Aww it’s a special occasion. The line could be stretched. Just as long as it springs back again. I would like to see midnight closing most of the time with special times for special seasons and reasons.
Firstly why isnt there a clause in the law for special events, oh like national killed the party long before the greens.
Oh wait, nobody did, you can still get drunk and watch the rugby,just do it at home you blithering idiot media made it sound like a crisis.
Headline, National out of touch with license premises for major sporting events.
Its mondayisation all over again. Dither because the legistlation was rushed.
The Greens kinda stuffed up today. They should have supported Seymour’s bill. I have said before that they need to reach out to the hunters and the fishers if they want to get anywhere, but they are doing everything but.
This wasnt going to be the thin end of the wedge to 24 hour licencing (which, most of the hospitality industry doesnt really support anyway — just a chance for people to have a good time.
John Key ‘answering’ David Parker’s questions today about the shady Saudi sheep dodgy deal. Watch the video here and see Bill English’s demeanor and body language with his head pointing downwards throughout this Q and A, as if in shame/embarrassment/guilt/fear! Notice also the PM not admitting his serious wrongdoing but turning it around to stupidly lie that it was all the Labour’s fault!
Labour has been doing this stuff for the last seven years, seriously why do they think it will be any different this time.
If labour wants to win, Little needs to get out there and show he’s a good bloke, not the whining, grumpy, negative prick he’s getting shown as.
Positive, positive ,positive, no one likes negative, he needs to demonstrate why he’s a better choice than Key and he has to do it in a positive way other wise he’s wasting his time.
Positive, positive ,positive, no one likes negative,
The RWNJs do – John Key and National lie all the time about Labour and, well, everything and the RWNJs still vote for the psychopaths. Hell, they even defend their immoral actions.
This is not about the left. It is about a shockingly corrupt deal performed by this government. It is a disgrace. I would not hesitate to say the same if it were a Labour government that had done it. Do you condone what this government has done here? Be honest.
The fact you are telling ‘the left’ to ‘move on’ just means there is something in this, maybe if you followed your own advice & ‘moved on’ it would peter out, but hey, you are here, failing at diversion trolling & fueling the fire, FAIL!
Today Labour has published documents obtained under the Official Information Act.
It is now clear:
* Mr Al Khalaf had been disaffected for over six years. He had never issued any proceeding against the New Zealand Government. It seems clear he had no legal cause of action.
* There is no evidence in any of the papers released that the Minister or MFAT had any legal advice from their own department or Crown Law to the contrary.
* Mr Al Khalaf was influential in Saudi Arabia, linked to the Saudi Minister of Agriculture, and frustrating progress on the Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement.
* Mr McCully wanted to advance the trade agreement by obtaining the cooperation of Mr Al Khalaf.
* The papers released this week record that McCully said “he would not want any (financial) contributions to be treated as compensation as this would involve a plethora of lawyers and bureaucrats”.
* Mr McCully deliberately misrepresented the payments made to the Al Khalaf group.
* The contract dated 19 February 2013 was drafted so as to pretend the $4 million cash payment was for good value for services and intellectual property. It was not.
* Mr McCully did not obtain Cabinet approval for the $4 million payment, despite Treasury advice that he should have. Cabinet was only asked to note the payment.
* Mr McCully then hid the $4 million payment from New Zealanders for over two years.
* The true nature of the $6 million demonstration farm was also misrepresented. In reality this was primarily to buy the co-operation of the Al Khalaf group, not to demonstrate New Zealand technology.
* The same is true of the $1.5 million spent on flying sheep.
Read lots more here under the heading, ‘The Saudi Sheep Files’
by David Parker on August 11, 2015
Come on BM 1, 2, 3,
All together now.. “Labour did it too…”
“Nothing to see here…”
BM – if you were to tell someone to write an invoice to you for $4m but say it was for something that it clearly was not – and subsequently an employer, or the IRD, or whoever found out… Do you think the SFO might be coming to ask you a few questions?
