Would that be necessary? See for instance this bit in the Listener article:
Political insider and age-grade Poleconomy champion Matthew Hootah said the rumours had been circulating for weeks. “Sir Geoff is a well-known pinko socialist, and the veteran broadcaster’s attraction to crypto-anarchic groups is well known in certain circles,” he said. “As one window closes, another window opens, and Windows is well known in certain circles as an operating system on computers.”
I had a good laugh at that April Fools day article, while listening to Geoff’s last Morning Report.
I am sad about his retirement as I have listened to MR virtually every week morning for decades. Not sad at loosing Mercep, however – and awaiting the Mary Wilson/ Mora Checkpoint with trepidation rather than anticipation.
Back to Geoff, Andrea Vance has tweeted about the Listener article, saying she wished it was true – and also that she has heard that Robinson is a “grand theft auto top player”!
He will have a different producer and that might make a difference. Here’s hoping…
Btw, I have an irritable mouse. It works sometimes and sometimes not. No amount of gentle(?) admonition is making any difference. Any ideas what I can do about it?
Manic depressive Phillip??? lets spend the day breathing a sigh of relief for the Whales and hope that the Japanese Government make a speedy decision to uphold the Court’s decision…
Phillip,Ha–Ha–Ha, oh nothing Phillip,Ha–Ha–Ha, and then Phillip cocks His,or is that Her, little puppies leg and sprays another shower of …manic-depressive’s…barely intelligible raving…into this mornings Post…
A living tragedy, ”Nandor and Sue should be running the Green Party,(into electoral irrelevance) right Philip…
My my Phillip, your latest ‘effort’ simply reminds me of the little analogy i drew for greywarbler down the bottom of an ‘Open Mike’ about your ‘sprays’ of invective a few days back, the little puppy has certainly redoubled its efforts to ‘spray’ away that which was left by another,
Ha-Ha-Ha Phillip, you made definite statements that Russell Norman had promised Sue Bradford the Green Parties Co-leadership if She gave Him the numbers to become the male co-leader of the Party, you then claimed, without a shred of evidence, that Russell had welched upon this deal,
That Phillip is Defamation and i feel we have to again address your psychological status in an effort to have you cease using the pages of the Standard to publish such Defamations,
This may take some time as the previous ‘program’ applied to you while having some initial visible effect does not seem to have stuck,
You can Phillip always short circuit the program by simply Withdrawing and Apologizing to Dr Norman for the Defamation you published in ‘Open Mike’ yesterday…
[lprent: You don’t want me to review anything to do about “defamation”. I’m usually more inclined to demonstrate the bounds of the law of defamation in NZ than to explain it. I find it leaves a longer lasting impression and not a particularly pleasant one.. ]
..and isn’t it time you went and fried a fish..
..and had a ciggie..
..and careful you don’t let those whale-crocodile tears drop into the frying pan..eh..?
..it cd make yr ‘dish’..too salty..eh..?
[lprent: Where is the point here?
BTW: Avoid the accusation of “defamation”. It pisses me off. If you want to do something about it, then take it to a court. But since mostly it is fools saying it without any understanding of the actual law of defamation, then you don’t want me to examine your basis for any case. I tend to resort to demonstrating the legal limits rather than explaining the law. I find it makes more of an long-lasting impression and a better appreciation about the limits of that particular branch of the legal system. ]
Can I make a plea for the moderators to offer some advice to the two combatants above.
There appears to be some systemic bullying, baiting and bashing of mental health issues that is pretty poor form.
[lprent: It doesn’t particularly affect the site – which is what moderation is for. It is boring but they are largely keeping it in OpenMike and while it is a pain skipping the moronic comments, it is preferable to the alternatives.
I’ve found over time that usually the best way is to just let people work their way to a agree to disagree level with a low level grumpiness. It usually doesn’t take more than a week at worst before the slow learners involved realise that is where it winds up at. Eventually with further experience on the net, it winds up that people state their difference of opinion clearly and avoid the boring bickering that irritates the rest of us. But if I short-circuit it, then how are they going to learn the fundamental futility of their behaviour.
If they don’t or it gets too damn boring, then eventually I just take some actions against all participants as being too stupid to comment here. But I hate wasting time on it.
And of course if they start forgetting to put a point to their abuse (I can see a couple of instances now), then they may find that they get an abrupt holiday. ]
Funny that i only see ‘robust’ debate occurring between myself and Phillip, reading such exchanges is hardly compulsory, discussing what we think is going on in another commenters mind is in fact the bread and butter of the Standard be it from pointing out we think a commenter has made a stupid remark to where-ever…
Phillip,Phillip, tsk tsk, you know why i have taken the metaphorical stick to you this morning,
Just to remind you, that is the Defamation of Russell Norman you published in yesterday’s ‘Open Mike’,
i aint about to be going anywhere Phillip, remember who’s website you are currently connected to, a hint would be that it aint ‘attention whoar’, so, you my childish little friend do not get to have a say in who here comments at what time and where,(why kiwiblog Phillip,is it a bit lonely over there at ‘attention whoar’ waiting for someone,anyone to post a comment upon your latest outlandish ravings),
Would love to stay and discuss your attitudes to the Green Party/psychological failings further Phillip but i have things to accomplish this mornig in the real world…
Que tonight’s news with a John Key who is pleased that this practice has been stopped and how it is abhorrent, all said so not to piss off Japan. Oh also that NZ was integral to the whole case going through and how he was behind it all the time, despite never having the balls to step up and say so before this international ruling. Also don’t expect Key to commit to NZ navy frigates patrolling the Southern Ocean and enforcing the new ruling.
And don’t expect Key to give any kudos to those most deserving of it. I refer to Peter Bethune and co., Greenpeace, and all those who have worked for so long to bring about this outcome. And I have to say rather sadly that in the past Labour was only lukewarm in it’s praise of these courageous people. Lets hope they make up for it now.
It may be like the anti apartheid movement–denounced as traitors by Muldoon, Mandela a terrorist etc., after the first South African elections it was hard to find a public figure that had been pro’81 tour.
History will remember the brave crews of Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace rather than the scabby Japanese killing those beautiful creatures under false pretences. Bethune did time too in Japan.
Actually one of the pollies I suppose McCully was implying today on Radionz that Sea Shepherd didn’t aid the project with their interfering. He implied that NZ and the other forces of good would have carried forward this Japanese case and been effective in getting to this end without them. Fat chance.
That’s the sort of thing lazy middle class right `wingers untouched by the angel kiss of any integrity and stirs of kaitiaki always say. Those protesting gits should have stayed home and we would have had all things good so much faster.’
RIP 3500 whales slaughtered in the name of ‘science’, the dance of death might not be over yet, i missed the name and status of the Japanese sounding person who just spoke on RadioNZ’s Morning Report talking about the Hague’s decision only being relevant to the whaling in the Antarctic,
They do tho have the ‘opportunity’ to carry on such barbarism in the Northern Pacific…
@bad12 …a lot of dubious and awful stuff is done in the name of Science….’Science’ is supposed to exonerate and provide a final unimpeachable excuse for just about everything…from Polls which knee cap good politicians to killing whales to …..Neolib economics to ……imm………
….about time ‘Science’ was demystified as the God…it is often bullshit
lol…yes and how many sweet little whales had to die in the cause of ‘Science’ …..until another ‘Science’ came along and said the first lot of ‘Science’ was bunkum
….so resorting the reason ‘Science’ is no end argument in itself …and it is time it was debunked as such
…also nonscientists could have told them the first lot of ‘Science’ was bunkum long ago
Indeed. Apparently, the main reason Columbus kept getting laughed out of the medieval Dragons’ Den auditions was that those who didn’t believe the earth was flat (i.e. anyone who knew anything about navigation or geography) knew damned well that a ship in those days wasn’t going to be able to make the voyage without the crew dying. Basic math of the required food and fresh water being well below the travel time.
He basically sailed past the point of no return, but luckily for him (and unluckily for the “Americans”-to-be) there was an uncharted continent there
An understanding of what is science helps. Argument is not to be confused with evidence tested. Reductionism is a common environment for erroneous conclusions. A holistic view must always be of overriding value.
AFTER Australia launched an action which NZ had been begged to lead, and to co-claim. BUT Mr Key didnt want to offend Japan and possible money from them to our shores, so he sat again… and waited, and took the safe back seat.
Still now Russell and Matiera can congratulate the newest hippie and loonie of NZ, one Mr John Key who now supports whales.i
Even an idiot could see that once commercial whaling was legal, Japan would move to legitimise products from their whaling and turn it into a proper industry. After which point there would be no chance of stopping whaling for at least a generation, possibly longer.
I’m not sure what’s more embarassing, that he comes out with this drivel, or the number of nodding dogs that lap it up.
yup key taking credit this morning…he will have forgotten he ever supported that notion, now that he has saved the whales. mind you, mccully very luke warm on challenging their practices in the northern pa ific…
(And the other deadly extractive fossil fuels related to climate change…..)
“When it comes to coal mining, our policy is no new mines” Russell Norman, ‘The Vote’, November 6, 2013 23:30 minutes in, (pay walled).
Election year has hardly started, but there’s a major split between Labour and the Greens.
While Prime Minister John Key is busy building coalition bridges, David Cunliffe today dynamited a big one on the left.
He has announced a Labour-led government will carry on deep sea drilling off New Zealand’s coast even though its most powerful partner, the Greens, are vehemently opposed…..
What I had hoped to point out, (as gently as possible), is that the Greens cannot afford to change to Labour’s position, and instead that Labour must change to the Greens position. No New Coal Mines, No support for risky unconventional fossil fuel technologies like fracking, or deep sea oil.
But most of all what I had wanted to point out, is that climate change is not “electoral krytonite”.
All it takes is a little courage:
“Coal is Dead”
“Coal is no longer viable as a long term source of energy, or a reliable source of jobs in Montana … The 700 million tons of coal in Montana will be left in the ground … We must both mitigate climate disruption and build new infrastructure.”
Dirk Adams educator, banker, rancher, and Democratic Candidate for the Montana Senate
Even the unions, the state’s AFL-CIO leader said he appreciated what Adams says about coal “because the guys need to hear that.”.
(This is the sort of leadership on coal that we need to hear in this country from union leader Helen Kelly)
Dirk Adams said he talks about climate change “in every conversation” with voters. “It’s one of my two campaign points. I talk about women’s issues and I talk about the environment and climate change.”
Dirk Adams honesty about climate change is an admittedly risky strategy:
Out of the 26 coal producing states in the U.S., Montana ranks 8th, with production last year totaling more than 36 million tons from six mines. While employment, around 1,200, is not that significant compared to other industries, a proposed new mine in southeast Montana would more than double total employment to about 2,900.
Since 2009, Montana coal exports abroad have grown six-fold to 13 million tons. The state receives about $48 million in coal royalties.
Whether Adam’s leadership on climate change will be appreciated by voters won’t be known until the election in June. A 2012 poll showed that a majority of Montana voters favoured relaxing environmental laws to allow more coal and gas developments. And another poll showed that almost 50% felt that concerns about global warming had been exaggerated and more research was needed before they would support action to combat it.
But Adams claims this is a plus:
“People understand that politicians who speak the truth are a value, and by and large in the Democratic primary, voters understand,”…
“It will probably hurt with some of the union guys, but it’s important to tell people the truth …
“I will not be dishonest about this for political gain. Lying isn’t going to help those [coal industry] workers. Instead, I have a plan for retraining and job growth. I’m going to serve the impacted citizens by dealing with reality, rather than serving myself by hustling concerned workers for votes with promises no candidate will keep.”
Dirk Adams educator, banker, rancher, and Democratic Candidate for the Montana Senate
Climate change needs to be an election issue in this country, this election, this year.
On thursday June 5, 2013; Myself and Green Party member weka went toe to toe on how far the Green Party should be prepared to compromise to gain seats in a Labour led cabinet in which Weka said this:
<blockquote>So would you be happy if the GP went into govt and as part of that won an agreement from Labour to not mine Denniston?
<b>weka</b>
</blockquote>
To which I replied:
Weka, YES. Yes, I would. This would be a major concession from Labour. And major blow to the fossil fuel industry. Stopping Denniston would be a step forward in the war against climate change in this country. I would be overjoyed. I would be stunned if the Greens could win such a concession from the Labour Party.
Jenny
To which Weka responded:
<blockquote>Can one of the Labour people here tell us if that would be a hard thing for Labour to give up?
<b>weka</b>
</blockquote>
I reinforced weka's query of our Labour Party brothers and sisters:
Yes, come on Labour Party people, tell us what you think.
How about you Colonial Viper? How about you R0B? Or maybe lprent?
Would any of you like to have a go at answering weka’s question?
Maybe even EDDIE might like to share her opinion with us?
Jenny
To date:
Not even one self identified Labour Party member or supporter, contributing author, or commenter has chosen to reply to Weka’s query.
Weka’s question still hangs in the air. Will Labour agree to stop the rape of the Denniston Plateau and the hugely increased contribution to climate change that will result?
Or will Labour refuse to concede this position to the Greens?
Remember that hundreds, possibly thousands of grass roots Green Party members and others are mobilising to protest and blockade Bathurst Resources climate crime on the Denniston Plateau. The Green Party cannot afford to back down on Denniston without seriously disappointing the bulk of their membership.
On this April First on this oddly singular occasion of my official return to The Standard, I thought I would give our Labour readers and writers serious opportunity to answer Weka’s question:
Labour Party members, supporters, commenters, contributing authors, anybody want to dare an answer to weka’s question?
<
blockquote>So would you be happy if the GP went into govt and as part of that won an agreement from Labour to not mine Denniston?
Can one of the Labour people here tell us if that would be a hard thing for Labour to give up? weka
[lprent: Personally I find it a rather daft question – as I pointed out in email. The position of both the Greens and Labour was that neither were particularly willing to break existing contracts. For instance on the Denniston or on the oil/gas exploration areas. But the current coal prices tends to make many of your other coal points moot (and for that matter probably the Denniston mine as well).
Personally I find your thinking is often muddled between cause and effect. In particular that not having any particular policy means that political parties have a policy that you incessantly define. You don’t make policies for parties and are probably incapable of doing so. It was what got you banned last time and I can see you doing it again in this comment (please try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance). I suggest you don’t repeat ascribing your lying bullshit about party policies again. Be prepared for me to insist that you point to the actual policy and to ban you if you don’t. You have had your warning..
And please make sure you don’t start claiming that a lack of response means anything more than many people can’t be bothered answering you ]
Didn’t get past you quoting Gower, Jenny. Why the fuck you think he is any kind of useful or reputable source is completely beyond me. Unless you are happy to use his disingenuous, biased spin for your own ends? It actually doesn’t help clarify issues or make points to use other people’s lies.
