I see Bryce Edwards on behalf of the Herald has published a direct plea to the NZF Board. Hosking reckons… Farrar reckons… Mapp reckons… a seeming list of right wingers with a vested interest personally or professionally in a Nat/NZF Govt… clearly designed to warn/scare NZF Board
Here is the link.
I agree with Tracey.
Bryce Edwards seems to have copied and pasted the viewers of every right wing propagandist in the article. Shameful for someone who tries to pretend he is independent.
And the Herald editor has added this title.
‘Political Roundup: Signs of a National-NZ First government’
I think that if you read the first paragraph carefully, you’ll see that he is going to do the ‘Signs of a Labour/NZ First Government’ column tomorrow:
“The day has arrived for Winston Peters and New Zealand First to decide which major party to put into power – even if the announcement won’t actually be made today. It really could go either way, but below are ten items that suggest Peters will be inclined to choose National. A follow-up column will look at signs of a Labour-NZ government.”
Nevertheless, his need to bat for both teams this election HAS been annoying.
Agreed!
‘Bothsiderism’ is what got the US media into so much trouble re: Trump.
Bryce has a chronic case of bothsiderism, and I’ll be reading his column tomorrow to see how ‘evenhanded’ he manages to be.
“But I know
You’ve got to stand for something
Or you’re gonna fall for anything
You’ve gotta stand right up for somethin’
Or you’re gonna fall for anything”
“I think that if you read the first paragraph carefully, you’ll see that he is going to do the ‘Signs of a Labour/NZ First Government’ column tomorrow”
Shows how well come people read. Too busy jumping to conclusions and running conspiracy lines.
Bryce has become more temperate in his analyses the more exposure he has in the MSM. A pity, but understandable. He lost some credibility ( in the MSM) when he openly declared his left leaning bias. He has clearly learned “to get along you have to play along” The Headline is misleading and mischievous.
I’m sorry for you (and the rest) but its most likely going to be some form of National/NZFirst and the best the left can hope for is Lab/NZFirst and a severely neutered Greens
National can offer more than Lab/Greens can, National can offer NZFirst the ease of dealing with only one party, National can offer NZFirst an electorate seat, the seats where NZFirst did best are rural and provincial (https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/10/best_and_worst_seats_for_nz_first.html) so a natural affiliation with National is already there and by sheer numbers more people voted for National than Labour/Green
Winston wanted a change of government and a National/NZFirst government would certainly be different
The offer of the bet is still open if you’re still keen Mickey
Well yes but if you look at the link provided it backs up what I’m saying and that is NZFirst is most popular in rural and provincial North Island, that National could step away in Northland and gift a seat to NZFirst ala Epsom, its easier to deal with one party than it is two parties and not forgetting the knighthood he’d also recieve
So yes it is just something I “reckon” but its a “reckon” that I reckon will play out…of course if I’m wrong I’ll still be on here so everyone can say how wrong I was
How are we going to solve the crises that face us all?
Le’t start with climate change.
As Rachel Stewart says ‘Climate change is here. The race between human survival and the melting ice sheets is on. With it, urgency is being replaced by a kind of shrugging acceptance that the tipping point has been reached. Now, we wait.
The storms will be more frequent and deadly; the diseases will come thick and fast; the crops will fail and, if humans are still standing at the end of that, the heat will shut our bodies down and we will die.
Oh, and if technology were to save us, where is it? My guess? It doesn’t exist in either a form or a time frame to meaningfully change anything.
Depressed yet? You should be. And when you’re bored with that, maybe stop blaming others for their point of view, and start blaming the real culprits. Picking off fundamentally decent – and basically planetarily powerless – others is a waste of your time. Anger, sadness and fear is best expressed by doing, rather than talking into a vacuum (which, ironically, I’m likely doing here).
The culprits? Oil companies, industrial agriculture, the 1 per cent, over-fishing, neoliberalism, capitalism, Monsanto, Trump, the “free” market (an oxymoron if ever there was one). You know who they are.
Get off the cyber treadmill of judgment and virtue signalling, and dismount your fat donkey and make a change in the world. Maybe there’s still time?’
