certainly seems to be an improvement on what we have got !…would like to hear specific policies soon eg state and tertiary education…incentives for tertiary education (loan/interest issues) are crucial for attracting the young NZers vote.
Not just the young NZers. National’s changes to education will prevent many older people from taking up any education as well. And these would be the people who, due to changing technology, have come to the end of their career path and need the education to get a job at all.
National have been throwing a lot of people on the scrap heap, young and old, so that they can claim a surplus while still borrowing.
+100…affordable if not free tertiary or polytech education is a light at the end of the tunnel for many NZers thrown on the scrap heap….a chance for another career , to meet new people, to learn new skills, to start their own business…this is why Continuing Education is so important as well
Better late than never I guess… but politically, isn’t the best time for an alternative budget when the government releases their one?
Seems about a month too late, the conversation is over and National won it largely unopposed. Releasing this now looks like more evidence of how risk averse and conservative Labour is. Constantly reactionary, never willing to take the fight to National or take a risk in preempting them.
I bet it also adheres to Nationals framing of ‘fiscal responsibility’ thereby endorsing their current economic management.
Better late than never I guess… but politically, isn’t the best time for an alternative budget when the government releases their one?
Seems about a month too late, the conversation is over and National won it largely unopposed.
A shadow budget starts a discussion on alternatives and lets the public know that there are indeed other choices possible. It should be more radical and somewhat provocative to that end, but it should drive toward setting up a consistent narrative – inequality, insufficient incomes, housing affordability as the short term narratives, and climate change/resource depletion/sovereignty as the medium and long term narratives.
The shadow budget puts the govt on the defensive over the choices its made.,
80 days before the election is when this well developed public narrative, gets fleshed out with gutsy, detailed policy.
Key-National pander to the Americans by supporting Obama’s intentions to forge ahead with the TTPA, cutting out Japan who are strongly opposed due to valid concerns. By his actions Key is selling us down the toilet to the Corporations.
If we had half decent media in this Country they would be taking Key-National to task, not sitting idle and praising his US trip as a huge success. A few left commentators have rightly pointed out Key goes to the States, doesn’t get any major runs on the board, and instead gets us tangled in backing a war. What a disgrace!
This is, in relative terms, very gutsy policy from Labour as it targets the big multinationals – well done. An extra ~$200M in tax revenue out of $15B in foreign ownership shipped offshore isn’t much – but it does send a signal.
They need to say that all income in NZ will be taxed in NZ before it leaves the country and that offshore expenses aren’t tax deductible for either NZ companies or foreign. This will make many present tax avoidance schemes obsolete while still treating onshore and offshore companies the same.
It will also encourage diversification in NZ’s economy.
“and that offshore expenses aren’t tax deductible for either NZ companies or foreign.”
Can you clarify this statement? On the face of it it would appear to pick up something as simple as a car dealer who imported cars from Japan and sold them in New Zealand.
Suppose they bought the car in Japan for $20k, paid freight of $3k and then sold the car in New Zealand for, say $30k plus GST. Lets say staff and premises cost $3k per car. This would mean a real profit of $4k/car. It also means offshore expenses of $23k/car.
As you appear to word it they would have to pay tax on $27k (car price minus the firms operating cost) rather than the $4k profit they are really making.
Yeah good stuff Labour – I guess we can now expect another massive attack on Labour shortly from our business-interests-friendly and people-interests-hostile media…..
While looking for Frank, I did find this, oddly enough.
I wonder if they made a party donation?
“Solar Technology Systems has installed a new solar system in my house in Stoke and I want to commend them on their professional, friendly and cost effective service. Frank Witowski provided expert advice, a very competitive quote and an outstanding service.”
Well Hayden has him busted now. Looks like Frank has to deny involvement or be guilty as charged.
If the press/media can run the story to embarrass Sue and Labour, surely they can investigate a little bit harder and uncover the truth.
If the press/media can run the story to embarrass Sue and Labour, surely they can investigate a little bit harder and uncover the truth.
If they were going to do that then they would have done it before they ran the story. They would, or at least should, know that domain name registrations are public information and they mentioned in the article that the domain had been registered.
No, this looks like another attempt to make Labour look bad.
There is a Francis (not Frank) Patrick Collingwood registered as a director of Skisling Limited (annual report filed just last month), but at 17b Scott Road, Hobsonville:
At 125 Hanham Road, there was a company registered known as Matisse PC Ltd (annual report last filed in 2006), but the director was Paul William James:
Also, a quick search shows the hotmail account is associated with a post by a “Francis Patrick Collingwood” on a genealogy webpage (so the person goes by Frank or Francis?):
Ha! I didn’t look that deeply, but I do note he ‘liked’ one of John Key’s pages and said that he hoped the PM would win lots of elections. I do hope he’s not part of Dunnokeyo’s electorate team, that wouldn’t be a good look 😉
ps: When a green party member defaced some hoardings, the PM had this to say:
Key said it was “extremely disappointing and frustrating” for candidates.
“There is no room for negative campaigning in New Zealand.”
It isn’t a criminal act, it is a contractual requirement. Doesn’t mean that it isn’t done and quite extensively in some URLs.
Not to mention that some of the contact details are often designed to obstruficate with old addresses and phone numbers (there is also a requirement to keep details up to date).
probly seemed like a good idea at the time. Especially as nabbing it would be a good campaign tactic to prevent tories doing exactly what they did this time around. But letting it go again was an error (maybe physically scratching the old address off the recycled billboards would be useful, too).
Time for someone to do some serious research into HBL (health benefits limited) whcih seems to have been set up by National so its pals can scam the health system. They have got $700,000 so far.
The Association of Salaried Medical specialists are calling it a PONZI scheme.
The HBL is just one more page in the tome of How to Rort the System.
I know I am only an unwanted drain on resources that the economy seems to have no use for apart from stomping on my progress and doing whatever it can to destroy the numerous attempts I have made to contribute to my society but I have a question….
How are private consultants who charge multiple times per hour what a salaried staffer receives, and work just as many hours as the salaried staffer would, ever going to save money?
Funny how National Radio and Stuff and others are full of the HBL rort but the Herald is silent. Suppose they don’t want to upset Key/Ryall?
@Stuff:”
The Capital & Coast District Health Board could back out of a flagship government cost-cutting drive, as a leaked report compares the money-saving push to Novopay, and attacks it for funnelling cash away from patient care.
In a series of leaked documents, the multimillion-dollar push to consolidate back-office health work, led by cost-cutting agency Health Benefits Ltd (HBL), has been called the greatest threat to public health services in a generation, and a debacle comparable to Novopay.”
Should have been worth a mention at the Herald.
Ryall has been praised in the past for keeping the contentious and costly health portfolio ticking along without too many hiccups.
Guess The Hairy didn’t want to rile him. Boom. boom (Basil Brush the Fox).
Why is it a crime to have reports on government activity? Now they are hot on the trail about HBL information. Leaked documents about government and related matters should not be necessary as government should be reporting all the time on what it is doing with our money or for the people who it is acting on behalf of.
Simple really. All else turns government into a group of mandarins acting as secular priests selectively evealing the Good Word to the supplicant populace.