I quote Gower knowing that as a Right wing pundit, you or Lynn are less likely to dismiss him, or in Lynn’s case label him a Goebbels or allow death threats to be made against him to be put up on this site.
Actually no. If I or any moderator sees threats of violence even pretend violence, then people get anything from a warning to a banning. I will tend to wipe the actual part of the comment at fault. And personally I tend towards the banning. As well as being unacceptable, it is also illegal.
Calling people names generally doesn’t cause me much fuss provided it is pointed (ie explained why that was chosen), doesn’t fall over in hate speech (again illegal), and unless it spills over into some kind of boring tit-for-tat flamewar.
Quite simply it is frequently appropriate to call an arsehole by their true name without being mealy mouthed about it. With many people with poor social skills and without a self-awareness of how they look to others, it is frequently the only way that you can ever get their attention to the fact that is how you view them (and why).
It isn’t hard to find examples of both of these moderator behaviours on the site.
“If I or any moderator sees threats of violence even pretend violence, then people get anything from a warning to a banning.” lprent
That’s just not credible Lynn. Not only do you keep maintaining that the Greens’ positions on coal mining look “remarkably the same” as Labour’s, (and by extension “close” to National’s position.)
You knowingly allowed Te Reo Putake, Pascal’s bookie, and Colonial Viper to openly discuss how much CO2 would be created if they burned my body, even raising the question on how it should be done. And don’t claim you weren’t aware of it.
“Am I the only reader wondering how much carbon burning martyrs contribute to the atmosphere?” Te Reo Putake 6 October 2013 at 9:36 am
“I dunno. But if you could harness energy from Jenny’s switching back and forth about who is selling out the planet, the problem could well be solved.” Pascal’s bookie 6 October 2013 at 9:42 am
“Almost certainly less than 15kg of carbon released, depending on how it is done….” Colonial Viper 6 October 2013 at 9:44 am
Lynn not only do you demonstrably tolerate threats of violence and pretend violence you seem to do so against the Left of the political spectrum. Your resort to Godwin’s Law and banning show that you have no rational defence of your position that we should not put demands on our political leaders on this site to do something about climate change.
You have never demonstrated anything that makes me think different about the greens policy. All I usually see is you throwing your own interpretation on it – one that you are clearly incapable of defending bearing in mind that you never try to explain the logic. You merely assert, and in my view quite incorrectly. Basically you appear to lack the ability to distinguish between your wish on how the world is and that of reasonably verifiable and reproducible facts.
Threat? I really don’t think so. When I saw it, I thought they were talking about your habit of blowing off in volume about bugger all and evaluating it in terms of CO2. But it doesn’t read like a threat
It might have offended you. But
a. that really isn’t hard to do.
b. is what the site is for – it is part of the process of robust debate (a concept that you don’t appear to understand).
They talked about burning my body, joke or no, you allowed it and still maintain it as acceptable behaviour. Would I talk about someone like that, I wouldn’t dream of it.
“….you never try to explain the logic. You merely assert, and in my view quite incorrectly.” lprent
Good for you Lynn, you must have an idle moment, or two.
I am quite capable of defending my position with facts and logic, and it is not about “bugger all” it is usually about the screaming need for our parliamentarians to seriously do something about cutting down our CO2 emissions. Your resort to Godwin’s law show that it is you who have no logical defence of Your argument that the Greens and Labour policies are remarkably the same. I have shown you the link* where the Green Party leader Russel Norman restates his party’s clear position is “No New Coal Mines”. Apart from that, as I have explained to you before, even current and past Green MPs who have communicated with me have had trouble finding the proof that, “no new coal mines” is their party policy, though they have strongly assured me that it is. Weird I know. (from their memories they tell me that it was voted in some time in the late ’90s and has never been rescinded) I am sure that other Green MPs find it annoying that I have reminded them of this policy. And would rather it remain buried.
*“When it comes to coal mining, our policy is no new mines” Russell Norman The Vote
Duncan Garner. Question: “A moratorium on all new coal mines under your government?”
Russel Norman. Answer: “That’s right”
And is this Green Party policy remarkably similar to Labour’s and therefore according to David Parker “close” to National’s?
These are the substantive questions which you continually and selectively ignore and refuse to address while accusing me of making “mere” assertions.
What about my “mere assertion” that the Green Party (and the rest) played down climate change during the last election and by all indications look likely to do so again. At one stage I recall you called me a “Fucking Liar”.
“You know what really strikes me about climate change in the election? It’s the absence.” Simon Johnson at Hot Topic November 16, 2011
I notice that you haven’t called the authors at Hot Topic Fucking Liars you just ignore them.
With your intolerant behaviour and personal abuse and refusal to address the facts of an argument rationally and fairly it is little wonder that your site is trailing The Daily Blog in the stats. People want a site that is either Left or Right, they want a site where rational polite and respectful discussion is encouraged.
The Greens better watch out, Mana and TIP are rumoured to have quite strong climate change policies in the works and are prepared to fight for them.
At their AGM last weekend the Mana Party unanimously voted to write “No New Coal Mines” into their policy, and are unlikely to hide this policy away and forget it, to keep the Labour Party happy.
So find a labour policy that says that there will be new coal mines outside of existing mining rights (which BTW is what the greens policy actually appears to be in practice). Don’t quote individual politicians. Quote policy because that is what you claim.
Basically you are just lying through your teeth because labour has no clear policy. But as far as I am aware there hasn’t been a new mining license issued for coal for decades. So tyhe greens policy is in essense meaningless.
The coal rights in existence are a existing property right that would be difficult for any government to revoke. They cover all of the best deposits. They would also be difficult for any government to legally prevent for rights holders to exercise.
The only thing that the government could affect are the safety regulations, and they would be limited in the courts and international trade about how far they dick about with that.
That is why your distinction about the greens policy is meaningless, futile, and outright stupid.
“….your distinction about the greens policy is meaningless, futile, and outright stupid.”
Tell it to the Greens leader then:
Duncan Garner. Question: “A moratorium on all new coal mines under your government?”
Russel Norman. Answer: “That’s right”
Better yet, tell it to the Greens membership, and many others who are mobilising on the ground to stop the Denniston Coal Mine.
Tell it to Forest and Bird and Greenpeace who launched expensive appeals against the ruling that climate change could not be considered as an objection to granting consents to starting new coal mining.
This is just the sort of authoritarian claptrap that will ensure the destruction of our biosphere.
And lastly it is pedantry.
“The coal rights in existence are a existing property right that would be difficult for any government to revoke. They cover all of the best deposits. They would also be difficult for any government to legally prevent for rights holders to exercise.”
When it comes to contracts and even statutes, the state has no problem ripping them up when it suits.
In the extradition case being taken against Dotcom the law clearly states that the claiments must produce a summary of their evidence before a New Zealand court, yet in the interests of our relationship with the US this statute is being tossed aside.
From the Dailyblog:
…..Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias who pointed out the Extradition Act states the record of case “must include both ‘a summary of the evidence acquired to support the request for the surrender of the person’ and ‘other relevant documents, including photographs and copies of documents’.” She also noted that natural justice requires those charged are to be informed “in detail of the nature of the charge”, and are to have “the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence”. On the face of it, it’s hard to disagree with such a fundamental right – especially when facing the prospect of being locked up in a United States prison. The majority of Supreme Court judges however said, despite the wording of our Act, natural justice was overruled by our international obligations – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/04/01/why-the-right-need-to-destroy-kim-dotcom/#sthash.FhPawt11.dpuf
We are at war, at stake is the future of human civilisation and humanity itself.
Did Churchill worry about what binding contracts private business had with Germany when he declared war on them?
Does Obama worry about the contractual arrangements that the EU has with Russia over natural gas when he demands an international boycott of Russian Federation over their interference in the Ukraine?
Obviously not.
For those of us who are serious about saving the climate there will be no hiding behind such plainly stupid and meaningless pedantry either. For you to demand that we do is what is futile. Do your worst mother fucker.
To my Grandchildren, Sorry we couldn’t save the climate, because you see, we had these contracts with the polluters….
#1 (please try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance)
Houston we have a problem.
Legally most of the carbon that cannot be burnt without destroying the climate is already legally above ground in the balance sheets of the fossil fuel companies.
Such things as pension funds are heavily dependant on the valuation of these proven reserves being realised, by being dug up, and burned. Pension funds like insurance funds are contracts that cannot legally be broken.
The problem we are calling Houston about is that to keep a planet even vaguely similar to the one we have now, all these social constructs we call financial contracts will have to be broken.
I think we need to step back and have a rational assessment of the situation
A social construct involving scattered pieces of paper with various politicians and businessmen’s signatures appended to them have gotten in the way of having a viable eco-sphere? That’s just nuts.
The Sanctity of Contracts:
Are contracts more sacred than human life?
Are contracts more sacred than the continued existence of such natural wonders as the Great Barrier Reef, 50% of which has already gone?
Let’s put the concept of the sanctity of contracts under the microscope.
If for instance the National Government signs up to the TPPA and puts legal contractual obligations on all future governments not to pass legislation that could harm the returns on investment of the big multinationals.
#2 Would in your opinion Lynn a Labour and or Green administration and every other administration after that, have to honour that contract?
Or,
#3 Would in your opinion Lynn, an independent sovereign government, democratically chosen, to enact certain policies in disagreement with the TPPA, have the power to over rule such a binding contract and bin it, if deemed necessary, in the best interests of the people they are elected to represent?
If your answer is yes to question #3 then you have the answer to question #1. If a Labour/Green government decide that mining Denniston or Deep Sea Oil drilling is not in the best interests of the country, (or the continued existence of human civilisation) then they have every right as the independent sovereign rulers of this country to over rule any contract. (That is, if democracy means anything at all).
Of course if you answered no to question #3 then we would have this condition:
To my Grandchildren, Sorry we couldn’t give you affordable medicines, or plain packaging on cigarettes, or safe labour legislation because you see, we had this contract with the big multinationals….
I think Lynn that your objection about existing contracts is silly petty fogging. Every independent sovereign government has the legal and moral right to rip up contracts that they consider are no longer tenable. If it was not so, we would still have bonded slavery.
According to David Parker Labour and National policies “are close” and Labour and the Greens policies are remarkably the same according to Lynn Prentice.
What can we draw from this?
That Business As Usual will carry on what ever administration (or combination of) we elect?
That Labour National and the Greens are all pretty much in agreement?
I think most Green Party members would be appalled to hear that National Labour and the Greens are all remarkably the same/close on oil gas and mineral extraction. And I think that most Green Party leaders if asked would deny it.
I could be wrong and Labour the Greens and the Nats are all remarkably the same/close on oil gas and mineral extraction, but I wouldn’t be guilty of spreading lying bullshit, I would just be honestly mistaken and I don’t mind saying just a little bit shaken if this was proved to be true.
“(please try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance)”
Whether the Greens or Labour or any other party have such a policy or not is irrelevant.
There is no getting around it. The sanctity of business contracts cannot be balanced against the sanctity of a survivable climate.
To stop climate change, governments are going to have to over rule contractual arrangements relating to the fossil fuel reserves.
Exxon Has 25 Billion Barrels of Fossil Fuel and Plans To Extract it All
The company’s report to investors on climate risks shows it has a grim outlook on carbon rules
……if countries around the world implement sufficiently stringent carbon regulations to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels—a threshold agreed to at the 2009 UN climate summit in Copenhagen. The amount of carbon humans can release without exceeding this limit—roughly 485 billion metric tons of carbon beyond what we’ve already emitted
….”The reserves are going to be able to turn into money, because they’re assuming there isn’t going to be a policy change,” said Natural Resources Defense Council Director of Climate Programs David Hawkins. “They’re definitely saying that no matter how bad it gets, the world’s addiction to fossil fuels will be so overwhelming that the governments of the world will just suck it up and let people suffer.”
Labour needs the West Coast vote.
The Coast need a strong champion of low wage earner worker interests.
No one is offering anything else to the West Coast to take the place of mining. Unemployment is high and people are feeling wasted. A depressed community but supermarkets chains do OK.. Everything is dearer on the Coast. There is a limit to the scope of tourism without destroying environment and the character attractions carefully marketed.
No political party has provided a way for this community to sustain itself if mining is removed.
An alternative is needed and none are on offer.
The misquote attributed to Helen Clark ( “feral”) and propagated by gutter press enabled National to make giant gains in a Labour stronghold. Coasters as a group are fiercely protective with a history of hard times and battling adversity.
The high rainfall allows good growth for dairy but not many crops can do well in the open. Marijuana being an exception judging by the police hauls by chopper.
Local industry is so dependent on mining.
Mining is a poor option with no long term sustaining of the community. Some better approach is needed to providing jobs and a living economy.
A lot of profit is extracted from the West Coast by transnational “investors”, but wages are kept low while prices for goods are high. Some isolation through distance from Christchurch and Nelson allows transnationals like Toll to gobble up all competitions and dominate transport in and out of the Coast.
Service industries establish branches on the Coast and undercut the locals initially to get established and expand. They pay dividends but not to coasters.
Electrix for example boasted how many millions they had extracted out of the coast business back to Christchurch.
There are many ways the Coast economy could be consolidated and sustain a better life for the community.
Rampant capitalism is not the answer for such communities in many places around NZ.
The extraction industry takes much more than coal.
IF plain packaging is not reducing smoking in Australia, why wouldn’t the tobacco companies be excited that:
a. it’s not working; and
b. they are saving millions on expensive branding
”
Plain packs derided as not working
By Martin Johnston
4:15 AM Tuesday Apr 1, 2014
Save
Like on Facebook 9
Post on LinkedIn 0
+1 on Google+ 0
Health
NZ Government
National
Smoking
Tobacco giants begin efforts to dissuade Govt from law change with new research.
The tobacco industry has ramped up efforts to persuade New Zealand against plain packaging. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The tobacco industry has ramped up efforts to persuade New Zealand against plain packaging. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The tobacco industry has ramped up efforts to persuade New Zealand against plain packaging, by circulating research claiming to show the policy has not worked in Australia.
However, tobacco control experts have dismissed the findings and say it will take years to see the effects of the policy.
Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, has drawn attention to “three separate data sets that demonstrate plain packaging has not reduced smoking rates in Australia”. Two are company-funded surveys of smoking prevalence, by Zurich University and by policy consultancy London Economics. The third is industry sales data, released by the company, showing a 0.3 per cent rise in the volume of tobacco delivered to retailers last year.
The Australian plain packaging law in December 2012 forced the removal of brand imagery and colours from tobacco packets and replaced them with enlarged health warnings and drab background colouring.”
Cos they have a history of “finding” research to fit their position perhaps?
I haven’t read up on this in detail, but I can think of a logical answer to ‘why aren’t they excited they are saving millions on expensive branding’. Their statistics purport to show that the amount of smoking has increased, but that’s across all brands. Of course each individual company wants to increase their market share within the total number of smokers, and that’s where having an identifiable brand comes in.
