Open mike 29/07/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 29th, 2016 - 68 comments
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68 comments on “Open mike 29/07/2016 ”

  1. Garibaldi 1

    A must read over on the Daily Blog. Go to ” the horror of Turkey” and scroll down to Slippery’s comment.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/07/27/the-horror-of-turkey/#comment-346502

    [lprent: Try using links. Right click on the date of the comment and copying the link. Then paste it here. You will get the link above. ]

    • rhinocrates 1.1

      Scrolling further down, I see that (as far as I can tell with their tortured grammar) Slippery believes that the Sandy Hook shootings and Boston Marathon bombing were “theatre”.

      It looks like buying shares in aluminium foil manufacturers will be a good investment.

      • weston 1.1.1

        Hate to sound like im wearing one rino but have you seen and heard the facts of sandy hook ? theres some very wierd stuff gone down there even taking into account the imput from the more dedicated conspiracy theorists and the fact america is a wierd place anyway for example didnt you find it strange that the parents wernt allowed to see the bodies of their slain children ??

  2. RTM 2

    Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has made white nationalism fashionable. But the notion of white identity is based not only on bigotry but on pseudo-history: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2016/07/kendrick-smithymans-rebuke-to-trump.html

    • tc 2.1

      Like Farage found it’s an easily held core of support.

      Angry, racist, looking for someone to blame with negligible critical thought process so a few slogans and some passionate rhetoric gets them on board.

      Like Farage, trumps unlikely to have to deal with the consequences either.

    • Awesome Scott thanks

  3. DH 3

    Has anyone else noticed what appears to be a deliberate propaganda campaign from the press on housing? These insulting ‘anyone can buy a house if they work hard’ articles have been appearing at regular intervals for quite some time in both major ‘papers. They’re patently misleading to the extent it can’t be just poor research IMO.

    Stuff ran this one a week ago;

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/82318579/Anyone-can-buy-a-house-in-four-years-broker-says

    Now this one…

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/82571726/wellington-man-becomes-home-owner-at-21-after-saving-since-he-was-7

    The observant will have noticed these articles are puff pieces that don’t fit the stories, they fail to reveal that the house buyer received financial assistance from another party(s). The real message in most of them is that if you don’t have a sugar daddy you’ll not be able to buy a house but they cynically invert that to say the opposite.

    • Sabine 3.1

      the twenty one year old wellingtonians started saving for his house at 7 years old? Or did his parents start.

      I actually have nothing against this. I often wonder why parents don’t start a savings account for their kids immediately after birth. Put in 5 bucks a week/month and by the time the kids are of age they have a bit of cash there. This however demands some discipline from the parents to not touch the money if the need arises.

      In saying that, getting a mortgage is one thing, being able to then to service it without fault is another thing altogether.
      So by the time then man is 35 he may have lost a job, has married and has a child with special needs, has had an accident that left him or his wife with special needs and voila…….he may loose his house.

      This is what annoys me about the house porn in the Herald, the easiest thing is getting the mortgage, its the keeping up with the payments, rates, insurance, and upkeep of the property that kills many especially in times of no job security, climate change, etc etc etc. What looked feasible when signing up to it may turn out to be impossible ten years later.

      • DH 3.1.1

        Sabine the general idea is to critique the story, first against what you know and then ask a few pertinent questions from what the story doesn’t say but should.

        For starters a student on a low income would not get a mortgage of that size by himself, the banks require you have an income commensurate with the size of the mortgage. Then there’s the fact the ‘house’ was quoted as a “two-flat property” and mentioned a friend as a partner. It’s a fair bet the partner had the financial resources to clinch the deal and I can’t see how that translates into this guy buying his own house.

        • Sabine 3.1.1.1

          What i am trying to say is that in terms of commitment over the years getting a deposit together may be the easiest thing. Its the thirty years + of paying that mortgage off where one has not much control over.

          So one can get help form parents, may have an inheritance form a grand parent, may team up with half a dozen of mates etc etc etc and eventually scrapes together the requirements of the bank and gets the mortgage, but then that mortgage needs to be paid. Another 30 years of negotiation ahead, this time with the family (what are needs what are wants), the business friends (are they still friend friend or do you need to pay them out), divorce can kill the house dream for ever, sickness, unemployment etc etc etc.