HBL quoted this a.m. on RNZ as promising to be more transparent. How fast things happen near elections. We promise we are going to be good and save lots of money at great cost to the country and great financial advantage to us and the combined thinking and decision making of the DHB financial executives doesn’t amount to diddly-squat.
In some inititiatives? in running large entities, the management have asked workers at all levels to come up with efficiency ideas and money-saving practices and highlight faults that result in wastage. But that sort of thing is just doing things on the cheap, and can’t really be considered when the whole trend is to cut staff anyway to get the labour bill down, employ juniors, sack expensive seniors, and dismiss institutional knowledge because it will be out of touch, based on wasteful practices. And further there is no money in it for specialist change agents who swoop in, upset the games board so all the pieces fall to the floor, and devise something new and exciting that will have to be rehashed within a decade at a fee that reflects the inflated expectations of experts in transforming the mistakes of previous change agents.
I have changed my mind about election periods – I once thought every four years would allow a government that had good intentions to serve the country well, to have the time to get its policies going and achieving good outcomes.
But I am so foolish, fancy hanging on to the idea of a government having good intentions for the country. Now I think we should hold elections every two years to try and limit the damage before the slightly different government can come in and reverse some of the recent innovations, and then impose their own version of TINA.
..where those elected need seriously extenuating circumstances to do anything else than what they have promised the electorate they will do..
..(with the people given the ability..(electronic-voting?)..to call an early election themselves..should the govt err..)
..it wd nip secret-agendas in the bud..and keep the bastards accountable..
..and reduce politicians to what they should be..effective-managers/servants of the people..
..basically..politicians should just fuck off with their personal-politics..they have a caretaker/common-good role..and yes..they can differentiate by their promised policies..
..but as for imposing the whole package of their ‘politics’..as has been done to us far too often..
..with the randite key being the latest..imposing the twisted objectivist/fuck the poor! -policies that are randite policies..
..that is why key seems to just not care about the poor..that’s ‘cos he doen’t care about the poor..
..and he uses the teachings of ayn rand as the philosophical-underpimings for that ability to just ignore the fact that one in four nz children live in poverty..
..here..in nz..one of the richest/most-blessed countries..
..we have no rational reasons to be happy about that..
..it’s just those fucken politicians and their fucken politics..
..once again..they can just fuck off..
..we need to get the politics out of politicians..
(as an aside..i am heavily opposed to a four year term..for most of the above reasons..)
I’m glad you have responded to the idea phillip. haven’t read all yours yet. (It’s stopped raining and I am taking the chance to get out dry.)
But I’ve been thinking about a group who are really interested in the country and have done some study and passed a diploma on government and the citizen actually choosing a series of works and measures, and conferring with government as to how to go ahead and what order. This in conjunction with select committees allowing other citizens to have input. Things would be slower but then a lot of time is spent in government reversing, changing things and repairing mistakes.
I’ll just throw in this link to Town Meetings on wikipedia.
I have heard of them especially the ones in Vermont but haven’t studied them or read this yet. But I’ll have a look later. I have heard that they get a lot of public participation in their decision making. Thought I’d just put it up for interest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_meeting
They’re not. The point isn’t to save money, the point is to distrubute the money differently. And disenfranchise a whole lot of people so they will do the shit work in society. Plus it’s part of the medium term agenda of privatisation.
From another unwanted drain on resources, kia kaha freedom. Know that the ‘economy’ you are being excluded from is inherently flawed on so may levels and none of this is your fault. It will eventually fail. In the meantime let’s look to our communities instead.
Just posted some new stats / analysis of the latest Fairfax/Stuff-Ipsos Poll, with an emphasis on the importance of the views of the Undecideds and on its striking contrast with the latest Roy Morgan. sub-zero pols here…http://sub-z-p.blogspot.co.nz/
(Still a work in progress, though. Transformed the design, influenced, in part, by the views of Standardistas a couple of days ago. Looks bloody fantastic I have to say but, as Weka rightly implied, is deeply impractical visually. So, I’ll probably alter it to something a little more legible in a few weeks time. But, I’ll leave it as it is for a couple of weeks, savouring its futuristic/Space Age qualities. It’s almost like we’re living in the year 1999 !).
Claims of clairvoyance and effeminate financial malfeasance, and offers of deals not to do deals, yesterday in Parliament was one, to quote the prime minister, of mumbo jumbo.
[…]
When Labour’s David Parker stood to raise a point of order about something Finance Minister Bill English had just said in answer to his question about the export sector, Carter smelt biffo and tried to be pro-active.
“Order! . . . I listened carefully to the answer. The question was addressed,” he ruled.
Trouble was, Parker had only got four words out before Carter interrupted him and ruled. They were, “My question did not . . .” To the lay person, these four words did not by themselves articulate the nature of his complaint – yet Carter had ruled the complaint unwarranted.
In vain, Parker and several colleagues applied for the chance for Parker to finish at least a sentence of his point of order so that Carter might know what he had actually ruled against.
“I didn’t need to listen any further to the member,” Carter said crisply, and warned all subsequent point of order-raisers that he would not tolerate their relitigating the issue. Except, of course, that no-one knew what the issue was.
The Speaker of the House isn’t the only one with a a visceral dislike of Parker, my opinion of Him as a Monetarist Neo-Lib hasn’t as yet been altered by anything so far said from Him or about Him,
i took yesterday’s question time in the Parliament as a complete capitulation by Labour over the Liu donations saga, and, it all looked to me to have been completely pre-scripted to the point where there was agreement between National and Labour that the issue would not be raised,
Given the perfect opportunity to pillory Slippery the Prime Minister over His previous utterances of there having been ”six figure donations” from Liu to Labour, David Cunliffe chose instead to ask what in effect was a patsy question,
This weak exchange was then followed by a series of ”patsy questions” to the Minister of Finance, in among them the patsy from Parker,
Just what the hell sort of answer He expects to gain from English is beyond me, every question so far asked by Parker of English is a pro forma one which English simply deflects by reading from a different data set than what Parker does,
The little spat that then ensues, as Phillip alludes to is also pro forma boredom with Parker always claiming that English hasn’t answered the question, its all dancing on the head of a pin, as English does answer the question using different data sets than Parker chooses to use,
As far as Carter as the Speaker goes, He just about has me casting a Party Vote for Labour in September for the sole reason of having the Parliaments Blackadder,(Mallard), be given the role, i can well imagine Trev in all His bloody mindedness adding a much needed dose of spices to the proceedings of what has become an exercise in tedium…
“tho’ i think carter is the worst of the speakers since i have been doing commentaries on q-time..”
That really can’t have been a very long time then Phil. A maximum of five and a half years in fact.
There is no way that Margaret Wilson was a better Speaker than Carter is. She was an appalling Speaker of the House.
That is of course why I picked that length of time.
On the other hand I really don’t want to have to remember how bad I thought she was so we had better agree to disagree on what we thought of her as a Speaker, and how she compares to Carter.
I thought Lockwood Smith was bloody good, but it may have only been in comparison with his predecessor. He was better than Carter is and he always seemed to manage to keep a good humoured manner.
Certainly he was different to Hunt and Wilson in that he did make the Ministers make some attempt to address the politically neutrally worded questions.
The Smith doctrine was that questions actually require answering, and that the lesser requirement of only “addressing” allows too much scope for vague and meaningless responses.