This is one time I agree with Brian Edwards. I caught this disgraceful Gower jonolism last night – including a montage of clips of Key calling Cunliffe “tricky”. Gower made an effort to give Key a bit of a slap, recently, now he’s back to full on Nat Government PR.
i would suggest that Alfred E. Nuemann,(Gower), has had His chain yanked quite severely by the owners of that particular television channel,(therefore Gower’s owners),
The difference between the two interviews, one a ‘blindside’ of Slippery the Prime Minister in a ‘press scrum’ and the other an obvious ‘pre-scripted’ event while both Gower and the PM were in China was glaring,(both interviews discussing the PM’s mis-use of a ‘charitable event’ that was in reality a National Party fundraiser),
The Parliament sits again next week and if the opposition parties do not mount a concerted attack upon this ‘Fraudulent’ mis-use of ‘charities’ which turned out to be the National Party(full stop), then they are unlikely to get another chance as this to chisel from the PM enough of a % of support necessary leading into the election,
It is in fact only the PM that provides to this National Government any modicum of electability and the ‘golf games for charity’ which were anything but becomes the perfect device to undermine His perceived popularity,
i doubt the Opposition will get a better blunt instrument with which to blacken the reputation of the PM again befor the votes are cast in September…
i stopped watching 3, i just find their news untrustworthy, if i cannot trust gower to give me fair & balanced & informative news how can i trust any of their ‘news’. i switched to tv1 instead, i did try give up all tv news but a better protest is for me to watch tv3s main competitor.
I don’t watch much TV3 news any more. But I am into watching how the news treats stories.
I tend to watch TVNZ 6pm news live, if I am available. But I also often record both TV One and 3 News (it’s a time when I am doing domestic chores). Then i can flick through them on ff & only play items of interest.
A lot of the headline news last night was about crimes and disasters.
I agree on this, I thought that item was overly slanted. It looked like a poll question was used to create a news story and then quotes from Cunliffe and Key were cherry picked to fit the story, but with unfair bias – noticeably more than usual.
I think Gower swipes both ways but takes it too far too often.
Gower has consistently swiped at Cunliffe – way more so than against Key. He did go fairly hard on Key once or twice recently – and that after he came in for a lot of criticism for anti-Cunliffe bias. but his main attack on National was re-Key’s leadership rival Judith Collins.
So I don’t think Gower is very even handed on this.
News organisation polls are used as an easy way of creating an “exclusive” news item. They are ratings’ chasers. Then, once they have the results, to make headlines out of them, they need to present them in terms of something fairly dramatic. I would like to see political polls being taken away from news organisations.
I can’t face watching it again but reflecting afterwards on the inherent venom coming from Gower I wondered if he ended up on the mat over the recent stick he gave Key. I will try to find footage and post here because my recollection was that Key was fuming and almost threatening in some of his responses.
Just as a comparison… TV1 had a clip on the same subject this evening. It was objective, fair and Cunliffe’s response was brief but looked like it was played in full.
That’s the end of TV3 news for me. I suggest all reasonable people do the same!
Cunliffe said it was because “his people” (Labour people?) knew him better than the rest of the country.
Yes. And that’s why the membership and the unions voted overwhelmingly for Cunliffe. Because we know him to be a decent, honest and trustworthy person.
Shame, shame, and more shame on you Paddy Gower and TV3.
Edit: no disrespect to the other two candidates when I say that.
Coupled to this is the type of question asked by the Pollsters used by TV3, as i have alluded to on a number of occasions my belief is that a series of questions is asked of those polled by these companies that are specifically designed, in the vein of the clinic full of cynics trying to twist the peoples wrists, that paint a particular political party in a less than good light,
You may have or may have not noticed that the day after the two channels broadcast the results of their different political polls, from different polling companies, TV3 followed this up on the Monday with a ‘result’ from the same poling company which had obviously asked the question of responders, ”do you trust Labour Leader David Cunliffe after the revelations surrounding the trust which held monies for His leadership challenge”, quite a mouthful that,
Putting aside entirely the ‘results’ of this particular question i am suggesting that this particular polling company actually asked responders a series of questions about David Cunliffe and Labour in the same vein as the one i pose above, and, they asked such questions BEFOR asking those responding about their choices pertaining to the upcoming election,
i am just about willing to bet you all, remember i qualified that with a just about, that a series of questions were also put to those responding to these polls querying what they thought of National and Slippery the Prime Minister in light of the recent good economic news,
That is how polls are twisted and then used to instill bias in the minds of those watching the results broadcast on their televisions, laughably in what to me looked like a ‘public relations exercise’ these same polling companies agreed to sign up to an ‘industry code of conduct’, the ‘code’ business as usual, nothing was changed in the way polls are currently conducted by these companies,
While Legislating for ‘fairness’ in such polls or Legislating such polls out of existence would be fraught with difficulty and may even raise opposition to a perceived suppression of free speech my belief is that such polls when published must also include the FULL list of questions asked of respondents and that published list should be done so to expose THE ORDER the questions were asked in,
That at least would give us all ‘transparency’ and that is the least we can demand…
Do you know Bad12 I have a recollection that once upon a time that is exactly what happened. I think it might have been in the days before TV3 arrived on the scene. From memory the question asked would precede each individual result.
Yes Anne, i have the vaguest recollection of what you are saying, i am not sure tho if ‘back then’ the polling companies had taken to the cynical means of attempting to twist the peoples wrists by first asking a series of questions designed to put firmly in the minds of respondents a negative attitude to a person or Party…
It may be that Gower has a zinger about John Key for us tonight. If so, I hope it’s better and more fairly framed than last night’s story was. I respect the right of Gower and his colleagues to be robust, even provocative in their work. It’s important that they can be and if I’m watching TV at 6pm it’s usually them. But last night’s effort left me feeling a bt queasy.
Personally, I found it quite an informative piece.
Gave a good insight into why David Cunliffe is polling so badly, not sure what he can do to turn it around though, those character flaws seem to be hard wired in.
Anyway It’s quite likely Jones will be PM in 2017, so it’s not all bad for Labour.
The only thing missing is the narative that it’s over for Key-National even you know that BM. A cold winter soaring electricity bills, and interest rates rising just adds cream to the cake.
When you take into account the 350,000 of the previous non voters coming out to vote things look very grim for National. I’m relaxed about Cunliffe’s polling as the other leaders of big 3 L/G/NZF coalition will share the burden of ruling, therefore Labour only need to point this out and it’s good night nurse for the Right.
Sorry BM but dont agree. Very slanted. A number of times during this piece JK was edited in saying DC is “tricky”. That is complete right wing propaganda. Where is the story on Collins? Key and his “charity”.
Frankly it was a disgraceful piece of reporting. As Brian Edwards said like a party political broadcast for the Nats.
The only insight about why DC is polling badly is this sort of biased crap jonolism.
I think all the opposition parties should boycott TV3. They’d need a good campaign explaining why they were doing it, but I think it should be possible. I can’t see any good reason for any of them to appear in serial beatification of John Key.
Tobacco companies make a mockery on the war on drugs the deaths from tabacco use outweigh all other drugs yet tobacco companies are aloud to
With impunity.
Tabacco company chiefs should be treated the same as drug cartel lords.
Sue Kedgley has a point about saving National Radio. It is not being snuffed out but is instead being squeezed out but frozen funding by this Government. Sue’s final sentence sounds good to me as a National Radio listener:
If Radio NZ’s half a million loyal listeners made it plain that they would vote only for a party that was committed to adequately funding it, perhaps the Government would sit up and listen.
Quite right ianmac. Some votes for the left here with a promise to restore RNZ funding to 2007 levels and then promise to increase funding in line with inflation.
Conservative governments all over the world seem to dislike public service broadcasting.
[…]
But the truth is that it’s hard to get quality broadcasting in a commercial environment, as Brian Edwards pointed out some years ago, because the saturation level of advertising that’s required to keep a commercial radio station viable makes in-depth coverage of complex social and political issues almost impossible. There’s no room for extended interviews and in-depth discussions of complex ideas, which are the daily fare of Radio New Zealand.
You need only listen to current affairs on commercial radio to see how true this is. The constant refrain of Larry Williams and Duncan Garner, is “sorry, we’ve run out of time. We’ve got to go to an advertising break.”
It’s inevitable, too, that if a broadcaster is reliant on advertisers and sponsors it will become, in some sense, beholden to them, and this will compromise its editorial independence somewhere down the line. I mean, realistically, you cannot get stuck into a sponsor.
Well time to put in a complaint to TV3. I know its tedious and wet bus ticket response………But I think better than doing nothing.
Somebody posted yesterday about the procedure for complaining to TV3 (sounds like their complaints file was pretty full!), but if anyone has that information to hand, that would be great.
I think I might write to Mr Gower personally. Or maybe that would feed his ego?
I just read this post at the Eropei blog, which I have never visited before – and want to share it as I found it an open and refreshing perspective (depite the fact I am an aging babyboomer).
Got the link from a tweet by Vikram Kumar, now of the Internet Party, who tweeted “Finally a brilliant understanding of what the #InternetParty is about. [link] The power of an open mind.”
Well worth a read, especially considering his own perspective of Italy and Mussolini. Dotcom’s German nationality is oft pushed to one side by some of his defenders.
It’s nothing to do with looking at Germans with suspicion. My mother is German. What she and other Germans don’t do is buy signed memorabilia of Hitler. The very fact that my mother is German means I’ve long been exposed to the fact that Germans are very quiet and unnecessarily ashamed of their history.
The fact that Dotcom is happy to wear an SS Helmet as a “joke” says a lot about him.
Yawn Gallstone, even the Parliamentary Library has a copy of the fucking thing, you should be storming the barricades demanding its burning,
And the fact that the littlest princling has the gall,there’s that word again, to dress up in an Afrika Corps uniform complete with Swastika armband shows he is the perfect example of the British ruling family???…
Prince Harry was an idiot who has grown-up (great charity work), but who is sometimes still an idiot (stripping in Vegas).
Kim Dotcom was an idiot who instead has only just done more stupid (and illegal) things. The two are not actually comparable.
Also, it’s not a case of owning Mein Kampf for crying out loud. Stop constructing straw men because you don’t know how else to reason. There’s legitimate historical reasons for having it to study. Kim Dotcom is not a historian. He has a signed copy from Hitler for the mana of it.
Which is already creepy. It’s even more creepy when coupled with other factors (the SS helmet, for instance).
I’m genuinely left dumbfounded at why people are defending him.
Gallstone, i could quite imagine that you are still left dumfounded by having to form a working knot with your shoelaces,
Your pathetic denigration of DotCom is missing something, FACT, DotCom owns the book as a capitalist money making venture, if He were to be seeking Mana from owning such a relic He would have it on prominent display somewhere where anyone visiting Him could see it,
The argument could be just as well made that the littlest princling dressed as a Nazi not because of stupidity but because of familial connections to that particular regime, blood connections in other words,
i can well imagine what the legitimate reasons to have such a book in the Parliamentary Library are, actually i can’t, being a library we could imagine for politicians to read up about politics and regimes in far away places their only reason to be reading such a text would be for hints in imitation…
You seem to forget that Dot Con might be able to “get” John Key with the information hes suggested he has (he doesn’t of course because Dot Cons basically a con man but the left need to cling to anything at this stage) and therefore Dot Con gets defended
It’s remarkably like sexism in the working classes. We should address such problems while recognising that the working classes are piled on by forces such as National. We’re complex human beings. We can criticise sexist, out-dated attitudes and improve working conditions and life. But no, because blue-collar working class men are the Holy Grail of the left-wing vote, a lot of people simply refuse to do so (we don’t have the time, it’s not important, look at the bigger picture). Hence the Thought Processes of Chris Trotter and co.
Here, we have the very real problem that National are building a surveillance state and we should look to fix that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t also say that Kim Dotcom is a convicted criminal, donated money to John Banks, refused to pay creditors until publicity came about and in several months time will probably be exposed as a compulsive liar.
Apparently there’s are sections of the left who are only capable of one dimensional thought.
..”..because blue-collar working class men are the Holy Grail of the left-wing vote,..”
that is old thought..of course they are part of the constituency the labour party is meant to take care of..
(should we pause to thank those two labour govts for their contributions in building the high-cost-of-living/low-wage/poverty-ridden/environmentally-fucked economy nz has become under their ‘care’/stewardship..?)
..anyway..the holy grail for both labour and the greens nowadays..
..should be the smart/tech-savvy young..
..and it would seem that both those parties are about to lose/piss that vote away..
..’cos the internet party is going to come out much heavier branded than both of them..
..in things that matter to the young…
..the green party will be out-greened by the internet-party..will be out-pot-decrimed by them..
..be outsmarted on the smart/good/new/green ideas the internet party will come out..
..and the labour party will be out-laboured..
..(a universal basic income wd be a gordian-knot/labour party buster for the internet party..
..an idea where sue bradford and gareth morgan meet in agreement..
..it shouldn’t be too hard for the internet party..to go there too..
..and as a social/poverty-busting-policy..it cd only have harawira/mana nodding in agreement..
..and ticking more of the alliance-lite boxes that need to/must be ticked..before any deal can be considered..
“..Kim Dotcom is a convicted criminal..”
..he did stupid stuff when young..those innocent please line up on the right..and not being caught does not equate to innocence..
“.. donated money to John Banks..”
..his explanation is that banks sold himself to dotcom as a tech-man/future-thinker..
..i also think that banks may have offered to help him with residency issues/w.h.y…
..”.. refused to pay creditors until publicity came about..”
..yes..morally those debts were due..but legally there was no legal-obligation for him to pay them..and i agree we can’t know if he wd have paid were he not seeking de-facto public-office..i dunno..
“.. and in several months time will probably be exposed as a compulsive liar…”
..now..this is the electorate-mp story you are referring to..
..and you are claiming this is an outright lie..
..now.think about this for a minute..
..the reasons to lie..?
..i can’t think of any..
..the reasons to not be lying..?
..the obvious ones are the vicious backlash the internet party wd receive at the hands of both the media and the public..
..were they shown/proven to be outright lying/misleading everyone..
I think you severely overestimate Kim Dotcom and come September will be disappointed when the Internet Party poll less than the Conservative Party (and heck, probably ACT).
I met David Cunliffe yesterday and he is a decent person.
What you see is what you get and his agenda is not self enrichment and self aggrandisement but genuine concern for people.
The truth will out before the election.
Yeah I’ll also wait and see whether it turns out they’re massaging the statistics. My pick is they probably are, since they rely on lies for everything else.
Gee Pukish Rogue, this helps me understand why Key is so popular. People such as yourself rely on sources like the Herald to be informed.
Try reading this. The falling crime rate is an international phenomena (fraid Shokey can’t claim this one). This outlines so of the reasons why crime has fallen. Demographics is very significant, but not the whole answer.
