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Categories under history

Govt exploiting CHCH to sneak through abuses?

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, September 8th, 2010 - 10 comments

As our msm persist with their increasingly banal fixation on Christchurch’s troubles, I’m reminded of a story that appeared in 2001 not long after the horror of 9/11. It was about a political advisor in the Blair administration who was caught-out doing her job. On the day of the attacks Jo Moore sent an email […]

The dire probabilities of unusual weather

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, August 13th, 2010 - 32 comments

In Morning Report yesterday there was a clear question and statement on the difference between weather events and climate. This is a question that always seems to confuse our CCD’s (climate change deniers and skeptics). So it is worth examining it a bit in the view of some of the unusual weather that has been happening recently. A increased frequency of such events is going to be the main effect of climate change over time, leading eventually to famines.

Standby for INCIS II… pfzzzt

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, July 7th, 2010 - 20 comments

For some time now National has been quietly making plans to subsume Archives New Zealand and the National Library within the Department of Internal Affairs. That’s a dangerous plan for all sorts of constitutional and accountability reasons that can’t be justified by any imaginary, vague and as yet uncosted “synergies and efficiencies”. But let’s face it, […]

Pro-choice responses to Chadwick’s Abortion Bill

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 pm, July 5th, 2010 - 157 comments

Been a bit disappointed that there hasn’t been a post up here yet on the news out on Saturday that Steve Chadwick is seeking support for a Member’s Bill to make abortion truly on demand in NZ, to 24 weeks.  Then I remembered that I still have posting rights from doing the 2008 General Election […]

Apologise

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, May 10th, 2010 - 46 comments

Congratulations John on your latest speech. We especially like the line “Let me be clear: there is no room for separatism in New Zealand.” Very masterly, clear and unequivocal. I know you meant what you said and weren’t just dog-whistling to the racist red-necks in the audience who’re feeling spooked by us signing up to […]

Colin James on Labour’s election record

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, February 1st, 2010 - 3 comments

Dancr linked to Colin James’ piece in the Press the other day, in which he writes: Here’s Labour’s record for the five decades years since the end of 1959: in government 19 years, out of government 31 years. Its best five decades were 1929-79, when it had 20 years in government, its worst just 12 […]

Remember this?

Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, December 1st, 2009 - 23 comments

Pascal’s Bookie dug up this classic in the comments: Congratulations…. You always knew that politics would be exciting, but I guess that neither of us thought that it would get quite this exciting quite so soon. Don, I wish you all the very best I am confident of your capacity to lead National and ultimately […]

Someone Else’s Country

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 30th, 2009 - 11 comments

As the same old faces of the Right roll out the same old failed neoliberal ideas in new packaging, it’s a useful time to rewatch Alister Barry’s fantastic documentaries on what happened the last time round. In many cases even the faces haven’t changed. Someone Else’s Country examines the devastating effects of the neoliberal revolution […]

Anyone remember this guy?

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, October 29th, 2009 - 6 comments

With all the noise around Obama you don’t hear much about this guy now. He was politically naive but knowingly and willingly acted as a front for much more machiavellian minds. He came to politics with lots of money and was promoted very quickly, but he wasn’t too good at inspiring confidence by way of […]

Political violence

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, July 10th, 2009 - 15 comments

A Nelson man attempted to buy a gun to shoot Nick Smith. Details are scant. What could have been a nasty situation looks like is has been well-handled by the Police and DPS. It must be one of the gnawing worries of being an MP. You and your family are exposed to people who blame […]

Labour always hated the Nazis

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 pm, July 9th, 2009 - 51 comments

I have to confess some confusion about this study that supposedly shows the First Labour Government was tight with Hitler. They were real, deep-red socialists. To get to power they had to overcome the fascist New Zealand Legion that backed National. Fascism was anathema to socialism – the biggest battles of all time were fought out […]

On Auckland and Leningrad

Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, May 24th, 2009 - 17 comments

The modern blitzkrieg [lightning war] was first tested in the Spanish civil war, refined in the invasions of European states that marked the beginning of WWII, and applied successfully in more recent invasions in the Middle East. A blitzkrieg’s success comes from the speed of its prosecution, from which it gets it name. The speed of a blitzkrieg gives attackers […]