That’s awfully weak from you, chris73. You know when you see “climate change” it means ” destructive man-made-climate-change”, don’t you? If not, you’re of no use in the discussion; if you do know that and are pretending not to understand, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Typical Nat. Believes someone will always go for “what’s in it for them”.
That’s is why they are so confused by the Greens. Members decide policy, so Green politicians cannot be bribed.
Whats in it for Winston is that instead of having to go through two sets of negotiations to get something through he only has to negotiate with one which means he has more power to enact the changes he campaigned on
But hey at least the Greens, and their supporters, get to feel pure and superior so theres that I suppose
He’ll also get shunted into the background if he goes Labour/Greens, it’s going to be Jacinda, Jacinda Jacinda, Peters will be as impotent as a 72-year-old man who still likes to drink and smoke excessively.
All this is pointless speculation through Skinny, the man at the centre of all the action, Peters personal confident and seer has said this all a sham, Peters made his mind up and he’s going Labour/Green this whole charade is just a fuck you to National and the people of NZ.
One of the answers to the Fermi Paradox is that all previous civilisations that could have reached the stars wiped themselves out with their technology before they were mature enough to understand the downsides of the technology.
Mankind seems to be on this path due idiots like you.
He’ll also get shunted into the background if he goes Labour/Greens,…
He’ll not only get shunted into the background if he goes with National, but he and his party will get shunted out of parliament. Key’s “top drawer” will have nothing on what they have in store for him the day he falls foul with them over some shitty decision.
If he goes with National… so much for all the “we will make our choice based on what is best for NZ” crap we have had to endure in recent days.
If he goes with Labour I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt but won’t be holding my breath.
ACT got into Parliament just long enough to convince almost everyone that they are loony tunes.
Just like 84, 87 Labour, their predecessors. Without the nudge, nudge, wink, wink, in Epsom their vote would be below 0.02%
I’m sorry for you (and the rest) but its most likely going to be some form of National/NZFirst and the best the left can hope for is Lab/NZFirst and a severely neutered Greens
I feel sorry for you because you’re so full of shit from trying to defend a hopeless ideological position.
National can offer more than Lab/Greens can,
No they can’t – not without breaking National and destroying NZ1st.
Winston wanted a change of government and a National/NZFirst government would certainly be different
That’s just it – it wouldn’t be. Or, to be more precise, it would be the same as the 1996 National/NZ1st government and I don’t think anyone but especially NZ1st want a repeat of that.
Actually I accept your bet. If Labour forms the next Government you are to donate $100 to the Salvation Army, if it is National I will donate $100 to http://www.dogwatch.nz/
I am pretty sure Bryce Edwards does not write his columns to order. In any event he indicated he was going to do the same thing for the Labour option.
As far as I can see he was just expressing his opinion.
Incidentally I thought Chloe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson turning up at the demo was a rather good illustration of the risk I was alluding to. I would have thought the sensitivity of negotiations (3 NZF MP’s are ex Regular Force Army officers) would have given them pause for thought before they did that.
So, all those young people who protested against the Vietnam War were dangerous subversives eh Wayne? All those young people who protested against the Springbok Tour were unwashed hippies and gangsters? All those young people who protested against the proliferation of nuclear weapons were Commie loving losers? Funny thing… all those young people were proven to be right on every count Wayne. Time may well prove these young people are right too.
Its the sort of thing intelligent, thinking young people do because they still have their lives ahead of them and they want to make the world a better place. Maybe they go too far sometimes but that’s the nature of being young and passionate. And hang it all, one of those young people back in the 60s and 70s ended up as prime minister and went on to became one of the most powerful and admired women on the international stage.
She is an MP whose party is in the middle of sensitive coalition negotiations.
I would have thought it obvious that will have an effect on the things you can do.
It was not a general comment about demonstrating generally.
However if that is what the Greens want to do, well I guess they can.
You think her Party didnt know she was going to be there? You think NZF doesnt know there are anti war people in Greens? You really do struggle to understand anyone who does not behave as you do or doesnt see the world as you do.
I would have thought the sensitivity of negotiations (3 NZF MP’s are ex Regular Force Army officers) would have given them pause for thought before they did that.
Hopefully they’ll understand that producing and buying weapons for profit is a bad idea and they’ll do something about it.
I guess you are being ironic, given that Ron Mark, for instance, would not meet any reasonable definition of being a pacifist.