          But as i have stated on other such stories is simply that the Guy has not bought a house, he has bought a mortgage and until that mortgage is paid in full he has no house, the bank has. He only has an arse full of debt and a very uncertain future ahead re climate change, changing work conditions, diminishing social net etc etc.
          so maybe some of the young today really do only see their going ahead on the back of a mortgage.

          • DH 3.1.1.1.1

            The deposit isn’t the easiest part Sabine, that’s what prevents most low income people from buying their own home.

            The formula with property is pretty consistent; the difference between rent and mortgage is roughly what you can save for the deposit. Once you buy you can stop saving and put the dosh towards the mortgage which itself is saving.

            The main problem people have today is that inflation on deposits and mortgages is higher than wage inflation so they can’t catch up.

            This guy didn’t really save a deposit, it looks more like he chipped in on a business deal. The article is dishonest IMO.

            • Sabine 3.1.1.1.1.1

              DH, i am speaking generally. Not only for poor people.
              Poor people should have access to a government loan as Paula Bennett had.

              I am speaking of Joe and Jane Ordinary New Zealanders.

              As for people now buying houses together with the option of selling it later on in order to raise a deposit to then buy their own mortgage.

              • DH

                I’m afraid I can’t see your point Sabine. Mine was that the press appear to be running a deliberate misinformation campaign. The article was written for a reason and it carries a message, my view was the message is false and deliberately so.

                It’s interesting reading the comments on that last story. Clearly few people actually read the article through, most seemed to have absorbed the headline & the jerking knee may have stopped them reading further.

                • dv

                  OK he saved 40k. That is note worthy and well done.
                  BUT there is no way he would be able to borrow 500k (gv of 640k on a minimal odd job income.
                  Some one has guaranteed the loan.
                  He worked on his parents farm.

                  Mort ca $2000 per month

                  • DH

                    Yes. There’s also other clues in the article that suggest the picture the paper is painting, ie all it takes is hard work & saving to buy a house, is pure fabrication.

                    I’d question why they’re doing these regular articles, I’ve read at least a dozen from both major dailies that all convey the same false message. How did they get this guys (non) story in the first place?

                    • McFlock

                      I suspect it’s real estate agents paying a pr firm. As soon as the market cools off there will be a sharp drop in estate agents’ incomes.

                      As long as they can hold off government intervention, the more money they can fleece out of NZ and overseas speculators.

                      Anyone buying a first home right now is in serious danger of going under water if the government does anything effective about the home shortage.

                    • DH

                      I suspect you’re right on the money there McFlock, the RE industry must spend a fortune on advertising in the ‘papers & probably demand their pound of flesh in return.

                      Having recently been down the track of saving for a house and trying to get a mortgage I find these puff pieces insulting and infuriating.

                    • Graeme

                      Yeah, these puff pieces are another sign that the market is getting jitterey. The industry is resorting to spin and bullshit to try and maintain market confidence.

                      Because that’s what it’s all about, confidence that there will be a buyer there tomorrow who will pay more than you paid yesterday.

                      Yes, it’s all a big confidence game

                    • Robertina

                      DH; depends whether you think the media’s job is to reflect or challenge society. If the former, then I’d say that story is a reflection of a rundown deluded market economy.
                      To suggest that money changed hands in order to run the story is a little idiotic.
                      The yarn reflects the commercial zeitgeist, sadly.
                      And a dozen stories from both major dailies over the past few years of the asset credit boom is tiny, given that the proportion of stories now that deal with the housing market is significant. It’s in the news in some form every day.

                    • DH

                      No-one has said money changed hands to run the story Robertina, you assumed that and incorrectly so. The suggestion was that advertisers who spend big money have some influence over the publisher.

                      A job of the media is to ensure a reasonable semblance of balance in their reporting. With these articles they’re failing to do so and the imbalance is so obvious it appears to be deliberate misinformation.

                    • Robertina

                      You need to read the thread again. The suggestion was that a PR firm was paid to plant the story and you agreed with that suggestion.

                    • DH

                      One of us has read it wrong then Robertina. McFlock’s post was made as a reply to mine in which I asked the question of how the press found out about the guy buying the house.

                      In that context I took her/his comment to mean a PR firm may have been engaged to find such feelgood stories and feed them to the press. That doesn’t suggest money changed hands to actually run the story.

