Ethics

Categories under Ethics

  • No categories

Banks let down by the Crown (but not the judiciary)

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, May 21st, 2015 - 41 comments

I support any decision he makes to lay a complaint with the NZ Law Society against the taxpayer funded prosecutor/s who made the decision to breach their obligation to the Court and to hold the AG’s feet to the fire regarding a rigorous investigation of the withholding of the memorandum.

I Fought the Law

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 pm, April 28th, 2015 - 148 comments

A quick look at the legalities of Ponytailgate as it affects the worker, the cafe, the NZ Herald and the PM. There could be court, tribunal and commission hearings that drag on for months, with potential big financial and political implications for the players.

Herald’s interview with the waitress – updated

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, April 23rd, 2015 - 334 comments

Late night developments, the “hair pull” waitress states that a Herald interview (to be published today) was obtained under false pretences, and she withdrew her consent for it.

Multiple updates on the changing story.

John Key’s Lies Since The 2014 Election

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 26th, 2015 - 109 comments

The most egregious feature remains the sheer banality. Its like John Key can’t help himself. Because most National Ltd™ voters really don’t care and because the MSM just accepts the deceit as “one of those things,” he’s been able to get away with it scot-free for more than six years.

Kiwis Stand Up To Corporate Bully

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, March 25th, 2015 - 14 comments

Cotton On’s act of provocation is matched in its cynicism only by the company’s contempt for the negotiation process. While attempting to feign an understanding of how the new law actually works, Cotton On simultaneously may also have breached the newly amended sections 4 and 32 of the ERA

Second “Roast Busters” report released

Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, March 19th, 2015 - 120 comments

There are many failings outlined. Police were  found to have largely treated women and girls with respect and compassion but their investigations were not robust or thorough, inadequate follow-up enquiries…

All Apologies

Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, March 17th, 2015 - 332 comments

Did commenters on the recent Julian Assange post overstep the mark in their defence of the Wikileaks founder? Are they really rape apologists?

Brassneck

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, March 2nd, 2015 - 64 comments

The release of the candidate donation returns has shown us that the National Party are still rorting the system. However, there are issues for the NZ Labour Party as well. Four MP’s have taken money from sources that do not have the interests of the Labour party or, indeed, the majority of Kiwis at heart. Brassneck or bought and sold?

War HUH!

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, February 13th, 2015 - 417 comments

NZ is again being asked to go to war in Iraq. The Clark Labour Government said no a decade ago, but in 2015 there may be a compelling reason to join the fight; this time it’s the right thing to do. New Standard author te reo putake puts the case for NZ entering the battle against ISIS.

A calculated feeding of the beasts within

Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, February 5th, 2015 - 76 comments

The social democracy of my youth has radically collapsed into our current culture of individualism, privatisation and personal greed.

GCSB Head, Ian Fletcher resigns

Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, January 13th, 2015 - 78 comments

For family reasons he is stepping down… Nothing to see here says Chris Finlayson, great guy who did a great job. For national’s supporters of course there is  far more importance in receiving speeding fines  Woodhouse is moving quickly to say the enforcement is ambiguous. It appears that he sees a universal right to speed and kill people…

The Hypocrisy of Hate

Written By: - Date published: 4:07 pm, January 11th, 2015 - 223 comments

You’d think that with all the WW1 commemorations going on at the moment it would make us more vigilant about our freedom and security, not sleep-walking towards another Holy Crusade (in the name of the God of Money and Father of Fossil Fuels), seduced by slick liars and the gods of commercialism and greed.

Poverty and the need to belong

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, October 25th, 2014 - 37 comments

I’ve read a couple of thought-provoking accounts of poverty lately. There are common themes – issues that the political right, which can only see “the poor” as separate from “us”, will never understand and acknowledge.

Terrorism and thoughtcrime

Written By: - Date published: 6:54 am, October 13th, 2014 - 51 comments

Key is considering bringing in thoughtcrime. Guilt by association. Detaining people because they may commit a crime.

How far will the harassment of Hager go?

Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, October 7th, 2014 - 241 comments

Hager has said that he will go to prison rather than reveal the identity of the Rawshark / Whaledump hacker.

