Daily review 09/09/2019
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6:02 pm, September 9th, 2019 - 28 comments
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- Wouldn’t really go that far
We are all suckers for hope.He’s just being provocative, people will say, he wouldn’t really go that far. They wouldn’t really go that far.Germany in the 1920s and 30s was one of the world’s most educated, culturally sophisticated, and scientifically advanced societies.It had a strong democratic constitution with extensive civil ...7 hours ago - Fact brief – Is Mars warming?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Mars warming? Mars’ climate varies due to completely different reasons than Earth’s, and available data indicates no temperature trends comparable to Earth’s ...18 hours ago - Maxing out – next steps for progressives
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...22 hours ago - Maxing out – next steps for progressives
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...22 hours ago
- FACT CHECKING DAVID SEYMOUR
I was interested in David Seymour's public presentation of the Justice Select Committee's report after the submissions to the Treaty Principles Bill.I noted the arguments he presented and fact checked him. I welcome corrections and additions to what I have written but want to keep the responses concise.The Treaty of ...1 day ago - It’s All Over Now
Well, he runs around with every racist in townHe spent all our money playing his pointless gameHe put us out; it was awful how he triedTables turn, and now his turn to cryWith apologies to writers Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack.Eight per cent, asshole, that’s all you got.Smiling?Let me re-phrase…Eight ...1 day ago - Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix on Saturday, April 5
In short this morning in our political economy:The S&P 500 fell another 5.6% this morning after China retaliated with tariffs of 34% on all US imports, and the Fed warned of stagflation without rate cut relief.Delays for heart surgeries and scans are costing lives, specialists have told Stuff’s Nicholas Jones.Meanwhile, ...1 day ago - Unlike China’s flotilla, the Great White Fleet came in friendship
When the US Navy’s Great White Fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour in 1908, it was an unmistakeable signal of imperial might, a flexing of America’s newfound naval muscle. More than a century later, the Chinese ...1 day ago - Resource Management and Property Rights
While there have been decades of complaints – from all sides – about the workings of the Resource Management Act (RMA), replacing is proving difficult. The Coalition Government is making another attempt.To help answer the question, I am going to use the economic lens of the Coase Theorem, set out ...2 days ago - Bookshelf: the evolution and future of amphibious warfare
2027 may still not be the year of war it’s been prophesised as, but we only have two years left to prepare. Regardless, any war this decade in the Indo-Pacific will be fought with the ...2 days ago
- Parliament’s secret “transparency” regime
When the Parliament Bill Committee rejected calls for Parliamentary agencies to be subject to the Official Information Act last month, their excuse was interesting: Parliament didn't need the transparency of the OIA because it already had its own transparency regime! Which came as rather a surprise to everyone working in ...2 days ago - Centring people of colour to close the climate justice gap
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- Presidency of doom
Questions 1. In his godawful decree, what tariff rate was imposed by Trump upon the EU?a. 10% same as New Zealandb. 20%, along with a sneer about themc. 40%, along with an outright lie about France d. 69% except for the town Melania comes from2. The justice select committee has ...2 days ago - The ideology of grovelling to Trump
Yesterday the Trump regime in America began a global trade war, imposing punitive tariffs in an effort to extort political and economic concessions from other countries and US companies and constituencies. Trump's tariffs will make kiwis nearly a billion dollars poorer every year, but Luxon has decided to do nothing ...2 days ago
- $6m later, 90% against, 8% for, Treaty Principles Bill Committee recommends Bill be shelved
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2 days ago - The people have spoken
The Justice Committee has reported back on National's racist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, and recommended by majority that it not proceed. So hopefully it will now rapidly go to second reading and be voted down. As for submissions, it turns out that around 380,000 people submitted on ...2 days ago
- To fight disinformation, treat it as an insurgency
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- The surprise of the Independent Intelligence Review: economic security
After copping criticism for not releasing the report for nearly eight months, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released the Independent Intelligence Review on 28 March. It makes for a heck of a read. The review makes ...2 days ago
- The surprise of the Independent Intelligence Review: economic security
After copping criticism for not releasing the report for nearly eight months, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released the Independent Intelligence Review on 28 March. It makes for a heck of a read. The review makes ...2 days ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Friday, April 4
In short this morning in our political economy:Donald Trump has shocked the global economy and markets with the biggest tariffs since the Smoot Hawley Act of 1930, which worsened the Great Depression.Global stocks slumped 4-5% overnight and key US bond yields briefly fell below 4% as investors fear a recession ...2 days ago - I Hope I Never Send This Webworm
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- Weekly Roundup 04-April-2025