                    • Robertina

                      Well, you also suggested RE companies demanded a pound of flesh in demand for ad spend, as well as agreeing with McFlock that a PR agency was likely paid to plant stories.
                      No doubt you mean well. But it’s no different from righties whinging about the likes of the substandard unconsented rentals series on Newshub.
                      And a series with follow ups like the one on Newshub has way more impact than a one-off yarn.

                    • McFlock

                      Oh, I don’t think the paper was bribed to print the story.

                      Not every paper is like the one I know of that, when informed of a small cultural group’s anniversary, offered to do a puff piece if the group bought some advertising space.

                      But the recent flurry of good news stories that roll the property bubble in glitter is an interesting phenomenon which I doubt has occurred spontaneously.

  4. Observer Tokoroa 4

    .
    .How did we get here !
    To those who Love New Zealand
    .
    There is only one message to be noted from this past 8 years in New Zealand.

    That is, this Government and its supporters have Shipwrecked Finance; Housing; Rentals; Assets and Morals (mostly dishonesty but also corruption and cronyism).

    They are the worst ever managers of a once fine Nation.

    The managers are: Nationals, Act, Maori Party, United Future.
    .
    A toxic Lot of bad Managers – with a ragtail of supporters who could have saved NZ from the havoc.
    .

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1

      There is only one message to be noted from this past 8 years in New Zealand.

      That is, this Government and its supporters have Shipwrecked Finance; Housing; Rentals; Assets and Morals (mostly dishonesty but also corruption and cronyism).

      It’s not just over the last 8 years but the last thirty. It just happens that it’s got a lot worse over the last 8 years.

  5. save nz 5

    Breaking news, Bernie has left the democrats!!!

    • Sabine 5.1

      good. He was elected as an independent, he should have stayed an independent all along. If he would have run as an independent we would not have the current mess in the States as he would have won the election down pat.

      In saying that, he can give Hillary a good time going to the social democratic left that the US needs and want.

      • save nz 5.1.1

        Well that throws a spanner in the works for the Democrats. Maybe they should have been more compromising on policy to retain Bernie… instead of their big gamble, Bernie will fall into line and kow tow to bankers and Wall St and abandon his ideals…

        • Sabine 5.1.1.1

          I actually think it is the best that could happen to the Democratic Party. Sometimes people have to be dragged into the right direction, no matter how much the kick and scream.

          There are some really big elections coming up re Senate and Congress. Bernie Sanders will have his work cut out for him. And his supporters too if they still want to change the system.

    • joe90 5.2

      Meanwhile, Snopes –

      Claim: Sen. Bernie Sanders left the Democratic Party during the DNC (possibly as part of the #Demexit protest).
      mostly false

      WHAT’S TRUE: Sen. Bernie Sanders told reporters that when he returns to the Senate, it will be as an Independent; Sanders was elected as an Independent.

      WHAT’S FALSE: Sanders did not formally “leave” the Democratic Party, nor did he do so in protest.

      […]

      The story made it sound as though Sanders had left the party in protest over “DNCLeaks,” which revealed that the Democratic National Committee apparently worked to sabotage his candidacy. A 26 July 2016 Wall Street Journal story provided more context:

      Bernie Sanders said he plans to return to the Senate as an independent, despite winning 13 million votes in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary contest.

      “I was elected as an independent; I’ll stay two years more as an independent,” Mr. Sanders said.

      Speaking at the Bloomberg Politics breakfast on Tuesday, Mr. Sanders also said the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee doesn’t go far enough in fixing the situation and that more staff members need to leave following embarrassing disclosures of thousands of internal emails.

      “We need a DNC which has as very different direction,” he said. “I honestly don’t know many of the people there. But my guess is we’re going to need new leadership, a new direction and new personnel.”

      Asked after the event whether Mr. Sanders considers himself a Democrat or an independent, a campaign aide said, “He ran for president as a Democrat but was elected to a six-year term in the Senate as an independent.”

      So while it’s true Sanders was returning to his Senate seat as an Independent, it is not true that he “left the party” to protest any leaked information.

      http://www.snopes.com/bernie-sanders-leaves-the-democratic-party/

      • Ad 5.2.1

        Would Jill Stein have a good shot at his Vermont Senate seat when he retires?

        • Colonial Viper 5.2.1.1

          If she likes guns and farmers. Otherwise, no hope.

