How common is it for National MP’s to have relationships with women staffers in parliament?
Ignoring the extra-marital side of it, is this seen as a perk of the job, to exploit their status as MP’s for sexual advantage?
Most workplaces have rules around this sort of behaviour, whatever the nature of the behaviour of Jamie-Lee Ross in these relationships, the recurring incidence of them speaks to a wider culture.
A Wellington law firm has been in the news for hiring young women laywers to provide eye candy to hard working male staff (then later social company when drunk, then to breed for them when passed over for promotion) – is it the same in parliament?
PS Brett Kavanaugh was outed by tiger mum, a Yale law professor, over his penchant for hiring feminine model types as law interns – she instructed her Yale graduates to dress in a certain way if they wanted to be hired.
Literally- which reminds me as I noticed David Carter skulking in the dimly lit corner of Havana bar, a few weeks back, with a striking wee thing that was neither wife nor daughter. They are all the same.
The problem is when there is a power imbalance and social pressure/alcohol that impairs the ability to consent.
Being an arsehole in your private life is not necessarily a crime or an employment matter. Using power to coerce people in your workplace to have sex is (at the very least) an employment matter.
Haven’t read much about the specific allegations concerning Ross, I expect more will come out soon. It’s fun watching the riot, but the confirmed specifics on all allegations will take weeks to settle out one way or the other.
Well this from David Fisher at the NZH about an hour ago:
A National Party candidate has spoken about a campaign of harassment by rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross which became so severe she sought medical help and intervention by the party hierarchy.
Manurewa candidate Katrina Bungard told the Herald Ross had harassed her in 2016 and 2017.
She said Ross began the campaign to get wife Lucy Schwaner appointed as chair of the Howick Community Board in east Auckland.
…
“(Lusk) rang me and told me I could have a great career in politics, that he would get me this job and that job.
“Then he said he can only do these things if you’re in a good place with Jami-Lee. If you fall out, I can’t do anything.”
…
Collings had complained to National Party general manager Greg Hamilton about Ross’ behaviour over the vote for the chair’s role.
Collings said: “He was being a dickhead and a bit of a prat and I wanted him to stop. Greg said he would have a word to him. But it carried on.”
Bungard said the campaign then became one which was a result of her refusal to do as Ross had wanted.
It included being served a trespass order when she tried to attend a National Party morning tea for senior citizens.
But to be frank, that’s the sort of dirty politics I’d expect to be routine by the nats. And I don’t for one minute believe the comments by people who had been complained to that they were shocked and stunned by the “full extent” of what Ross has been doing – they were in a position to know. Unless there are actual bodies buried, it’s typical dirty politics. Hell, Collins is trying to act shocked about an affair and some bullying, but she cracked jokes about prison rapes resulting from her policies. Suddenly she, like everyone else who would have been well aware of all the complaints, is surprised and concerned. Unbelievable.
He sounds like a manipulative, entitled piece of crap – kind of like most of the young nats I was acquainted with at university.
I think one of the women ‘ who works around parliament’s is a journalist. There was previous reference to this woman getting inside info from Ross for a story.
Strangely this journalist seems to have gone quiet this week on political stories.
Checked out his biography. He’s Matt Doocey, MP for Waimakiriki. Former speaker, David Carter is his uncle. Jobs for the boys by the looks of it. He does look a bit like Muldoon but without his bruising personality and gritty intellect.
It is obvious neither of you watch Question Time. LOL.
Matt is also Junior Whip (since March 2018) and sits immediately behind Paula Bennett (and Simon Bridges) so is in camera range for all questions asked by either of them.
He sits next to Barbara Kuriger who was appointed as Senior Whip in March 2018 in place of JLR, when Bridges moved Ross up the ranks and also appointed him Nat’s Transport Spokesperson.
There have been some claims this week that part of Ross’ antagonism to Bridges is that Ross wanted to retain the Senior Whip position as well as being a Spokesperson (for the extra pay). This combination of Whip/Spokesperson roles is not usual. Its usually one or the other – but in fact Doocey has retained his Mental Health spokesperson* position which he got from English in Nov 2017 as well as being appointed Junior Whip.
Ross had worked his way up from Third Whip in Jan 2013, to Junior Whip in Oct 2014, and then Senior Whip in May 2017.
* Actually Doocey’s professional background is quite interesting. According to Wikipedia, he is a former manager with Canterbury DHB and ” … worked in mental health and health-care management in both New Zealand and the UK. He studied Counselling Psychology at Weltech, has a BSc (Hons) in Social Policy, an MA in Healthcare Management from Kingston University in London and an MSc in Global Politics from Birkbeck, University of London.”
He also did well votewise in increasing his original 2,500 majority in 2014 by over 10,000 in 2017 – the highest personal vote increase in the 2017 election.
Interesting to hear Bridges this PM say that the first he heard of Ross misbehaviour was the day that he acted promptly and called Ross into his office and dealt with him. The journalists were trying to check the timeline. Just in case Bridges was lying.
I imagine that is because you aren’t willing to invest in anything.
FYI. Restaurant Brands is listed in the NZX.
