“Liz Kendall, with her permanent air of an office manager who has just come back from a course, couldn’t lure a voter out of a burning building – and her whole campaign is based on changing Labour to be whatever people who hate it want it to be.”
“Many people thought the Labour party would struggle to top the disaster of losing the general election, but it has silenced the doubters by somehow contriving to lose its own internal leadership election. Voters have signed up to support it, and Labour has reacted with a purge of such generalised unfairness that I’m almost starting to doubt that its leading lights really wanted to bring democracy to Iraq. ”
Frankie Boyle has some very pointed observations in his piece in the Guardian.
There are a number of similarities between the ABCs in London and in Wellington. The most obvious ones are is their antipathy towards membership power and their common background as insiders who have gone from Uni to political adviser roles to safe seats.
They are the reason the parties in both countries have been rejected by the voter for being aloof and uninspiring.
I watched a debate online between all the candidates about 3 weeks ago. As a long-time political observer (40 years) I was struck by one particular revelation. That was the similarity between what Corbyn was saying in 2015 to what Norman Kirk was saying in 1970. And guess what… Kirk went on to win the next election (1972) in a landslide!
Yes, we lost in 1975 but that was a direct result of the premature and tragic death of Norman Kirk. I believe had he lived to carry on as PM, Labour would not have lost that election to Muldoon and our political history would have taken a totally different path.
If Kirk hadn’t died I don’t think National would have been in power until the 1980s at the earliest and it would have been left to National to do the Rogernomics stuff and chances are they’d only last one term with Labour coming back in to undo their fuckups. NZ would be a vastly different place.
Yes Kirk’s untimely passing was a fork in the road alright.
At the same time I don’t think we can neglect the malign influence of neo-liberalism globally. Even if we had avoided the Rogernomic catastrophe – as Australia did – the left would still have faced some very strong head-winds.
Note the body language of one, Liz Kendall during this debate on NATO. Oh dear, petulance abounded and did I detect a hint of malice at the end? Never mind, Jeremy put her in her place.
I was reminded of a certain ‘left’ commentator in NZ.
Thanks for that link Anne. Very interesting. Amusing how Kendall quick off the mark at around eleven seconds to deploy a throwaway ‘branding’ line against Corbyn, when rebuffed (in a thoroughly gentlemanly and fairly unanswewrable way) then consoled herself with a pretty massive sulk for the next five and a half minutes. At the end of which period, lesson not learned, unsuccessfully tried the same trick again. Liz Liz Liz…..some ‘entitlement’ showing there maybe ?
Parallel personalities here anyone ? Which is what makes it so interesting, yes ?
Exceeded the maximum number of page not found errors per minute for humans.
I have quite a lot of traps for robots trawling the site. Some are for unknown robots that look like humans, or humans trying to do a site dump.
A characteristic problem is for robots to look for pages (that often don’t exist) as backdoors into the system. Especially old plugins with security holes. So the system automatically blocks for two hours any ‘human’ IP that tries to read more than 3 missing pages in a minute.
Just part of a general eternal war against idiot robots that runs alongside the war against idiot trolls and other fools.
However in all our pages we show the links and excerpts of a RSS feed to other blogs, party sites, and a couple of more general news sites. Which means that we show some of their content that is in the excerpt. Including their links to images.
There was a problem with the RSS feed from GarethWorld (Gareth Morgans blog). It had 2 links to images in 2 different RSS posts that started like
“/tmp/remote-image-cache/….”
ie they were links to local images on Gareth’s server.
Needless to say, when readers on our site tried to access these images, they found that they were completely unable to do so from our site, giving a invalid page error in each case. If people viewed two of our pages within a minute, my ever vigilant software minons locked them out of the site for two hours.
Fortunately this only became a problem for our more voracious consumers of pages in the morning. After the second post showed up, it became a more general problem. Which is when I got alerted (thank you Olwyn and Jenny Kirk) and killed the problem after work.
Now I either have to write some more code that detects invalid image links on the RSS receive and processing side, or better still report this as a bug to the person who wrote the plugin I use for this purpose.
Sorry for anyone who got caught by this bug. However it is a small price to pay compared to the damage and slowness of not dealing with the damn bots.
The Associated Press, one of the main sources for mainstream news articles in the world, is currently suing the U.S. government. It’s claim?
The FBI endangered the AP’s reputation when the federal law enforcement agency sent out a link to a fake AP article the FBI had created which was laced with a surveillance virus that would infect the computer of anyone who clicked on it, thereby enabling the FBI to spy on them.
If filtering slows flow, which it would have to to be effective, then you would risk serious flooding when it pours with rain as oulets overflow, so not sure this is solution
yes mr waghorn, and rightly so…… but why do so many farmers still cry that they should be exempt from rules like this?
btw re other commenters – there are ample examples of screens, large scale sump systems and the like that are incorporated into stormwater systems today to take out the shit and leave on ly clean water running into our waters…
I’m in no way excusing farming, just enjoyed watching townies get fired up on TV last night.
Of course the most sensible thing is for a law making all detergents for household use biodegradable but like the light bulb fiasco the fools would hate the idea.
