Anne Salmond on our tarnished democracy

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, August 26th, 2014 - 37 comments
Categories: accountability, democracy under attack, Ethics - Tags: , ,

New Zealander of the Year, Dame Anne Salmond, on how dirty politics tarnished our democracy. Go read the full piece in The Herald:

The Dirty Politics saga cuts to the heart of political life in New Zealand. Over the past 10 years there has been an insidious shift in the way that government works, with increasingly autocratic, arrogant ministers taking away the levers of power from citizens and civil servants. […]

The independence of the civil service has been eroded, with ministers routinely interfering in operational decisions. Last year, the Law Society felt impelled to report to the United Nations that Parliament had been used to pass a succession of acts that strip away rights, freedoms and protections from citizens, in breach of the Bill of Rights. Ministerial accountability has become a farce. […]

If many Kiwis feel disgusted with politics and politicians, and powerless at present, they have good reason.

If the Prime Minister’s office has indeed worked with the SIS to attack the Leader of the Opposition, or colluded with a muck-raking blogger to vilify people who disagree with the ruling party, this is reprehensible, and a constitutional disgrace. It is the kind of governance that makes Kiwis feel terrible about their own country. It’s not okay. […]

There are decent people in all political parties. They must take urgent steps to clean up politics in New Zealand, and to restore democratic checks and balances to the political process. It must adversely affect the lives of politicians, and make them wonder what happened to their own ideals, and how they became complicit in such a dirty game.

37 comments on “Anne Salmond on our tarnished democracy ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. CnrJoe 1
    26 August 2014 at 2:23 pm

    dont mind if I borrow this for our local paper?

  2. whateva next? 2
    26 August 2014 at 2:46 pm

    Aye to all of Dame Salmond’s words, and “disgusted” and “powerless” pretty much sums it up….except always believe right will out, just not sure when at the moment.

  3. Anne 3
    26 August 2014 at 2:52 pm

    All hail to Dame Anne Salmond.

    Will the media take notice? I doubt it.

    And where is the Herald’s banner headline (in blue this time) DEMOCRACY UNDER ATTACK eh?

    There has never been a more appropriate moment in our history for such a banner.

    • Kiwiri 3.1
      26 August 2014 at 3:20 pm

      +1

      And that’s a fine Dame who gives a damn.

      Who others who have been distinguished and decorated with titles will speak out? Please show your leadership and give us hope.

    • Bill 3.2
      26 August 2014 at 3:26 pm

      Given that much of the media is absolutely complicit, I also doubt that many, if any, will take notice.

      I notice too, that she lets them (various media outlets and figures) off the hook in her piece. Key/Slater/Ede and who-ever within National simply could not have done what they have done anywhere near as effectively as they have without ‘buy in’ from mainstream media.

      • Tracey 3.2.1
        26 August 2014 at 3:56 pm

        in fairness herald has a very large circulation.

        • Bill 3.2.1.1
          26 August 2014 at 4:40 pm

          Yes, the Herald has a fairly large circulation. But one column from one person in The Herld is about the same as (say) a Fisk opinion column in The Independent. It’s said and gone; no follow up.

        • Draco T Bastard 3.2.1.2
          26 August 2014 at 7:00 pm

          What’s that got to do with it?

  4. fambo 4
    26 August 2014 at 3:01 pm

    Is National too far gone to have the capacity to self-rectify its behaviour, I wonder

  5. Tautoko Viper 5
    26 August 2014 at 3:58 pm

    A vote for National gives an endorsement of dirty tricks politics- that it is OK.
    A vote for National is rewarding those who behaved in a scurrilous fashion.
    A vote for National will ensure that this type of behaviour will continue.

    .

    • North 5.1
      26 August 2014 at 4:42 pm

      It’s ironical (and karmic and poetic) that Slater perceiving himself the mover and the shaker has really, well……..screwed it for John Key. That’s true whatever the election outcome really. From Diamond to Dog. Keeping in mind that TheGodKey has lost ‘control’……this reflected on several fronts……is it too wild to muse that New Zealand political history may record him as something of an “unfortunate experiment” ?

      • greywarbler 5.1.1
        26 August 2014 at 6:27 pm

        Beware of Slater – the misbegotten child of experimentation lives. The boy in a bubble brought up in a National-rich atmosphere has been enculturated to post-machiavellian levels with added modified blue organisms for the hulk effect – ‘Ware Frankenstein!

  6. Man in a Barrel 6
    26 August 2014 at 3:59 pm

    …

    Yay.

    What we need in this Country is a public debate about the Constitution Conventions – what they are and what they should be as much as anything to remind or inform people why they exist and how important they are for good Government under a Parliamentary Democracy.

    Constitutional conventions are the unwritten rules developed over time to constrain and regulate the exercise of power by an elected Government. Yes you can have Bills of Rights and Written Constitutions towards the same end, but even the US with its Constitution written from the ground up has developed conventions to make it work. After all the framers of the Constitution did not envisage the two-party system that has developed, and bucketloads of conventions have had to be developed to make that work within the Constitution as framed.

