Archive for May, 2012
Open mike 12/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 12th, 2012 - 75 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Another broken promise from our con-man PM
Written By: - Date published: 9:04 pm, May 11th, 2012 - 68 comments
Key looked the Pike River families in the eye and promised to get their mens bodies out. It was a promise he never should have made. But he did to make people like him. He wouldn’t even talk about it today. Coward. And what of his promise to make things right for Christchurch? Or his promise of an aggressive recovery? Or his promise to help the underclass? Or that brighter future?
Weekend social 11/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, May 11th, 2012 - 39 comments
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?
AFFCO appeal
Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, May 11th, 2012 - 18 comments
The CTU have launched an appeal for donations towards the food and essential bills of AFFCO workers.
Please Donate to NZCTU DISPUTES FUND, 38 9007 0894028 08. Money will go direct to workers.
Rock and a hard place
Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, May 11th, 2012 - 20 comments
We’re in a second mini-recession/stall since the Great Recession began in 2008. As in 2010, oil prices ramped up and growth petered out. Now, oil prices have dropped back a little. But the moment the economy shows mild signs of life, they’ll be back up again. Short periods of weak growth, oil price shocks, recessions – sounds like the cycle peak oil economists have predicted for years.
Worst Spin Ever
Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, May 11th, 2012 - 35 comments
According to John Key voters rejecting austerity is good news for the government, high unemployment is a sign of confidence in the economy, ignorance is strength, black is white, and he has a bridge to sell you.
Save TVNZ7 Meeting
Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, May 11th, 2012 - Comments Off on Save TVNZ7 Meeting
When: Tuesday 15 May, 7 – 9pm
Where: Freemans Bay Community Centre, 52 Hepburn St, Freemans Bay, Auckland
Come along to this public meeting to show your support for TVNZ7!
Tea ladies to be drug tested
Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, May 11th, 2012 - 45 comments
Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson seems to be living in an alternative universe, with her comment on Checkpoint yesterday that tea ladies in the adventure tourism industry could be drug tested: “The boss might be tested, it could be his turn or it could be the tea lady.” We’ll take it as a given that Kate assumes the boss […]
Stop press!
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, May 11th, 2012 - 3 comments
Bet there’s some last minute changes to the Budget happening. A few mil to reverse the bio-security cuts now the fruit fly’s in. A few mil for monitoring MSD contracts – Bennett’s ‘high trust’ (ie too lazy/cheap) model clearly isn’t working. They could find savings by not giving money to fronts for gangs and other corrupt groups, predictably, sucking on the Whanau Ora teat.
The real reason for the secret ballot law
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, May 11th, 2012 - 54 comments
The tories are all puffed up about finally getting their secret ballot law passed. It’s about freedom they say, they’re on the side of the working man.
Thing is it’s not. And they most certainly aren’t.
Open mike 11/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 11th, 2012 - 133 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
ImperatorFish: Wellington Health Officials Struggle To Cope With Contagion
Written By: - Date published: 3:52 pm, May 10th, 2012 - 3 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of these posts here and here.
JK is suffering memory loss and having a whinge…
A moan at 3 News
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, May 10th, 2012 - 11 comments
Hey 3 News – I know there’s a lot of pressure to churn stuff out and so on. But, even so, surely you can do better than this.
Green and you have kids? Really?
Written By: - Date published: 2:08 pm, May 10th, 2012 - 73 comments
Here’s a quick way to reduce your carbon footprint: don’t have kids and save 80 years worth of human greenhouse gas output per child… This is my Voluntary Human Extinction Movement post.
Nats eye up Chch assets for sale
Written By: - Date published: 12:51 pm, May 10th, 2012 - 5 comments
Remember when John Key said that rebuilding Christchurch wasn’t just that city’s challenge, it was New Zealand’s challenge? Yeah, well, now Gerry Brownlee and Bill English are pressuring the council to sell off its assets to pay for the rebuild. Green figures show the madness of that. This is a 20-year rebuild. The dividends over that period are more valuable than one-off sale revenue.