In any event all the responses to my post affirm the wide gulf between Green thinking and NZF thinking. Your defences of Chloe’s and Marama’s actions show that they are likely to do exactly what happened in 2002 with the Alliance. It is also zero awareness of coalition negotiations, because the immediacy of direct action and virtue signalling trumps all. In 2002 most of the Alliance MP’s, including Ministers, walked away from government over Afghanistan. That was one of the main reasons for an early election in 2002.
So Chloe and Marama have nicely highlighted a real risk facing a left coalition which includes the Greens, which Bryce Edwards noted as the very first risk.
I am also pretty sure NZF fully understands the need for a defence force that has effective combat capabilities. They will have zero agreement with the Greens on this issue.
I guess you are being ironic, given that Ron Mark, for instance, would not meet any reasonable definition of being a pacifist.
Don’t have to be a pacifist to realise that production and selling of weapons for a profit is bad for society and that a government should produce all their own weapons from the countries R&D and resources.
So Chloe and Marama have nicely highlighted a real risk facing a left coalition which includes the Greens, which Bryce Edwards noted as the very first risk.
Because having a political party that holds to solid principles is a real risk – to those without any.
I am also pretty sure NZF fully understands the need for a defence force that has effective combat capabilities. They will have zero agreement with the Greens on this issue.
And there you go spouting more ignorant BS and scaremongering.
** Priority must be given to non-violent means of resolving conflict.
** When armed forces are deployed this must be sanctioned by the people of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
** The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) should be capable of performing across a range of operations: from peacekeeping, disaster relief and resource protection through to defensive combat operations
** The NZDF must not maintain or use weapons that create long lasting risks to civilian populations and/or the environment
** The work carried out by the armed service personnel, and the sacrifices they are required to make must be recognised and respected
** Enlistment in the armed forces must be on a voluntary basis
I’m pretty sure that NZ1st and the Greens can come to some agreement to meet all of those.
It is clear Wayne has found himself a new trough writing articles and going on tv with his reckons. Sadly it means his macho patriarchal and the “world is for everyone how it is for him” views will get more oxygen…
Mainly he was expressing your opinion, and farrars etc.
Incidentally two MPs standing up for what their supporters believe is the point of representation. What did you march for Wayne, pre and post politics?
Hopefully the 3 ex force NZF MPs have a better understanding of the right to freedom expression our forces fight for than you do.
Behind those shades, do his eyes constantly rove? Do they swivel in a practiced arc, covering the field, seeking anomalies, looking for clues? Do his eyes twinkle when Jacinda shines: hugs a grandmother, squeezes a returned soldiers crabbed hand, brushes a baby’s cheek with her eyelashes? Or are they steely grey, boring into the minds of would-be hecklers and nay-sayers, anticipating trouble, predicting outcomes? He’s a Mysterion, Mr Bearded-Guy, he’s hip, he’s hipster, he’s… big!
Lovers of Love, f#!k it! It’s time to join the Rugby Voluntary Fire Brigade, or whatever the f the gnats do to score points. If they have that much money backing, and so little talent. It’s time, from the inside, I say. Hey any backing for a James and Bond, on say $10,000pa? !-p
Sorry folks but I have a sinking feeling the old bugger will be getting between the sheets with National. Winnie was always a dodgy fella, attention seeking, full of himself and loving playing to the gallery. My partner was going to vote for him and thank the lord he saw the stupidity of his ways and gave him the slip. He may say he is NZ First but I feel it in my bones that he is going over to the dark side and we will have another 3 years of misery.
I shall be quite happy to apologise and say I made a big mistake if it goes the other way. Whatever happens the major party will have a hell of a job keeping him in check. He is an impossible person to get on with and there will be nothing but tears for the other major party whoever has the misfortune to accept him on board.
Thank-you for that Redlogix. An inspiring woman. Perhaps the best words are the last words:
… from Margaret Mead. She is reported to have said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
This year, the bigger news on the recycling front has been the decision that China announced a few months ago to end its role in the recycling of many categories of “foreign garbage” (mainly plastic and mixed paper waste) as of January 1, 2018.
I haven’t seen anything else about that but it will affect us.