On a very wet Friday, we hope you have somewhere nice and warm and dry to sit and catch up on our roundup of some of this week’s top stories in transport and urbanism. The header image shows Northcote Intermediate Students strolling across the Te Ara Awataha Greenway Bridge in ...2 days ago - Weekly Roundup 04-April-2025
On a very wet Friday, we hope you have somewhere nice and warm and dry to sit and catch up on our roundup of some of this week’s top stories in transport and urbanism. The header image shows Northcote Intermediate Students strolling across the Te Ara Awataha Greenway Bridge in ...2 days ago
- The Hoon around the week to April 4
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and Elaine Monaghan on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s tariff shock yesterday; and,Labour’s Disarmament and Associate ...2 days ago
- Stranger Days
I'm gonna try real goodSwear that I'm gonna try from now on and for the rest of my lifeI'm gonna power on, I'm gonna enjoy the highsAnd the lows will come and goAnd may your dreamsAnd may your dreamsAnd may your dreams never dieSongwriters: Ben Reed.These are Stranger Days than ...2 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #14 2025
Open access notables A pronounced decline in northern vegetation resistance to flash droughts from 2001 to 2022, Zhang et al., Nature Communications: Here we show that vegetation resistance to flash droughts declines by up to 27% (±5%) over the Northern Hemisphere hotspots during 2001-2022, including eastern Asia, western North America, ...3 days ago
- Trump’s tariffs: Australia’s worry is the effect on its trading partners
With the execution of global reciprocal tariffs, US President Donald Trump has issued his ‘declaration of economic independence for America’. The immediate direct effect on the Australian economy will likely be small, with more risk ...3 days ago
- In national security, governments still struggle to work with startups
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- What I saw at liberation day
I approach fresh Trump news reluctantly. It never holds the remotest promise of pleasure. I had the very, very least of expectations for his Rumble in the Jungle, his Thriller in Manila, his Liberation Day.God May 1945 is becoming the bitterest of jokes isn’t it?Whatever. Liberation Day he declared it ...3 days ago - Open Australia versus closed United States
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- The fix is in
So, having broken its promise to the nation, and dumped 85% of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill in the trash, National's stooges on the Justice Committee have decided to end their "consideration" of the bill, and report back a full month early: Labour says the Justice Select Committee ...3 days ago
- Intelligence review is strong on workforce issues. Implementation may be harder
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- Corruption Tsunami
OPINION AND ANALYSIS:Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier’s comments singling out Health NZ for “acting contrary to the law” couldn’t be clearer. If you find my work of value, do consider subscribing and/or supporting me. Thank you.Health NZ has been acting a law unto itself. That includes putting its management under extraordinary ...3 days ago - Sharing security interests, ASEAN’s big three step up cooperation
Southeast Asia’s three most populous countries are tightening their security relationships, evidently in response to China’s aggression in the South China Sea. This is most obvious in increased cooperation between the coast guards of the ...3 days ago
- Technology can make Team Australia fit for strategic competition
In the late 1970s Australian sport underwent institutional innovation propelling it to new heights. Today, Australia must urgently adapt to a contested and confronting strategic environment. Contributing to this, a new ASPI research project will ...3 days ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Thursday, April 3
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- Bookshelf: ‘Vampire state: The rise and fall of the Chinese economy’
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- Too complacent, too greedy
The Pike River Coal mine was a ticking time bomb.Ventilation systems designed to prevent methane buildup were incomplete or neglected.Gas detectors that might warn of danger were absent or broken.Rock bolting was skipped, old tunnels left unsealed, communication systems failed during emergencies.Employees and engineers kept warning management about the … ...4 days ago - It’s time to imagine how China would act as regional hegemon
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- We don’t need the fast track to kill fossil fuels
RNZ has a story this morning about the expansion of solar farms in Aotearoa, driven by today's ground-breaking ceremony at the Tauhei solar farm in Te Aroha: From starting out as a tiny player in the electricity system, solar power generated more electricity than coal and gas combined for ...4 days ago
- How world order changes
After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and almost a year before the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, US President George H W Bush proclaimed a ‘new world order’. Now, just two months ...4 days ago
- Social Contracts Are Breaking
Warning: Some images may be distressing. Thank you for those who support my work. It means a lot.A shopfront in Australia shows Liberal leader Peter Dutton and mining magnate Gina Rinehart depicted with Nazi imageryUS Government Seeks Death Penalty for Luigi MangioneMangione was publicly walked in front of media in ...4 days ago - Wednesday 2 April
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The scurrilous attacks on Benjamin Doyle, a list Green MP, over his supposed inappropriate behaviour towards children has dominated headlines and social media this past week, led by frothing Rightwing agitators clutching their pearls and fanning the flames of moral panic over pedophiles and and perverts. Winston Peter decided that ...4 days ago - Fabian Fundraiser – Twilight Time
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- That’s Democracy?
