Daily Review 18/05/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, May 18th, 2017 - 60 comments
Categories: Daily review - Tags:

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 …

60 comments on “Daily Review 18/05/2017”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. adam 1
    18 May 2017 at 6:04 pm

    So it’s now this, Turkish Goons beat up US citizens in the USA.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHxAeRwfyGs

    • Muttonbird 1.1
      18 May 2017 at 6:18 pm

      Holy shit, that was in America! I like the way the host suggested Trump would be taking notes from Erdogan on how to become more authoritarian.

      • NZJester 1.1.1
        18 May 2017 at 7:38 pm

        Have you never watched the TYT channel?
        That is not the first time they have suggested that about Trump.
        They are one of the few Independent News organizations left in the US not controlled by corporate money. A lot of the others are slowly being purged of most centrist and left-wing commentators.
        Cenk Uygur the owner of TYT is actually Turkish/American born in Istanbul, Turkey and is not a very big fan of what the Turkish government has done to his birth country either. For some time now he has been trying to pull Republicans and Democrats togeather to get the money out of Politics in the US. He is a champion of wolf-pac.com who are slowly gathering a number of states together to get an amendment to the US constitution to do just that.

    • joe90 1.2
      18 May 2017 at 8:15 pm

      A couple of arrests.

      .

      A Turkish state news agency acknowledged that guards for Erdogan, who had earlier met with President Trump at the White House, had targeted demonstrators. Many of the aggressors seen on video were wearing dark suits and ties, and several had guns. At least two of the guns were seen on video being dropped and then picked up during skirmishes.

      In a statement released Wednesday evening, the Turkish Embassy called the demonstration “unpermitted” and “provocative.” Officials alleged in the statement that the protesters were affiliated with the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States. A protest leader denied that any of the participants were involved with the PKK or sympathized with the group.

      “The demonstrators began aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens” who had gathered to greet Erdogan, the statement said. “The Turkish-Americans responded in self defense and one of them was seriously injured.”

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/turkeys-presidential-guards-violently-clash-with-protesters-outside-embassy/2017/05/17/8420942a-3b05-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html

      • Bill 1.2.1
        18 May 2017 at 8:45 pm

        ‘Nice’ to see that American cops understand the concept of never pulling up the guy in the suit. 👿

    • Bill 1.3
      18 May 2017 at 8:29 pm

      Pretty sure similar happened during his 2016 visit to the US. Not new.

      edit – link

      2nd edit. I guess the reaction will be much the same too 😉 Fatih Oke, a spokesperson for the Turkish embassy in Washington, said he arrived at the event after the alleged incidents. “I can’t comment on what I didn’t see,” he said. “The meeting was wonderful.”

  2. bwaghorn 2
    18 May 2017 at 6:13 pm

    they are using north korea as a boogie man to get tpp over the line now, wtf ,please explain

    • Muttonbird 3.1
      18 May 2017 at 6:48 pm

      That might be so but the real purpose of Treveeits article was to promote invented discord in the Labour Green MOU and to paint opposition parties as hysterical left wingers overly obsessed with Trump and bitter that he won. She was obviously disappointed Labour and Greens weren’t on the same page on this. Disappointed that the Greens brought up Hitler but she couldn’t get Labour to do the same.

      I notice Farrar is all over it too, asking for Shaw to apologise. To who for fuck’s sake? Trump?

      • bwaghorn 3.1.1
        18 May 2017 at 6:59 pm

        well Shaw needs to leave the mad talk for us fringe ranters , so a good lesson for him to.

        • Muttonbird 3.1.1.1
          18 May 2017 at 7:03 pm

          Fair enough a bit naive, but he did reference that Backbenchers is a TV show filmed in a pub and pub talk is the whole point. Y’know, robust comedy, etc.

          It’s not naive like menacingly threatening NGOs with funding cuts at a major party conference…

      • weka 3.1.2
        18 May 2017 at 8:50 pm

        probably doesn’t hurt for the two parties to be seen to disagree and then keep working well together.