As for here… roughly speaking, and as this article indicates, New Zealand has a high level of local recycling of glass, and about a 50% capacity in recycling some forms of plastic. The rest of our plastic waste and all of our paper and card waste gets sold and shipped to Asia, primarily to China –where it has left in its wake some serious environmental problems related to unsafe forms of disposal.
Which means that the cost of importing shit from China (“As Bloomberg News concluded: “Foreign garbage is really just China’s recycling coming home.””) is about to get far more expensive as we start having to deal with the rubbish that we’ve taken to ignoring.
The Europeans have pioneered the idea that all manufacturing must encompass the entire life cycle of ALL materials goods. Nothing gets sent to waste; if you made it, then at the end of it’s useful life, then you have to take it back and re-use all of it in some manner.
So we’ve been using the out of sight out of mind approach and that will have to change. Good. To often our type of society just pretends and expects every other single country to carry our shit. Time to really become self sufficient instead of bullshitting ourselves and everyone else kiwis.
Yes , … it speaks of a people taking a pride in their nation , – and you cant fault that. And if there’s one thing to admire about the common American people its pride in their way of life. And its not a bad way at all , though it has received far too much bad PR and criticism with those with an agenda.
Its always sad when global media works towards an agenda bought and paid for by those who originate that agenda , – to the detriment of the common people of all lands.
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
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Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
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It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
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I see Bryce Edwards on behalf of the Herald has published a direct plea to the NZF Board. Hosking reckons… Farrar reckons… Mapp reckons… a seeming list of right wingers with a vested interest personally or professionally in a Nat/NZF Govt… clearly designed to warn/scare NZF Board
got a link?
Here is the link.
I agree with Tracey.
Bryce Edwards seems to have copied and pasted the viewers of every right wing propagandist in the article. Shameful for someone who tries to pretend he is independent.
And the Herald editor has added this title.
‘Political Roundup: Signs of a National-NZ First government’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11932157
Yup. There is no attempt at balance either in the headline or the content.
Did Bryce go to TDB, The Standard? Nah.
Wonder how much Bryce depends on the Herald’s pay?
I think that if you read the first paragraph carefully, you’ll see that he is going to do the ‘Signs of a Labour/NZ First Government’ column tomorrow:
“The day has arrived for Winston Peters and New Zealand First to decide which major party to put into power – even if the announcement won’t actually be made today. It really could go either way, but below are ten items that suggest Peters will be inclined to choose National. A follow-up column will look at signs of a Labour-NZ government.”
Nevertheless, his need to bat for both teams this election HAS been annoying.
Thanks for spotting.
I agree about Edwards.
It’s like he’d write 10 reasons against Climate Change and 10 reasons for it…
‘If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.’
Peter Marshall
Agreed!
‘Bothsiderism’ is what got the US media into so much trouble re: Trump.
Bryce has a chronic case of bothsiderism, and I’ll be reading his column tomorrow to see how ‘evenhanded’ he manages to be.
Yes, Bryce will coming with reasons for increasing dairy farming next.
Now, that is a challenge! Let me see:
1) boost GDP
2) the cows look pretty…?
3) a disproportionate number of All Blacks are bred by dairy farmers…?
4) nope, nothing else is coming to mind…
*gulp*
I always thought it was John Mellencamp:
“But I know
You’ve got to stand for something
Or you’re gonna fall for anything
You’ve gotta stand right up for somethin’
Or you’re gonna fall for anything”
Tomorrow, lol.
“I think that if you read the first paragraph carefully, you’ll see that he is going to do the ‘Signs of a Labour/NZ First Government’ column tomorrow”
Shows how well come people read. Too busy jumping to conclusions and running conspiracy lines.
You misquoted
He actually wrote
“A follow-up column will look at signs of a Labour-NZ government. ”
Can you post the link.
Yes – safe to see that was a typo – and was going to be
“Signs of a Labour-NZ First government”
there was a typo in the article.
Have searched and cannot find the followup yet.
Possibly the followup was an afterthought or a freudian slip?
“A follow-up column will look at signs of a Labour-NZ government.”
Really? you searched?
I think it shows a distinct lack of even basic research skills.
Here you go – Ill give you a link and do it for you. took all of 2 secs to find
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11932628
Wow, that’s even worse than I was expecting.