The landedAnd the wealthyAnd the piousAnd the healthyAnd the straight onesAnd the pale onesAnd we only mean the male ones!If you're all of the above, then you're ok!As we build a new tomorrow here today!Lyrics Glenn Slater and Allan Menken.Ah, Democracy - can you smell it?It's presently a sulphurous odour, ...4 days ago - Think laterally: government air and shipping services can boost Australian defence
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- Reserve Bank, bank capital etc
Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their ...4 days ago - Luxon’s ‘going for growth’ actually means ‘going for debt reduction’
Long story short: PM Christopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...4 days ago - Luxon’s ‘going for growth’ actually means ‘going for debt reduction’
Long story short: PM Christopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...4 days ago
- Life after D-notices: Australia can learn from Britain’s updated system
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...4 days ago
- Life after D-notices: Australia can learn from Britain’s updated system
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...4 days ago
- Should Auckland demolish Spaghetti Junction?
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...4 days ago
- Should Auckland demolish Spaghetti Junction?
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- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Wednesday, April 2
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’ Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...4 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Wednesday, April 2
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’ Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...4 days ago
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- Monday 1 April
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Hi,When I look back at my history with Dylan Reeve, it’s pretty unusual. We first met in the pool at Kim Dotcom’s mansion, as helicopters buzzed overhead and secret service agents flung themselves off the side of his house, abseiling to the ground with guns drawn.Kim Dotcom was a German ...5 days ago - Luxon Calls Snap Election!
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- Release: Thousands of submissions excluded from Treaty Principles Bill report
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- Release: Uncertainty remains over the impact of tariffs
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- Release: Worst February for building consents in over a decade
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour supports Willie Apiata’s selfless act
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...4 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori MPs Denied Fundamental Rights in Privileges Committee Hearing
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt health and safety changes put workers at risk
Changes to New Zealand’s health and safety laws will strip back key protections for small businesses and put working Kiwis at greater risk. ...6 days ago
- Release: Kiwis worse off this April thanks to Govt choices
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...6 days ago
- Release: Three more years for Interislander ferries
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...6 days ago
- Release: Myanmar junta must stop the airstrikes
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...6 days ago
- Release: National failing to deliver on supermarkets
National is paying lip service to its promises to bring down the cost of living, failing to make any meaningful change in the grocery sector. ...6 days ago
- Release: Labour backs farmers’ call for better process on GE
Labour shares farmers’ concerns that the Gene Technology Bill is moving too fast. ...1 week ago
- Release: Bar still too high for small mental health providers
Small mental health providers will still be locked out of co-funding from the Mental Health Innovation Fund despite a lower threshold. ...1 week ago
- Greens call for Govt to scrap proposed ECE changes
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...1 week ago - NZ First Introduces Bill That Gives Democracy Back To The People
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...1 week ago - Speech: Navigating the New World (Dis)order in Turbulent Times
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...1 week ago
- Te Pāti Māori Call for Mandatory Police Body Cameras
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...1 week ago
- Release: Kiwis lose faith in job market
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens question Govt commitment to environmental protection with RMA reform
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt must tackle meth use crisis
New data shows methamphetamine use is spiralling out of control while the Government sits on its hands. ...2 weeks ago
- “Make New Zealand First Again”
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt’s continued lack of action on Gaza condemned
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National at sea over Defence jobs
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National standards returning by stealth
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Kiwis still struggling as economy stumbles along
Kiwis aren’t feeling any better off despite figures showing a very slight growth in GDP in the December quarter. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens call for compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...3 weeks ago
- Another failed ETS auction, another indictment on the Govt’s climate credibility
The ETS auction’s failure today is yet another clear sign that the Government is failing us all on climate action. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Luxon quick to give away principled position on nukes
Christopher Luxon seems to have thrown New Zealand’s principled anti-nuclear advocacy under a bus. ...3 weeks ago
- NZ must act on Israel’s slaughter of children
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Still no certainty for disability communities
One year on from the Government’s abrupt and callous changes to disability funding, the community still has no idea what the future holds. ...3 weeks ago
- Green Party backs volunteer firefighters in their call for ACC recognition
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...3 weeks ago
- Stand Up for Palestine: A Call to Action Against Israels Treacherous Attack
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...3 weeks ago
- MP Views: Living Strong, The Economy, Servicing Our Nation, The Golden Egg, and 4 Year Terms
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...3 weeks ago
- New planning laws to end the culture of ‘no’
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...2 weeks ago - New Zealand & India Comprehensive FTA consultation begins
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Simon Bridges sings Communist Party's praises in interview with Chinese news channel CGTN.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/09/simon-bridges-sings-communist-party-s-praises-in-interview-in-china.html
Came here to mention that myself, this seems all very hush hush.