This also goes against decades/centuries of engineering thinking that we must pipe everything and get it the hell out of here as quick as possible. Working with natural systems by using swales and plants/wetlands as filtration systems before water gets out to sea is only very slowly being built into infrastructure. I think the only way we will see widespread change to a logical natural way is when hydrological engineers realise they don’t have a job anymore and communities can decide for themselves how they deal with waste water.
Dimly aware that in Christchurch ponds are built to catch the daily stormwater runoff and thus catch the heavy “metals?” etc. before running into the Avon. Or maybe that is Rangiora. Think tyre debris.
Having worked for a time in surveying I have come across the problem of dealing with stormwater (we set out many a storm water drain) – One project I was working in about 2007 was a commercial development in Albany North Shore, and it had a uniquie system for dealing with the direct runnoff from roads and treating that water prior to it ending up in the ocean (as all storm water eventually does). If you go to google maps (Google Earth) Albany NZ and zoom in on Albany Lake Reserve just to the north of the two lakes you will see along with Don Mckinnon Drive, Daviis Dr and Corban Ave. Zoom in on these two roads and you will see green rectangles dotted along the roads. Instead of normal “cesspits” for the storm water – these are natural filters built to take the storm water and filter it before discharging into the Albany lakes where the water settles again before joining the main drains to the sea. These large filters are about 4 metres deep (from recollection) filled with organic humus and planted with native plants such as flax and sedges ideally suited to filtering the water naturally. The Lake reserve is also planted with native aquatic species and I remember coming across several NZ Dotterels nesting there while I was working.
So Stormwater can be successfully treated If enough thought is put in to it. The result is not only benefitial to oceans it is also benfitial to us the result is a very pleasing place to be.
Luckily in NZ we have no sign of fettering the openess of media speech by having strong bias or signs of dropping any liberal speakers or writers, or cutting off the rights to vote of any group or …. OH dear Mr Key.
North Canterbury is a classic farming regional area, filled to the gunnels with appropriate types….
But two things have gone on recently which highlight very poor standards and qualities amongst its inhabitants….
Firstly, it is dry as a bone in these lands so the farming people there, not content with already have shat on the land, cry very loudly for more and more water. They have basically fucked all the rivers and waterways for their own gain…. This is a familiar story of course and the ins and outs of it are very well known.
It is a stain on their community.
Secondly, there has been a lot of media recently about heavy racism amongst Canterbury rugby clubs. It is thick in the air. North Canterbury has been one of the culprits, the Glenmark one at Omihi singled out recently for appaling racism and general pig-behaviour (apologies to pigs)….
any link do you think? I would posit that they have been targeted for their racism…
North Canterbury eh …. I wonder if any of the locals put these things together and realise the picture that is painted of their community… I don’t imagine they do. They would look to that old fool Griz Wylie who would just stand there and grump without a clue. Poor them.
Brazilian pollution in the spotlight because a wealthy yachtie from Germany says their rotten water has resulted in nasty bacterial growths in his body when he considered he was in good health previous to sailing in Rio de Janeiro.
This is a case for having contests in countries with many poor. The wealthy are encouraged to visit and frantic efforts have to be made to improve conditions. The people who permanently live in Rio de Janeiro won’t be immune to the troubles their visitor has suffered!
Heil, who finished third with Thomas Ploessel in the 49er class, was told by a Berlin hospital that he had been infected by multi-resistant germs, the German sailing team said.
“I have never in my life had infections on the legs. Never!” Heil said on the sailing team’s Olympic blog. “I assume I picked that up at the test regatta. The cause should be the Marina da Glória where there is a constant flow of waste water from the city’s hospitals.”….
Last year biologists said rivers leading into the bay contained a super-bacteria resistant to antibiotics used to treat urinary, gastrointestinal and pulmonary infections.
The waters along Rio’s Atlantic coast, including Guanabara Bay where the Olympic sailing events will be held, have been polluted for years and successive governments have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on clean-ups to little effect….
When Rio bid to host the Games, the city trumpeted the clean-up and said it would cut the amount of sewage flowing into the bay by 80%. However, it has since admitted it is unlikely to meet that target. The amount of sewage treated before reaching the bay had risen from 17 to 49%.
From Stephanie Rodgers on the side panel: “It seems thoroughly unfair that hot on the heels of losing Dita de Boni from our political commentariat, we’re saying goodbye to Brent Edwards as political editor at Radio New Zealand.”
(Thanks Stephanie.)
Very sad but I hope his influence on fair balanced reporting continues?
I sent an email of appreciation to Brent at brent.edwards@radionz.co.nz
An fawningly approving technocratic authoritarian doozey from Fran O’Sullivan today, where she applauds a right wing technocrat’s go at a palace coup against the elected democracy of Auckland
“…What’s clear is that Town is breaking through the political stasis holding Auckland back….”
What’s clear is no one voted for this guy and his “breaking through” involves an authoritarian conspiracy of little known neo-liberal apparachiks to ride roughshod over the constantly repeated wish of Auckland voters NOT to sell assets. I wonder if he can get the trains to run on time as well?
In all this, it is clear Len Brown’s utter obsession with the CRL is now turning him into an isolated lunatic prepared to any and everything to cement in his legacy. Brown is now as big a threat by omission to our assets as Mr. Town is by commission.
….”China needs external capital. Instead, China sees capital flight. Resultant stress is everywhere one looks because debt exceeds carrying capacity.