Of course Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine reversed this healthy change immediately upon taking the chair.
some potential points of order Parker might have been about to ask, but we will never know
My question did not;
:ask for yet another reminder that dairy exports are becoming a noose around the necks of kiwi farmers.
: ask for more evidence of how National stick their heads into the magical sand of what might be.
: need the fantasies of double dipping droids to tell us what we already know, which is NZ is facing a steep decline in dairy exports over the next decade.
: ignore reality like the Minister has done every time this Government’s failed policies are shown to be driving kiwi manufacturers to the wall from Bluff to Kaitaia.
Cunliffe was interviewed this morning. He said that if Labour obtained 34% then they would have x new MPs. Espiner asked if that was a target and Cunliffe clearly said no and their aspirations were higher.
Now at 8 am they are reporting that Labour’s target is 34% …
CV has put together this short audio in response to that comment comparing the two items:
eckshully one of the major problems with the media in NZ is that they are uneducated.
They may have acquired some leaning on an ad hoc piecemeal basis but essentially they are trained.
you know. like performing seals.
An appeal to the Quartet on the Middle East to sack Tony Blair
Professor Noam Chomsky, Sir Richard Dalton, Caroline Lucas, Ken Livingstone and others argue that the former UK prime minister is tainted by the war in Iraq
“This Friday, 27 June, will mark the seven-year anniversary of Tony Blair’s appointment as the Quartet representative to the Middle East. We, the undersigned, urge you to remove him with immediate effect as a result of his poor performance in the role, and his legacy in the region as a whole.”
Liu is now saying that the $100 G is inclusive of the Barker cruise ($50G – 60G), the rowing club donation ($2G) and several bottles of wine he won at auction.
This man Liu is adept at presenting a moving target. Has he plenty of time on his hands and a very agile mind to think all this up? Or is he being coached by CT or other NACT financial and public relations advisors?
Circling back to when he wrote the original statement – May 3rd – it was two days after Maurice Williamson resigning over the phone calls he made on Liu’s behalf to police.
Collins was having her melt down and hitting out at the media, essentially blaming them for Williamson’s woes. And it was Jared Savage who broke the Williamson story. (and Cunliffe Letter & Donation stories)
Can’t help wondering if they set up Jared as well as Labour. Kill two birds with one stone so to speak.
Oh, I’m sure that 50 to 60 thou to throw a party for the people who work at a business is quite reasonable. Then claiming that it was spent solely on the minister is stretching credibility beyond breaking point.
“Today, Liu said: “I did say I made a contribution of close to $100,000 and that is my closing comment in my statement…that is how much I believe I have donated in total to Labour and some of their MPs during their last term in Government.”
“I have no reason to inflate this number. It’s as best as I can remember” said Liu.
‘Believe’?, ‘Best I can remember’?
What happened to good accounting practices? Doesn’t he have records of these things?
This is unacceptable – it is rubbish. Why didn’t the media check this out prior to spending all last week lambasting Labour and distracting us all from real news?
Still a long way to bridge the truth. It is no wonder there was no affidavit or Liu will find himself now dragged to court.
And then there was the NZH editor with his proven experience and demonstrated knowledge that all became very evident when he labelled the distinction between the statement and an affidavit as “immaterial”.
Lui makes another statement – clarifying, but also confirming that he gave close to $100,000 in total payments to Labour and its MPs – including anonymous donations.
Looks like this is going to play out longer in the news – and again not in a good way for labour.
People (on here anyway) keep going on about proving a negative – Perhaps Labour could come out and call him a liar if they really believe it? (guessing that they wont).
Is there any record of the reason Labour have given for granting him residency against official advise?
No, it’s a fucking joke. The $100,000 includes donations to a rowing club, which isn’t the Labour Party, and payment for a company cruise which Rick Barker attended*, which wasn’t actually for benefit of the Labour Party or Rick Barker. If he is being so economical with the truth about these things, it pretty much means nothing he says can be believed.
* If I invite you to my wedding that costs $50k, does this mean I donated $50k to you? Yeah fucking right.
It’s getting boring. So he made several anonymous donations – ones which it seems no-one in Labour knew about – so how can that in anyway be wrong on Labour’s part, or be evidence of cash for favours?
And it is now looking like Liu inflated the amount to include that cruise, etc. An on-going beat-up by Liu, the Nats, and the compliant MSM.
Yes I can see how it could be funny for some who don’t consider how it adds nothing toward creating informed voters and plenty toward a whole bunch of misinformed ones.
Perhaps those laughing are happy about gaining a government through misinformed voters basing their decisions on made up shit. I find the prospect pretty disturbing.
There are only a very small percentage of people in this country who are advantaged by an outcome created in this way. They will certainly be laughing. I suggest that anyone else not in that group who are laughing are simply delusional sycophantic gibbering idiots.
“Is there any record of the reason Labour have given for granting him residency against official advise?”
I haven’t seen any official record, however I am of the impression that money takes a high priority in these decisions – if someone has oodles they are likely to get into the country – because we are suckers for a large bank balance here in NZ.
Money counts and nothing much else matters. That is ‘common business practice’ these days aye? …and successive governments simply reflect this.
This way of approaching business just collapses in on itself and undermines the very society it relies on. It doesn’t work. Time for a change in thinking.
I haven’t seen any official record, however I am of the impression that money takes a high priority in these decisions – if someone has oodles they are likely to get into the country – because we are suckers for a large bank balance here in NZ.
Yep, Labour seem to have been as guilty of that as National.
This way of approaching business just collapses in on itself and undermines the very society it relies on. It doesn’t work. Time for a change in thinking.
We need to get away from the current culture that a few being rich is good for society. It isn’t and never has been.
It’s a confirmation of nothing and clarification of nothing. Surely for that to be possible he would need to make the actual cost of donations, the date of the donations, where he made the donations, publics that we can see that he is not lying. He seems to have no idea of any sequence and timing of alleged donations. In the first instance he confirmed that he bought wine to the value of 100.000.00 and then he confirms that the wine was included in the 100.000.00 donation. Until Labour comes up with evidence of donations I am inclined to believe he is being manipulated. Also has Mr savage received any reply to his oia for letters relating to Mr Liu from woodhouse and Williamson? And has he got any more info on donations to national from Mr Liu? What a beat up. Starting to smack of ‘the boy who cried wolf’
I think Labour party should still demand an apology from this fellow along with from all those who tried to destabilise Labour. People and entities like Key, Slater, Whaleoil and also should sue them all to teach them a lesson not to play nasty sewer politics and dirty tricks from Key’s ‘top drawer’ as he himself proudly announced his Modus operandi recently.
I’ve been off broadcast TV since September 2012. I never got around to fixing the TV aerial when we moved back into my apartment and put a cupboard right over it. It buggered the plugs and we had far too many other things to do at the time.. I never miss the obnoxious advertising and the shows designed for morans.
So I don’t see most of their material unless I deliberately look at it because their on-demand TV doesn’t go onto the bluray/TV channels via the computer or the network link too well.
Mind you Lyn does want to watch some of the ads for professional reasons. I should get the screwdriver out and fix it before she gets back from the US on saturday.
Suing for defamation may be good as it will teach the sewer right wing nasty vermin to behave and at the same time will let us concentrate on the policies without unnecessary time wasting unfair distractions. On the other hand, …….what are the possible downsides to that?