Sorry for mis-spelling your name, but think Pukish Rogue rather becomes you. I might leave it as is.
Well I’m just sorry I can’t come up with anything to do with the name anker but the main point is not the falling crime (though thats good) but its the headline people will notice and remember
Yes hes an amusing funny guy all right and I looked at his bet as well but I found it pretty one sided, all the risk on my side and no reward so I didn’t feel like taking him up on it butt since Lprent likes to make bets I’ve got a good one for him:
If John Key is the PM after the next election Lprent stops posting on here, he can still do all the nerdy stuff behind the scenes but no posting
If anyone other then John Key is the PM after the next election I’ll never post on here again
So there you go I’m confident that JK will be the next PM, how confident is Lprent?
Oh dear, another one who thinks “proof” happens anywhere other than in Maths.
You missed the point: there is far more than one study that establish the links between environmental lead and neurotoxicology. The recent one that made a splash is just the only one you’ve ever heard of.
cf: studies by Rosenfeld, Needleman, Nevin, to name but a few.
I understand how a proof works.
And no I haven’t missed the point and there are very compelling studies relating to this.
Nonetheless while interesting and compelling it is a hardly certain enough to make a blanket statement about. The same as Puckish can’t put it down solely to National’s crime policies.
National’s social, penal and economic policies increase inequality and therefore have a negative effect on the crime rate. Removal of environmental lead and demographics have a positive one.
Puckwit’s point scoring is a perfect illustration of the finding that low IQ predicts for right wing beliefs.
And there are others, such as this from the US National Institute of Health, who reviews the various studies (Nevin, Reyes, etc).
“…the evidence is not sufficient to conclude that variations in environmental lead exposure in childhood over the past 50 or so years in the USA explain, first the rise, and then the decline in crime rates.”
..a fact-check on that will show you that the drop in crime here is just the local echo of a marked international trend..
..and national have long been front-runners for the cynical-opportunist-award..
..for their long claiming this is all down to their get-tough-on-crime policies..
..but this is utter horse-shit..as these sharp drops in crime are evident in countries from both ends of the ideological-spectrum..from the most liberal/progressive..to the most repressive..
..and funny story..!..our local corporate/access media seemingly has neither the will nor the intelligence to know this widely reported international-trend in crime-dropping..
..and to challenge the govt spin/bullshit on it all being down to them..
..maybe their fact-checking/research doesn’t go much past reading/regurgitating/parroting govt spin/press-releases..
Yeah only hard to argue against if you are non too bright……………………so we can conclude that people such as yourself who buy the spin are non too bright. Most people with half a brain will get it.
I considered it. It shows National well below the polling level that gave them 59 seats in 2011, and since they have no mates, and Corruption Collins, not to mention King Gerry and Parroty, the next government will be Labour/Green.
Well ok then how about this, the bet I offered to Lprent how about you and I have the same bet?
Its a gimme for you really, John Key becomes PM after the next election you never post here again and if anyone other then John Key becomes PM I’ll never pst here again
Because I think John Key will be the PM after the next election
I’ll sweeten the deal, same bet as before but I’ll post for one day after (if anyone other then John Key wins) just so you can rub my face in it.
See heres the thing, I know John Key will be the PM after the next election so I can confidently make this bet , how confident are you you that he won’t?
Now now I’m sure the media would never over-exaggerate just to sell more newspapers, if its claimed there were thousands then there was most certainly thousands and if anyone claims otherwise then they’re bad evil-doers 🙂
if anyone other then John Key becomes PM I’ll never pst here again using this pseudonym because my craving for attention is significantly larger than the product of my integrity and intellect
Ok Mcflock and Tracey take the bet and we’ll see what happens, of course you need gumption to take a bet like that so being from the left you won’t take it because when its all said and done the left are basically neutered
Oh bullshit. Why would I take that bet? If key’s back in october, life will be bad enough. If Cunliffe is pm, there will always be obnoxious little scrotes like you even if you don’t come sliming back under that handle or any other. No gain, small marginal punishment.
Your problem is that you think you are some big nemesis that we’re all yearning to be rid of. You’re not. You’re just one of the rodents that come here from the sewer, bustle and squeak, and then descend for another coating of shitwater.
No McFlock you’re gutless, as an ex-girlfriend would put it you’re all mouth and no trousers
I put out a bet that was quite generous but you won’t take it up which tells me you think theres a more then a decent chance John Key will still be PM
Put up or shut up in other words
[lprent: You can’t really talk about being gutless taking a bet. Still think that only a few hundred people would turn up to the TPPA protest on the weekend? I notice you avoided answering.
But since you feel this is such an important part of how this site operates (you notice I didn’t insist), a weeks ban for being a stupidly blatant hypocrite and falling into the pwned heresy. ]
Maybe he could also explain if it’s Key who’s responsible for the increase in sexual offending, despite it not being included in the almighty “headline”..
..and perhaps the most obvious example of this is the business reporter on tvone breakfast show..
..take her away from her autocue/rehearsed-pieces..
..and she gapes like a goldfish out of water..
..and in her area of expertise..her tugging of the forelock to those corporate/elite-interests is incessant..
..and she wd probably need a dictionary to know what critical-analysis is..
..she probably wd think it is a new mortgage-marketing package..
..’invest in our new ‘critical-analyis’ program!’..
..we do both the ‘critical’ and the ‘analysis’..
..so you don’t have to..!..
..fixed and floating holders of what those silly french call the ‘morte-gage’..the death-grip..are welcome to sign up for our free ‘critical analysis’..
..come and get a free-meeting with one of our consultants..
“Businessman in citizenship row admits charges
Donghua Liu today pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman and assault with intent to injure after an incident at the Boulevard Hotel in Newmarket, ……
His de facto wife, Juan Zhang, was the victim of the more serious charge, assault with intent to injure, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail…..
……She is also a former director of the company that made a significant donation to the National Party.
The Herald revealed last month that Liu was given citizenship against official advice in 2010 after lobbying by National Party minister Maurice Williamson and the then Mayor of Auckland, John Banks.”
No it cannot be revoked unless the citizenship was obtained fraudulently. There is no provision to take away someone’s citizenship because they are commit offences.
BTW it is not unusual for Ministers to overturn official advice about granting citizenship. Between 2005 and 2011, Ministers overturned such advice relating to 8% of all citizenship applications. That covers the last three years of the last Government and the first three years of the current government.
Given the large numbers involved, inevitably some new citizens who were granted citizenship against official advice will be convicted of offences. Some will also donate to political parties.
Although a notorious recipient of “corporate welfare,” Walmart has now admitted that their massive profits also depend on the funding of food stamps and other public assistance programs.
In their annual report, filed with the Security and Exchange Commission last week, the retail giant lists factors that could potentially harm future profitability. Listed among items such as “economic conditions” and “consumer confidence,” the company writes that changes in taxpayer-funded public assistance programs are also a major threat to their bottom line.
The company writes:
Our business operations are subject to numerous risks, factors and uncertainties, domestically and internationally, which are outside our control … These factors include … changes in the amount of payments made under the Supplement[al] Nutrition Assistance Plan and other public assistance plans, changes in the eligibility requirements of public assistance plans …
So much for the wealth creating capitalists and their preferred Trickle Down hypothesis.
And also worth considering is the fact that Walmart is privately controlled – over 50% of stock is owned by the Walton family. They are an accomplished user of tax havens and incentive subsidies that enrich them while impoverishing communities and governments.
You shouldn’t believe Key and English when they’re saying there won’t be more asset sales. It’s all about ideology because Nats simply believe public ownership “should not be seen as the default setting”. Armstrong confirms this in his column today, saying that some of the non-profit infrastructure like state schools and major hospitals may be partly privatised if National stays in power and that Labour is fighting a losing battle in trying to stop it.
Quite chilling, really. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11229836
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
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. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
COMMENTARY:By Sawsan Madina I watched US President Donald Trump’s joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week in utter disbelief. Not that the idea, or indeed the practice, of ethnic cleansing of Palestine is new. But at that press conference the mask has fallen. Recently, fascism ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will on Wednesday announce it is willing, as a last resort, to purchase the collapsed Rex Airlines, in its latest bid to prop up aviation services to regional and remote areas. As ...
Jotham Napat has been elected as the new prime minister of Vanuatu. Napat was elected unopposed in Port Vila today, receiving 50 votes with two void votes. He is the country’s fifth prime minister in four years and will lead a coalition government made up of five political parties — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By A J Brown, Professor of Public Policy & Law, Centre for Governance & Public Policy, Griffith University Australia has turned the corner on its decade-long slide on Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), once again ranking in the top ten least ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Bridges, Senior Lecturer in Public Relations and Director of Academic Program – Communication, Creative Industries, Screen Media, Western Sydney University Stock Rocket/Shutterstock For new parents struggling with challenges such as breastfeeding and sleep deprivation, social media can be a great ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott French, Senior Lecturer in Economics, UNSW Sydney US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have stated an exemption for Australia from Trump’s executive order placing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imported into the US is “under consideration”. ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon's attempts to turn the tables back on the Opposition at Question Time today went down like a lead balloon, Jo Moir writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brenton Griffin, Casual Lecturer and Tutor in History, Indigenous Studies, and Politics, Flinders University American Primeval/Netflix On January 24, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon Church, penned a statement condemning the ...
It comes as Whangārei District Council is under fire from the Director General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati after it voted in December against adding fluoridation to the water. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Strangio, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Monash University Is history repeating itself in Labor’s fortress state of Victoria? At the 1990 federal election, Bob Hawke’s Labor government had a near-death experience when it lost nine seats in Victoria. A furious Hawke laid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nissen, HERA Program Director – Health Workforce Optimisation Centre for the Business & Economics of Health, The University of Queensland Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock If you’ve tried to get an appointment to see a GP or specialist recently, you will likely have felt ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peta Ashworth, Professor and Director, Curtin Institute for Energy Transition, Curtin University Large power grids are among the most complicated machines humans have ever devised. Different generators produce power at various times and at various costs. A generator might fail and another ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Orr, Veterinarian, Southern Cross University Mitchell Orr/Unsplash Late last year, rumours swirled online that HomeSafeID, a private Australian pet microchip registry, had stopped operating. On Feburary 5 2025, a notice appeared on the HomeSafeID website, ostensibly from the site’s ...
The government is taking far too long to allocate the 1500 social homes it announced nine months ago and the hold up is stalling desperately-needed homes, says a community housing provider. ...
The agency is setting a 12-week limit on how much rent debt a tenant can accumulate as part of a change in approach that will also see almost half of the outstanding dept wiped away. ...
The media is rife with headlines about people killing animals for kicks. Please don’t.In memory of an Auckland swan, a Bay of Plenty octopus and a Taranaki striped marlin.Imagine this. It’s 7.15am. You’re paddling around on a serene lake with your sweetheart. It seems likely that she’ll give ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump has agreed to “consider” exempting Australia from the 25% tariff he has imposed on imports of steel and aluminium to the US. Trump gave the undertaking during a wide-ranging 40-minute ...
Pacific Media Watch Israeli police have confiscated hundreds of books with Palestinian titles or flags without understanding their contents in a draconian raid on a Palestinian educational bookshop in occupied East Jerusalem, say eyewitnesses. More details have emerged on the Israeli police raid on a popular bookstore in occupied East ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist China and the Cook Islands’ relationship “should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party”, says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, as opposition leaders in Rarotonga express a loss of confidence in Prime Minister Mark Brown. In response to questions from the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Donald Trump is moving rapidly to change the contours of contemporary international affairs, with the old US-dominated world order breaking down into a multipolar one with many centres of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ronnie Das, Associate Professor in Data Analytics, The University of Western Australia In the recent Border-Gavaskar series against India, Steve Smith agonisingly missed out reaching 10,000 Test runs in front of his home crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground, falling short by ...
In a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff, comedians and best friends Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester embark on a cross-country quest to find love. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club is a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff following award-winning comedians and friends Brynley Stent and ...
🚐 Bryn and Ku pack their bags and swap the bleak dating scene of Tāmaki Makaurau for some meet and mingle events in Ōtautahi that will take them out of their comfort zone. ❣️ Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club follows comedians Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they head out ...
"The relationship between China and the Cook Islands does not target any third party," the Chinese Foreign Ministry says, as opposition leaders in Rarotonga plan protest. ...
From tradwives to ‘petite blonde’ preferences, this season feels like a throwback for all the wrong reasons, writes Alex Casey. First of all: I know. Complaining about bad stuff on Married at First Sight Australia is like complaining that water is wet. But I’ve been bobbing around in these waters ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a public servant who’s ‘trying to get better’ explains her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 24. Ethnicity: Pākehā and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zena Assaad, Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering, Australian National University Ziv Lavi/Shutterstock Last week, Google quietly abandoned a long-standing commitment to not use artificial intelligence (AI) technology in weapons or surveillance. In an update to its AI principles, which were first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brenainn Simpson, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Florian Nimsdorf / Shutterstock About 400 kilometres northwest of Sydney, just south of Dubbo, lies a large and interesting body of rock formed around 215 million years ago by erupting volcanoes. Known as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mareike Riedel, Senior lecturer in law, Macquarie University The dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents has dominated headlines in Australia in recent months, with calls for urgent action to address what many are calling a crisis. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney For a long time, it seemed refugee law had little relevance to people fleeing the impacts of climate change and disasters. Nearly 30 years ago, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Kirkman, Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women’s Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock You’ve heard of the gender pay gap. What about the gap in medical care? Cardiovascular diseases – which can lead to heart ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Iain White, Professor of Environmental Planning, University of Waikato Getty Images Urban planning has a long history of promoting visionary ideas that advocate for particular futures. The most recent is the concept of the 15-minute city, which has gained traction globally. ...
‘ekim nepo’..
..it must be april 1st..
look forward to you coming back next week Phil
…in the meantime keep working on that Philip Ure Vegan Sausage …it could make you a millionaire
.htuom eht fo tsrif eht rof hcund a pua hcuid yddah a pua lla guiuroM
ɥʇuoɯ əɥʇ ɟo ʇsɹıɟ əɥʇ ɹoɟ ɥɔund ɐ puɐ ɥɔuıd ʎddɐɥ ɐ puɐ llɐ ƃuıuɹoɯ
clery vever
The Listener commemorates this special day?
Hehe. I have been wondering if at 12 pm Geoff pops up and says “April fools”!
Would that be necessary? See for instance this bit in the Listener article:
Hehe, Matthew Hootah! Hoots just got a new name.
I’m too late.
Oh, you didn’t realise I was that Geoff?*
*kidding
I had a good laugh at that April Fools day article, while listening to Geoff’s last Morning Report.
I am sad about his retirement as I have listened to MR virtually every week morning for decades. Not sad at loosing Mercep, however – and awaiting the Mary Wilson/ Mora Checkpoint with trepidation rather than anticipation.