The symbol is RBD and the last sale price was $8.67.
If you had bought them yesterday they would have been about $1.07 cheaper.
So come on. Be a patriotic Kiwi and invest in New Zealand companies.
Then you could say we do own things ourselves.
Fast food isn’t a business I know much about but I wouldn’t think it was one where you could shift all your profits offshore and avoid tax.
The bulk of your costs are going to be things and people that you either purchase or employ here. It isn’t like high-tech concerns which import all the things they sell from other companies in the same group who operate overseas. They also employ very few people who work here and pay a great deal for the intellectual property in the things they sell.
There will be some royalty payments for the use of brand names like KFC and Starbucks but it won’t be anything like the payments that go to companies like Apple.
So no, I don’t see that they could get anywhere by trying to shift all their profits overseas and even if they could they certainly can’t avoid paying a very large amount of GST, can they?
Someone who knows the industry may have a different view of course.
Of course you could join the rush and buy the company if you think it is such a good deal. Just be in and buy your share of them tomorrow.
~2/3rds of ‘income’ from shares is from trading. This income does not go to the company and so buying shares on the share-market is not investing in those companies (Why we can’t afford the rich by by Andrew Sayer, Richard Wilkinson).
The only time that the money goes to the company is when they’re initially offered and they would be better offered as a bond or a loan which does not transfer perpetual ownership or control.
“buying shares on the share-market is not investing in those companies”.
Very good. At least you understand what Investment means in Economics.
You will note, of course, that I never used the word “Invest” in my remarks. I suggested that people should “buy” shares in the company if the don’t want all the shares to be sold to a Mexican based group.
My comment still stands. If enough people buy the shares in Restaurant Brands they can prevent it being taken over by a foreign buyer. If they aren’t willing to do that they can’t really complain about it.
Be a patriotic Kiwi and invest in New Zealand companies.”
So that would be you lying again.
I suggested that people should “buy” shares in the company if the don’t want all the shares to be sold to a Mexican based group.
The problem being that the Mexican company isn’t investing in the NZ company either – it’s just buying it out. The country will lose from such a transaction as all the profits are shipped offshore along with any IP and possibly the company itself.
If enough people buy the shares in Restaurant Brands they can prevent it being taken over by a foreign buyer.
Offshore ownership needs to be banned as it’s bad for the country.
Its actually pretty clever (although I resent the tax).
Companies that sell under 60k to NZ in a year are exempt in the same way NZ companies under 60k turnover don’t gave to sign up for get.
Not sure if used items from eBay are covered, but I think because eBay is a marketplace and the sellers themselves probably won’t meet that criteria should be OK.
Unless Customs pings you for having brought something worth over 400
1 It can make things that are not easily obtainable in NZ even dearer (the freight bills are very high).
2 The suggestion is that the GST should be collected by the seller rather than requiring the work to be done here in NZ. This means that a a lot of sellers will refuse to deal with NZ. This already is happening,; I was surprised when I looked at British alarm clocks on google to see how many sellers would not bother to deal with us at present. I got one and have had difficulties with it.
I think our access for overseas direct purchases will be further limited.
Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon said the agreement with the operator of Cora signalled a plan to make electric air taxi travel a reality for all New Zealanders.
“Zephyr Airworks is leading the way in re-defining personal mobility to make it easier for all of us to get around,” Mr Luxon said.
“Both companies see the potential for our airspace to free people from the constraints of traffic and its associated social, economic and environmental impacts.”
Relieving the impact of polluting emissions was now “very real”, he said.
“casual racism”.
I suppose you could claim a little bit of that, although it was primarily by Ross.
On the other hand it was a great deal less in what was thought to be a private conversation than the dreadful public “humour” purveyed by the very highest levels of the Coalition of Fools.
Do you prefer the hilarious joke told by a person who thinks that the statement about Chinese that “Two Wongs don’t make a White” was the height of sophisticated humour.
I assume that you are in favour of the current Government?
He is, as you are probably aware the Deputy Prime Minister in a New Zealand First/Labour Government. Remember?
He hasn’t had anything to do with a National led Government since 1998, when Shipley had the sense to dump him.
Then in 2008, before the election, the National Party leader said that they would not go into Government with him because he could not be trusted.
Now he is running the Coalition with Labour who have given him the keys to the piggybank, and God knows what else. Why won’t they let the New Zealand know what he has been given?
Closer connections with National than the idiots in the Labour and Green parties my foot. The are all tucked up in bed together while they rob and ruin the New Zealand economy.
Surely Ad you cant think the years of jaw jaw on the standard have meant one less child in poverty. Famously labour Mps are reputed to not even read it.
It’s social media after all
Surely a local shitshow that eclipses the turd tornado in DC (and hoo boy that’s sayin sumthin) is worth a few days R & R to just enjoy watching the craptacle.
Politicians and dodgy donations go to the heart of the system…
Nah. It only speaks to their corruption. And we’ve known they’re corrupt ‘since forever’.
You want to get anywhere near the heart of the system? (I doubt many do btw – preferring vacuous cheerleading and easy to opine on shit over substance every time). But if you do, then you have to start examining and talking about things like poverty – as Ad suggests.