”Low dairy prices will force the sale of a number of farms to foreign owners.”
I think this might be a little presumptuous. The NZ/Ozzie banks have much more to gain from continuing their current mortgage/debt contracts with farmers than selling to the highest bidder if this bidder is/comes from overseas with his own cheap(er) funds. IMO the banks are in it for medium-to-long-term game and not after short-term ‘profits’. The exception might be businesses that are going to cost the banks money, in the long run, in which case they’ll pull the pin and ‘count their losses’, i.e. force a mortgagee sale.
Another factor is that the local banks here in NZ are highly competitive and do not want to gamble away their goodwill with the general public; they’ve worked hard to get to this level of goodwill.
Last thing the banks want to avoid is panic setting in! The farming community is relatively close-knit.
Obviously, some (‘jittery’?) farmers may think that now is a good time to sell to the highest bidder, foreign or not, in which case they hold the future of NZ farming in their own hands.
You’ve weaved a very complex and nuanced tale. But farm mortgagee sales are already happening.
The NZ/Ozzie banks have much more to gain from continuing their current mortgage/debt contracts with farmers than selling to the highest bidder if this bidder is/comes from overseas with his own cheap(er) funds.
Banks can only tolerate a certain level of NPLs. And the biggest risk they take is if farm prices start to fall under what the bank is owed, when the farm business goes insolvent. At that point anyone willing to hand over good hard cash to the bank wins the farm.
Another factor is that the local banks here in NZ are highly competitive and do not want to gamble away their goodwill with the general public; they’ve worked hard to get to this level of goodwill.
It it the patriotic duty of every poster who supported Syriza to take a holiday in Greece.
Thatnkfully, Greece sinking the Euro and China sinking its own currency are also sinking NZ’s kiwi, which in turn is a great downward signal for the NZ Reserve Bank to lower interest rates, which is great for all those investors in Auckland on floating rates.
As usual, this Government leaves it to the RBNZ to do all the heavy lifting with the only power-tool it has: the OCR NZ Finance Minister Bill English says ‘plenty of room’ for interest rate cuts. Obviously, as stated in the article, the surreal surplus is more important to Bill English and his mates than stimulating the economy.
Fortunately, for Bill English, the surprise Chinese devaluation today is likely to force Graeme Wheeler’s hand in September; a cut of 0.50% on the cards?
“When I finally convinced her that I wasn’t joking, she just burst into tears. Then we dreamed about all the ways our lives would change and all the good we could do with the winnings. It was a really special moment.”
Within minutes of winning, the lucky couple were already planning how to spend the winnings – and giving back to their community is at the top of the list.
“We’re part of a really tight-knit community and we want to use some of our winnings to make life easier for those around us as well.
“We already have a big list of things we want to do over the coming months – it’s really exciting!
“We want to organise 500 food hampers that we’ll deliver to families in our area come Christmas time and we have a list of charities and groups we want to help.
“It’s something we always said we’d do if we won and it’s so exciting to be able to make those dreams a reality.”
——————
And what about this for an idea. Use the money to buy some suitable land and build some good three storey social housing units, properly designed., fenced. Have a trust and rent them out at reasonable rent, enough to cover costs, maintenance, administration, and have a few at rent to buy so that people could pay more and the extra adds up to their deposit to purchase. A gift that keeps on giving that would be. It would be the best thing they could do, and they could borrow some of the money, wouldn’t have to use all of their own. They would still have enough left for a lifestyle block for themselves or whatever.
All of which further underscores that the gigaton is the unit that really explains to you how we’re altering the planet — changing its atmosphere, and changing its oceans, at a scale that’s hard for humans to conceive of. Net gigatons of CO2 are going into the atmosphere and net gigatons of H2O are going into the ocean. And if you wanted to reshape a planet, it’s hard to think of a better recipe than that.
Just heard Brian Easton on radionz with Barry Crump. He is going to return in a fortnight – so that is Tuesday 25th August.
8:40 Economics
Is there no such thing as a free lunch – with independent scholar Brian Easton. Is the New Zealand economy heading into a recession? No audio.