There’s always a downside for politicians criticising the MSM. But then, given how strongly they have come out against Labour & Cunliffe, could it get any worse. Seems to me like there’s little now to lose by complaining, and everything to gain.
The main point missed so far is that the NZ Herald believes that it has the institutional right to throw the upcoming General Election, and fuck with this nation’s democratic processes as they see fit.
Labour candidate in Marlborough suggests recreational fishers should have a licence. I always thought Labour were “Give a man a fish” and National were “Teach a man to fish”. Now it appears that Labour are “Tax a man to fish.” Any wonder they are tanking in the polls.
Tamati Coffey calls for Simon Bridges to resign for doing something approved by David Cunliffe. Any wonder they are tanking in the polls.
If you read this article about what is happening in the US then you will share my resolve to do as much as we can to oust this Natz government which seem to want to follow all of the worst policies from US or UK.
“A Secret Plan to Close Social Security’s Offices and Outsource Its Work” https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/24-7
Tautoko Viper
I don’t like the sound of ” The National Academy of Public Administration, or NAPA,”.
Could easily be made into NAPALM with the apt descriptive words added ‘Limiting Measures”.
Isn’t it amazing that the wealthier some people get, the more they want to hold their own and others’ rewards in life constantly more tightly to themselves.
he doesn’t blame anyone.
it is the job of her majesties loyal opposition to sheet home responsibility for governmental failure and inadequacy.
I blame you for being inane as you are utterly incapable of seeing the gross dereliction of governance by this government of venal little moneygrabbers!
I’m just wondering what other people think but note I didn’t bother putting an option down for Cunliffe as the answer because its never Cunliffes fault, ever
I missed the 6 pm news on both channels today. What I want to know from anyone that watched either, how much prominence was given to Labour’s alternate budget today? Cheers.
Why waste $38 to further enrich a mega-wealthy foreign currency exchange gambling dude? The Liu man will probably buy the whole lot of copies for over $150,000 anyway and drink it all up on the Yangtze! Instead, here is a free portrait for your jaw dropping enjoyment. Watch the dudes at the back laughing their head off! You are welcome! http://tinyurl.com/lw4jypc
In their annual End of Year survey, Win/Gallup International found that the United States is considered the number one “greatest threat to peace in the world today” by people across the globe.
And our PM has just said that we’ll get closer to them and that we’ll help them with their wars.
Back Benches, Wednesday 10:50PM
The MP pub panel discuss what the Prime Minister’s growing relationship with the U.S. means for NZ. Also, can child poverty really be linked to NZ’s superannuation age? PGR
Judith C is planning to demand banks report on wire transfers over $1,000. This is to stop crime. The government wants to get in bed with us. They withdraw my 6 cents tax on my 36c interest. Tax is theft when they pinch cents off small savings. Yet you can take out $10,000 in cash. What’s that about?
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Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
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It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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Labour will unveil its alternative Budget today.
Here are some details:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10197041/Labour-to-unveil-alternative-budget
certainly seems to be an improvement on what we have got !…would like to hear specific policies soon eg state and tertiary education…incentives for tertiary education (loan/interest issues) are crucial for attracting the young NZers vote.
Not just the young NZers. National’s changes to education will prevent many older people from taking up any education as well. And these would be the people who, due to changing technology, have come to the end of their career path and need the education to get a job at all.
National have been throwing a lot of people on the scrap heap, young and old, so that they can claim a surplus while still borrowing.
+100…affordable if not free tertiary or polytech education is a light at the end of the tunnel for many NZers thrown on the scrap heap….a chance for another career , to meet new people, to learn new skills, to start their own business…this is why Continuing Education is so important as well
Better late than never I guess… but politically, isn’t the best time for an alternative budget when the government releases their one?
Seems about a month too late, the conversation is over and National won it largely unopposed. Releasing this now looks like more evidence of how risk averse and conservative Labour is. Constantly reactionary, never willing to take the fight to National or take a risk in preempting them.
I bet it also adheres to Nationals framing of ‘fiscal responsibility’ thereby endorsing their current economic management.
A shadow budget starts a discussion on alternatives and lets the public know that there are indeed other choices possible. It should be more radical and somewhat provocative to that end, but it should drive toward setting up a consistent narrative – inequality, insufficient incomes, housing affordability as the short term narratives, and climate change/resource depletion/sovereignty as the medium and long term narratives.
The shadow budget puts the govt on the defensive over the choices its made.,
80 days before the election is when this well developed public narrative, gets fleshed out with gutsy, detailed policy.
While Labour announce a policy to cramp down on mainly American Multi National Corporations tax avoidance http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11280992
Key-National pander to the Americans by supporting Obama’s intentions to forge ahead with the TTPA, cutting out Japan who are strongly opposed due to valid concerns. By his actions Key is selling us down the toilet to the Corporations.
If we had half decent media in this Country they would be taking Key-National to task, not sitting idle and praising his US trip as a huge success. A few left commentators have rightly pointed out Key goes to the States, doesn’t get any major runs on the board, and instead gets us tangled in backing a war. What a disgrace!
+100
This is, in relative terms, very gutsy policy from Labour as it targets the big multinationals – well done. An extra ~$200M in tax revenue out of $15B in foreign ownership shipped offshore isn’t much – but it does send a signal.
Careful CV – you are almost sounding like you are being supportive of a Labour stance there…
🙂
[glad someone got the joke 🙂 ]
They need to say that all income in NZ will be taxed in NZ before it leaves the country and that offshore expenses aren’t tax deductible for either NZ companies or foreign. This will make many present tax avoidance schemes obsolete while still treating onshore and offshore companies the same.
It will also encourage diversification in NZ’s economy.
“and that offshore expenses aren’t tax deductible for either NZ companies or foreign.”
Can you clarify this statement? On the face of it it would appear to pick up something as simple as a car dealer who imported cars from Japan and sold them in New Zealand.
Suppose they bought the car in Japan for $20k, paid freight of $3k and then sold the car in New Zealand for, say $30k plus GST. Lets say staff and premises cost $3k per car. This would mean a real profit of $4k/car. It also means offshore expenses of $23k/car.
As you appear to word it they would have to pay tax on $27k (car price minus the firms operating cost) rather than the $4k profit they are really making.
What am I misunderstanding?
The dealer isn’t the one buying the car?
Also, I did say that it would encourage diversification in our economy 😈
But mostly I was thinking of transfer pricing and how it can, and is, used to rort the tax system.
Yeah good stuff Labour – I guess we can now expect another massive attack on Labour shortly from our business-interests-friendly and people-interests-hostile media…..
Sweet, though the usual suspects are going to complain that taxing google et al is “wrong”.
Hey BM, could your fingerprints be all over this by any chance???
Arsehats like BM wouldn’t get out of Melville in one piece, so doubt he’d have the nuggets to risk it.
Registered on the 23rd of June to:
registrant_contact_name: Frank Collingwood
registrant_contact_address1: Hanham Road
registrant_contact_city: Kumeu
registrant_contact_postalcode: 0891
registrant_contact_country: NZ (NEW ZEALAND)
registrant_contact_phone: +64 21 980475
registrant_contact_email: frankfft@hotmail.com
http://http://whois.domaintools.com/labour08.co.nz
Not exactly going to great pains to hide their identity.