Looks like more problems brewing for the National Party.
Happy to hush the stories of abuse when it suited them.
Happy to use the stories of abuse when it suited them.
So on top of Filipinos, Indians, Chinese and list MPs, women are also commodities to be exploited by the National Party establishment.
Unbelievable.
“National Party president Peter Goodfellow ‘signed confidentiality agreement’ with woman.
National Party president Peter Goodfellow helped broker a “peace agreement” that included a confidentiality clause between Jami-Lee Ross and a woman who felt threatened by him, a source has told Stuff.
The agreement was signed before Simon Bridges became leader of the party and promoted Ross to the front bench. It is unclear if he was aware of the incident.
Stuff was told by a source close to the woman that the agreement was signed after the she went to Goodfellow and another senior National Party member with complaints about Ross’ threatening and bullying behaviour.”
If a crime has been committed then such a contract exists to hide that crime and that is illegal. Something about perverting the course of justice, conspiracies etcetera.
Looking really bad for National and for Peter Goodfellow.
Goodfellow won’t answer the questions.
All board members won’t answer the questions.
Who is the other National Party member given a trespass notice?
So many questions….
‘The National Party has known for a couple of years about grievances regarding Jami-Lee Ross’ conduct, and got one complainant to sign a confidentiality agreement, sources have told Checkpoint.’
I’ve found that Ross has his own version of events over the party sanctioned one. I’m not sticking up for him but at least Nationals hit job on him via Politik and his supposed power grab was nothing like that.
I’m thinking one of the toxic relationships was with a woman journalist , both benefitted you might say as her name was on an exclusive from him- not that that she gave away the source, but the enquiry pointed to JLR
I seems like the Mayor has a lot explaining to do.
“Tong’s relationship with Zhang has raised a few eyebrows this week in Southland.
Stuff has spoken to many of the district councillors. Few of them had heard of Zhang until the donation scandal erupted on Tuesday. Most knew Tong was in China, but didn’t really know why. They want a full briefing from the mayor when he returns home on October 22.“
I repeat.
“Most knew Tong was in China, but didn’t really know why. They want a full briefing from the mayor when he returns home on October 22.“
Interesting.
“Zhang wanted to know if “there was any way he could help bring people to Southland through immigrants or through promoting some sort of business” in the region,Tong said.
The pair met again later that year at Zhang’s home in Auckland where mayors from across the country had gathered for a “Chinese promotion”.
By that stage a friendship between the pair was developing.”
“The Opposition…” just spent the last few days self destructing. Admittedly a pleasurable spectacle for those of us in the margins, but I’m still in hope that we finally have a Government that can behave…better.
That was classic Peters. Funny. Clever. Perceptive. And though he had a few notes it was otherwise unscripted. Not sure anyone in the House could outclass him.
10/10
Agree 10/10. There is so much mud slung around over time, that pollies can’t be blamed for having a laugh and some digs at the other side when it is so appropriate. The obfuscation that the National Party pollies and their supporters always wallow in is hard to stomach. I am pleased to see Winston jousting so well – he deserves a knighthood.
The National’s knight is but a poor competitor with ideas above his station!
Indeed, hes a rare one of a kind survivor and battler, and does it with panache and wit. National has brought this mess on themselves , after dishing it out to all and sundry for years and now its their turn . So why shouldn’t Peters provide a light hearted batch of comic relief at the absurdity in which National finds itself in.
The spin masters are working hard to portray JLR as ‘a lone wolf’. But JLR denies he’s the leaker and it also conveniently ignores internal polling that Had Simon Bridges down at minus 27%.
I believe there was a pack of wolves but JLR went off the reservation, bigly.
The infamous National Party unity is and always has been a manufactured myth; its united front appears to be based on coercion, threats & intimidation, and fear. Oh, and of course the insatiable hunger for power & control.
It’s interesting how many mainstream journalists are using Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics book as a source for explaining JLR’s behaviour, and that of others in the National Party.
I thought David Fisher’s article this morning was an important one in explaining the National Party history and the rise of Dirty Politics and JLR. Hager’s 2 books (Hollow Men and DP), plus the JLR-Bridges saga will be an important part of the historical record of the rise and fall of the National Party.
The National Party machine is the envy of other parties. From its crushing election defeat in 2002, when many believed it a spent force, it was rebuilt brutally, carefully and methodically.
Structures were designed, the board empowered to build longevity, emphasis was placed on calculated and deliberate fundraising. Risk was not tolerated. The party was being built to last a thousand years.
Part of the genius was the courting of the new Chinese-New Zealand community.
…
For those who watched it unfold, it was clear that Ross was still receiving advice from his old mentor, Simon Lusk.
The pacing of the allegations, the timing of the press conferences – it smacked of a carefully planned strategy intended to maximise and prolong coverage.
However, the interesting thing is, how successful has been Lusk in the long term. Some successes in the shortish term, but then more fails,
Was Todd Barclay one of Lusk’s fails?
Sam Lotu-Iiga appears to have not lasted as long as Lusk had hoped.