        Plus, Tr*mp probably is the most dangerous person since Hitler. And no, Andrew, you don’t lose the argument by mentioning Hitler when it’s an actual historical reference.

        • Bill 3.1.2.1
          18 May 2017 at 10:11 pm

          Hitler had a whole set of institutional enthusiasm behind him…and an international tendency to feed from – fascism being in the ascendancy and supported by a failing and flailing liberal establishment (Spanish Revolution knee capped by supposed liberal “non- involvement” – fascist leaders receiving Times “man of the year” endorsements etc)…

          Trump’s got none of that. Trump’s not dangerous. He’s an unpleasant and damaging flash in the pan is all.

          What comes after Trump is what we should be looking to. That’s where the danger lies.

          • weka 3.1.2.1.1
            18 May 2017 at 11:12 pm

            Well you and I will have to disagree on that. Both my own perception and the politicos I am following in the US see Tr*mp as legitimising a whole range of latent fascism in the US and the longer that goes on the harder it will be to roll back. There is also the issue of how fascism comes about and the process of normalising things that were even recently not considered normal. There’s plenty of commentary on that coming out of the US. ‘He’s not really fascist’ is part of how fascism comes about 😉

            And he is not on his own. Not only does he have his team of seriously fucked in the head powermongers and deathmongers, but there are other dangerous Republicans who will be perceived as less extreme than Tr*mp but only because he’s set a new standard. So there is the institutional enthusiasm.

            He has the nuclear launch codes, so that can’t be compared to Hitler’s time, but it’s one of the things that makes him so dangerous.

            “fascist leaders receiving Times “man of the year” endorsements etc”

            Tr*mp was Time’s ‘Person of Year’ last year.

            http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/

            I didn’t take Shaw as comparing Tr*mp with Hitler, or their respective milieu, but instead saying that Tr*mp is the most dangerous person since Hitler, including in terms of potential impact globally. I’d be interested to hear examples of other individuals that fit that bill better.

            • Bill 3.1.2.1.1.1
              18 May 2017 at 11:40 pm

              So okay, a president – any president of the USA is influential on the world stage…if they have institutional backing. Trump doesn’t have that. Both the Republican establishment and the Democratic establishment – with all their media and intelligence community networks, are working to bring him down.

              You want “normalisation” of fascism? Then look to how liberal msm report on the likes of UKIP or Le Pen.

              • weka …
                18 May 2017 at 11:50 pm

                Are you saying there is no normalising of fascism going on in the US?

                Hopefully Tr*mp will be brought down, because he is actually that dangerous. I don’t think those forces are working against him because he’s an unpleasant flash in the pan.

                • Bill …
                  19 May 2017 at 12:16 am

                  As I said elsewhere…I commented in the run-up to the US election that if Trump won, the opportunity would be there for the left to organise and mobilise, and that the danger to that would be coming from the wound licking democrats and their fellow travelers seeking to rehabilitate themselves.

                  Seems that danger’s risen up now – eg, vacuous ‘Russia meddling’ reports, bullshit CW reports, endless stream of baseless accusations feeding into general jagged finger pointing…and no-one’s calling it.

                  Which is potentially going to leave us with a ‘nice’ situation in the US whereby the forces of “anything but Trump” (the ‘establishment’ as personified by Cain/Clinton et al) are aligned against the “anything but the status quo” (swathes of the electorate) and “the left” will be nowhere to be seen.

                  • weka …
                    19 May 2017 at 12:37 pm

                    yes, and that’s not incompatible with Tr*mp being extremely dangerous.

                    • Red …
                      19 May 2017 at 4:14 pm

                      There is complete over reaction to trump, if he would just shut his stupid mouth, close down his twitter account, act like a president it would simply be business as usual re US presidents

                    • weka …
                      19 May 2017 at 5:08 pm

                      Except for the fascist bits.

