State-owned Meridian Energy yesterday announced operating profit was down 6 per cent to $277.1 million for the December half year, and the underlying bottom line profit fell 11 per cent, excluding one-offs, to $88m.
Despite the lower underlying profit, Meridian declared a dividend of $99.8m to the Government, essentially all of its profits.
Essentially all of it’s profits? I would suggest that paying 11.8 million more than the profit is quite a different picture than that.
Would be interesting to see a table of profit versus dividend for each of the SOE’s since National came in – and I don’t have any difficulty with it going back further to see if Labour behaved any differently.
In some respects if successive governments have been taking money out of these entities left right and centre then we shouldn’t be moaning too much about having to pay for infrastructure costs. Can’t have it both ways.
Scams like making one power company sell the other 300 million worth of equipment though and then pay that to the government are just a con. The state owns no more but now has $300 million dollars more debt which is off the governments books.
Would be interesting to see a table of profit versus dividend for each of the SOE’s since National came in – and I don’t have any difficulty with it going back further to see if Labour behaved any differently.
No, Labour weren’t any different. Despite the massive surpluses that they ran they still pulled massive dividends from the SOEs. Either they don’t realise that that profit should be used to upgrade the infrastructure or they just don’t care. For National, I figure it’s the latter – especially as they have to cover the holes in the budget created when they cut taxes for the rich.
It’s remi niscent of the asset stripping indulged in by Brierley et al. The government has finessed this approach in business to the public’s assets that then makes the govt appear as successful financial and economy dealers.
Key won power on selling assets, he inherited
solid Energy, which he planned to sell. Four?
years on solid Energy goes bust,despite him
endorsing lignite development, despite not
seeing a business plan, despite his hands
off approach to asset sales. Key doesn’t know
how much his government will sell them for,
oh but he loves lignite.
Help Steve Keen complete his Minsky Project to reform University taught economics
He’s made his initial fundraising target of US$50K but could easily use thousands more to refine the Minsky modelling system his team is developing.
With this software, central banks and academics the world over will finally have a tool which will let them model the financial economy in a realistic way, instead of using false neoliberal models which exclude the impact of money, banks and debt in the macroeconomy.
The sign up process to donate is a bit of a pain in the ass, but this project is so worthwhile I urge you to consider supporting it, even if you can only donate US$5 or US$20.
Government privatized the print press, allowing banks to increase gearing on deposits and starting the great leveraging boom. Now government globally are heavily restricting gearing and retaking the role of printer of money. National hate the idea that the peoples taxation should be used to control public money or its printing, since they made their fortune in sweet deals with government money and never understood why they got wealthy.
The reality is that self-serving models that have made many very wealthy are false economies, since they create calls on wealth the future, planet, climate, cannot supply. So its about when change comes, and just to be difficult or because they think their self-serving model of capitalism will rebound shortly, they’re for not considering one possible change in course.
Well said…the financialised money flooding the world are calls on the future real wealth that the planet, the climate and that labour will never be able to supply.
There are going to be some very disappointed wealthy people out there, the further they push things in this way.
They are desperate not to be disappointed, thus they steal off with existing wealth.
Sell assets, lower wages, watch while prices rise and quality drops….
The giant vacuum cleaner, formally a trickle down now a massive suction machine misappropriating wealth from the poorest, the most powerless, the least connected.
The same process is intended here. assets sales and welfare state demolition as far as they can get away with it. Until we’re financial serfs in our own country. 🙁
Do you think you are being insightful by pointing out that the Labour Party launched the neoliberal shift of public assets to the wealthy and the rich, and that it continues to refuse to reverse almost all asset sales?
I’m pointing out that National are keeping majority ownership in the assets whereas the narrative coming from this site is that National is going to sell it all, which makes you all little scallywags
Mind you its also not bad to point out that Labour sold over 9 billion worth of assets without saying they would whereas National said they would partially privatize assets yet in two terms still haven’t
It’s not National or Labour who sell our stuff, it’s free-market neoliberals.
National is full of them. In the 80s Labour was full of them. By the 5th Labour govt not so much so as they’d mostly buggered off and formed ACT.
Still a few too many for there for my liking, and I’d have liked to have seen a lot more renationalisation from the 5th Labour govt, but that’s the right-wing revolution for you.
But this idea you’re pushing, that the current Labour party are some sort of threat to our assets, it’s a dog. And it can only bite those who do want to sell our stuff.
Three years later, when Labour won the 1984 elections, Goff was elevated to Cabinet, becoming its youngest member. He served as Minister of Housing and Minister of Employment. After the 1987 elections, Goff dropped the Housing portfolio, but also became Minister of Youth Affairs and Minister of Tourism. Later, after a significant rearrangement of responsibilities, Goff became Minister of Education. In the disputes between Roger Douglas (the reformist Finance Minister) and other Labour MPs, Goff generally positioned himself on the side of Douglas, supporting deregulation and free trade.
Annette King
In the 1984 elections, she stood as the party’s candidate for Horowhenua, and was successful. She was re-elected in the 1987 election.
Trevor Mallard
Mallard joined the Labour Party in 1972, while still at university. He held a number of internal party positions until the election of 1984 when he was elected as the party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Hamilton West. Although he was re-elected in the 1987 elections, he lost his seat in the election of 1990.
Three years later, when Labour won the 1984 elections, Goff was elevated to Cabinet, becoming its youngest member. He served as Minister of Housing and Minister of Employment. After the 1987 elections, Goff dropped the Housing portfolio, but also became Minister of Youth Affairs and Minister of Tourism. Later, after a significant rearrangement of responsibilities, Goff became Minister of Education. In the disputes between Roger Douglas (the reformist Finance Minister) and other Labour MPs, Goff generally positioned himself on the side of Douglas, supporting deregulation and free trade.
Annette King
In the 1984 elections, she stood as the party’s candidate for Horowhenua, and was successful. She was re-elected in the 1987 election.
Trevor Mallard
Mallard joined the Labour Party in 1972, while still at university. He held a number of internal party positions until the election of 1984 when he was elected as the party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Hamilton West. Although he was re-elected in the 1987 elections, he lost his seat in the election of 1990.
I’m pointing out that National are keeping majority ownership in the assets whereas the narrative coming from this site is that National is going to sell it all, which makes you all little scallywags
I’m pretty sure that, if they thought that they could get away with it, they’d have sold the whole lot. In fact, I’m still of the opinion that they’ll sell 50% now and their next time that they’re in government they’ll sell the rest if the next left government doesn’t renationalise them.
Well what you think is all well and good but we can only go what they say and on this subject National have kept their word though I would like them to speed things up a bit
National keeping their word is not something anyone would be wise to place much reliance on. I remember thinking this when the tax cuts came and everybody wasn’t better off and gst was increased. I had a vague idea Jonkey had given people the impression he wouldn’t raise gst during the slick and devious con job that was his first election campaign. Folk here have been pointing out numerous examples of how reliable Jonkey’s word is. It’s about as reliable as his memory when he gets caught out telling porkies.
Yes, you are right – the “old” brigade that knifed Mr Lange in the back is still there. Many, like me, who remember will not vote for labour because of their nasty school yard bullying ways. However, this does not mean that one shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
National has so far shown the same and worse. Mrs Richardson budget comes to mind and man, was that something else. Actually, I belief NZ has never really recovered from this purist capitalist approach. To many casualties, far too many people left in he dust. What an anti social approach in a so called western democracy. So in my opinion, National with their past and recent record do not seem to have a smart and inclusive plan for the future of NZ. The only party that has no negative ballast, is conservatively positive and mindful of the social effect of their policies is currently the Green Party.
Looking at the new shadow Cabernet put out by Labour, I ask the question what’s in it for the Greens if a coalition Government is formed after the next election.
At first blush I can see the role of Transport Minister going the Greens way. A good move if this transpires as the Greens are suitably qualified both in driving a clear vision in Transport and a well credentialed Genter to front this role.
Chris Trotter’s piece in te paper this morning hits the nail on the head.
New Zealand is corrupt.
The New Zealand government is corrupt.
The only reason we record “least corrupt country” is because we refuse to see it or acknowledge it. Because we are, in this sense, a hick town. The evidence is right there in front of us – most recently with the Skycity corruption and our PM John Key. So blatant and up front that even Key probably doesn’t recognise what he has done (Key may be sharp and witty in real life, but ffs he is one shallow arsehole). Then we could look at the Canterbury dictatorship and theft of natural resources by David Carter and others.
Nobody is going to go to jail for CCTV building. It should not have been built, it wasn’t inspected properly, and then to cap it off it was fully tenanted after the first 7.2? Earthquake when geologists know increase chances of aftershocks of size 6 are possible.
Sorry, I need to get this other thing out of my head. If you shoot a person, you can’t see, whose making a noise on the behind the toilet door, maybe on the toilet, it has to be murder or insanity. I get its S.A and the endemic gun crime, and how not letting ever own a gun again (if insanity) would require bodyguards for the rest of his life – but really – why haven’t the media woken up to the reality that gun owners, their kids, kill. Roads would be safer if nobody drove, there will always be an element who do not drive safety, and an element who have accidents, gun owners will always result in increased accidental deaths, in moments of insanity, in intentional acts, so
why should those spouses who are angry, get violent, allowed to keep their guns? Surely if any
good can come about from the tragedy, is that when a spouse cites abuse from their partner, any\guns in the house must be handed in to Police.