Symptoms of Too Much Debt
Yuan devaluation
Stock market prop jobs by Chinese regulators
Emerging market currency crashes
Global equity bubbles
Commodity price crashes
Junk bond bubbles
Slower global growth
Still raging property bubbles in Australia, Canada, and the US West Coast (thanks to influx of money from China)”….
( re “raging property bubbles in Australia, Canada, and the US West Coast (thanks to influx of money from China)”
…..is New Zealand also being flooded with Chinese money escaping China?…ie buy ups of NZ housing and land?
…we are a very small country…there must some restrictions on this flood…or is jonkey Nact using this Chinese buy up money to prop up his economic failures?)
Here is a just posted interview from Robert David Steele. For his opinion on TPPA, start at 8 minutes. Travellerev will be interested in this interview.
A lawyer who has used intimidating legal requests to try to gain access to the records and emails of climate scientists has a financial relationship with a major coal company, it has been revealed.
Christopher Horner, who works with two groups to pursue scientists and environmental regulators, is listed in the bankruptcy papers filed by lawyers on behalf of Alpha Natural Resources and its 150 subsidiary companies in the coal industry.
The Heartland Institute, a “free market think tank” and major promoter of fringe views that greenhouse gases are not a problem for the planet, is also named in the papers, as are other key groups.
Investigative journalist Lee Fang, of news website The Intercept founded by lawyer and journalist Glenn Greenwald, first reported the links in two stories.
Can’t really say that I’m surprised.
It is not surprising that a coal company would support the kind of activities that Horner undertakes. It helps them attack the science, which advances their policy agenda. I think it’s also becoming apparent that most of the big players in the denial movement are indeed being paid by fossil fuel interests — via campaign contributions to sympathetic politicians and through dark-money payments to individuals and think tanks that are then used to fund useful – to them – activities. I think future generations will be disgusted by this.
I’m hoping that present generations are disgusted by this obvious corruption of the legal and political systems.
Lisa Owen is not up to the job of interviewing Helen Clark The Nation, TV3, Saturday 29 August 2015, 9:30 a.m.
Hosted by Lisa Owen and Patrick Gower, The Nation is an in-depth weekly current affairs show focusing on the major players and forces that shape New Zealand—TV3 publicity blurb.
Our former prime minister Helen Clark did not have a good relationship with high quality journalists. In 2002 she glowered with anger and tried to overtalk John Campbell when he confronted her with her dishonesty about an unapproved release of genetically modified sweetcorn. [1] During the long-running scandal of her regime’s persecution of Ahmed Zaoui, she brusquely terminated any attempts by the excellent Selwyn Manning to make her answer questions. [2]
Thankfully for Helen Clark, then, she didn’t have to put up with the indignity of being interviewed by a high quality journalist on TV3 this morning. Lisa Owen’s performance was as reliably useless as long-suffering viewers have come to expect from her. Instead of going into anything in depth, several topics were given the usual once-over-lightly treatment. This program is notorious for its low quality interviews, which are often utterly incompetent or horribly biased [3] or—as with Tova O’Brien’s outrageous performance with Murray McCully—a combination of both. [4] But, even so, this was a particularly abject performance. Here are a few selected highlights, or lowlights, complete with Ms Clark’s trademark snickering and snorting delivery….
LISA OWEN: So what can the rest of the world do, then, and why aren’t they stepping up?
HELEN CLARK:[speaking slowly and with the deepest possible tone, to indicate thoughtfulness and moral seriousness] In the short to medium term, peace in Syria would help enormously. But that’s not about to happen.
LISA OWEN: I want to talk about sustainable development…
Here Clark chuntered on in yawn-inducing officialese for a minute or so. She’s such a smooth operator that she managed to talk about the “G-7” instead of the G-8, casually accepting and therefore endorsing the U.S.-driven attempt to isolate the eighth member, Russia. Lisa Owen didn’t even notice.
HELEN CLARK: The EU’s calling for more action, the UN’s [snicker] calling for more action…. needs more commitment from countries that historically have contributed [snicker] to carbon levels. We need China [snort] to act, we need India to act….
But Lisa Owen, even if she were capable of discussing that issue in depth, had other questions she was required by management to ask. Someone had written a really pointed anti-Labour one for her to read out….
LISA OWEN:[nervously] How comfortable are you with Chinese people being singled out as an ethnic group here?
Ms Clark knows a partisan political angle when she sees it. However, instead of fixing the hapless Lisa Owen with her trademark rock-splitting stare, Clark took the bloodless option, and chewed up a couple more minutes saying something bland and non-committal. But Lisa Owen wasn’t allowed to let it go at that. She had obviously been ordered by her producers to keep banging away at this one….
LISA OWEN:[diffidently] So… are you uncomfortable with a single ethnic group, the Chinese, being singled out?
Again, Clark swatted her aside with ease.
Why can’t they get someone knowledgeable and with a bit of flair to interview a big hitter like Helen Clark? Oh that’s right—-they’ve got rid of all the good ones.
Well, seeing Lisa Owen interviewing the Serco boss on 3 news last night I thought she must be the best interviewer main stream media has got right now. I think you might be being a bit harsh on her performance on the Clark interview.
