Curiously, Shearer is not reported as saying what he/Labour would do for Maori, only that Labour’s after their seats. It seems to be all a power play by Shearer. And still we don’t really know what Shearer actually stands for…?
Meanwhile, I see Metiria Turei spoke at the gathering to celebrate the prophet’s birthday at Ratana, laying out her strongly held political values and commitments.
And I see from the NZ Herald article on Shearer’s tilt (at windmills?) that there’s a Green Party picnic for the planet: tags for the picnic post includeAsset sales, Climate Change, Children’s Issues, Conservation, Environment, Housing, Water.
And that I think is the elephant in the room NO-ONE knows what he stands for. He could support little green men from Venus I wouldn’t care at least we would know.
Would it matter if he came out and *said*, what he stood for, I mean really, only the gillible would trust a politician, with a spurious background, after the decades of lying , leading to decline!
Apparently he doesn’t need to stand for anything. Cardboard cutout, smile and wave while Goff, Mallard, King and Robertson pull the strings to animate the FrankenShearer.
LOLZ, Metiria had them spell-bound on the Marae when She described Her first visit to Ratana which resulted in Her first real kiss,( come on Met’s fess up you forgot to give the bloke a slap for His troubles and your really back there looking to make amends),
On a more serious note Ratana now have a perfect housing policy via the Green Party’s just announced scheme where Ratana have the land and now have a real policy with which to rejuvenate housing at the Pa it’self, i am sure that in the Urawera’s Tuhoe will have reacted with interest to the Green Party’s housing policy as well…
“I think the Maori seats are up for grabs and we are going for broke to get them. We are in competition with the Maori Party and Mana and we are determined to win the Maori seats back.”
David Shearer
While I agree that Labour should try and see off the Maori Party. To lump the Mana Party in the same category exposes David Shearer’s lack of a political compass.
Mana is undoubtedly a left party and as such is more than likely back to fully back any left legislation forwarded by a Labour/Green government. Possibly even giving such a government their vote on confidence and supply. (Even if not in a formal alliance).
The fact of the matter is, if Mana got more than the one seat currently held by Hone Harawira, this would be one more vote to keep National away from the treasury benches.
Can’t Shearer see that? Is he that misinformed?
Or is Shearer so blindly sectarian that he would rather see Mana out of parliament, even at the cost of the election?
Labour actively contesting the Maori seats that it currently does not hold could be just what Mana need particularly in Waiariki where Flavell is definitely vulnerable more to Mana’s Annette Sykes than any candidate that Labour can stand in that particular electorate,
For all the mana that Pita Sharples now has left a blind donkey named Brucie could wrest Sharples seat off of him without raising a sweat so Labour’s Shane Jones should fit right in there as i am unreliably informed that wanking makes you blind and as far as i know Shane hasn’t raised an ounce of sweat during what has so far passed as His lifetime even when engaged in the former….
It’s the hackneyed, appallingly arrogant “Decent People Hate Harawira” refrain which most of them have engaged to suck up to voters in the range White Trash to White Flash.
The NZHerald article wrongly translates the word ‘morehu’ as to mean ‘follower’, that’s not right and who would have thunk that the Herald cannot even get one simple Maori word correct,
Morehu are the survivors, what was left of the Prophets people and lands after what Tariana Turia described as the ‘holocaust’ ensuing from European settlement…
National announce an $80 million investment in this years budget for irrigation and water storage for Dairy Farmers. This is unbelievable given the profitability of dairy farming and the desperate need for money in other areas.
Hi Rosy, Hi Saarbo. Yes this is both unbelieveable and outrageous. I heard the news on RNZ yesterday about the $80 million funding for irrigation. This has been in the pipeline (absolutely no pun intended) for quite some time hasn’t it? I’m making an assumption that its for Canterbury, that region most unsuited to dairying. If they mentioned the region in the news yesterday I must have missed it.
I clicked on Saarbo’s nat party link to see if they mentioned a region. The answers are possibly in that PDF of Q’s and A’s. I didn’t check it though. I got mesmarised and confused by the heading in the banner “Less debt, more jobs” (!?!?!), and then I started to feel a little sick from all that blue and had to quickly vacate the site lest I throw up.
This lolnats post sums it up: “its not called socialism when its for mah friends!”
Thanks Saarbo and Rosie…
Go lolnats. So they’re selling dams and then funding water storage. hmm
Y’know I don’t have a problem with government investing in infrastructure to help industry when it helps job creation and the environment and when the government retains control. But this is a 10% investment for private profit from the sounds of it. And it’s the way they turning the country into a great big dairy farm to profit their friends that really galls.