It runs much deeper/longer than than this govt VTO – But for those who pay attention, yes its becoming very blatant that NZ’s position as one the *perceived, least corrupt* nations, is the biggest lie attatched to NZ!
I do not believe that he has not a a better way of using Cunliffe’s talents.
David Shearer needs all talents available to him. Cunliffe has done suitable penance for the supposed misbehaviour. The continued sidelining is sending the wrong message to teh party and the public.
Shearer remains afraid of Cunliffe because he knows that he is up against a much better politician. In effect, what Shearer is so condescendingly saying now is “be a good little boy, obey your master implicitly, and one day (who knows when?) you will receive your reward”.
Sorry, I see no references to the fact that Shearer’s recent poll popularity stood at 10 re cent! I guess he hopes the new front bench will do it all for him.
lol
Oh, but Cunliffe was the picture of self-effacing nobility, wasn’t he? Never bucking or kicking out, certainly never threatening to bolt or throw the rider he was supposed to support, and yet Shearer brutally whipped him for no good reason! Terrible behaviour. /sarc
Now he’s a “strong horse” that needed skilled “handling”. Hmmm – the metaphors do shift a bit.
Sure there’s a change of narrative, and it depends on whether Shearer is a leader and a uniter, or whether he’s an overseer and an egomaniac. I’ll give you a clue, he’s been sold to us as the former not the latter.
The best leaders will use people with different skills then they possess themselves. Ooops, forgot – its kindergarten time and the fight for the favorite toy continues (place in the hierarchy).
He certainly was not going to challenge Shearer’s leadership at the conference and we do not know whether or not he would have done so at a later date. That would have depended upon his judgement of things on a number of levels. But get this McFlock. It is not outrageous that a party leader should be challenged. This happens from time to time. Leadership of a political party is not yours by right until you decide to relinquish it.
True enough, it is not outrageous that a leader should be challenged.
But there are ways of doing it, and other ways. For instances, spiking the keynote address at the annual conference with smug smiles and noncommittal answers as to whether the party leadership is stable, that was pretty outrageous to my mind. It was a bit like being in church while loudly planning a visit to a casino and brothel, and the relative merits and abilities of each professional. He couldn’t be a team player for even one weekend.
I agree that the best move would have been for shearer to publicly ask caucus to kick the february vote back to the new methodology. But a straight confidence vote was equally acceptable.
“…spiking the keynote address at the annual conference with smug smiles and noncommittal answers as to whether the party leadership is stable, that was pretty outrageous to my mind.”
As I understand it, Cunliffe did give support of the leader at the time. he simply refused to say how he would vote in a secret ballot 4 months in advance. He kept reiterating that it was a constitutional conference, not a leadership conference. He was effectively ambushed by media friends of the present regime. His refusal to buy into that line of questioning was then interpreted as an attempt to undermine the leader. What is outrageous is the framing of all this as an attempted coup so as to disadvantage a potential and legitimate competitor.
Watching it on telly hit me the other way. Ever hear of “damning with faint praise”? That in a nutshell. It was a party conference for fucksake. The one time of year that everybody needs to be a cheerleader to the public. And “ambushed” my arse – the definition of “ambush” is that you do’t know media will be there or asking. Again, party conference and he was the only other taker for the job.
It might not have been an “attempted coup” at the time, but it sure was a nice way to sabotage the conference. What is so difficult about “Shearer has my full support, and the full support of caucus”? How did the other supposed challengers deal with it, robertson etc?
I think that we have our positions and can only argue in circles McFlock, because neither of us are inclined to concede much ground. However, given that it was a constitutional conference, Cunliffe could have reasonably expected leadership questions to be easily brushed aside. And I do not think he sabotaged the conference. I think that senior caucus members decided that the conference was sabotaged because things did not go their way on the leadership election front.
Dunno about leadership opinions. But Cunliffe could have done his bit to brush aside the leadership questions. Or at least watched the news on day one, gone “oh shit” and issued an immediate clarification (even press complaint, if he was that badly misrepresented) once he saw the spin the journos were taking. Maybe arranged some buddy buddy things with shearer.
Most of the conference coverage was about cunliffe. He could at least have made it coverage about unity, not 3 months of internecine bickering to come. Basically, he should have done pretty much what he actually did just before the caucus confidence vote, but three months earlier.
He would probably agree with you, in the wisdom of hindsight. However, the media were after an A versus B story and would not have let up easily, whatever he had done.
aye, there’s a lot of hindsight at play in the entire year long situation – I’m not sure anyone except gower has come out of it without regret. And he should have, but I don’t think he believes he crossed the line between story reporting and story influencing.
Just listening to te national radio and the issue of building upgrade to earthquake standard right across the country. (firstly, an I told you so, predicted some moons ago post-Chch). The Councils and others are bleating baaah baah it costs too much…. without really thinking. Some anecdote from the depths of real Chch experience….
The buildings in Invercargill and Dunedin and Gore (and every single other comparable town in NZ) will collapse and kill people. Especially down south as more of them are unsupported masonry construction of a form.
What got people in Chch (other than the 2 major flawed building collapses CTV and PGC) were firstly verandahs and facades and secondly, rest of building.
What these Councils and building owners could should do is firstly support the verandahs. You know, those roofs that come off the buildings and extend over the footpaths. Support them, with posts or whatever. This is inexpenisve and easy. Most typical two storey old shop buildings could have this done in a weekend, it is that easy. Voila, lives saved already.
Second, the buildings that collapsed, collapsed outwards. Picture a box and then let the sides fall outwards and down. That is what happenned. So, second job is the facade, the wall that faces the street. This killed many people, including the ones in the buses. Strengthen the facade -a bigger job but still relatively minor compard to doing the whole building. This will save the most lives.
Third, the balance of the building. After step one in the first year, step two within five years, step three could take place in a timeframe after that.
Supporting the verandahs and the facades will save the vast bulk of lives when an earthquake (of mag 5 only imo) strikes at our small towns. This is cheap and easy. The balance of the building can come later.
As for paying for it – perhaps pick up on recent commentary around issuing zero-cost credit for new affordable homes to earthquake upgrade. Voila.
This is a truth. Verandahs and facades. In my opinion building owners should do this without even being required to do so, as it is easy and inexpensive and will save the most lives. Verandahs and facades.
In Christchurch we had six months between September and February. We didn’t do what was needed despite the graphic warning. The rest of the country has so far had a two year warning from an event that was even more graphic.
Establish a Govt Bond paying the going rate and than make that money available to owners for strengthening at 1%. Sure, it looks like a subsidy but the amount of extra tax generated ( wages, fuel, some materials, workers lunches and beers ) would easily cover the shortfall. Materials and labour costs are deductible of course but the increased value and rentals all add to the country’s wealth.
Adrian (assuming you are replying to post above), it is not a subsidy in the usual sense by any means. The works have a massive component of public good. Deeper analysis may reveal that the buildings will appreciate in value from their current position due to publicly funded works but that is, relatively, trifling. Or in reverse view – if the public want it done then the public have an obligation to assist in getting it done.
It’s a bit of a mix but crying “no money” is no excuse given the myriad means of resolution available over this issue.
… Imagine for a moment that another 7 or 8 mag quake is about to strike Southland tomorrow – what would our view then be if hundreds died, again, due to collapsed buildings? Buildings that could have been strengthened? I don’t think the public would be very happy….
Don’t need the government to issue bonds. Just have them create the money. In fact, the government issuing bonds just increases the rate of capital accumulation.
Stop building over three stories. Bexley the land sank & liquified, but central Chch is being pulled down because the higher buildings were harder hit. Economically a huge loss. I believe buildings really get moving between floors 3 and 6.
+1
Mike Williams has lost the facility of self awareness.
Sad at onlelevel, galling that he is on the payroll of the Party (Caucc) still.
Shearer, me thinks, still uses the 90s as his reference point.
He went away on his overseas gigs and lost touch with the changes.
The people and reference points he uses are actually 15ish years out of touch.
That explains to me why he thinks people like Mike Williams, Mike Smith, Tamihere, Jones, King, Mallard and Ian Fraser are current/connected/relevant.
The 16, 17, 18, 19 years olds who will vote for the first time in 2014 must be wondering where these dinosaurs came from.
That is why I’m unsettled by re-hiring King instead of re-instating Cunliffe, promoting Little and other fresh relevant talent.
There is something pre Clark about the profile Shearer has created!
Yeah the horrible thing is that mumblefuck and his careerist cohort could well lose the election for us. But we’re not meant to say anything because that might make him look bad. As if he needed our help!
the fish are escaping upstream to cooler, clearer water from the warm, salty Lake Ellesmere;
a goldfish in the brine?