Link is borked and I can’t edit it: http://whois.domaintools.com/labour08.co.nz
That’s a long way from the lovely Melville.
http://20090118180756558.en.hisupplier.com/contact.html
Alps Supplies
The extent to which you can stalk people is creepy, isn’t it?
Sure is
http://www.alps-supplies.com/
http://whois.domaintools.com/alps-supplies.com
Is that mobile phone number for real? It is associated with http://www.skisling.com:
http://www.buynz.org.nz/CompanyProfile?Action=View&CompanyProfile_id=20085
Must be, there’s another address with the same skisling number
Registrant Name: FRANK COLLINGWOOD
Registrant Organization: FRANK COLLINGWOOD
Registrant Street: SCOTT ROAD
Registrant City: HOBSONVILLE
Registrant State/Province:
Registrant Postal Code: 0618
Registrant Country: NZ
Registrant Phone: +64.21980475
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +64.21980475
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: Email Masking Image@COLLINGWOOD.ME.UK
While looking for Frank, I did find this, oddly enough.
I wonder if they made a party donation?
“Solar Technology Systems has installed a new solar system in my house in Stoke and I want to commend them on their professional, friendly and cost effective service. Frank Witowski provided expert advice, a very competitive quote and an outstanding service.”
– Nick Smith – MP Nelson
Nothing like a Minister’s endorsement for breaching the Cabinet Manual.
Know any decent journos at the Herald?
(That’s rhetorical and a funny at the same time).
So it’s this guy?
frank.collingwood@hmg-law.co.uk
Or this?
karol, i don’t think that law guy in the UK is the one.
the link that The Al1en posted below seems to match the profile of the person we’ve been looking up (matches the person’s facebook info as well):
http://www.collingwood.me.uk/oldindex.html
I’m pretty sure that I have looked up that name “Frank before – for a similar reason.
I recognise the face and the profile, but can recall the reason or find the search in my history. Seems like a serial juvenile…
Well Hayden has him busted now. Looks like Frank has to deny involvement or be guilty as charged.
If the press/media can run the story to embarrass Sue and Labour, surely they can investigate a little bit harder and uncover the truth.
If they were going to do that then they would have done it before they ran the story. They would, or at least should, know that domain name registrations are public information and they mentioned in the article that the domain had been registered.
No, this looks like another attempt to make Labour look bad.
A couple of other searches:
There is a Francis (not Frank) Patrick Collingwood registered as a director of Skisling Limited (annual report filed just last month), but at 17b Scott Road, Hobsonville:
http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/3129205?backurl=%2Fcompanies%2Fapp%2Fui%2Fpages%2Fcompanies%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dskisling%26entityTypes%3DALL%26entityStatusGroups%3DALL%26incorpFrom%3D%26incorpTo%3D%26addressTypes%3DALL%26addressKeyword%3D%26start%3D0%26limit%3D15%26sf%3D%26sd%3D%26advancedPanel%3Dfalse%26mode%3Dstandard
At 125 Hanham Road, there was a company registered known as Matisse PC Ltd (annual report last filed in 2006), but the director was Paul William James:
http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/1604150?backurl=%2Fcompanies%2Fapp%2Fui%2Fpages%2Fcompanies%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DMatisse%2Bpc%26entityTypes%3DALL%26entityStatusGroups%3DALL%26incorpFrom%3D%26incorpTo%3D%26addressTypes%3DALL%26addressKeyword%3D%26start%3D0%26limit%3D15%26sf%3D%26sd%3D%26advancedPanel%3Dfalse%26mode%3Dstandard
Also, a quick search shows the hotmail account is associated with a post by a “Francis Patrick Collingwood” on a genealogy webpage (so the person goes by Frank or Francis?):
http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/users/c/o/l/Francis-P-Collingwood/index.html
I have emailed Sue Moroney’s office with a link to the conversation from point 3 on here.
Up to them now I guess.
http://www.collingwood.me.uk/oldindex.html
Hey Molly,
Maybe something to do with last year’s Kiwibots championship?
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:3IpbH-zr3BAJ:www.kiwibots.co.nz/events/event-registration%3FeventId%3D20%26task%3Dregistrant%26controller%3Devent+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=firefox-a
hmmm, there’s a Frank Collingwood on fb, also lives in Kumeu. The fb page doesn’t have any obvious political links (claims to be a pastafarian).
Apart from the vicious rant against the left and rabid approval for three strikes, that is.
Ha! I didn’t look that deeply, but I do note he ‘liked’ one of John Key’s pages and said that he hoped the PM would win lots of elections. I do hope he’s not part of Dunnokeyo’s electorate team, that wouldn’t be a good look 😉
ps: When a green party member defaced some hoardings, the PM had this to say:
Key said it was “extremely disappointing and frustrating” for candidates.
“There is no room for negative campaigning in New Zealand.”
One can only hope that Mr Collingwood is a member of the National Party.
There’s plenty of discussion out there that he is. It’s up to National to prove otherwise.
I see that http://www.labour08.co.nz now redirects to The Official Monster Raving Loony Party.
So nice that he gave it back then. 😉
“There’s plenty of discussion out there that he is. It’s up to National to prove otherwise.”
lolz. Ok, but I hope this isn’t the new permanent modus operandi.
Ask The Herald.
It is illegal to provide false names to the registry.
It isn’t a criminal act, it is a contractual requirement. Doesn’t mean that it isn’t done and quite extensively in some URLs.
Not to mention that some of the contact details are often designed to obstruficate with old addresses and phone numbers (there is also a requirement to keep details up to date).
My favourite for that is whaleoil.co.nz’s addresses
http://dnc.org.nz/whois/whaleoil.co.nz
http://dnc.org.nz/whois/gotcha.co.nz
Mind you I can’t talk.
http://dnc.org.nz/whois/labour.co.nz
Old email address.
Just out of curiousity, how much would it cost Labour to have kept that domain name indefinitely?
About $30/year, depending on registrar.
Not keeping domains that were used for Party political purposes, seems fundamentally idiotic imho.
That’s what I was thinking.
I’m thinking that having a single use domain name was fundamentally idiotic.
probly seemed like a good idea at the time. Especially as nabbing it would be a good campaign tactic to prevent tories doing exactly what they did this time around. But letting it go again was an error (maybe physically scratching the old address off the recycled billboards would be useful, too).
Time for someone to do some serious research into HBL (health benefits limited) whcih seems to have been set up by National so its pals can scam the health system. They have got $700,000 so far.
The Association of Salaried Medical specialists are calling it a PONZI scheme.
The HBL is just one more page in the tome of How to Rort the System.
I know I am only an unwanted drain on resources that the economy seems to have no use for apart from stomping on my progress and doing whatever it can to destroy the numerous attempts I have made to contribute to my society but I have a question….
How are private consultants who charge multiple times per hour what a salaried staffer receives, and work just as many hours as the salaried staffer would, ever going to save money?
Funny how National Radio and Stuff and others are full of the HBL rort but the Herald is silent. Suppose they don’t want to upset Key/Ryall?
@Stuff:”
The Capital & Coast District Health Board could back out of a flagship government cost-cutting drive, as a leaked report compares the money-saving push to Novopay, and attacks it for funnelling cash away from patient care.
