3 News polls mums and dads

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, August 10th, 2012 - 43 comments
Categories: national, polls, Privatisation - Tags: , ,

3 News had a standard political poll out this week, which has been covered elsewhere. It’s always worth waiting for the second day story with a 3 News poll – the day after the main event they have a piece on some of the secondary questions that they asked the punters. This time it was on our intentions with respect to buying our own assets:

Poll: Few Kiwis likely to purchase assets

New 3 News Reid Research poll results show few New Zealanders are putting their hands up to buy shares in the partial asset sales. … The Government wants the first asset sale, Mighty River Power, to go ahead by November.

So 3 News asked voters in our latest poll, will you buy shares:
17 percent said it was very likely
26 percent said they did not know
57 percent said no, they won’t

“Most New Zealanders don’t have spare cash hanging around and won’t be able to buy shares,” says Green Party leader Russel Norman.

17 percent is not high, and even fewer will go through with it, likely all dyed-in-the-wool tories anyway. The asset sales are not going to create the shareholding society that the Nats sometimes use as an excuse for flogging of our assets. Aussie mums and dads might do all right out of this, but the vast majority of Kiwi ones are going to get shafted with higher power prices and nothing else.

43 comments on “3 News polls mums and dads ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Lanthanide 1
    10 August 2012 at 12:23 pm

    Pity they didn’t ask “why or why not”.

  2. Cnut 2
    10 August 2012 at 12:55 pm

    All dye-in-the-wool tories?

    I wonder how many Labour MPs will buy shares if they become available.

    I’m certainly not a dyed-in-the-wool tory and don’t support asset sales but if they are sold I’m up for as many as I can get because I can’t see anything to be gained by not doing so, and at least the ones I get WILL be held by a mom-and-dad New Zealander rather than some fund manager’s portfolio as are my Contact shares still – and I wouldn’t condemn any Labour MP for taking the same decision.

    • bbfloyd 2.1
      10 August 2012 at 2:10 pm

      You may not be a “dyed in the wool tory”, but you still play their silly games… How stupid do you think people are?

      Or are you such a tory that the intellect required to fathom how easily your reactionary posturing can be seen through is missing?

      Tip for the intellectually challenged…. speculating on the behavior of labour mp’s at the first opportunity(relevant or not)is a dead giveaway when it comes to spotting a “dyed in the wool” mossbacked tory…..

    • Fortran 2.2
      11 August 2012 at 1:49 pm

      Cnut

      Every Kiwisaver will have a share. The Fund Managers cannot wait to get their hands on every share available to them.
      They consider that the partial SOE’s are a good long term investment for their members I’m told.

  3. shorts 3
    10 August 2012 at 12:55 pm

    I’d suggest there’s a good % of chardonnay socialists who won’t be turning their noses up at the share float

    how many Labour MPs do you think will grab a chunk?

    • bbfloyd 3.1
      10 August 2012 at 2:21 pm

      how boring shorty…. you are as obvious as cnutty above…..Do you tories have no imagination whatever? Or is smugness and self importance a positive trait in toryland(fantasyland to the uninformed)…?

      • shorts 3.1.1
        10 August 2012 at 3:52 pm

        I’m no tory thank you very much bbfloyd and am insulted by your allegation, but will discount it as you don’t know me

        I’m not smug, I am concerned that some within the so called left wing party will partake in the supposed windfalls of the partial privatisation of our assets – which is of course their right… but one most of us poor working stiffs a) can’t afford and b) don’t want to happen in the first place

        sorry if I startled your high horse

      • Cnut 3.1.2
        10 August 2012 at 6:04 pm

        Fact: subject to it stacking up as a sensible investment I intend purchasing a tranche of Mighty River Power shares should they become available.

        Fact: I have never voted for any “right-wing” party in my life.

        Therefore Fact: not all asset-sales shares will go to “dyed-in-the-wool” Tories.

        Comment is free, bbfloyd, but as the Guardian maintains: “facts are sacred.”

