The most stunning moment in the Greek referendum result was the immediate resignation of Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. He had already said he would quit if the referendum was lost; nobody expected that he would go after such a convincing win.
But Varoufakis is not a normal politician. His humility and loyalty are exceptional traits, almost unknown in any Parliament. It would be a wonderful thing if his drive to put the party and people first was adopted by some long serving MP’s in the NZ Labour Party.
Varoufakis has recognised that progress requires constant refreshment and timely changes in personnel inside the team. If the Syriza leadership do manage to extract meaningful concessions from the financial fascists in Brussels, it will be in no small part because of selfless attitude of Yanis Varoufakis. There’s a lesson there for the learning.
Varoufakis announced his resignation in the modern way, on twitter and his personal blog. It’s worth a read:
The referendum of 5th July will stay in history as a unique moment when a small European nation rose up against debt-bondage.
Like all struggles for democratic rights, so too this historic rejection of the Eurogroup’s 25th June ultimatum comes with a large price tag attached. It is, therefore, essential that the great capital bestowed upon our government by the splendid NO vote be invested immediately into a YES to a proper resolution – to an agreement that involves debt restructuring, less austerity, redistribution in favour of the needy, and real reforms.
Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my… ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today.
I consider it my duty to help Alexis Tsipras exploit, as he sees fit, the capital that the Greek people granted us through yesterday’s referendum.
And I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.
I shall support fully Prime Minister Tsipras, the new Minister of Finance, and our government.
The superhuman effort to honour the brave people of Greece, and the famous OXI (NO) that they granted to democrats the world over, is just beginning.
Look at the concepts he cites: duty, pride, collective action. They’re values, markers of class. The most quoted line is ‘I shall wear the wear the creditor’s loathing with pride’, but the most important sentence is this:
“We of the Left know how to act collectively with no care for the privileges of office.”
That should be the driving force for our Labour MP’s; putting the party and the people before the pleasures of a comfortable gig with ego fluffing status and gold standard pension rights. There aren’t many MP’s, let alone Ministers, in NZ who would turn down a limo and instead ride their motorbike to work meetings. Why is that? Why isn’t that modesty and the common touch the mark of all of our Labour MP’s?
Varoufakis describes himself as an erratic Marxist. But he is not a inflexible demagogue:
To me, the answer is clear. Europe’s crisis is far less likely to give birth to a better alternative to capitalism than it is to unleash dangerously regressive forces that have the capacity to cause a humanitarian bloodbath, while extinguishing the hope for any progressive moves for generations to come.
For this view I have been accused, by well-meaning radical voices, of being “defeatist” and of trying to save an indefensible European socioeconomic system. This criticism, I confess, hurts. And it hurts because it contains more than a kernel of truth.
I share the view that this European Union is typified by a large democratic deficit that, in combination with the denial of the faulty architecture of its monetary union, has put Europe’s peoples on a path to permanent recession. And I also bow to the criticism that I have campaigned on an agenda founded on the assumption that the left was, and remains, squarely defeated. I confess I would much rather be promoting a radical agenda, the raison d’être of which is to replace European capitalism with a different system.
That quote above shows Varoufakis is able to synthesise radical economics with practical reality. Too many of our MP’s are not willing to even acknowledge that there are alternatives. I doubt that many have even read Marx, let alone understood his writings. Certainly, I don’t imagine any have the personal insight Varoufakis shows here:
My personal nadir came at an airport. Some moneyed outfit had invited me to give a keynote speech on the European crisis and had forked out the ludicrous sum necessary to buy me a first-class ticket. On my way back home, tired and with several flights under my belt, I was making my way past the long queue of economy passengers, to get to my gate. Suddenly I noticed, with horror, how easy it was for my mind to be infected with the sense that I was entitled to bypass the hoi polloi. I realised how readily I could forget that which my leftwing mind had always known: that nothing succeeds in reproducing itself better than a false sense of entitlement. Forging alliances with reactionary forces, as I think we should do to stabilise Europe today, brings us up against the risk of becoming co-opted, of shedding our radicalism through the warm glow of having “arrived” in the corridors of power.
Labour MP’s: If you’ve done 3 or 4 terms, it’s probably time to go. If you haven’t achieved what you set out to do by now, chances are, you’re never going to do it. If you’re a list MP, put the party first and let the leader know you’re not going to be around next election. If you’re an electorate MP, a winnable by-election in late 2016 or early 2017 would get the ball rolling for Labour going into the next election.
Quit. Put the party and people first. Take the pension; you’ve earned it. Take the praise; you’ve earned that too. But for the sake of the party and for the future of New Zealand, go.
Postscript: Why Common People? In a poptastic quirk of fate, it seems likely that Yanis Varoufakis’s wife, Danae Stratou, an amazing person in her own right, was the inspiration for the wonderful Pulp song Common People. You couldn’t make this stuff up!
Everybody hates a tourist, especially one who thinks it’s all such a laugh.
Thanks for this post and highlighting this guy’s stance. For me there is no right or wrong answer in this crisis and those who think there is, are, imo, too focused on their own need to be right than on how to begin a resolution that works for ALL.
I remain hopeful that some Labour MPs will resign or be asked to resign in the 18 months leading up to the election so that new candidates can be selected and get a decent run at the campaign trail.
Why 18 months? To get the most mileage out of the refreshing and restructure.
Look at how National managed to hide some internal problems by the notion of culling deadwood, and the reportage regurgitated it nicely for them.
For me it is NOT about getting more youth per se, but freshness, re-invigoration.
I think Labour needs to move sooner than the suggested 18 months. Most of a year has passed already since the new Parliamentary term started. They might have been able to afford that time in a second term in opposition, but coming back from the thrashing that they got handed – I was going to say “helped themselves to”, noting how much of their 2014 disaster was their own fault – 18 months is cutting it really fine.
Well, they had toe elect a new leader, carry out a review and, I suspect buthave no knolwedge< that most of this time has been spent either clamping down on some MPs or some"biding" their time.
It's hard to know if the new anonymity of some (Cosgrove for example) is due to a stronger hand or a sulk.