In a series of leaked documents, the multimillion-dollar push to consolidate back-office health work, led by cost-cutting agency Health Benefits Ltd (HBL), has been called the greatest threat to public health services in a generation, and a debacle comparable to Novopay.”
Should have been worth a mention at the Herald.
Ryall has been praised in the past for keeping the contentious and costly health portfolio ticking along without too many hiccups.
Guess The Hairy didn’t want to rile him. Boom. boom (Basil Brush the Fox).
Why is it a crime to have reports on government activity? Now they are hot on the trail about HBL information. Leaked documents about government and related matters should not be necessary as government should be reporting all the time on what it is doing with our money or for the people who it is acting on behalf of.
Simple really. All else turns government into a group of mandarins acting as secular priests selectively evealing the Good Word to the supplicant populace.
HBL quoted this a.m. on RNZ as promising to be more transparent. How fast things happen near elections. We promise we are going to be good and save lots of money at great cost to the country and great financial advantage to us and the combined thinking and decision making of the DHB financial executives doesn’t amount to diddly-squat.
In some inititiatives? in running large entities, the management have asked workers at all levels to come up with efficiency ideas and money-saving practices and highlight faults that result in wastage. But that sort of thing is just doing things on the cheap, and can’t really be considered when the whole trend is to cut staff anyway to get the labour bill down, employ juniors, sack expensive seniors, and dismiss institutional knowledge because it will be out of touch, based on wasteful practices. And further there is no money in it for specialist change agents who swoop in, upset the games board so all the pieces fall to the floor, and devise something new and exciting that will have to be rehashed within a decade at a fee that reflects the inflated expectations of experts in transforming the mistakes of previous change agents.
I have changed my mind about election periods – I once thought every four years would allow a government that had good intentions to serve the country well, to have the time to get its policies going and achieving good outcomes.
But I am so foolish, fancy hanging on to the idea of a government having good intentions for the country. Now I think we should hold elections every two years to try and limit the damage before the slightly different government can come in and reverse some of the recent innovations, and then impose their own version of TINA.
i like the idea of a two-year term..
..where those elected need seriously extenuating circumstances to do anything else than what they have promised the electorate they will do..
..(with the people given the ability..(electronic-voting?)..to call an early election themselves..should the govt err..)
..it wd nip secret-agendas in the bud..and keep the bastards accountable..
..and reduce politicians to what they should be..effective-managers/servants of the people..
..basically..politicians should just fuck off with their personal-politics..they have a caretaker/common-good role..and yes..they can differentiate by their promised policies..
..but as for imposing the whole package of their ‘politics’..as has been done to us far too often..
..with the randite key being the latest..imposing the twisted objectivist/fuck the poor! -policies that are randite policies..
..that is why key seems to just not care about the poor..that’s ‘cos he doen’t care about the poor..
..and he uses the teachings of ayn rand as the philosophical-underpimings for that ability to just ignore the fact that one in four nz children live in poverty..
..here..in nz..one of the richest/most-blessed countries..
..we have no rational reasons to be happy about that..
..it’s just those fucken politicians and their fucken politics..
..once again..they can just fuck off..
..we need to get the politics out of politicians..
(as an aside..i am heavily opposed to a four year term..for most of the above reasons..)
I’m glad you have responded to the idea phillip. haven’t read all yours yet. (It’s stopped raining and I am taking the chance to get out dry.)
But I’ve been thinking about a group who are really interested in the country and have done some study and passed a diploma on government and the citizen actually choosing a series of works and measures, and conferring with government as to how to go ahead and what order. This in conjunction with select committees allowing other citizens to have input. Things would be slower but then a lot of time is spent in government reversing, changing things and repairing mistakes.
I’ll just throw in this link to Town Meetings on wikipedia.
I have heard of them especially the ones in Vermont but haven’t studied them or read this yet. But I’ll have a look later. I have heard that they get a lot of public participation in their decision making. Thought I’d just put it up for interest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_meeting
According to RNZ, Labour have asked the AG to investigate.
They’re not. The point isn’t to save money, the point is to distrubute the money differently. And disenfranchise a whole lot of people so they will do the shit work in society. Plus it’s part of the medium term agenda of privatisation.
From another unwanted drain on resources, kia kaha freedom. Know that the ‘economy’ you are being excluded from is inherently flawed on so may levels and none of this is your fault. It will eventually fail. In the meantime let’s look to our communities instead.
Freedom and Weka, from my point of view you are both wanted members of this particular community.
Thank-you fender 🙂
Just posted some new stats / analysis of the latest Fairfax/Stuff-Ipsos Poll, with an emphasis on the importance of the views of the Undecideds and on its striking contrast with the latest Roy Morgan. sub-zero pols here…http://sub-z-p.blogspot.co.nz/
(Still a work in progress, though. Transformed the design, influenced, in part, by the views of Standardistas a couple of days ago. Looks bloody fantastic I have to say but, as Weka rightly implied, is deeply impractical visually. So, I’ll probably alter it to something a little more legible in a few weeks time. But, I’ll leave it as it is for a couple of weeks, savouring its futuristic/Space Age qualities. It’s almost like we’re living in the year 1999 !).
See also Puddleglum’s excellent analysis on The Political Scientist here…http://www.thepoliticalscientist.org/the-real-story-in-the-fairfax-polls/
@swordfish
Looks like you are entering Blip et al territory for services to better politicalinformation and understanding.
Jane Clifton uses a jokey tone to expose how out of order the Speaker was yesterday:
tho’ i think carter is the worst of the speakers since i have been doing commentaries on q-time..
..i do have some sympathy for him on this..
..as that is the objection that parker always makes..
..and i do mean ‘always’..
..so there was no clairvoyance needed for carter to know what parkers’ complaint was this time..
..(tho’ carter does seem to have an almost visceral dislike of parker..
..you can almost hear his teeth-grinding as/when parker jumps up to again complain his question wasn’t answered..)
The Speaker of the House isn’t the only one with a a visceral dislike of Parker, my opinion of Him as a Monetarist Neo-Lib hasn’t as yet been altered by anything so far said from Him or about Him,
i took yesterday’s question time in the Parliament as a complete capitulation by Labour over the Liu donations saga, and, it all looked to me to have been completely pre-scripted to the point where there was agreement between National and Labour that the issue would not be raised,
Given the perfect opportunity to pillory Slippery the Prime Minister over His previous utterances of there having been ”six figure donations” from Liu to Labour, David Cunliffe chose instead to ask what in effect was a patsy question,
This weak exchange was then followed by a series of ”patsy questions” to the Minister of Finance, in among them the patsy from Parker,
Just what the hell sort of answer He expects to gain from English is beyond me, every question so far asked by Parker of English is a pro forma one which English simply deflects by reading from a different data set than what Parker does,
The little spat that then ensues, as Phillip alludes to is also pro forma boredom with Parker always claiming that English hasn’t answered the question, its all dancing on the head of a pin, as English does answer the question using different data sets than Parker chooses to use,
As far as Carter as the Speaker goes, He just about has me casting a Party Vote for Labour in September for the sole reason of having the Parliaments Blackadder,(Mallard), be given the role, i can well imagine Trev in all His bloody mindedness adding a much needed dose of spices to the proceedings of what has become an exercise in tedium…
the ‘tedium’/irrelevance to very much at all..is why i have actually stopped doing commentaries..