I am glad to hear that she did a good job there. Sadly, however, what I have seen of her suggests that she is nothing like the “best interviewer mainstream media has got right now.” She allowed Clark to get away with some nasty propaganda—talking about the “G7” as though she had had her comments vetted by the U.S. State Department—and boring ahead with those spurious, partisan questions, possibly written for her by Paul Henry, designed to aggravate and embarrass the Labour Party.
Further examples of Lisa Owen’s substandard performances…..
Tautoko Mango Mata – could you please put up the link to the WHO video “Are GMOs Safe to Eat” . This is a really informative doco, and I’d like to share it with people up here in the north who are strongly opposed to current govt attempts to introduce GMOs despite local councils not wanting that to happen. thanks.
ps Its okay thanks – I right-clicked onto it, and have the link now.
Thanks for putting this up.
Thank you Tautoko for link.
I’m only part way in and already I have heard that the experienced professional academic speaking has found a potato that after genetic modification tools have been used on it, has antibiotic resistance to three bacteria.
they share or codetermine those matters governing the essential terms and conditions of employment. In evaluating whether an employer possesses sufficient control over employees to qualify as a joint employer, the Board will – among other factors — consider whether an employer has exercised control over terms and conditions of employment indirectly through an intermediary, or whether it has reserved the authority to do so.
Overstaying is a crime; benes spending money on ‘luxuries’ is not.
Well, not yet but I’m sure that National, following patterns in the US as they do, are looking at it:
That “unmasking” is behind two recent bills that caught the Internet’s attention this week. Kansas and Missouri’s legislatures are working to target the social services provided to the state’s welfare recipients, limiting how people on welfare can use their assistance. In Missouri, a bill awaits Gov. Jay Nixon’s approval that would ban soda, energy drinks, cookies, and chips. Curtailing spending on snacks and soft drinks might be defensible from a public health angle (former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg would be a fan), but the state is also targeting steak and seafood—which speaks, ironically, less to concerns about welfare and more about policing what poor people do.
Actually, didn’t they give cards out to some beneficiaries to prevent then from buying luxuries?
As Barbara Ehrenreich memorably argued in the seminal Nickel and Dimed, it’s those low-wage workers who are essentially paying for everyone else’s prosperity with their cheap labor:
When someone works for less pay than she can live on—when, for example, she goes hungry so that you can eat more cheaply and conveniently—then she has made a great sacrifice for you, she has made you a gift of some part of her abilities, her health, and her life. The “working poor,” as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. They neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone else.
True. The rich get rich by taking from the poor not by working for it.
“The politics behind China’s stock market turbulence
One of the most extraordinary things about the world’s number two economy is that when it faces a crisis, the leadership carries on in public as if nothing has happened.
Decisions which affect the fate not just of 1.4 billion people in China but as we now know, the rest of the world as well, are made in secret by a handful of men.
This week, China’s top political leaders have made no mention of the crisis, flagship mainstream media avoided touching on it, and government censors constrained discussion on social media within firm boundaries.”
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker.Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...
“Liz Kendall, with her permanent air of an office manager who has just come back from a course, couldn’t lure a voter out of a burning building – and her whole campaign is based on changing Labour to be whatever people who hate it want it to be.”
“Many people thought the Labour party would struggle to top the disaster of losing the general election, but it has silenced the doubters by somehow contriving to lose its own internal leadership election. Voters have signed up to support it, and Labour has reacted with a purge of such generalised unfairness that I’m almost starting to doubt that its leading lights really wanted to bring democracy to Iraq. ”
Frankie Boyle has some very pointed observations in his piece in the Guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/27/how-will-labour-top-losing-the-election-by-losing-its-own-leadership-contest
Phil Quin, Shane Te Pou, and the Paganis are among those who support Liz Kendall for UKLP leader.
There are a number of similarities between the ABCs in London and in Wellington. The most obvious ones are is their antipathy towards membership power and their common background as insiders who have gone from Uni to political adviser roles to safe seats.
They are the reason the parties in both countries have been rejected by the voter for being aloof and uninspiring.
I watched a debate online between all the candidates about 3 weeks ago. As a long-time political observer (40 years) I was struck by one particular revelation. That was the similarity between what Corbyn was saying in 2015 to what Norman Kirk was saying in 1970. And guess what… Kirk went on to win the next election (1972) in a landslide!
Yes, we lost in 1975 but that was a direct result of the premature and tragic death of Norman Kirk. I believe had he lived to carry on as PM, Labour would not have lost that election to Muldoon and our political history would have taken a totally different path.
If Kirk hadn’t died I don’t think National would have been in power until the 1980s at the earliest and it would have been left to National to do the Rogernomics stuff and chances are they’d only last one term with Labour coming back in to undo their fuckups. NZ would be a vastly different place.
Yes Kirk’s untimely passing was a fork in the road alright.
At the same time I don’t think we can neglect the malign influence of neo-liberalism globally. Even if we had avoided the Rogernomic catastrophe – as Australia did – the left would still have faced some very strong head-winds.
Note the body language of one, Liz Kendall during this debate on NATO. Oh dear, petulance abounded and did I detect a hint of malice at the end? Never mind, Jeremy put her in her place.