Labour has been trying out new leaders, but it does need to refresh the front bench. At the minimum, Goff, King, and Mallard all need to start acting as mentors rather than senior caucus members, and start training people to replace them at the next term.
Redline blog regularly receives reports from friends within Syriza. We received the following communique from our friends, one of the left currents in Syriza, yesterday:
1) We are in front of a great NO by the Greek People, who stands defiant and fighting against the ultimatums and the destructive policies imposed on Greece by the troika and its local supporters. Today’s NO has a pan-hellenic, national, popular, democratic character. It proves once again that the Greek People has a great reserve of courage and resisting spirit, and storms the political scene, as it has always happened in critical moments of our History.
2) This great NO, around 61,5%, comes despite the (unforeseen in post-war Europe) terror campaign and direct threats by all the systemic reactionary forces on European and international level. Moreover, it has been achieved despite the manifest weaknesses of the Greek Left’s forces. It is a result that was not expected by all those who underestimate the Greek people’s courage, and this remark is valid no matter how huge difficulties we shall face tomorrow (literally!).
3) The referendum’s result represents a crushing defeat of the pro-troika internal opposition, which, in vain, spared no effort to distort the meaning of the referendum and to multiply the fear amongst the Greek society. It represents a crushing defeat of the whole old political, business and media system. Already. . . .
Indeed.
But their sacrifice bought three days of defensive line preparations on the isthmus of Corinth and evacuation of Athens, which was why only a few thousand Greeks were there to hold the pass in the first place. Everyone else bailed to the planned fall back position.
But I’d never expect you to understand either the point of self sacrifice for others, or the value of thinking strategically rather than tactically.
Shame about the movie. Although it should be pointed out that most of the best lines said by the Spartans (except I think the Gerard Butler “this is Sparta”) were actually said by Spartans. Not all at Thermopylae (e.g. I think the “Sparta is the only state that sent soldiers” line comes from the Anabassis), but yeah, one of the few movies where the best bits of the script comes from the historical figures. That line about “the skies will darken with our arrows / good, so we will fight you in the shade” was apparently said at the time.
Totalitarian swine, but shit they could talk a good game.
Except the plan was never that the action at Thermopylae was meant to be merely a delaying tactic. The population of Athens had already largely been evacuated. The aim was to hold them at the pass hence why the Greek Fleet was sent forward with the army under Leonidas command.
🙄
Yes, the plan to hold the pass with 7,000-odd failed. After a few days. A few days of evacuation and preparation elsewhere.
So Leonidas (seeing you spelled his name correctly this time, I’m assuming you’ve decided to jump onto wikipedia to find out what you were talking about) fought a holding action to protect the retreat of the bulk of the defenders, and the fleet then went and completed the evacuation of Athens.
Pretty much what I said, only from memory I thought it was 300 Spartans and a couple thousand others, rather than only a thousand or so others.
But then you need to argue that Thermopylae had no purpose, because if your Greek economic doomsday predictions do actually come true their still might be some point to telling the IMF to go fuck themselves even if it makes them worse off. It might still encourage others to do the same.
See, you imperialists need a Roman outcome: complete devasation and then salt the earth, without the merest hint of hope or inspiration. As soon as your victim shows dignity in the face of that, they become a martyr and a rallying cry for others.
And then later Greece won a crucial sea battle, then defeated a numerically superior force at Plataea, driving out the Persians. But I suspect that doesn’t fit your narrative, so you’ve ignored it as usual, Gosman.
“In five months of being Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis proved himself to be a tough negotiator who was not going to concede even a bit to Greece’s creditors, as well as a political ‘rock star’ who wins hearts and minds from atop his motorcycle.
Varoufakis never showed that he was ready to accept all the demands Greece creditors put towards the debt-stricken nation. He repeatedly refused bailout plan offered by the troika of international creditors, calling it “a committee built on rotten foundations.”
The self-declared “erratic Marxist” was apparently ready to mutilate himself rather than agree to current terms of bailout presented to Athens by its international creditors….
“What they are doing with Greece has a name: terrorism,” Varoufakis told Spain’s El Mundo daily. “Why have they forced us to close the banks? To make people frightened. And when it comes to spreading terror, this phenomenon is called terrorism.”
Come on, Tracey. Varoufakis failed, the European ministers could not stand his “negotiation” style, so Mr Tsipras pushed and sacrificed him with the usual propaganda of calling him a hero. He did not resign, he was pushed. The erratic Marxist can go back to his pastime of riding bikes made in capitalist countries.
In my view Varoufakis has probably been the worst Finance Minister in a western country in recent years.
He didn’t even succeed in his own specialty of game theory. Well, perhaps he did – he won the referendum, though probably at the cost of the Greek economy. And maybe Angela Merkel will buckle.
However, when one of the outcomes of your work is bank closures for the whole country for two weeks, with the consequential wreckage in the economy, that is a huge fail.
Imagine if all the banks closed in New Zealand for two weeks. How do wages get paid? How does business continue? Exactly how is this a good thing?
Unless wrecking your own economy is one of your objectives, and for many on the Hard Left that is exactly what they want. Street theatre is much more fun than hard graft.
And I guess that is why the Hard Left love him so much.
based on 6 months in office and you blame him for everything today?. By june 2009 if english were to be judged as though he was totally responsible for everything at that time he was an idiot right? ? you called for his resignation right? this is probably your most ridiculous post Wayne. an impartial person could argue the GFM has presided over an opportunity for a better deal than any of his predecessors. .. merkel says the door is still open… greece still in eu.
you think the economy wasnt in tatters when he was appointed?.
when your mask slips it reveals quite a nasty streak.
The test is whether ones own actions have resulted in an economy in much worse tatters than when becoming Finance Minister. In the case of Varoufakis, the answer is clearly “yes”, and in the case of Bill English the answer is clearly “no”.
Presiding, or actually precipitating bank closures is evidence enough of failure.
But hey, if the Greeks want to go for a Chavista style govt they are free to do so. They just have to bear the consequences. After all enough New Zealanders could have voted for Hone Harawria, John Minto et al to lead the govt. And if they had have done so, we would have had much the same style of govt as Greece or Venezuela.
