that photo made me think of this…..
“The American political writer, Thomas Frank, asked the same question of the US Democratic Party, and the answer he came up with was brutally simple. Today’s social-democratic politicians are middle-class professionals who are, by-and-large, as disdainful of the electorate as they are uninterested in its inner emotional life. Not only have they forgotten how to dream dreams and see visions – they don’t see the point.”
To coin a cliche – with friends like Chris Trotter, Labour doesn’t need enemies.
And he is wrong on the water issue for farmers – Andrew Little says Labour will put a charge on irrigation. (There was apparently a media misinterpretation of something else he had talked about, and AL issued a correcting statement).
Labour productivity and real wages (wages after taking account of inflation) appear to have been closely in sync only during the period 1947 to 1974 when New Zealand’s industrial conciliation and arbitration system of collective bargaining extended by awards was working relatively well. From about 1990, under the deregulated employment conditions resulting from the Employment Contracts Act 1991, real wage growth fell behind productivity growth.
Bold mine.
Puts the lie to the RWNJ assertion that productivity needs to rise before wages go up.
I was 10 marty mars and I remember my mum crying at the sink as the news came through. When Muldoon got in at the 1975 election she moved the whole family to Australia.
I was in my 20s and still mourn his premature passing before he had reached his prime. He was the reason I first joined the Labour Party and he was the reason Helen Clark, among many others who went on to bigger things, joined the Party.
What a different NZ we would have now if he had lived to fulfill his dreams for new Zealand – a wealthier, safer egalitarian society where everyone looked after everyone else. And:
there might not have been any Muldoon government or what followed in the 1980s…
I was 29 and I had met him as my partner at the time was a parliamentary journalist. He was my hero and his passing was tragic for most of us. I have a copy of his biography signed by him and when my partner took it to him to sign it he commented that ‘at least his girlfriend had some sense’ as even back then the MSM tended towards right-wing sympathies
I was a lift boy on the RAL lifts at Ruapehu at the time and arrived home to the RAL lodge after our dinner at the servants quarters of the Chateau! The majority of the guys were Aussies or Swiss or Americans or Canadians. A few Kiwis were not particularly politically oriented but two or three of us sat around, quite stunned and then down. Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells played a bit that night.
I have always felt he was poisoned, but I guess conspiracy theorists don’t have a lot of credibility!
How vividly I still recall……9.00 pm on Saturday 31/8/74……an ashen Bill Toft on a small black and white TV on an apple box in a student flat in Tory Street, Wellington, Newtown end. “The Prime Minister Norman Kirk passed away……”
Straight to the phone to call home in Tokoroa…….my mother, sobbingly demanding…….”Oh what are we going to do ?” 15 months on…….election night ’75. “Where’s Mum?”, as dejectedly we make a cuppa having left early the meant-to-be Labour Party victory celebration at Tokoroa Rugby Club rooms. Go looking. There she is, downstairs. Hasn’t made it out of the car. Sobbing. RIP dear Mum (and Dad) and thanks for the values you never stopped imparting.
1975…….for Crosby Textor and post-truth read (Hanna Barbera) ‘Dancing Cossacks’ and Mccarthyist fervour.
7 at the time. Family were staying at my grandparents and I heard in the early morning. We were all pretty devastated – I was able to pick up on the feeling anyway.
I was 18 – thought Kirk was wonderful, but didn’t get my first vote till 1975, after he was dead, and Labour were wiped out by Muldoon. Election day Nov ’75 – was playing club cricket against a team of mostly farmers who were in triumphalist mood while I was feeling quietly sick.
What’s with the sudden explosion of Cannabis discussion? And this bill?
Like the Euthanasia bill and discussion, I think these are sponsored distractions from the issues plaguing many Kiwis (housing, transport, water, wages, and infrastructure) and a means by which to get the sub 1% support parties some publicity before the election. Suddenly you see the bow tie and the hologram everywhere and they between them didn’t break 1% last election.