Yes .. as much as we oppose them, in the long run even in National some actual competency is necessary for long-term success.
For instance Key; for all his skills at working a room or a crowd, and his ability to ruthlessly manage his party … wasn’t much good at anything else. If you look back, it’s the story of his life; a swift climb to the top of the greasy pole, clings on for quite a while and then an abrupt departure. And not much to show for it (at least not what he’d want you to see) when you look back.
Ultimately it comes down to this; for all the power plays, dirty gotcha games … if you want to achieve something in Parliament you need to bring some real ability to the table. Money doesn’t buy this.
When we refer back to ‘Dirty Politics’ in NZ, it’s easy to gloss over the implication of Nicky Hager’s subtitle which emphasised that this transactional, money-driven attack politics is *poisoning* our democratic environment.— Mark Rickerby (@maetl) October 17, 2018
[…]
Secretive, unelected malignancies like Simon Lusk and Peter Goodfellow are at the centre of all these problems.— Mark Rickerby (@maetl) October 17, 2018
Anne-Marie Brady’s Twitter feed worth keeping an eye on.
“At the heart of the bloodbath unfolding @NZNationalParty is an allegation of Beijing-backed political donations being laundered to escape reporting laws. Time to face up to the rot at the heart of our democracy & break the hold of corrosive outside money: Reform electoral finance.”
“The most concerning aspect to the controversy over National’s hidden donations is that the source of the funds is a leader in #CCP united front work activities.”
Yep get stuck in to lobbying as well, I feel it is closely linked to corruption, and un-kiwi behaviour.
Heavy trucks, booze in supermarkets and dairies, direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising….
Seems like the High Commissioner of India to NZ, Sanjiv Kohli, isn’t impressed with Simon Bridges.
“Shocking attitude . Highly inconsistent with nz values. Hopefully an aberration. India and indians respect and admire this country and its people. Not everything is up for sale. Running a country is different from managing David Jones.”
I can’t see the national party leader at the next election walking through a sea of blue turbans when entering Sky City for the after match after this.
“Bravery. You can go a long way on bravery, courage, heart. It can ensure a clarity of thought, and a willingness to embrace what Buddhists have banged on about for millennia. That is, living in the moment.
Instead of staring at screens, and being constantly distracted, now would be a good a time to truly engage with those you love. To be grateful for what you have, and to try not to feel life’s bitter sweetness at every turn. Do the thing that brings you joy.
That’s not fatalism. That’s acceptance. And if it turns out politicians and/or technology save the planet in the nick of time, like in the movies, then what’ve you lost? Indeed, think about how much you will have gained.”
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As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
I knew Taika Waititi quite well when he was a kid. His mother lived in a tall narrow house in Aro St, and my youngest sister had a similar house two doors along. They were both single mums, they each had a son aged seven. Taika and my nephew Stepan ...
Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate – and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
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How common is it for National MP’s to have relationships with women staffers in parliament?
Ignoring the extra-marital side of it, is this seen as a perk of the job, to exploit their status as MP’s for sexual advantage?
Most workplaces have rules around this sort of behaviour, whatever the nature of the behaviour of Jamie-Lee Ross in these relationships, the recurring incidence of them speaks to a wider culture.
A Wellington law firm has been in the news for hiring young women laywers to provide eye candy to hard working male staff (then later social company when drunk, then to breed for them when passed over for promotion) – is it the same in parliament?
PS Brett Kavanaugh was outed by tiger mum, a Yale law professor, over his penchant for hiring feminine model types as law interns – she instructed her Yale graduates to dress in a certain way if they wanted to be hired.
How common is it for National MP’s to have relationships with women staffers in parliament?
As I said on this site the other day it’s a rite of passage. Once upon a time the pinnacle of success was to… have it off in the Speakers Chair.
Literally- which reminds me as I noticed David Carter skulking in the dimly lit corner of Havana bar, a few weeks back, with a striking wee thing that was neither wife nor daughter. They are all the same.
Adults have relationships.
The problem is when there is a power imbalance and social pressure/alcohol that impairs the ability to consent.
Being an arsehole in your private life is not necessarily a crime or an employment matter. Using power to coerce people in your workplace to have sex is (at the very least) an employment matter.
Haven’t read much about the specific allegations concerning Ross, I expect more will come out soon. It’s fun watching the riot, but the confirmed specifics on all allegations will take weeks to settle out one way or the other.
Well this from David Fisher at the NZH about an hour ago:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12144795
The active role played by Lusk is interesting.
But to be frank, that’s the sort of dirty politics I’d expect to be routine by the nats. And I don’t for one minute believe the comments by people who had been complained to that they were shocked and stunned by the “full extent” of what Ross has been doing – they were in a position to know. Unless there are actual bodies buried, it’s typical dirty politics. Hell, Collins is trying to act shocked about an affair and some bullying, but she cracked jokes about prison rapes resulting from her policies. Suddenly she, like everyone else who would have been well aware of all the complaints, is surprised and concerned. Unbelievable.
He sounds like a manipulative, entitled piece of crap – kind of like most of the young nats I was acquainted with at university.