        • adam 5.2.1.2

          A couple of things Ad makes that difficult. The desire for Vermont to have an independent voice. If Green, loses that independance – I know Greens can argue they are independant, but it’s more complex than that. Also as Colonial Viper so crudely puts it, guns. Vermont is a big 2nd ammendment state, and a big arms producer.

          I’d say ballot issues as well. With this proviso that Vermont is one state which sees this as an issue, and is actively doing somthing about it.

          http://ballot-access.org/?s=vermont

          Actually A cool web site is http://ballot-access.org Shows just how bent and twisted this issue is in the USA, with the duleolopy fighting every step of the way to keep people, and voices out.

          I think Jill is more concerned in expanding the Green’s right across the country rather than winning a seat for herself. So that would be the last, and probably the biggest roadblock.

          • Ad 5.2.1.2.1

            That’s very honourable.

            I would hope for her that she goes for a Senate seat. Maybe Oregon or Washington would be a better shot.

            The US needs the Greens with a voice in the Senate. The have leveraged their small voice in the Australian Senate to good effect.

          • Colonial Viper 5.2.1.2.2

            Crudely put it? Heh I prefer “succinctly” lol

  6. adam 6

    One thing I really like about John Oliver, is when he is on, he is ON!!

    Don’t use our songs.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32n4h0kn-88

  7. Kevin 7

    There is a wealth of great ideas out there coming from commenters on various blogs. I wish I had written this myself as it is food for thought. Just substitute NZ for USA:

    “No-one discusses whether there should be a taxation system which says:

    1. If you treat your workers right, you will pay a lower rate of corporation tax and dividends will be entirely free of tax. But if you treat your workers badly, your corporation tax rate will go up on a sliding scale the worse you treat your workers and your shareholders dividends will be taxed at higher rates too.
    2. If you retain jobs in this country rather than outsource them to low cost economies overseas, you will pay lower rates of taxation, as we, the Government, don’t have more people needing state aid. We will not punish you for letting products for foreign markets be manufactured in those foreign markets, as you will be being a good corporate citizen overseas too in that scenario.
    3. We will reduce your corporation tax if you make investments in plant and offices which reduce your energy bills to zero. We want America to be a country with efficient and effective infrastructure, so we will modify the tax system to reflect that.
    4. We will reduce your taxation burden if you can demonstrate an ongoing use of suppliers in the developing world who treat their own workers well, since this will reduce our requirements to spend money on foreign aid to ease our consciences.
    5. As financial services organisations, we will reduce your tax rates if you invest a greater amount of your available funds in the USA economy, up to a suitable ceiling, since efficient asset allocation may indicate that significant overseas investment is appropriate. This is because a financial services industry is a service industry to America, not a bunch of pigs with their trotters in the trough……
    6. We will tax higher those who replace humans with robots, since they expect the state to subsidise such people. We expect all companies using robots to automate the preparation of all their financial statements with attendant loss of salary for the Finance Director and numerous other financial staff. This will be particularly true in all Wall Street Firms who should see the loss of high paid jobs just as much as on Main Street………
    This is not a final solution, but a set of ideas to be discussed.
    The principle is how you integrate morality into corporate economics and government taxation policy.
    What is critical is that you distinguish between big companies perfectly capable of doing these things and young companies struggling to survive.
    It’s not simple, but unless people engage in this manner, nothing will change.”

    • Molly 7.1

      B Corporations already have a lower tax rate in some US states if they meet the criteria, – some for the reasons you have outlined.

      They have a fairly stringent rubric of societal, environment and cooperative measures that need to be met.

      This kind of model could be used as a method to encourage smaller sustainable local businesses while ensuring larger, multi-national still pay reasonable levels of tax.

  8. Ad 8

    Some of you may recall a comment I made about Trump and Cruz being like professional wrestlers because their language, moves, and narratives are so precise.

    Here’s Gordon Campbell doing the long version, building on the same idea from Roland Barthes:

    http://werewolf.co.nz/2016/07/gordon-campbell-on-why-the-opinion-polls-for-key-and-trump-defy-gravity/

    • Puckish Rogue 8.1

      Not a bad summation actually

      On a lighter note if you really want to know what is (and isn’t) then watch this:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvMOf3hsGA

      Its from Max Landis (son of John) and its very informative (and entertaining)

      • gsays 8.1.1

        Hard case PR.

        As an aside, bob mould, american axeman for husker du and sugar, spent a few years ‘writing’ scenarios for WWE.

        He found it really satisfying.