Ahhh no Finance company collapses does not count as enforced closure of the entire banking system and the imposition of economy wide capital controls. The fact you might even think that is rather illustrative of your general understanding of economics and finance.
I never said it did, you moron. I asked if it counted as evidence of government failure.
Alongside, of course, the massively-increasing government debt. Did you also think I thought that increasing government debt counts as a collapse of the entire banking system? No, of course you didn’t.
By the way, Amnesty International called: they want to start a letter-writing campaign against your frequent “enhanced interrogation” of the English language, but the only postal address they have for you is “c/o Satan’s Anus”.
Bill English inherited a healthy and prepared economy and allowed it to whittle down through the recession with little to no intervention to mitigate its affects. Varoufakis inherited an economy already decimated by IMF and eurozone demands and didn’t hack moving it away from their paradigm.
Failing is one thing, and potentially excusable. Not even trying is contemptible, Bill English is likely to be judged harshly by history, perhaps not so harshly as people like Douglas or Richardson, but I doubt he will be viewed as a competent economic steward by anyone except the commercial news media.
“much worse tatters” – at least you seem to be admitting that the previous finance ministers of non left wing parties just left the Greek economy in “tatters”.
Phew.
Vote for the Right. They will only leave your economy in tatters – Wayne Mapp former Minister of Defence.
Bill English harmed our economy majorly when he gave tax cuts to a group of kiwis that were known by the majority of economists to not stimulate the economy during a recession but to see money withdrawn from it. But he owed it to those who voted for him right? So bad economics for political expediency is… oh wait, that’s what you say the Greek FM has done!
Actually I can’t remember him ever advocating a bailout? He has an extensive comment history here. Search engine is good and so is google. It pays to look that kind of stuff up before asserting it as a statement of fact.
In other words, you are walking close to a pattern that I’d have to note as a moderator, and start getting you to substantiate while I hang a honking great club over your fingers. This is a friendly warning.
They were being offered a further bailout. The deal involved lending the Greeks more money. They are now seeing the cost of not getting more money.
In my view view Angela Merkel will probably relent a little on the terms initially offered. The outcome will possibly be close to the deal that Tsipras was offering last Tuesday.
That’s an interesting position. I’m not sure I entirely agree but I get where you’re coming from that two bailouts is significantly different than one.
The issue is essentially that the Greeks needed to take a bailout deal, and they didn’t have a more reasonable government in power at the time who negotiate terms that wouldn’t cause the economy to fail. If you pick up the economy after the previous bailout has already been taken, and don’t have the ability to renegotiate bailout terms, is it really your fault if the economy fails due in large part to the terms of the previous bailout?
It’s possible that there’s more that could have been done. But his hands were somewhat tied.
well, you say that now you have caught up on Merkel saying the door is open Wayne, something I stated in my comment to you.
You wrote at 145pm
“He didn’t even succeed in his own specialty of game theory. Well, perhaps he did – he won the referendum, though probably at the cost of the Greek economy. And maybe Angela Merkel will buckle.”
then later at 244pm
“In my view view Angela Merkel will probably relent a little on the terms initially offered. The outcome will possibly be close to the deal that Tsipras was offering last Tuesday.”
So you now seem to be suggesting the NO vote, in your opinion, will result in Tsipras getting the deal he sought last week? And yet you say his finance minister, who was part of that strategy and negotiation is, the worst Finance Minister in a western country in recent years?
I know there is no right or wrong answer to the Greek crisis but your rhetoric “hard left” and so on is just ridiculous.
As for the banks collapsing being a “good thing”. You might want to spend some time on the streets of Greece with people living this crisis (not those presiding over it from the comfort of their high incomes and luxury homes). That they would essentially vote for something like that MUST indicate to you how desperate they feel and how much more of the last 5 year plan they can take?
The Greek economy is already wrecked. Not by Varoufakis hand.
Germany has a 200 odd billion surplus…how does that surplus get recycled? That is the crux.
China recycles it surplus into US debt instruments so the game continues….Germany bleeds the rest of Europe dry. Zero sum game.
Gawd here we go, wasn’t the Greece economy already in ruins? 25% adult unemployment bears little resemblance to NZ doesn’t it. The fact that 60% of their people voted to not accept an EU deal while banking restrictions were in place shows you they want economic freedom and can put up with the pain. I’m sure they’ve got some choice words for your ideology too.
it makes sense if you are not looking at this from an ideological/spreadsheet perspective and considering the human element as well as the economic/ideological.
This notion that the Greeks who voted NO think that there are no consequences to their decision, that tomorrow will suddenly dawn brighter are patronising or being deliberately obtuse.
The recurring theme seems to be that Greece should be lauded for standing up to the “evil bankers”. In reality, Greece should be condemned for getting itself into so much debt. I know that if I lent someone $100k and they refused to pay it back, I’d be very angry if all his friends started defending him and painting me as the bad one.
They stiffed the unsecured lenders when GM went under . It was $27 bill and they got 10% of shares in ‘new GM’ which was worth abouth 1/10th of face value of bonds.
NZ Banks write off 10s millions of loans every year, in bad years it gets into 100s millions.
You are forgetting a thing called ‘risk’, its why some interest rates are higher than others, its because you may not get your money back
Kevin,
Yes, exactly.
Those debts, indeed the debts of every western country will never be repaid.
The question is how they wont be repaid.
Greece is by no means the worst offender, just small enough to bully.
Varoufakis himself agrees Marxists are not ready to run an alternative to Capitalism. The crisis of 2008 is deepening and nobody has any answers. Laying that at the doorstep of non-existent (in the west) left wing governments is laughable.
Believe it or not I sympathise and maybe the debt should be forgiven but not for the same reasons as you.
Case in point – Germany after WW1. Because other countries weren’t willing to help Germany out, and in fact made it unnecessarily worse for them, it led to the rise of the Nazi party and WW2.
Question is though, can Greece be trusted not to squander the help they get? Or is it simply a case of the world not having a choice but to bail the country out?
To get back to my analogy it would be like if forcing the person to give me back my $100K meant making him homeless and so depressed that he commits suicide, and in turn his kids end up trying to kill me to get revenge.