                • reason …
                  19 May 2017 at 8:05 pm

                  The u.s.a has a long and brutal history of genocide, slavery and disregard of human rights towards those they consider untermensch ….

                  Their savagery is beyond normal http://withoutsanctuary.org/pics_38.html

                  Their rich in particular ….. have literally supported Nazis to the extent of helping exteriminate the jews and profiting from slave labour in the concentration camps …. not to mention supplying vital war material to the Nazis during the war.

                  Firms like IBM helped keep on top of the huge organisation which goes into killing millions and millions …..

                  I suspect they also made money from operation phoenix in vietnam ….

                  And operation Condor in south America…. when the generals ( with u.s.a backing ), had taken over Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and a few other countries …… In Nazi/facist style they killed unionist, intellectuals, land and human rights advocates etc .

                  u.s.a supplied the computers to keep track of all the unionists and those marked for death ….. no matter where they ran.

                  IBM computers probably,… as there were not to many computing companies in the early and mid 1970’s …..

                  Tax Havens are another thing with a strong Nazi association …. so most corporations ( IBM of course ), use them

                  The Nazis beat communisim/socialisim http://100photos.time.com/photos/kevin-carter-starving-child-vulture

                  This is what Victory looks like http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/world/82862438/banana-republic-the-ugly-story-behind-new-zealands-most-popular-fruit

                  http://www.foodispower.org/slavery-chocolate/

                  And at the end of this video …. we get a look at our new Allies ….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkuonQCw_jg ….. we are supporting nazis ….. just like Nato and the U.s.a

                  Trump is made in the u.s.a …..

  4. Muttonbird 4
    18 May 2017 at 6:37 pm

    The stories of dairy hold-ups now come daily and it is bad news for the National Party which cut police services, increased inequality, removed surety of work hours, and treated the unemployed like criminals.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11858552

    There are a shitload of votes here for Labour which should be discussing loudly how they are going to reduce the crime and violence which has increased under National.

    • indiana 4.1
      18 May 2017 at 7:14 pm

      How about this, people know that robbing is wrong. If people didn’t think about robbing people, you wouldn’t need so much police as everyone behave harmoniously. But no, let’s make this a political issue, because a government doesn’t have enough police, that’s why there are so many robberies. Are you suggesting we need more police because people can’t help themselves? Instead of more police, let store keepers arm themselves. Then we’ll see how many people think about robbing someone else.

      • McFlock 4.1.1
        18 May 2017 at 7:15 pm

        yeah, because places where storekeepers arm themselves are crime free. Totally works every time.

        • David Mac 4.1.1.1
          18 May 2017 at 7:59 pm

          I agree McFlock, solutions need to be formed with the understanding that violence begets violence.

          Any solution that doesn’t drill down to the core of the problem is a Band Aid, the infection rages. Young people choosing to stick a knife in someone’s face is fixed by giving them something better to do.

          When one of our young people is sticking a knife in someone’s face, it’s our society, we created it, some of the buck stops with us. We’ve done a crap job of directing all that energy and adrenaline, geez it could be winning the Warriors games.

          If I was PM I’d be creating a Department of ‘Sorry you got such crap parents, pull on this wetsuit, pick up that spear-gun and follow me.’

      • In Vino 4.1.2
        18 May 2017 at 7:22 pm

        There will always be those people when you push policies that create poverty and hopelessness. Neo-liberalism has pushed us a long way down the path of creating a hell-hole of a society, and here you are putting up feeble, unrealistic arguments. Get real.

        • The decrypter 4.1.2.1
          18 May 2017 at 7:28 pm

          The answer lies in the —Budget.

        • Bill 4.1.2.2
          18 May 2017 at 8:24 pm

          It was a hell-hole of a society way back when Charles Dickens was writing. None of the fundamentals have changed – just some of the elastoplasts that had been applied have been stripped off these past decades.

          The answer now is no different to what it was then…

          • Stunned mullet 4.1.2.2.1
            18 May 2017 at 9:37 pm

            “..none of the fundamentals have changed since dickensian times..”