  9. Olwyn 9

    The attempt to get Jeremy Corbyn removed from the leadership ballot by the courts has failed: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/28/jeremy-corbyn-fights-off-court-challenge-labour-leadership-ballot So his opponents have not been granted an easy ride back to what they think of as normal.

  10. Rosemary McDonald 10

    Toby Morris’ brilliant Rent Rage vent….

    http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-rent-rage

  11. Colonial Viper 11

    Yelena Isinbayeva breaks down in tears in front of Putin

    2 time Russian Olympic pole vault gold medallist addresses the Russian Olympic team on the lawless, arbitrary injustice foisted on to Russian athletes who have been collectively banned from the Rio Olympic games without individual evidence and without individual recourse to appeal.

    Ruining the dreams of many athletes about to perform in the first, or the last, Olympic games of their careers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v660CA_lI6k

    • Puckish Rogue 11.1

      Does she have the same tears for the dreams of other athletes that’ve been denied medals by those on peds?

      • Colonial Viper 11.1.1

        Hi PR. She’s not arguing that drug cheats should not be banned. But she does talk about the arbitrary, political and unfair action to ban Russian athletes who have passed their drug tests and how clean athletes are not getting any opportunity to state their case and appeal this collective punishment.

        • Puckish Rogue 11.1.1.1

          While I have some sympathy for her if shes clean, and being that shes Russian that’s a very big call, I have more for the athletes that have missed out

    • adam 11.2

      Come on Colonial Viper, the olympic games have been a political football since their inception. And I don’t mean the revived games, the original games were as much politics, as sport. I’m sure we get the idea that politics as a spectator sport, because of the olympic games.

      Just let the games go, who cares, it’s just a case of who got the better masking agents anyway. And this time Russia did not invest enough in that – sorry for them. Who remembers anyone who won anyway, the only reason I remember John Walker, is his slow descent into far right wingnut.

      • Colonial Viper 11.2.1

        Sure; just making a point about how the western empire of chaos operates against its opposition.

  12. Paul 12

    The sad political career of Trevor Mallard.

    Mallard says it’s because he wants to be the speaker of the next parliament and being a list MP makes it easier to act impartially and avoid conflicts of interest..

    Like most Labour MPs his only political ground has been denouncing National. Long ago they gave up advocating policies for the poor, the oppressed and marginalised. They can go to hell. Mallard argued strongly for Labour to retain the benefit cuts imposed by Ruth Richardson in the early 1990s. He argued the need for “incentives” to pressure those on benefits to find work as hard as he argued against extending the Working for Families assistance package to the poorest children in New Zealand.

    As a senior Labour MP Mallard must shoulder a lot of the blame for the 175,000 children Labour left living in Poverty in 2008 despite three successive terms of a Labour government in times of marvellous economic conditions.

    As Minister of Education he will be remembered for going out of his way to congratulate Cambridge High School for its exceptional NCEA pass rates (subsequently found to be bogus) and his closing of dozens of schools in small communities through the country. National has never had a regional growth strategy but neither has it had a regional annihilation strategy such as that employed by Mallard as he cut the heart from dozens of small kiwi communities.

    For the last eight years in opposition Mallard has been one of Labour’s dead-wood MPs who have stayed in parliament to prevent the party changing direction from the dogmatic right-wing economic agenda he espoused and advocated all his political career.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/07/29/the-sad-political-career-of-trevor-mallard/

    • rhinocrates 12.1

      Mallard says it’s because he wants to be the speaker of the next parliament

      What utterly shameless entitlement. Unfortunately he’s not the only one.

      John Minto’s last line rings sadly true:

      It’s too much to expect him to resign – he still has a few more stops at the trough ahead of him.

  13. Paul 13

    The 1 Percent’s Useful Idiots
    by Chris Hedges

    <The parade of useful idiots, the bankrupt liberal class that long ago sold its soul to corporate power, is now led by Sen. Bernie Sanders. His final capitulation, symbolized by his pathetic motion to suspend the roll call, giving Hillary Clinton the Democratic nomination by acclamation, is an abject betrayal of millions of his supporters and his call for a political revolution.

    Read it all here.

    https://off-guardian.org/2016/07/28/the-1-percents-useful-idiots/

  14. adam 14

    I like ‘the humanist report’ but don’t watch it that often. A friend sent this link so I watched, and really enjoyed. For those who find the whole USA elections hard to fathom, later in the show he explains some aspects of the electoral system and why it needs to be replaced with somthing more democratic. Most of that stuff is common place for us, as we have a large dose of proportional representation.