More than half of this investment is going to dairying/dairy support if they go by NZIER modelling.
NZIER modelling assumed that the resulting land use change would see 42
per cent of the area go to dairying, 16 per cent to mixed livestock, 27 per cent
to arable (cropping), 11 per cent to dairy support and four per cent to
horticulture.
The pdfs mention water storage in Canterbury, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson/Tasman but they don’t say they are going to do anything in any region. It’s all a bit cloak and dagger to me. It’s also rolling over the country’s democracy, if it’s Canterbury.
“It’s all a bit cloak and dagger to me. It’s also rolling over the conutry’s democracy, if it’s Canterbury”.
Exactly. The sacking of the elected representatives of ECAN was a breath taking act of tyranny, with the intention of blocking attempts from concerned parties who wish to take the matter of irrigation to the environment court. The documents obtained by The Press under the OIA spell out clearly the intention of the govt to “suspend democracy” in favour of economic growth for the Canterbury region: (And for whose benefit really?)
So water storage plans aside for Hawke’s Bay, Wellington and Nelson Tasman (thanks for actually reading the pdf’s on the nat site!) One of the big issues around the announcemment of the $80 million funding for irrigation is the removal of the democratic process. It’s just not any old irrigation scheme.
Secondly, as you mentioned, is the issue of the environment. The expansion of dairying in Canterbury surely can’t be a sustainable move and one that the environment won’t be able to support long term. Climate change experts predict that dry regions of NZ (eg Canterbury) will continue to get drier and experience more droughts where as wetter areas (eg, west coast) will continue to get wetter and experience more floods. We had an example of this over Xmas/NY with floods in the west coast and ultra hot dry and windy conditions over the other side of the alps that contributed to scrub fires… And of course I agree with you in regard to the issue of industrial farming and it’s intensification. Just how much can you force out of an animal and out of the land that supports that animal?
The burden on the environment will be too much.
Oh for a govt with a vision!
Jeez that Press link is dynamite – but not important enough to put on the Stuff main site? Go figure. I’ve also linked to the Forest & Bird press release about the irrigation subsidies on today’s Open Mike…
This issue is far too important to fade into the background. The demolition of environment, finance, employment, social cohesion, animal welfare and, above all, democracy concerns all tied up in a neat package.
btw I’m thinking that I won’t talk about subsidies for farmers – with connotations of giving a break to hard working rugged individualists getting up at the crack of dawn to tend their animals. I reckon I’m going to start talking about farming companies – with connotations of foreign ownership and/or big bank mortgages employing farm managers and minimum wage staff (increasingly imported) with no hope of getting on the farm ownership or share-milking ladder.
I am not opposed to irrigation and water storage schemes as long as they are ***100 % PUBLICLY OWNED AND CONTROLLED***
This irrigation investment company is bascially the government giving money to profit making entites so they can make money from OUR water, as the equity that this company will essentially be a minority stake and will be sold off in due course.
Hi All, just to provide some more analysis on the benefit to farmers of Irrigation and therefore why farmers should pay for this themselves. An un-irrigated farm in the Waikato will make 1200 KG Milk Solids per hectare. When the land is irrigated in the South Island it can make between 1600kg MS to 2000kg MS. So a 300 Hectare farm in the SI will make between $70000 to $140000 per farm/per annum from irrigation (This is the value add from irrigation). My analysis is very conservative as if I was to compare the increase in per hectare profit of the SI farm before irrigation to the SI farm after irrigation the figures would be much larger. There is absolutely NO reason why these farmers cannot afford to pay for these schemes themselves. This is handouts to the rich.
It’s also not only about water. It’s really bad for NZ’s reputation and a seriously important step along the way of intensification of factory farming. NZ grassland already can’t feed the cows that it has so it’s either import more palm kernel waste and intensify farming. Added to this is that NZ waterways already can’t manage the agricultural waste pumped in to them, Canterbury being a prime example.
Reliance on one sector of intensive agriculture only enriches the companies that own those farms (wherever the company is from) and exploits the country, its workers and environment as well as being a disgusting way to treat animals (imho of course).
I went to a meeting this week. I’d never been before, and didn’t I know any of the attendees.
I was early, and as I sat down a conversation was in full swing about the awfulness of the government, which segued pretty seamlessly into the uselessness of the opposition. The present-day Labour reminded the older attendees of Rogernomics. There was reminiscing about privatisation and part-charges for hospital treatment. We all agreed with the guy who said the Labour oppostion was “same people – better suits.”
