Daily Review 17/09/2018

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 17th, 2018 - 62 comments
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Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

62 comments on “Daily Review 17/09/2018 ”

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  1. Tony Veitch [not etc.] 1
    17 September 2018 at 5:48 pm

    Oh dear, Jenny Shipley in court, charged with incompetence in the Mainzeal failure.

    How sad. Never mind. Perhaps she’ll get a jail sentence!

  2. Sacha 2
    17 September 2018 at 6:02 pm

    David Cormack on how our MMP government might work: ‘Reports of the Government’s death have been greatly exaggerated’
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12126676

    • ianmac 2.1
      17 September 2018 at 6:31 pm

      Yes Sacha. Read that. Refreshing and credible.

    • BM 2.2
      17 September 2018 at 6:40 pm

      Advertisement for the government, wonder how much they for these sort of articles?

      • Draco T Bastard 2.2.1
        17 September 2018 at 8:00 pm

        Ask National. They had lots. Still get them even though they’re no longer government.

    • Dennis Frank 2.3
      17 September 2018 at 6:51 pm

      Unusual to discover a media story acknowledging that Winston was right, but he fails to notice that the original headlines were caused by Labour ministers announcing policies as if they were government-originated when they hadn’t actually obtained the agreement of NZF.

      Ardern failed to account for that pattern of behaviour when announcing her reset for the coalition yesterday. His take: “much like the columnists saying that the coalition was falling apart because of comments from Winston, this new “plan” was words. And words are meaningless until we see the actions that come from them.”

      Rare to see political scientist Dr Bryce Edwards getting it wrong. He told TVNZ breakfast viewers this: “PM’s speech didn’t say much but it reduced damage of NZ First ‘going a bit rogue’.” He hasn’t been paying attention. Winston’s responses to the rogue Labour ministers attempting an end-run around him was simply to point out that NZF hadn’t endorsed their policy initiatives. Obviously that was because the PM hadn’t yet called the necessary meeting to establish coalition consensus.

  3. Kat 3
    17 September 2018 at 6:11 pm

    The media goad Winston and Winston goads the media back, I just didn’t expect this goading from the usually polished Kim Hill and she got the deserved reaction from him on Morning Retort today.

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018662804/coalition-govt-working-as-it-should-winston-peters

    • Dennis Frank 3.1
      17 September 2018 at 6:55 pm

      I thought they both performed poorly. I understand his irritation, but he ought to have just been more patient with her and explained that the media reportage failures were due to lack of comprehension of the need for consensus decision-making in the coalition. Not sure why Kim hasn’t been able to grasp this yet, but she needs help.

      • Johnr 3.1.1
        17 September 2018 at 7:38 pm

        I thought my children were the world’s champion bickerers. Dammit Kim and Winnie proved what a bunch of amateurs they are

      • Kat 3.1.2
        17 September 2018 at 7:59 pm

        Kim was clearly articulating and continuing the false media narrative of disunity in the coalition. Kim may have got the desired ratings response but it was unhelpful, amateurish and she is better than that. My observation over the years is that Winston doesn’t appreciate being wound up in early morning interviews so why do it. Kim could have been more aware as she is in the drivers seat behind the radio mic.

        • gsays 3.1.2.1
          18 September 2018 at 7:32 am

          I thought they both went to the edge and pulled it back.
          It may be the romantic in me but I sensed mutual respect between them after the early exchanges.

  4. SPC 4
    17 September 2018 at 6:17 pm

    The narrative has changed, from the government has spent all the money and can do little more,to Peters exercising power to stop Labour doing stuff.

    Thus this what we agree on fluff (all they can do till they know if there is any money to spend in the 2019 budget) Ardern and co-hosts Talk.

    And at a price, as media is now demanding that the PM reassure them that she will in future continue to go through them to talk to the public.

    This is the real Curran issue, fear of the development of any other means by which the government communicates directly to the people. RNZ+ etc.

    • Graeme 4.1
      17 September 2018 at 6:38 pm

      Yeah, it’s a bit sad that the commercial media reduces our democracy, and the ordering and conduct of our society, to the level of a sporting contest or reality show in order to sell their advertiser’s product.