            I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt in that perhaps your definition of “the fundamentals” is quite narrow.

            • Bill 4.1.2.2.1.1
              18 May 2017 at 9:48 pm

              Market driven economy – capitalism. You think the rules have changed?

              • Stuart Munro …
                19 May 2017 at 2:01 am

                I’d suggest what Mayhew describes went a bit further than we’re used to.

                https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/16/rereading-henry-mayhew-london-poor

                Not for want of Gnats trying, or other parties failing to overturn their rorts mind.

                • Bill …
                  19 May 2017 at 11:31 am

                  Well, yes. What Mayhew describes is a situation that occurred in the absence of any welfare state.

                  But the economic rules that gave rise to that situation are the same rules our economy operates by today.

                  btw – ever been homeless without access to welfare, and tried hawking or peddling? You get lifted. Which offers an interesting twist in a situation where we’d dispensed with social welfare provisions – in some ways survival would be harder now than it was then, thanks to specific ‘regulations’ and ‘laws’…

      • Muttonbird 4.1.3
        18 May 2017 at 7:54 pm

        How very basic of you.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 4.1.4
        19 May 2017 at 8:20 am

        Rather than employing more police, it would be a lot cheaper (and better in so many other ways) to reduce income inequality, and you don’t want to do that either, assuming you are capable, which I don’t.

  5. Bill 5
    18 May 2017 at 7:44 pm

    And in shock breaking news, it seems the NZ Labour Party may have been paying attention to the SNP afterall!!!

    http://www.labour.org.nz/kiwibuild 🙂

  6. Glenn 6
    18 May 2017 at 8:14 pm

    Why if Myrtle Rust has been randomly “wind blown” from Australia to the Kermadecs and the NZ mainland is it being detected only (I think) in plant nurseries? Surely with NZ’s westerlys it would be showing up in Western NZ native bush and feijoa orchards yet the only references I see is to plant nurseries.

    • weka 6.1
      18 May 2017 at 8:40 pm

      Nurseries are probably good nurseries for MR if you get what I mean (i.e. ideal conditions).

  7. Whispering Kate 7
    18 May 2017 at 8:27 pm

    With the severity of the violence with dairy owners and cigarettes. As nicotine is an addicting substance why doesn’t the Government place all cigarettes and tobacco into the same category as methadone, the heroin substitute and have dedicated places where people can go and buy their fags in a controlled and secure area. I remember years ago hearing from the guy who rang Kingseat Hospital that nicotine was as difficult as heroin to withdraw from – why on earth isn’t it a controlled substance?

    I realise that supermarkets and dairies will loose a lot of income but surely with ingenuity they could come up with other ideas and products to get customers through the door. While I am on this I cannot see why booze can’t be also separated off from general food products in the supermarket like Australia does. To be honest – there could be a valid reason to separate off completely alcohol into secure areas like methadone and nicotine as well to do away with the numerous booze outlets.

    I am not a whowser – I enjoy my wine, but if push came to shove I would be prepared to purchase my alcohol in a secure environment and maybe that would stop all this terrible violence occurring to shop owners.

    Pigs might fly too.

    • weka 7.1
      18 May 2017 at 8:46 pm

      Bill wrote a post about that once (nicotine addicts being able to register and have access to supply).

      https://thestandard.org.nz/curing-tobacco/

      Don’t think it will solve the dairy robberies, they’re stealing for shit to sell to make money, and they’re amped up on the violence as far as I can tell. Take away the tobacco and they’ll steal something else.

      I have no problem with alcohol being restricted to licensed premises.

      • Bill 7.1.1
        18 May 2017 at 8:50 pm

        heh – I do believe that was before the advent of vapourising 🙂 (Nicotine habit satisfied for about $2 per week)

        I should edit. Edit. Vapourising paraphernalia should be available on script. It’s presently illegal to sell or supply nicotine in solution in NZ, meaning…all the government subsidies goes to pharma selling bullshit patches, gums, and pills.