I didn’t say any of the above. I was just smiling and nodding really.
This was no “darkened room”, these people were not “extremist nutters”. The age range I’d guess at 28 – 65, demographic – pakeha, middle class.
Polish Pride I would not spend any time this weekend praying for my immune system to deal with the full blast of disease. I am still alive because I had multiple immunisations as a child.
It is one thing to oppose the inherent corruption of capitalism, it is another to stupidly ignore the scientific and technical advances that it has profited from by keeping us alive as the creators of its wealth.
Because I am alive I can plot to overthrow capitalism and expropriate its technical advances and put them to use in ongoing human survival.
LOLZ, i might start being nice to Hooten,(just kidding there’s not a s**t’s show of that occurring) i wonder if the number of ‘looks’ at the Standard goes up every time the Hooten’s of the world trying to denigrate this site use the main stream media to point people in the Standard’s direction,
Free advertizing???, there are no free lunches but please don’t tell me i have to be nice to that (expletive deleted) wanker…
Yeah, but you don’t link to the pieces you are referencing.
Also, at least twice you use quotation marks around a statement. I had assumed you were quoting something someone had said on ts, but just hadn’t attributed that properly. But googling parts of the phrases returns no hits other than the NBR. What gives?
Matthew likes to tread the line between being a cool, on-to-it online engagement dude and a proper, traditional newspaper guy. The latter comes in very handy because outfits like the NBR don’t understand how linking works or that there’s an expectation that online writing involve citations, yet he wants to be taken seriously as a member of the Standard’s commentariat.
Funnily enough Micky, before I was aware of your connection with Cunliffe I noticed that you were uncharacteristically circumspect on the whole issue during the many threads devoted to it.
Hooton has input from Mike Williams and Chris Hipkins! That is the level to which the clique have descended to retain privileges.
13 MPs must withhold their vote in the Confidence Motion in Feb.
Indeed, except as a spitoon or a comic moment of light relief that one is to all extents and purposes of little use even to His mates in ACT,
Debating with it ‘nicely’ it’s carefully scripted excerpts from the handbook of Ruthanasia-isms simply empowers it’s ego to yell from that wing-nuts gospel ever louder…
There is no “clear spin that DC is orchestrating it”, or any other kind of “spin”. If I wanted to say he was orchestrating it all, I would have said it. I know enough about these processes (Brash v English for example) to know that the candidate usually only knows a fraction of what is being said and done to advance his or her interests.
But she faces fresh criticism from Opposition MPs and campaign groups after The Daily Telegraph obtained documents showing that she called on ministers to make sexually explicit photographs or films of children legal unless there was evidence that the subject had been harmed.
In case people were naïve enough to think, only *the right* (Ken Clarke et al) are involved!
So Harriet Harman was the lawyer for the Council of Civil Liberties more than 30 years ago. I guess it must be true that a person’s view always reflects that of their employer all those years ago. /sarc
“A study by Kyung Hee Kim, professor of education for the College of William and Mary in Virginia, focused on the creativity of school age children between kindergarten and 12th grade using the measurement known as the Torrance tests of creative thinking.
He found a ‘massive’ decline of creativity the longer the students progressed through the school system as ‘children have become less emotionally expressive, less energetic, less talkative and verbally expressive, less humorous, less imaginative, less unconventional, less lively and passionate, less perceptive, less apt to connect seemingly irrelevant things, less synthesizing, and less likely to see things from a different angle.’”
“Autos and semi-autos are weapons of mass destruction. When lunatics want to make war on the unarmed and unprepared, these are the weapons they use.”
He said blanket opposition to gun control was less about defending the second amendment of the US constitution than “a stubborn desire to hold onto what they have, and to hell with the collateral damage”.
He added: “If that’s the case, let me suggest that ‘fuck you, Jack, I’m okay’ is not a tenable position, morally speaking.”
As one report summarises, the chief causes are phosphorous pollution from Levin’s stormwater and nitrogen pollution from farming runoff. Click on the link at the bottom of this page:
I am looking for a site that gives a good summary of the pros and cons for selling minority interests in SOE’s – any suggestions? I’m not looking for ideological arguments, but facts and examples.
Any suggestions?
It’s a strategic decision, so it is a mix of strategic factors. That involves ideology.
It was debated at length on this site when first mentioned, but to me it comes down to:
BENEFITS
Cash now.
