expansion
2:38 PM Monday Mar 23, 2015
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11421603
A majority of Auckland councillors are now opposed or want a rethink on port expansion.
The majority was achieved this afternoon when councillor Denise Krum joined councillors Cameron Brewer and Sharon Stewart in calling for the issue to be re-examined.
Auckland’s mayor, Len Brown, who does not want to stop Ports of Auckland plans to build two massive wharf extensions next month, is now in the minority.
………………………………..
A core of eight councillors – Chris Darby, Cathy Casey, Ross Clow, Chris Fletcher, Mike Lee, Wayne Walker, John Walker and George Wood – directly oppose the port expansion into the Waitemata Harbour.
Mr Brown has ignored the message from yesterday’s protest of about 2000 people and 300 boats in the city who want an immediate stop to the extensions to Bledisloe Wharf.
However, he said today he would set up a study of the economic, social and environmental impact of the port on wider Auckland, which he promised in August 2013.
Ms Krum said she was unclear about the council’s position on the wharf extensions and whether legally the council can get back into the trenches on planning provisions for the port precinct in the Unitary Plan.
She said things had changed over the past three weeks and the council would be negligent to bury its head in the sand.
“We need some leadership with this issue. There is no singular leadership driven, ‘let’s take councillors on a journey here’. Let’s have all the information,” she said.
“I’m also really quite miffed. I have heard nothing from the ports themselves. As someone who wants to back their business because I see the contribution they need to make to Auckland. As a shareholder, where are they in this foray?”
The Ports of Auckland board is meeting today but it is unclear if the the board, chaired by Graeme Hawkins, will make a public statement in response to the public outcry over the plans.
Mr Brewer has today written to Mr Brown asking him to convene a meeting of the governing body to reconsider the council’s position on reclamation rules in the Unitary Plan for mediation.
In August 2013, the council voted for tough “non-complying” rules for reclamation in the Unitary Plan, but twice in the past five weeks it has voted to ease these rules to “discretionary” status requiring public notification.
The council has argued it has not voted for more lenient rules on reclamation, saying the new “discretionary” status and other regulations are tougher than the current rules in the regional coastal plan.
“I have yet to change my vote,” Mr Brewer says in the letter. “But like others, I am calling for these matters to be formally revisited by the governing body in a calm and collected way with all the information new and old presented without fear of favour.
“Given the significant level of public interest, we at least owe that to Aucklanders.”
Earlier today, Mr Brewer reversed his support for the expansion, saying he now wanted a rethink on the issue.
“I invite the mayor to bring this back to the council table and give this another go,” he told the Herald.
The Orakei councillor took part in a secret vote last month on the side of Mr Brown and his deputy Penny Hulse to ease the August 2013 rules for port expansion.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by supporting tightening the old reclamation rules that were in existence from 1987 to 2013, but it’s clear that’s still not going far enough to appease the Auckland community.
“If Aucklanders want no reclamation whatsoever, then lets at least have the debate again with the public sentiment now clearly known.
“It is massive public sentiment. Len Brown needs to look it again,” Mr Brewer said.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Gosh!
That didn’t take long!
Excellent! 🙂
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
The actual article in the Herald had an invite to email them your views on the subject. I sent the following :-
I am totally opposed to any extensions until a full and independent assessment is completed with full and open discussion.
The arrogant attitude by those involved directly in the Ports of Auckland has happened because of the way the governance of this vital infrastructure was set up by the Key Government through their delegated front man , Rodney Hide, who threw out a carefully considered scheme for Auckland City prepared over several years by three knowledgable and experienced Commissioners and replaced it with his hastily prepared alternative devised in about 6 months.
Largely ignored by the citizens of Auckland was the dispute between Ports Of Auckland (POA) and the Maritime Union which has recently been settled after several years of negotiation. The Mayor & the Council that is the elected Councillors refused to get involved in that problem because they were effectively 3 times removed from the POA because of the way that the lines of authority had been set up when the Auckland City plan was devised..
The Mayor of Auckland and the Auckland City Councillors were Democratically elected by the citizens of Auckland to manage the affairs of the City, all the other people in the chains of command of POA including the CEO of POA ( and there are quite a few) are appointed, not elected.
The elected representatives of the citizens of Auckland need to manage this matter effectively NOW or resign and let us elect some new faces who are prepared to sort out this problem.
In the meantime there needs to be an embargo on any expansion whatsoever in my opinion
Well said, John Shears. Hope it gets read, and considered.
And the really stupid part about all of this is that Whangarei – Marsden Point – has the best deep water harbour in NZ, is little used, because both Auckland and Tauranga Ports have not only competing interests in Marsden Port, but their own interests which keeps their ports operating and Marsden lingering at the edges …….. Auckland Port needs to revise their thinking, and make use of Marsden for the bigger vessels coming – instead of trying to squeeze them into what has become a relatively narrow Waitemata harbour and Hauraki Gulf.
ps John S – I’ve lost your email address ? ??
shears82@gmail.com
FYI folks!