He was good like Rod Oram. Must keep an ear out for him.
His own blog has some interesting reading. http://pundit.co.nz/blogs/brian-easton
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/windowsontheworld
And BBC Windows on the World have produced some riveting investigations.
Tonight I was listening to the story behind the polonium poisoning of the Russian dissident. Yesterday it was the story of a young physicist? Moseley who worked at the same time as Rutherford who gave him space to develop his ideas which he did brilliantly until he signed up for the war and got killed.
This is the list for this week.
Monday 10 August 2015: Death of a Physicist
On August 10 1915, while on his first action in World War One, the most talented physicist of his generation was felled by a bullet. He was Henry Moseley, and in a career that lasted just four years, he had confirmed the modern picture of the atom, and explained the underlying principles of the periodic table of the elements, the ‘map’ used by all chemists to this day. A Nobel prize and a glittering future was guaranteed. Instead his death was called a “national tragedy”. Roland Pease looks at the lasting impact of this rarely remembered physicist.
Tuesday 11 August 2015: The Polonium Trail
The former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital in 2006, after drinking tea poisoned with the highly radioactive material – polonium. But who wanted him dead, and why? And where did his killers get the polonium from? As a British judicial Inquiry ends its public hearings, BBC correspondent Richard Watson investigates the murky story surrounding Alexander Litvinenko’s death.
Wednesday 12 August 2015: The Killing of Farkhunda
A 28-year-old woman called Farkhunda was beaten to death in the streets of Kabul in March this year after she was accused of burning a copy of the Koran. The Killing of Farkhunda puts together a picture of who she was, what actually happened and asks what it says about Afghan society. The murder sparked unprecedented protests in Kabul about the treatment of women. In a speedy judicial process four men were convicted of her killing and sentenced to death but these sentences were later quashed. The Killing of Farkhunda tells the story of what happened to Farkhunda on that day, told through the voices of those closest to her and through those who became caught up in the case.
Thursday 13 August 2015: China’s Ketamine Fortress
Celia Hatton goes undercover to The Fortress, the Chinese village at the centre of the world’s illicit ketamine problem. She hears how China is a top maker and taker of the drug.
On August 10 1915, while on his first action in World War One, the most talented physicist of his generation was felled by a bullet. He was Henry Moseley,
If he had lived he would probably have helped bring about the nuclear bomb for WW2.
You could have Barry Crump audio on RNZ for a fortnight no trouble. There’s all those toyota ads you could play for a start.. except they don’t play ads do they, whoops.
Thanks you all. I do mean the esteemed Bryan Crump. But sometimes I wonder if anyone reads what I put up so after this unplanned experiment I shall include a deliberate mistake to draw out the closet watchers!
And about ads – those like the Toyota one have become a classic, transcending the mundane realms of vegetable prices today or whatever. I have bought two Kiwiana CDs and they have a number of radio ads that take me back to when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Funny how affectionate one can feel about an advert. Who would have thought it.
As white men armed with assault rifles stalk the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, police arrest black protestors because they might be armed,
A group of men who call themselves the “Oath Keepers” arrived in Ferguson, Missouri, late Monday night, armed with assault rifles and decked out in military fatigues.
I looked at a few articles about this, and it was not at all clear where these Oath Keepers stand – they appeared to want to protect the protesters from the police, and shops and houses from looters. Some like having them there, others don’t. Their stated position is to uphold the constitution – it looks as if they are putting themselves forward as a vigilante alternative to the state police force that they view as corrupt. It’s scary what things are coming to.
To all those RWNJ critics of “hip hop tours” : suck it you racist snobs
@HelenClarkUNDP Big thanks to Helen & Labour for backing NZ Hip Hop – The Bradas Hip Hop Crew from NZ just won the world Hip Hop Champs!!!— Minder (@ArbyHyde) August 11, 2015
Will Hutton’s Guardian piece made me re-think the issue of student debt and what we load on to the shoulders of the next generation. He says we need to look at the long-term social implications of large student debt. He says, for example, It’s putting people off marriage for many years, until they’re mid or late 30s and then the birthrate falls too.