Maybe technological innovation if the purchaser has synergies.
Ideological beliefs that private sector is more efficient than the public sector.
COSTS
permanent deprivation of future dividends.
lack of government control as a sole shareholder (especially in relation to compromising market profits in favour of public good, e.g. employment or keeping power prices low).
redundancy: if it’s a private sector opportunity, why not let the private sector start their own and provide competition? Isn’t that the entire point of the private sector market?
Yep. Thats the financial analysis. In real economy terms, power generation is core economic infrastructure and as such, its loss of control is loss of control of economic sovereignty.
The comments above have no numbers, just circles where the numbers should be.
I did a site search recently, and found that many Standard posts and comments are dated before the internet was even invented. Very prescient they were about recent events. But seriously last time I delved into the beginnings of the Standard the correct dates went right back to the begining (of the Standard, not of time).
Thirdly, the chronological search wasn’t chronological or even particlularly logical.
Might well be something my end.
edit: and now the circle comments are below this comment despite my writing this after they were written.
The date thing is a known glitch, Lynn said he’s working on it.
The comments appearing in a funny order seemed to start today. The comments at the bottom of this thread, where there is no post number, all ended up stuck to the bottom of the page (plus they were replies to posts not stand alone comments).
[lprent: Doing final release of the code of product two at work. I’m going to have problems finding any time until that is completed. ]
@ Hooten,The thing that struck me( yeth i’m a real perthon) is that there are others outside of TS that are feeling the same concerns as the high number of commenters here are, over the Shearer leadership, we all can’t be exteme leftist zelots.
Shearer says he was elected, not really, he lost the ‘around the mountain’ vote,it was his mates, inside caucus, that installed him as the leader, much to the angst of the members.
What an absolute waste of time it was to have 10 meetings,the planning,members setting
aside time to attend, the co-ordination of the halls, etc, then to have it all thrown back in
ones face and the result ignored, Cunliffe won 9 out of 10 meetings.
Then the ‘winning’ opponent was relegated to the backbenches after a supposed coup attempt,
beaten up by the media,the following demotion of Cunliffe was a disgrace and uncalled for,it
has just added fuel to the fire, this action was not reflective of a democraticly inclined
leader,hence the feeling many feel towards Shearer, who is the real Shearer ? ‘I dunno’
His character and his attitudes need some immediate adjustments though.
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Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
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 ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Shearer’s tilt at Maori seats brings swift rebuff
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10861522
“Tariana Turia has retaliated, saying Mr Shearer was a poser and Maori people would see right through him.”
National party finally get something right about Maori.
Curiously, Shearer is not reported as saying what he/Labour would do for Maori, only that Labour’s after their seats. It seems to be all a power play by Shearer. And still we don’t really know what Shearer actually stands for…?
Meanwhile, I see Metiria Turei spoke at the gathering to celebrate the prophet’s birthday at Ratana, laying out her strongly held political values and commitments.
And I see from the NZ Herald article on Shearer’s tilt (at windmills?) that there’s a Green Party picnic for the planet: tags for the picnic post includeAsset sales, Climate Change, Children’s Issues, Conservation, Environment, Housing, Water.
“It seems to be all a power play by Shearer.”
That’s what I immediately thought as well. Still, it is the MSM reporting so who knows?
What does he stand for? at this stage it seems like personal ambition (i.e. power play). Makes him no better then Key really.
And that I think is the elephant in the room NO-ONE knows what he stands for. He could support little green men from Venus I wouldn’t care at least we would know.
Would it matter if he came out and *said*, what he stood for, I mean really, only the gillible would trust a politician, with a spurious background, after the decades of lying , leading to decline!
Taxi for Shearer!
Apparently he doesn’t need to stand for anything. Cardboard cutout, smile and wave while Goff, Mallard, King and Robertson pull the strings to animate the FrankenShearer.
LOLZ, Metiria had them spell-bound on the Marae when She described Her first visit to Ratana which resulted in Her first real kiss,( come on Met’s fess up you forgot to give the bloke a slap for His troubles and your really back there looking to make amends),
On a more serious note Ratana now have a perfect housing policy via the Green Party’s just announced scheme where Ratana have the land and now have a real policy with which to rejuvenate housing at the Pa it’self, i am sure that in the Urawera’s Tuhoe will have reacted with interest to the Green Party’s housing policy as well…
Were those her “deeply held political beliefs and commitments” from the Macgillicuddy Serious Party – or from somewhere else?