  8. mauī 8
    18 May 2017 at 8:51 pm

    RIP Chris Cornell. For the rockers out there:

  9. joe90 9
    18 May 2017 at 8:58 pm

    Erdogan’s man in the White House succeeded.

    The plan to arm the Kurdish fighters had been seven months in the making when it was presented to Flynn.

    “Don’t approve it,” Flynn said, according to an account in The Washington Post that was included in a timeline prepared by the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. “We’ll make the decision.”

    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article151149702.html

    • Bill 9.1
      18 May 2017 at 9:14 pm

      No, he didn’t succeed.

      The sad truth is that no-one wants to see the autonomous regions’ experiment with substantive forms of democratic governance persist…

      not the Turkish government.
      nor the US government
      nor the EU
      nor the Syrian government
      nor the traditional Arab structures of power in the region
      nor the government of Iraqi Kurdistan…

      Trump has finally agreed to supply light arms – oh, underwhelmed whoop. I think I may be right in saying that heavier weaponry will be supplied on a tightly monitored basis (ie – it gets ‘rented out’ for specific operations and then returned)

      This shit is like the Spanish revolution gone horribly wrong if you can imagine such a thing 🙁

  10. repateet 10
    18 May 2017 at 9:18 pm

    Just in case Steven Joyce is thinking of running with ‘Strong and Stable’ this year. The end part on here has so many elements which are ours; and his.

    • Bill 10.1
      18 May 2017 at 10:23 pm

      Was torturing myself trying to remember who else it was I’d seen punting on the “Strong and Stable” meme, then I remembered it was the “Brighter Future” meme being peddled by the UK’s Lib Dems …Go Teh Guardian! 😉

  11. keepcalmcarryon 11
    18 May 2017 at 9:47 pm

    Water is still a huge issue. Damien Oconnor spoke well on backbenchers the other night – except on water where he was worse than weak. Greens were good, NZ first lady mostly looked proud of herself for showing up, Chester Borrows a pillock.
    Everyone bar the greens patting themselves and fed farmers on the back about fencing watreways noone addressing the real issue of Nitrate leaching.
    And today the Nats go for the half billion with irrigation subsidies by throwing another 90 million in there
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/92742733/government-90m-boost-for-irrigation-to-produce-economic-and-environment-gains

    Incredibly this is spun as having environmental benefit by replenishing the aquifer!
    ” “At the same time these schemes can deliver real environmental benefits by maintaining river flows and recharging groundwater aquifers.””
    Really?

  12. Incognito 12
    18 May 2017 at 10:21 pm

    Although his writing is a little academic/intellectual in style I like his thinking: Max Harris on the unavoidable centrality of environmental politics

    https://impolitikal.com/2017/05/15/extract-max-harris-on-the-unavoidable-centrality-of-environmental-politics/

    • Robert Guyton 12.1
      18 May 2017 at 10:51 pm

      That’s very good.

    • Bill 12.2
      18 May 2017 at 11:02 pm

      Only about to read it.

      But punting it’ll be making the obvious point that all these house building proposals from the Libuorish Party and the Narsty Party are just so much bullshit riding alongside all their other inadequate and “reality defying” bullshit, yes?

      • weka 12.2.1
        18 May 2017 at 11:14 pm

        building housing is bullshit because of the environment?

        • Bill 12.2.1.1
          18 May 2017 at 11:29 pm

          Over 30 000 houses are under water according to Jan Wright’s (Commissioner for the Environment) report from 2015. Only 1000 odd of those fucked dwellings are in Auckland, yet the bulk of any party’s building programme is Auckland based.

          These fucking clowns (the politicians) might as well don a Donald wig as far as I’m concerned.

          • weka 12.2.1.1.1
            18 May 2017 at 11:47 pm

            Ah, CC. I’d gone down another track re housing and the environment.

            30,000, but not for a while right? Not sure what you are saying. The reason they’re focussing on Ak is because so much pressure is there right now.