      Everything has to be presented as a binary winner / looser situation to fit the format and presentation of nuance and comparative concepts isn’t possible. No wonder the media can’t handle MMP and coalition government, they can’t make it fir the format.

  5. ianmac 5
    17 September 2018 at 6:34 pm

    Simon wouldn’t answer when asked how he would deal with Winston if he was in a true MMP Government.

    • BM 5.1
      17 September 2018 at 6:46 pm

      MMP what do you expect?

      MMP in NZ doesn’t work very well in NZ because we have two parties around 40% and a couple of small parties that fluctuate between the threshold and 10%

      For MMP to work properly the largest party need to have no more than 30-35% of the market share.

      The fact you have to suck him to this old prick on 7% and lick his balls tells me the system isn’t quite working the way it should.

      • AB 5.1.1
        17 September 2018 at 6:58 pm

        Always interesting how BM uses metaphors of sexual submission when he gets angry. Watch out – civilisation is skin deep.

      • Dennis Frank 5.1.2
        17 September 2018 at 7:01 pm

        You could try thinking about how battles have often been one throughout history by a small force joining one side to help ensure victory. Winston has been using NZF in precisely the same manner. In fact, that why we ditched first past the post, because a critical mass of voters alienated by Lab/Nat cluelessness had formed.

      • Tricledrown 5.1.3
        17 September 2018 at 7:16 pm

        Blatantly Misogynist MMP is working just fine.
        What’s happened to smaller parties who go into coalition and just become yes minister to the main party is evidence BM your theory is a load of crap.
        Smaller parties get swallowed up and Peter’s knows this and is making an effort to show his party is different.

      • McFlock 5.1.4
        17 September 2018 at 7:31 pm

        lol

        BM really has no idea how to work with equals rather than supplicants.

    • AB 5.2
      17 September 2018 at 6:55 pm

      National are implementing their strategy – drive NZF below 5% by smearing Peters as just out for himself (‘baubles’) or uncontrollable, or senile (BM’s favourite angle).
      Then scaremonger like crazy about a Lab/Green coalition.
      If that doesn’t work (or even if it does), go all out to destroy MMP itself – a good chance they’ll promise another referendum on it.

  6. Dennis Frank 6
    17 September 2018 at 7:09 pm

    Toby Manhire’s take on the coalition reset yesterday: “The prime minister sought to rally the troops and assert unity among the three parties of government today, but there wasn’t much substance to get your teeth into. The question hanging in the air after Jacinda Ardern’s big speech this afternoon: what even was that?”

    “It had been trailed as “Next steps in Government’s Plan for NZ”. The folder handed out read simply “Our Plan”. The press release was headlined, “Priorities for a modern and fairer NZ”. The speech itself took the title “Our plan for a modern and prosperous New Zealand”. It was, said the prime minister, “a road map”. It was a “coalition blueprint”, it was “our blueprint for New Zealand”. It was “our cabinet mandated, coalition government work plan”.

    When he opened the folder & read it, he couldn’t find plan or blueprint, just 12 priorities. “At best you might use that word returned to fashion by Anon of the White House, that it was a lodestar, a kind of navigational beacon for the ship of cabinet.”
    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-09-2018/not-dysfunction-junction-what-was-jacinda-arderns-big-speech-really-about/

    • Ad 6.1
      17 September 2018 at 7:23 pm

      The PM should do more set pieces not less. They stabilise the converted, and stabilise the media for a week or two. That’s worthwhile.

      We did get a sense of this “inner Cabinet” in the subtexts – this will stabilise concepts before they go to Cabinet subcommittees. That’s worthwhile.

      It reminded me of the Men In Black memory-wipe pen. That was necessary.

      Sometimes you just have to appreciate pure form and process over outcomes and content.

      • BM 6.1.1
        17 September 2018 at 7:30 pm

        You really do live in some alternative universe.

        New Zealanders don’t really do the fake marketing bullshit, we can smell it from a mile away,

        From here out Ardern has to show she can be a decent PM and not some show pony/celeb gimmick.

        Clocks ticking Ardern, time to show you’ve got the goods.

        • Dukeofurl 6.1.1.1
          17 September 2018 at 7:44 pm

          Today, in the suburb where I grew up, I want to talk about what I consider to be an important part of The Kiwi Way. I want to talk about opportunity, and hope, and how we can bring these to some of the most struggling families and communities in New Zealand.
          “Part of The Kiwi Way is a belief in opportunity and in giving people a fair go.