While I agree that Labour should try and see off the Maori Party. To lump the Mana Party in the same category exposes David Shearer’s lack of a political compass.
Mana is undoubtedly a left party and as such is more than likely back to fully back any left legislation forwarded by a Labour/Green government. Possibly even giving such a government their vote on confidence and supply. (Even if not in a formal alliance).
The fact of the matter is, if Mana got more than the one seat currently held by Hone Harawira, this would be one more vote to keep National away from the treasury benches.
Can’t Shearer see that? Is he that misinformed?
Or is Shearer so blindly sectarian that he would rather see Mana out of parliament, even at the cost of the election?
Labour actively contesting the Maori seats that it currently does not hold could be just what Mana need particularly in Waiariki where Flavell is definitely vulnerable more to Mana’s Annette Sykes than any candidate that Labour can stand in that particular electorate,
For all the mana that Pita Sharples now has left a blind donkey named Brucie could wrest Sharples seat off of him without raising a sweat so Labour’s Shane Jones should fit right in there as i am unreliably informed that wanking makes you blind and as far as i know Shane hasn’t raised an ounce of sweat during what has so far passed as His lifetime even when engaged in the former….
It’s the hackneyed, appallingly arrogant “Decent People Hate Harawira” refrain which most of them have engaged to suck up to voters in the range White Trash to White Flash.
No wonder Harawira engaged “Motherfuckers….”
The NZHerald article wrongly translates the word ‘morehu’ as to mean ‘follower’, that’s not right and who would have thunk that the Herald cannot even get one simple Maori word correct,
Morehu are the survivors, what was left of the Prophets people and lands after what Tariana Turia described as the ‘holocaust’ ensuing from European settlement…
National announce an $80 million investment in this years budget for irrigation and water storage for Dairy Farmers. This is unbelievable given the profitability of dairy farming and the desperate need for money in other areas.
Have you got a link for that? It’s outrageous, but not surprising. I’m guessing it’s for Canterbury dairy farmers?
http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?ArticleID=40157
National clearly are not scared to “intervene” when it is for their mates!
Hi Rosy, Hi Saarbo. Yes this is both unbelieveable and outrageous. I heard the news on RNZ yesterday about the $80 million funding for irrigation. This has been in the pipeline (absolutely no pun intended) for quite some time hasn’t it? I’m making an assumption that its for Canterbury, that region most unsuited to dairying. If they mentioned the region in the news yesterday I must have missed it.
I clicked on Saarbo’s nat party link to see if they mentioned a region. The answers are possibly in that PDF of Q’s and A’s. I didn’t check it though. I got mesmarised and confused by the heading in the banner “Less debt, more jobs” (!?!?!), and then I started to feel a little sick from all that blue and had to quickly vacate the site lest I throw up.
This lolnats post sums it up: “its not called socialism when its for mah friends!”
http://www.lolnats.co.nz/page/22
Thanks Saarbo and Rosie…
Go lolnats. So they’re selling dams and then funding water storage. hmm
Y’know I don’t have a problem with government investing in infrastructure to help industry when it helps job creation and the environment and when the government retains control. But this is a 10% investment for private profit from the sounds of it. And it’s the way they turning the country into a great big dairy farm to profit their friends that really galls.
More than half of this investment is going to dairying/dairy support if they go by NZIER modelling.
The pdfs mention water storage in Canterbury, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson/Tasman but they don’t say they are going to do anything in any region. It’s all a bit cloak and dagger to me. It’s also rolling over the country’s democracy, if it’s Canterbury.
“It’s all a bit cloak and dagger to me. It’s also rolling over the conutry’s democracy, if it’s Canterbury”.
Exactly. The sacking of the elected representatives of ECAN was a breath taking act of tyranny, with the intention of blocking attempts from concerned parties who wish to take the matter of irrigation to the environment court. The documents obtained by The Press under the OIA spell out clearly the intention of the govt to “suspend democracy” in favour of economic growth for the Canterbury region: (And for whose benefit really?)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/7874996/Race-to-irrigate-behind-ECan-move
John Minto’s view:
http://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/24/07.htm
So water storage plans aside for Hawke’s Bay, Wellington and Nelson Tasman (thanks for actually reading the pdf’s on the nat site!) One of the big issues around the announcemment of the $80 million funding for irrigation is the removal of the democratic process. It’s just not any old irrigation scheme.