            • Bill 12.2.1.1.1.1
              18 May 2017 at 11:59 pm

              Depends on whether you want to go with IPCC reports or not. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is running on prelim figures they gleaned from research on Antarctica just prior to the US elections that point to a possible 1.5m by as soon as 2050. Regardless of whether that pans out, “no-one” takes the IPCC suggestion of 1m by 2100 seriously any more.

              New Zealand assumes houses have to be around for 50 years.

              Jan Wright’s figures that I added up to be over 30 000 were based on a 1.5m sea level rise.

              edit. In the absence of serious measures being taken in other places that are ‘going under’, then the pressure in Auckland will be seriously exacerbated by what we might come to term as internal refugees.

              • weka …
                19 May 2017 at 12:35 pm

                Sure, and Labour and the Greens are looking at the housing crisis in NZ not just Ak, but I think everyone is very focussed on the people who are homeless this year.

                Still not sure what your point is. Is it that no-one is taking CC seriously enough? (agreed). Is it that people are still building in stupid places (agreed, and Dunedin is at least making moves on this). Is it that Ak is too low lying?

                • Bill …
                  19 May 2017 at 1:51 pm

                  The housing policies are nowhere near ambitious enough because they do not seem to be taking into account the huge and inevitable loss in housing stock that’s going to result from sea level rise.

                  We’re not looking at some distant tomorrow on that front and it’s going to be on-going. It’s a consideration that should be a part and parcel of any current housing policy.

                  edit – and a 10 year build as Labour proposes isn’t really doing much for those homeless today or this year.

                  • weka …
                    19 May 2017 at 2:23 pm

                    That’s why I’m voting Green 😉

                    I’m less worried about the actual number of houses re CC, because NZ has shit loads of empty houses. Stats NZ has occupancy rates for most places, all cities have empty houses.

                    “There are 46,590 occupied dwellings and 3,915 unoccupied dwellings in Dunedin City.
                    …
                    There are 186 dwellings under construction in Dunedin City, and 9,756 under construction in New Zealand.”

                    “There are 11,508 occupied dwellings and 4,467 unoccupied dwellings in Queenstown-Lakes District.
                    …
                    There are 237 dwellings under construction in Queenstown-Lakes District, and 9,756 under construction in New Zealand.”

                    https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07042017/#comment-1318184

                    I’d put Dunedin at average and QLDC as high relative to NZ but normal relative to other tourist towns.

                    Lots of houses are under occupied too. And there will be a fair number of houses that can be moved. Which isn’t to say you aren’t right about political parties not designing policy around this properly (they’re not), just that I consider sea level rise to be one of NZ’s lesser problems (plenty of technical solutions for us and we have the wealth to do them, our problem is political and social).

      • Bill 12.2.2
        18 May 2017 at 11:23 pm

        Read it. Reaching for the puke bucket. Just another fluffy and clueless liberal seeking preservation through the variation of a theme that’s served them well.

        • Incognito 12.2.2.1
          19 May 2017 at 7:55 am

          [Max Harris is] Just another fluffy and clueless liberal seeking preservation through the variation of a theme that’s served [him] well

          Is that what you’re saying Bill? Because that’s what I think you’re saying but often I cannot tell …

          I do honestly think that Max Harris is genuinely trying to come up with solutions just like many others but of course this doesn’t mean he or anybody else will have (all) the answers let alone answers that’ll please or satisfy everyone. He’s not a policy-maker; he’s trying to stimulate debate in an open, honest and brave way and I think he should be applauded for this even, or perhaps especially (!), when you don’t agree with him or his thinking & ideas.

          • Bill 12.2.2.1.1
            19 May 2017 at 11:19 am

            Yeah – that was a rubbish and unfair comment. Retracted, withdrawn etc, etc.

