I’m guessing that when push comes to shove, Smith will say it was a metaphoric “rubbing my face in it”. Given that angle, there may have been a lot of pushing and shoving too.
Joyce is incredibly obtuse on the $11billion hole on Checkpoint after 6pm. Flatly continues with his position. Amazing!
Cameron Bagley also on line.
Includes the experts who deny Joyce.
Just what we need. A Finance Minister who doesnt understand numbers. And a Former Finance Minister and now PM who agrees with him. This has to reflect on Billshit’s economic credibility too
he knows exactly what he’s doing (and that the numbers work)…all he is attempting (and polls will say whether he’s succeeding) is create doubt amongst those soft Nat voters…unsure people stick with the devil they (think they) know.
….as to reputation, he hasn’t one to lose
Well Pat if they’relying on third time lucky I have a feeling its going to be unlucky this time. Why? Because the media have decided to play a straight ball and are telling the whole story. In 2011 and 2014 they decided to stick with Key and so let the Nats get away with the lying and cheating.
granted the media are being somewhat more vigorous this election, however the desperate Nats are not appealing to the MSM rather they are appealing directly to those soft Nat voters that have been bleeding to JA and they obviously fear more (their in house polls must be bad)
I’m picking Labour is now significantly ahead of National. The Reid Research was carried out before the CB poll so probably was out of date by the time it was published.
English has economic credibility with a lot of middle New Zealanders. he said, in 2010, he’d deliver a surplus in 6 years. He duly delivered it. WE might not like what he did to get there, but we were hardly ever going to vote National, were we?
For the voters thinking about switching, his perceived competence and reliability, versus Labour’s sketchiness on tax, are going to be significant considerations.
Labour needs to get a simple and consistent tax message out. It isn’t like no-one could have anticipated National would attack them on this front, FFS.
joyce is fronting this…it was he who stated his reputation was on the line…English has kept himself at arms length…and yes they were always going to push the tax/costing line but an outright lie shows just how desperate they have become
you must be going crazy….never mentioned English,said the Nats..and Joyce is both fronting and campaign strategist, though it would be fair to say that English risks his reputation by being complicit but if he wins it will have been worth it and if he doesn’t nobody will care…its politics and almost expected.
Around 140,000 former Clark Labour voters swung to Key’s Nats in 2008, attracted first and foremost by his charismatic leadership and his / English’s perceived economic competence (as highlighted by the 2008 New Zealand Election Study).
Similar numbers of Nats are now considering moving back to Labour (including, no doubt, many of those 140k 2008 defectors, women in particular). Jacinda-mania certainly has them interested, English’s National is looking tired and out of ideas, a long-term, latent desire for change is finally finding expression … and yet … and yet … they’ll still be difficult to win over decisively … they need solid reassurance about Labour’s economic credentials.
Values, Vision, Inspiration, the ethereal, Inter-generational change will only go so far … especially with Middle-aged and Older swing voters. I can imagine some thinking … ‘Where’s the Meat ?’ … lots of exciting, superficial froth (including the Let’s Do This slogan) but where’s the substance that shows us conclusively the Country will remain in safe economic hands.
Remember these are people who, in many cases, have happily voted National for 3 consecutive Elections. They are not English-sceptics.
Yeah, actually your 7:04 pm comment was absolutely spot-on (I hadn’t got around to reading the upper reaches of the thread – just purely responding to lurgee’s argument without worrying too much about what or who he was taking issue with. I’m nothing if not an intellectually lazy geezer) 🙂
its a cunning (and proven) strategy….and one that is unlikely to have a net loss of votes…it will succeed or not, as long as they brazen it out…it only falls over if the Nats admit they are wrong.
We knew Billshit wasn’t a MoF backside when he constantly predicted 173,000 new jobs from one “budget” to the next! He just pulled numbers out of his posterior.
Anti-immigration policy would halt all immigration.
Controlled immigration is a more accurate term. Given the abuses that seems to be occurring for those on student and short term visas this is a long overdue and reasonable response.