In the UK, just as is the case here, home ownership among the under 40s has absolutely plummeted … many people emerge from university and spend their entire life renting and trying to pay off their student loan… and they’ll do that well into their 50s.
Of course, the idea that we are trying to educate our youth to improve their prospects … but when you consider the level of debt our students are shouldering, it begs the question whether the system is actually self-defeating.
Will Hutton says Britain is the process of creating the most stratified, least socially mobile and cruelly unfair society because of the way it is treating its young.
And he says the student loan system saves the government between 1 and 1.5 percent of GDP- but the end result is that they are enslaving a generation to debt, and what it cost is that to an economy on the long term?
He ends his piece by saying this issue is often politicised – it’s often marginalised as an issue of the left. But it’s much bigger than that.
Exactly right, student debt is a huge anchor on economic growth as well as people’s lives. Why the f*ck are we not investing *more* in the next generation? But instead we are ripping them off and then expecting them to pay for our retirement too? This is not only unjust, it’s economically infeasible.
Agree with the sentiments regarding student loans.
But does it strike anyone else that too many of our commentators have articles and opinions that are only created after they read someone else’s work?
In fact, most of Smalley’s article is a repeat of his except for a small personal anecdote. There is a referral to the average amount of a loan, (for a UK student – taken from the Guardian article) but how hard can it be to make this NZ Herald article relevant?
The idea of building capacity in a country with education for future smart jobs and the people to fill them from THIS country, and also the idea of investing in your own citizens and knowledge and a wider outlook for our young people for a more advanced society has been demolished.
Now the idea of higher education is that it will give a better higher paying job than otherwise, is useful to the individual as a money earner, and therefore is a private good. So education must be charged for on the basis of that idea. Education is a type of business, where the government pays a limited amount of the cost and charges the student what the market will bear.
But getting a good paying job after successful higher education is only an idea which has become a dream for many because of another neo lib idea, that it is right to bring in laws and practices that crush existing businesses because better newer more efficient ones will grow up in their wake. Not.
So there is no excuse for charging high prices for education and using it as a barrier that people have to jump before they can get to the grassy knoll with all the assassins of our once progressive society with opportunities for advancement and a happy life .
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
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In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
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Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
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Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
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The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
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Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
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The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
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Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
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The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
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The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
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The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Officially, they’re called ‘memecoins,’ but Kōura Wealth founder Rupert Carlyon says the crypto world has another name for them: ‘shitcoins’.In digital finance, that phrase is used for tokens that have no true value – in essence, a money-grab.A few days before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump launched his own ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Guy Williams has made a whole show off the joke that he is a “volunteer” journalist. So getting publicly owned by David Seymour while trying to act as a journalist is a good and timely reminder not to underestimate the nuance and ...
Many of Sāmoa’s beloved dishes are the result of cultural collaboration, writes Madeleine Chapman. All photos by Jin FelletIf you ever find yourself at a barbecue in a Sāmoan home, there’s 99% chance that sapasui (chop suey) will be on the table. For the past century, sapasui has ...
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Is there anything more fashionable than a Māori get together? One of the best things about Northland is that nobody cares what they look like — probably because they’re all naturally more stylish than the rest of us, famously. Māori from the Far North, especially. In 27 degree heat, wearing ...
I’ve been in love with him since last July, but it’s only now in this tepid hotel room that I find myself wondering why. The first thing he does when we arrive is smoke a cone in the bathroom – he emerges, hacking up a lung, fists thrust into his ...
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Books of Mana: 180 Māori-Authored Books of Significance, edited by Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla and Jeanette Wikaira has just been released by Otago University Press. In this essay, Books are Taonga, Jeanette Wikaira explores her personal relationship to books and their value.For me, books are taonga. The knowledge ...