        To comment on your points – though it isn’t clear to me what they actually are – I have some money to invest. I’m not sure if that offends you in itself (and I would argue it doesn’t make me a tory whether I want to be one or not) and if it does what you think I should do about it (make sure I spend all my income when it arrives on ‘things’ whether I need them or not, or on booze or on the biggest mortgage I can support or on horses or ladies or whatever so that I’m always broke by next payday?) but the fact is I have some money to invest and the Government, stupidly in my opinion, might be offering me an opportunity to invest in Mighty River Power.

        On the face of it, it looks to be a good investment: secure, likely to grow and with a moderate income stream – but that’s my opinion, not fact. I suspect the Government will offer it at the low end of its valuation, in part to try make it attractive to ‘mums and dads’ investors like me and in part to avoid getting egg on its face with a Facebook-type float fiasco, which to me makes it look an even better investment. Plus the idiot Goverment is even offering me a bonus for doing something I would probably do anyway which makes what looks like a good investment look even better. Of course I’ve still to look through the Prospectus and the Government has still to pursuade me that Maori claims to water aren’t going to be a problem but subject to that it looks to me to be a sensible investment – and sensible investments in New Zealand are pretty rare beasts as anyone who invested in Hanover et al will tell you.

        Now, the New Zealand Labour Party could tomorrow stop me – and I suspect a great many people – from considering partaking of this sale by announcing that as soon as it is back in power it will re-nationalise all New Zealand power companies and run them as I believe they should be run – as a single, integrated system and as a common public utility at cost. Do I hear any such announcement from the Labour Party?

        If I chose not to invest in these assets sales would it stop them? Would it in fact have any impact on them whatsoever? Would anyone even notice? Sure if the NZ Labour Party was organising a boycott of the share issue I would sign up to and, say, promise not to buy any shares if, say 70% of New Zealanders made the same promise (for whatever reason) which boycott would have a meaningful effect on the sale. Is the New Zealand Labour Party doing any such thing?

        As for smugness – well, that’s your perception and there’s nothing I can do about your perceptions. As for fantasyland- well, all the above seems pretty hard-headed to me but by all means point out to me what you believe I am fantasising about – if you can pursuade me you would be doing me a favour, and that’s a fact.

        • McFlock 3.1.2.1
          10 August 2012 at 6:39 pm

          If I were in a bar in a corrupt country and someone offered me goods I knew were stolen, I could use your excuses:
             
          If I didn’t buy their goods, they’d still keep thieving, they’d just sell to someone else. Me refusing to buy the stolen items would have no impact on the crime rate whatsoever.I’d make a reasonable amount of money on the deal if I bought them at that price. The cops/militia won’t do anything, even if I complain. If 70% of potential customers refused an called the cops, I’d join in and have an impact, but there isn’t. 
                          
          But the fact is, even if nobody else on the planet cared, I’d still know that I’d bought stolen goods. To me, that’s always been the dividing line between “tory” and “lefty or liberal”. The tory asks “can I get away with it, and if I can what other reason is there for me not to use it to my advantage?” whereas the lefty goes “this is wrong. I will not do it or put up with it”.
               
          I’ve always thought it mildly humourous that many tories who believe in individual responsibility actually look to their community for moral boundaries, and it’s the so-called ‘collectivists’ who draw their moral compass from within (or at the very least an individual connection with a magic book). 

          • Cnut 3.1.2.1.1
            10 August 2012 at 10:23 pm

            Explain to me how buying shares in a state-owned asset equates to buying “stolen goods”?

            The state on behalf of the tax-payer holds assets which (for example) returns a dividend of $10 million a year to the public purse. If the state wanted it could tell the managers of the asset to forget a return and simply provide the good – say electricity – at cost. Or order the managers to show a profit of $20 million a year. All three decisions are political ones.

            An asset with a reliable dividend stream of $10 million a year would have a capital value of, say, $200 million. If the state on behalf of the taxpayer decides to sell it for $200 million and spend it on schools, hospitals, roads, Blackhawk helicopters, conference centres in Twizel or bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics that, too, is a political decision which our democratic system – love it or hate it – permits and for which the Government is answerable at the ballot box.