I think one of the women ‘ who works around parliament’s is a journalist. There was previous reference to this woman getting inside info from Ross for a story.
Strangely this journalist seems to have gone quiet this week on political stories.
Such a loverlee photo. Thanks mickey.
Watching all their tawdry chickens coming home to roost…. 😀
Is it just me or does that prat in the dark blue suit on the right of the front row look like Rob Muldoon?
Checked out his biography. He’s Matt Doocey, MP for Waimakiriki. Former speaker, David Carter is his uncle. Jobs for the boys by the looks of it. He does look a bit like Muldoon but without his bruising personality and gritty intellect.
It is obvious neither of you watch Question Time. LOL.
Matt is also Junior Whip (since March 2018) and sits immediately behind Paula Bennett (and Simon Bridges) so is in camera range for all questions asked by either of them.
He sits next to Barbara Kuriger who was appointed as Senior Whip in March 2018 in place of JLR, when Bridges moved Ross up the ranks and also appointed him Nat’s Transport Spokesperson.
There have been some claims this week that part of Ross’ antagonism to Bridges is that Ross wanted to retain the Senior Whip position as well as being a Spokesperson (for the extra pay). This combination of Whip/Spokesperson roles is not usual. Its usually one or the other – but in fact Doocey has retained his Mental Health spokesperson* position which he got from English in Nov 2017 as well as being appointed Junior Whip.
Ross had worked his way up from Third Whip in Jan 2013, to Junior Whip in Oct 2014, and then Senior Whip in May 2017.
* Actually Doocey’s professional background is quite interesting. According to Wikipedia, he is a former manager with Canterbury DHB and ” … worked in mental health and health-care management in both New Zealand and the UK. He studied Counselling Psychology at Weltech, has a BSc (Hons) in Social Policy, an MA in Healthcare Management from Kingston University in London and an MSc in Global Politics from Birkbeck, University of London.”
He also did well votewise in increasing his original 2,500 majority in 2014 by over 10,000 in 2017 – the highest personal vote increase in the 2017 election.
Interesting to hear Bridges this PM say that the first he heard of Ross misbehaviour was the day that he acted promptly and called Ross into his office and dealt with him. The journalists were trying to check the timeline. Just in case Bridges was lying.
He’s learnt to lie like a flounder from John Key
We can draw our own conclusions that most of the females in the pic are as far away from JLR as possible
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/businessnews/audio/2018667383/mexican-investment-company-wants-to-buy-restaurant-brands
Where does their investment money come from? Why don’t we own anything ourselves?
We don’t sell enough drugs.
I imagine that is because you aren’t willing to invest in anything.
FYI. Restaurant Brands is listed in the NZX.
The symbol is RBD and the last sale price was $8.67.
If you had bought them yesterday they would have been about $1.07 cheaper.
So come on. Be a patriotic Kiwi and invest in New Zealand companies.
Then you could say we do own things ourselves.
If it goes overseas that will be the last time we get any company tax out of them, as they likely operate out of tax havens
Fast food isn’t a business I know much about but I wouldn’t think it was one where you could shift all your profits offshore and avoid tax.
The bulk of your costs are going to be things and people that you either purchase or employ here. It isn’t like high-tech concerns which import all the things they sell from other companies in the same group who operate overseas. They also employ very few people who work here and pay a great deal for the intellectual property in the things they sell.
There will be some royalty payments for the use of brand names like KFC and Starbucks but it won’t be anything like the payments that go to companies like Apple.
KFC don’t make that much money anyway. Their net profit after tax was about $35m on sales of $740m. That is only about 5%.
http://www.restaurantbrands.co.nz/news/articles/restaurant-brands-2018-annual-result/
So no, I don’t see that they could get anywhere by trying to shift all their profits overseas and even if they could they certainly can’t avoid paying a very large amount of GST, can they?
Someone who knows the industry may have a different view of course.
Of course you could join the rush and buy the company if you think it is such a good deal. Just be in and buy your share of them tomorrow.
Royalty payments and IP even for standard business processes are prime areas for profit shifting.
RB nett profits after tax was said to beb$35 mill
It’s not chicken feed …..hahaha
+111
And something that needs to be made illegal as it’s just a way to steal from those who live here and pay taxes.
~2/3rds of ‘income’ from shares is from trading. This income does not go to the company and so buying shares on the share-market is not investing in those companies (Why we can’t afford the rich by by Andrew Sayer, Richard Wilkinson).
The only time that the money goes to the company is when they’re initially offered and they would be better offered as a bond or a loan which does not transfer perpetual ownership or control.
“buying shares on the share-market is not investing in those companies”.
Very good. At least you understand what Investment means in Economics.
You will note, of course, that I never used the word “Invest” in my remarks. I suggested that people should “buy” shares in the company if the don’t want all the shares to be sold to a Mexican based group.
My comment still stands. If enough people buy the shares in Restaurant Brands they can prevent it being taken over by a foreign buyer. If they aren’t willing to do that they can’t really complain about it.
Right here:
So that would be you lying again.