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Gail Duncan, Chairperson of the St Peter’s on Willis Social Justice Group, one of the organisations invited to submit on the Bill, says the Government’s actions are unprecedented. ...
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Boo hoo. Good look for the Greens tonight. The party of shower heads and no fun.
What not allowing people to drink at 7 in the morning? I could not think of anything worse …
It’s not compulsory.
Aww it’s a special occasion. The line could be stretched. Just as long as it springs back again. I would like to see midnight closing most of the time with special times for special seasons and reasons.
Firstly why isnt there a clause in the law for special events, oh like national killed the party long before the greens.
Oh wait, nobody did, you can still get drunk and watch the rugby,just do it at home you blithering idiot media made it sound like a crisis.
Headline, National out of touch with license premises for major sporting events.
Its mondayisation all over again. Dither because the legistlation was rushed.
Bunch of idiots. Who cares.
Boo hoo. Good look for ACT tonight, trying to only-slightly repeal a ban on drinking which their government introduced.
Such defenders-of-freedom, very not-hypocrites, wow. /doge
The Greens kinda stuffed up today. They should have supported Seymour’s bill. I have said before that they need to reach out to the hunters and the fishers if they want to get anywhere, but they are doing everything but.
This wasnt going to be the thin end of the wedge to 24 hour licencing (which, most of the hospitality industry doesnt really support anyway — just a chance for people to have a good time.
They could have abstained or given their members a free conscience vote.
NZ FIrst reaches out to the hunters and fishers and look where it’s got them.
John Key ‘answering’ David Parker’s questions today about the shady Saudi sheep dodgy deal. Watch the video here and see Bill English’s demeanor and body language with his head pointing downwards throughout this Q and A, as if in shame/embarrassment/guilt/fear! Notice also the PM not admitting his serious wrongdoing but turning it around to stupidly lie that it was all the Labour’s fault!
http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/video/38714
You do realize this stuff doesn’t help the left at all.
Beltway boredom.
You do realise when the truth comes out about the shady Nat/Saudi deal it won’t help ‘the right’ at all.
Bored with RW trolls.
Labour has been doing this stuff for the last seven years, seriously why do they think it will be any different this time.
If labour wants to win, Little needs to get out there and show he’s a good bloke, not the whining, grumpy, negative prick he’s getting shown as.
Positive, positive ,positive, no one likes negative, he needs to demonstrate why he’s a better choice than Key and he has to do it in a positive way other wise he’s wasting his time.
You are trying to talk shit to derail the topic instead of addressing the issue raised. Are you looking to get banned?
I’m in daily review bud, what’s there to derail?
Does not matter where you troll and and where you post shit. It is still trolling and still shit.
The RWNJs do – John Key and National lie all the time about Labour and, well, everything and the RWNJs still vote for the psychopaths. Hell, they even defend their immoral actions.
+1
That’s not a very positive contribution BM. Why aren’t you telling us about how the sun shines out of FJK’s arse or something?
This is not about the left. It is about a shockingly corrupt deal performed by this government. It is a disgrace. I would not hesitate to say the same if it were a Labour government that had done it. Do you condone what this government has done here? Be honest.
Haven’t followed it at all, not a bean of interest.
Boring beltway schlock.
I guess, I’m just completely jaded from all the endless left inspired hysteria that I’ve tuned out.
The fact you are telling ‘the left’ to ‘move on’ just means there is something in this, maybe if you followed your own advice & ‘moved on’ it would peter out, but hey, you are here, failing at diversion trolling & fueling the fire, FAIL!
“Not a bean of interest” = three comments desperately trying to convince us there’s no story here.
Today Labour has published documents obtained under the Official Information Act.
It is now clear:
* Mr Al Khalaf had been disaffected for over six years. He had never issued any proceeding against the New Zealand Government. It seems clear he had no legal cause of action.
* There is no evidence in any of the papers released that the Minister or MFAT had any legal advice from their own department or Crown Law to the contrary.
* Mr Al Khalaf was influential in Saudi Arabia, linked to the Saudi Minister of Agriculture, and frustrating progress on the Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement.