Back to Geoff, Andrea Vance has tweeted about the Listener article, saying she wished it was true – and also that she has heard that Robinson is a “grand theft auto top player”!
He will have a different producer and that might make a difference. Here’s hoping…
Btw, I have an irritable mouse. It works sometimes and sometimes not. No amount of gentle(?) admonition is making any difference. Any ideas what I can do about it?
Needs servicing or a bit of a clean up? What sort of mouse – wireless or wired?
Thanks karol. It’s fairly new but its the arrow that’s the problem. Disappears then re-appears but hard to control.
The cursor? Maybe it needs to be reinstalled?
Mouse on a notebook? Sometimes they are set to disappear when not in use…
if you are a fan of awkward/trainwreck television..
..the business reporter on one breakfast is co-compering with ‘rawdy’..
..and it is a toss-up which is funniest/most-cringeworthy..
..the anti-chemistry between the two co-comperes..
..or the blinding incompetence/ignorances of that business-reporter..
..and of course..of ‘rawdy’…
..as just one of the delights on offer..
..the new benchmarks set in the art of the rictus-smile..
..from said business-reporter…
..who has never seen a topic she hasn’t been able to cover superficially..
..and who is such an unashamed (uncritical) pimp for those ‘business-interests’..
..she just parrots out the message du jour..
..for them..
.and of course..pete-the-elder/sage is reading the news..
..always a delight for fans of the harrumph! at the modern..
English rather than gibberish is a more understandable language Phillip…
Whales 1 Whalers 0….
one can only hope that greenpeace will now turn their attention/efforts to that ever-more-pressing domestic environmental issue..
..the farmed cow…
Manic depressive Phillip??? lets spend the day breathing a sigh of relief for the Whales and hope that the Japanese Government make a speedy decision to uphold the Court’s decision…
what the fuck have i got to be ‘manic-depressed’ about..?..
..there..tony..?
..(you don’t mind if i call ya ‘tony’ do ya..?.)
..and my regards/respect to ‘the crew’…
..(how’s vinnie..?..has his ‘little-problem’ been sorted yet..?’)
..and as an update for you:..
..the japanese govt has already said they will abide by the decision..
..so that is all done and dusted..
..meanwhile..back at the ‘farmed-cow’…
..every day..things just got/get worse and worse..
..as we fuck over our rivers/environment..
..and still sit..leech-like on the globe..
..exporting cancers/premature-deaths..
..to that world..
..adding it all up..we are really global anti-citizens..
.aren’t we..?
..and..’clean and green’..?
..more..’dirty and dirtier’..eh..?
Phillip,Ha–Ha–Ha, oh nothing Phillip,Ha–Ha–Ha, and then Phillip cocks His,or is that Her, little puppies leg and sprays another shower of …manic-depressive’s…barely intelligible raving…into this mornings Post…
A living tragedy, ”Nandor and Sue should be running the Green Party,(into electoral irrelevance) right Philip…
purely as a factcheck..
..that is not what i said..
..i answered a question on the circumstances of bradford leaving the greens..
..i made no such statement as you claim i made..
..you’re getting to need yr own personal fact-checker..
..you appear to orifice-pluck at will..
..with scant regard for the truth..
..you aren’t doing yrslf any favours..
..carrying on like that..
..are you..?
..and hoping to cash in on the ‘white-gold’..are we..?
…arguing for that..?
..are we..?
..and spare me yr fucken crocodile tears over dead whales..
..are you a size-ist..?
..you only eat smaller creatures from the sea..
..cry me a fucken river..eh..?
..can’t you hear the screams of the calves..
..from the slaughterhouse just down the road..?
..talk about selective-sympathy/empathy for suffering/slaughtered animals..eh,,..?
..you really are fucken full of it..aren’t ya..?
..’greenpeace-bbq’..?..anyone..?
My my Phillip, your latest ‘effort’ simply reminds me of the little analogy i drew for greywarbler down the bottom of an ‘Open Mike’ about your ‘sprays’ of invective a few days back, the little puppy has certainly redoubled its efforts to ‘spray’ away that which was left by another,
Ha-Ha-Ha Phillip, you made definite statements that Russell Norman had promised Sue Bradford the Green Parties Co-leadership if She gave Him the numbers to become the male co-leader of the Party, you then claimed, without a shred of evidence, that Russell had welched upon this deal,
That Phillip is Defamation and i feel we have to again address your psychological status in an effort to have you cease using the pages of the Standard to publish such Defamations,
This may take some time as the previous ‘program’ applied to you while having some initial visible effect does not seem to have stuck,
You can Phillip always short circuit the program by simply Withdrawing and Apologizing to Dr Norman for the Defamation you published in ‘Open Mike’ yesterday…
[lprent: You don’t want me to review anything to do about “defamation”. I’m usually more inclined to demonstrate the bounds of the law of defamation in NZ than to explain it. I find it leaves a longer lasting impression and not a particularly pleasant one.. ]
and yr ‘defamations’ of me..?
..you pompous prick..
..and isn’t it time you went and fried a fish..
..and had a ciggie..
..and careful you don’t let those whale-crocodile tears drop into the frying pan..eh..?
..it cd make yr ‘dish’..too salty..eh..?
[lprent: Where is the point here?
BTW: Avoid the accusation of “defamation”. It pisses me off. If you want to do something about it, then take it to a court. But since mostly it is fools saying it without any understanding of the actual law of defamation, then you don’t want me to examine your basis for any case. I tend to resort to demonstrating the legal limits rather than explaining the law. I find it makes more of an long-lasting impression and a better appreciation about the limits of that particular branch of the legal system. ]
Phillip, you cannot defame pond scum…
Can I make a plea for the moderators to offer some advice to the two combatants above.
There appears to be some systemic bullying, baiting and bashing of mental health issues that is pretty poor form.
[lprent: It doesn’t particularly affect the site – which is what moderation is for. It is boring but they are largely keeping it in OpenMike and while it is a pain skipping the moronic comments, it is preferable to the alternatives.
I’ve found over time that usually the best way is to just let people work their way to a agree to disagree level with a low level grumpiness. It usually doesn’t take more than a week at worst before the slow learners involved realise that is where it winds up at. Eventually with further experience on the net, it winds up that people state their difference of opinion clearly and avoid the boring bickering that irritates the rest of us. But if I short-circuit it, then how are they going to learn the fundamental futility of their behaviour.
If they don’t or it gets too damn boring, then eventually I just take some actions against all participants as being too stupid to comment here. But I hate wasting time on it.
And of course if they start forgetting to put a point to their abuse (I can see a couple of instances now), then they may find that they get an abrupt holiday. ]
Funny that i only see ‘robust’ debate occurring between myself and Phillip, reading such exchanges is hardly compulsory, discussing what we think is going on in another commenters mind is in fact the bread and butter of the Standard be it from pointing out we think a commenter has made a stupid remark to where-ever…
i don’t see ‘robust debate’..
..i see you digging as deep as you can..
..for what you think may ‘hurt’ me..
..and you do this at will..
..and ever-escalating..
..to what exactly..?
..i will argue issues all day long..
..but if you can’t control yr baser drives to do that..
..you can just fuck right off..
,.if i want a diet of that shit..i’ll go hang at kiwiblog..
..and as someone with a raft of current addiction-issues..
..pointing the stick at someone who hasn’t used junk in decades..
..and is a vegan health-freak..
..yr quivering forefinger shaking in judgement..
..is beyond fucken irony..
..and i repeat..get yrslf under control.
..or just fuck right off..
..it is beyond fucken boring..
..there is too much important business on the table to waste time/energies on that crap..
..and that you think it is a ‘game’ of some sort..
..says more about you //than you’d probably like said..
..this conversation is now at an end..
..u can ‘pond-scum-junkie!’ to yr hearts content..
Phillip,Phillip, tsk tsk, you know why i have taken the metaphorical stick to you this morning,
Just to remind you, that is the Defamation of Russell Norman you published in yesterday’s ‘Open Mike’,
i aint about to be going anywhere Phillip, remember who’s website you are currently connected to, a hint would be that it aint ‘attention whoar’, so, you my childish little friend do not get to have a say in who here comments at what time and where,(why kiwiblog Phillip,is it a bit lonely over there at ‘attention whoar’ waiting for someone,anyone to post a comment upon your latest outlandish ravings),
Would love to stay and discuss your attitudes to the Green Party/psychological failings further Phillip but i have things to accomplish this mornig in the real world…
yet another basic-comprehension-fail for you..
..you can ‘fuck off’ away from me..
..i couldn’t care less what else you do..
..mm-kay..?
[lprent: a weeks ban for pointless abuse. ]
Like the Dolphins of Tajii Cove?
http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/22/hundreds-of-dolphins-slaughtered-in-japans-notorious-taiji-cove-4273098/
This is just ugly.
Que tonight’s news with a John Key who is pleased that this practice has been stopped and how it is abhorrent, all said so not to piss off Japan. Oh also that NZ was integral to the whole case going through and how he was behind it all the time, despite never having the balls to step up and say so before this international ruling. Also don’t expect Key to commit to NZ navy frigates patrolling the Southern Ocean and enforcing the new ruling.
he will if Obama champions the decision in the media in the next 2 days
And don’t expect Key to give any kudos to those most deserving of it. I refer to Peter Bethune and co., Greenpeace, and all those who have worked for so long to bring about this outcome. And I have to say rather sadly that in the past Labour was only lukewarm in it’s praise of these courageous people. Lets hope they make up for it now.
It may be like the anti apartheid movement–denounced as traitors by Muldoon, Mandela a terrorist etc., after the first South African elections it was hard to find a public figure that had been pro’81 tour.
History will remember the brave crews of Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace rather than the scabby Japanese killing those beautiful creatures under false pretences. Bethune did time too in Japan.
Actually one of the pollies I suppose McCully was implying today on Radionz that Sea Shepherd didn’t aid the project with their interfering. He implied that NZ and the other forces of good would have carried forward this Japanese case and been effective in getting to this end without them. Fat chance.
That’s the sort of thing lazy middle class right `wingers untouched by the angel kiss of any integrity and stirs of kaitiaki always say. Those protesting gits should have stayed home and we would have had all things good so much faster.’
Japan accepts UN whaling ruling
That’s probably a better result than John Key’s plan – whatever it was.
Well, in the end, Team Key seems to have supported Australia’s challenge with Finlayson providing some evidence on behalf of NZ.
Nevertheless, McCully seems to be fighting a rear guard action in support of Key’s (alleged) alternative plan.
RIP 3500 whales slaughtered in the name of ‘science’, the dance of death might not be over yet, i missed the name and status of the Japanese sounding person who just spoke on RadioNZ’s Morning Report talking about the Hague’s decision only being relevant to the whaling in the Antarctic,
They do tho have the ‘opportunity’ to carry on such barbarism in the Northern Pacific…
@bad12 …a lot of dubious and awful stuff is done in the name of Science….’Science’ is supposed to exonerate and provide a final unimpeachable excuse for just about everything…from Polls which knee cap good politicians to killing whales to …..Neolib economics to ……imm………
….about time ‘Science’ was demystified as the God…it is often bullshit
Oh i quite agree with your penultimate last four words Chooky, the problem being that we agree with some science and disagree with other,
The Earth so the ‘science’ of the time said was flat, looked that way too until someone sailed off the edge and then came back again…
lol…yes and how many sweet little whales had to die in the cause of ‘Science’ …..until another ‘Science’ came along and said the first lot of ‘Science’ was bunkum
….so resorting the reason ‘Science’ is no end argument in itself …and it is time it was debunked as such
…also nonscientists could have told them the first lot of ‘Science’ was bunkum long ago
Actually, science proved the Earth was round back in Ancient times. It was superstition that continued to hold that the Earth was flat.
The ‘flat-earth’ idea was never a widely held belief.
Indeed. Apparently, the main reason Columbus kept getting laughed out of the medieval Dragons’ Den auditions was that those who didn’t believe the earth was flat (i.e. anyone who knew anything about navigation or geography) knew damned well that a ship in those days wasn’t going to be able to make the voyage without the crew dying. Basic math of the required food and fresh water being well below the travel time.
He basically sailed past the point of no return, but luckily for him (and unluckily for the “Americans”-to-be) there was an uncharted continent there
@ DB..well yes good science is er um ‘good science’
…and certainly preferable to the superstition and edicts of the mad rabbis, priests and mullahs of patriarchal monotheism
….it is just ‘Scientism’ that is appealed to as having some special status and as always being the Truth and right that i object to
Who was that then? Rincewind?
An understanding of what is science helps. Argument is not to be confused with evidence tested. Reductionism is a common environment for erroneous conclusions. A holistic view must always be of overriding value.
AFTER Australia launched an action which NZ had been begged to lead, and to co-claim. BUT Mr Key didnt want to offend Japan and possible money from them to our shores, so he sat again… and waited, and took the safe back seat.
Still now Russell and Matiera can congratulate the newest hippie and loonie of NZ, one Mr John Key who now supports whales.i
+1 Tracey. Nice one. Key is such a spineless *&%$#@
Key’s alternative plan was to allow commercial whaling with a sinking lid policy.
Even an idiot could see that once commercial whaling was legal, Japan would move to legitimise products from their whaling and turn it into a proper industry. After which point there would be no chance of stopping whaling for at least a generation, possibly longer.
I’m not sure what’s more embarassing, that he comes out with this drivel, or the number of nodding dogs that lap it up.
yup key taking credit this morning…he will have forgotten he ever supported that notion, now that he has saved the whales. mind you, mccully very luke warm on challenging their practices in the northern pa ific…
日本の国会は「ハハあなた4月ばかしまった」捕鯨について語った
[lprent: according to babelfish “Japan’s Parliament is “haha you did April fool ‘ said about whaling (English)” ]
Google translate says:
Diet of Japan said, “expectations Bakashi April Haha you” to whaling
Love is but a song we sing
Fear is the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
“As sharp differences between the Greens and Labour open up over coal……”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07102013/#comment-706455
(And the other deadly extractive fossil fuels related to climate change…..)
“When it comes to coal mining, our policy is no new mines” Russell Norman,
‘The Vote’, November 6, 2013 23:30 minutes in, (pay walled).
What I had hoped to point out, (as gently as possible), is that the Greens cannot afford to change to Labour’s position, and instead that Labour must change to the Greens position. No New Coal Mines, No support for risky unconventional fossil fuel technologies like fracking, or deep sea oil.
But most of all what I had wanted to point out, is that climate change is not “electoral krytonite”.
All it takes is a little courage:
Even the unions, the state’s AFL-CIO leader said he appreciated what Adams says about coal “because the guys need to hear that.”.
(This is the sort of leadership on coal that we need to hear in this country from union leader Helen Kelly)
Dirk Adams said he talks about climate change “in every conversation” with voters. “It’s one of my two campaign points. I talk about women’s issues and I talk about the environment and climate change.”