I was reminded of a certain ‘left’ commentator in NZ.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jeremy-corbyn-snaps-liz-kendall-6331863
Thanks for that link Anne. Very interesting. Amusing how Kendall quick off the mark at around eleven seconds to deploy a throwaway ‘branding’ line against Corbyn, when rebuffed (in a thoroughly gentlemanly and fairly unanswewrable way) then consoled herself with a pretty massive sulk for the next five and a half minutes. At the end of which period, lesson not learned, unsuccessfully tried the same trick again. Liz Liz Liz…..some ‘entitlement’ showing there maybe ?
Parallel personalities here anyone ? Which is what makes it so interesting, yes ?
Kendall’s sulking bad manners would earn a 13 year old in our household the confiscation of an iPhone for a week.
Well, she won’t win the leadership after that childish display. Not that she is going to win anyway – surely not. God help the UK if she did…
What was going on with TS yesterday afternoon? I was blocked out of the site! Nasty little Gremlins maybe????
Anyone else affected?
Yep – told mr I was no human and tried to access too many times!!!
@ dv (2.1) Same here.
mary_a and dv – me, too.
Ok now
me too
Yes, I loved the ‘human’ bit – thought that maybe if I went next door and borrowed their cat he’d have more luck 🙂
I have quite a lot of traps for robots trawling the site. Some are for unknown robots that look like humans, or humans trying to do a site dump.
A characteristic problem is for robots to look for pages (that often don’t exist) as backdoors into the system. Especially old plugins with security holes. So the system automatically blocks for two hours any ‘human’ IP that tries to read more than 3 missing pages in a minute.
Just part of a general eternal war against idiot robots that runs alongside the war against idiot trolls and other fools.
However in all our pages we show the links and excerpts of a RSS feed to other blogs, party sites, and a couple of more general news sites. Which means that we show some of their content that is in the excerpt. Including their links to images.
There was a problem with the RSS feed from GarethWorld (Gareth Morgans blog). It had 2 links to images in 2 different RSS posts that started like
“/tmp/remote-image-cache/….”
ie they were links to local images on Gareth’s server.
Needless to say, when readers on our site tried to access these images, they found that they were completely unable to do so from our site, giving a invalid page error in each case. If people viewed two of our pages within a minute, my ever vigilant software minons locked them out of the site for two hours.
Fortunately this only became a problem for our more voracious consumers of pages in the morning. After the second post showed up, it became a more general problem. Which is when I got alerted (thank you Olwyn and Jenny Kirk) and killed the problem after work.
Now I either have to write some more code that detects invalid image links on the RSS receive and processing side, or better still report this as a bug to the person who wrote the plugin I use for this purpose.
Sorry for anyone who got caught by this bug. However it is a small price to pay compared to the damage and slowness of not dealing with the damn bots.
Thanks LP.
I KNEW I was human, and now I you have confirmed.
Thats ok, the system thought you were a human as well
Ha Success!!!
lol
so that’s why when I opened the front page and then a couple of articles in new tabs, it kicked me out “for a few minutes”…
well i’ll be…an admin that explains the cause of problems to the users…Thanks for the detailed explanation.
I usually do. May not be until I have cleared the problem though.
Yes, that is part of my general discourtesy to robots.
I imagine that when the singularity arrives that I will be virtually put up against a wall and shot – often.
Or suffer the fact from the machines of Ted in “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”
Good. That text of that short story is online here.
I had the same – we must have been very naughty! It came right after a while, but I was locked out completely!
Dismaland – metaphor for life.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/28/joy-dismaland-mickey-mouse-david-shrigley
that is so good, thanks for the link.
art at its best.
Dismaland—AKA Great Britain.
FBI in a pickle http://www.thedailysheeple.com/ap-sues-us-govt-over-fake-fbi-news-article-booby-trapped-with-surveillance-virus_082015
The Associated Press, one of the main sources for mainstream news articles in the world, is currently suing the U.S. government. It’s claim?
The FBI endangered the AP’s reputation when the federal law enforcement agency sent out a link to a fake AP article the FBI had created which was laced with a surveillance virus that would infect the computer of anyone who clicked on it, thereby enabling the FBI to spy on them.
Of the 80,000 people who lived in the harbour catchment area, 65 per cent were unaware that stormwater drains led directly into the harbour.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/71540950/porirua-council-embraces-car-wash-ban-backlash-as-a-chance-to-educate
After years of the council trying to clean up its harbour, has anyone thought of filtering the outlets?
If filtering slows flow, which it would have to to be effective, then you would risk serious flooding when it pours with rain as oulets overflow, so not sure this is solution
Improve capacity/storage areas to offset
Another alternative are drain inlet filters
http://www.erosionpollution.com/draincovers.html
“Improve capacity/storage areas to offset”
How? Last time I lived near a body of water the stormwater drains led directly to the water. There is no storage.
Drain filters made out of plastic are going to end up either in the landfill or here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
I can imagine farmers all over the country smilling quietly. # boots on the other foot.
yes mr waghorn, and rightly so…… but why do so many farmers still cry that they should be exempt from rules like this?
btw re other commenters – there are ample examples of screens, large scale sump systems and the like that are incorporated into stormwater systems today to take out the shit and leave on ly clean water running into our waters…
all good
I’m in no way excusing farming, just enjoyed watching townies get fired up on TV last night.