Bryce has become more temperate in his analyses the more exposure he has in the MSM. A pity, but understandable. He lost some credibility ( in the MSM) when he openly declared his left leaning bias. He has clearly learned “to get along you have to play along” The Headline is misleading and mischievous.
Cheers and
I’m sorry for you (and the rest) but its most likely going to be some form of National/NZFirst and the best the left can hope for is Lab/NZFirst and a severely neutered Greens
National can offer more than Lab/Greens can, National can offer NZFirst the ease of dealing with only one party, National can offer NZFirst an electorate seat, the seats where NZFirst did best are rural and provincial (https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/10/best_and_worst_seats_for_nz_first.html) so a natural affiliation with National is already there and by sheer numbers more people voted for National than Labour/Green
Winston wanted a change of government and a National/NZFirst government would certainly be different
The offer of the bet is still open if you’re still keen Mickey
But you are a National fan boy so you would say that, wouldn’t you?
Well yes but if you look at the link provided it backs up what I’m saying and that is NZFirst is most popular in rural and provincial North Island, that National could step away in Northland and gift a seat to NZFirst ala Epsom, its easier to deal with one party than it is two parties and not forgetting the knighthood he’d also recieve
So yes it is just something I “reckon” but its a “reckon” that I reckon will play out…of course if I’m wrong I’ll still be on here so everyone can say how wrong I was
How are we going to solve the crises that face us all?
Le’t start with climate change.
As Rachel Stewart says ‘Climate change is here. The race between human survival and the melting ice sheets is on. With it, urgency is being replaced by a kind of shrugging acceptance that the tipping point has been reached. Now, we wait.
The storms will be more frequent and deadly; the diseases will come thick and fast; the crops will fail and, if humans are still standing at the end of that, the heat will shut our bodies down and we will die.
Oh, and if technology were to save us, where is it? My guess? It doesn’t exist in either a form or a time frame to meaningfully change anything.
Depressed yet? You should be. And when you’re bored with that, maybe stop blaming others for their point of view, and start blaming the real culprits. Picking off fundamentally decent – and basically planetarily powerless – others is a waste of your time. Anger, sadness and fear is best expressed by doing, rather than talking into a vacuum (which, ironically, I’m likely doing here).
The culprits? Oil companies, industrial agriculture, the 1 per cent, over-fishing, neoliberalism, capitalism, Monsanto, Trump, the “free” market (an oxymoron if ever there was one). You know who they are.
Get off the cyber treadmill of judgment and virtue signalling, and dismount your fat donkey and make a change in the world. Maybe there’s still time?’
So you’re saying the Greens should untie themselves from Labour to make changes, well I agree with you on that
No I was asking you how we solve Climate Change.
Not sure what you mean by solving it, the climate has always changed and it always will change.
How we solve climate change as caused by industrial capitalism.
I am assuming you read Rachel Stewart’s piece.
If not you could watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoLYZf-1E8o
That’s awfully weak from you, chris73. You know when you see “climate change” it means ” destructive man-made-climate-change”, don’t you? If not, you’re of no use in the discussion; if you do know that and are pretending not to understand, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Its a pointless question, if I knew the answer I’d be away doing it as I’m guessing anyone else would be as well
Wow, you’re free with the give-aways aren’t you.
Its a very valid reason don’t you think
Just as corrupt as all the other reasons you’ve given for Winston going with National.
Typical Nat. Believes someone will always go for “what’s in it for them”.
That’s is why they are so confused by the Greens. Members decide policy, so Green politicians cannot be bribed.
Whats in it for Winston is that instead of having to go through two sets of negotiations to get something through he only has to negotiate with one which means he has more power to enact the changes he campaigned on
But hey at least the Greens, and their supporters, get to feel pure and superior so theres that I suppose
Greens understand that there is no point in power, if they become an insipid pale Green imitation of Labour and National.
He’ll also get shunted into the background if he goes Labour/Greens, it’s going to be Jacinda, Jacinda Jacinda, Peters will be as impotent as a 72-year-old man who still likes to drink and smoke excessively.