          The above is some of Keys words of wisdom…….. So much for the claim we don’t do the fake bullshit

          • greywarshark 6.1.1.1.1
            18 September 2018 at 8:00 pm

            Dukeofurl
            That should be written large, identified clearly, framed and put up on the wall for the left to look at and remember how words that speak of Mom and apple pie can bypass the part of the brain where scepticism and concern for others’ welfare lies.

        • marty mars 6.1.1.2
          17 September 2018 at 7:45 pm

          nah you’re just scared.

          Jacinda is doing great. Winnie and James are doing great. The only one not doing great is simon bridges – he has a mole that hates him and wants him gone and that person has NOT gone away.

        • bwaghorn 6.1.1.3
          17 September 2018 at 8:07 pm

          So why did bridges spend $120 000 doing fake marketing bullshit ?

      • Stunned Mullet 6.1.2
        17 September 2018 at 7:33 pm

        😆 comedy gold Ad

      • SPC 6.1.3
        17 September 2018 at 8:21 pm

        Stablise the media, you mean wind them up … by going around them?

        Something she should do more of once RNZ+ is up, and or deliver her own Beehive version …

        Sometimes its about letting the b’st… know they are not entitled to state handouts.

  7. Dennis Frank 7
    17 September 2018 at 7:24 pm

    Dunno if Marama Davidson attended the coalition reset – maybe she had other things to do. Does raise the question: what if she was excluded? Bad pr? If it was a deliberate exclusion, you can imagine the rationale:

    “Symbolism is ultra-important in political communication. That’s why we must have a show of unity of the coalition. Total unity would require all four leaders to front – but three out of four ain’t bad! To present with both our Maori leaders would symbolise Maori unity. Maori have never been united. Wrong signal. Likewise with gender equity, to present with both female leaders as well as both male leaders would have made us seem dangerous radicals to the establishment. We must symbolise tradition.”

  8. Gabby 8
    17 September 2018 at 7:54 pm

    Jimmoarer’s got a real bee in his bonnet about alcohol consumption and advertising, I’m beginning to think.

  9. Sacha 9
    17 September 2018 at 9:13 pm

    Did we ever establish where the description of the PM’s speech as a ‘reset’ came from?
    Being eagerly regurgitated.

  10. ianmac 10
    17 September 2018 at 9:54 pm

    I hear that there is an appendix prepared to go with the Plan. Not quite ready for public viewing but will show the detail to carry out the detail of How it will all work. Watch this space.

  11. Ed 11
    17 September 2018 at 10:36 pm

    When the crash comes, New Zealand is in big trouble.
    When, not if.
    Sooner , not later.

    Mark Lister: The ugly truth about our household debT.

    “Should the economy run into trouble, we have the ability to dip into that war chest, as the Key Government did after the GFC and Christchurch earthquakes a decade ago.
    However, when you consider household debt the picture gets a lot uglier.
    As a proportion of GDP, our mortgage and consumer debt adds up to more than 90 per cent. Australia is even worse at 121 per cent.
    Not only does that put us ahead of the US and UK, but our households are more indebted than those in Spain, Greece and Italy.
    Our Reserve Bank talks about household debt as a proportion of disposable income. Today that ratio is at 166 per cent, above 2008 levels and well up from 100 per cent 20 years ago.
    The authorities had a lot of firepower during the Lehman period. Our Official Cash Rate was 8.25 per cent, the US equivalent was 5.25 and in Australia it was 7.25.
    That left plenty of room to slash interest rates and soften the blow to borrowers. Today, the world doesn’t have quite the same sort of ammunition.”

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=12126810

  12. Ed 12
    17 September 2018 at 11:02 pm

    Neil Clark cuts to the truth on Twitter.

    “Surely after the latest developments in #Salisbury -when another 2 people fall ill & become unconscious after dining in a faux Italian restaurant even the most compliant UK journalists will start to think ‘Something’s not quite right here?’ Or are they paid not to think?”

    Yes, Neil.
    They’re not paid to think.
    They’re paid to parrot.