You probably dont realise that you are repeating nazi propaganda about the effect of reparations on Germany. because that exactly what the poor Germany after WW1 story is.
Rightly so, Germany militarism was largely responsible for WW1, this was also responsible for the militarism that led to WW2.
Reparations were for the damage to Northern France and Belgium, Germany itself being untouched, some one had to pay to restore the farms, villages, and industries. Because a lot of money wasnt repaid, the French and Belgians had to cover it themselves.
So please no sob stories for poor Germany after WW1.
fair point but it did cripple Germany economically and that gave rise to similar conditions to Greece today which , as in Greece, is fertile ground for facsist groups.
Everyone has to face the consequences of their decision-making, not just Greece.
After all the area WAS rebuilt, just that France and Belgium ended up paying themselves.
Politically, for France it was impossible for them not to ask for reparations, as thats what Germany did to France when they were defeated in 1871, and Prussian troops stayed in occupation till the French paid ( they suprised everyone by paying fairly quickly)
Iraq had to pay reparations to Kuwait after Gulf War 1. That wasnt easy for them either but they did it
case in point – Germany 1953. HUGE debt. Given MAJOR DEBT RELIEF by 20 nations including Greece. It enabled them to build the powerhouse economy they have today. Why wouldn’t Greece want that too?
If you lent your $100k in increments, and saw that each increment, in your opinion, was being misspent, foolishly used, you’d stop lending, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t lend 10k more, same result, 10K more same result, all the way up to 100K. Or would you?
Greece didn’t become the basket case of helpless childlike money handlers that many are painting them as, it happened over time, and banks and countries kept “enabling” (even rewarding them) them, presumably cos they enjoyed the interest they were getting, or other flow on effects (whether trade or EU stability or whatever) but all considered of benefit to those lending… They would have factored in the risk of non payment, wouldn’t they? Or were they stupid through the goodness of their collective hearts?
The blame is many, including Greece’s but it is not greece’s alone.
This is inspiring stuff for those who aspire to a truly democratic society. When I first saw Varoufakis’s statement in The Guardian, I printed it out and thought that is worth framing for the living room wall. He has set the bar high for politicians of the left in the future. No wonder the Troika loanshark elites cannot cope with him!
Really interesting to get some insight into Varoufakis’ reasoning and values, and I think standing down was strategically smart. I do take issue with your idea that a politician who’s served 3-4 terms has done their time, though. How do you imagine a caucus made up entirely of newbies would operate? The intricacies of parliamentary process and the range of expertise that a functioning caucus needs shouldn’t be overlooked. Perhaps there are some long-term MPs you don’t value, personally. That doesn’t mean that their caucus colleagues don’t value them or that they don’t have a place in the party they’ve made the focus of their lives for so many years.
I’m not saying that we don’t need regular intakes of new talent, or that all MPs have the right to continue in that role indefinitely, but that an over-generalised comment like, “If you’ve done 3 or 4 terms, it’s probably time to go. If you haven’t achieved what you set out to do by now, chances are, you’re never going to do it” ignores the realities of working in a team and in a challenging, multi-faceted role like an MP.
Who would ever become a Minister if they all left after 3-4 terms?
Good questions, red-blooded. There are MP’s I don’t rate, for sure. But their length of tenure isn’t the determining factor. Things like loyalty, competence and discipline feature way more heavily.
The Syriza government is chock full of ministers with only one term’s experience, but they seem to be making a fist of it. And I think MP’s, like football managers and All Black coaches, should be expected to have a reasonably short tenure. So if they don’t make to Minister, tough. The Labour party needs to continually refresh and last election, we didn’t get that opportunity. So, we need to tap a few on the shoulder, thank ’em for their efforts and move ’em on. And let some else have a crack.
A few observations in reply:
1) I think it’s too early to judge whether the Syriza government is going to make a fist of it. They’re well-motivated and are trying to do things differently from the last lot. Good luck to them, and to the people of Greece. Don’t let’s try too hard to emulate them, though. They’re in an extreme situation and their constituents are ready for extreme measures because they feel they have very little left to lose. They’re taking a punt. And let’s remember they’ve only been there a few months…
2) When I asked who would become a Minister, it wasn’t because I was worried about the career prospects of individual MPs – it was more a question about who would have had a chance to have built up the institutional knowledge and experience to make a strong Minister. We don’t want them all to learn on the job at the same time, and especially if there’s a lack of experienced people in the caucus to help mentor them.
3) The short-tenure approach has advantages (staying in touch with the electorate) but also limitations. When the Labour next gets to head a government, we’ll want some people who have governed before to still be in the ranks. After all, the Greens have never held that responsibility; there needs to be an anchor point.
I agree with you about things like loyalty, competence and discipline. Those weren’t the focus of your comments in this post, though. I think it’s easy to include throw-away lines like your comments about length of service (which was the focus of the commentary related to NZ) and sometimes we need to slow down and think things through a bit more clearly.
Greece did not fail on its own. It was made to fail.
In summary, the banks wrecked the Greek government, and then deliberately pushed it into unsustainable debt … while revenue-generating public assets were sold off to oligarchs and international corporations. The rest of the article is about how and why.
If you are a fan of mafia movies, you know how the mafia would take over a popular restaurant. First, they would do something to disrupt the business – stage a murder at the restaurant or start a fire. When the business starts to suffer, the Godfather would generously offer some money as a token of friendship. In return, Greasy Thumb takes over the restaurant’s accounting, Big Joey is put in charge of procurement, and so on. Needless to say, it’s a journey down a spiral of misery for the owner who will soon be broke and, if lucky, alive.
As a matter of comparison, wonder how far down this path Key and English have taken us.
They have certainly built up a large public debt of nearly $100 million since taking over. And Key has his mates in the banking world.
Damn good comments and I agree wholeheartedly. Rejuvenation is vital for Labour well before the next election and the sense of entitlement b.s really has to go sooner rather than later.
Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my… ‘absence’ from its meetings
Translates as: You show your face, you gonna have an accident with that motor bike of yours real soon.
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John MacCormickOver the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid ...