Dirty attacks on academic

Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, October 3rd, 2014 - 10 comments

Another dirty hit, this time on an Otago academic. It features most of the regular cast of Dirty Politics, and stars Jordan Williams of the “Taxpayers’ Union” (aka a front for right-wing spin and political attacks).

“We may as well kiss democracy goodbye”

Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, September 19th, 2014 - 104 comments

The words of the title of this post are those of the Ombudsman, reflecting on yet another typical Nat government scandal as broken by David Fisher in The Herald this morning.

Another victim of dirty politics speaks out

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, September 17th, 2014 - 117 comments

Herald columnist Wendyl Nissen on being the victim of the dirty politics attack machine. She has resigned from a slot on NewstalkZB rather than share a platform with Slater.

One chance to clean up politics

Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, September 12th, 2014 - 72 comments

If we, the electorate, reward dirty politics by re-electing a National government, we will be validating the most vile tactics this country has seen since Muldoon.

Wakeup call for the media – has Slater done us all a favour?

Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, August 31st, 2014 - 171 comments

National’s dirty politics, for all its corrosive damage, also marks an opportunity for NZ. An opportunity to take stock, recognise such tactics for what they are, and reject them. An opportunity to clean up both politics and the media’s coverage of it.

Condemning the obvious

Written By: - Date published: 12:46 am, August 27th, 2014 - 143 comments

Of course I (and other Standard authors) condemn lyrics that incite violence, and any and all threats to the children of politicians (who are completely out of bounds). Does this even need saying? But – Farrar, his little fan club, and the moral high ground? – it is beyond hypocrisy. There is no equivalence between the actions of a disenfranchised, angry few and the systematic abuse of democracy and decency undertaken by National’s dirty politics.

Anne Salmond on our tarnished democracy

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, August 26th, 2014 - 37 comments

New Zealander of the Year, Dame Anne Salmond, on how dirty politics tarnished our democracy.

#TeamKeySlater

Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, August 18th, 2014 - 14 comments

Cameron slater john key

But the door was open…

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 am, August 15th, 2014 - 277 comments

The intention of this post is to examine the similarities and differences between the hacking of Cameron Slater’s communications on the one hand, and the hacking of the Labour Party donor database on the other. There are two important issues to determine in both cases and I will cover them separately. The first is the legality of the hacking and the second is the ethics of using the resulting information regardless of whether the obtaining of the information in the first instance was unlawful.

State of Nations

Written By: - Date published: 6:11 pm, January 29th, 2014 - 25 comments

This post isn’t a ‘contrast and compare’ piece on the policy announcements of National, the Greens and Labour. Enough to say that National are pursuing privatisation while both Labour and Green are at least trying to do good things.

Shame about the reality of the bigger picture then.

The Carbon or the Swag?

Written By: - Date published: 2:32 pm, December 12th, 2013 - 42 comments

So many choices! What’s a body to do?

Return of the Hollow Men

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, September 26th, 2013 - 48 comments

With Cunliffe’s Labour in the ascendance, NAct and/supporters pull out their bag of dirty and deceptively manipulative, Hollow Men, tricks. Adviser to John Key & Boris Johnson, Mark Textor, will most likely be used again: ruthless attack politics, playing on fears & prejudices.

Selling your privacy

Written By: - Date published: 4:07 pm, August 12th, 2013 - 16 comments

Good piece by David Fisher on selling your privacy. Don’t worry citizens consumers, it’s nothing personal. It’s just business.

Schadenfreude

Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, August 5th, 2013 - 59 comments

Schadenfreude.

First they came for……………….

So what was Dunne’s price?

Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, July 24th, 2013 - 112 comments

Peter Dunne said that the GCSB should not spy on New Zealanders “under any circumstances”, but he will now vote to let that happen. He has made himself a liar and a hypocrite. Why? 3 News and others speculate on what Dunne might have got in return. What was his price?

Don’t vote for more pokie victims

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, July 11th, 2013 - 50 comments

It seems that the Sky City Bill means pokies in Auckland InterCity bus terminal. So much for monitored and controlled environments. Those MPs who vote for this legislation are voting for more social harm, including more suicide. Contact them – ask them not to create more pokie victims.