Secondly, as you mentioned, is the issue of the environment. The expansion of dairying in Canterbury surely can’t be a sustainable move and one that the environment won’t be able to support long term. Climate change experts predict that dry regions of NZ (eg Canterbury) will continue to get drier and experience more droughts where as wetter areas (eg, west coast) will continue to get wetter and experience more floods. We had an example of this over Xmas/NY with floods in the west coast and ultra hot dry and windy conditions over the other side of the alps that contributed to scrub fires… And of course I agree with you in regard to the issue of industrial farming and it’s intensification. Just how much can you force out of an animal and out of the land that supports that animal?
The burden on the environment will be too much.
Oh for a govt with a vision!
Jeez that Press link is dynamite – but not important enough to put on the Stuff main site? Go figure. I’ve also linked to the Forest & Bird press release about the irrigation subsidies on today’s Open Mike…
This issue is far too important to fade into the background. The demolition of environment, finance, employment, social cohesion, animal welfare and, above all, democracy concerns all tied up in a neat package.
btw I’m thinking that I won’t talk about subsidies for farmers – with connotations of giving a break to hard working rugged individualists getting up at the crack of dawn to tend their animals. I reckon I’m going to start talking about farming companies – with connotations of foreign ownership and/or big bank mortgages employing farm managers and minimum wage staff (increasingly imported) with no hope of getting on the farm ownership or share-milking ladder.
I am not opposed to irrigation and water storage schemes as long as they are ***100 % PUBLICLY OWNED AND CONTROLLED***
This irrigation investment company is bascially the government giving money to profit making entites so they can make money from OUR water, as the equity that this company will essentially be a minority stake and will be sold off in due course.
The privatisation of water is at hand.
Hi All, just to provide some more analysis on the benefit to farmers of Irrigation and therefore why farmers should pay for this themselves. An un-irrigated farm in the Waikato will make 1200 KG Milk Solids per hectare. When the land is irrigated in the South Island it can make between 1600kg MS to 2000kg MS. So a 300 Hectare farm in the SI will make between $70000 to $140000 per farm/per annum from irrigation (This is the value add from irrigation). My analysis is very conservative as if I was to compare the increase in per hectare profit of the SI farm before irrigation to the SI farm after irrigation the figures would be much larger. There is absolutely NO reason why these farmers cannot afford to pay for these schemes themselves. This is handouts to the rich.
It is handouts to the rich.
It’s also not only about water. It’s really bad for NZ’s reputation and a seriously important step along the way of intensification of factory farming. NZ grassland already can’t feed the cows that it has so it’s either import more palm kernel waste and intensify farming. Added to this is that NZ waterways already can’t manage the agricultural waste pumped in to them, Canterbury being a prime example.
Reliance on one sector of intensive agriculture only enriches the companies that own those farms (wherever the company is from) and exploits the country, its workers and environment as well as being a disgusting way to treat animals (imho of course).
“There is absolutely NO reason why these farmers cannot afford to pay for these schemes themselves. This is handouts to the rich.”
Yes. Most farms also owe money to our Australian banks so it becomes another transfer of public funds into their coffers in the end.
True story.
I went to a meeting this week. I’d never been before, and didn’t I know any of the attendees.
I was early, and as I sat down a conversation was in full swing about the awfulness of the government, which segued pretty seamlessly into the uselessness of the opposition. The present-day Labour reminded the older attendees of Rogernomics. There was reminiscing about privatisation and part-charges for hospital treatment. We all agreed with the guy who said the Labour oppostion was “same people – better suits.”
I didn’t say any of the above. I was just smiling and nodding really.
This was no “darkened room”, these people were not “extremist nutters”. The age range I’d guess at 28 – 65, demographic – pakeha, middle class.
Just saying….
Thanks for this report. Seems the party members are more leftie than the caucus…. who knew!
Matthew Hooten might be interested to know that.
Edit: Snap. Weka has posted link below…
just saying:
You should put your comments at 3 on Mike Smith’s latest post. He might learn something.
http://thestandard.org.nz/tell-the-truth/
Is anyone else finding the Vodafone network like the labour parliamentary effort lately.
New campaign but losing markt share, messages either late or not getting through, conversations cut off or garbled in areas of full service.
Blaming the user or the hardware.
Yep, I’ve been having and hearing about lots of problems too.
sorry that’s from an android device, said it wasn’t published and I can’t delete it. Fix please.