Teenage dreams
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, May 10th, 2012 - 56 comments
With the debate raging about free contraception for women and their teenage daughters, inevitably the conclusion is that irresponsible teenager girls are making poor decisions. Why do they get pregnant? That’s the easy part – teens not using contraception, of course. Why teenage pregnancy is an intractable problem is a much more complex question.
Seriously extreme and nutty
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, May 10th, 2012 - 82 comments
Amongst all the topical chatter about the Conservative Party there was one comment that I think we should get on record for future reference.
Roads to nowhere paved with your gold
Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, May 10th, 2012 - 21 comments
You know how the government’s short of cash, eh? Well, the guy spending $14 billion on highways that don’t make sense on the government’s rosy numbers, isn’t even going to consider whether they’re still a good idea now the IMF says petrol is heading to $5 a litre. Nor is he concerned about the $6 billion shortfall because that’s in ‘the future’ – because he’ll be out of office by then (seriously)
Key has a whinge
Written By: - Date published: 6:58 am, May 10th, 2012 - 111 comments
Key’s playing the pity angle, telling schoolkids who want to be PM: “Frankly, the way it’s going at the moment you can have the job” and sighing that “it’s going to be a long two and a half years”. Comments that suggest the Banks.com affair is more concerning to him than he pretends. Then, he whinged about the “grief” he is getting for preparing to sell our gambling law to SkyCity.
Open mike 10/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 10th, 2012 - 199 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Clean, Green & Clever: NZ Institute’s last prescription
Written By: - Date published: 2:33 pm, May 9th, 2012 - 34 comments
Ever since I went to his Fabian lecture in February, I’ve been meaning to write about Rick Boven’s last major work before leaving the NZ Institute to its Business Roundtable merger. It’s a major piece of thinking, and a piece he can be proud of signing off with. He charts an uncertain future – one […]
Sinking homicide rate justifies murder spree – PM
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, May 9th, 2012 - 15 comments
The Government’s ‘sinking lid’ on homicides means that John Key can personally garotte 3-5 enemies and the overall number of killings will still decrease, a smiling Prime Minister told journalists today. “On current trends, the number of murders is dropping by half a dozen a year. Which means no-one should mind if I bump off a few annoying arseholes” said Mr Key
All in the game
Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, May 9th, 2012 - 77 comments
Everyone’s leaped on the Nats’ contraceptives for benies bid to distract from banks.com. Guess I’ll jump in too. Capitalist morality goes: the world/God rewards the good, which is why capitalists are rich – so, the poor, like beneficiaries, must be morally bad – the world would be better without bad people. Eugenics has been and remains a logical endpoint of capitalist morality.
Austerity = low tax take “surprise”
Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, May 9th, 2012 - 37 comments
The government has a $1.8 billion income shortfall. But it’s alright, it’s not their fault… Their policies don’t affect the economy. Unless they need to take credit. 6.7% unemployment? Nothing to do with us, and nothing to do with our tax shortfall…
Nat Civil War: ceasefire breached
Written By: - Date published: 6:35 am, May 9th, 2012 - 90 comments
Well, that didn’t take long. A couple of weeks of quiet (probably thanks to some good polls more than anything) and, now, the National Party Civil War has re-erupted as the Collins and Joyce factions fight over the post-Key future. The leaking of National Party board minutes shows how serious the fighting is and reveals strong opposition to Slater/Lusk’s tactics.
Open mike 09/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 9th, 2012 - 75 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Birth Control
Written By: - Date published: 8:38 pm, May 8th, 2012 - 83 comments
At first glance it seems strange to have Sue Bradford, a former Green MP, against what is a very ‘green’ policy – free contraception. But she has a point when she talks about beneficiaries feeling forced into sterility they don’t want. Meanwhile, what’s with the right’s obsession with targeting women having babies while on a benefit?