* Mr McCully wanted to advance the trade agreement by obtaining the cooperation of Mr Al Khalaf.
* The papers released this week record that McCully said “he would not want any (financial) contributions to be treated as compensation as this would involve a plethora of lawyers and bureaucrats”.
* Mr McCully deliberately misrepresented the payments made to the Al Khalaf group.
* The contract dated 19 February 2013 was drafted so as to pretend the $4 million cash payment was for good value for services and intellectual property. It was not.
* Mr McCully did not obtain Cabinet approval for the $4 million payment, despite Treasury advice that he should have. Cabinet was only asked to note the payment.
* Mr McCully then hid the $4 million payment from New Zealanders for over two years.
* The true nature of the $6 million demonstration farm was also misrepresented. In reality this was primarily to buy the co-operation of the Al Khalaf group, not to demonstrate New Zealand technology.
* The same is true of the $1.5 million spent on flying sheep.
Read lots more here under the heading, ‘The Saudi Sheep Files’
by David Parker on August 11, 2015
http://campaign.labour.org.nz/saudi_sheep
Come on BM 1, 2, 3,
All together now.. “Labour did it too…”
“Nothing to see here…”
BM – if you were to tell someone to write an invoice to you for $4m but say it was for something that it clearly was not – and subsequently an employer, or the IRD, or whoever found out… Do you think the SFO might be coming to ask you a few questions?
thanks for your concern
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/71034771/NZ-dollar-falls-after-Chinas-surprise-currency-devaluation
Might help the farmers a bit
the National party plumbs new depths of puerile excuses…waiting for the ‘dog ate the papers’…we’ve had everything else.
The Saudi Sheep Files http://campaign.labour.org.nz/saudi_sheep
Bryan Gould has written another piece in the NZ Herald NZ a ‘virtual economic trade prisoner of China’.
He writes:
”Low dairy prices will force the sale of a number of farms to foreign owners.”
I think this might be a little presumptuous. The NZ/Ozzie banks have much more to gain from continuing their current mortgage/debt contracts with farmers than selling to the highest bidder if this bidder is/comes from overseas with his own cheap(er) funds. IMO the banks are in it for medium-to-long-term game and not after short-term ‘profits’. The exception might be businesses that are going to cost the banks money, in the long run, in which case they’ll pull the pin and ‘count their losses’, i.e. force a mortgagee sale.
Another factor is that the local banks here in NZ are highly competitive and do not want to gamble away their goodwill with the general public; they’ve worked hard to get to this level of goodwill.
Last thing the banks want to avoid is panic setting in! The farming community is relatively close-knit.
Obviously, some (‘jittery’?) farmers may think that now is a good time to sell to the highest bidder, foreign or not, in which case they hold the future of NZ farming in their own hands.
Interesting times ahead …
You’ve weaved a very complex and nuanced tale. But farm mortgagee sales are already happening.
Banks can only tolerate a certain level of NPLs. And the biggest risk they take is if farm prices start to fall under what the bank is owed, when the farm business goes insolvent. At that point anyone willing to hand over good hard cash to the bank wins the farm.
You’re smoking things.
Greece and EU agree to the deal.
86billion Euro in fresh loans, and aiming for budget surpluses every year.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/greece-bailout-deal_55c9b278e4b0923c12be0634?kvcommref=mostpopular
It it the patriotic duty of every poster who supported Syriza to take a holiday in Greece.
Thatnkfully, Greece sinking the Euro and China sinking its own currency are also sinking NZ’s kiwi, which in turn is a great downward signal for the NZ Reserve Bank to lower interest rates, which is great for all those investors in Auckland on floating rates.
So it all works out.
See you at the Parthenon.
Sure — just hang on while I shit out $15,000 or so.
Oops, looks like I dont shit money out after all.
Shame 🙂
As usual, this Government leaves it to the RBNZ to do all the heavy lifting with the only power-tool it has: the OCR NZ Finance Minister Bill English says ‘plenty of room’ for interest rate cuts. Obviously, as stated in the article, the surreal surplus is more important to Bill English and his mates than stimulating the economy.