Nick Wilson, Leah Grout, Mereana Wilson, Anja Mizdrak, Phil Shoemack, Michael BakerProtecting waterways has the benefits of: (1) protecting water from hazardous microbes; (2) minimising cancer risk and other problems from nitrates in water; (3) avoiding algal blooms that are hazardous to health; (4) protecting mahinga kai uses (cultural ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...
After a brief dalliance with 'hard Revoke' it looks like the Lib Dems are changing ground on on Brexit, with leader Jo Swinson reverting to calling for a second referendum on Johnson's deal.The party has tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech requesting that any deal brought back from Brussels ...
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThere is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Last month, NZDF's shoddy coverup of what it knew about civilian casualties in Operation Burnham began to fall apart, with the revelation that a report on the matter, which NZDF claimed not to have, had been sitting in an NZDF safe for the past nine years. Yesterday, the man responsible ...
While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...
An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
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TRP
Thanks for this post and highlighting this guy’s stance. For me there is no right or wrong answer in this crisis and those who think there is, are, imo, too focused on their own need to be right than on how to begin a resolution that works for ALL.
I remain hopeful that some Labour MPs will resign or be asked to resign in the 18 months leading up to the election so that new candidates can be selected and get a decent run at the campaign trail.
Why 18 months? To get the most mileage out of the refreshing and restructure.
Look at how National managed to hide some internal problems by the notion of culling deadwood, and the reportage regurgitated it nicely for them.
For me it is NOT about getting more youth per se, but freshness, re-invigoration.
I think Labour needs to move sooner than the suggested 18 months. Most of a year has passed already since the new Parliamentary term started. They might have been able to afford that time in a second term in opposition, but coming back from the thrashing that they got handed – I was going to say “helped themselves to”, noting how much of their 2014 disaster was their own fault – 18 months is cutting it really fine.
Who would have guessed – some purges are the answer- from the people who have been doing it since 1922!
Well, they had toe elect a new leader, carry out a review and, I suspect buthave no knolwedge< that most of this time has been spent either clamping down on some MPs or some"biding" their time.
It's hard to know if the new anonymity of some (Cosgrove for example) is due to a stronger hand or a sulk.
Labour has been trying out new leaders, but it does need to refresh the front bench. At the minimum, Goff, King, and Mallard all need to start acting as mentors rather than senior caucus members, and start training people to replace them at the next term.
Hero. (Another old Greek concept)
Redline blog regularly receives reports from friends within Syriza. We received the following communique from our friends, one of the left currents in Syriza, yesterday:
1) We are in front of a great NO by the Greek People, who stands defiant and fighting against the ultimatums and the destructive policies imposed on Greece by the troika and its local supporters. Today’s NO has a pan-hellenic, national, popular, democratic character. It proves once again that the Greek People has a great reserve of courage and resisting spirit, and storms the political scene, as it has always happened in critical moments of our History.
2) This great NO, around 61,5%, comes despite the (unforeseen in post-war Europe) terror campaign and direct threats by all the systemic reactionary forces on European and international level. Moreover, it has been achieved despite the manifest weaknesses of the Greek Left’s forces. It is a result that was not expected by all those who underestimate the Greek people’s courage, and this remark is valid no matter how huge difficulties we shall face tomorrow (literally!).
3) The referendum’s result represents a crushing defeat of the pro-troika internal opposition, which, in vain, spared no effort to distort the meaning of the referendum and to multiply the fear amongst the Greek society. It represents a crushing defeat of the whole old political, business and media system. Already. . . .
full at: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/a-great-no-by-the-greek-people/
Do your ‘friends within Syriza’ have any idea of what they will do next ?
Many have been the times a battle has been won but the war is lost- the Greek left should know that.
Thermopylae…
Romantic tosh if you like. But I suspect many Greeks still remember it and the rest of the war against Xerxes as their greatest moment.
Ummm… Leonidas and his fellow Spartan’s all died and the Persian’s went on to occupy and sack Athens.
Indeed.
But their sacrifice bought three days of defensive line preparations on the isthmus of Corinth and evacuation of Athens, which was why only a few thousand Greeks were there to hold the pass in the first place. Everyone else bailed to the planned fall back position.
But I’d never expect you to understand either the point of self sacrifice for others, or the value of thinking strategically rather than tactically.
@McF
Respect.
Value of a well-rounded education 🙂
Shame about the movie. Although it should be pointed out that most of the best lines said by the Spartans (except I think the Gerard Butler “this is Sparta”) were actually said by Spartans. Not all at Thermopylae (e.g. I think the “Sparta is the only state that sent soldiers” line comes from the Anabassis), but yeah, one of the few movies where the best bits of the script comes from the historical figures. That line about “the skies will darken with our arrows / good, so we will fight you in the shade” was apparently said at the time.
Totalitarian swine, but shit they could talk a good game.
Except the plan was never that the action at Thermopylae was meant to be merely a delaying tactic. The population of Athens had already largely been evacuated. The aim was to hold them at the pass hence why the Greek Fleet was sent forward with the army under Leonidas command.
🙄
Yes, the plan to hold the pass with 7,000-odd failed. After a few days. A few days of evacuation and preparation elsewhere.
So Leonidas (seeing you spelled his name correctly this time, I’m assuming you’ve decided to jump onto wikipedia to find out what you were talking about) fought a holding action to protect the retreat of the bulk of the defenders, and the fleet then went and completed the evacuation of Athens.
Pretty much what I said, only from memory I thought it was 300 Spartans and a couple thousand others, rather than only a thousand or so others.
But then you need to argue that Thermopylae had no purpose, because if your Greek economic doomsday predictions do actually come true their still might be some point to telling the IMF to go fuck themselves even if it makes them worse off. It might still encourage others to do the same.
See, you imperialists need a Roman outcome: complete devasation and then salt the earth, without the merest hint of hope or inspiration. As soon as your victim shows dignity in the face of that, they become a martyr and a rallying cry for others.
You don’t know much history at all do you?
he does like to rewrite it on occasion, though 🙂
I’ve noticed.
And then later Greece won a crucial sea battle, then defeated a numerically superior force at Plataea, driving out the Persians. But I suspect that doesn’t fit your narrative, so you’ve ignored it as usual, Gosman.