            Through the medium of the state I would be buying from the taxpayer of New Zealand a small share in a power company, and paying the taxpayer real money for it. Will I be getting a bargain? Probably, if previous Goverment sales are anything to go by, but is that my fault? Will the Government fritter it away on over-expensive, badly-designed, and pointless pet projects? Probably, if previous Governments gaining windfalls is anything to go by. Is that my fault? I didn’t vote for this Government, after all. Is it my job to save this idiot Government from itself? But would I be buying stolen goods? Not in my book.

            Oh, and FWIW I believe New Zealand’s electricity generation industry should be run on a non-profit basis as a public good.

            • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2.1.1.1
              11 August 2012 at 1:23 am

              Explain to me how buying shares in a state-owned asset equates to buying “stolen goods”?

              They’re being sold against the will of the owners, i.e, stolen.

              • aerobubble …
                11 August 2012 at 10:35 am

                A financial company went belly up. The board decide to sell to another financial company and got
                all those who were owed money to sign up for the deal. Thus the board managed to create consent and so distance themselves from accusations of inappropriate management. This is no different
                from what Key has done, he said he’ll sell them, Labour didn’t sell its wears very well, and so
                Key scrapped into power. Our very democracy is corrupt, the shonkey way governments can
                rush and sell, is mere tip of the per-verbal.

                The global market failure will continue until we redress the ease to which politicians can
                run amok with power. Look at each of the countries under stress, all in EU, US, etc.
                Starting with Iceland where they let a few unaccountable run the banking industry into a joke.
                Or Greece where politicians with no backbone don’t collect the taxes of its people.
                Or Spain, developer madness. Or the UK, ground zero for Thatcher’s revolution. Os
                the US, where printing money is fun, and Congress is full of twits.

                This is one of the generational political population collapses, ridiculed out of office when the
                people get fed up with all the lying, corruption and incompetence.

            • Tracey 3.1.2.1.1.2
              11 August 2012 at 11:18 am

              Being stolen is not the point, the point is being made about ethics. Where people’s ethics sit on any given issue. Mr Key claimed his ethics were high when in opposition, particularly in relation to MP and ministerial standard. They dropped a long long way once that lie was bought by the public. Did he do anything illegal in changing his mind? Nope, no law broken. Doesn’t mean t’s ok?

              The law sets the lowest acceptable stand not the highest as some like to believe.

              In the end cnut I think the point being made is that you say you only vote left wing parties, you say you think the companies should be held for the public good but when it comes down to it you see an opportunity for a windfall for yourself and that trumps your principle. It’s your right to do so but I think some here are just pointing out the anomaly.

              • McFlock …
                11 August 2012 at 4:31 pm

                Nicely put.
                         
                Not sure it computes in someone’s head, though. 
                     
                Participation =  acceptance. Which means that actions speak louder than dull platitudes of what cnut would like to see.

                • Herodotus …
                  11 August 2012 at 5:32 pm

                  So will the be a ground swell of Kiwisaver providers to disclose that they intend/have purchased shares in any of the SOE being sold off ? There is an opportunity for a provider to say that they WILL NOT buy any and be open to those who oppose such sales to switch providers. Then imagine how that would resinate within the industry? Having an “ethical” investor. Something that the Greens IMO could champion. Because in many aspects the Red team = the Blue team

                  • McFlock …
                    11 August 2012 at 5:54 pm

                    I wish. Not hopeful though.
                         
                    Although if the Greens said they’d renationalise at purchase price, I might actually vote for them.  

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      11 August 2012 at 5:59 pm

                      Although if the Greens said they’d renationalise at purchase price less costs incurred by the Government

                      This is a bit better. It would mean that we get the fees from the merchant banks, consultants etc. back.

        • weka 3.1.2.2
          10 August 2012 at 6:44 pm

          I have some money to invest. I’m not sure if that offends you in itself (and I would argue it doesn’t make me a tory whether I want to be one or not) and if it does what you think I should do about it (make sure I spend all my income when it arrives on ‘things’ whether I need them or not, or on booze or on the biggest mortgage I can support or on horses or ladies or whatever so that I’m always broke by next payday?)
           