You can’t fix what is not broken – no need to change university councils
Written By: - Date published: 2:45 pm, May 8th, 2012 - 23 comments
Dr Sandra Grey from the Tertiary Education Union has a look at Stephen Joyce’s proposals to changing the governance of tertiary education institutions. She suggests that he has a look at what happened in the changes to the polytechs in 2009. And also points out that his proposals don’t follow what is known about good governance for universities.
But it has been apparent to readers here that Joyce prefers to be a fiddler rather than being effective..
Contraception debate
Written By: - Date published: 1:48 pm, May 8th, 2012 - 96 comments
The Government is planning to offer free long-term contraception for beneficiaries and their daughters. At one level its a sensible idea. But it comes with too much baggage attached. The Nats have already made such a mess of it that they can’t make this proposal with any credibility.
NRT: Strapping the chicken on prison privatisation
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, May 8th, 2012 - 5 comments
Despite keeping prisoners in prison too long and an escape, Serco’s private management of Auckland Remand has been judged a success by the Government because it has met all the standards set for it. Sounds reasonable. Until you look a layer deeper and discover that the standards Serco has to meet are much worse than what Corrections already achieves.
- A new play brings Trent Dalton’s Love Stories to the stage in a joyful and exuberant celebration o...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin West, PhD Candidate in Drama and Theatre Studies, The University of Queensland David Kelly/QPAC/Brisbane Festival Unapologetically sentimental, uncynically joyful, and brimming with wholeheartedness, Love Stories delivers exactly what its title promises. Adapted by Tim McGarry from Trent Dalton’s 2021 ...3 days ago - Government Shows Little Understanding Of Climate Change
TRAC National Coordinator Niall Robertson says that this line could be built a lot quicker and connect with the rebuilt NAL taking thousands of road damaging trucks off SH1, improving road safety, reducing carbon emissions and polluting particulate. ...3 days ago - Hidden craters reveal Earth may once have had a ring – like Saturn
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Tomkins, Geologist, Monash University Artist’s impression. Oliver Hull The rings of Saturn are some of the most famous and spectacular objects in the Solar System. Earth may once have had something similar. In a paper published last week in Earth & ...3 days ago
- Government releases list of 35 critical minerals as part of mining strategy
"Why should we continually say we're going to import everything if we've got it here and we can turn it into an export industry," Shane Jones says. ...3 days ago - We deserve to go to school without worrying the roof will fall on us
The Ministry of Education knew the biggest building at Wellington Girls’ College wasn’t up to earthquake safety standards, but didn’t inform staff or students they were at risk. That’s not good enough, says year 12 student Orla Sweeney. Wellington Girls’ College is an all-girls school that was considered decile 10 ...3 days ago - Most people approve of compensating survivors – and more findings from new polling on the abuse i...
Polling conducted for The Spinoff shows that a majority of the public supports financial compensation for survivors – even if they don’t know much about what is in the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. An estimated 200,000 children and adults were abused in ...3 days ago
- Aware and alive: Why motorcycle safety is an issue for car users too
The weather is warming up, and with it motorcyclists are dusting off their bikes and heading out on the roads. In Motorcycle Awareness Month, Z Energy is appealing to all road users to help keep motorcyclists safe. Gus Bezerra has been riding motorbikes since he was 16. “It’s nice to ...3 days ago
- Auckland CBD crime just shifted elsewhere – Labour
The government is hailing a 22 percent drop in serious assaults in the Auckland CBD, but stats show crime is rising across the region. ...3 days ago
- NZ could have 58,000 fewer electric cars by 2035 due to weaker carbon emissions standards
The drop will lead to two megatonnes more emissions in the next decade, clean car lobby group says. ...3 days ago
- High-speed rail plans may finally end Australia’s 40-year wait to get on board
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Laird, Honorary Principal Fellow, University of Wollongong Japan has had high-speed rail since 1964. Blanscape/Shutterstock Australia has debated and studied high-speed rail for four decades. The High Speed Rail Authority has begun work on a project that could finally deliver some ...3 days ago
- More rooftop solar in cities would help solve NZ’s energy crisis – and build disaster resilience
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priscila Besen, Lecturer in Sustainable Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images New Zealad’s current electricity supply crisis requires immediate solutions. But we argue the government’s emphasis on importing natural gas and construction of centralised solar farms is a missed ...3 days ago
- The best way to regulate AI might be not to specifically regulate AI. This is why
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen King, Professor of Economics, Monash University The new wave of artificial intelligence – so-called AI – is bringing with it promises as well as threats. By assisting workers, it can raise productivity and boost real wages. By making use of ...3 days ago
- What is a trained clown and what does the training look like?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna-Sophie Jürgens, Senior Lecturer in Science Communication (Pop Culture Studies), Australian National University Where do clowns come from? In popular culture, they may come from alien worlds, such as Killer Klowns from Outer Space, peer out from drains like Pennywise from Stephen ...3 days ago
- Contract law changes: Simplifying or complicating?