So anyone who wants anything less than today is anti immigration? National has been anti children then judging by the state of health, education, housing, ….
“Justice Minister Amy Adams has ruled out corporate manslaughter being included in the Crimes Act, saying it is more appropriately dealt with by new health and safety legislation.”
They couldnt agree on anything at the end as the Business backers wouldn’t allow that to happen
Apparently Whats good enough for Mothers cant possibly apply to business
“Labour leader Jacinda Ardern says abortion should not be in the Crimes Act and she would change the law.
“Prime Minster Bill English, a conservative Catholic, said he supported the law as it was and he would be opposed to liberalisation.”
Access to abortion is governed by the Crimes Act 1961 and the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977.
It’s been a train wreck from the start. Remember the first week when they kept parking Bill in empty, wintry paddocks or fruit picking sheds with just a couple of flunkies? Coleman and English scuttling out a side door at Dunedin hospital? Paula Bennet can’t help herself mouthy self and fucks up one of their meat and veg policies? Now Joyce has jumped the shark. It’s extraordinary just how bad National is at campaigning. This National Party campaign will keep poli sci students going for years.
Ardern could use this. Is there another debate? Again National protects Directors whose workers die or are maimed on the job but criminalises women in trouble.
Sea surface temperatures in the high twenties and 3/4 days out from significant landfall with the possibility it could move into the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
I notice that some of the pro-Trump fake-news propogandists from last year have started to pop up on Facebook with anti-Labour and anti-Jacinda comments. An example is that the abortion policy will allow/encourage abortion up to full term. They are probably being fed this rubbish through social media. I hope our investigative journalists and media outlets are watching out for such deception.
There are large numbers on hidden waiting lists waiting to get on the actual official waiting lists. Doctors keep trying to get their patients put on the lists and they are knocked back until their small problems that could have been fixed easily are so bad they have to be put on the list. Even if they get on the list if the money is not there to do their surgery before they are on the list too long they will get knocked off again with some bureaucratic trick so that the waiting times are kept artificially lower than they really are.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, which saw Simeon Brown picking up the Health portfolio as it’s been taken off Dr Shane Reti, and Transport has been given to Chris Bishop. Additionally, Simeon’s energy and local government portfolios now sit with Simon Watts. This is very good ...
The sacking of Health Minister Shane Reti yesterday had an air of panic about it. A media advisory inviting journalists to a Sunday afternoon press conference at Premier House went out on Saturday night. Caucus members did not learn that even that was happening until yesterday morning. Reti’s fate was ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 12, 2025 thru Sat, January 18, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
After another substantial hiatus from online Chess, I’ve been taking it up again. I am genuinely terrible at five-minute Blitz, what with the tight time constraints, though I periodically con myself into thinking that I have been improving. But seeing as my past foray into Chess led to me having ...
Rise up o children wont you dance with meRise up little children come and set me freeRise little ones riseNo shame no fearDon't you know who I amSongwriter: Rebecca Laurel FountainI’m sure you know the go with this format. Some memories, some questions, letsss go…2015A decade ago, I made the ...
In 2017, when Ghahraman was elected to Parliament as a Green MP, she recounted both the highlights and challenges of her role -There was love, support, and encouragement.And on the flipside, there was intense, visceral and unchecked hate.That came with violent threats - many of them. More on that later.People ...
It gives me the biggest kick to learn that something I’ve enthused about has been enough to make you say Go on then, I'm going to do it. The e-bikes, the hearing aids, the prostate health, the cheese puffs. And now the solar power. Yes! Happy to share the details.We ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Can CO2 be ...
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...
We are concerned that the Amendment Bill, as proposed, could impair the operations and legitimate interests of the NZ Trade Union movement. It is also likely to negatively impact the ability of other civil society actors to conduct their affairs without the threat of criminal sanctions. We ask that ...