Dirk Adams honesty about climate change is an admittedly risky strategy:
Whether Adam’s leadership on climate change will be appreciated by voters won’t be known until the election in June. A 2012 poll showed that a majority of Montana voters favoured relaxing environmental laws to allow more coal and gas developments. And another poll showed that almost 50% felt that concerns about global warming had been exaggerated and more research was needed before they would support action to combat it.
But Adams claims this is a plus:
Climate change needs to be an election issue in this country, this election, this year.
We cannot afford a repeat of this: The snake that ate the elephant in the room
Postscript:
On thursday June 5, 2013; Myself and Green Party member weka went toe to toe on how far the Green Party should be prepared to compromise to gain seats in a Labour led cabinet in which Weka said this:
<blockquote>So would you be happy if the GP went into govt and as part of that won an agreement from Labour to not mine Denniston?
<b>weka</b>
</blockquote>
To which I replied:
To which Weka responded:
<blockquote>Can one of the Labour people here tell us if that would be a hard thing for Labour to give up?
<b>weka</b>
</blockquote>
I reinforced weka's query of our Labour Party brothers and sisters:
To date:
Not even one self identified Labour Party member or supporter, contributing author, or commenter has chosen to reply to Weka’s query.
Weka’s question still hangs in the air. Will Labour agree to stop the rape of the Denniston Plateau and the hugely increased contribution to climate change that will result?
Or will Labour refuse to concede this position to the Greens?
Remember that hundreds, possibly thousands of grass roots Green Party members and others are mobilising to protest and blockade Bathurst Resources climate crime on the Denniston Plateau. The Green Party cannot afford to back down on Denniston without seriously disappointing the bulk of their membership.
On this April First on this oddly singular occasion of my official return to The Standard, I thought I would give our Labour readers and writers serious opportunity to answer Weka’s question:
Labour Party members, supporters, commenters, contributing authors, anybody want to dare an answer to weka’s question?
<
blockquote>So would you be happy if the GP went into govt and as part of that won an agreement from Labour to not mine Denniston?
[lprent: Personally I find it a rather daft question – as I pointed out in email. The position of both the Greens and Labour was that neither were particularly willing to break existing contracts. For instance on the Denniston or on the oil/gas exploration areas. But the current coal prices tends to make many of your other coal points moot (and for that matter probably the Denniston mine as well).
Personally I find your thinking is often muddled between cause and effect. In particular that not having any particular policy means that political parties have a policy that you incessantly define. You don’t make policies for parties and are probably incapable of doing so. It was what got you banned last time and I can see you doing it again in this comment (please try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance). I suggest you don’t repeat ascribing your lying bullshit about party policies again. Be prepared for me to insist that you point to the actual policy and to ban you if you don’t. You have had your warning..
And please make sure you don’t start claiming that a lack of response means anything more than many people can’t be bothered answering you ]
It won’t be a hard thing for Labour to give up – they had policy at the last election to block Denniston from happening.
+1
Didn’t get past you quoting Gower, Jenny. Why the fuck you think he is any kind of useful or reputable source is completely beyond me. Unless you are happy to use his disingenuous, biased spin for your own ends? It actually doesn’t help clarify issues or make points to use other people’s lies.
I quote Gower knowing that as a Right wing pundit, you or Lynn are less likely to dismiss him, or in Lynn’s case label him a Goebbels or allow death threats to be made against him to be put up on this site.
Actually no. If I or any moderator sees threats of violence even pretend violence, then people get anything from a warning to a banning. I will tend to wipe the actual part of the comment at fault. And personally I tend towards the banning. As well as being unacceptable, it is also illegal.
Calling people names generally doesn’t cause me much fuss provided it is pointed (ie explained why that was chosen), doesn’t fall over in hate speech (again illegal), and unless it spills over into some kind of boring tit-for-tat flamewar.
Quite simply it is frequently appropriate to call an arsehole by their true name without being mealy mouthed about it. With many people with poor social skills and without a self-awareness of how they look to others, it is frequently the only way that you can ever get their attention to the fact that is how you view them (and why).
It isn’t hard to find examples of both of these moderator behaviours on the site.
That’s just not credible Lynn. Not only do you keep maintaining that the Greens’ positions on coal mining look “remarkably the same” as Labour’s, (and by extension “close” to National’s position.)
You knowingly allowed Te Reo Putake, Pascal’s bookie, and Colonial Viper to openly discuss how much CO2 would be created if they burned my body, even raising the question on how it should be done. And don’t claim you weren’t aware of it.
Lynn not only do you demonstrably tolerate threats of violence and pretend violence you seem to do so against the Left of the political spectrum. Your resort to Godwin’s Law and banning show that you have no rational defence of your position that we should not put demands on our political leaders on this site to do something about climate change.
You have never demonstrated anything that makes me think different about the greens policy. All I usually see is you throwing your own interpretation on it – one that you are clearly incapable of defending bearing in mind that you never try to explain the logic. You merely assert, and in my view quite incorrectly. Basically you appear to lack the ability to distinguish between your wish on how the world is and that of reasonably verifiable and reproducible facts.
Threat? I really don’t think so. When I saw it, I thought they were talking about your habit of blowing off in volume about bugger all and evaluating it in terms of CO2. But it doesn’t read like a threat
It might have offended you. But
a. that really isn’t hard to do.
b. is what the site is for – it is part of the process of robust debate (a concept that you don’t appear to understand).
They talked about burning my body, joke or no, you allowed it and still maintain it as acceptable behaviour. Would I talk about someone like that, I wouldn’t dream of it.
Good for you Lynn, you must have an idle moment, or two.
I am quite capable of defending my position with facts and logic, and it is not about “bugger all” it is usually about the screaming need for our parliamentarians to seriously do something about cutting down our CO2 emissions. Your resort to Godwin’s law show that it is you who have no logical defence of Your argument that the Greens and Labour policies are remarkably the same. I have shown you the link* where the Green Party leader Russel Norman restates his party’s clear position is “No New Coal Mines”. Apart from that, as I have explained to you before, even current and past Green MPs who have communicated with me have had trouble finding the proof that, “no new coal mines” is their party policy, though they have strongly assured me that it is. Weird I know. (from their memories they tell me that it was voted in some time in the late ’90s and has never been rescinded) I am sure that other Green MPs find it annoying that I have reminded them of this policy. And would rather it remain buried.
*“When it comes to coal mining, our policy is no new mines” Russell Norman
The Vote
Duncan Garner. Question: “A moratorium on all new coal mines under your government?”
Russel Norman. Answer: “That’s right”
And is this Green Party policy remarkably similar to Labour’s and therefore according to David Parker “close” to National’s?
These are the substantive questions which you continually and selectively ignore and refuse to address while accusing me of making “mere” assertions.
What about my “mere assertion” that the Green Party (and the rest) played down climate change during the last election and by all indications look likely to do so again. At one stage I recall you called me a “Fucking Liar”.
Hot Topic analyses the 2011 election. November 16, 2011
I notice that you haven’t called the authors at Hot Topic Fucking Liars you just ignore them.
With your intolerant behaviour and personal abuse and refusal to address the facts of an argument rationally and fairly it is little wonder that your site is trailing The Daily Blog in the stats. People want a site that is either Left or Right, they want a site where rational polite and respectful discussion is encouraged.
The Greens better watch out, Mana and TIP are rumoured to have quite strong climate change policies in the works and are prepared to fight for them.
At their AGM last weekend the Mana Party unanimously voted to write “No New Coal Mines” into their policy, and are unlikely to hide this policy away and forget it, to keep the Labour Party happy.
So find a labour policy that says that there will be new coal mines outside of existing mining rights (which BTW is what the greens policy actually appears to be in practice). Don’t quote individual politicians. Quote policy because that is what you claim.
Basically you are just lying through your teeth because labour has no clear policy. But as far as I am aware there hasn’t been a new mining license issued for coal for decades. So tyhe greens policy is in essense meaningless.
The coal rights in existence are a existing property right that would be difficult for any government to revoke. They cover all of the best deposits. They would also be difficult for any government to legally prevent for rights holders to exercise.
The only thing that the government could affect are the safety regulations, and they would be limited in the courts and international trade about how far they dick about with that.
That is why your distinction about the greens policy is meaningless, futile, and outright stupid.
Tell it to the Greens leader then:
Duncan Garner. Question: “A moratorium on all new coal mines under your government?”
Russel Norman. Answer: “That’s right”
Better yet, tell it to the Greens membership, and many others who are mobilising on the ground to stop the Denniston Coal Mine.
Tell it to Forest and Bird and Greenpeace who launched expensive appeals against the ruling that climate change could not be considered as an objection to granting consents to starting new coal mining.
This is just the sort of authoritarian claptrap that will ensure the destruction of our biosphere.
And lastly it is pedantry.
When it comes to contracts and even statutes, the state has no problem ripping them up when it suits.
In the extradition case being taken against Dotcom the law clearly states that the claiments must produce a summary of their evidence before a New Zealand court, yet in the interests of our relationship with the US this statute is being tossed aside.
From the Dailyblog:
We are at war, at stake is the future of human civilisation and humanity itself.
Did Churchill worry about what binding contracts private business had with Germany when he declared war on them?
Does Obama worry about the contractual arrangements that the EU has with Russia over natural gas when he demands an international boycott of Russian Federation over their interference in the Ukraine?
Obviously not.
For those of us who are serious about saving the climate there will be no hiding behind such plainly stupid and meaningless pedantry either. For you to demand that we do is what is futile. Do your worst mother fucker.
In other words you have nothing…
Thought so.
Not yet.
But when I have, I will be asking for your support.
Watch this space.
To my Grandchildren, Sorry we couldn’t save the climate, because you see, we had these contracts with the polluters….
#1 (please try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance)
Houston we have a problem.
Legally most of the carbon that cannot be burnt without destroying the climate is already legally above ground in the balance sheets of the fossil fuel companies.
Such things as pension funds are heavily dependant on the valuation of these proven reserves being realised, by being dug up, and burned. Pension funds like insurance funds are contracts that cannot legally be broken.
The problem we are calling Houston about is that to keep a planet even vaguely similar to the one we have now, all these social constructs we call financial contracts will have to be broken.
I think we need to step back and have a rational assessment of the situation
A social construct involving scattered pieces of paper with various politicians and businessmen’s signatures appended to them have gotten in the way of having a viable eco-sphere? That’s just nuts.
The Sanctity of Contracts:
Are contracts more sacred than human life?
Are contracts more sacred than the continued existence of such natural wonders as the Great Barrier Reef, 50% of which has already gone?
Let’s put the concept of the sanctity of contracts under the microscope.
If for instance the National Government signs up to the TPPA and puts legal contractual obligations on all future governments not to pass legislation that could harm the returns on investment of the big multinationals.
#2 Would in your opinion Lynn a Labour and or Green administration and every other administration after that, have to honour that contract?
Or,
#3 Would in your opinion Lynn, an independent sovereign government, democratically chosen, to enact certain policies in disagreement with the TPPA, have the power to over rule such a binding contract and bin it, if deemed necessary, in the best interests of the people they are elected to represent?
If your answer is yes to question #3 then you have the answer to question #1. If a Labour/Green government decide that mining Denniston or Deep Sea Oil drilling is not in the best interests of the country, (or the continued existence of human civilisation) then they have every right as the independent sovereign rulers of this country to over rule any contract. (That is, if democracy means anything at all).
Of course if you answered no to question #3 then we would have this condition:
https://archive.org/details/CapitalismAndTheCorporateState
To my Grandchildren, Sorry we couldn’t give you affordable medicines, or plain packaging on cigarettes, or safe labour legislation because you see, we had this contract with the big multinationals….
I think Lynn that your objection about existing contracts is silly petty fogging. Every independent sovereign government has the legal and moral right to rip up contracts that they consider are no longer tenable. If it was not so, we would still have bonded slavery.
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/gg58/cbl.pdf
(please try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance).
(I was very pleased not to have to try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance).
Because it is an innate part of democratic government.
(If it wasn’t, democracy wouldn’t be worth anything, parliament wouldn’t have primacy, business contracts would).
I suggest you don’t repeat ascribing your lying bullshit about party policies again.
“(please try to point to a Green policy about what they would do with existing contracts for drilling for gas/oil instance)”
Whether the Greens or Labour or any other party have such a policy or not is irrelevant.
There is no getting around it. The sanctity of business contracts cannot be balanced against the sanctity of a survivable climate.
To stop climate change, governments are going to have to over rule contractual arrangements relating to the fossil fuel reserves.
Labour needs the West Coast vote.
The Coast need a strong champion of low wage earner worker interests.
No one is offering anything else to the West Coast to take the place of mining. Unemployment is high and people are feeling wasted. A depressed community but supermarkets chains do OK.. Everything is dearer on the Coast. There is a limit to the scope of tourism without destroying environment and the character attractions carefully marketed.
No political party has provided a way for this community to sustain itself if mining is removed.
An alternative is needed and none are on offer.
The misquote attributed to Helen Clark ( “feral”) and propagated by gutter press enabled National to make giant gains in a Labour stronghold. Coasters as a group are fiercely protective with a history of hard times and battling adversity.
The high rainfall allows good growth for dairy but not many crops can do well in the open. Marijuana being an exception judging by the police hauls by chopper.
Local industry is so dependent on mining.
Mining is a poor option with no long term sustaining of the community. Some better approach is needed to providing jobs and a living economy.
A lot of profit is extracted from the West Coast by transnational “investors”, but wages are kept low while prices for goods are high. Some isolation through distance from Christchurch and Nelson allows transnationals like Toll to gobble up all competitions and dominate transport in and out of the Coast.
Service industries establish branches on the Coast and undercut the locals initially to get established and expand. They pay dividends but not to coasters.
Electrix for example boasted how many millions they had extracted out of the coast business back to Christchurch.
There are many ways the Coast economy could be consolidated and sustain a better life for the community.
Rampant capitalism is not the answer for such communities in many places around NZ.
The extraction industry takes much more than coal.
IF plain packaging is not reducing smoking in Australia, why wouldn’t the tobacco companies be excited that:
a. it’s not working; and
b. they are saving millions on expensive branding
”
Plain packs derided as not working
By Martin Johnston
4:15 AM Tuesday Apr 1, 2014
Save
Like on Facebook 9
Post on LinkedIn 0
+1 on Google+ 0
Health
NZ Government
National
Smoking
Tobacco giants begin efforts to dissuade Govt from law change with new research.
The tobacco industry has ramped up efforts to persuade New Zealand against plain packaging. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The tobacco industry has ramped up efforts to persuade New Zealand against plain packaging. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The tobacco industry has ramped up efforts to persuade New Zealand against plain packaging, by circulating research claiming to show the policy has not worked in Australia.