The problem being that the Mexican company isn’t investing in the NZ company either – it’s just buying it out. The country will lose from such a transaction as all the profits are shipped offshore along with any IP and possibly the company itself.
Offshore ownership needs to be banned as it’s bad for the country.
GST on imported items under $400 going to be charged GST. Has anyone thought through the plans of the effect it will have? I doubt it? I am all for NZ business if possible, but the market is pretty screwed up.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/businessnews/audio/2018667385/government-policy-of-gst-collection-seen-as-savvy-move
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/368915/tax-change-to-soften-online-gst-price-impact
How about used items? They’ll be exempt won’t they.
Its actually pretty clever (although I resent the tax).
Companies that sell under 60k to NZ in a year are exempt in the same way NZ companies under 60k turnover don’t gave to sign up for get.
Not sure if used items from eBay are covered, but I think because eBay is a marketplace and the sellers themselves probably won’t meet that criteria should be OK.
Unless Customs pings you for having brought something worth over 400
What’s the problem with charging gst for the stuff under $400?
1 It can make things that are not easily obtainable in NZ even dearer (the freight bills are very high).
2 The suggestion is that the GST should be collected by the seller rather than requiring the work to be done here in NZ. This means that a a lot of sellers will refuse to deal with NZ. This already is happening,; I was surprised when I looked at British alarm clocks on google to see how many sellers would not bother to deal with us at present. I got one and have had difficulties with it.
I think our access for overseas direct purchases will be further limited.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/368774/electric-air-taxis-on-the-horizon-says-air-nz
The national carrier is working on the project with Zephyr Airworks, who is behind the world’s first self-piloted electric vehicle.
Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon said the agreement with the operator of Cora signalled a plan to make electric air taxi travel a reality for all New Zealanders.
“Zephyr Airworks is leading the way in re-defining personal mobility to make it easier for all of us to get around,” Mr Luxon said.
“Both companies see the potential for our airspace to free people from the constraints of traffic and its associated social, economic and environmental impacts.”
Relieving the impact of polluting emissions was now “very real”, he said.
hahahahahaha
Obviously they haven’t watched either Back to the Future or Fifth Element.
Putting the cars into the sky doesn’t get rid of ‘lanes’ or congestion. Do none of these people understand how networks work?
This will be aimed at business executives and wealthy individuals. It should read “…free people who can afford it from the constraints…”
And the emissions statement is a last minute thought of benefit. It wouldn’t have been a sought for outcome.
Can we get past this National Party meaningless shenanigans and start getting back to policy and poverty and actual stuff?
+100
You would say that Ad.
Politicians and dodgy donations go to the heart of the system..not meaningless
This story has shown us a lot about right wing politics in New Zealand.
The levels of corruption
Cash for candidates
Casual racism
The ongoing presence of Hager’s Dirty Politics
Anyone voting for National after this signs up to all of the above.
“casual racism”.
I suppose you could claim a little bit of that, although it was primarily by Ross.
On the other hand it was a great deal less in what was thought to be a private conversation than the dreadful public “humour” purveyed by the very highest levels of the Coalition of Fools.
Do you prefer the hilarious joke told by a person who thinks that the statement about Chinese that “Two Wongs don’t make a White” was the height of sophisticated humour.
Do you approve of what your lot think is funny?
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/archive/winston-s-two-wongs-joke-makes-international-headlines-6052994
I’m pretty sure that Winston has closer connections to your lot as far as that type of bollocks go.
I assume that you are in favour of the current Government?
He is, as you are probably aware the Deputy Prime Minister in a New Zealand First/Labour Government. Remember?
He hasn’t had anything to do with a National led Government since 1998, when Shipley had the sense to dump him.
Then in 2008, before the election, the National Party leader said that they would not go into Government with him because he could not be trusted.
Now he is running the Coalition with Labour who have given him the keys to the piggybank, and God knows what else. Why won’t they let the New Zealand know what he has been given?
Closer connections with National than the idiots in the Labour and Green parties my foot. The are all tucked up in bed together while they rob and ruin the New Zealand economy.
He’s a conservative with the old style thinking that goes with it – just like National.
Its 900 comments of salacious beltway crap on this site alone. No one likes watching sausage getting made. But the demand for sausage is high.
27% of our children in poverty.
Labour and mates are working on the other issues aren’t they? Why are you grumpy?
We’re not.
We’re stupidly distracted
For the sake of life balance surely it is worth taking at least a couple of days out to have a good laugh at this.
Bit harsh. Been lots of comment on wide subject matters imo.
Surely Ad you cant think the years of jaw jaw on the standard have meant one less child in poverty. Famously labour Mps are reputed to not even read it.
It’s social media after all
Surely a local shitshow that eclipses the turd tornado in DC (and hoo boy that’s sayin sumthin) is worth a few days R & R to just enjoy watching the craptacle.
and almost all of that poverty caused by the corruption that we see here.
It’s not meaningless. It needs to be thoroughly addressed.
Politicians and dodgy donations go to the heart of the system…
Nah. It only speaks to their corruption. And we’ve known they’re corrupt ‘since forever’.