Kia kaha Jack Makuku (ahhh, the T.A courthouse…) ftp (feed the people)
a quote from a local- “land of the long black retribution”.-Pat Magill
W.A bracing for a Rusty nailing at 250km/h while Ben Barba’s personal life (and challenges) are thrown to the Dogs.
sadly, The Private Lives of Medieval Kings from their Illuminated Manuscripts (some In Bruge) has concluded. Libraries give us power.
anyway “The greatest good you can do for another person is not just show them your riches-but reveal to them their own.” -Disraeli.
13:22: A poor mans field may produce abundant food, yet injustice sweeps it away
or, an oreo,
13:17: A wicked messenger falls into trouble Rumplestiltskin, yet a trustworthy envoy brings healing.
If the conduct was so appalling that a blood thirsty Pashtun like Karzi ordered them out the notion of what was actually going on makes me feel quite ill.
John Key wants NZ to be a place for wealthy people to retire and play golf and for them to not pay too much for gardeners and nannies and cleaners and film crew.
Some thoughts from today’s news.
If we had an upper house, which tends to attract the conservative person, wouldn’t we be worse off than now? This thought after seeing that Berlusconi’s party is strongest in Italy’s upper house and likely to be a negative force on assistance for the ordinary man/woman. The wealthy and powerful do band together successfully to ensure that any goodies are channelled through are directed to themselves. (Berlusconi being an old guy has who pots and has managed to get the laws changed so that he owns or has major interests across all media there. And I bet that’s just part of his power. It seems like democracy fostering the growth of a king.)
And climate. Where can I find discussion on cloud-seeding etc? Can anybody direct me. It seems that if clouds could be encouraged to drop volumes at sea, floods could be alleviated. I have seen pictures of USA planes that fly into storms with antennae poking out in front and this was decades ago. What has been found out that might aid the world? Might have to have a world treaty about it too, so that one region doesn’t steal the others’ rain.
Ain’t that the truth! Especially if you’re one of the ‘new-minority’: the ‘un-assimilated’.
People clamour to get there mainly due to economic benefit, but in so doing, the multicultural nature of Australia morphs into the bland with perhaps the only stark l’etranger being the tribal indigenous.
In the 60s (when once an OZ citizen), the only Aboriginees I saw were those I babysat as a college student during school holidays – down from Mildura. 40-45 years on, the ‘browning’ of OZ and inter-racial mixes are noticeable – such as Aboriginal with Philippino (the result of a mother HAVING to go on the game, and offspring living on the street).
[Incidently – that sort of thing is an inevitable consequence of Planet Key policies here in NZuld. Expect to see a more Maori/Indian mixes in the BOP/ChCh; various others elsewhere].
Hone was correct (re John Howard) – not much has changed in that regard except the veneer of “we’re all immigrants” (JUST SO LONG AS YOU DON’T ARRIVE BY BOAT; or ‘queue-jump’; OR you’re not one of those top-end useless bastards that cause the rest of us so much trouble.
@ CV: Indeed it ain’t gonna be so lucky in the next 20-30 years.
Watch ‘Pull Murray Live’ sometime on SKY 90 to see the level of delusion (you might have to over several days)
You do know I ‘spose… that they actually have a “Closing the Gaps” programme.
Christ! Where did I hear that before!
and worse than that: what a spectacular choice! – not unlike ours: Gillard versus Abbot – the regular gal versus the Kethlik Boy; Shearer versus Key: The good-natured, regular guy with supposed impressive CV, versus the ideologue, feintly fick, used-car-salesman, noice goi Key. Why even Peter Jackson can’t resist the Krusmah
If we had an upper house, which tends to attract the conservative person, wouldn’t we be worse off than now?
Yes, we would be. In a party dominated political system, which representative democracy will inevitably become, then each house will be dominated by a party or coalition of parties. When each house is dominated by parties which are opposed to each other then effective policy making goes out the window in favour of “compromise” deals that are far worse as the right-wing don’t compromise.
It seems like democracy fostering the growth of a king.
No, it’s not democracy doing that but capitalism. As the wealth is channeled into fewer hands the representatives start to represent the rich and powerful instead of the people. As this cycle repeats even more wealth and power goes into fewer and fewer hands. The inevitable result will be an authoritarian state followed by collapse.
Where can I find discussion on cloud-seeding etc?
I’ve heard that China does it occasionally but that it’s not really worth it due to cost.
ropata
Thanks. Should have asked wikipedia. Now I ought to ask wikileaks as to what secret planning is going on. There aren’t many bounds on inventive thinking by governments when it comes to wanting to dominate inner or outer space and the resources therein. They have spent plenty on tech to go to Mars, no prob finding money for that.
Agreed. ABout time the Judiciary actually stood up and called time! I suspect there are a few that think it’s long overdue. Time for them to call bluff
What would it mean for the left? By which I mean left. I guess it would put the current set-up to the test. Key at this time would probably want to win, since he has not completed his mission, so they would probably be faced with a battle rather than a shift change.
Should the Supreme Court decision find against the Government over the question of the prior held water rights of Maori on the Waikato river i would imagine that Slippery will fall all over his feet racing to offer $$$$’s to the various claimants,
i cannot see how the Supreme Court can find anything but Maori will be severely disadvantaged in negotiations over such prior-held water rights if the States assets spanning parts of that river are sold,
As the Government counsel at the Waitangi Tribunal hearing had prior to the Supreme Court being asked to rule had implicitly admitted these prior held Maori rights to this river and it’s waters then the only logical conclusion that can be drawn is that changing anything that could effect such claims until such time as these claims are quantified and settled must disadvantage the Maori claimants,
The reasoning behind this is simply that the State owned assets on the Waikato River are, while the State still has ownership of them, subject to the provisions of settlement of such Treaty of Waitangi claims, and if sold into private ownership they are not…
Contrary to the government’s assertion, none of this information is “commercially sensitive”. It is however politically sensitive, both for the government and for Jackson. But that’s not a good reason to keep it secret. They made their political bed, and now they get to lie in it.
the other version is that governments should be allowed to conspire with prominent individuals to degrade the rights of ordinary New Zealanders, and have such deals kept secret in case ordinary New Zealanders got upset about it.
I was more thinking that some foreign git was trying to jeopardize a major movie deal being filmed in NZ just so he could sign up some more actors and get some more money for his union…irrespective of what damage he was going to be doing
Jackson and the Hollywood studios ready to make hundreds of millions from the movies
But wanted even more subsidies from the NZ tax payer (Jackson who has already profited so much through NZ government activities at the start of his career)
And to stop NZ actors receiving the same benefits as the foreign actors working on the same set
Boy c73 man up please and stand for your fellow citizens OK, not for the elite?
As the actors already acknowledged Peter Jackson treated them well yet some fat aussie comes over looking to swell bank balance and you’ll fall over yourselves sucking up to him, maybe you should try standing up for your fellow citizens and not be duped by foreigners
Shame he didn’t target any of the other foreign productions but then that wouldn’t have given him as much publicity
Yeah, those workers who got jobs out of the production staying here lost out, right. And those taxpayers who didn’t get the GST that wouldn’t have come to us if Warners had pulled out as they were going to, right? And those taxpayers who saw all those other taxpayers working on the project paying tax. They were losers too right?
Yeah those “serfs” who earn five times the minimum wage when they’re extras. And those sparkies and chippies and plumbers who earn more building sets and lighting rigs on contract to the production than they get when building a house.
any residuals deal, now or in the future is run through NZ not Australia. the Australian union has nothing to do with any money generated in NZ, and NZ performers fees go back to the NZ performers union, Equity.actually the Australian union, after the NZ performers voted to merge with it in 2006/07 invested upwards of half a million dollars establishing the office and infrastructure (by infrastructure i mean the one person paid part-time to run admin for Actors Equity) in NZ.
It is nigh on impossible for any individual actor or their agent to run their own residuals deal. the formula for percentages is highly complicated and depends on size of role, screen time, time on set, status of performer and many others, the information required to assess when and how much of a residual the performer is due must come (more often be demanded from) from the studio in good faith, and to accomplish this the actor would most often have to hire a specialist lawyer who’s fee would take most of any remaining residual.
everywhere in the world actors residuals are handled by an organisation affiliated to the actors union or professional body.
additionally, once the residuals deal is sorted, and agreed, who are the producers to say how actors choose to administer that? surely it is the actors who should choose who and how their small slice of future profits is administered…
The little I’ve seen on TVNZ makes Jackson look utterly paranoid and disconnected from reality, although that was merely the line he was spinning to ensure his company didn’t have to pay local actors a decent wage. Luckily for Jackson he had a government department headed by a complete moron who can’t handle complex issues. Like say the positive impacts of higher wages on the NZ economy and government coffers i.e.more taxesss, less ACC costs due to one employer to deal with and workers with more disposable income to buy moar stuff etc.
Oh yeah, there’s only really one word to describe Jackson’s actions in a nutshell – “pathetic”.
Yea well… he is actually pathetic IMO. One of those pathetic of the male persuasion that seeks credibility (and their masculinity) in the arms of their beloved.
OOOOOh Franny Fran …. them union ppl are being mean to me!
There’s a Wairarapa castle that attests to it all.
Pratt with a capital P.