These are side issues and don’t have a place in pre-election discussion.
I suspect that these things are indeed organised. I suspect that the My Lai massacre got publicised only because the deep state US leaders realised that they were being bled dry and would never win in Vietnam. So the first wave of publicity began. This turned public opinion just as they wanted – far more than the valiant protest movement did.
I fear the same situation still exists – the media carefully feed the public. We should keep our bullshit detectors on full alert. Paranoia can be a virtue!
Probably not. Just so long as Saudi doesn’t throw any missiles at the US base there and promises to let it stay I doubt if the US has any problems with Saudi eradicating Qatar.
I think they’d like to, but they’re already in the shit in Yemen and have some significant domestic security concerns. And I think Qatar might put up a decent fight. Not win, but not be a walkover. And then there’s the fact that if the US don’t want to help, Iran might.
But with Trump enthralled by Saudi Arabia, they have more freedom to at least make Qatar think they might invade, and thus put a lid on Al Jezeera and a couple of other things that make life difficult for the Saudis.
On a personal note I hope you’re wrong. I have to go back to work in the Eastern Province of KSA in five more weeks. My wife has to transit through Qatar next month on her way to Thailand.
I think the new Saudi Emir will simply have a conversation with President Trump’s WH security people assuring them that their Qatar base and centcom are safe and will remain with the Americans.
Nice and clean.
The kicker is that Al Jazeera will go within hours, permanently.
In 1973 I was living in the Sydenham electorate. Norman Kirk was PM and my electorate MP.i had a relative, with 3 small children in gaol in Wellington. The crime was fraud. No violence, no sex offending. I rang Norman Kirk, explained the circumstances and my relative was given Christmas leave. We had to pay the airfares to and from Wellington, pick up from the airport and return soon after Christmas. We had to put up a bond. It all went to plan with a family very happy. Many thanks Norman Kirk for making it happen. I loved him then and now
left_forward he’s just trolling you. He can’t help himself, he has identified with his lords and masters – so does all he can to suck up to them. A real problem in NZ. Funnily enough parasites and bacteria act in a similar way.
And what’s your victim-advocate view James @ 7.1 on Teina Pora and 21 years in jail for an innocent man ? With a National Party cabinet refusing to apply it’s own love of ‘interest’ to his compensation…….and that against the advice of a retired High Court judge. Feel free to reply that it’s this National Party cabinet which is the rapist and not Teina Pora.
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
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April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
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that photo made me think of this…..
“The American political writer, Thomas Frank, asked the same question of the US Democratic Party, and the answer he came up with was brutally simple. Today’s social-democratic politicians are middle-class professionals who are, by-and-large, as disdainful of the electorate as they are uninterested in its inner emotional life. Not only have they forgotten how to dream dreams and see visions – they don’t see the point.”
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/94293673/chris-trotter-hard-to-imagine-andrew-little-inspiring-corbynlike-passion
To coin a cliche – with friends like Chris Trotter, Labour doesn’t need enemies.
And he is wrong on the water issue for farmers – Andrew Little says Labour will put a charge on irrigation. (There was apparently a media misinterpretation of something else he had talked about, and AL issued a correcting statement).
Most political commentators found it hard to imagine Corbyn inspiring Corbynlike passion!
Bold mine.
Puts the lie to the RWNJ assertion that productivity needs to rise before wages go up.
Norm Kirk died in 1974
that is 43 years ago
that is 516 months ago
I was 12 and can remember him a little bit.
I wonder who else can remember him or met him or voted for him.
I was 10 marty mars and I remember my mum crying at the sink as the news came through. When Muldoon got in at the 1975 election she moved the whole family to Australia.
I was in my 20s and still mourn his premature passing before he had reached his prime. He was the reason I first joined the Labour Party and he was the reason Helen Clark, among many others who went on to bigger things, joined the Party.