What comes around goes around

Written By: - Date published: 6:55 pm, April 11th, 2009 - 3 comments

It wasn’t so long ago that National’s covert attack organ, the Free Speech Coalition, were squealing about how anti-democratic the last Labour government was, with plenty of snappy billboards like this one. Well now that the tragedy of Fiji’s dictatorship is going from bad to worse, don’t expect to hear any more concern from the […]

Homegrown

Written By: - Date published: 12:09 pm, December 26th, 2008 - 11 comments

At the end of my post a couple of days ago I touched on the notion of a new Zealand identity and a Left nationalism. Since then I’ve been thinking about the value of the last government’s moves to foster national identity and their remarkable success in doing so and concluded that this is quite […]

X-rated

Written By: - Date published: 3:01 pm, November 21st, 2008 - 13 comments

There’s a lot of fuss about at the moment over Ayman al-Zawahri’s labelling of Barack Obama as the kind of “house negro” described by Malcolm X. It’s a rather absurd comparison, and in my view probably more a sign of Al-Qaeda’s increasing irrelevance than anything else. But as it turns out, I was listening to […]

Party like it’s 1946

Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 27 comments

The more things change…

Written By: - Date published: 6:18 am, August 28th, 2008 - 18 comments

70 years ago (more or less) and The Standard was correctly predicting a Labour victory as the ‘Nationalists’ ramped up a hollow election campaign. In true Standard-style, there’s even some stats. Click on the image for the full article.

Same thing?

Written By: - Date published: 2:47 pm, June 26th, 2008 - 42 comments

In an attempt to cover for John Key’s ignorance of New Zealand history, National’s Gerry Brownlee has pulled out a quote from Michael Cullen that he asserts says the same thing as the Key quote. You compare: Key: “We’re not a country that’s come about as a result of civil war or where there’s been […]

Key denies Land Wars

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, June 26th, 2008 - 79 comments

Mr Key on NewstalkZB: “We’re not a country that’s come about as a result of civil war or where there’s been a lot of fighting internally, we’re, we’re a country which peacefully came together”. So, the numerous pre-Treaty battles, the Flagstaff War, the Land Wars, Parihaka. decades or warfare in which many tribes lost their entire territory and […]

Happy Birthday National

Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, May 14th, 2008 - 54 comments

Today is the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the National Party. So, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on the founding principles of the National Party and ask that age old question ‘why are they called National anyway?’ The political background to the founding of the National party is the conflict between the three […]

A brief musical interlude

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, May 14th, 2008 - 7 comments

If only I’d been around in 1969, and hanging out in upstate New York. Hard to believe that the best we can do today is Westlife. Well, that’s not fair. I like these lyrics from ‘Think Twice’ the song put together by a group of New Zealand musicans following recent violence in South Auckland: Creeping […]

Mythbusting: Winning a fourth term is impossible

Written By: - Date published: 4:24 pm, May 11th, 2008 - 50 comments

It has become a media mantra that winning a fourth term of government is nigh on impossible, but is that claim actually based on the record of past governments or just a political myth?  The first government formed along party lines in New Zealand was the First Liberal Government, which took office in 1891. Since […]

Undo the cuts

Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, May 11th, 2008 - 56 comments

Good to see Ruth Dyson finally admitting we have left beneficiaries behind. I would hope now that there would be a lot more done than simply indexing benefits to wages though. Increasing the benefit to real pre-1991 levels would be a good start. A lot of people know about the benefit cuts but not many […]

Sir Ed and Helen Clark – admired Kiwis

Written By: - Date published: 6:39 pm, April 6th, 2008 - 15 comments

From the Sunday Star Times: A new poll suggests that National Leader John Key may be up against a bigger obstacle than he thought in knocking Prime Minister Helen Clark off she is the person New Zealanders most admire after Sir Edmund Hillary. The much-loved mountaineer topped the Roy Morgan Poll with 17.4 per cent support, followed by […]

More on mental health

Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, March 18th, 2008 - 11 comments

After reading Steve’s piece about suicide prevention and the subsequent comments I’ve decided a short history lesson on this issue is needed. In the late eighties and early nineties the mental health model was shifted from an institutional model to the ‘recovery model’. Effectively this meant mental health patients were shifted from facilities such as […]

Those were the days (all 20 of them)

Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, March 5th, 2008 - 17 comments

When I wrote to the MPs asking them for their thoughts on John Key’s “we would love to see wages drop” quote (results here), Nick Smith’s bio page reminded me of this little gem:           Ah, the Brash-Smith dreamteam. Pity it couldn’t quite last the whole three weeks.