    • McFlock 12.1
      17 September 2018 at 11:13 pm

      What made the two people fall unconscious? Novichok? Allergies? Bad drugs they took in the toilet?

      • Muttonbird 12.1.1
        17 September 2018 at 11:54 pm

        Allergies, eh? Seems to be a lot of that going around in Salisbury right now.

        • McFlock 12.1.1.1
          18 September 2018 at 12:05 am

          I think I saw on RT that it was gluten intolerance…

          • In Vino 12.1.1.1.1
            18 September 2018 at 4:50 pm

            Personally, I suspect that a couple of Kiwis doing their OE innocently infected Salisbury with Tapanui Flu. Poor Poms and Russian fugitives have no resistance to it at all…

            • McFlock 12.1.1.1.1.1
              18 September 2018 at 4:52 pm

              I don’t want to cause a panic, but could it have been the dreaded “man-flu”???

              • In Vino …
                18 September 2018 at 7:35 pm

                Yikes!

                • greywarshark …
                  18 September 2018 at 7:54 pm

                  Squawk-talk?

                  • Exkiwiforces …
                    18 September 2018 at 10:43 pm

                    It’s the beer they serve in Salisbury as it’s so bloody terrible your tummy doesn’t know weather to throw it back up or wants to shoot it out the other end like AB’s on EE Lighting Fighter Jet at take off.

                    Thence why I drink old scrumpy when I’m in Salisbury which nudges around the 9- 15%, also cures everything from the cold and what happened last night.

  13. Ed 13
    17 September 2018 at 11:06 pm

    An important article by Peter Hitchens.
    Like George Galloway, he is fearful that Syria will lead to WW3.

    “Are we on the brink of a new war? It looks very much like it. Will it be justified? I do not think so. Can we stop it? It is worth a try.

    Almost everyone missed an amazing and worrying moment in Parliament last week, when Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt gave us a glimpse of the Government’s thinking. They will go to war without waiting for the facts to be checked, and without recalling Parliament.

    In a very brief debate about the war in Syria, he was asked about plans – now being openly discussed at high levels in Washington – for a devastating attack on Damascus.

    This will be in response to a supposed atrocity that has yet to take place but about which the Americans openly say they already have evidence – probably an alleged poison gas attack, in which we will see heartbreaking but unverified film of dead or dying children, from propaganda sources, and claims of multiple deaths from untraceable ‘eyewitnesses’.

    In my view, these claims are very similar to the claims of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ (WMD) in Iraq, used to bamboozle the British and American people into that catastrophic war; and also to the claims of mass rape and massacre, equally unproven, which were the excuse for David Cameron’s disastrous attack on Libya.

    These two wars together created the great march of migrants from Asia and Africa into Europe, which is transforming the continent – and also led to the rebirth of Islamist terror. Yet those responsible do not learn, and continue to take us for fools.”

    https://t.co/abQLPtq6ng?amp=1

  14. Ed 14
    17 September 2018 at 11:11 pm

    Idiot/Savant nails it.

    “In 2016, Labour promised that they would withdraw kiwi troops from Iraq if elected.

    They lied:
    New Zealand will extend its military presence in Iraq until June 2019, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced.
    Cabinet signed off on five military deployments on Monday.
    The deployment in Afghanistan has also been extended to September 2019 alongside three smaller peacekeeping missions.

    Our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are neither moral nor necessary.”

    http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/09/bring-them-home.html

  15. Muttonbird 15
    17 September 2018 at 11:52 pm

    Sam Neill kicks Duplicity-Allan in the balls.

    Why won’t she admit her mistake and apologise?

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/107123961/sam-neill-denounces-heather-du-plessisallen-for-calling-pacific-people-leeches

  16. greywarshark 16
    18 September 2018 at 8:49 pm

    Political buildings like the Beehive are not seen as efficient or useful by the people and to defray costs could be used as short-term accommodation in the weekends in Wellington. This letting proposition is common with accommodation providers in the City and of course the Beehive is very well sited near to buses and the railway.

    To save money the Hotel Waterloo could handle the bookings having expertise in this matter. The rooms need not be emptied, just with large storage cupboards locked for the duration. The lifts would not be available so there would be no encroachment on the sacred upper floors, and only the first two floors would be used. A Parliamentary handtowel with crest would be included as a takeaway present.
    /sarc