Draco, have been reading too.. It appears the govt at no stage spoke to or with anyone on the other side of the story. Jackson is passionate doesnt mean he is right about other people espesh when he perceives they threaten his toy
As the actors already acknowledged Peter Jackson treated them well yet some fat aussie comes over looking to swell his bank balance and you all fall over yourselves sucking up to him, maybe you should try standing up for your fellow citizens and not be duped by foreigners
Shame he didn’t target any of the other foreign productions but then that wouldn’t have given him as much publicity
Gawd Strewth!… I’m watching Cunliffe at the mo in Parly r mint Debates shovving it too the opposition with such force his colleagues could only dream of. Yet his dear leader doesn’t see reason to include him in anything meaningful.
Stance confirmed! Labour will not get my party vote.
Really, do you know how the Parliament works???, for Cunliffe to be on His feet questioning the Opposition he must have been allotted time via the Labour Whips office,
In other words the Hierarchy has deliberately given Cunliffe time to speak in the House, i know that’s not what you want to hear but that is the reality…
It is being reported on twitter that Louisa Wall has been removed from the Maori Affairs select committee by Shearer. Henare says she was not told beforehand.
If so this is a bad show. Wall is one of the best performing MPs that Labour has right now. Why would he do this?
Some more detail has come out and it is not so bad.
The Herald reports that “[s]he told the Herald that Labour is replacing her with Nanaia Mahuta, the former education spokeswoman, who is now the Maori development spokeswoman after yesterday’s reshuffle.
Louisa Wall, the MP for Manurewa, has become an associate health spokeswoman and will join Annette King on the health committee, which clashes with the Maori affairs committee. She had not realised until today she would have to move.”
Unfortunately not unprecedented (Parker replacing Cunliffe), so I sadly have to conclude that it’s sheer incompetence which Shearer’s office has no desire to actually address.
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama’s plan”.. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…. (substituting grades for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on) These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
Take this piece of wing-nut propaganda and shove it where the sun does not shine, this is simply tr**lling that has been used here over and over by the wing-nut fraternity and deserves no other answer than derision…
bad12 just to let you that someone posting something you don’t agree isn’t trolling, yes I know you don’t like it when someone offers a differing opinion but that still doesn’t make it trolling
some Pizza on the Q.T;
key-“potential for lignite dev. in NZ
English-‘SOE’s: prices to be revised downwards”
English-talk about extrapolating “increased PAYE to ” mean a whole lot of insulfluff!
Robertson-“net loss of 30,000 jobs; HLFS
concession to key; fudging and casualties aside, he is a “master of his universe” and that is observable
regrettably
though occasionally he gets hung on his own petard, particularly by WP or the “duck”
(Hipkins? w.a.p imo)
TFC-On The Border.
Cosgrove / Ryall: M of SOE’s “took steps in 2009”. Ryally?
(read a lot of “familiar” words in the MSM Paddy 😉 )
“if I were the President of this land, I’d declare War on The Pusher Man”
The Wolf bites back; Shiraz / Grenache, $7.48 (it’s criminal Ned)
wanna re-engrave His-story? siege-machines; manpower and cold steel over the wall.feel me.
consider “outclassed” putting it firmly and politely (mite goin check out you-know-WhO)
kinda’ like Martha Stewart.
meanwhile, back in the bay; Trials all gone to the Dogs (and we may have gone to spectate) due to Drought conditions Allied Farmers are in the drench.
Riddle Me Out On The Street Alistair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e80qhyovOnA
Carry On. as you were.
Variety is the spice of life, up to point, then it’s time to Settle Down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uxzw3mb6p4
(be good, and if you can’t be good, be safe, and if you can’t be safe, Name them after me) 🙂
Take Care out There Everybody, she’s a Hill Street Blues.
Bill from Dipton, ”Solid Energy is all Labour’s fault”,
Perlease cannot the Finance Minister either read or add 1 plus 1???,
id not the Finance minister notice that in September 2008 mere month’s befor He became Finance Minister the international price of coal dropped by a third from $150 a tonne to $111.50 a tonne,
Perhaps Bill from Dipton was too busy with the election at that time but only the dullest of knives in the draw could have failed to have noticed that the price of coal by October 2010, 2 years into this abysmal National Governments first term, the international price had dropped to $71.50 for a tonne of the black stuff,
That’s not a mistake and that along with this Governments failure to address the high NZ$ which has also served to help turn the States coal miner into a basket case can only be described as pig ignorance and a gross dereliction of the member from Dipton’s duty as the Finance Minister…
btw,
“push your old numbers
let your phone ring
It’s not this quiet
slide down your receiver
sprint across the wire
follow her number
slide into her hand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g26ed_ujqcM
(i take it from your whisper that you’re not that tough)
Debate in the House today included the second reading of the bill which extends the time that the Canterbury Region will be without an elected Governance structure as democracy according to the Slippery National Government is not a right but is granted upon the basis of their whim,
Included in the bill is further provision for Canterbury farmers to suck the life from the regions waterways with specific provision in part to of the Act denying anyone the right of appeal against such mis-use,
i have to wonder here how loud the screams of protest would be if the National Party were abolished by legislation of the next Parliament and specifically within such legislation denied any right of appeal,
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
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COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Maths and reporters clearly don’t mix.
State-owned Meridian Energy yesterday announced operating profit was down 6 per cent to $277.1 million for the December half year, and the underlying bottom line profit fell 11 per cent, excluding one-offs, to $88m.
Despite the lower underlying profit, Meridian declared a dividend of $99.8m to the Government, essentially all of its profits.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/8350206/Outcome-unclear-in-Meridians-Rio-Tinto-talks
Essentially all of it’s profits? I would suggest that paying 11.8 million more than the profit is quite a different picture than that.
Would be interesting to see a table of profit versus dividend for each of the SOE’s since National came in – and I don’t have any difficulty with it going back further to see if Labour behaved any differently.
In some respects if successive governments have been taking money out of these entities left right and centre then we shouldn’t be moaning too much about having to pay for infrastructure costs. Can’t have it both ways.
Scams like making one power company sell the other 300 million worth of equipment though and then pay that to the government are just a con. The state owns no more but now has $300 million dollars more debt which is off the governments books.
No, Labour weren’t any different. Despite the massive surpluses that they ran they still pulled massive dividends from the SOEs. Either they don’t realise that that profit should be used to upgrade the infrastructure or they just don’t care. For National, I figure it’s the latter – especially as they have to cover the holes in the budget created when they cut taxes for the rich.
It’s remi niscent of the asset stripping indulged in by Brierley et al. The government has finessed this approach in business to the public’s assets that then makes the govt appear as successful financial and economy dealers.
Key won power on selling assets, he inherited
solid Energy, which he planned to sell. Four?
years on solid Energy goes bust,despite him
endorsing lignite development, despite not
seeing a business plan, despite his hands
off approach to asset sales. Key doesn’t know
how much his government will sell them for,
oh but he loves lignite.
Help Steve Keen complete his Minsky Project to reform University taught economics
He’s made his initial fundraising target of US$50K but could easily use thousands more to refine the Minsky modelling system his team is developing.
With this software, central banks and academics the world over will finally have a tool which will let them model the financial economy in a realistic way, instead of using false neoliberal models which exclude the impact of money, banks and debt in the macroeconomy.
The sign up process to donate is a bit of a pain in the ass, but this project is so worthwhile I urge you to consider supporting it, even if you can only donate US$5 or US$20.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2123355930/minsky-reforming-economics-with-visual-monetary-mo
To learn more about Steve Keen’s debt deflation perspective, try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnwEGeMQRCs
A worthy cause indeed.
I’d be surprised if any organisation took it up by choice. The models they use are self-serving, so why would they change?
Government privatized the print press, allowing banks to increase gearing on deposits and starting the great leveraging boom. Now government globally are heavily restricting gearing and retaking the role of printer of money. National hate the idea that the peoples taxation should be used to control public money or its printing, since they made their fortune in sweet deals with government money and never understood why they got wealthy.
The reality is that self-serving models that have made many very wealthy are false economies, since they create calls on wealth the future, planet, climate, cannot supply. So its about when change comes, and just to be difficult or because they think their self-serving model of capitalism will rebound shortly, they’re for not considering one possible change in course.
Its all good, smile and wave, look no hands.
Well said…the financialised money flooding the world are calls on the future real wealth that the planet, the climate and that labour will never be able to supply.
There are going to be some very disappointed wealthy people out there, the further they push things in this way.
They are desperate not to be disappointed, thus they steal off with existing wealth.
Sell assets, lower wages, watch while prices rise and quality drops….
The giant vacuum cleaner, formally a trickle down now a massive suction machine misappropriating wealth from the poorest, the most powerless, the least connected.
+ a big kaleidoscope
“NHS everything for SALE; full privatisation revealed”
The Artistic taxi driver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t88Zr2KVwZw&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A&index=2
The same process is intended here. assets sales and welfare state demolition as far as they can get away with it. Until we’re financial serfs in our own country. 🙁
Absolute fucking drivel.
Protecting the nations assets absolutely fucking drivel? Yeah, a privateer would say that.