The baby bounce

Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, February 19th, 2008 - 41 comments

When a society goes through trauma, one of the first results is a drop in the birth-rate. People choose not to have children in a time of strife and uncertainty. When good times return, the birth rate bounces back. The pattern could be seen worldwide following the two world wars. In Eastern Europe, where economic […]

Massey to go the way of Saddam and lose statue?

Written By: - Date published: 5:16 pm, January 25th, 2008 - 11 comments

New Zealand Labour movement activists will support Irish unionists – the political sort – who wish to remove Reform Prime Minister Massey’s statue from Limavady in Northern Ireland’s Derry County. Massey is remembered without affection by trade unionists here for the mounted special police known as “Massey’s Cossacks” who were used to hunt down strikebreakers […]

Lord Keith of Kinloch

Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, December 3rd, 2007 - 17 comments

Am halfway through “Kiwi Keith”, Barry Gustafson’s portrait of our third-longest serving Prime Minister. He obviously had something, as he was picked out as a young man by Reform’s Coates and others as having leadership potential from his early days crop-farming in Motueka. As a young MP, after surviving the Reform-United Coalition defeat in 1935, […]

Levin: hotbed of Tory militancy?

Written By: - Date published: 12:44 pm, October 16th, 2007 - 3 comments

Just had this sent through to me by a Levin reader. The reference to the Federation of Labour and getting the army in to sort out the workers should have been a dead giveaway that the piece was thirty years old, but in the timewarp that is Levin you never can be too sure…

From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, October 13th, 2007 - 1 comment

On the morning of October the 12th 1917 845 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in a failed attack on Bellvue Spur during the Battle of Passchendaele. At commemorations held in Flanders yesterday, Peter Kennedy, The New Zealand Ambassador to Belgium reffered to the attack of that morning “the greatest disaster in New Zealand’s history, […]

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    2 weeks ago

  • Mark Blackham and Emily Mingins: A Parliament of office workers
    Although there’s now more farmers than teachers in the in the 54th Parliament, office work, politics and humanities education are the dominant backgrounds of MPs. Research released today by Blackland, a PR consultancy, finds that the six most popular careers for MPs are (in descending order) managers, elected representatives, ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 weeks ago

  • Chalk marks the position of the body
    Try as he might to dazzle us with his CEO mad skillz, there is no way this lacklustre Prime Minister can conceal the awkward reality that he is but the goofy grinning front end of a horse costume, the monkey who fancies himself the organ grinder, the sad awkward cuck ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 weeks ago

  • “Efficiency” is no reason to violate human rights
    The right to trial by jury is affirmed in the Bill of Rights Act. The National Party wants to take it off you: Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is considering ways to reduce the number of jury trials, saying an increase in defendants choosing them is contributing to delays. Data ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 weeks ago

  • NZ Govt welcomes the lifting of an injunction (to protect the Maui dolphin) which banned some fish i...
    Buzz from the Beehive The lifting of a temporary ban on some New Zealand fish exports to the United States was hailed by two New Zealand ministers as a win for commonsense. Sea Shepherd spokesperson Michael Lawry, on the other hand, told RNZ “politics and power” had won over science. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 weeks ago

  • Why Do We Love True Crime?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 weeks ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the death of library browsing
    For many of us, the word “library” has comfortable connotations. It suggests rows of books in which to browse, make discoveries and pass them on to friends and family. Beyond being a resource centre for culture and practical information, a typical library is also a community meeting ground and a ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 weeks ago