Of course the most sensible thing is for a law making all detergents for household use biodegradable but like the light bulb fiasco the fools would hate the idea.
We should make all detergents biodegradable. But we’re talking stormwater drains right? and people pour all sorts of weird shit down their drains.
Every little bit helps, although car washing is a drop in the ocean compared to what would be washed off the highways every time it rains.
Have you thought of the difficulties of filtering storm water where having a blockage is contra-indicated?
This also goes against decades/centuries of engineering thinking that we must pipe everything and get it the hell out of here as quick as possible. Working with natural systems by using swales and plants/wetlands as filtration systems before water gets out to sea is only very slowly being built into infrastructure. I think the only way we will see widespread change to a logical natural way is when hydrological engineers realise they don’t have a job anymore and communities can decide for themselves how they deal with waste water.
Dimly aware that in Christchurch ponds are built to catch the daily stormwater runoff and thus catch the heavy “metals?” etc. before running into the Avon. Or maybe that is Rangiora. Think tyre debris.
I thought the suggestion of councillor Cropp to use towels as a dam to divert the wash water into the garden/lawn was smart.
I might dig a hole to act as a sump- fill with gravel and sand.
Re the suggestions of filtering – one of the problems is the soap.
I don’t think the problem is too difficult or onerous on the car washers.
Having worked for a time in surveying I have come across the problem of dealing with stormwater (we set out many a storm water drain) – One project I was working in about 2007 was a commercial development in Albany North Shore, and it had a uniquie system for dealing with the direct runnoff from roads and treating that water prior to it ending up in the ocean (as all storm water eventually does). If you go to google maps (Google Earth) Albany NZ and zoom in on Albany Lake Reserve just to the north of the two lakes you will see along with Don Mckinnon Drive, Daviis Dr and Corban Ave. Zoom in on these two roads and you will see green rectangles dotted along the roads. Instead of normal “cesspits” for the storm water – these are natural filters built to take the storm water and filter it before discharging into the Albany lakes where the water settles again before joining the main drains to the sea. These large filters are about 4 metres deep (from recollection) filled with organic humus and planted with native plants such as flax and sedges ideally suited to filtering the water naturally. The Lake reserve is also planted with native aquatic species and I remember coming across several NZ Dotterels nesting there while I was working.
So Stormwater can be successfully treated If enough thought is put in to it. The result is not only benefitial to oceans it is also benfitial to us the result is a very pleasing place to be.
Thank you Macro
+1
Canadian Election Gerrymandering. No surprises here. How the right wing corrupts democracy. http://www.theguardian.com/world/canada/2015/aug/28/all
Luckily in NZ we have no sign of fettering the openess of media speech by having strong bias or signs of dropping any liberal speakers or writers, or cutting off the rights to vote of any group or …. OH dear Mr Key.
More on that subject:
: http://nyti.ms/1LchAdQ
Enough and Janm
Please please don’t put up such links. We don’t want anyone to get any ideas to help NZ
North Canterbury is a classic farming regional area, filled to the gunnels with appropriate types….
But two things have gone on recently which highlight very poor standards and qualities amongst its inhabitants….
Firstly, it is dry as a bone in these lands so the farming people there, not content with already have shat on the land, cry very loudly for more and more water. They have basically fucked all the rivers and waterways for their own gain…. This is a familiar story of course and the ins and outs of it are very well known.
It is a stain on their community.
Secondly, there has been a lot of media recently about heavy racism amongst Canterbury rugby clubs. It is thick in the air. North Canterbury has been one of the culprits, the Glenmark one at Omihi singled out recently for appaling racism and general pig-behaviour (apologies to pigs)….
… and then this yesterday night http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/north-canterbury/71526790/all-blacks-history-destroyed-in-north-canterbury-rugby-club-fire ….
any link do you think? I would posit that they have been targeted for their racism…
North Canterbury eh …. I wonder if any of the locals put these things together and realise the picture that is painted of their community… I don’t imagine they do. They would look to that old fool Griz Wylie who would just stand there and grump without a clue. Poor them.
Brazilian pollution in the spotlight because a wealthy yachtie from Germany says their rotten water has resulted in nasty bacterial growths in his body when he considered he was in good health previous to sailing in Rio de Janeiro.
This is a case for having contests in countries with many poor. The wealthy are encouraged to visit and frantic efforts have to be made to improve conditions. The people who permanently live in Rio de Janeiro won’t be immune to the troubles their visitor has suffered!
Heil, who finished third with Thomas Ploessel in the 49er class, was told by a Berlin hospital that he had been infected by multi-resistant germs, the German sailing team said.
“I have never in my life had infections on the legs. Never!” Heil said on the sailing team’s Olympic blog. “I assume I picked that up at the test regatta. The cause should be the Marina da Glória where there is a constant flow of waste water from the city’s hospitals.”….
Last year biologists said rivers leading into the bay contained a super-bacteria resistant to antibiotics used to treat urinary, gastrointestinal and pulmonary infections.
The waters along Rio’s Atlantic coast, including Guanabara Bay where the Olympic sailing events will be held, have been polluted for years and successive governments have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on clean-ups to little effect….
When Rio bid to host the Games, the city trumpeted the clean-up and said it would cut the amount of sewage flowing into the bay by 80%. However, it has since admitted it is unlikely to meet that target. The amount of sewage treated before reaching the bay had risen from 17 to 49%.