I hope he got a good price for the country at least
This organisation is total FUBAR.
Can the ministry fire all the management please and start afresh.
It's never too late to dig out ideological extremist from government positions
https://www.waateanews.com/waateanews/x_news/MjI2NDY/Opinion/The-latest-Oranga-Tamariki-outrage
Arent these kids arrested by the police for criminal activities who are later held in Oranga Tamarikis youth justice facilities… essentially prisons
https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/youth-justice/residences/
They would likely be 'well known to police' and frequent flyers in the Youth Courts
"Though the programme for a new party is essentially already written:
The chances of a political party forming to seize the present moment are very low."
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/101583/chris-trotter-argues-causes-and-conditions-are-place-formation-new-mainstream
And if it were what percentage would its support be?….I suspect that after approaching 4 decades of the cult of the individual not as large as many would hope or expect.
That political party already exists, the Greens.
"But, what about the Greens? Surely, theirs is the party that occupies the political and ideological space vacated by the Alliance? Certainly, there are many who would say so, but are they correct? Have the Green Party, and the Values Party before it, ever truly been the “watermelons” – green on the outside, red on the inside – their enemies claimed?
The honest historical answer is: sometimes they have, sometimes they haven’t. It was the bitter struggle between its eco-capitalists and eco-socialists that tore Values apart, and very similar tensions have plagued the Green Party since its formation in 1990. The plain truth, however, is that while the eco-socialists have at times exercised considerable influence over, they have never dominated the Green Party. Whenever a choice has been offered – as it was in the contest between Sue Bradford and Metiria Turei – the eco-socialists lost."
Wait, did Trotter imply that Turei is an eco-capitalist? Lol.
I didn't see the launch so maybe I am missing something, but how could a non-Minister in a junior party in a coalition insist on something that the leading party doesn't want? Was Davidson supposed to front up to the announcement and drop Labour in it? What about the influence of Peters?
I really don't get this thing of blaming the Greens for what Labour (or NZF) won't do.
Meanwhile, actual GP policy on state housing,
(and speaking of driving down rents and mortgages, before the last election the Greens said they wanted to drop house prices. Afaik they're the only ones)
One could then ask, if that is the GP policy, why didn't the Greens force Labour (insist) to include that? I'd really like too know how that would work.
I know you like Trotter's work Pat, but this is just daft from such a seasoned political commenter as Trotter.
It also irks to see his capitalist/socialist framing of the Greens when he's spent many years dissing the Greens instead of supporting them as the only party with clear left wing policies. If he wanted them to be more ecosocialist, then he could have supported them when they were. I don't know what his problem with the Greens is, but this idea that we need a left wing party but can never have one is pretty odd.
have you read the piece?….and my opinion of Mr Trotters work spans a wide range.
I have read it. I just gave an analysis of the bits about the GP. His summation of NZ politics generally seems reasonable, but my critique stands, that lefties like himself were agin the Greens all that time, so they can hardly turn around now and say there was no viable alternative to the two neolib party hegemony. There has been, he just wasn't paying heed.
I’d still love to know how the Greens could insist that Labour adopt their policies.
If you look at the 'programme' quoted in my first post you may recognise what is effectively Green Party policy currently and was so for the previous election….and you may also recognise how much of that policy has been implemented.
His piece however is broader than that and his antipathy for the Greens is only incidental to that thrust and it is that which I see as relevant….
"On neither the Left nor the Right are there the individuals or the institutions ready to launch and fund such a challenge to the status quo. For the best part of a generation there has been no serious debate over the core content and direction of New Zealand economic policy. Young people, in particular, find it difficult to frame even the questions necessary to challenge what they have been taught to regard as “common sense”.
Perversely, MMP – intended to prevent sudden, massive and unmandated change – has locked in place the very neoliberal revolution its adoption sought to roll-back. What’s more, MMP has excused both the Labour and National Parties from making room for rebels. In this country we will not see the sudden emergence of ageing keepers of the Keynesian flame like Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn; nor the “authorised radicalism” made possible when self-proclaimed socialists and revolutionaries attract the mass support of younger voters by setting up shop within the reassuring structures of the existing party system."