Ok so how many assets has Labour sold vs how many assets have National partially sold
Do you think you are being insightful by pointing out that the Labour Party launched the neoliberal shift of public assets to the wealthy and the rich, and that it continues to refuse to reverse almost all asset sales?
Smart man A+ for you dude
I’m pointing out that National are keeping majority ownership in the assets whereas the narrative coming from this site is that National is going to sell it all, which makes you all little scallywags
Mind you its also not bad to point out that Labour sold over 9 billion worth of assets without saying they would whereas National said they would partially privatize assets yet in two terms still haven’t
It’s not National or Labour who sell our stuff, it’s free-market neoliberals.
National is full of them. In the 80s Labour was full of them. By the 5th Labour govt not so much so as they’d mostly buggered off and formed ACT.
Still a few too many for there for my liking, and I’d have liked to have seen a lot more renationalisation from the 5th Labour govt, but that’s the right-wing revolution for you.
But this idea you’re pushing, that the current Labour party are some sort of threat to our assets, it’s a dog. And it can only bite those who do want to sell our stuff.
I don’t know, Kings been around for awhile, Mallards still there, Goffs still there and Shearer certainly has some good ideas in the area…
King Mallard and Goff were in govt for 9 years from 1999 to 2008.
What did they sell?
What have they said they’ll sell?
What indication of any sort do you have that they want to sell anything?
Are you at all serious about this? Because I’m starting to think I’m being pranked…
Seriously?
Phil Goff
Cabinet minister
Three years later, when Labour won the 1984 elections, Goff was elevated to Cabinet, becoming its youngest member. He served as Minister of Housing and Minister of Employment. After the 1987 elections, Goff dropped the Housing portfolio, but also became Minister of Youth Affairs and Minister of Tourism. Later, after a significant rearrangement of responsibilities, Goff became Minister of Education. In the disputes between Roger Douglas (the reformist Finance Minister) and other Labour MPs, Goff generally positioned himself on the side of Douglas, supporting deregulation and free trade.
Annette King
In the 1984 elections, she stood as the party’s candidate for Horowhenua, and was successful. She was re-elected in the 1987 election.
Trevor Mallard
Mallard joined the Labour Party in 1972, while still at university. He held a number of internal party positions until the election of 1984 when he was elected as the party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Hamilton West. Although he was re-elected in the 1987 elections, he lost his seat in the election of 1990.
Don’t think me thank wikipedia
Seriously?
Phil Goff
Cabinet minister
Three years later, when Labour won the 1984 elections, Goff was elevated to Cabinet, becoming its youngest member. He served as Minister of Housing and Minister of Employment. After the 1987 elections, Goff dropped the Housing portfolio, but also became Minister of Youth Affairs and Minister of Tourism. Later, after a significant rearrangement of responsibilities, Goff became Minister of Education. In the disputes between Roger Douglas (the reformist Finance Minister) and other Labour MPs, Goff generally positioned himself on the side of Douglas, supporting deregulation and free trade.
Annette King
In the 1984 elections, she stood as the party’s candidate for Horowhenua, and was successful. She was re-elected in the 1987 election.
Trevor Mallard
Mallard joined the Labour Party in 1972, while still at university. He held a number of internal party positions until the election of 1984 when he was elected as the party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Hamilton West. Although he was re-elected in the 1987 elections, he lost his seat in the election of 1990.
Don’t thank me thank wikipedia
yes.
They learned at least some lessons from the fuckup that was rogernomics – what did they sell 1999-2008?
Key is following 200 year old out of context principles to repeat 30 year old mistakes.
crihs73 pls
I’m pretty sure that, if they thought that they could get away with it, they’d have sold the whole lot. In fact, I’m still of the opinion that they’ll sell 50% now and their next time that they’re in government they’ll sell the rest if the next left government doesn’t renationalise them.
Well what you think is all well and good but we can only go what they say and on this subject National have kept their word though I would like them to speed things up a bit
What they don’t sell, they destroy: solid energy, NZRail. Although one could argue that Hillside Workshops is an asset strip and sale, too.
Most people wish they wouldn’t
Stop positioning their destruction of NZ assets as some kind of sick virtue
National keeping their word is not something anyone would be wise to place much reliance on. I remember thinking this when the tax cuts came and everybody wasn’t better off and gst was increased. I had a vague idea Jonkey had given people the impression he wouldn’t raise gst during the slick and devious con job that was his first election campaign. Folk here have been pointing out numerous examples of how reliable Jonkey’s word is. It’s about as reliable as his memory when he gets caught out telling porkies.
Yes, you are right – the “old” brigade that knifed Mr Lange in the back is still there. Many, like me, who remember will not vote for labour because of their nasty school yard bullying ways. However, this does not mean that one shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
National has so far shown the same and worse. Mrs Richardson budget comes to mind and man, was that something else. Actually, I belief NZ has never really recovered from this purist capitalist approach. To many casualties, far too many people left in he dust. What an anti social approach in a so called western democracy. So in my opinion, National with their past and recent record do not seem to have a smart and inclusive plan for the future of NZ. The only party that has no negative ballast, is conservatively positive and mindful of the social effect of their policies is currently the Green Party.
Sorry, should read:
this does not mean that one should throw the baby out with the bath water.
c73aiD
You are naive about business if you think that having a majority automatically means that shareholder has control of it.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/government/assets/saleshistory
Go and educate yourself
Didn’t know Warren Buffet bought some…well, well, well
Have you watched the video link ?
Hi higherstandard
You should rename yourself as deludedstandard. You haven’t a clue what’s happening in the World.
Looking at the new shadow Cabernet put out by Labour, I ask the question what’s in it for the Greens if a coalition Government is formed after the next election.
At first blush I can see the role of Transport Minister going the Greens way. A good move if this transpires as the Greens are suitably qualified both in driving a clear vision in Transport and a well credentialed Genter to front this role.
What say you on this and other postings?
* Cabinet
Chris Trotter’s piece in te paper this morning hits the nail on the head.
New Zealand is corrupt.
The New Zealand government is corrupt.
The only reason we record “least corrupt country” is because we refuse to see it or acknowledge it. Because we are, in this sense, a hick town. The evidence is right there in front of us – most recently with the Skycity corruption and our PM John Key. So blatant and up front that even Key probably doesn’t recognise what he has done (Key may be sharp and witty in real life, but ffs he is one shallow arsehole). Then we could look at the Canterbury dictatorship and theft of natural resources by David Carter and others.
David Carter is corrupt. John Key is corrupt.
The New Zealand government is corrupt.
+1
Took me a while to realise that but, yeah, once you start to see it becomes obvious fairly quickly.
Nobody is going to go to jail for CCTV building. It should not have been built, it wasn’t inspected properly, and then to cap it off it was fully tenanted after the first 7.2? Earthquake when geologists know increase chances of aftershocks of size 6 are possible.
Sorry, I need to get this other thing out of my head. If you shoot a person, you can’t see, whose making a noise on the behind the toilet door, maybe on the toilet, it has to be murder or insanity. I get its S.A and the endemic gun crime, and how not letting ever own a gun again (if insanity) would require bodyguards for the rest of his life – but really – why haven’t the media woken up to the reality that gun owners, their kids, kill. Roads would be safer if nobody drove, there will always be an element who do not drive safety, and an element who have accidents, gun owners will always result in increased accidental deaths, in moments of insanity, in intentional acts, so
why should those spouses who are angry, get violent, allowed to keep their guns? Surely if any
good can come about from the tragedy, is that when a spouse cites abuse from their partner, any\guns in the house must be handed in to Police.
It runs much deeper/longer than than this govt VTO – But for those who pay attention, yes its becoming very blatant that NZ’s position as one the *perceived, least corrupt* nations, is the biggest lie attatched to NZ!
outa sight
link pse ?
Here you go.
There must be something more to Shearer’s plan.
I do not believe that he has not a a better way of using Cunliffe’s talents.
David Shearer needs all talents available to him. Cunliffe has done suitable penance for the supposed misbehaviour. The continued sidelining is sending the wrong message to teh party and the public.
Shearer remains afraid of Cunliffe because he knows that he is up against a much better politician. In effect, what Shearer is so condescendingly saying now is “be a good little boy, obey your master implicitly, and one day (who knows when?) you will receive your reward”.
Sorry, I see no references to the fact that Shearer’s recent poll popularity stood at 10 re cent! I guess he hopes the new front bench will do it all for him.
Doing a Blair/Gordon Brown you mean?
“up against a much better politician”?
But Cunliffe was never going to challenge Shearer’s leadership, so Shearer’s vicious treatment of Cunliffe was completely unprovoked… /sarc
Leaders who can’t handle a stable of strong horses without putting some down aren’t really leaders, are they.
lol
Oh, but Cunliffe was the picture of self-effacing nobility, wasn’t he? Never bucking or kicking out, certainly never threatening to bolt or throw the rider he was supposed to support, and yet Shearer brutally whipped him for no good reason! Terrible behaviour. /sarc
Now he’s a “strong horse” that needed skilled “handling”. Hmmm – the metaphors do shift a bit.
Sure there’s a change of narrative, and it depends on whether Shearer is a leader and a uniter, or whether he’s an overseer and an egomaniac. I’ll give you a clue, he’s been sold to us as the former not the latter.