Living longer>>>>>………………….
Lesotho had the world’s lowest healthy life expectancy, at 42 years, while Japan had the highest, at 73.4 years.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/282702/a-longer-lifespan-but-at-what-cost
From Stephanie Rodgers on the side panel: “It seems thoroughly unfair that hot on the heels of losing Dita de Boni from our political commentariat, we’re saying goodbye to Brent Edwards as political editor at Radio New Zealand.”
(Thanks Stephanie.)
Very sad but I hope his influence on fair balanced reporting continues?
I sent an email of appreciation to Brent at brent.edwards@radionz.co.nz
Looks like Peter Bromhead has been let go as well
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11503907
For some of the good ones it means that if not sacked they get promoted away from the Public view. Maybe?
An fawningly approving technocratic authoritarian doozey from Fran O’Sullivan today, where she applauds a right wing technocrat’s go at a palace coup against the elected democracy of Auckland
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11504525
It contains a sentence for the ages:
“…What’s clear is that Town is breaking through the political stasis holding Auckland back….”
What’s clear is no one voted for this guy and his “breaking through” involves an authoritarian conspiracy of little known neo-liberal apparachiks to ride roughshod over the constantly repeated wish of Auckland voters NOT to sell assets. I wonder if he can get the trains to run on time as well?
In all this, it is clear Len Brown’s utter obsession with the CRL is now turning him into an isolated lunatic prepared to any and everything to cement in his legacy. Brown is now as big a threat by omission to our assets as Mr. Town is by commission.
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/serco-boss-admits-interest-in-nzs-rail-services-2015082910#axzz3k9uSFISc
I propose that the new flag should have “serco” as its main emblem.
‘Steve Keen on Economic Forecasts, Ponzi Schemes, GDP, China; One Way Streets and Poison’
Read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/08/steve-keen-on-economic-forecasts-ponzi.html#Rpqrk3RPikCSprL7.99
….”China needs external capital. Instead, China sees capital flight. Resultant stress is everywhere one looks because debt exceeds carrying capacity.
Symptoms of Too Much Debt
Yuan devaluation
Stock market prop jobs by Chinese regulators
Emerging market currency crashes
Global equity bubbles
Commodity price crashes
Junk bond bubbles
Slower global growth
Still raging property bubbles in Australia, Canada, and the US West Coast (thanks to influx of money from China)”….
( re “raging property bubbles in Australia, Canada, and the US West Coast (thanks to influx of money from China)”
…..is New Zealand also being flooded with Chinese money escaping China?…ie buy ups of NZ housing and land?
…we are a very small country…there must some restrictions on this flood…or is jonkey Nact using this Chinese buy up money to prop up his economic failures?)
http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/wall-of-chinese-capital-buying-up-australian-properties-20150628-ghztdf.html
Here is a just posted interview from Robert David Steele. For his opinion on TPPA, start at 8 minutes. Travellerev will be interested in this interview.
The commonality of criticism of TPPA is a pretty good indication of the potential of doing the bad stuff on the People- us!
Meanwhile….
Canada will not sign a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that would allow Japanese vehicles into North America with fewer parts manufactured here, says Ed Fast, the federal minister of international trade.
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5812122-no-trans-pacific-trade-deal-if-auto-parts-sector-threatened-trade-minister/
Oops:
Can’t really say that I’m surprised.
I’m hoping that present generations are disgusted by this obvious corruption of the legal and political systems.
Lisa Owen is not up to the job of interviewing Helen Clark
The Nation, TV3, Saturday 29 August 2015, 9:30 a.m.
Hosted by Lisa Owen and Patrick Gower, The Nation is an in-depth weekly current affairs show focusing on the major players and forces that shape New Zealand—TV3 publicity blurb.
Our former prime minister Helen Clark did not have a good relationship with high quality journalists. In 2002 she glowered with anger and tried to overtalk John Campbell when he confronted her with her dishonesty about an unapproved release of genetically modified sweetcorn. [1] During the long-running scandal of her regime’s persecution of Ahmed Zaoui, she brusquely terminated any attempts by the excellent Selwyn Manning to make her answer questions. [2]
Thankfully for Helen Clark, then, she didn’t have to put up with the indignity of being interviewed by a high quality journalist on TV3 this morning. Lisa Owen’s performance was as reliably useless as long-suffering viewers have come to expect from her. Instead of going into anything in depth, several topics were given the usual once-over-lightly treatment. This program is notorious for its low quality interviews, which are often utterly incompetent or horribly biased [3] or—as with Tova O’Brien’s outrageous performance with Murray McCully—a combination of both. [4] But, even so, this was a particularly abject performance. Here are a few selected highlights, or lowlights, complete with Ms Clark’s trademark snickering and snorting delivery….
LISA OWEN: So what can the rest of the world do, then, and why aren’t they stepping up?
HELEN CLARK: [speaking slowly and with the deepest possible tone, to indicate thoughtfulness and moral seriousness] In the short to medium term, peace in Syria would help enormously. But that’s not about to happen.
LISA OWEN: I want to talk about sustainable development…
Here Clark chuntered on in yawn-inducing officialese for a minute or so. She’s such a smooth operator that she managed to talk about the “G-7” instead of the G-8, casually accepting and therefore endorsing the U.S.-driven attempt to isolate the eighth member, Russia. Lisa Owen didn’t even notice.