All this is pointless speculation through Skinny, the man at the centre of all the action, Peters personal confident and seer has said this all a sham, Peters made his mind up and he’s going Labour/Green this whole charade is just a fuck you to National and the people of NZ.
https://thestandard.org.nz/every-body-wants-to-rule-the-world/#comment-1399200
How are we going to solve the problem of Climate Change?
Well it’d be a good start if the Greens ever thought about being in power so they could enact some policies
No point being in power if you ally with a party that adopts policies that seek to destroy the environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uQXCJKRcLM
Makes my blood boil Ed after watching the vid. Smith is a slippery sod. Wonder if he will continue in Conservation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV9RPgy5ndg
Massive big terraforming machines powered by fusion operating at the north and south poles
Proven technology BM, not stuff from science fiction.
Ok, No idea then.
Still, think technology will save our arses though, so just relax and party on Ed! it’s all going to work out in the end.
Hey, let’s gamble the earth on BM’s reckons!
One of the answers to the Fermi Paradox is that all previous civilisations that could have reached the stars wiped themselves out with their technology before they were mature enough to understand the downsides of the technology.
Mankind seems to be on this path due idiots like you.
I’m sure your children and grandchildren will thank you for gambling their future away so recklessly.
Well if Skinny says it then it must be true 🙂
Yep, it’s not like he’s a raging name-dropping blowhard who lives in his own fantasy world.
Lol that’s you, you dick
He’ll also get shunted into the background if he goes Labour/Greens,…
He’ll not only get shunted into the background if he goes with National, but he and his party will get shunted out of parliament. Key’s “top drawer” will have nothing on what they have in store for him the day he falls foul with them over some shitty decision.
If he goes with National… so much for all the “we will make our choice based on what is best for NZ” crap we have had to endure in recent days.
If he goes with Labour I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt but won’t be holding my breath.
You do forget National is looking for a settled and stable coalition partner, they were hoping Act would be that but it just hasn’t panned out.
It’s in both Nationals and NZ Firsts best interest to make this work.
I suspect that would be difficult considering how National eats its partners.
ACT got into Parliament just long enough to convince almost everyone that they are loony tunes.
Just like 84, 87 Labour, their predecessors. Without the nudge, nudge, wink, wink, in Epsom their vote would be below 0.02%
I thought it was in Greens interest and NZs to work with Nats.
Thanks for being so kind and thoughtful, chris73.
One tries ones best
I feel sorry for you because you’re so full of shit from trying to defend a hopeless ideological position.
No they can’t – not without breaking National and destroying NZ1st.
That’s just it – it wouldn’t be. Or, to be more precise, it would be the same as the 1996 National/NZ1st government and I don’t think anyone but especially NZ1st want a repeat of that.
We’ll find out soon enough
I hate to say it Christopher, but you are right. Winston will go with National.
He used to reference the standard all the time but does so quite rarely now even though our stats are second only to Kiwiblog.
Still want the bet?
Oath. Just choose a good charity.
Actually I accept your bet. If Labour forms the next Government you are to donate $100 to the Salvation Army, if it is National I will donate $100 to http://www.dogwatch.nz/
Done and this way everyone wins no matter the result
you want to double that chris….i’m in for $100 if you will go $200
Hundreds enough for me
Wuss
I think he might have tumbled to the fact that Standardistas tumbled to him a long time ago.
I am pretty sure Bryce Edwards does not write his columns to order. In any event he indicated he was going to do the same thing for the Labour option.
As far as I can see he was just expressing his opinion.
Incidentally I thought Chloe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson turning up at the demo was a rather good illustration of the risk I was alluding to. I would have thought the sensitivity of negotiations (3 NZF MP’s are ex Regular Force Army officers) would have given them pause for thought before they did that.
So, all those young people who protested against the Vietnam War were dangerous subversives eh Wayne? All those young people who protested against the Springbok Tour were unwashed hippies and gangsters? All those young people who protested against the proliferation of nuclear weapons were Commie loving losers? Funny thing… all those young people were proven to be right on every count Wayne. Time may well prove these young people are right too.
Its the sort of thing intelligent, thinking young people do because they still have their lives ahead of them and they want to make the world a better place. Maybe they go too far sometimes but that’s the nature of being young and passionate. And hang it all, one of those young people back in the 60s and 70s ended up as prime minister and went on to became one of the most powerful and admired women on the international stage.