Fortunately, for Bill English, the surprise Chinese devaluation today is likely to force Graeme Wheeler’s hand in September; a cut of 0.50% on the cards?
“When I finally convinced her that I wasn’t joking, she just burst into tears. Then we dreamed about all the ways our lives would change and all the good we could do with the winnings. It was a really special moment.”
Within minutes of winning, the lucky couple were already planning how to spend the winnings – and giving back to their community is at the top of the list.
“We’re part of a really tight-knit community and we want to use some of our winnings to make life easier for those around us as well.
“We already have a big list of things we want to do over the coming months – it’s really exciting!
“We want to organise 500 food hampers that we’ll deliver to families in our area come Christmas time and we have a list of charities and groups we want to help.
“It’s something we always said we’d do if we won and it’s so exciting to be able to make those dreams a reality.”
——————
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/71016531/hamilton-mans-gut-instinct-leaves-him-93m-richer
P.S:
What a lovely couple.
And well done to the journalist, ‘PHILLIPA YALDEN’ for such lovely writing.
heartwarming on a cold day
And what about this for an idea. Use the money to buy some suitable land and build some good three storey social housing units, properly designed., fenced. Have a trust and rent them out at reasonable rent, enough to cover costs, maintenance, administration, and have a few at rent to buy so that people could pay more and the extra adds up to their deposit to purchase. A gift that keeps on giving that would be. It would be the best thing they could do, and they could borrow some of the money, wouldn’t have to use all of their own. They would still have enough left for a lifestyle block for themselves or whatever.
To truly grasp what we’re doing to the planet, you need to understand this gigantic measurement
Just heard Brian Easton on radionz with Barry Crump. He is going to return in a fortnight – so that is Tuesday 25th August.
8:40 Economics
Is there no such thing as a free lunch – with independent scholar Brian Easton. Is the New Zealand economy heading into a recession? No audio.
He was good like Rod Oram. Must keep an ear out for him.
His own blog has some interesting reading.
http://pundit.co.nz/blogs/brian-easton
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/windowsontheworld
And BBC Windows on the World have produced some riveting investigations.
Tonight I was listening to the story behind the polonium poisoning of the Russian dissident. Yesterday it was the story of a young physicist? Moseley who worked at the same time as Rutherford who gave him space to develop his ideas which he did brilliantly until he signed up for the war and got killed.
This is the list for this week.
Monday 10 August 2015: Death of a Physicist
On August 10 1915, while on his first action in World War One, the most talented physicist of his generation was felled by a bullet. He was Henry Moseley, and in a career that lasted just four years, he had confirmed the modern picture of the atom, and explained the underlying principles of the periodic table of the elements, the ‘map’ used by all chemists to this day. A Nobel prize and a glittering future was guaranteed. Instead his death was called a “national tragedy”. Roland Pease looks at the lasting impact of this rarely remembered physicist.
Tuesday 11 August 2015: The Polonium Trail
The former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital in 2006, after drinking tea poisoned with the highly radioactive material – polonium. But who wanted him dead, and why? And where did his killers get the polonium from? As a British judicial Inquiry ends its public hearings, BBC correspondent Richard Watson investigates the murky story surrounding Alexander Litvinenko’s death.
Wednesday 12 August 2015: The Killing of Farkhunda
A 28-year-old woman called Farkhunda was beaten to death in the streets of Kabul in March this year after she was accused of burning a copy of the Koran. The Killing of Farkhunda puts together a picture of who she was, what actually happened and asks what it says about Afghan society. The murder sparked unprecedented protests in Kabul about the treatment of women. In a speedy judicial process four men were convicted of her killing and sentenced to death but these sentences were later quashed. The Killing of Farkhunda tells the story of what happened to Farkhunda on that day, told through the voices of those closest to her and through those who became caught up in the case.