  • I'm not a cynic.
    I'm just bein' realistic, bein' honest with myselfI've tried bein' optimistic but it doesn't seem to helpSo I'll just have to admit this is the hand that I've been dealtI'm not bein' pessimistic, just bein' honest with myselfI remember a family outing at lake Rotoiti, near Rotorua. It always felt ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 weeks ago

  • Success City
    Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Council’s City Centre Advisory Panel. On the back of the latest Infometrics data release, the Council through its economist Gary Blick has been publishing a whole lot of great numbers: For the second year in a row, Auckland’s high-achieving city centre has ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    2 weeks ago

  • Dawn Chorus for Wednesday, April 3
    These homes in Mt Cook, Wellington were demolished but the large rebuild project is now paused and the site sits idle, along with other social housing projects around the country. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six newsy things of note to me in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 7:06 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 weeks ago

  • Beehive bloat
    While the new Government repeatedly vows to cut waste from within the Government, it has created seven new ministries and abolished only two left over from the Labour Government. A new study says that the more Ministers a government has, the more it will spend and the more difficult it ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 weeks ago

  • At a glance – Global warming and the El Niño Southern Oscillation
    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
    3 weeks ago

  • Criminal enterprises
    It was easter over the weekend, which meant the annual "debate" over relic easter trading laws, and various businesses deliberately flouting them for profit. I'd prefer those out-dated laws to be reformed - my preference is to make easter Sunday a public holiday, which solves all the problems other than ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 weeks ago

  • Tax relief is included in the next stage of Government Action Plan – but hospital staff could do ...
    Buzz from the Beehive Uh, oh.  Maybe we are in the PM’s Naughty Book. We received a press statement from Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick to tell us the Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months “is as pointless as it is hollow”. She was more than somewhat ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 weeks ago

  • You’re welcome, renters
    More Than A Feilding: Good afternoon Prime Minister, thanks for making the time to talk to this little newsletter.Old Mate Grabaseat: You’re welcome mate! How’s it all going in Friendly Feilding, 14-time winner of NZ’s Most Beautiful Town?MTAF: Oh, I’m not actually in Feilding, that's just a reference to…OMG: I’m ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 weeks ago

  • Fair Enough!
    Sounds About Right: It would seem that the realities of practical politics makes utilitarians of us all.DOING THE GREATEST GOOD for the greatest number has long been the ethical rule-of-thumb for New Zealand politicians. At least, that is how they would argue if challenged to justify their own, or their ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 weeks ago

  • Climate Change: The wrong direction
    Today the government released its "action plan" for the next three months - basically, the list of what it wants to get done. Yes, its government by KPI, with all the bullshit that that entails. But contempt for management culture aside, what about the substance? And in particular, the substance ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 weeks ago

  • The complex and bloated Executive
    David Farrar writes –  The NZ Initiative has published a research note comparing our Executive Government to others. They note: We have 44% more Ministers, 282% more portfolios and 156% more departments than countries of similar size NZ has 41 departments NZ has 27 crown agencies NZ has ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 weeks ago

  • Steven Joyce’s revolving door entry into a $4000/day govt appointment
    Bryce Edwards writes – Former National Government Finance Minister Steven Joyce is being paid $4000 a day to chair the new Government’s “expert advisory panel” on infrastructure. That’s over twice what Prime Minister Christopher Luxon gets, and makes Joyce New Zealand’s highest-paid public servant. At the same time, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 weeks ago

  • The debt rules being used to strangle NZ
    In reality, there is far too little ‘future proofing’ being undertaken by councils, mainly because of the fear of the perceptions of councillors, officials, mayors (and Government ministers) that they’ll be punished for being ‘fiscally reckless’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six news items of note on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 weeks ago

  • A data scientist’s case for ‘cautious optimism’ about climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Michael Svoboda Against the regular drumbeat of negative news on climate and the environment, a positive note can be both startling and therapeutic. To keep pressing forward, we need to know that progress has been — and still can be — made. ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 weeks ago

  • Suddenly Seymour.
    I know Seymour's the greatestBut I'm dating a semi-sadistSo I've got a black eyeAnd my arm's in a cast.Still, that Seymour's a cutieWell, if not, he's got inner beautyAnd I dream of a placeWhere we could be together at last..How are you feeling about David Seymour, six months after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 weeks ago