What a different NZ we would have now if he had lived to fulfill his dreams for new Zealand – a wealthier, safer egalitarian society where everyone looked after everyone else. And:
there might not have been any Muldoon government or what followed in the 1980s…
I was 29 and I had met him as my partner at the time was a parliamentary journalist. He was my hero and his passing was tragic for most of us. I have a copy of his biography signed by him and when my partner took it to him to sign it he commented that ‘at least his girlfriend had some sense’ as even back then the MSM tended towards right-wing sympathies
I was a lift boy on the RAL lifts at Ruapehu at the time and arrived home to the RAL lodge after our dinner at the servants quarters of the Chateau! The majority of the guys were Aussies or Swiss or Americans or Canadians. A few Kiwis were not particularly politically oriented but two or three of us sat around, quite stunned and then down. Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells played a bit that night.
I have always felt he was poisoned, but I guess conspiracy theorists don’t have a lot of credibility!
How vividly I still recall……9.00 pm on Saturday 31/8/74……an ashen Bill Toft on a small black and white TV on an apple box in a student flat in Tory Street, Wellington, Newtown end. “The Prime Minister Norman Kirk passed away……”
Straight to the phone to call home in Tokoroa…….my mother, sobbingly demanding…….”Oh what are we going to do ?” 15 months on…….election night ’75. “Where’s Mum?”, as dejectedly we make a cuppa having left early the meant-to-be Labour Party victory celebration at Tokoroa Rugby Club rooms. Go looking. There she is, downstairs. Hasn’t made it out of the car. Sobbing. RIP dear Mum (and Dad) and thanks for the values you never stopped imparting.
1975…….for Crosby Textor and post-truth read (Hanna Barbera) ‘Dancing Cossacks’ and Mccarthyist fervour.
7 at the time. Family were staying at my grandparents and I heard in the early morning. We were all pretty devastated – I was able to pick up on the feeling anyway.
I was 18 – thought Kirk was wonderful, but didn’t get my first vote till 1975, after he was dead, and Labour were wiped out by Muldoon. Election day Nov ’75 – was playing club cricket against a team of mostly farmers who were in triumphalist mood while I was feeling quietly sick.
We’ve been here before … (see thread following TRP’s comment)
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-31082016/#comment-1226449
I met him, remember the emotional impact he had on me snd the generosity of heart hr brought to political life.
Funny thing…….Trotter has much the appearance of the ‘type’ Thomas Frank describes……through my lens.
What’s with the sudden explosion of Cannabis discussion? And this bill?
Like the Euthanasia bill and discussion, I think these are sponsored distractions from the issues plaguing many Kiwis (housing, transport, water, wages, and infrastructure) and a means by which to get the sub 1% support parties some publicity before the election. Suddenly you see the bow tie and the hologram everywhere and they between them didn’t break 1% last election.
These are side issues and don’t have a place in pre-election discussion.
Distract, diffuse, divert. Waikato times ran a front page on it a few days back like the good media poodle they are.
It’s bullshit. These issues are too important to be thrust in front of parliament and the public at such a time.
It’s a marketing exercise for National’s support partners: “Bowtie, you take cannabis, and Hologram you have euthanasia.”
If only that happened…
I suspect that these things are indeed organised. I suspect that the My Lai massacre got publicised only because the deep state US leaders realised that they were being bled dry and would never win in Vietnam. So the first wave of publicity began. This turned public opinion just as they wanted – far more than the valiant protest movement did.
I fear the same situation still exists – the media carefully feed the public. We should keep our bullshit detectors on full alert. Paranoia can be a virtue!
Media and messaging lessons were learned from Vietnam. Uncle Sam got to grips with it eventually after initially being caught flat footed.
Yup when they were pulled my first thought was my what a handy diversion and convenient profile boost for the props.
Are you people seriously inferring that the vote “pull out of a hat” is rigged ?