So let’s fucking see it.
We might have done, depending on whether Cunliffe was divisive or not.
the 5th labour; clean the Augean Stables
The best leaders will use people with different skills then they possess themselves. Ooops, forgot – its kindergarten time and the fight for the favorite toy continues (place in the hierarchy).
He certainly was not going to challenge Shearer’s leadership at the conference and we do not know whether or not he would have done so at a later date. That would have depended upon his judgement of things on a number of levels. But get this McFlock. It is not outrageous that a party leader should be challenged. This happens from time to time. Leadership of a political party is not yours by right until you decide to relinquish it.
Shearer should have been confident in his caucus numbers and the votes from the membership and affiliates.
He clearly wasn’t.
True enough, it is not outrageous that a leader should be challenged.
But there are ways of doing it, and other ways. For instances, spiking the keynote address at the annual conference with smug smiles and noncommittal answers as to whether the party leadership is stable, that was pretty outrageous to my mind. It was a bit like being in church while loudly planning a visit to a casino and brothel, and the relative merits and abilities of each professional. He couldn’t be a team player for even one weekend.
I agree that the best move would have been for shearer to publicly ask caucus to kick the february vote back to the new methodology. But a straight confidence vote was equally acceptable.
“…spiking the keynote address at the annual conference with smug smiles and noncommittal answers as to whether the party leadership is stable, that was pretty outrageous to my mind.”
As I understand it, Cunliffe did give support of the leader at the time. he simply refused to say how he would vote in a secret ballot 4 months in advance. He kept reiterating that it was a constitutional conference, not a leadership conference. He was effectively ambushed by media friends of the present regime. His refusal to buy into that line of questioning was then interpreted as an attempt to undermine the leader. What is outrageous is the framing of all this as an attempted coup so as to disadvantage a potential and legitimate competitor.
Watching it on telly hit me the other way. Ever hear of “damning with faint praise”? That in a nutshell. It was a party conference for fucksake. The one time of year that everybody needs to be a cheerleader to the public. And “ambushed” my arse – the definition of “ambush” is that you do’t know media will be there or asking. Again, party conference and he was the only other taker for the job.
It might not have been an “attempted coup” at the time, but it sure was a nice way to sabotage the conference. What is so difficult about “Shearer has my full support, and the full support of caucus”? How did the other supposed challengers deal with it, robertson etc?
I think that we have our positions and can only argue in circles McFlock, because neither of us are inclined to concede much ground. However, given that it was a constitutional conference, Cunliffe could have reasonably expected leadership questions to be easily brushed aside. And I do not think he sabotaged the conference. I think that senior caucus members decided that the conference was sabotaged because things did not go their way on the leadership election front.
Dunno about leadership opinions. But Cunliffe could have done his bit to brush aside the leadership questions. Or at least watched the news on day one, gone “oh shit” and issued an immediate clarification (even press complaint, if he was that badly misrepresented) once he saw the spin the journos were taking. Maybe arranged some buddy buddy things with shearer.
Most of the conference coverage was about cunliffe. He could at least have made it coverage about unity, not 3 months of internecine bickering to come. Basically, he should have done pretty much what he actually did just before the caucus confidence vote, but three months earlier.
He would probably agree with you, in the wisdom of hindsight. However, the media were after an A versus B story and would not have let up easily, whatever he had done.
aye, there’s a lot of hindsight at play in the entire year long situation – I’m not sure anyone except gower has come out of it without regret. And he should have, but I don’t think he believes he crossed the line between story reporting and story influencing.
Just listening to te national radio and the issue of building upgrade to earthquake standard right across the country. (firstly, an I told you so, predicted some moons ago post-Chch). The Councils and others are bleating baaah baah it costs too much…. without really thinking. Some anecdote from the depths of real Chch experience….
The buildings in Invercargill and Dunedin and Gore (and every single other comparable town in NZ) will collapse and kill people. Especially down south as more of them are unsupported masonry construction of a form.
What got people in Chch (other than the 2 major flawed building collapses CTV and PGC) were firstly verandahs and facades and secondly, rest of building.
What these Councils and building owners could should do is firstly support the verandahs. You know, those roofs that come off the buildings and extend over the footpaths. Support them, with posts or whatever. This is inexpenisve and easy. Most typical two storey old shop buildings could have this done in a weekend, it is that easy. Voila, lives saved already.
Second, the buildings that collapsed, collapsed outwards. Picture a box and then let the sides fall outwards and down. That is what happenned. So, second job is the facade, the wall that faces the street. This killed many people, including the ones in the buses. Strengthen the facade -a bigger job but still relatively minor compard to doing the whole building. This will save the most lives.
Third, the balance of the building. After step one in the first year, step two within five years, step three could take place in a timeframe after that.
Supporting the verandahs and the facades will save the vast bulk of lives when an earthquake (of mag 5 only imo) strikes at our small towns. This is cheap and easy. The balance of the building can come later.
As for paying for it – perhaps pick up on recent commentary around issuing zero-cost credit for new affordable homes to earthquake upgrade. Voila.
This is a truth. Verandahs and facades. In my opinion building owners should do this without even being required to do so, as it is easy and inexpensive and will save the most lives. Verandahs and facades.
+1 Couldn’t agree more.
smart and focussed
wished our pollies could be half as lucid
Very good suggestion.
In Christchurch we had six months between September and February. We didn’t do what was needed despite the graphic warning. The rest of the country has so far had a two year warning from an event that was even more graphic.
The clock is ticking.
Establish a Govt Bond paying the going rate and than make that money available to owners for strengthening at 1%. Sure, it looks like a subsidy but the amount of extra tax generated ( wages, fuel, some materials, workers lunches and beers ) would easily cover the shortfall. Materials and labour costs are deductible of course but the increased value and rentals all add to the country’s wealth.
Adrian (assuming you are replying to post above), it is not a subsidy in the usual sense by any means. The works have a massive component of public good. Deeper analysis may reveal that the buildings will appreciate in value from their current position due to publicly funded works but that is, relatively, trifling. Or in reverse view – if the public want it done then the public have an obligation to assist in getting it done.
It’s a bit of a mix but crying “no money” is no excuse given the myriad means of resolution available over this issue.
… Imagine for a moment that another 7 or 8 mag quake is about to strike Southland tomorrow – what would our view then be if hundreds died, again, due to collapsed buildings? Buildings that could have been strengthened? I don’t think the public would be very happy….
many landlords / commercial property investors “crying no money” apparently
review the building stock across the entire country and dynamite any that aren’t up to code
The direct method. I like it.
Or, just nationalise the buildings at scrap value and upgrade them to full strength, and turn them into low cost socialised apartments.
Don’t need the government to issue bonds. Just have them create the money. In fact, the government issuing bonds just increases the rate of capital accumulation.
Stop building over three stories. Bexley the land sank & liquified, but central Chch is being pulled down because the higher buildings were harder hit. Economically a huge loss. I believe buildings really get moving between floors 3 and 6.
Easy to build 30 story buildings with no problems with earthquakes of course.
NZ pioneered some of the technology
We just wanna do everything on the cheap cutting corners.
Mike Williams on RadioNZ says that John Armstrong is ‘the guru of political commentary in NZ’.
Fuck off, Mike.
+1
Mike Williams has lost the facility of self awareness.
Sad at onlelevel, galling that he is on the payroll of the Party (Caucc) still.
Shearer, me thinks, still uses the 90s as his reference point.
He went away on his overseas gigs and lost touch with the changes.
The people and reference points he uses are actually 15ish years out of touch.
That explains to me why he thinks people like Mike Williams, Mike Smith, Tamihere, Jones, King, Mallard and Ian Fraser are current/connected/relevant.
The 16, 17, 18, 19 years olds who will vote for the first time in 2014 must be wondering where these dinosaurs came from.
That is why I’m unsettled by re-hiring King instead of re-instating Cunliffe, promoting Little and other fresh relevant talent.
There is something pre Clark about the profile Shearer has created!
Wrong direction boys and girls!
Indeed, it’s pretty laughable. Let’s do the Time Warp.
It’s not just a jump to the left.
More like a step to the right.
Yeah the horrible thing is that mumblefuck and his careerist cohort could well lose the election for us. But we’re not meant to say anything because that might make him look bad. As if he needed our help!
He can’t lose the election “for us” if he’s not actually acting on our behalf.
The real guru should be the ever-persevering John Minto, but I fear he is hated for his honesty.
good old Ak aye; a brighter future eh?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10867719
the fish are escaping upstream to cooler, clearer water from the warm, salty Lake Ellesmere;
a goldfish in the brine?
Kia kaha Jack Makuku (ahhh, the T.A courthouse…) ftp (feed the people)
a quote from a local- “land of the long black retribution”.-Pat Magill
W.A bracing for a Rusty nailing at 250km/h while Ben Barba’s personal life (and challenges) are thrown to the Dogs.
sadly, The Private Lives of Medieval Kings from their Illuminated Manuscripts (some In Bruge) has concluded. Libraries give us power.
anyway “The greatest good you can do for another person is not just show them your riches-but reveal to them their own.” -Disraeli.