    One of the main and most important constitutional conventions is the doctrine of Ministerial Responsibility, which requires the resignation of a Minister for any wrongdoing even if he knew nothing about it; even if he could have known nothing about it. Ministers should recognise that the absolute nature of that is essential. It might be unfair to have to resign for something you could have known nothing about, but Ministers must be whiter-than-white and recognise that resignation in such a situation is necessary for the ‘greater good’ and for the integrity of the system, as a warning to any Minister who might consider abusing their powers if they can think of a way of getting away with it. And of course it also serves to concentrate their minds!

    Labour has a heaven-sent opportunity here to take the lead, declare what it considers the main constitutional conventions to be (including the doctrine of Ministerial responsibility) and promising to respect them. Other parties will have to follow suit, or explain why they are not, and it should be interesting to hear Key et al trying to explain how they can promise to uphold the doctine of Ministerial Responsibilty while being so blatantly in breach of it.

    • Tracey 6.1
      26 August 2014 at 4:00 pm

      i concur. My reservation is the discussion gets hijacked to throw away the treay of waitangi.

  7. coolas 7
    26 August 2014 at 4:01 pm

    Wow. That’s the best writing yet on how six years of National have eroded our institutions and degraded democracy. Thank you, thank you, Dame Anne, you’re one courageous Lady. Hope your example leads to more VIP’s speaking truth to abuse of power.

  8. JanM 8
    26 August 2014 at 5:46 pm

    Thank goodness for her – I began to think I was living in a parallel universe. I hope she starts an avalanche.
    Kia kaha, Dame Anne

  9. politikiwi 9
    26 August 2014 at 6:25 pm

    “Debate on this article is now closed.”

    I guess the commenters were cheering for the wrong team?

    • Paul 9.1
      26 August 2014 at 6:55 pm

      Maybe the Herald didn’t want its readers to see too many comments like this.
      (This was the ‘most liked’ comment)

      “It has been eye-opening to see how the mainsteeam media has played along with the National party for years. Propaganda as news.
      It’s telling that media are not calling directly for the resignation of John Key and Judith Collins. They have both broken all the rules and yet the lead news stories are everything but that.
      We need a public TV station and we need to get political appointees to Radio NZ removed. Otherwise our democracy will continue to bleed with the rightwing determination to take over.”

      • Paul 9.1.1
        26 August 2014 at 7:04 pm

        Just skimmed through the first 40 comments having sorted by most liked.
        100% unanimous support for Dame Anne’s comments.
        No wonder the Herald closed down the debate.
        Democracy under attack, Messrs Murphy and Roughan?
        Looks like it’s you who are closing down the discussion….

  10. Dan1 10
    26 August 2014 at 7:26 pm

    I remember Sir Edmund Hilary and various other respected Kiwis came out against Muldoon in favour of Bill Rowling.
    Sadly the RSA, the golf club and rugby bozos were offended and Muldoon got in and wrecked NZ for at least a generation.
    I only ever argued with my Dad over Muldoon, and I fear the same sort of divide is occurring now, with people saying I can have a beer with Key but not with Cunliffe.
    It is an anti-intellectualism which is disastrous.
    Let us not repeat the disasters of the past. Key is a crook who made his money betting against the NZ$.
    Send him off to his mates in Hawaii.

    Have a great week!

    • Chooky 10.1
      26 August 2014 at 7:35 pm

      +100…’Citizens for Rowling’ was a great coming out of prominent New Zealanders for Democracy!…they made their mark on New Zealand forever…they were prepared to stand up and be counted!

      (even although Muldoon got in again…he had their approbrium hanging around his neck,as a warning !)

      …It would be great if this could be replicated again….in a ‘Citizens for Cunliffe and Democracy’

  11. Topcat 11
    26 August 2014 at 11:34 pm

    NZ really needs an upper house of review. Queensland is the only state of Australia that does not have one and have a look at what is happening there to democracy. Until that happens NZ democracy is largely stuffed.

  12. Penny Bright 12
    27 August 2014 at 9:16 am

    TONIGHT’S PUBLIC MEETING!

    Nicky Hager – ‘Dirty Politics’

    POSTER: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php? fbid=615552501886997&set=a.289660677809516.60189.100002967584552&type=3&theater

    WHEN: TONIGHT Wednesday 27 August

    TIME: 7.30 pm

    WHERE: Mt Eden War Memorial Hall
    487 Dominion Rd
    Balmoral

    MAP: http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/venue/mt-eden-war-memorial-hall- auckland-central

  13. crocodill 13
    27 August 2014 at 9:18 am

    “Over the past 10 years there has been an insidious shift in the way that government works, with increasingly autocratic, arrogant ministers taking away the levers of power from citizens and civil servants.”

    The existing administration were party to a culture of power developed during Clark years (and Clark was influenced by earlier culture) and taken forward in a natural evolutionary way since then. That’s why every new outrage seems more outrageous than the last. It is natural evolution within a system that does not change. Nothing has changed. There is no vacuum. It is not insidious or outrageous, it is expected, predictable and completely as it should be.