Re : Varoufakis…God I wish we had some more like him on the Left opposition in New Zealand
…( Russel Norman and Hone Harawira and Laila Harre and Annette Sykes and Sue Bradford come closest)
‘He doesn’t negotiate, he kicks ass!’ Why Varoufakis was the coolest finance minister ever’
http://rt.com/news/272008-varoufakis-coolest-finance-minister/
“In five months of being Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis proved himself to be a tough negotiator who was not going to concede even a bit to Greece’s creditors, as well as a political ‘rock star’ who wins hearts and minds from atop his motorcycle.
Varoufakis never showed that he was ready to accept all the demands Greece creditors put towards the debt-stricken nation. He repeatedly refused bailout plan offered by the troika of international creditors, calling it “a committee built on rotten foundations.”
The self-declared “erratic Marxist” was apparently ready to mutilate himself rather than agree to current terms of bailout presented to Athens by its international creditors….
“What they are doing with Greece has a name: terrorism,” Varoufakis told Spain’s El Mundo daily. “Why have they forced us to close the banks? To make people frightened. And when it comes to spreading terror, this phenomenon is called terrorism.”
Yes, Varoufakis was good, I mean excellent. Look at the results.
Was that a BMW motorcycle ?
Looks like a Yamaha XJR 1300 to me, duke.
Yes , its a Yamaha
Lol…Yamaha. Maybe assembled in China?
More likely Yamaha’s French assembly line.
how long was he finance minister? name the 10 finance ministers before him and their party?
Come on, Tracey. Varoufakis failed, the European ministers could not stand his “negotiation” style, so Mr Tsipras pushed and sacrificed him with the usual propaganda of calling him a hero. He did not resign, he was pushed. The erratic Marxist can go back to his pastime of riding bikes made in capitalist countries.
“Failed”? Resigning is a v clever move that will take even more wind out of the Eurocrats’ sails – he’s run rings around them.
In my view Varoufakis has probably been the worst Finance Minister in a western country in recent years.
He didn’t even succeed in his own specialty of game theory. Well, perhaps he did – he won the referendum, though probably at the cost of the Greek economy. And maybe Angela Merkel will buckle.
However, when one of the outcomes of your work is bank closures for the whole country for two weeks, with the consequential wreckage in the economy, that is a huge fail.
Imagine if all the banks closed in New Zealand for two weeks. How do wages get paid? How does business continue? Exactly how is this a good thing?
Unless wrecking your own economy is one of your objectives, and for many on the Hard Left that is exactly what they want. Street theatre is much more fun than hard graft.
And I guess that is why the Hard Left love him so much.
based on 6 months in office and you blame him for everything today?. By june 2009 if english were to be judged as though he was totally responsible for everything at that time he was an idiot right? ? you called for his resignation right? this is probably your most ridiculous post Wayne. an impartial person could argue the GFM has presided over an opportunity for a better deal than any of his predecessors. .. merkel says the door is still open… greece still in eu.
you think the economy wasnt in tatters when he was appointed?.
when your mask slips it reveals quite a nasty streak.
Tracey,
The test is whether ones own actions have resulted in an economy in much worse tatters than when becoming Finance Minister. In the case of Varoufakis, the answer is clearly “yes”, and in the case of Bill English the answer is clearly “no”.
Presiding, or actually precipitating bank closures is evidence enough of failure.
But hey, if the Greeks want to go for a Chavista style govt they are free to do so. They just have to bear the consequences. After all enough New Zealanders could have voted for Hone Harawria, John Minto et al to lead the govt. And if they had have done so, we would have had much the same style of govt as Greece or Venezuela.
What about massively increasing government debt – is that evidence of failure?
Bank closures count – what about finance companies?
“Clearly” – as viewed through blue-tinted welding goggles, maybe.
Ahhh no Finance company collapses does not count as enforced closure of the entire banking system and the imposition of economy wide capital controls. The fact you might even think that is rather illustrative of your general understanding of economics and finance.
I never said it did, you moron. I asked if it counted as evidence of government failure.
Alongside, of course, the massively-increasing government debt. Did you also think I thought that increasing government debt counts as a collapse of the entire banking system? No, of course you didn’t.
By the way, Amnesty International called: they want to start a letter-writing campaign against your frequent “enhanced interrogation” of the English language, but the only postal address they have for you is “c/o Satan’s Anus”.
Surely you would know the inflation adjusted GDP per capita for NZ only exceeded that of 2008 last year!
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/gdp-per-capita
And if it wasnt for Christchurch earthquakes it still wouldnt exceed 2008 this year as well.
Bill English after 6-7 years has not left NZ in a better place
Bill English inherited a healthy and prepared economy and allowed it to whittle down through the recession with little to no intervention to mitigate its affects. Varoufakis inherited an economy already decimated by IMF and eurozone demands and didn’t hack moving it away from their paradigm.
Failing is one thing, and potentially excusable. Not even trying is contemptible, Bill English is likely to be judged harshly by history, perhaps not so harshly as people like Douglas or Richardson, but I doubt he will be viewed as a competent economic steward by anyone except the commercial news media.
“much worse tatters” – at least you seem to be admitting that the previous finance ministers of non left wing parties just left the Greek economy in “tatters”.
Phew.
Vote for the Right. They will only leave your economy in tatters – Wayne Mapp former Minister of Defence.
Bill English harmed our economy majorly when he gave tax cuts to a group of kiwis that were known by the majority of economists to not stimulate the economy during a recession but to see money withdrawn from it. But he owed it to those who voted for him right? So bad economics for political expediency is… oh wait, that’s what you say the Greek FM has done!
zzzzzzzz
Wayne , I would have thought bailouts were popular with ‘your’ crowd.
Remember South Canterbury Finance!
and then AMI Insurance ?
You only have the change Greece for Canterbury and you have it in a nutshell.
SCF alone was about 1% of GDP at the time
Wayne only like likes bailouts for his corporate overlords.
Actually I can’t remember him ever advocating a bailout? He has an extensive comment history here. Search engine is good and so is google. It pays to look that kind of stuff up before asserting it as a statement of fact.