13:22: A poor mans field may produce abundant food, yet injustice sweeps it away
or, an oreo,
13:17: A wicked messenger falls into trouble Rumplestiltskin, yet a trustworthy envoy brings healing.
John Key is a cunt.
nah, if he’s a bodily organ he’s an arsehole.
Used as a disparaging term for a person one dislikes or finds extremely disagreeable.
This is the meaning I intended.
Freud would write a book about it. Probably did.
Personally, I think you malign one of the most agreeable bits of anatomy around.
You’re a dick.
Also not very comparable to John Key, given that my dick gives me immense amounts of pleasure, where as John Key is just a pain in the arse.
It seems like there is a shuffle of ideas in that sentence that I am assuming you would not be in to, McFlock
🙂
The speech from Team America World Police. At the end… you know the great one.
http://youtu.be/32iCWzpDpKs
So we wonder if the rumours are right around Hawkins following Mainzeal down the dunny ……
wouldn’t the consequences be something ….
some “wishful” chinking
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10867690
If the conduct was so appalling that a blood thirsty Pashtun like Karzi ordered them out the notion of what was actually going on makes me feel quite ill.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/24/17076037-afghan-president-orders-us-forces-out-of-key-province?lite
here we go again?
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/israel-fears-new-palestinian-uprising-could-erupt
fittin’ the Battle of Jericho (“and the walls, came tumblin’ tumblin'”; Mother do you think they’ll drop the bomb…mother will they put thee in the firin’ line…ooh baby, ooh baby baby, momma’s gonna make all of your nightmares come true!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matriarchy
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10867876
seriously ? 25c per hour increase min wage ? can’t think of how these Gnats could be more callous or inept or corrupt.
John Key wants NZ to be a place for wealthy people to retire and play golf and for them to not pay too much for gardeners and nannies and cleaners and film crew.
I’m expecting a bigger rise in election year…possibly even to $14.50/hr
Yes, yeshe, “seriously” – it is tempting to think it a shocking attempt at a joke.
I thought it was a typo when I read the headline ….
Some thoughts from today’s news.
If we had an upper house, which tends to attract the conservative person, wouldn’t we be worse off than now? This thought after seeing that Berlusconi’s party is strongest in Italy’s upper house and likely to be a negative force on assistance for the ordinary man/woman. The wealthy and powerful do band together successfully to ensure that any goodies are channelled through are directed to themselves. (Berlusconi being an old guy has who pots and has managed to get the laws changed so that he owns or has major interests across all media there. And I bet that’s just part of his power. It seems like democracy fostering the growth of a king.)
And climate. Where can I find discussion on cloud-seeding etc? Can anybody direct me. It seems that if clouds could be encouraged to drop volumes at sea, floods could be alleviated. I have seen pictures of USA planes that fly into storms with antennae poking out in front and this was decades ago. What has been found out that might aid the world? Might have to have a world treaty about it too, so that one region doesn’t steal the others’ rain.
Australia ain’t gonna be so lucky in the next 20-30 years.
Ain’t that the truth! Especially if you’re one of the ‘new-minority’: the ‘un-assimilated’.
People clamour to get there mainly due to economic benefit, but in so doing, the multicultural nature of Australia morphs into the bland with perhaps the only stark l’etranger being the tribal indigenous.
In the 60s (when once an OZ citizen), the only Aboriginees I saw were those I babysat as a college student during school holidays – down from Mildura. 40-45 years on, the ‘browning’ of OZ and inter-racial mixes are noticeable – such as Aboriginal with Philippino (the result of a mother HAVING to go on the game, and offspring living on the street).
[Incidently – that sort of thing is an inevitable consequence of Planet Key policies here in NZuld. Expect to see a more Maori/Indian mixes in the BOP/ChCh; various others elsewhere].
Hone was correct (re John Howard) – not much has changed in that regard except the veneer of “we’re all immigrants” (JUST SO LONG AS YOU DON’T ARRIVE BY BOAT; or ‘queue-jump’; OR you’re not one of those top-end useless bastards that cause the rest of us so much trouble.
@ CV: Indeed it ain’t gonna be so lucky in the next 20-30 years.
Watch ‘Pull Murray Live’ sometime on SKY 90 to see the level of delusion (you might have to over several days)
You do know I ‘spose… that they actually have a “Closing the Gaps” programme.
Christ! Where did I hear that before!
and worse than that: what a spectacular choice! – not unlike ours: Gillard versus Abbot – the regular gal versus the Kethlik Boy; Shearer versus Key: The good-natured, regular guy with supposed impressive CV, versus the ideologue, feintly fick, used-car-salesman, noice goi Key. Why even Peter Jackson can’t resist the Krusmah
great doco ’bout “assimilation” on Maori TV last evening
Yes, we would be. In a party dominated political system, which representative democracy will inevitably become, then each house will be dominated by a party or coalition of parties. When each house is dominated by parties which are opposed to each other then effective policy making goes out the window in favour of “compromise” deals that are far worse as the right-wing don’t compromise.
No, it’s not democracy doing that but capitalism. As the wealth is channeled into fewer hands the representatives start to represent the rich and powerful instead of the people. As this cycle repeats even more wealth and power goes into fewer and fewer hands. The inevitable result will be an authoritarian state followed by collapse.
I’ve heard that China does it occasionally but that it’s not really worth it due to cost.
@noseviper
There are some wacky schemes outlined in wikipedia’s list of geoengineering proposals.
ropata
Thanks. Should have asked wikipedia. Now I ought to ask wikileaks as to what secret planning is going on. There aren’t many bounds on inventive thinking by governments when it comes to wanting to dominate inner or outer space and the resources therein. They have spent plenty on tech to go to Mars, no prob finding money for that.
Apparently, Key isn’t ruling out a snap election if the court’s decision on water rights this week does not go his way.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/398717084-key-not-ruling-out-snap-election-over-water-rights
This’ll be very interesting
the PM not so subtly putting pressure on the judiciary too
Agreed. ABout time the Judiciary actually stood up and called time! I suspect there are a few that think it’s long overdue. Time for them to call bluff
What would it mean for the left? By which I mean left. I guess it would put the current set-up to the test. Key at this time would probably want to win, since he has not completed his mission, so they would probably be faced with a battle rather than a shift change.
Should the Supreme Court decision find against the Government over the question of the prior held water rights of Maori on the Waikato river i would imagine that Slippery will fall all over his feet racing to offer $$$$’s to the various claimants,
i cannot see how the Supreme Court can find anything but Maori will be severely disadvantaged in negotiations over such prior-held water rights if the States assets spanning parts of that river are sold,
As the Government counsel at the Waitangi Tribunal hearing had prior to the Supreme Court being asked to rule had implicitly admitted these prior held Maori rights to this river and it’s waters then the only logical conclusion that can be drawn is that changing anything that could effect such claims until such time as these claims are quantified and settled must disadvantage the Maori claimants,
The reasoning behind this is simply that the State owned assets on the Waikato River are, while the State still has ownership of them, subject to the provisions of settlement of such Treaty of Waitangi claims, and if sold into private ownership they are not…
And then we would be rewarded with Shearer as P.M. Oh, my God, if people will not vote Green, what a fix we are in!
Well, that would be the end of this government. Would be interesting to see what we get if he does call a snap election.
The Hobbit Files have been released:
Thats one view of it
the other version is that governments should be allowed to conspire with prominent individuals to degrade the rights of ordinary New Zealanders, and have such deals kept secret in case ordinary New Zealanders got upset about it.
I was more thinking that some foreign git was trying to jeopardize a major movie deal being filmed in NZ just so he could sign up some more actors and get some more money for his union…irrespective of what damage he was going to be doing
lol boy you are gullible
Jackson and the Hollywood studios ready to make hundreds of millions from the movies
But wanted even more subsidies from the NZ tax payer (Jackson who has already profited so much through NZ government activities at the start of his career)
And to stop NZ actors receiving the same benefits as the foreign actors working on the same set
Boy c73 man up please and stand for your fellow citizens OK, not for the elite?
As the actors already acknowledged Peter Jackson treated them well yet some fat aussie comes over looking to swell bank balance and you’ll fall over yourselves sucking up to him, maybe you should try standing up for your fellow citizens and not be duped by foreigners
Shame he didn’t target any of the other foreign productions but then that wouldn’t have given him as much publicity
Someones bank balances was swollen by this incident certainly.
Peter Jackson’s. And some Hollywood moguls.
The losers: workers and the NZ tax payer.
Yeah, those workers who got jobs out of the production staying here lost out, right. And those taxpayers who didn’t get the GST that wouldn’t have come to us if Warners had pulled out as they were going to, right? And those taxpayers who saw all those other taxpayers working on the project paying tax. They were losers too right?
Yep. Jackson reduced them to serfs without union protection.
The same union protection he likes to enjoy himself, and which he allows foreign actors (but not NZ actors) to enjoy.
Yeah those “serfs” who earn five times the minimum wage when they’re extras. And those sparkies and chippies and plumbers who earn more building sets and lighting rigs on contract to the production than they get when building a house.