You want to get anywhere near the heart of the system? (I doubt many do btw – preferring vacuous cheerleading and easy to opine on shit over substance every time). But if you do, then you have to start examining and talking about things like poverty – as Ad suggests.
Looks like more problems brewing for the National Party.
Happy to hush the stories of abuse when it suited them.
Happy to use the stories of abuse when it suited them.
So on top of Filipinos, Indians, Chinese and list MPs, women are also commodities to be exploited by the National Party establishment.
Unbelievable.
“National Party president Peter Goodfellow ‘signed confidentiality agreement’ with woman.
National Party president Peter Goodfellow helped broker a “peace agreement” that included a confidentiality clause between Jami-Lee Ross and a woman who felt threatened by him, a source has told Stuff.
The agreement was signed before Simon Bridges became leader of the party and promoted Ross to the front bench. It is unclear if he was aware of the incident.
Stuff was told by a source close to the woman that the agreement was signed after the she went to Goodfellow and another senior National Party member with complaints about Ross’ threatening and bullying behaviour.”
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/107956180/national-party-president-peter-goodfellow-signed-confidentiality-agreement-with-woman
Don’t be an idiot Ed…confidentiality agreements are a two-way street.
Maybe focus back on the Middle East/Russian stuff buddy.
Buddy…..
If a crime has been committed then such a contract exists to hide that crime and that is illegal. Something about perverting the course of justice, conspiracies etcetera.
You cannot contract out of the law.
Looking really bad for National and for Peter Goodfellow.
Goodfellow won’t answer the questions.
All board members won’t answer the questions.
Who is the other National Party member given a trespass notice?
So many questions….
‘The National Party has known for a couple of years about grievances regarding Jami-Lee Ross’ conduct, and got one complainant to sign a confidentiality agreement, sources have told Checkpoint.’
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12144795
All the answers you seek.
Answers ?
I’ve found that Ross has his own version of events over the party sanctioned one. I’m not sticking up for him but at least Nationals hit job on him via Politik and his supposed power grab was nothing like that.
I’m thinking one of the toxic relationships was with a woman journalist , both benefitted you might say as her name was on an exclusive from him- not that that she gave away the source, but the enquiry pointed to JLR
Cheers for the link Ed
Can’t wait to hear from Goodfellas. He’s always so open and honest.
Southland mayor Gary Tong appears to be another shifty politician.
Very dodgy.
His presence in China….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/107942847/chinese-businessman-yikun-zhang-disappointed-in-being-named-in-jamilee-ross-scandal
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/107892441/Southland-mayor-Gary-Tong-in-China-with-businessman-at-the-centre-of-National-Party-allegations?rm=m
I wondered about that, like any Southland businesses changed hands lately.
I seems like the Mayor has a lot explaining to do.
“Tong’s relationship with Zhang has raised a few eyebrows this week in Southland.
Stuff has spoken to many of the district councillors. Few of them had heard of Zhang until the donation scandal erupted on Tuesday. Most knew Tong was in China, but didn’t really know why. They want a full briefing from the mayor when he returns home on October 22.“
I repeat.
“Most knew Tong was in China, but didn’t really know why. They want a full briefing from the mayor when he returns home on October 22.“
Interesting.
“Zhang wanted to know if “there was any way he could help bring people to Southland through immigrants or through promoting some sort of business” in the region,Tong said.
The pair met again later that year at Zhang’s home in Auckland where mayors from across the country had gathered for a “Chinese promotion”.
By that stage a friendship between the pair was developing.”
This sounds very dodgy,
Ha Winston getting owned by Finlayson this afternoon…no doubt Winnie will console himself with a nice Glenlivet single malt or two tonight.
“Mr Finlayson, a former lawyer, has hit back at his comments with a sarcastic post on his official Facebook page.”
“I am humbled by Winston Peters assessment of me as the ‘greatest legal mind the Commonwealth has ever seen’,” he wrote.
“That is high praise indeed from someone who never got any further in the law than being a staff solicitor in a Howick Law Firm.
“If ever he needs me to act for him in, for example, a hearing in the Privileges Committee, he has only to ask,” he continued.
And Finlayson after 25 years practicising only made QC because he was a Mp.
Peters was only a junior lawyer when he became an MP
Am I correct in assuming that Chris Findlayson appointed himself to the elevated position of Queens Counsel?
Either appointed himself or purchased the position.
Finkyson’s certainly the goto guy if you wan money thrown away.
Findlayson and other Nats hurting at the Moment, lashing out
“That was audition number 1.”
Five minutes of fun.
Oh, Winston.
Shakes head, sighs.
You and your rear guard gloating and goading and giggling away like gangling adolescents.
Grow up and show some grace.
We had nine damn years of kick-them-when-they’re-down politics.
We don’t need it from you lot.
You’ve got work to do….
Don’t agree Rosemary. His content was timely and funny. The Opposition would be like you and not amused.
“The Opposition…” just spent the last few days self destructing. Admittedly a pleasurable spectacle for those of us in the margins, but I’m still in hope that we finally have a Government that can behave…better.
i fear Rosemary ‘work’ (for the benefit of the country) is just about the last thing on their minds….sadly
That was classic Peters. Funny. Clever. Perceptive. And though he had a few notes it was otherwise unscripted. Not sure anyone in the House could outclass him.