______________________________________________________________________________________
23 March 2015
Press Release Sue Henry Spokesperson for the Housing Lobby:
“Stop the privatisation of State Housing!”
“The wheels are finally falling off the Government’s scheme to use charity and Iwi groups as a trojan horse to privatise the $18 billion worth of State Housing assets,” says Sue Henry, Spokesperson for the Housing Lobby:
“If it was ‘untenable’ for the Salvation Army to use existing State Housing stock for the failed ‘social housing’ experiment, other NGOs and consortiums will never have the capacity as providers, unless they are bankrolled by foreign property development companies, for speculative gain, which still equates to privatisation.”
“The public were told prior to the 2014 election there would be no further asset sales.”
“There is no electoral mandate for the privatisation of State Housing.”
“The Housing Lobby are calling on the Government to scrap the charity housing model and repeal the 2013 Social Housing, Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act.”
“Housing New Zealand must be reinstated as the ‘one stop shop’ State Housing provider, under the ‘public service’ model,” Sue Henry concluded.
Sue Henry
Spokesperson,
Housing Lobby
…………………….
______________________________________________________________________________________
Kind regards
Penny Bright
The war on workers continues – an Aussie compnay in auckland wants to remove tea breaks from an industrial site. This is why we need tea breaks abd corporate homicide charges. Forklifts and fatigue don’t mix in a happy way.
That can’t be right.
John Key and every other right winger said no employer would ever want to take away smokos even if they could.
Must be a misprint. I’ll expect a retraction with the hour.
Yep, exactly as anticipated by the Left and denied by the RWNJs:
Of course, Key and National knew that this would happen. It’s why they changed the law.
hi draco, hate to do this but i have to point out our dear leader was right.
the laws was passed (like a bowel motion) in october, its now march, so that is not sudden.
also this effects dozens not thousands of workers.
all good on planet key. carry on.
Syriza, Podemos….
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/23/spanish-anti-austerity-party-podemos-wins-15-seats-andalusia
This would would explain the reluctance to do anything at all.
http://www.realclimate.org/images/climatesensitivity.001.jpg
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2015/03/climate-sensitivity-week/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421666
Legal action “not taken lightly” indeed ! Well no, but of course the daddies had the 8-10 grand it would have cost. The considerations were constitutional and justice based were they ? Nothing to do with their wedged-up daddies’ determination to pass on down to their offspring the privilege they themselves enjoy. Nah, course not !
If they were a couple of little Maori boys in Kaikohe, one’d be appearing in the Youth Court, one’d be in the District Court……and the 17 year old particularly would be on bail terms so oppressive that he’d be bound to breach……and then who knows ? Night in the cells in Whangarei before he’s ‘let off’ with a formally recorded bail warning ? Another meaningless breach. Oh God, not custody……then on down to UK investor owned/profiting, Serco/Mt Eden/”The Jungle”.
In our justice system you’re sweet if you’re white with a wedged up daddy. I know that to be a freakish and disgusting truth. During 40 years with the opportunity to observe it I’ve seen it countless times. It’s this; the actors in the justice system ‘sign-up’, not consciously or wittingly, but it’s ‘sign-up’ nevertheless.
Just when you think New Zealand has a monopoly on greedy/ignorant/criminally insane politicians, get a load of Mike Baird…
https://youtu.be/KYvyJTe8iNM
It starts off rather light-hearted, but gets grimmer and grimmer as it goes along. Anyone who cares at all about the environment will be vomiting blood by the end.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11421805
Of course this was always going to happen. Greed, like rust, never sleeps. The wicked thing is that its promoters don’t even see it is as greed, it is no-brainer rationality. Of course one will operate one’s undertaking to the outer edge of what is lawful. Why would one not ? And under ThePonceKey greed is increasingly encouraged never to sleep. Apologies for any mixed metaphors there. Like ThePonceKey ‘m not verrr lit-rit, ecksshilly !
It looks as though we are getting closer and closer to a situation where the victims must take a serious stand. Strikes, pickets, appealing to the souls of would-be-scabs, defiance of legal process proscribing the standing up for essential rights……a network of moral and financial support for those on PlanetPonceKey with the ‘temerity’ to say “No – Enough !” Hit them in the very place from which prances forth the lusty greed…….the pocket. Hopefully that will have them (an unintended consequence of course) the financial pariahs they are in moral terms.
The more the people do nothing the harder they’ll go. There are no moral questions come into play with these people. Greed (sorry, ‘maximisation of profit”) just never sleeps !
Woohoo. I’ve just heard Andrew Little on Morning Report about Northland. He did well, referring to the polls and being realistic.