However, tobacco control experts have dismissed the findings and say it will take years to see the effects of the policy.
Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, has drawn attention to “three separate data sets that demonstrate plain packaging has not reduced smoking rates in Australia”. Two are company-funded surveys of smoking prevalence, by Zurich University and by policy consultancy London Economics. The third is industry sales data, released by the company, showing a 0.3 per cent rise in the volume of tobacco delivered to retailers last year.
The Australian plain packaging law in December 2012 forced the removal of brand imagery and colours from tobacco packets and replaced them with enlarged health warnings and drab background colouring.”
Cos they have a history of “finding” research to fit their position perhaps?
Tracey, the only logical means of measuring any movement in use of tobacco products is in fact that of delivery to retail outlets,
The fact that Governments neither gather nor publish such information shows that they have something to hide…
@ bad..
..shouldn’t you post a current-addict-disclaimer when commenting on this topic..?..
Phillip, why???…
I haven’t read up on this in detail, but I can think of a logical answer to ‘why aren’t they excited they are saving millions on expensive branding’. Their statistics purport to show that the amount of smoking has increased, but that’s across all brands. Of course each individual company wants to increase their market share within the total number of smokers, and that’s where having an identifiable brand comes in.
seems a reasonable bet
This is one time I agree with Brian Edwards. I caught this disgraceful Gower jonolism last night – including a montage of clips of Key calling Cunliffe “tricky”. Gower made an effort to give Key a bit of a slap, recently, now he’s back to full on Nat Government PR.
Is this journalism or a party political broadcast on behalf of the National Party?
i would suggest that Alfred E. Nuemann,(Gower), has had His chain yanked quite severely by the owners of that particular television channel,(therefore Gower’s owners),
The difference between the two interviews, one a ‘blindside’ of Slippery the Prime Minister in a ‘press scrum’ and the other an obvious ‘pre-scripted’ event while both Gower and the PM were in China was glaring,(both interviews discussing the PM’s mis-use of a ‘charitable event’ that was in reality a National Party fundraiser),
The Parliament sits again next week and if the opposition parties do not mount a concerted attack upon this ‘Fraudulent’ mis-use of ‘charities’ which turned out to be the National Party(full stop), then they are unlikely to get another chance as this to chisel from the PM enough of a % of support necessary leading into the election,
It is in fact only the PM that provides to this National Government any modicum of electability and the ‘golf games for charity’ which were anything but becomes the perfect device to undermine His perceived popularity,
i doubt the Opposition will get a better blunt instrument with which to blacken the reputation of the PM again befor the votes are cast in September…
In principle yes.
But of course such an attack will be painted up as ‘our poor hard-working Proim Munster being persecuted by that pack of feckless pinkos again’.
John Key could barbecue a baby on live TV, scoff it down – and Gower would ask if it tasted delicious.
This is not a play-fair game. It is rigged. Look closely at the rigging and work with it.
“Look closely at the rigging and work with it.”
What do you suggest?
i stopped watching 3, i just find their news untrustworthy, if i cannot trust gower to give me fair & balanced & informative news how can i trust any of their ‘news’. i switched to tv1 instead, i did try give up all tv news but a better protest is for me to watch tv3s main competitor.
I don’t watch much TV3 news any more. But I am into watching how the news treats stories.
I tend to watch TVNZ 6pm news live, if I am available. But I also often record both TV One and 3 News (it’s a time when I am doing domestic chores). Then i can flick through them on ff & only play items of interest.
A lot of the headline news last night was about crimes and disasters.
I agree on this, I thought that item was overly slanted. It looked like a poll question was used to create a news story and then quotes from Cunliffe and Key were cherry picked to fit the story, but with unfair bias – noticeably more than usual.
I think Gower swipes both ways but takes it too far too often.
Gower has consistently swiped at Cunliffe – way more so than against Key. He did go fairly hard on Key once or twice recently – and that after he came in for a lot of criticism for anti-Cunliffe bias. but his main attack on National was re-Key’s leadership rival Judith Collins.
So I don’t think Gower is very even handed on this.
News organisation polls are used as an easy way of creating an “exclusive” news item. They are ratings’ chasers. Then, once they have the results, to make headlines out of them, they need to present them in terms of something fairly dramatic. I would like to see political polls being taken away from news organisations.
@ karol..
..that ‘tricky’ mash-up was particularly jaw-dropping..news as propaganda-gif..
+1 Karol. Gower should hang his head in shame.
I can’t face watching it again but reflecting afterwards on the inherent venom coming from Gower I wondered if he ended up on the mat over the recent stick he gave Key. I will try to find footage and post here because my recollection was that Key was fuming and almost threatening in some of his responses.
Just as a comparison… TV1 had a clip on the same subject this evening. It was objective, fair and Cunliffe’s response was brief but looked like it was played in full.
That’s the end of TV3 news for me. I suggest all reasonable people do the same!
It was an interesting report on One News tonight. Key doing his best to Rubbish Cunliffe and the Labour caucus.
The One News poll shows Cunliffe is the preferred leader for Labour (30+%), don’t knows 20+%); Robertson and Jones less of the vote than that.
Cunliffe said it was because “his people” (Labour people?) knew him better than the rest of the country.
Yes. And that’s why the membership and the unions voted overwhelmingly for Cunliffe. Because we know him to be a decent, honest and trustworthy person.
Shame, shame, and more shame on you Paddy Gower and TV3.
Edit: no disrespect to the other two candidates when I say that.
Coupled to this is the type of question asked by the Pollsters used by TV3, as i have alluded to on a number of occasions my belief is that a series of questions is asked of those polled by these companies that are specifically designed, in the vein of the clinic full of cynics trying to twist the peoples wrists, that paint a particular political party in a less than good light,
You may have or may have not noticed that the day after the two channels broadcast the results of their different political polls, from different polling companies, TV3 followed this up on the Monday with a ‘result’ from the same poling company which had obviously asked the question of responders, ”do you trust Labour Leader David Cunliffe after the revelations surrounding the trust which held monies for His leadership challenge”, quite a mouthful that,
Putting aside entirely the ‘results’ of this particular question i am suggesting that this particular polling company actually asked responders a series of questions about David Cunliffe and Labour in the same vein as the one i pose above, and, they asked such questions BEFOR asking those responding about their choices pertaining to the upcoming election,
i am just about willing to bet you all, remember i qualified that with a just about, that a series of questions were also put to those responding to these polls querying what they thought of National and Slippery the Prime Minister in light of the recent good economic news,
That is how polls are twisted and then used to instill bias in the minds of those watching the results broadcast on their televisions, laughably in what to me looked like a ‘public relations exercise’ these same polling companies agreed to sign up to an ‘industry code of conduct’, the ‘code’ business as usual, nothing was changed in the way polls are currently conducted by these companies,
While Legislating for ‘fairness’ in such polls or Legislating such polls out of existence would be fraught with difficulty and may even raise opposition to a perceived suppression of free speech my belief is that such polls when published must also include the FULL list of questions asked of respondents and that published list should be done so to expose THE ORDER the questions were asked in,
That at least would give us all ‘transparency’ and that is the least we can demand…
Do you know Bad12 I have a recollection that once upon a time that is exactly what happened. I think it might have been in the days before TV3 arrived on the scene. From memory the question asked would precede each individual result.
Yes Anne, i have the vaguest recollection of what you are saying, i am not sure tho if ‘back then’ the polling companies had taken to the cynical means of attempting to twist the peoples wrists by first asking a series of questions designed to put firmly in the minds of respondents a negative attitude to a person or Party…
Russell Brown covers this in some detail: Poll Day 2: Queasy. He concludes:
Specific cases of poor reporting like this need to be challenged and social media is one of the best tools available, http://bsa.govt.nz/complaints/making-a-complaint takes far too long.
Thanks. Good post by RB.
Personally, I found it quite an informative piece.
Gave a good insight into why David Cunliffe is polling so badly, not sure what he can do to turn it around though, those character flaws seem to be hard wired in.
Anyway It’s quite likely Jones will be PM in 2017, so it’s not all bad for Labour.
The only thing missing is the narative that it’s over for Key-National even you know that BM. A cold winter soaring electricity bills, and interest rates rising just adds cream to the cake.
When you take into account the 350,000 of the previous non voters coming out to vote things look very grim for National. I’m relaxed about Cunliffe’s polling as the other leaders of big 3 L/G/NZF coalition will share the burden of ruling, therefore Labour only need to point this out and it’s good night nurse for the Right.
6 leaders aye, that’s a recipe for success and stability right there.
You’d have to be mad, to not want that winning combo running the country.
Well, ATM, we’ve got John Key, The Act dudes (one of which is in court), United Hair, and the Māori Party co-leaders. That, by my count, is 7.
Sorry BM but dont agree. Very slanted. A number of times during this piece JK was edited in saying DC is “tricky”. That is complete right wing propaganda. Where is the story on Collins? Key and his “charity”.
Frankly it was a disgraceful piece of reporting. As Brian Edwards said like a party political broadcast for the Nats.
The only insight about why DC is polling badly is this sort of biased crap jonolism.
imo gower was nowhere near as rabidly right as he is now at tv3. i think his aberration last week is who he is, but he bends to satisfy his paymaster.
I think all the opposition parties should boycott TV3. They’d need a good campaign explaining why they were doing it, but I think it should be possible. I can’t see any good reason for any of them to appear in serial beatification of John Key.
Tobacco companies make a mockery on the war on drugs the deaths from tabacco use outweigh all other drugs yet tobacco companies are aloud to
With impunity.
Tabacco company chiefs should be treated the same as drug cartel lords.
this is very funny..
..it’s a victorian-era pen-name generator..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/31/pen-name-generator_n_5045267.html
..mine is paul umble..
Terrence Ailey
Sue Kedgley has a point about saving National Radio. It is not being snuffed out but is instead being squeezed out but frozen funding by this Government. Sue’s final sentence sounds good to me as a National Radio listener:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11229714
Quite right ianmac. Some votes for the left here with a promise to restore RNZ funding to 2007 levels and then promise to increase funding in line with inflation.
sue kedgley is such a loss to nz political landscape… most of tge pollies i can say that of, were Greens
Very important article there by Kedgley
RNZ has a Chairman who is ex Bolger’s office.
The new CEO is ex Fairfax.
Neither are loudly protesting about fund reduction by stealth.
If they successfully move the RNZ agenda even more to the right then the funding issue will change.
The changes on Morning Report will be illuminating.
Well time to put in a complaint to TV3. I know its tedious and wet bus ticket response………But I think better than doing nothing.
Somebody posted yesterday about the procedure for complaining to TV3 (sounds like their complaints file was pretty full!), but if anyone has that information to hand, that would be great.
I think I might write to Mr Gower personally. Or maybe that would feed his ego?
I just read this post at the Eropei blog, which I have never visited before – and want to share it as I found it an open and refreshing perspective (depite the fact I am an aging babyboomer).
Got the link from a tweet by Vikram Kumar, now of the Internet Party, who tweeted “Finally a brilliant understanding of what the #InternetParty is about. [link] The power of an open mind.”
http://t.co/5uAcOwFp1A
A breath of fresh air after the recent splurge of antiKDC. Thanks for the link veuto.
That was a good article and it’s put me permanently off the IP.
Giovanni Tiso has a really excellent piece on Dotcom and Mein Kampf:
http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/his-kampf.html
Well worth a read, especially considering his own perspective of Italy and Mussolini. Dotcom’s German nationality is oft pushed to one side by some of his defenders.
Kim Dotcom is actually a dual citizen of Germany and Finland, as his mother is Finnish, and he has a strong affinity to Finland.
So, in saying that his German nationality is oft pushed to one side, are you implying that all German nationals should be looked at with suspicion ?
Sigh.
It’s nothing to do with looking at Germans with suspicion. My mother is German. What she and other Germans don’t do is buy signed memorabilia of Hitler. The very fact that my mother is German means I’ve long been exposed to the fact that Germans are very quiet and unnecessarily ashamed of their history.
The fact that Dotcom is happy to wear an SS Helmet as a “joke” says a lot about him.
Yawn Gallstone, even the Parliamentary Library has a copy of the fucking thing, you should be storming the barricades demanding its burning,
And the fact that the littlest princling has the gall,there’s that word again, to dress up in an Afrika Corps uniform complete with Swastika armband shows he is the perfect example of the British ruling family???…
Prince Harry was an idiot who has grown-up (great charity work), but who is sometimes still an idiot (stripping in Vegas).
Kim Dotcom was an idiot who instead has only just done more stupid (and illegal) things. The two are not actually comparable.
Also, it’s not a case of owning Mein Kampf for crying out loud. Stop constructing straw men because you don’t know how else to reason. There’s legitimate historical reasons for having it to study. Kim Dotcom is not a historian. He has a signed copy from Hitler for the mana of it.
Which is already creepy. It’s even more creepy when coupled with other factors (the SS helmet, for instance).
I’m genuinely left dumbfounded at why people are defending him.
Gallstone, i could quite imagine that you are still left dumfounded by having to form a working knot with your shoelaces,
Your pathetic denigration of DotCom is missing something, FACT, DotCom owns the book as a capitalist money making venture, if He were to be seeking Mana from owning such a relic He would have it on prominent display somewhere where anyone visiting Him could see it,
The argument could be just as well made that the littlest princling dressed as a Nazi not because of stupidity but because of familial connections to that particular regime, blood connections in other words,
i can well imagine what the legitimate reasons to have such a book in the Parliamentary Library are, actually i can’t, being a library we could imagine for politicians to read up about politics and regimes in far away places their only reason to be reading such a text would be for hints in imitation…
Have you actually read the link I originally posted from Mr Tiso?
You are now living in the past, then again that’s not a bad idea, please stay there…
disraeli..cd you run yr judgement-ruler over my half-german son..?
..do you have an app for that..?
..”should i play ‘ride of the valkyries’ to him..?
..see if it gets him agitated..?
..and marching jerkily around the room..?
You seem to forget that Dot Con might be able to “get” John Key with the information hes suggested he has (he doesn’t of course because Dot Cons basically a con man but the left need to cling to anything at this stage) and therefore Dot Con gets defended
Pretty much.
It’s remarkably like sexism in the working classes. We should address such problems while recognising that the working classes are piled on by forces such as National. We’re complex human beings. We can criticise sexist, out-dated attitudes and improve working conditions and life. But no, because blue-collar working class men are the Holy Grail of the left-wing vote, a lot of people simply refuse to do so (we don’t have the time, it’s not important, look at the bigger picture). Hence the Thought Processes of Chris Trotter and co.
Here, we have the very real problem that National are building a surveillance state and we should look to fix that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t also say that Kim Dotcom is a convicted criminal, donated money to John Banks, refused to pay creditors until publicity came about and in several months time will probably be exposed as a compulsive liar.
Apparently there’s are sections of the left who are only capable of one dimensional thought.