10/10
Agree 10/10. There is so much mud slung around over time, that pollies can’t be blamed for having a laugh and some digs at the other side when it is so appropriate. The obfuscation that the National Party pollies and their supporters always wallow in is hard to stomach. I am pleased to see Winston jousting so well – he deserves a knighthood.
The National’s knight is but a poor competitor with ideas above his station!
Indeed, hes a rare one of a kind survivor and battler, and does it with panache and wit. National has brought this mess on themselves , after dishing it out to all and sundry for years and now its their turn . So why shouldn’t Peters provide a light hearted batch of comic relief at the absurdity in which National finds itself in.
They brought it on their own heads.
And they deserve to be lampooned.
The spin masters are working hard to portray JLR as ‘a lone wolf’. But JLR denies he’s the leaker and it also conveniently ignores internal polling that Had Simon Bridges down at minus 27%.
I believe there was a pack of wolves but JLR went off the reservation, bigly.
The infamous National Party unity is and always has been a manufactured myth; its united front appears to be based on coercion, threats & intimidation, and fear. Oh, and of course the insatiable hunger for power & control.
Sounds like the Spanish Inquisition.
It’s interesting how many mainstream journalists are using Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics book as a source for explaining JLR’s behaviour, and that of others in the National Party.
I thought David Fisher’s article this morning was an important one in explaining the National Party history and the rise of Dirty Politics and JLR. Hager’s 2 books (Hollow Men and DP), plus the JLR-Bridges saga will be an important part of the historical record of the rise and fall of the National Party.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12144204
However, the interesting thing is, how successful has been Lusk in the long term. Some successes in the shortish term, but then more fails,
Was Todd Barclay one of Lusk’s fails?
Sam Lotu-Iiga appears to have not lasted as long as Lusk had hoped.
Simpo Lush, patron saint of fuckknuckles..
Yes .. as much as we oppose them, in the long run even in National some actual competency is necessary for long-term success.
For instance Key; for all his skills at working a room or a crowd, and his ability to ruthlessly manage his party … wasn’t much good at anything else. If you look back, it’s the story of his life; a swift climb to the top of the greasy pole, clings on for quite a while and then an abrupt departure. And not much to show for it (at least not what he’d want you to see) when you look back.
Ultimately it comes down to this; for all the power plays, dirty gotcha games … if you want to achieve something in Parliament you need to bring some real ability to the table. Money doesn’t buy this.
The smiling faces of yesterdays aspirants…
This.
[…]
https://twitter.com/maetl/status/1052676944066633728
Is that photo the worse Photo shopped photo ever or is Nathan guys head really that big ?
Wonder how it feels to be an Indian MP in the National Party?
After Simon’s admission.
I wondered that too, all the faces seemed rather unnatural.
Nick Smith’s seems rather detached
Anne-Marie Brady’s Twitter feed worth keeping an eye on.
“At the heart of the bloodbath unfolding @NZNationalParty is an allegation of Beijing-backed political donations being laundered to escape reporting laws. Time to face up to the rot at the heart of our democracy & break the hold of corrosive outside money: Reform electoral finance.”
“The most concerning aspect to the controversy over National’s hidden donations is that the source of the funds is a leader in #CCP united front work activities.”
Much more here.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Anne_MarieBrady
Yep get stuck in to lobbying as well, I feel it is closely linked to corruption, and un-kiwi behaviour.
Heavy trucks, booze in supermarkets and dairies, direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising….
Seems like the High Commissioner of India to NZ, Sanjiv Kohli, isn’t impressed with Simon Bridges.
“Shocking attitude . Highly inconsistent with nz values. Hopefully an aberration. India and indians respect and admire this country and its people. Not everything is up for sale. Running a country is different from managing David Jones.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/kohli_sanjiv
I can’t see the national party leader at the next election walking through a sea of blue turbans when entering Sky City for the after match after this.
India is perpetually enraged that the world fails to acknowledge its magnificence in all things.
Thought for the day from Rachel Stewart.
“Bravery. You can go a long way on bravery, courage, heart. It can ensure a clarity of thought, and a willingness to embrace what Buddhists have banged on about for millennia. That is, living in the moment.
Instead of staring at screens, and being constantly distracted, now would be a good a time to truly engage with those you love. To be grateful for what you have, and to try not to feel life’s bitter sweetness at every turn. Do the thing that brings you joy.
That’s not fatalism. That’s acceptance. And if it turns out politicians and/or technology save the planet in the nick of time, like in the movies, then what’ve you lost? Indeed, think about how much you will have gained.”
https://t.co/uazMsSt2Qt?amp=1
Yes. Those are wise words.
There will be a lot of disappointed people in the Manawatu/Wanganui area with the murder trial of David Lyttle being abandoned.
Could anyone with a knowledge of law tell me if there is a possibility of a retrial?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/107933649/Trial-of-man-accused-of-murdering-Brett-Hall-abandoned
Either incompetence or dodgy shenanigans from the constabulary.