    The first part is an attack from Dan Savage on Jill Stein. Please note the heavy use of curse language from Savage here. Followed by a comprehensive rebuttal. What I like about this, if you have difficulty understanding some of the criticisms around the two party system, or how the stranglehold actually works on the USA – ‘the humanist report’ covers quite succinctly some of those issue.

    Enjoy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8VXTzzctKk

  15. Chuck 15

    Announced today by Paula Bennett, a new approach to assist with housing the homeless called “Housing First Programme”.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11683905

    “More homeless people in Auckland could soon go straight from the streets into their own apartments or houses instead of being shuffled through emergency shelters or state housing under a new Government-backed move.”

    IMO it helps to address the “one size fits all approach” and will make a positive difference.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 15.1

      If only they’d address the structural causes too. The emphasis on evidence is encouraging. I wonder if it will survive Cabinet Club.

      That said, I won’t be in any way surprised if this turns out to be usual combinations of lie and rort.

  16. swordfish 16

    Just thought I’d re-post a comment I’ve just made on Danyl’s Dim Post because it addresses a common misunderstanding among some of the local punditry:

    Danyl: “Key is actually less popular than his party nowadays”

    Bloke who refers to himself as ‘swordfish’: I’m not quite so sure about that. It’s a common assumption (Matthew Hooton, amongst others, has emphasised it), but I think Nat/Key support is actually a damn sight closer than a number of pundits realise.

    No one I’ve read seems to realise that the Party-Vote support figures (in both the One News Colmar Brunton and Newshub Reid Research Polls) exclude those unlikely to vote as well as the Undecided – hence a smaller base than the sample as a whole.

    Whereas, crucially, the Preferred PM stats take the entire sample as their base. In the last CB, for example, Party-Vote base was 1245 / Preferred PM base was 1509. Once you re-calculate, looks to me like the Nats were only a smidgen higher than Key himself.

  17. mosa 17

    One of the fundamentals it is said that defines a society is not just how it treats its most vunerable citizens but also how it treats its animals who are in most cases just as reliant on humans too protect them whether they are domesticated, farm stock or are housed in a zoo or wildlife park.
    One of the most appalling acts of cruelty to be made public this year was the case of the bobby calves who were tortured and butchered by someone who was responsible for their care and welfare.
    This man was charged and appeared in court and was sentenced yesterday to ten months home detention.
    When i saw this footage i could not believe that someone could be this cruel and in human and oblivious to the suffering of these poor creatures who had done nothing to this scumbag to warrant this behaviour and butchery and savagery he meeted out to them and that if he can do this too animals who cant defend themselves what is too stop him doing this too vunerable humans.
    I was sure that once the judge saw the cruelty involved it would warrant a prison sentence but no, home detention.
    We have an animal welfare act much good it does the animals it is supposed too protect when the sentences handed out are in no way a deterrent or punish the offenders, it sends the message that animals have no value, feel no pain or fear and that as living creatures they have no rights at all.
    The judge in this case had an opportunity too send a clear message here and failed miserably.
    The SPCA wont feel vindicated by this decision and the judge has no compassion or human decency or responsibility too do whats right in this case.

    • weston 17.1

      Totally agree mosa especially since it seems this cruelty has been going on since foreva As a kid in the sixties i was very aware as was our whole family that my father would not touch any meat or by product coming from bobby calves like gelatine for ex. His experiences working in freezing works and butcheries in his younger life meant also that he had a personal commitment to never hurting or killing any animal again such was his disgust of what he had observed .Theres no excuse for this shit and no excuse for the judge either that i can think of .Did he say why he was so lenient ?

  18. weston 19

    Can someone tell me why there are three comments here with no reply icons under them ?

    • McFlock 19.1

      reached the nesting limit of replies.

      Each reply is indented so you can follow threads, but if you did that infinitely each comment would end up being three chars wide and

      har
      d t
      o r
      ead

  19. mosa 20

    Thanks Weston for your input.
    The news report on this was short and i didnot hear the judges ruling.
    Does anybody else out there feel revulsion for this type of behaviour and want too see tougher sentences for this type of cruelty or is it in the scheme of things not that important ?

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    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    2 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    10 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    24 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
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