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Analysis - The prime minister has taken a close hard look at the varying skills of his ministers, resulting in a portfolio allocation imbalance following Sunday's reshuffle, Jo Moir writes. ...
The CEO, Paul Ash, responds to the Meta decision to ditch fact-checkers, among other changes that come just ahead of Trump’s return, along with the recent activity of Elon Musk.One of the most resounding of New Year resolutions this month came from Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and chair of the ...
Painful penetrative sex isn’t just a medical symptom. It’s a brick wall, a monster, an unwanted third partner in the bed. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members. My friends sometimes describe me as the ...
And so to a new year of one of the most fragile and unpredictable industries in New Zealand: publishing. The books trade, made possible in the first instance by the imaginations and anxieties of authors, and made real by the nice people who stand behind the counter at the nation’s ...
A majority of New Zealanders say at least 15 percent of the country’s oceans should be protected, when just 0.4 percent is currently covered by no-take marine reserves.The finding comes from a new poll by Horizon Research, commissioned by WWF New Zealand and released exclusively to Newsroom, into attitudes on ...
Comment: Annus horribilis. While the vast majority of us weren’t forced to take Latin at school, thanks to Queen Elizabeth’s 1992 speech, we all pretty much know that these two words literally translate into ‘horrible year’. That’s what 2024 was. Good riddance to 2024 and welcome 2025 (or 2569 in the Buddhist ...
Comment: It’s hard to imagine a more tragic way to start a new year than the news of child homicide. In fact, two children were separately killed by homicide in New Zealand in just the first week of 2025.At the hands of close relatives and people known to them.As that ...
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Stepehen Joyce is a world renonwened expert on finance so…..8 respected economists must be wrong.
Yep, doubling down on the dead cat.
Crosby Textor playbook….dirty politics 2.0
They need to start querying the bills
Please note: Blinglish was also minister of finance for 8+ years.
Lol turns out Joyce is a full blown economics dropout! Too funny. Full marks whoever fact checked his cv:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11917623
Helen Clark tweet shuts Nats up
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11917479
Saw that. National’s response? They stand by it.
When did National last do something original, not old or borrowed?
They never, ever do tracey.
Even their lying is an age old political plan 😉
ROCK ON AUNTY 😀 That should always happen, and just did.
Things that make you go hmmm…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201857263/video-evidence-appears-to-contradict-nick-smith-s-claim
Nick Smith who abused his position of power to help a friend, lied???!!?
Funny that came out today, was told last night by a local that Smith had played it up big time.
He’s going to be pissed off when the sculpture hits town.
I’m guessing that when push comes to shove, Smith will say it was a metaphoric “rubbing my face in it”. Given that angle, there may have been a lot of pushing and shoving too.
Corbin Dann at TVNZ news smacks down the National “$11b hole” attack line.
That plus Clark countetstrike is Slapdown Tuesday.
In this interview, Jacinda is, well, wonderful!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11917479
Outstanding ain’t she. Takes the piss in a non piss taking manner.
Joyce is incredibly obtuse on the $11billion hole on Checkpoint after 6pm. Flatly continues with his position. Amazing!
Cameron Bagley also on line.
Includes the experts who deny Joyce.
Here it is!
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201857408/no-11b-hole-in-labour-s-fiscal-plan-economists-say
Just what we need. A Finance Minister who doesnt understand numbers. And a Former Finance Minister and now PM who agrees with him. This has to reflect on Billshit’s economic credibility too
he knows exactly what he’s doing (and that the numbers work)…all he is attempting (and polls will say whether he’s succeeding) is create doubt amongst those soft Nat voters…unsure people stick with the devil they (think they) know.
….as to reputation, he hasn’t one to lose
Didn,t the Donald win his election by doing something similar? Waiting for Joyce to start calling Fake News at the news media any moment.
Well Pat if they’relying on third time lucky I have a feeling its going to be unlucky this time. Why? Because the media have decided to play a straight ball and are telling the whole story. In 2011 and 2014 they decided to stick with Key and so let the Nats get away with the lying and cheating.