In other words, you are walking close to a pattern that I’d have to note as a moderator, and start getting you to substantiate while I hang a honking great club over your fingers. This is a friendly warning.
dukeofurl,
They were being offered a further bailout. The deal involved lending the Greeks more money. They are now seeing the cost of not getting more money.
In my view view Angela Merkel will probably relent a little on the terms initially offered. The outcome will possibly be close to the deal that Tsipras was offering last Tuesday.
That’s an interesting position. I’m not sure I entirely agree but I get where you’re coming from that two bailouts is significantly different than one.
The issue is essentially that the Greeks needed to take a bailout deal, and they didn’t have a more reasonable government in power at the time who negotiate terms that wouldn’t cause the economy to fail. If you pick up the economy after the previous bailout has already been taken, and don’t have the ability to renegotiate bailout terms, is it really your fault if the economy fails due in large part to the terms of the previous bailout?
It’s possible that there’s more that could have been done. But his hands were somewhat tied.
well, you say that now you have caught up on Merkel saying the door is open Wayne, something I stated in my comment to you.
You wrote at 145pm
“He didn’t even succeed in his own specialty of game theory. Well, perhaps he did – he won the referendum, though probably at the cost of the Greek economy. And maybe Angela Merkel will buckle.”
then later at 244pm
“In my view view Angela Merkel will probably relent a little on the terms initially offered. The outcome will possibly be close to the deal that Tsipras was offering last Tuesday.”
So you now seem to be suggesting the NO vote, in your opinion, will result in Tsipras getting the deal he sought last week? And yet you say his finance minister, who was part of that strategy and negotiation is, the worst Finance Minister in a western country in recent years?
I know there is no right or wrong answer to the Greek crisis but your rhetoric “hard left” and so on is just ridiculous.
As for the banks collapsing being a “good thing”. You might want to spend some time on the streets of Greece with people living this crisis (not those presiding over it from the comfort of their high incomes and luxury homes). That they would essentially vote for something like that MUST indicate to you how desperate they feel and how much more of the last 5 year plan they can take?
The Greek economy is already wrecked. Not by Varoufakis hand.
Germany has a 200 odd billion surplus…how does that surplus get recycled? That is the crux.
China recycles it surplus into US debt instruments so the game continues….Germany bleeds the rest of Europe dry. Zero sum game.
Gawd here we go, wasn’t the Greece economy already in ruins? 25% adult unemployment bears little resemblance to NZ doesn’t it. The fact that 60% of their people voted to not accept an EU deal while banking restrictions were in place shows you they want economic freedom and can put up with the pain. I’m sure they’ve got some choice words for your ideology too.
Exactly.
it makes sense if you are not looking at this from an ideological/spreadsheet perspective and considering the human element as well as the economic/ideological.
This notion that the Greeks who voted NO think that there are no consequences to their decision, that tomorrow will suddenly dawn brighter are patronising or being deliberately obtuse.
The recurring theme seems to be that Greece should be lauded for standing up to the “evil bankers”. In reality, Greece should be condemned for getting itself into so much debt. I know that if I lent someone $100k and they refused to pay it back, I’d be very angry if all his friends started defending him and painting me as the bad one.
They stiffed the unsecured lenders when GM went under . It was $27 bill and they got 10% of shares in ‘new GM’ which was worth abouth 1/10th of face value of bonds.
NZ Banks write off 10s millions of loans every year, in bad years it gets into 100s millions.
You are forgetting a thing called ‘risk’, its why some interest rates are higher than others, its because you may not get your money back
So just to be clear are you saying Greece’s debt should just be forgiven?
Kevin,
Yes, exactly.
Those debts, indeed the debts of every western country will never be repaid.
The question is how they wont be repaid.
Greece is by no means the worst offender, just small enough to bully.
Varoufakis himself agrees Marxists are not ready to run an alternative to Capitalism. The crisis of 2008 is deepening and nobody has any answers. Laying that at the doorstep of non-existent (in the west) left wing governments is laughable.
Believe it or not I sympathise and maybe the debt should be forgiven but not for the same reasons as you.
Case in point – Germany after WW1. Because other countries weren’t willing to help Germany out, and in fact made it unnecessarily worse for them, it led to the rise of the Nazi party and WW2.
Question is though, can Greece be trusted not to squander the help they get? Or is it simply a case of the world not having a choice but to bail the country out?
To get back to my analogy it would be like if forcing the person to give me back my $100K meant making him homeless and so depressed that he commits suicide, and in turn his kids end up trying to kill me to get revenge.
You probably dont realise that you are repeating nazi propaganda about the effect of reparations on Germany. because that exactly what the poor Germany after WW1 story is.
Rightly so, Germany militarism was largely responsible for WW1, this was also responsible for the militarism that led to WW2.
Reparations were for the damage to Northern France and Belgium, Germany itself being untouched, some one had to pay to restore the farms, villages, and industries. Because a lot of money wasnt repaid, the French and Belgians had to cover it themselves.
So please no sob stories for poor Germany after WW1.
Have you read Ben Eltons book, Time and Time Again, not a bad read.
Point noted.
fair point but it did cripple Germany economically and that gave rise to similar conditions to Greece today which , as in Greece, is fertile ground for facsist groups.
Everyone has to face the consequences of their decision-making, not just Greece.
Thats overstated that they were crippled.
After all the area WAS rebuilt, just that France and Belgium ended up paying themselves.
Politically, for France it was impossible for them not to ask for reparations, as thats what Germany did to France when they were defeated in 1871, and Prussian troops stayed in occupation till the French paid ( they suprised everyone by paying fairly quickly)
Iraq had to pay reparations to Kuwait after Gulf War 1. That wasnt easy for them either but they did it
case in point – Germany 1953. HUGE debt. Given MAJOR DEBT RELIEF by 20 nations including Greece. It enabled them to build the powerhouse economy they have today. Why wouldn’t Greece want that too?
If you lent your $100k in increments, and saw that each increment, in your opinion, was being misspent, foolishly used, you’d stop lending, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t lend 10k more, same result, 10K more same result, all the way up to 100K. Or would you?