.,,,and is he wrong? Id suggest not….indeed it echoes my own frustration at a lack of an alternative offered, an alternative that can appeal to a broad enough segment of the electorate to enable enactment….6% dosnt achieve that.
That CT is a product of his time ( an unfashionable old school social democrat ) dosnt diminish his ability to analyse NZs political scene…something hes been involved in since he was a student ( something to be avoided especially at such tender years) and IMO he views everything through that lens….its not an uncommon view and not necessarily unwarranted when the alternatives are examined.
They are views formed by (albeit secondhand) experience.
the hope for a NZ Sanders or Corbyn is something I hear from the traditional left, and while I think NZ is stuck in a neoliberal hell, I just find it really odd that lefties who want a left wing party don't vote Green given the Greens have those policies. I understand the issues of not being a good cultural fit, but it still doesn't make much sense to me (kind of like people cutting off their nose to spite their face). So I can't take Trotter's analysis without considering the Greens because they've been key in politics in the time he is talking about.
Highest the Greens ever polled was 15% after Turei stood up for beneficiaries. What happened next was a complex set of dynamics that are hard to separate out, but I think Trotter is overstating the case that NZ just won't go there.
his 'overstated case' is supported by 7 general election results…the only polls that matter
not really. That doesn't take into account Dirty Politics, or Peters fucking with MMP. It makes it sounds like an even playing field with transparency and NZers made a choice based on that. I just don't think that is true.
the results are the results….there will always be 'reasons', and they are there to be overcome.
Or not
and if we look around the world we see a multitude of examples of what 'not' looks like, none of them appear appealing from where im sitting.
I think it would really help in NZ to stop blaming the Greens for things out of their control (eg Labour's housing policy). Because even if the Greens are too centre left now, their policies are still good, and if they had more MPs they're be normalising those policies and shifting the Overton Window. And then either they'd move more left, or there would be space for another left wing party.
Not the only thing that needs to happen by any means, but it seems a no brainer.
Big picture joined up thinking should be the focus….vision with a plan….something people can appreciate without too much effort/time…but something that can be explained in detail when needed.
Voters have lost trust and who can blame them…their representatives dont understand their jobs themselves…and thats across the board.
I don't disagree but I'm more about the pragmatics and working with what we have got.
Tell me more about the big picture joined up thinking, or the way you see that.
"Tell me more about the big picture joined up thinking, or the way you see that."
Lol…fear you must think im some sort of superhuman…Im not about to write a comprehensive policy platform in a day with no resources…I'll leave that to the Labour Party..but would suggest that a one day wonder like that was what led to "Kiwibuild"…and we know how that played out.
No I thought you might just have had some interesting ideas on what such a big picture might look like. I don't need a detailed plan, but your thoughts on what that is.
Like the saying says..'I dont know much about art, but i know what i like'
The platform outlined in CT piece is a good start but it needs fleshing out. The aspiration needs a pathway. The policy re reducing ag emissions needs to have a hard number on herd size/ location and a timeframe and that needs to be linked to reforestation, so a comprehensive land use plan with hard targets (based on best practice for location) and that leads to regional development and employment and training, gov dept location…a whole host of possibilities.
Same with housing..wheres the study determining the locations that require additional housing?and what type should that housing be?…how can you determine how that is to be achieved without identifying the local need?…and that then leads to what expertise/training is needed?..what time frames?…what materials.?..can we source locally?..if not why not?..can we work around that?
The problems are manifold…but so are the opportunities to improve so much…and the wankers have wasted 11 years
So the PM was forced to front up again today, using her political capital to clean up after the useless fucktards at Labour Party HQ. If, as seems likely, they lied to her about the nature of the incidents that have occurred then Haworth should go, sooner rather than later.
Perhaps our PM should listen to this interview from mid last year.
"I think now with things like #MeToo of course harassment in the workplace, we already have the legislative framework to say that is not okay, but do we have the environment where people don’t perpetuate that kind of inappropriate behaviour, in the first place, and an environment within our workplaces where people feel safe to speak."
https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/are-we-there-yet/14-07-2018/we-need-to-say-ok-what-next-jacinda-ardern-on-the-impact-of-metoo/
Wasnt this assault at a private home , not at work ?
Yes.
Where the victim had been invited to, to deal with Labour Party business. It wasn't a social call.
Jacinda said she was not happy with the way its been handled….translation, not happy with Nigel Haworth who will be the fall guy in my opinion and deserves to go if the reports about him are true. I think his position has become untenable.
A policy pursued on the same grounds as the 1080 campaign is beginning to raise doubts:
bbc link