Eg. the Donghua Liu Affair
granted the media are being somewhat more vigorous this election, however the desperate Nats are not appealing to the MSM rather they are appealing directly to those soft Nat voters that have been bleeding to JA and they obviously fear more (their in house polls must be bad)
(their in house polls must be bad).
I’m picking Labour is now significantly ahead of National. The Reid Research was carried out before the CB poll so probably was out of date by the time it was published.
I hope truly hope so….and we should know soon enough…when is the next poll due?
There’s a Roy Morgan due towards the end of next week, they say: https://mobile.twitter.com/roymorganonline/status/904538155302432768
as far away as that?….well by then any impact should show
English has economic credibility with a lot of middle New Zealanders. he said, in 2010, he’d deliver a surplus in 6 years. He duly delivered it. WE might not like what he did to get there, but we were hardly ever going to vote National, were we?
For the voters thinking about switching, his perceived competence and reliability, versus Labour’s sketchiness on tax, are going to be significant considerations.
Labour needs to get a simple and consistent tax message out. It isn’t like no-one could have anticipated National would attack them on this front, FFS.
joyce is fronting this…it was he who stated his reputation was on the line…English has kept himself at arms length…and yes they were always going to push the tax/costing line but an outright lie shows just how desperate they have become
Am I going crazy or did your earlier post (the one I quoted from) not mention Bill English’s credibility?
That’s why I posted about English. Because I thought you were talking about him.
you must be going crazy….never mentioned English,said the Nats..and Joyce is both fronting and campaign strategist, though it would be fair to say that English risks his reputation by being complicit but if he wins it will have been worth it and if he doesn’t nobody will care…its politics and almost expected.
Ah! It was Tracey’s comment above yours I was meant to reply to – particularly, “This has to reflect on Billshit’s economic credibility too.”
Quoted from the wrong post. So I’m not mad, just careless.
lurgee
Yep, exactly.
Around 140,000 former Clark Labour voters swung to Key’s Nats in 2008, attracted first and foremost by his charismatic leadership and his / English’s perceived economic competence (as highlighted by the 2008 New Zealand Election Study).
Similar numbers of Nats are now considering moving back to Labour (including, no doubt, many of those 140k 2008 defectors, women in particular). Jacinda-mania certainly has them interested, English’s National is looking tired and out of ideas, a long-term, latent desire for change is finally finding expression … and yet … and yet … they’ll still be difficult to win over decisively … they need solid reassurance about Labour’s economic credentials.
Values, Vision, Inspiration, the ethereal, Inter-generational change will only go so far … especially with Middle-aged and Older swing voters. I can imagine some thinking … ‘Where’s the Meat ?’ … lots of exciting, superficial froth (including the Let’s Do This slogan) but where’s the substance that shows us conclusively the Country will remain in safe economic hands.
Remember these are people who, in many cases, have happily voted National for 3 consecutive Elections. They are not English-sceptics.
which all reinforces my point
Yeah, actually your 7:04 pm comment was absolutely spot-on (I hadn’t got around to reading the upper reaches of the thread – just purely responding to lurgee’s argument without worrying too much about what or who he was taking issue with. I’m nothing if not an intellectually lazy geezer) 🙂
“I’m nothing if not an intellectually lazy geezer) ‘
lol…let us hope enough voters are not so inclined
Seems that I wasn’t too concerned, either.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11917623
face book is being flooded with nat lies this being one of them , hopefully more than 43% of kiwis aren’t easily fooled this time
its a cunning (and proven) strategy….and one that is unlikely to have a net loss of votes…it will succeed or not, as long as they brazen it out…it only falls over if the Nats admit they are wrong.
The lies are really stacking up here…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/338766/principals-rubbish-national-s-prefab-classroom-claim
We knew Billshit wasn’t a MoF backside when he constantly predicted 173,000 new jobs from one “budget” to the next! He just pulled numbers out of his posterior.
Jacinda = Trump(!??)