It would seem so.
No one is more Tory than Dr Wayne Mapp. Psychartrist, and ex-defence minister. He probably shits blue 🙂
Psychiatrist?
She is an MP whose party is in the middle of sensitive coalition negotiations.
I would have thought it obvious that will have an effect on the things you can do.
It was not a general comment about demonstrating generally.
However if that is what the Greens want to do, well I guess they can.
I can see why someone sticking to their principles baffles you. Wayne!
You think her Party didnt know she was going to be there? You think NZF doesnt know there are anti war people in Greens? You really do struggle to understand anyone who does not behave as you do or doesnt see the world as you do.
Chloe and Marama don’t stand on ceremony and pretentiousness like some old staid farts in the National party.
They see a need , – they answer to it.
Get bloody real ‘Wayne ‘ and stop being a wanker.
BTW ; enjoyed your article in the NZ Herald ,.. it was interesting and informative.
Hopefully they’ll understand that producing and buying weapons for profit is a bad idea and they’ll do something about it.
I guess you are being ironic, given that Ron Mark, for instance, would not meet any reasonable definition of being a pacifist.
In any event all the responses to my post affirm the wide gulf between Green thinking and NZF thinking. Your defences of Chloe’s and Marama’s actions show that they are likely to do exactly what happened in 2002 with the Alliance. It is also zero awareness of coalition negotiations, because the immediacy of direct action and virtue signalling trumps all. In 2002 most of the Alliance MP’s, including Ministers, walked away from government over Afghanistan. That was one of the main reasons for an early election in 2002.
So Chloe and Marama have nicely highlighted a real risk facing a left coalition which includes the Greens, which Bryce Edwards noted as the very first risk.
I am also pretty sure NZF fully understands the need for a defence force that has effective combat capabilities. They will have zero agreement with the Greens on this issue.
Don’t have to be a pacifist to realise that production and selling of weapons for a profit is bad for society and that a government should produce all their own weapons from the countries R&D and resources.
Because having a political party that holds to solid principles is a real risk – to those without any.
And there you go spouting more ignorant BS and scaremongering.
Defence and Peacekeeping Policy
I’m pretty sure that NZ1st and the Greens can come to some agreement to meet all of those.
Not on Wayne’s watch.
It is clear Wayne has found himself a new trough writing articles and going on tv with his reckons. Sadly it means his macho patriarchal and the “world is for everyone how it is for him” views will get more oxygen…
So you think that cowtowing to arms dealers in order to win political power is a more honourable activity for our politicians?
Mainly he was expressing your opinion, and farrars etc.
Incidentally two MPs standing up for what their supporters believe is the point of representation. What did you march for Wayne, pre and post politics?
Hopefully the 3 ex force NZF MPs have a better understanding of the right to freedom expression our forces fight for than you do.
I agree also, Edwards is just another Herald RW Ninja commentator like Hoskings etc etc etc they even keep throwing Prebble into the mix.
Prebble
and…..
Hide
Roy
Seymour
Franks
The number of ACT voices in the media is totally out of proportion to its voter base.
It is the ‘party’ of the 0.5 %.
However, its presence in the corporate media is in proportion to its wealth.
That 0.5 % own about 50% of New Zealand.
Just another reason to take control of the airwaves and establish a democratic grassroots media.
+111
Does this imbalance offend Wayne’s sensibilities?
Isn’t Jacinda’s security man the greatest? One look from him and I would confess immediately even having done nothing wrong.
How does he manage to breathe with all that hairy growth on his upper lip?
That beard is spectacular ! – and it should be mandatory. All officers should be required to wear one.
Behind those shades, do his eyes constantly rove? Do they swivel in a practiced arc, covering the field, seeking anomalies, looking for clues? Do his eyes twinkle when Jacinda shines: hugs a grandmother, squeezes a returned soldiers crabbed hand, brushes a baby’s cheek with her eyelashes? Or are they steely grey, boring into the minds of would-be hecklers and nay-sayers, anticipating trouble, predicting outcomes? He’s a Mysterion, Mr Bearded-Guy, he’s hip, he’s hipster, he’s… big!
Be funny if, like a horse, he can sleep standing up eyes closed behind those shades. Someone should test him by feinting a punch at his face.