HELEN CLARK: The EU’s calling for more action, the UN’s [snicker] calling for more action…. needs more commitment from countries that historically have contributed [snicker] to carbon levels. We need China [snort] to act, we need India to act….
But Lisa Owen, even if she were capable of discussing that issue in depth, had other questions she was required by management to ask. Someone had written a really pointed anti-Labour one for her to read out….
LISA OWEN: [nervously] How comfortable are you with Chinese people being singled out as an ethnic group here?
Ms Clark knows a partisan political angle when she sees it. However, instead of fixing the hapless Lisa Owen with her trademark rock-splitting stare, Clark took the bloodless option, and chewed up a couple more minutes saying something bland and non-committal. But Lisa Owen wasn’t allowed to let it go at that. She had obviously been ordered by her producers to keep banging away at this one….
LISA OWEN: [diffidently] So… are you uncomfortable with a single ethnic group, the Chinese, being singled out?
Again, Clark swatted her aside with ease.
Why can’t they get someone knowledgeable and with a bit of flair to interview a big hitter like Helen Clark? Oh that’s right—-they’ve got rid of all the good ones.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dET78Z5b5s
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeZ8yuEqZm0
[3] https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/makers-of-tv3s-the-nation-refuse-right-to-reply-to-untrue-allegations/
[4] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02082015/#comment-1053747
Well, seeing Lisa Owen interviewing the Serco boss on 3 news last night I thought she must be the best interviewer main stream media has got right now. I think you might be being a bit harsh on her performance on the Clark interview.
I am glad to hear that she did a good job there. Sadly, however, what I have seen of her suggests that she is nothing like the “best interviewer mainstream media has got right now.” She allowed Clark to get away with some nasty propaganda—talking about the “G7” as though she had had her comments vetted by the U.S. State Department—and boring ahead with those spurious, partisan questions, possibly written for her by Paul Henry, designed to aggravate and embarrass the Labour Party.
Further examples of Lisa Owen’s substandard performances…..
Bamboozled by Scott Campbell….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30112014/#comment-933681
Given the runaround by Murray McCully….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18102014/#comment-913109
A lame, unwise attempt at being witty…..
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22112014/#comment-928974
Making vacuous comments about the London riots of 2011….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-10082011/#comment-362299
World Health Organisation only requires 90 DAYS ‘SAFETY TESTING’ ON GMOS – NOT long enough for tumours to show.
“Not long enough for tumours to show?” But isn’t it the chemtrails that cause the tumours?
No it’s cell towers
Tautoko Mango Mata – could you please put up the link to the WHO video “Are GMOs Safe to Eat” . This is a really informative doco, and I’d like to share it with people up here in the north who are strongly opposed to current govt attempts to introduce GMOs despite local councils not wanting that to happen. thanks.
ps Its okay thanks – I right-clicked onto it, and have the link now.
Thanks for putting this up.
Thank you Tautoko for link.
I’m only part way in and already I have heard that the experienced professional academic speaking has found a potato that after genetic modification tools have been used on it, has antibiotic resistance to three bacteria.
“Analysis: German and Scottish GM cultivation ‘opt-outs’ could be first of many”
“Germany will utilise new EU rules to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops on its territory – and other member states look set to follow.”
https://www.agra-net.net/agra/agra-europe/policy-and-legislation/biotechnology/analysis-german-and-scottish-gm-cultivation-opt-outs-could-be-first-of-many-489348.htm
Also “Latvia and Greece have both written to the European Commission requesting the use of new legislation on restricting the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the EU.
https://www.agra-net.net/agra/agra-europe/policy-and-legislation/biotechnology/two-more-member-states-signal-intent-to-restrict-gmo-cultivation-489595.htm
Can Tim Groser show us what food labelling and food cultivation rules he has agreed to in the TPPA on our behalf?
Unions win big decision in US with the role of joint contractors in effect being joint employees .
https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/board-issues-decision-browning-ferris-industries
they share or codetermine those matters governing the essential terms and conditions of employment. In evaluating whether an employer possesses sufficient control over employees to qualify as a joint employer, the Board will – among other factors — consider whether an employer has exercised control over terms and conditions of employment indirectly through an intermediary, or whether it has reserved the authority to do so.
Background here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/unions-plot-major-push-after-landmark-labor-ruling_55e10081e4b0aec9f35376e6
Over on the Border Fiasco thread RedLogix said this:
Well, not yet but I’m sure that National, following patterns in the US as they do, are looking at it:
Actually, didn’t they give cards out to some beneficiaries to prevent then from buying luxuries?
True. The rich get rich by taking from the poor not by working for it.
An interesting column re China from the BBC:
“The politics behind China’s stock market turbulence
One of the most extraordinary things about the world’s number two economy is that when it faces a crisis, the leadership carries on in public as if nothing has happened.
Decisions which affect the fate not just of 1.4 billion people in China but as we now know, the rest of the world as well, are made in secret by a handful of men.
This week, China’s top political leaders have made no mention of the crisis, flagship mainstream media avoided touching on it, and government censors constrained discussion on social media within firm boundaries.”
……continues http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34071368