Interesting anomaly there – no post number, and PP’s post ends up above yours despite being posted later.
ah, and mine does the same thing when replying to yours…
Just in case your looking for ways to help effect change this weekend
http://www.trueactivist.com/the-5-most-blatantly-corrupt-industries-in-the-world-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/
Polish Pride I would not spend any time this weekend praying for my immune system to deal with the full blast of disease. I am still alive because I had multiple immunisations as a child.
It is one thing to oppose the inherent corruption of capitalism, it is another to stupidly ignore the scientific and technical advances that it has profited from by keeping us alive as the creators of its wealth.
Because I am alive I can plot to overthrow capitalism and expropriate its technical advances and put them to use in ongoing human survival.
Thanks for that link PP.
I see Hooten’s latest shit-stirring is available online now.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/labour-heading-another-meltdown-set-go-weekend-review-lf-134941
Apparently all the authors and commenters on ts are part of Labour’s disaffected far left and are Cunliffe supporters 🙄
LOLZ, i might start being nice to Hooten,(just kidding there’s not a s**t’s show of that occurring) i wonder if the number of ‘looks’ at the Standard goes up every time the Hooten’s of the world trying to denigrate this site use the main stream media to point people in the Standard’s direction,
Free advertizing???, there are no free lunches but please don’t tell me i have to be nice to that (expletive deleted) wanker…
If he bothered to attribute and quote properly (eg link), we might get more traffic.
There is a link from the column at NBR.co.nz to thestandard.org.nz z
I asked them to be sure they included it.
That’ll account for the boom in our page-views, I’m sure.
Yeah, but you don’t link to the pieces you are referencing.
Also, at least twice you use quotation marks around a statement. I had assumed you were quoting something someone had said on ts, but just hadn’t attributed that properly. But googling parts of the phrases returns no hits other than the NBR. What gives?
Matthew likes to tread the line between being a cool, on-to-it online engagement dude and a proper, traditional newspaper guy. The latter comes in very handy because outfits like the NBR don’t understand how linking works or that there’s an expectation that online writing involve citations, yet he wants to be taken seriously as a member of the Standard’s commentariat.
I mean, the bastard doesn’t even give me and Rhinocrates proper credit for coining “Captain Mumblefuck”.
My apologies, but I am sure it will catch on.
The quotation remarks were weird things that came in through the sub-editing process. They have been removed.
The guy is a calculating spinner. I note he mentions me and my association with Cunliffe with the clear spin that DC is orchestrating it.
There is only one slight problem. I would like him or anyone to point to one post or comment where I have tried to undermine Shearer. Any one will do.
For too long the Labour Party has allowed people like Hooton to control and manage the debate. He ought to be left right out of it.
Funnily enough Micky, before I was aware of your connection with Cunliffe I noticed that you were uncharacteristically circumspect on the whole issue during the many threads devoted to it.
Hooton has input from Mike Williams and Chris Hipkins! That is the level to which the clique have descended to retain privileges.
13 MPs must withhold their vote in the Confidence Motion in Feb.
omigod! how do you know?
Indeed, except as a spitoon or a comic moment of light relief that one is to all extents and purposes of little use even to His mates in ACT,
Debating with it ‘nicely’ it’s carefully scripted excerpts from the handbook of Ruthanasia-isms simply empowers it’s ego to yell from that wing-nuts gospel ever louder…
There is no “clear spin that DC is orchestrating it”, or any other kind of “spin”. If I wanted to say he was orchestrating it all, I would have said it. I know enough about these processes (Brash v English for example) to know that the candidate usually only knows a fraction of what is being said and done to advance his or her interests.
Lol Quote of the year so far
“There is no spin” ~ Matthew Hooton (Right-wing PR guy)
What?? Were you taking the day off to be an innocent reporter Matthew?
LOL
““There is no spin” ~ Matthew Hooton (Right-wing PR guy)”
haha yeah I enjoyed that too.
Hey Matthew, if you could similarly preface any future comments with “The following is/is not spin.” that shur would be helpful.
It’s just typical Bullshit Hooten style All piss, wind, and fuck all else.
Harriet Harman under attack over bid to water down child pornography law
In case people were naïve enough to think, only *the right* (Ken Clarke et al) are involved!
Thanks for the link Muzza.
Involved in what, muzza? Are you once again trying to smear Clarke as a paedophile?
So Harriet Harman was the lawyer for the Council of Civil Liberties more than 30 years ago. I guess it must be true that a person’s view always reflects that of their employer all those years ago. /sarc
Another one is out the door…
http://www.france24.com/en/20130125-tina-turner-become-swiss-give-us-passport
“A study by Kyung Hee Kim, professor of education for the College of William and Mary in Virginia, focused on the creativity of school age children between kindergarten and 12th grade using the measurement known as the Torrance tests of creative thinking.