..it is a circus of highly-paid performing clowns/seals…
..and shows most in an ugly light…
..and yes..’boring’…
..i have/had this view of q-time as being the coalface of democracy in action..
.the cut/thrust/parry etc. of democracy..
..and very important for that reason..
..but it ain’t..
..and if it ‘ain’t’..i don’t know what the fuck is…
“tho’ i think carter is the worst of the speakers since i have been doing commentaries on q-time..”
That really can’t have been a very long time then Phil. A maximum of five and a half years in fact.
There is no way that Margaret Wilson was a better Speaker than Carter is. She was an appalling Speaker of the House.
“..A maximum of five and a half years in fact..”
..this govt has been in power for five and a half yrs..
and by ‘worst’..i mean most biased in favour of govt..
..i thought wilson was fairly even-handed in dishing out her snarls…
..this one is a shocker..
That is of course why I picked that length of time.
On the other hand I really don’t want to have to remember how bad I thought she was so we had better agree to disagree on what we thought of her as a Speaker, and how she compares to Carter.
I thought Lockwood Smith was bloody good, but it may have only been in comparison with his predecessor. He was better than Carter is and he always seemed to manage to keep a good humoured manner.
Certainly he was different to Hunt and Wilson in that he did make the Ministers make some attempt to address the politically neutrally worded questions.
Not just “address”.
The Smith doctrine was that questions actually require answering, and that the lesser requirement of only “addressing” allows too much scope for vague and meaningless responses.
Of course Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine reversed this healthy change immediately upon taking the chair.
some potential points of order Parker might have been about to ask, but we will never know
My question did not;
:ask for yet another reminder that dairy exports are becoming a noose around the necks of kiwi farmers.
: ask for more evidence of how National stick their heads into the magical sand of what might be.
: need the fantasies of double dipping droids to tell us what we already know, which is NZ is facing a steep decline in dairy exports over the next decade.
: ignore reality like the Minister has done every time this Government’s failed policies are shown to be driving kiwi manufacturers to the wall from Bluff to Kaitaia.
paranoid..?..much..?
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/how-google-glass-and-smartphones-can-decipher-your-pin-code-from-across-the-room-9560076.html
Maybe, maybe not.
Colonial Vipers’ Audio Production:
Mickey Savage wrote this comment on yesterday’s Open Mike:
CV has put together this short audio in response to that comment comparing the two items:
https://mega.co.nz/#!Ikd1xThK!CqAVY_vYN2zPlZdErRhMtCX8OZFcp-vx4qBFbqllxMc
For those of you interested in the situation in Iraq, the strange, new, incredibly wealthy “terror” group called ISIL or ISIS. Here is a good start: Max And Stacey On The Corporation Called ISIL”> And Why This Is Important To New Zealand
eckshully one of the major problems with the media in NZ is that they are uneducated.
They may have acquired some leaning on an ad hoc piecemeal basis but essentially they are trained.
you know. like performing seals.
+1
The lack of real world experience really shows through in the reporting that we get.
Great stuff:
(There is a link to a petition @ change.org on the page)
Posted on ferret thread also:
Liu is now saying that the $100 G is inclusive of the Barker cruise ($50G – 60G), the rowing club donation ($2G) and several bottles of wine he won at auction.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11281460
This man Liu is adept at presenting a moving target. Has he plenty of time on his hands and a very agile mind to think all this up? Or is he being coached by CT or other NACT financial and public relations advisors?
Circling back to when he wrote the original statement – May 3rd – it was two days after Maurice Williamson resigning over the phone calls he made on Liu’s behalf to police.
Collins was having her melt down and hitting out at the media, essentially blaming them for Williamson’s woes. And it was Jared Savage who broke the Williamson story. (and Cunliffe Letter & Donation stories)
Can’t help wondering if they set up Jared as well as Labour. Kill two birds with one stone so to speak.
Story changes too often to be taken seriously, not to mention a gross inflation in the cost of a river cruise.
Oh, I’m sure that 50 to 60 thou to throw a party for the people who work at a business is quite reasonable. Then claiming that it was spent solely on the minister is stretching credibility beyond breaking point.
This is getting beyond ridiculous
“Today, Liu said: “I did say I made a contribution of close to $100,000 and that is my closing comment in my statement…that is how much I believe I have donated in total to Labour and some of their MPs during their last term in Government.”
“I have no reason to inflate this number. It’s as best as I can remember” said Liu.
‘Believe’?, ‘Best I can remember’?
What happened to good accounting practices? Doesn’t he have records of these things?
This is unacceptable – it is rubbish. Why didn’t the media check this out prior to spending all last week lambasting Labour and distracting us all from real news?
Sounds like it has been dictated by johnkey..
LOL! That is probably closer to the truth than I care to imagine!
Still a long way to bridge the truth. It is no wonder there was no affidavit or Liu will find himself now dragged to court.
And then there was the NZH editor with his proven experience and demonstrated knowledge that all became very evident when he labelled the distinction between the statement and an affidavit as “immaterial”.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11281460
Lui makes another statement – clarifying, but also confirming that he gave close to $100,000 in total payments to Labour and its MPs – including anonymous donations.
Looks like this is going to play out longer in the news – and again not in a good way for labour.
People (on here anyway) keep going on about proving a negative – Perhaps Labour could come out and call him a liar if they really believe it? (guessing that they wont).
Is there any record of the reason Labour have given for granting him residency against official advise?
(not saying they are linked – but I am curious.)
No, it’s a fucking joke. The $100,000 includes donations to a rowing club, which isn’t the Labour Party, and payment for a company cruise which Rick Barker attended*, which wasn’t actually for benefit of the Labour Party or Rick Barker. If he is being so economical with the truth about these things, it pretty much means nothing he says can be believed.
* If I invite you to my wedding that costs $50k, does this mean I donated $50k to you? Yeah fucking right.
It’s getting boring. So he made several anonymous donations – ones which it seems no-one in Labour knew about – so how can that in anyway be wrong on Labour’s part, or be evidence of cash for favours?
And it is now looking like Liu inflated the amount to include that cruise, etc. An on-going beat-up by Liu, the Nats, and the compliant MSM.
+1 It proves jack shit and got boring the day it came out 🙁
Admittedly in this case boring would depend on what political view you have. Some people have found it amusing to watch.
If you think it’s just a game, then sure.
If you recognise that this is our democracy being trashed, not so much.
Yes I can see how it could be funny for some who don’t consider how it adds nothing toward creating informed voters and plenty toward a whole bunch of misinformed ones.
Perhaps those laughing are happy about gaining a government through misinformed voters basing their decisions on made up shit. I find the prospect pretty disturbing.
There are only a very small percentage of people in this country who are advantaged by an outcome created in this way. They will certainly be laughing. I suggest that anyone else not in that group who are laughing are simply delusional sycophantic gibbering idiots.
+1
The no-favours for no-donations “scandal” has been hilarious. /sarc
Meanwhile our corrupt and, I believe, criminal government continues business as usual.
If you found it amusing then I suspect that just proves you’re sociopathy.
“Is there any record of the reason Labour have given for granting him residency against official advise?”
I haven’t seen any official record, however I am of the impression that money takes a high priority in these decisions – if someone has oodles they are likely to get into the country – because we are suckers for a large bank balance here in NZ.