  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to April 8 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 8 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-cabinet news conference at 4pm today.Parliament is not sittingBuilding consents data is due on Thursday.Photo by Marissa Grootes on UnsplashThe Kaka’s diary for the week to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 weeks ago

  • Daughters of Derbyshire: Published
    My 4300-word historical fiction piece, Daughters of Derbyshire, is now out, via The Lesbian Historical Motif Podcast. Print format: https://alpennia.com/blog/lesbian-historic-motif-podcast-episode-283-daughters-derbyshire-daniel-stride Audio format: https://lesbianhistoricmotif.podbean.com/e/daughters-of-derbyshire-by-daniel-stride-the-lesbian-historic-motif-podcast-episode-283/ It concerns seventeenth century English Puritans – at once alien to modernity, and yet also a story written in the grim shadow of 2020. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 weeks ago

  • A moment of friction.
    In strategic studies “friction” is a term that it is used to describe the moment when military action encounters adversary resistance. “Friction” is one of four (along with an unofficial fifth) “F’s” in military strategy, which includes force (kinetic mass), … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    3 weeks ago

  • Spotlight on the Courts
    Muriel Newman writes – “Houston, we have a problem!” New Zealand’s Supreme Court – the highest court in our land – has been captured by activist judges. What is heartening, is the emergence of a wide range of eminent legal voices all openly criticising the Court and calling ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 weeks ago

  • NZ Government announces ban on walking
    RNZ reports: As part of their ‘100 Day Plan – Phase 2’, the government today announced a ban on walking on streets and in most public spaces. Transport Minister Simeon Brown says the move is part of the Government’s plan to boost economic growth and productivity. “Walking is just too ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 weeks ago

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  • Government creates establishment board for charter schools
    Associate Education Minister David Seymour has announced the Charter School | Kura Hourua Establishment Board to guide the formation of the charter school model, so that the first schools can open in 2025. “Charter schools will provide educators with greater autonomy, create diversity in New Zealand’s education system, free educators ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Secondary teachers moving to New Zealand fast tracked to residence
    3 April 2024 Secondary teachers moving to New Zealand fast tracked to residence  Secondary teachers moving to New Zealand will be put on a fast track to residency to help address workforce shortages, Immigration and Education Minister Erica Stanford announced today.   “Shortages in secondary teachers, especially those in specific regions ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • United States lifts ban on New Zealand fish exports
    A temporary ban on some New Zealand fish exports to the United States has been lifted in a win for commonsense, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones and Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay say. The United States’ Court of International Trade lifted a preliminary injunction that temporarily stopped trade ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Conflicts past and present form backdrop to historic visit to Poland
    Polish refugees arriving in New Zealand during World War II and the extreme human impacts of the war in Ukraine were themes of Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ visit to Warsaw today.    “This year marks the 80th Anniversary of the arrival on our shores of Polish refugee children and their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Flu campaign reinforces the importance of vaccination
    Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti says the start of this year’s flu campaign reinforces the importance of vaccination in keeping New Zealanders healthy during the winter months ahead and protecting the health frontline Receiving a flu vaccination in Auckland today, Dr Reti says getting a flu shot not only ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • Flu campaign reinforces the importance of vaccination
    Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti says the start of this year’s flu campaign reinforces the importance of vaccination in keeping New Zealanders healthy during the winter months ahead and protecting the health frontline Receiving a flu vaccination in Auckland today, Dr Reti says getting a flu shot not only ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • Government continues to deliver for New Zealand
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has launched the Government’s next action plan to deliver for New Zealand – setting out key steps to be taken by June 30 to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and improve public services.  “I am proud to lead a government of action. We are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • NZ announces humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Sudan
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced $6 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by conflict in Gaza and Sudan during his ongoing visit to Egypt.   “There are huge and urgent humanitarian needs in both Gaza and Sudan, and it is important that New Zealand continues to make its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • Jones backs super snapper for economic growth
    A new project to breed ‘super’ snapper that are more resistant to disease, grow faster, and can thrive in warmer water could help drive more economic growth through aquaculture, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.  “The potential here goes far beyond growing a better and more resilient breed of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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