And are forbidden by their paymasters from forming a union to negotiate their pay and conditions, yes.
you do realise that one persons opinion of another doesnt equal facty things dont you?
you do realise that one persons opinion of another doesnt equal facty things dont you?
Chris, that’s not the way it works.
any residuals deal, now or in the future is run through NZ not Australia. the Australian union has nothing to do with any money generated in NZ, and NZ performers fees go back to the NZ performers union, Equity.actually the Australian union, after the NZ performers voted to merge with it in 2006/07 invested upwards of half a million dollars establishing the office and infrastructure (by infrastructure i mean the one person paid part-time to run admin for Actors Equity) in NZ.
It is nigh on impossible for any individual actor or their agent to run their own residuals deal. the formula for percentages is highly complicated and depends on size of role, screen time, time on set, status of performer and many others, the information required to assess when and how much of a residual the performer is due must come (more often be demanded from) from the studio in good faith, and to accomplish this the actor would most often have to hire a specialist lawyer who’s fee would take most of any remaining residual.
everywhere in the world actors residuals are handled by an organisation affiliated to the actors union or professional body.
additionally, once the residuals deal is sorted, and agreed, who are the producers to say how actors choose to administer that? surely it is the actors who should choose who and how their small slice of future profits is administered…
Yes but it’s not unusual for tories to want to negotiate both sides of a deal.
The little I’ve seen on TVNZ makes Jackson look utterly paranoid and disconnected from reality, although that was merely the line he was spinning to ensure his company didn’t have to pay local actors a decent wage. Luckily for Jackson he had a government department headed by a complete moron who can’t handle complex issues. Like say the positive impacts of higher wages on the NZ economy and government coffers i.e.more taxesss, less ACC costs due to one employer to deal with and workers with more disposable income to buy moar stuff etc.
Oh yeah, there’s only really one word to describe Jackson’s actions in a nutshell – “pathetic”.
Yea well… he is actually pathetic IMO. One of those pathetic of the male persuasion that seeks credibility (and their masculinity) in the arms of their beloved.
OOOOOh Franny Fran …. them union ppl are being mean to me!
There’s a Wairarapa castle that attests to it all.
Pratt with a capital P.
Draco, have been reading too.. It appears the govt at no stage spoke to or with anyone on the other side of the story. Jackson is passionate doesnt mean he is right about other people espesh when he perceives they threaten his toy
Better hope theres a smoking gun…people supported The Hobbit and they don’t forget
They should have supported NZ actors receiving the same protections and union membership as foreign actors
As the actors already acknowledged Peter Jackson treated them well yet some fat aussie comes over looking to swell his bank balance and you all fall over yourselves sucking up to him, maybe you should try standing up for your fellow citizens and not be duped by foreigners
Shame he didn’t target any of the other foreign productions but then that wouldn’t have given him as much publicity
What the hell is this tr**lling doing here,making the same comment numerous times is not debate…
bda12 pls…
It is interesting that when National supporters claim that we are providing misinformation, they never specify what it is. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/blind-support-for-failing-government.html
Gawd Strewth!… I’m watching Cunliffe at the mo in Parly r mint Debates shovving it too the opposition with such force his colleagues could only dream of. Yet his dear leader doesn’t see reason to include him in anything meaningful.
Stance confirmed! Labour will not get my party vote.
Really, do you know how the Parliament works???, for Cunliffe to be on His feet questioning the Opposition he must have been allotted time via the Labour Whips office,
In other words the Hierarchy has deliberately given Cunliffe time to speak in the House, i know that’s not what you want to hear but that is the reality…
It is being reported on twitter that Louisa Wall has been removed from the Maori Affairs select committee by Shearer. Henare says she was not told beforehand.
If so this is a bad show. Wall is one of the best performing MPs that Labour has right now. Why would he do this?
IF this is true, then the spitefulness of the Shearer/Robertson camp knows no bounds. Who’d they put on instead – Shane Jones?
Some more detail has come out and it is not so bad.
The Herald reports that “[s]he told the Herald that Labour is replacing her with Nanaia Mahuta, the former education spokeswoman, who is now the Maori development spokeswoman after yesterday’s reshuffle.
Louisa Wall, the MP for Manurewa, has become an associate health spokeswoman and will join Annette King on the health committee, which clashes with the Maori affairs committee. She had not realised until today she would have to move.”
Whew. A shift sideways; just sounds like some communications issues which could have been handled a bit better.
Unfortunately not unprecedented (Parker replacing Cunliffe), so I sadly have to conclude that it’s sheer incompetence which Shearer’s office has no desire to actually address.
Something for the lefties:
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama’s plan”.. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…. (substituting grades for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on) These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
Take this piece of wing-nut propaganda and shove it where the sun does not shine, this is simply tr**lling that has been used here over and over by the wing-nut fraternity and deserves no other answer than derision…
bad12 just to let you that someone posting something you don’t agree isn’t trolling, yes I know you don’t like it when someone offers a differing opinion but that still doesn’t make it trolling
Silly silly douche, don’t you realise google is so totes easy to use to cluebat/fact check with?:
http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/socialism.asp
Downloading stuff via steam seems to stuff up the comment editor, anyhow:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×6117657
trololololol, turns out the basic premise was also in the doorstop/toilet paper known as Atlas Shrugged.
It seems you have no idea what “wealth” and “prosperity” actually are. Clue: its not the printed linen put out by the Federal Reserve.
some Pizza on the Q.T;
key-“potential for lignite dev. in NZ
English-‘SOE’s: prices to be revised downwards”
English-talk about extrapolating “increased PAYE to ” mean a whole lot of insulfluff!
Robertson-“net loss of 30,000 jobs; HLFS
concession to key; fudging and casualties aside, he is a “master of his universe” and that is observable
regrettably
though occasionally he gets hung on his own petard, particularly by WP or the “duck”
(Hipkins? w.a.p imo)
TFC-On The Border.
Cosgrove / Ryall: M of SOE’s “took steps in 2009”. Ryally?
Mojo-“Kiwi Rail cutting 2-300M 2013-2015
Horan-Ambulance Chasing (suplise suplise)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163988/
Bringing Out The Dead
or Leaving Las Vegas
(read a lot of “familiar” words in the MSM Paddy 😉 )
“if I were the President of this land, I’d declare War on The Pusher Man”
The Wolf bites back; Shiraz / Grenache, $7.48 (it’s criminal Ned)
wanna re-engrave His-story? siege-machines; manpower and cold steel over the wall.feel me.
consider “outclassed” putting it firmly and politely (mite goin check out you-know-WhO)
kinda’ like Martha Stewart.
meanwhile, back in the bay; Trials all gone to the Dogs (and we may have gone to spectate) due to Drought conditions Allied Farmers are in the drench.
Riddle Me Out On The Street Alistair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e80qhyovOnA
Carry On. as you were.
I have an edit button.
Thank you very much.
use it or lose it
Of course it didn’t work, not bringing up my comment to edit, but it’s nice to have it all the same.
“use it or lose it”
The curse of married men everywhere.
Variety is the spice of life, up to point, then it’s time to Settle Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uxzw3mb6p4
(be good, and if you can’t be good, be safe, and if you can’t be safe, Name them after me) 🙂
Take Care out There Everybody, she’s a Hill Street Blues.
Apparently, the agency did tell me it was a solo mission before I signed up.
“be good”
Sage.
Bill from Dipton, ”Solid Energy is all Labour’s fault”,
Perlease cannot the Finance Minister either read or add 1 plus 1???,
id not the Finance minister notice that in September 2008 mere month’s befor He became Finance Minister the international price of coal dropped by a third from $150 a tonne to $111.50 a tonne,
Perhaps Bill from Dipton was too busy with the election at that time but only the dullest of knives in the draw could have failed to have noticed that the price of coal by October 2010, 2 years into this abysmal National Governments first term, the international price had dropped to $71.50 for a tonne of the black stuff,
That’s not a mistake and that along with this Governments failure to address the high NZ$ which has also served to help turn the States coal miner into a basket case can only be described as pig ignorance and a gross dereliction of the member from Dipton’s duty as the Finance Minister…
btw,
“push your old numbers
let your phone ring
It’s not this quiet
slide down your receiver
sprint across the wire
follow her number
slide into her hand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g26ed_ujqcM
(i take it from your whisper that you’re not that tough)
A new set of talking points in… 3…2….
http://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/weather-extremes-provoked-by-trapping-of-giant-waves-in-the-atmosphere
Interesting joe90
Debate in the House today included the second reading of the bill which extends the time that the Canterbury Region will be without an elected Governance structure as democracy according to the Slippery National Government is not a right but is granted upon the basis of their whim,
Included in the bill is further provision for Canterbury farmers to suck the life from the regions waterways with specific provision in part to of the Act denying anyone the right of appeal against such mis-use,
i have to wonder here how loud the screams of protest would be if the National Party were abolished by legislation of the next Parliament and specifically within such legislation denied any right of appeal,
i could really begin to like that idea…
+
FFS. Mark Mitchell, National mp, horrible bogan and former policeman struggles to get to grips with the world around him
Phone, Mark. It’s called a phone.
it’s witchcraft I tells ya!