    “It is this steady erosion of democratic checks and balances in New Zealand that makes politicians feel above the law and contemptuous of those they represent. As the old adage goes, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

    Politicians come from the populace, excluding occasional phone-in exceptions such as Russell Norman. All the traits we see in pollies during this episode, every behaviour we see in Parliament, is an accurate reflection of the attitudes and actions of average people at street level. Only someone who’s never had reason to step outside their class/culture wouldn’t see it or have been exposed to it. The politicians are us.

    “It is the kind of governance that makes Kiwis feel terrible about their own country. It’s not okay.”

    It is better than ok and must be accepted as ok. Until average people see themselves in their politicians evil, they’ll never grasp the significance of their potential good. Drawing black lines between good and bad is exactly what leads to this kind of corruption. There will be bad, there will be evil. How would we satisfy our endless thirst for anything without an opposite? By accepting and owning our evil.

    Anyone who says they have never done anything expedient to the environment, something that would otherwise contradict an admirable ideal, or the law, or who has never considered themselves the personification of an ideal that is above the law, is a liar and dangerously delusional (re: Greens, we’ve never done anything unethical… Clark, it is what we say it is… Labour, “we didn’t know about Roger…” Jenny Shipley, “ I didn’t move the bus to block the protesters…”). If the moral high ground is what people want to hold, the means do not justify the ends.

    People who feel terrible about their country are fooling themselves, much like a toddler thinks they are the environment, or middle-aged men in bars allow their emotions for the next week, month, or year to be dictated by the outcome of an All Blacks game, or even a group of bankers imagining they are a rowing team in a skiff paddling as fast they can away from things they can’t stomach, like failure and loss. Embrace the evil, accept the unacceptable, and be the good.

    “Unless executive power can be reined in, however, we can expect a succession and perhaps an acceleration of such abuses, no matter who is in power. What’s needed is a truly independent and high-level inquiry (perhaps a royal commission) to investigate the internal workings of government in New Zealand, and recommend a form of governance that has integrity, is truly democratic, and fit for the 21st century.”

    An executive to police an executive? An executive whose values will unavoidably match those of the executive they police? What will the outcome of that be I wonder? We have a commission into power every three years, it’s called an election. The problem is people vote for their delusions, what they wish they were, what they want the world to be – useless ideals and imagination. Their real world is the place they are, their own minds, where they live, their own homes and streets. That’s where they should look for the solutions to fix everyone else. There is no parallel universe waiting, no better life. There is only right here right now. You can’t solve a broken community by aspiring to move to Hawaii or Noosa. Hawaii has slums too, and tanning your ass in Noosa doesn’t change what you left behind. It’s not a glossy travel brochure existence anywhere. No one votes strategically against the system using the system. They call strategy “gaming MMP”, calculating which list member will fall into place if that party vote is put there and then we’ll vote her in and he can get that one… but never think that spiking the system would effectively give another roll of the dice, and when all other direct efforts fail, a chance at chance happening. No one votes against themselves. No, all they see is themselves and their wants, good and bad, and ideals and escape.

    “We have the right to live in a democracy where our leaders do not lie to us, or abuse their powers, or strip away our freedoms. They need to represent what’s best, not what’s worst about New Zealand. We are entitled to feel proud and confident about the way we’re governed, not embarrassed and ashamed.”

    Two separate issues already addressed. Leaders must lie to us so we can catch them at it and renew our sense of potential good that is in ourselves. We must recognise ourselves in political evil. It is not only on the ninth floor, but not our homes. It is not out there in South Auckland or Porirua, but not in Devonport or Nelson. Who voted in John Key’s administration. Look around, was it you? Who voted for Clark, was it you? No, not you, you’re blameless. A vote is always an attempt to wash your hands of the dirty work. No one can trace it back to you, ever, and you can blame your proxy. If you feel powerless or ashamed or embarrassed, that’s just you separated from your potential good. It is a good thing, a wake-up call. No politician makes me feel ashamed for long. When we do enough wrong, people will point it out. You can catch pollies at it, but can you catch yourself? Do you have self control or will it be a case of the Griffins ad… Just one more, ok?

    “There are decent people in all political parties. They must take urgent steps to clean up politics in New Zealand, and to restore democratic checks and balances to the political process. It must adversely affect the lives of politicians, and make them wonder what happened to their own ideals, and how they became complicit in such a dirty game.”

    There are only normal people in political parties and they have the power to clean themselves up right now. Cunliffe isn’t a hero, neither is Key a saviour, neither is Turei a loving mother-in-waiting, and Kim Dot Com definitely isn’t I.T. Santa. Stop insisting these people are symbolic representations of ideals, all good or all bad. Not even ancient greek demi- gods were all good all the time, so you’ll eventually be disappointed that they are human. Embrace your evil, discard your values, and vote for the policies that would best help you find the potential good in you. If that’s too hard, close your eyes and put a tick anywhere.

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    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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    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
    1 week 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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