          You could instead invest the money ethically.

          • Cnut 3.1.2.2.1
            10 August 2012 at 10:47 pm

            “You could instead invest the money ethically.”

            This pre-supposes an objective ‘ethics’ of investment. Personally I hold no shares in any bank or the likes of Goldman Sachs and would never invest in the likes of Monsanto, Lockheed Martin or G4S for example. I don’t hold any tobacco company shares and am undecided about the big pharmaceuticals. On the other hand anyone with a pension fund – including Kiwisaver – is probably invested in companies I would not feel comfortable holding personally.

            I don’t feel that a power generator produces something the world would be better without, nor abuses a monopoly position, but although I don’t agree with the sale of these assets politically and think it’s a mistake for the Government to sell them on sheer economic grounds I don’t feel that imposes an ethical responsibility on me not to buy shares if they are offered any more than I would refuse to drive on a road I consider a waste of public money to have built, not go to a rugby match at a flash, quite unnecessary and over-costly sporting venue imposed on rate-payers by an ‘over-enthusiastic’ local council, nor even attend a conference at a plush centre paid for by slot-machines.

            • Carol 3.1.2.2.1.1
              11 August 2012 at 7:21 am

              Or you could do like some of us, stop trying to get some money from doing nothing but lodging your savings somewhere, and just keep your money in the bank.

              • Colonial Viper …
                11 August 2012 at 6:03 pm

                but lodging your savings somewhere, and just keep your money in the bank.

                Co-operative bank or KiwiBank please.

            • weka 3.1.2.2.1.2
              11 August 2012 at 6:22 pm

              “This pre-supposes an objective ‘ethics’ of investment.”
               
              No it doesn’t. It presupposes that you asked what we thought you could do with the excess money you have.
               
              It seems you have no ethical problem with making a profit from actions that you consider unethical. That’s fine, your own ethics are your own problem. I’m just pointing out you have a choice and could do something for the greater good as well as your own personal good. Talk of objective ethics is just a semantic distraction.

  4. Draco T Bastard 4
    10 August 2012 at 12:59 pm

    The asset sales are not going to create the shareholding society that the Nats sometimes use as an excuse for flogging of our assets.

    But it will create the shareholding society that they actually want. A few people with shares and everyone else living in poverty and dependence as their servants.

  5. Dr Terry 5
    10 August 2012 at 1:14 pm

    Given the amount of support still enjoyed by National, one has to wonder how genuine voters are in their “protest” about asset sales? Clearly, numbers who complain are getting themselves ready to pounce upon them given the chance! As usual with human kind, self-interest comes to the fore.

    I note that Russell Norman is selected here for quotation, as usual it is not Labour! Indeed, the Greens are a viable alternative!!

  6. McFlock 6
    10 August 2012 at 1:30 pm

    giggle. 
       
    If 3news polls mums&dads, does that make it a bi-3news 3-way? Because with the asset sales, 93% of the population are being fucked.
           
     

  7. DropDead 7
    10 August 2012 at 2:04 pm

    Meh. The majority of New Zealanders will likely own shares through Kiwisaver and incidentally the Superfund. Not only that but all New Zealanders will retain majority ownership of the assets. Contrast this with Victoria which privatised power generation in the 1990s or plans underway in NSW where state-owned power generator companies are to be privatised most likely via sales to preferred bidders, some of which will be offshore companies.

    Viva the revolution comrades.

    • bbfloyd 7.1
      10 August 2012 at 2:25 pm

      specious oversimplification is just that…. and adding self serving assumptions to the mix doesn’t make up for that….. it just makes you irrelevant….

      it’s a good day for lampooning tories today…. lots of half wit dogwhistles sounding off….

    • Colonial Viper 7.2
      10 August 2012 at 2:56 pm

      Meh. The majority of New Zealanders will likely own shares through Kiwisaver

      Rubbish. Today, EVERY New Zealander owns the assets EQUALLY.

      Which is what you greedy grasping Tories hate.