A major union and a big business group are at odds over whether planned changes to employment law will simplify or complicate matters. ...3 days ago
- Who will miss Auckland Transport the most if it goes? The most anti-AT councillors
A bill aimed at getting rid of AT might go before parliament. No one will miss AT more than the local politicians who use it as an easy blame sponge. Auckland Transport staffers pretended to take notes as the councillor lectured them about buses. Their organisation had approved a plan ...3 days ago
- Firearms Minister Nicole McKee won’t rule out trying to bring back banned guns
Nicole McKee won't promise not to re-introduce banned semi-automatics, saying instead she's committed to listening to stakeholders. ...3 days ago
- Cancer can’t stop woman of Steele
Watching the legendary Ironman New Zealand event in Taupō earlier this year, Harriet Steele had her first “big wobble”.She’d coped with a shock breast cancer diagnosis in January, followed by an emergency mastectomy and chemotherapy getting underway. But being sidelined at an Ironman event, watching her partner compete, was almost ...3 days ago - Taiwan on a mission to win hearts and minds at ‘critical moment’
Polite but frank diplomat Joanne Ou speaks about her hope of a better future for Taiwan and offers a warning from the frontlines The post Taiwan on a mission to win hearts and minds at ‘critical moment’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- No one ends up in Waiau Pa by accident
No one ends up in Waiau Pa by accident. A small dot on the edge of South Auckland near the coast. A town you’ll never pass through unless you come to stay, or to fish, or to come back to after a long time away, having grown and expanded while ...3 days ago
- Justice ministry battles leaks and ministers over Treaty bill
Officials from other agencies can only look at hard copies of Cabinet papers on the Treaty Principles Bill in an effort to prevent new leaks The post Justice ministry battles leaks and ministers over Treaty bill appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Has David Seymour ‘saved’ school lunches – or enshittified them?