He found a ‘massive’ decline of creativity the longer the students progressed through the school system as ‘children have become less emotionally expressive, less energetic, less talkative and verbally expressive, less humorous, less imaginative, less unconventional, less lively and passionate, less perceptive, less apt to connect seemingly irrelevant things, less synthesizing, and less likely to see things from a different angle.’”
http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/78788-eduction-paying-to-be-programmed
Author Stephen King sticks it to the NRA:
“Autos and semi-autos are weapons of mass destruction. When lunatics want to make war on the unarmed and unprepared, these are the weapons they use.”
He said blanket opposition to gun control was less about defending the second amendment of the US constitution than “a stubborn desire to hold onto what they have, and to hell with the collateral damage”.
He added: “If that’s the case, let me suggest that ‘fuck you, Jack, I’m okay’ is not a tenable position, morally speaking.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jan/25/stephen-king-gun-control-essay-amazon-nra
You know what’s controversial on Kiwiblog? The holocaust; that’s what.
It’s an outrage that it gets such attention, when western left wing parties are just as bad. Dontchaknow.
*twitchy eye*
Welcome to New Zealand’s very own “Love Canal”. The water in Lake Horowhenua is now so toxic “that a mouthful could kill a child”:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1301/S00049/supreme-court-to-rule-on-lake-horowhenua.htm
As one report summarises, the chief causes are phosphorous pollution from Levin’s stormwater and nitrogen pollution from farming runoff. Click on the link at the bottom of this page:
http://www.ecofest.co.nz/Environment.html
I am looking for a site that gives a good summary of the pros and cons for selling minority interests in SOE’s – any suggestions? I’m not looking for ideological arguments, but facts and examples.
Any suggestions?
It’s a strategic decision, so it is a mix of strategic factors. That involves ideology.
It was debated at length on this site when first mentioned, but to me it comes down to:
BENEFITS
Cash now.
Maybe technological innovation if the purchaser has synergies.
Ideological beliefs that private sector is more efficient than the public sector.
COSTS
permanent deprivation of future dividends.
lack of government control as a sole shareholder (especially in relation to compromising market profits in favour of public good, e.g. employment or keeping power prices low).
redundancy: if it’s a private sector opportunity, why not let the private sector start their own and provide competition? Isn’t that the entire point of the private sector market?
Yep. Thats the financial analysis. In real economy terms, power generation is core economic infrastructure and as such, its loss of control is loss of control of economic sovereignty.
Rod Oram did a piece on (9 till noon} RNZ few months back. no link sorry
A few odd things happening.
The comments above have no numbers, just circles where the numbers should be.
I did a site search recently, and found that many Standard posts and comments are dated before the internet was even invented. Very prescient they were about recent events. But seriously last time I delved into the beginnings of the Standard the correct dates went right back to the begining (of the Standard, not of time).
Thirdly, the chronological search wasn’t chronological or even particlularly logical.
Might well be something my end.
edit: and now the circle comments are below this comment despite my writing this after they were written.
The date thing is a known glitch, Lynn said he’s working on it.
The comments appearing in a funny order seemed to start today. The comments at the bottom of this thread, where there is no post number, all ended up stuck to the bottom of the page (plus they were replies to posts not stand alone comments).
[lprent: Doing final release of the code of product two at work. I’m going to have problems finding any time until that is completed. ]
@ Hooten,The thing that struck me( yeth i’m a real perthon) is that there are others outside of TS that are feeling the same concerns as the high number of commenters here are, over the Shearer leadership, we all can’t be exteme leftist zelots.
Shearer says he was elected, not really, he lost the ‘around the mountain’ vote,it was his mates, inside caucus, that installed him as the leader, much to the angst of the members.
What an absolute waste of time it was to have 10 meetings,the planning,members setting
aside time to attend, the co-ordination of the halls, etc, then to have it all thrown back in
ones face and the result ignored, Cunliffe won 9 out of 10 meetings.
Then the ‘winning’ opponent was relegated to the backbenches after a supposed coup attempt,
beaten up by the media,the following demotion of Cunliffe was a disgrace and uncalled for,it
has just added fuel to the fire, this action was not reflective of a democraticly inclined
leader,hence the feeling many feel towards Shearer, who is the real Shearer ? ‘I dunno’
His character and his attitudes need some immediate adjustments though.