Greece didn’t become the basket case of helpless childlike money handlers that many are painting them as, it happened over time, and banks and countries kept “enabling” (even rewarding them) them, presumably cos they enjoyed the interest they were getting, or other flow on effects (whether trade or EU stability or whatever) but all considered of benefit to those lending… They would have factored in the risk of non payment, wouldn’t they? Or were they stupid through the goodness of their collective hearts?
The blame is many, including Greece’s but it is not greece’s alone.
An alternative look at the Greek situation: http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2015/07/loansharking-greece-and-odious-debt/
Varoufakis called bullsh&t on the troika, they dont appreciate it.
He also leaves with his dignity intact.
and “…wearing their loathing with pride.” The Eurocrats aren’t used to dealing with people who mean what they say.
This is inspiring stuff for those who aspire to a truly democratic society. When I first saw Varoufakis’s statement in The Guardian, I printed it out and thought that is worth framing for the living room wall. He has set the bar high for politicians of the left in the future. No wonder the Troika loanshark elites cannot cope with him!
+1000 – Varoufakis has shown courage, resolve and humility, and am I am filled with admiration for him.
+10,000
He doesn’t negotiate, he kicks ass!
The coolest finance minister ever.
Great post trp, thanks 🙂
100% agree with weka. One of your best te reo putake – great read.
Thx, guys. It’s such a strong narrative it pretty much wrote itself. And that photo of the woman touching his face … wow!
Really interesting to get some insight into Varoufakis’ reasoning and values, and I think standing down was strategically smart. I do take issue with your idea that a politician who’s served 3-4 terms has done their time, though. How do you imagine a caucus made up entirely of newbies would operate? The intricacies of parliamentary process and the range of expertise that a functioning caucus needs shouldn’t be overlooked. Perhaps there are some long-term MPs you don’t value, personally. That doesn’t mean that their caucus colleagues don’t value them or that they don’t have a place in the party they’ve made the focus of their lives for so many years.
I’m not saying that we don’t need regular intakes of new talent, or that all MPs have the right to continue in that role indefinitely, but that an over-generalised comment like, “If you’ve done 3 or 4 terms, it’s probably time to go. If you haven’t achieved what you set out to do by now, chances are, you’re never going to do it” ignores the realities of working in a team and in a challenging, multi-faceted role like an MP.
Who would ever become a Minister if they all left after 3-4 terms?
Good questions, red-blooded. There are MP’s I don’t rate, for sure. But their length of tenure isn’t the determining factor. Things like loyalty, competence and discipline feature way more heavily.
The Syriza government is chock full of ministers with only one term’s experience, but they seem to be making a fist of it. And I think MP’s, like football managers and All Black coaches, should be expected to have a reasonably short tenure. So if they don’t make to Minister, tough. The Labour party needs to continually refresh and last election, we didn’t get that opportunity. So, we need to tap a few on the shoulder, thank ’em for their efforts and move ’em on. And let some else have a crack.
A few observations in reply:
1) I think it’s too early to judge whether the Syriza government is going to make a fist of it. They’re well-motivated and are trying to do things differently from the last lot. Good luck to them, and to the people of Greece. Don’t let’s try too hard to emulate them, though. They’re in an extreme situation and their constituents are ready for extreme measures because they feel they have very little left to lose. They’re taking a punt. And let’s remember they’ve only been there a few months…
2) When I asked who would become a Minister, it wasn’t because I was worried about the career prospects of individual MPs – it was more a question about who would have had a chance to have built up the institutional knowledge and experience to make a strong Minister. We don’t want them all to learn on the job at the same time, and especially if there’s a lack of experienced people in the caucus to help mentor them.
3) The short-tenure approach has advantages (staying in touch with the electorate) but also limitations. When the Labour next gets to head a government, we’ll want some people who have governed before to still be in the ranks. After all, the Greens have never held that responsibility; there needs to be an anchor point.
I agree with you about things like loyalty, competence and discipline. Those weren’t the focus of your comments in this post, though. I think it’s easy to include throw-away lines like your comments about length of service (which was the focus of the commentary related to NZ) and sometimes we need to slow down and think things through a bit more clearly.
Greece — The One Biggest Lie You Are Being Told By The Media – See more at: http://www.globalresearch.ca/greece-the-one-biggest-lie-you-are-being-told-by-the-media/5460508#sthash.JeKGt2vy.dpuf
Greece did not fail on its own. It was made to fail.
In summary, the banks wrecked the Greek government, and then deliberately pushed it into unsustainable debt … while revenue-generating public assets were sold off to oligarchs and international corporations. The rest of the article is about how and why.
If you are a fan of mafia movies, you know how the mafia would take over a popular restaurant. First, they would do something to disrupt the business – stage a murder at the restaurant or start a fire. When the business starts to suffer, the Godfather would generously offer some money as a token of friendship. In return, Greasy Thumb takes over the restaurant’s accounting, Big Joey is put in charge of procurement, and so on. Needless to say, it’s a journey down a spiral of misery for the owner who will soon be broke and, if lucky, alive.
Now, let’s map the mafia story to international finance in four stages.
– See more at: http://www.globalresearch.ca/greece-the-one-biggest-lie-you-are-being-told-by-the-media/5460508#sthash.JeKGt2vy.dpuf
As a matter of comparison, wonder how far down this path Key and English have taken us.
They have certainly built up a large public debt of nearly $100 million since taking over. And Key has his mates in the banking world.
I don’t think we are anywhere near Greece’s situation. of course all countries sit on a continuum.
Nevertheless our public debt has soared under this government’s sound financial stewardship.
The IMF and its banking pals routinely screw over African economies without anyone batting an eye.
Yanis Varoufakis’s speeches are the finest I have read in my lifetime. Here is a collection of them.
http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/
Yanis dismembers neo-liberalism with insights that lead the reader to only one possible conclusion: economic revolution NOW.
I often wondered how Lenin’s speeches could have roused the masses to revolution. Reading Yanis, I now know.
Damn good comments and I agree wholeheartedly. Rejuvenation is vital for Labour well before the next election and the sense of entitlement b.s really has to go sooner rather than later.
Translates as: You show your face, you gonna have an accident with that motor bike of yours real soon.