Your tin foil hats need an extra layer.
One from my bookmarks:
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/in-no-one-we-trust/
See in particular the link to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
I’d never heard of this. Thankfully Stiglitz has.
I think we are about to see Saudi Arabia invade Qatar.
That would be ugly.
Why are you so sure of this?
Surely America will defend Qatar’s sovereignty!
Against Saudi?
Probably not. Just so long as Saudi doesn’t throw any missiles at the US base there and promises to let it stay I doubt if the US has any problems with Saudi eradicating Qatar.
I think they’d like to, but they’re already in the shit in Yemen and have some significant domestic security concerns. And I think Qatar might put up a decent fight. Not win, but not be a walkover. And then there’s the fact that if the US don’t want to help, Iran might.
But with Trump enthralled by Saudi Arabia, they have more freedom to at least make Qatar think they might invade, and thus put a lid on Al Jezeera and a couple of other things that make life difficult for the Saudis.
On a personal note I hope you’re wrong. I have to go back to work in the Eastern Province of KSA in five more weeks. My wife has to transit through Qatar next month on her way to Thailand.
Avoid.
I don’t think it will be a war:
I think the new Saudi Emir will simply have a conversation with President Trump’s WH security people assuring them that their Qatar base and centcom are safe and will remain with the Americans.
Nice and clean.
The kicker is that Al Jazeera will go within hours, permanently.
In 1973 I was living in the Sydenham electorate. Norman Kirk was PM and my electorate MP.i had a relative, with 3 small children in gaol in Wellington. The crime was fraud. No violence, no sex offending. I rang Norman Kirk, explained the circumstances and my relative was given Christmas leave. We had to pay the airfares to and from Wellington, pick up from the airport and return soon after Christmas. We had to put up a bond. It all went to plan with a family very happy. Many thanks Norman Kirk for making it happen. I loved him then and now
Do you think the people who were defrauded by your family member would have thought Kirk was so great giving him Christmas leave?
I wonder how their Christmas was if their money was all defrauded.
Always 2 sides to a story.
Don’t you think that victims can experience forgiveness and compassion James?
Do you know that they did?
No, but that was not implied or relevant in the question I asked you.
left_forward he’s just trolling you. He can’t help himself, he has identified with his lords and masters – so does all he can to suck up to them. A real problem in NZ. Funnily enough parasites and bacteria act in a similar way.
Do you think the Christmas leave was more for the relative or for the small kids?
Do you apply the same empathy to victims of National’s beneficiary bashing?
And what’s your victim-advocate view James @ 7.1 on Teina Pora and 21 years in jail for an innocent man ? With a National Party cabinet refusing to apply it’s own love of ‘interest’ to his compensation…….and that against the advice of a retired High Court judge. Feel free to reply that it’s this National Party cabinet which is the rapist and not Teina Pora.
Or do you just not fucking care ?
Its got nothing to do with what we are talking about.
But 2 out of 10 for a try at a pointless diversion.
I see James……you’re entirely selective and hypocritical in your identification of ‘victimhood’. Must be your bias.
“Do you think the people who were defrauded by your family member would have thought Kirk was so great giving him Christmas leave?”
They probably did, it being Christmas and all. Not everyone is flint-hearted like you, James.
“I wonder how their Christmas was if their money was all defrauded.”
Seems you know nothing at all of the case, James.
Your mean-spirited “I wonder…” reveals much about your lack of compassion.
Why, readers might wonder, did you bother to comment.
“They Probably did?”
Based on zero knowledge – you assign probability based on your own bias.
I note you’re always dependable as a reflection of nasty-heartedness James. Must be your shit politics.
I’m glad the Troy’s have caught up.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-uk-extremism-terrorism-funding-clear-link-middle-east-isis-gulf-qatar-report-henry-a7824241.html
Norman Kirk was the last statesman NZ had. He makes Key & English look like the political pygmies that they are.