The Act leader’s scheme to cut spending on the free school lunch programme not only subtly shift costs from central government to schools, it also risks damaging the very thing that makes the programme work, writes Max Rashbrooke. You mightn’t think that giving kids free lunches would be “one of ...3 days ago
- ‘It was quite baffling’: Police call driver on motorway to say ‘stop using your phone’
A roadside police officer spotted a driver allegedly on his phone – so searched his number plate, found his details and called him up. Stewart Sowman-Lund has the details in this special report for The Bulletin. An Auckland motorist was surprised to receive a phone call from a police officer ...3 days ago
- Coalition policies are not about ‘needs’ or ‘race’
Opinion: The dog is being whistled to and it hears ‘race’ and ‘Māori’ loud and clear The post Coalition policies are not about ‘needs’ or ‘race’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Don’t stand by as science funding circles the drain
Opinion: New Zealand has a reputation as a country of innovators, outside-the-box thinkers with a can-do approach to tackling big problems. Yet that reputation belies a huge (and growing) hole in funding for research, science and innovation. On a global scale, our investment in R&D pales woefully in comparison to ...3 days ago
- The emergency that is St John
“111, what is your emergency?”The emergency is St John.Frontline staff have told The Detail it’s broken and on life-support – underfunded, understaffed, and overstressed.And now First Union members have voted to strike again, on September 27, after rejecting the latest offer from Hato Hone St John.Staff say it’s a last ...3 days ago
- US Fed prepares to cut rates as health of NZ economy revealed
The US Federal Reserve hasn’t cut interest rates for four years – now speculation of a “jumbo” cut is growing The post US Fed prepares to cut rates as health of NZ economy revealed appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- ‘Regrettable’: Judge sends shot across bow of fisheries minister
Three decades after the historic Sealord fisheries deal – the grand-daddy of all Treaty settlements – the Govt faces paying compensation for unstitching it by stealth The post ‘Regrettable’: Judge sends shot across bow of fisheries minister appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 16 September
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 16 September appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Daily crossword, Monday 16 September
The post Daily crossword, Monday 16 September appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Order In Council Rarely Appropriate For Firearms Law
COLFO strongly encourages Governments to use the full legislative process, including public consultation with vulnerable communities, for significant changes, to create enduring firearms laws that increase public safety. ...3 days ago
- Global Indigenous Leaders Condemn New Zealand Government Treatment Of Māori
Global Indigenous leaders and environmentalists condemn New Zealand's Treaty Principles Bill as a significant affront to Māori rights and democratic processes, urging government respect for Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...3 days ago
- NZCTU Slams Govt For Failing Mill Workers
NZCTU criticises the Government for neglecting to save 300 jobs in Ruapehu after Winstone Pulp International's mill closures, highlighting regional economic impacts and the need for proactive support. ...3 days ago
- Closure Of Winstone Pulp International Shows Need For Urgent Change In Electricity Market
Octopus Energy's COO warns that New Zealand's prolonged high electricity prices necessitate urgent regulatory changes for increased market competition and improved investment. ...3 days ago
- Wadestown Residents Reject Wadestown Connections Proposal
Wadestown residents firmly oppose Wellington City Council's proposed cycle lanes and parking management changes, demanding a comprehensive re-evaluation that prioritises community input. ...3 days ago
- BSA Report Bangs Drum For Censorship By Claiming Freedom Of Expression Causes ‘harm’, From Self-...
The BSA's report on harmful speech raises concerns about subjectivity and potential censorship of controversial views, according to Free Speech Union’s Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling. ...3 days ago
- IRD Betrays Taxpayers By Leaking Personal Information
Concerns arise over IRD allegedly sharing sensitive taxpayer data with tech giants, prompting calls for accountability and privacy protection from the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union. ...3 days ago
- 400 Christian Leaders Call On MPs To Vote Down The Treaty Principles Bill
Over 440 Christian leaders oppose the coalition's Treaty Principles Bill, asserting it undermines Te Tiriti o Waitangi's recognition of Māori rights and relationships with the Crown. ...3 days ago
- NZTA Commitment To Accessibility Questioned Following Block Of E-scooter Remote Piloting
Disability advocacy groups criticise NZTA’s decision to block Ario’s remote e-scooter reparking technology, arguing it undermines accessibility and safety in urban environments. ...3 days ago
- MUNZ Back Struggle Of Australian Unions Against Anti-Union, Anti-worker Laws
The Maritime Union of New Zealand is federated with the Maritime Union of Australia, and the MUA and the wider CFMEU have our full support in their struggle. ...3 days ago
- Metlink Spends More Than $1.3 Million On Seven Toilets
At an average cost of over $185,000 per toilet, it makes you wonder – are the seats made of gold? ...3 days ago
Recent Comments
Unemployment is definitely up.
Unemployment is definitely up.
Unemployment is definitely up.
Unemployment is definitely up.
Unemployment is definitely up.
Unemployment is definitely up.
Unemployment is definitely up.