Thursday 13 August 2015: China’s Ketamine Fortress
Celia Hatton goes undercover to The Fortress, the Chinese village at the centre of the world’s illicit ketamine problem. She hears how China is a top maker and taker of the drug.
If he had lived he would probably have helped bring about the nuclear bomb for WW2.
“ust heard Brian Easton on radionz with Barry Crump. He is going to return in a fortnight – so that is Tuesday 25th August.”
Dont you mean Bryan Crump?
Unless Radio NZ has found out how to resurrect people…
You could have Barry Crump audio on RNZ for a fortnight no trouble. There’s all those toyota ads you could play for a start.. except they don’t play ads do they, whoops.
Thanks you all. I do mean the esteemed Bryan Crump. But sometimes I wonder if anyone reads what I put up so after this unplanned experiment I shall include a deliberate mistake to draw out the closet watchers!
And about ads – those like the Toyota one have become a classic, transcending the mundane realms of vegetable prices today or whatever. I have bought two Kiwiana CDs and they have a number of radio ads that take me back to when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Funny how affectionate one can feel about an advert. Who would have thought it.
As white men armed with assault rifles stalk the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, police arrest black protestors because they might be armed,
A group of men who call themselves the “Oath Keepers” arrived in Ferguson, Missouri, late Monday night, armed with assault rifles and decked out in military fatigues.
http://mashable.com/2015/08/11/oath-keepers-ferguson/
I looked at a few articles about this, and it was not at all clear where these Oath Keepers stand – they appeared to want to protect the protesters from the police, and shops and houses from looters. Some like having them there, others don’t. Their stated position is to uphold the constitution – it looks as if they are putting themselves forward as a vigilante alternative to the state police force that they view as corrupt. It’s scary what things are coming to.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/14/oath-keepers-fergusonprotests.html
Brandon WallVerified account
@Walldo
One of the armed Oath Keepers in Ferguson just said they are there to protect InfoWars reporters
https://twitter.com/Walldo/status/630987538556043264
The batshit crazy J Duane Weed is head of the local oathkeepers chapter.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/22/us/missouri-police-officer-suspended/
To all those RWNJ critics of “hip hop tours” : suck it you racist snobs
Rachel Smalley: Burden of student loans a kick in the teeth to whole generation
Exactly right, student debt is a huge anchor on economic growth as well as people’s lives. Why the f*ck are we not investing *more* in the next generation? But instead we are ripping them off and then expecting them to pay for our retirement too? This is not only unjust, it’s economically infeasible.
Agree with the sentiments regarding student loans.
But does it strike anyone else that too many of our commentators have articles and opinions that are only created after they read someone else’s work?
In fact, most of Smalley’s article is a repeat of his except for a small personal anecdote. There is a referral to the average amount of a loan, (for a UK student – taken from the Guardian article) but how hard can it be to make this NZ Herald article relevant?
So what? She attributed and summarised, and Smalley’s version is a lot more punchy and readable for that. The message was stated effectively.
The idea of building capacity in a country with education for future smart jobs and the people to fill them from THIS country, and also the idea of investing in your own citizens and knowledge and a wider outlook for our young people for a more advanced society has been demolished.
Now the idea of higher education is that it will give a better higher paying job than otherwise, is useful to the individual as a money earner, and therefore is a private good. So education must be charged for on the basis of that idea. Education is a type of business, where the government pays a limited amount of the cost and charges the student what the market will bear.
But getting a good paying job after successful higher education is only an idea which has become a dream for many because of another neo lib idea, that it is right to bring in laws and practices that crush existing businesses because better newer more efficient ones will grow up in their wake. Not.
This is an apposite news item today. that illustrates what I am saying.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/new-zealander-david-hyde-lands-plum-job-at-un-in-geneva-but-is-forced-to-live-in-a-tent/story-fnkgbb6w-1227480058311
So there is no excuse for charging high prices for education and using it as a barrier that people have to jump before they can get to the grassy knoll with all the assassins of our once progressive society with opportunities for advancement and a happy life .