Yeah!
You?
HA! … there’s a reason for the dark shades being used by Police, security and gang members …
Its so they can sleep and not get hassled by the public…
Want the truth ?… he’s bored , on duty yet alert, looking for anything unbecoming and in full contact with with comms via his earpiece.
And doing a good job by all looks.
Solidarity, bro 🙂
https://i.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/95138963/southlanders-have-their-say-environment
My week so far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIz3klPET3o&feature=youtu.be
fucking brilliant! One of my favourite pieces of music.
What are the numbers though?
bars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_(music)
Yes Joe. Perfect animation to perfect music.
New Zealand First hold music. Warning 80’s synths follow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyUqjzWVpr4
Lovers of Love, f#!k it! It’s time to join the Rugby Voluntary Fire Brigade, or whatever the f the gnats do to score points. If they have that much money backing, and so little talent. It’s time, from the inside, I say. Hey any backing for a James and Bond, on say $10,000pa? !-p
Sorry folks but I have a sinking feeling the old bugger will be getting between the sheets with National. Winnie was always a dodgy fella, attention seeking, full of himself and loving playing to the gallery. My partner was going to vote for him and thank the lord he saw the stupidity of his ways and gave him the slip. He may say he is NZ First but I feel it in my bones that he is going over to the dark side and we will have another 3 years of misery.
I shall be quite happy to apologise and say I made a big mistake if it goes the other way. Whatever happens the major party will have a hell of a job keeping him in check. He is an impossible person to get on with and there will be nothing but tears for the other major party whoever has the misfortune to accept him on board.
Hang in there Kate !
There’s life in the old ‘ bugger’ yet and he might just give everyone here a pleasant suprise!
Hehe… ‘ Whatever happens the major party will have a hell of a job keeping him in check ” … ya reckon he’s a naughty toddler that needs a leash …L0L !
An excellent read on the art of effective politics from a very personal perspective:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11932458
Thank-you for that Redlogix. An inspiring woman. Perhaps the best words are the last words:
So very true.
This article from Gordon Campbell got posted up earlier. I want to address this part:
I haven’t seen anything else about that but it will affect us.
Which means that the cost of importing shit from China (“As Bloomberg News concluded: “Foreign garbage is really just China’s recycling coming home.””) is about to get far more expensive as we start having to deal with the rubbish that we’ve taken to ignoring.
China’s recycling foreign garbage ?
Well , – huh !, – that’s a slap in the face to our ‘Free Trade Deal ‘ with them , isn’t it …!
No wonder we don’t get to buy land and houses over there !
So that’s what they really think of us !
‘ Foreign garbage ‘ , indeed !
Pleased today to see a bin at the Supermarket for soft plastic, plastic shopping bags, biscuit wrapping, all to be recycled. Great progress?
Its called the scrapheap of society by certain politicians…
🙂
Bloomberg nails it.
The Europeans have pioneered the idea that all manufacturing must encompass the entire life cycle of ALL materials goods. Nothing gets sent to waste; if you made it, then at the end of it’s useful life, then you have to take it back and re-use all of it in some manner.
This needs to become a global rule.
+111
Recycling is the only way an industrial society has to maybe becoming sustainable.
So we’ve been using the out of sight out of mind approach and that will have to change. Good. To often our type of society just pretends and expects every other single country to carry our shit. Time to really become self sufficient instead of bullshitting ourselves and everyone else kiwis.
That diplomatic protection squad guys beard is awesome – its iconic !
Like this guy !
Cry, Cry, Cry – Johnny Cash – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHaVmFKnK7w
I have a fondness for this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH7no9FCDoQ
Yes , … it speaks of a people taking a pride in their nation , – and you cant fault that. And if there’s one thing to admire about the common American people its pride in their way of life. And its not a bad way at all , though it has received far too much bad PR and criticism with those with an agenda.
Its always sad when global media works towards an agenda bought and paid for by those who originate that agenda , – to the detriment of the common people of all lands.
George Soros and his ilk has much to answer for.
Live right now.
https://twitter.com/NASA/status/918393557068713984
Rowley Birkin QC – At his best! – YouTube
Video for rowley birkin qc▶ 1:31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0fRI34Oum0