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96519787/wall-street-journal-compares-labour-leader-jacinda-ardern-to-donald-trump
The point was that they are both anti-immigration. Jacinda was described as being like Trudeau in other respects. Seems fair
A.
Jacinta is NOT anti immigration.
She is for a modicum of control.
Well sure, in reality she probably really likes a lot of migrants. Nevertheless she finds herself campaigning on a promise to slash work and student visas (http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/06/labour-confirms-plans-to-cut-immigrant-numbers-by-up-to-30-000.html). If that isn’t an anti immigration policy, I don’t know what is.
A.
Anti-immigration policy would halt all immigration.
Controlled immigration is a more accurate term. Given the abuses that seems to be occurring for those on student and short term visas this is a long overdue and reasonable response.
So anyone who wants anything less than today is anti immigration? National has been anti children then judging by the state of health, education, housing, ….
> So anyone who wants anything less than today is anti immigration?
Yes, exactly.
I didnt mean it as a criticism, I also support some cuts to immigration.
A.
National is turning into a train wreck camapign
remember the Corporate Manslaughter proposals ?
“Justice Minister Amy Adams has ruled out corporate manslaughter being included in the Crimes Act, saying it is more appropriately dealt with by new health and safety legislation.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/277090/ministers-at-odds-over-corporate-manslaughter
They couldnt agree on anything at the end as the Business backers wouldn’t allow that to happen
Apparently Whats good enough for Mothers cant possibly apply to business
“Labour leader Jacinda Ardern says abortion should not be in the Crimes Act and she would change the law.
“Prime Minster Bill English, a conservative Catholic, said he supported the law as it was and he would be opposed to liberalisation.”
Access to abortion is governed by the Crimes Act 1961 and the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977.
During the Newshub debate on Monday night, Ardern said she would change the law if she became Prime Minister.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96494385/jacinda-ardern-abortion-shouldnt-be-a-crime
It’s been a train wreck from the start. Remember the first week when they kept parking Bill in empty, wintry paddocks or fruit picking sheds with just a couple of flunkies? Coleman and English scuttling out a side door at Dunedin hospital? Paula Bennet can’t help herself mouthy self and fucks up one of their meat and veg policies? Now Joyce has jumped the shark. It’s extraordinary just how bad National is at campaigning. This National Party campaign will keep poli sci students going for years.
Ardern could use this. Is there another debate? Again National protects Directors whose workers die or are maimed on the job but criminalises women in trouble.
RIP Walter Becker and thanks for the funny lyrics, putting jazz into rock and making awkward cool.
Sea surface temperatures in the high twenties and 3/4 days out from significant landfall with the possibility it could move into the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
http://firsthandweather.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/sst.png
https://twitter.com/hashtag/Irma?src=hash
I notice that some of the pro-Trump fake-news propogandists from last year have started to pop up on Facebook with anti-Labour and anti-Jacinda comments. An example is that the abortion policy will allow/encourage abortion up to full term. They are probably being fed this rubbish through social media. I hope our investigative journalists and media outlets are watching out for such deception.
https://www.national.org.nz/increasing_elective_surgeries_to_200_000_a_year
And there we have it (again), the sheer arrogance of National, the borne-to-rule mentality that flows from privilege and closed-mindedness.
I heard something of their elective surgery numbers.
What it really said was: Jonathan Coleman has be quoting for bullshit numbers for ages but the new ones are real.
There are large numbers on hidden waiting lists waiting to get on the actual official waiting lists. Doctors keep trying to get their patients put on the lists and they are knocked back until their small problems that could have been fixed easily are so bad they have to be put on the list. Even if they get on the list if the money is not there to do their surgery before they are on the list too long they will get knocked off again with some bureaucratic trick so that the waiting times are kept artificially lower than they really are.
Hippie’s ! , – Aussie ones !
Time for Labour to be in govt , get this election wrapped up and have a dance !
daddy cool – eagle rock – YouTube
doin the eagle rock▶ 3:48