Money counts and nothing much else matters. That is ‘common business practice’ these days aye? …and successive governments simply reflect this.
This way of approaching business just collapses in on itself and undermines the very society it relies on. It doesn’t work. Time for a change in thinking.
Yep, Labour seem to have been as guilty of that as National.
We need to get away from the current culture that a few being rich is good for society. It isn’t and never has been.
It’s a confirmation of nothing and clarification of nothing. Surely for that to be possible he would need to make the actual cost of donations, the date of the donations, where he made the donations, publics that we can see that he is not lying. He seems to have no idea of any sequence and timing of alleged donations. In the first instance he confirmed that he bought wine to the value of 100.000.00 and then he confirms that the wine was included in the 100.000.00 donation. Until Labour comes up with evidence of donations I am inclined to believe he is being manipulated. Also has Mr savage received any reply to his oia for letters relating to Mr Liu from woodhouse and Williamson? And has he got any more info on donations to national from Mr Liu? What a beat up. Starting to smack of ‘the boy who cried wolf’
“It’s a confirmation of nothing and clarification of nothing.”
+100 That short sentence sums it up well.
I think Labour party should still demand an apology from this fellow along with from all those who tried to destabilise Labour. People and entities like Key, Slater, Whaleoil and also should sue them all to teach them a lesson not to play nasty sewer politics and dirty tricks from Key’s ‘top drawer’ as he himself proudly announced his Modus operandi recently.
I read something today from Labour that suggest that is exactly what they are thinking about for the NZ Herald and Liu
What about TVNZ and TV3? They reported this issue uncritically and wholesale too.
I’ve been off broadcast TV since September 2012. I never got around to fixing the TV aerial when we moved back into my apartment and put a cupboard right over it. It buggered the plugs and we had far too many other things to do at the time.. I never miss the obnoxious advertising and the shows designed for morans.
So I don’t see most of their material unless I deliberately look at it because their on-demand TV doesn’t go onto the bluray/TV channels via the computer or the network link too well.
Mind you Lyn does want to watch some of the ads for professional reasons. I should get the screwdriver out and fix it before she gets back from the US on saturday.
Suing for defamation may be good as it will teach the sewer right wing nasty vermin to behave and at the same time will let us concentrate on the policies without unnecessary time wasting unfair distractions. On the other hand, …….what are the possible downsides to that?
There’s always a downside for politicians criticising the MSM. But then, given how strongly they have come out against Labour & Cunliffe, could it get any worse. Seems to me like there’s little now to lose by complaining, and everything to gain.
The main point missed so far is that the NZ Herald believes that it has the institutional right to throw the upcoming General Election, and fuck with this nation’s democratic processes as they see fit.
So the CTU are backing Labours plan…Now there is a turn up for the books.
In other new, Ashburton farmer gives a big thumbs up for the Crusaders.
[lprent: Diversion comment – banned 3 months. Moved to OpenMike. I do hope you thought that comment was worth doing. ]
Awww, I was so wanting to nail him with shiny spikes of sharply pointed reality over his bullshit.
A 3 month ban is a good replacement though 😀
its only wailboil in drag.
he’s very simian.
hairy and smelly and not very bright.
Labour candidate in Marlborough suggests recreational fishers should have a licence. I always thought Labour were “Give a man a fish” and National were “Teach a man to fish”. Now it appears that Labour are “Tax a man to fish.” Any wonder they are tanking in the polls.
Tamati Coffey calls for Simon Bridges to resign for doing something approved by David Cunliffe. Any wonder they are tanking in the polls.
Still waiting: http://www.thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21062014/#comment-835915
Already answered
For those who can’t be bothered following the link, fisiani’s answer is
as opposed to “force a slave to fish“, which national seems to want to sweep under the carpet
more twaddle from the fishy one himself.
name one society where people live on fish every day.
jim mora called for listeners to txt in favourite smells..
..i sent in:..’primo bud burning’..
..mora sniffed:..’some people sent in irrevernt-smells..
..i won’t mention them..’
If you read this article about what is happening in the US then you will share my resolve to do as much as we can to oust this Natz government which seem to want to follow all of the worst policies from US or UK.
“A Secret Plan to Close Social Security’s Offices and Outsource Its Work”
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/24-7
Sir Bruce Slane just took the Herald apart on its coverage of the Liu issue on The Panel, National Radio.
Worth a listen.
Tautoko Viper
I don’t like the sound of ” The National Academy of Public Administration, or NAPA,”.
Could easily be made into NAPALM with the apt descriptive words added ‘Limiting Measures”.
Isn’t it amazing that the wealthier some people get, the more they want to hold their own and others’ rewards in life constantly more tightly to themselves.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Labour-U-turns-over-dolphin-sanctuary-drilling/tabid/1607/articleID/350010/Default.aspx
chris 73
You are a sour negative little git. Why don’t you go on gardening leave.
Just wondering whos to blame for Cunliffes latest u-turn (so many u-turns I’m starting to get whiplash)
A. The MSM
B. National
C. Whaleoil
D. All of the above
he doesn’t blame anyone.
it is the job of her majesties loyal opposition to sheet home responsibility for governmental failure and inadequacy.
I blame you for being inane as you are utterly incapable of seeing the gross dereliction of governance by this government of venal little moneygrabbers!
Well ackshully he blames National: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/306386/cunliffe-issues-warning-caucus
I’m just wondering what other people think but note I didn’t bother putting an option down for Cunliffe as the answer because its never Cunliffes fault, ever
I missed the 6 pm news on both channels today. What I want to know from anyone that watched either, how much prominence was given to Labour’s alternate budget today? Cheers.
What? No one ?
I think chrass 72 done toomany weetbix this morning and it has gone to his head.
blame that.
John Key: Portrait of a Prime Minister
Published: 26/06/2014
Format: Paperback, 256 pages
RRP:$38.00
ISBN-13:9780143570752
ISBN-10:0143570757
http://www.penguin.co.nz/products/9780143570752/john-key-portrait-prime-minister
Gawd you have to love the audacity and guts of the Right Wing
Why waste $38 to further enrich a mega-wealthy foreign currency exchange gambling dude? The Liu man will probably buy the whole lot of copies for over $150,000 anyway and drink it all up on the Yangtze! Instead, here is a free portrait for your jaw dropping enjoyment. Watch the dudes at the back laughing their head off! You are welcome!
http://tinyurl.com/lw4jypc
Biggest threat to world peace? The US
And our PM has just said that we’ll get closer to them and that we’ll help them with their wars.
David Cunliffe leadership acceptance speech Sept 2013
This style is what this campaign is needing right about now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIl3x1fQay4
I looked for the transcript of that speech, but couldn’t find it. Do you have a link for the script?
On PRIME :
Back Benches, Wednesday 10:50PM
The MP pub panel discuss what the Prime Minister’s growing relationship with the U.S. means for NZ. Also, can child poverty really be linked to NZ’s superannuation age? PGR
Judith C is planning to demand banks report on wire transfers over $1,000. This is to stop crime. The government wants to get in bed with us. They withdraw my 6 cents tax on my 36c interest. Tax is theft when they pinch cents off small savings. Yet you can take out $10,000 in cash. What’s that about?