    • Ed 7.3
      10 August 2012 at 3:23 pm

      I suspect that since Kiwisaver funds do not qualify for the bonus shares, they may well decide that they are not worth buying at this stage, but may be worth buying once those shares have been issued and a lot of smaller investors seek to sell.

      Kiwisaver funds are of course mainly held as retirement savings by “Mums and Dads” – just those not able to afford to buy directly. That may be the reason they are being discriminated against for the bonus shares.

    • mike e 7.4
      10 August 2012 at 4:38 pm

      Victorian power companies are going bust because they burn coal.Likewise NSW. the majority of Australias power is genrated by coal fired power stations.

    • Fisiani 7.5
      11 August 2012 at 4:31 pm

      Most posters on here will buy shares. Virtually all however will fail to admit doing so.
      Despite being socialists I concede that many are otherwise intelligent. Pity that they will post one thing and then do another.
      I intend to buy shares. So will my Kiwisaver Fund and so will the Superannuation Fund and the ACC.

  8. Linen 8
    10 August 2012 at 2:53 pm

    “57 percent said no, they won’t”

    This might be because:

    1. They can’t afford to, or
    2. They can afford to but believe their money would be better invested elsewhere, or
    3. They can afford to but are so opposed to the philosophy of the sales that they feel being a part of it would be a betrayal of their principles despite the possible financial gains.

    A break-down of that 57% would be interesting but I suspect by far the greatest majority would be in catagory 1, in which case a useful follow-up question would have been; “Would you buy shares if you had the spare cash?”

    • Colonial Viper 8.1
      10 August 2012 at 4:28 pm

      Well its a particularly vacuous and useless follow up question as those NZers already own the assets.

    • mike e 8.2
      10 August 2012 at 4:40 pm

      Dirty Linen good spin maybe we could just ask every body if they think asset sales are a good idea.
      like other poles have which show around 60 tu 70% say NO!

  9. tracey 9
    10 August 2012 at 3:25 pm

    he will say … well we tried but if folks dont want the shares….

  10. Herodotus 10
    10 August 2012 at 6:16 pm

    I hope all those attacking mums and dads buy shares individually will also act by changing their pension provider should their kiwisaver findalso buy power shares .

    • Colonial Viper 10.1
      10 August 2012 at 6:25 pm

      better just to nail this Tory govt to the cross and renationalise

      • Herodotus 10.1.1
        10 August 2012 at 7:15 pm

        Unfortunately there will be 1-2 power generators that will have a more “diverse” ownership.
        I am still taken back as to the main reason to keep these SOE 100% government owned. IMO these companies should be merged into 1, this allowing an integrated power generation policy and that new generation can be managed for the countries best interest. Not what will make the most money or at the lowest cost.
        It should be 1 power coy working for NZ. Not many making the most for their investors.

  11. OneTrack 11
    10 August 2012 at 7:53 pm

    “57 percent said no, they won’t” buy shares. – And they wont accept the 7 billion dollars cash received from the partial asset sales? Oh wait…..

    • Crashcart 11.1
      10 August 2012 at 11:02 pm

      Is that $7billion or $5 billion or $10 billion? Oh wait thats right is a complete guess as to what is going to be made. Also I didn’t realise the government was divying that money up and handing it out. I thought they were just taking and selling the assets off to spend on real important stuff like funtion centres in Chch and refurbishing diplomatic residences. Of course not enough money to increase paid perental leave.

    • Tracey 11.2
      11 August 2012 at 11:23 am

      How will they accept it onetrack? Does it come by mail as a cheque or is it direct creditted to our accounts?

      When the money has gone, and it will be gone quickly, what is the plan B for moving our economy along? We won’t have regular and reliable dividends to bank on…

  12. Tracey 12
    11 August 2012 at 11:24 am

    Notice how quickly the govt backed down on the cut to diplomatic posts, no surprise that there are high level career bureaucrats amongst them and never forget the former MPs… We were told there was too much opposition, not that the idea was wrong… What alot of power those 36 or so diplomats who ran to wellington to protest have…

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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago

  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    7 days ago

  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    7 days ago

  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 week ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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