You might say that I couldn’t possibly comment
ok disraeli..
..that pile of bullshit has to be unpacked..
..”..because blue-collar working class men are the Holy Grail of the left-wing vote,..”
that is old thought..of course they are part of the constituency the labour party is meant to take care of..
(should we pause to thank those two labour govts for their contributions in building the high-cost-of-living/low-wage/poverty-ridden/environmentally-fucked economy nz has become under their ‘care’/stewardship..?)
..anyway..the holy grail for both labour and the greens nowadays..
..should be the smart/tech-savvy young..
..and it would seem that both those parties are about to lose/piss that vote away..
..’cos the internet party is going to come out much heavier branded than both of them..
..in things that matter to the young…
..the green party will be out-greened by the internet-party..will be out-pot-decrimed by them..
..be outsmarted on the smart/good/new/green ideas the internet party will come out..
..and the labour party will be out-laboured..
..(a universal basic income wd be a gordian-knot/labour party buster for the internet party..
..an idea where sue bradford and gareth morgan meet in agreement..
..it shouldn’t be too hard for the internet party..to go there too..
..and as a social/poverty-busting-policy..it cd only have harawira/mana nodding in agreement..
..and ticking more of the alliance-lite boxes that need to/must be ticked..before any deal can be considered..
“..Kim Dotcom is a convicted criminal..”
..he did stupid stuff when young..those innocent please line up on the right..and not being caught does not equate to innocence..
“.. donated money to John Banks..”
..his explanation is that banks sold himself to dotcom as a tech-man/future-thinker..
..i also think that banks may have offered to help him with residency issues/w.h.y…
..”.. refused to pay creditors until publicity came about..”
..yes..morally those debts were due..but legally there was no legal-obligation for him to pay them..and i agree we can’t know if he wd have paid were he not seeking de-facto public-office..i dunno..
“.. and in several months time will probably be exposed as a compulsive liar…”
..now..this is the electorate-mp story you are referring to..
..and you are claiming this is an outright lie..
..now.think about this for a minute..
..the reasons to lie..?
..i can’t think of any..
..the reasons to not be lying..?
..the obvious ones are the vicious backlash the internet party wd receive at the hands of both the media and the public..
..were they shown/proven to be outright lying/misleading everyone..
..and they are too smart to do that..
..so i don’t think dotcom is lying about that..
..and i think the leader-in-waiting is shearer..
I think you severely overestimate Kim Dotcom and come September will be disappointed when the Internet Party poll less than the Conservative Party (and heck, probably ACT).
We’ll just have to wait and see.
I met David Cunliffe yesterday and he is a decent person.
What you see is what you get and his agenda is not self enrichment and self aggrandisement but genuine concern for people.
The truth will out before the election.
I also think David Cunliffe is a decent person, and I very much hope you are right regarding the election.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11230189
Well done National, now thats what I call making a positive difference in peoples lives 🙂
Crime rates have fallen everywhere lead has been removed from petrol.
In that case I suggest that Cunliffe tells the media exactly that just so some of the shine can be taken off National
Yeah I’ll also wait and see whether it turns out they’re massaging the statistics. My pick is they probably are, since they rely on lies for everything else.
Cunliffe should also say that as well…you really should be advising Cunliffe, he’d romp in 🙂
Wikipedia/wiki/Crime_in_New_Zealand
Gee Pukish Rogue, this helps me understand why Key is so popular. People such as yourself rely on sources like the Herald to be informed.
Try reading this. The falling crime rate is an international phenomena (fraid Shokey can’t claim this one). This outlines so of the reasons why crime has fallen. Demographics is very significant, but not the whole answer.
Sorry for mis-spelling your name, but think Pukish Rogue rather becomes you. I might leave it as is.
Well I’m just sorry I can’t come up with anything to do with the name anker but the main point is not the falling crime (though thats good) but its the headline people will notice and remember
I think Lprent nailed you with Puckwit.
Yes hes an amusing funny guy all right and I looked at his bet as well but I found it pretty one sided, all the risk on my side and no reward so I didn’t feel like taking him up on it butt since Lprent likes to make bets I’ve got a good one for him:
If John Key is the PM after the next election Lprent stops posting on here, he can still do all the nerdy stuff behind the scenes but no posting
If anyone other then John Key is the PM after the next election I’ll never post on here again
So there you go I’m confident that JK will be the next PM, how confident is Lprent?
“Crime rates have fallen everywhere lead has been removed from petrol”
While this is a very interesting study correlation doesn’t equal causation.
Only one study? Are you sure, or are you just desperate to demonstrate that you can parrot a skeptical sounding phrase?
Well, it is right to be skeptical because the study/studies/hypothesis/theory hasn’t been proven.
It is interesting though and I while I am fairly confident there is some truth it I wouldn’t consider it the only reason.
Oh dear, another one who thinks “proof” happens anywhere other than in Maths.
You missed the point: there is far more than one study that establish the links between environmental lead and neurotoxicology. The recent one that made a splash is just the only one you’ve ever heard of.
cf: studies by Rosenfeld, Needleman, Nevin, to name but a few.
I understand how a proof works.
And no I haven’t missed the point and there are very compelling studies relating to this.
Nonetheless while interesting and compelling it is a hardly certain enough to make a blanket statement about. The same as Puckish can’t put it down solely to National’s crime policies.
“The same as Puckish can’t put it down solely to National’s crime policies”
I’m more that its the headline will people will see, the soundbite they’ll hear thats important
National’s social, penal and economic policies increase inequality and therefore have a negative effect on the crime rate. Removal of environmental lead and demographics have a positive one.
Puckwit’s point scoring is a perfect illustration of the finding that low IQ predicts for right wing beliefs.
and while you’re pontificating about inanities the right will win the next the election
And there are others, such as this from the US National Institute of Health, who reviews the various studies (Nevin, Reyes, etc).
“…the evidence is not sufficient to conclude that variations in environmental lead exposure in childhood over the past 50 or so years in the USA explain, first the rise, and then the decline in crime rates.”
The article goes on to say that it is a factor, which is all that is being claimed.
your mistake was assuming seti read the whole report.
nice spin attempt there..pucky..
..a fact-check on that will show you that the drop in crime here is just the local echo of a marked international trend..
..and national have long been front-runners for the cynical-opportunist-award..
..for their long claiming this is all down to their get-tough-on-crime policies..
..but this is utter horse-shit..as these sharp drops in crime are evident in countries from both ends of the ideological-spectrum..from the most liberal/progressive..to the most repressive..
..and funny story..!..our local corporate/access media seemingly has neither the will nor the intelligence to know this widely reported international-trend in crime-dropping..
..and to challenge the govt spin/bullshit on it all being down to them..
..maybe their fact-checking/research doesn’t go much past reading/regurgitating/parroting govt spin/press-releases..
..you’d have to ask/assume..
It may well be spin but the headline is a good one for National and very difficult to argue against
Yeah only hard to argue against if you are non too bright……………………so we can conclude that people such as yourself who buy the spin are non too bright. Most people with half a brain will get it.
Well you might like to consider this poll:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2014/04/march_public_polls-3.html
But no doubt you’ll say thats just spin and the people will see through that as well
Your last attempt was BS so I am not bothering with you again.
Yes well sticking ones hands over ones eyes could be construed as a valid arguement I suppose
I considered it. It shows National well below the polling level that gave them 59 seats in 2011, and since they have no mates, and Corruption Collins, not to mention King Gerry and Parroty, the next government will be Labour/Green.
Well ok then how about this, the bet I offered to Lprent how about you and I have the same bet?
Its a gimme for you really, John Key becomes PM after the next election you never post here again and if anyone other then John Key becomes PM I’ll never pst here again
Because I think John Key will be the PM after the next election
What, and give up the opportunity to rub your face in it every single chance I get? Not likely.
I’ll sweeten the deal, same bet as before but I’ll post for one day after (if anyone other then John Key wins) just so you can rub my face in it.
See heres the thing, I know John Key will be the PM after the next election so I can confidently make this bet , how confident are you you that he won’t?
I’m confident that your desire to stop me posting here has something to do with an enlarged amygdala.
Blame Lprent for putting the idea in my head but it does make me wonder just how confident some people are about the lefts chances…
This article may be of interest to you.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/04/media-tend-overstate-size-protest/
Now now I’m sure the media would never over-exaggerate just to sell more newspapers, if its claimed there were thousands then there was most certainly thousands and if anyone claims otherwise then they’re bad evil-doers 🙂
Well, the NZ Herald ran one of their straw polls (yes, I know) and close to eight thousand people were 78% against, so what does that tell you?
FIFY
Ok Mcflock and Tracey take the bet and we’ll see what happens, of course you need gumption to take a bet like that so being from the left you won’t take it because when its all said and done the left are basically neutered
🙄
Oh bullshit. Why would I take that bet? If key’s back in october, life will be bad enough. If Cunliffe is pm, there will always be obnoxious little scrotes like you even if you don’t come sliming back under that handle or any other. No gain, small marginal punishment.
Your problem is that you think you are some big nemesis that we’re all yearning to be rid of. You’re not. You’re just one of the rodents that come here from the sewer, bustle and squeak, and then descend for another coating of shitwater.
No McFlock you’re gutless, as an ex-girlfriend would put it you’re all mouth and no trousers
I put out a bet that was quite generous but you won’t take it up which tells me you think theres a more then a decent chance John Key will still be PM
Put up or shut up in other words
[lprent: You can’t really talk about being gutless taking a bet. Still think that only a few hundred people would turn up to the TPPA protest on the weekend? I notice you avoided answering.
But since you feel this is such an important part of how this site operates (you notice I didn’t insist), a weeks ban for being a stupidly blatant hypocrite and falling into the pwned heresy. ]
Did you ever tell Ms. Malaprop the phrase is “all mouth and trousers” or were you too gutless?
You can tell me when you get back.
Maybe he could also explain if it’s Key who’s responsible for the increase in sexual offending, despite it not being included in the almighty “headline”..
At the moment, I’d say a 30-40% chance.
But, as I’ve said before, the big decider is the campaign.
As it is, sadly we are without your company for a week – concerning which fact I am strangely numb.
I’ll take your stupid bet, but once you’re unbanned you’ll have to provide your real name. I won’t bet with a pseudonym.
we know lprents real name, whats yours… cant make a bet with an imaginary name that can rebirth itself
I’m sure he knows my IP address besides I’m willing to trust his word if hes willing to trust mine
your ip address??!! yea you can never access a difderent one of those
i thought the point i made that it is very easy to argue against/to show it as a pile of self-serving bullshit..
..with the question being why do neither the opposition politicians nor the corporate/access media have te wit/intelligence to do just that..
..only unthinking sheep just ‘baa!’ along in chorus..
..with the question being why do neither the opposition politicians nor the corporate/access media have te wit/intelligence to do just that..
Because the msm are used to taking press realeases and rerunning them as news?
@pucky..
..aye..!
..and perhaps the most obvious example of this is the business reporter on tvone breakfast show..
..take her away from her autocue/rehearsed-pieces..
..and she gapes like a goldfish out of water..
..and in her area of expertise..her tugging of the forelock to those corporate/elite-interests is incessant..
..and she wd probably need a dictionary to know what critical-analysis is..
..she probably wd think it is a new mortgage-marketing package..
..’invest in our new ‘critical-analyis’ program!’..
..we do both the ‘critical’ and the ‘analysis’..
..so you don’t have to..!..
..fixed and floating holders of what those silly french call the ‘morte-gage’..the death-grip..are welcome to sign up for our free ‘critical analysis’..
..come and get a free-meeting with one of our consultants..
..here at the screw-you banking corporation..
..parking is also free..”
There is gaping opportunity open to the left -with the new Snapper limits in Auckland.
I agree with the lower limit – but by not including the commercial fishing industry –
the new regulations are just another transfer of a common resource from all of us – to a select few.
Anyone could be forgiven for thinking that the National Party has close links to the Fishing Industry.
David Cunliffe should be hammering this.
Yep, and that’s something the parties of the left need to be hammering home.
Oops.
“Businessman in citizenship row admits charges
Donghua Liu today pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman and assault with intent to injure after an incident at the Boulevard Hotel in Newmarket, ……
His de facto wife, Juan Zhang, was the victim of the more serious charge, assault with intent to injure, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail…..
……She is also a former director of the company that made a significant donation to the National Party.
The Herald revealed last month that Liu was given citizenship against official advice in 2010 after lobbying by National Party minister Maurice Williamson and the then Mayor of Auckland, John Banks.”
Well that will be fixed. Move on Key will say etc etc. Money for favours huh?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11230303
can it be revoked?
Nah, National cashed the cheque already.
chuckle
No it cannot be revoked unless the citizenship was obtained fraudulently. There is no provision to take away someone’s citizenship because they are commit offences.
BTW it is not unusual for Ministers to overturn official advice about granting citizenship. Between 2005 and 2011, Ministers overturned such advice relating to 8% of all citizenship applications. That covers the last three years of the last Government and the first three years of the current government.
http://www.oag.govt.nz/2013/citizenship/part3.htm
Given the large numbers involved, inevitably some new citizens who were granted citizenship against official advice will be convicted of offences. Some will also donate to political parties.
thats ok then, if its just a statistical issue
Yes, but how many of them committed a crime afterwards and which government did the most of such overturning?
mmm!!!
..warm and toasty…!
“..A Futurist on Why Lawyers Will Start Becoming Obsolete This Year..”
http://www.wired.com/2014/03/geeks-guide-karl-schroeder/
Labour losing some influential South Auckland PI voters?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9891929/Clergy-switch-from-Labour-to-National
or some ultra-conservative pastors about to lose some of their flock.
Because the big issue in south auckland is gay marriage. /sarc
The previous right-wing narrative was that the voters of South Auckland do it for KFC. I can’t see how this one is any less racist than the last.
Yeah,that’s quite big news and Labour could really take a hit because of it.
I guess the final straw was the Len Brown debacle.
Gosh! All six of them.
Walmart Admits: ‘Our Profits’ Depend on ‘Their Poverty’
So much for the wealth creating capitalists and their preferred Trickle Down hypothesis.
Maori television had the documentary Walmart: The high cost of low prices” on a few weeks ago. Worth watching.
And also worth considering is the fact that Walmart is privately controlled – over 50% of stock is owned by the Walton family. They are an accomplished user of tax havens and incentive subsidies that enrich them while impoverishing communities and governments.
You shouldn’t believe Key and English when they’re saying there won’t be more asset sales. It’s all about ideology because Nats simply believe public ownership “should not be seen as the default setting”. Armstrong confirms this in his column today, saying that some of the non-profit infrastructure like state schools and major hospitals may be partly privatised if National stays in power and that Labour is fighting a losing battle in trying to stop it.
Quite chilling, really.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11229836
National’s ideology is closer to nothing should be owned by the public.