  • Comments are now closed

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

Older posts

  • Teachers should elect their own professional representation
    A new Bill introduced to Parliament today would give teachers the right to elect representatives to their own professional body, says Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. ...
    Labour
    5 hours ago

  • A fair deal for working people and good employers
    Labour will implement sensible changes to employment law to prevent the small number of bad employers undercutting good employers and driving a ‘race to the bottom’ on wages and conditions, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. ...
    Labour
    5 hours ago

  • The Foreign Minister, the Zone and the Convention
    Last month the relatively new foreign minister of our realm, Hon Gerry Brownlee, steered a wobbly diplomatic course on Israeli settlements, which became leveraged to a political level. In May, he described UN Security Council resolution 2334 of December ’16, ...
    GreensBy Kennedy Graham
    5 hours ago

  • Pouring Government energy into avoiding energy leadership
    Energy Minister Judith Collins yesterday released the new New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and it’s very disappointing. It’s unambitious, continues business as usual & won’t achieve much. It continues National’s well-worn tactic of playing tricks, rather than actually ...
    GreensBy Gareth Hughes
    7 hours ago

  • Māori Party’s waka up river without paddle
    The Māori Party’s waka is up the river without a paddle over its Waka Oranga mobile health unit pilot programme, says Labour’s Māori Development spokesperson Kelvin Davis. ...
    Labour
    1 day ago

  • English covering for Barclay to pass legislation
    The Prime Minister has been relying on Todd Barclay’s vote to pass key legislation, explaining why English has covered up the Barclay scandal for so long and why he continues to refuse to answer questions, says Leader of the Opposition ...
    Labour
    1 day ago

  • Typhoid report shows health officials under the hammer
    A chaotic picture has emerged around the response of Auckland public health officials to this year’s typhoid outbreak, says Aupito William Sio Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesman.  “Our Pacific community was left exposed by the Auckland Regional Public Health Services’ ...
    Labour
    2 days ago

  • Huge high country station risks going to overseas ownership
    The real estate advertisement is spot on in describing Mt White Station as an “iconic” South Island high country station. The 40,000 hectare property is adjacent to Arthur’s Pass National Park and the upper reaches of the Waimakariri River. Mt ...
    GreensBy Eugenie Sage
    2 days ago

  • Bill English must be upfront about his involvement in Barclay scandal
    Bill English’s explanations that he was on the periphery of the long running employment dispute involving Todd Barclay don’t stack up, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “The Prime Minister claims to have been a bystander, but we know he was ...
    Labour
    3 days ago

  • Labour will not resile from royalties
    Labour believes cleaning up our rivers so that they are clean enough to swim in is the most important freshwater issue for this election, but that it is also fair that a royalty should be charged where public water is ...
    Labour
    4 days ago

  • With friends like Hone, who needs enemies?
    With less than three months until the election, Hone Harawira has delivered another blow to the Māori Party’s flagship policy of Te Ture Whenua Māori reform and the already unstable MANA-Maori Party alliance, says Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “On The ...
    Labour
    4 days ago

  • Shifty Bill jumps the shark
    Bill English's claim today that it has never been established that Todd Barclay's recordings of his staff took place is bizarre and shows a complete lack of honesty and leadership, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson.  "Todd Barclay told Bill ...
    Labour
    5 days ago

  • Te Ture Whenua – gone by lunchtime?
    Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has to front up about yesterday’s mysterious withdrawal of Te Ture Whenua Bill from Parliament’s order paper, says Labour’s Ikaroa Rawhiti MP Meka Whaitiri.  “Has he lost his way and has decided to run ...
    Labour
    6 days ago

  • Bill English ignorance of law beggars belief
    For Bill English to claim he and others in the National Party didn’t realise the law may have been broken in the Todd Barclay taping scandal is simply not credible, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “The Prime Minister ...
    Labour
    6 days ago

  • Government ignored advice on Pacific people’s superannuation
    The Government ignored advice from the Ministry of Pacific Peoples that raising the Superannuation age of eligibility would have a ‘disproportionately high impact’ on Pacific people, says Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesperson Aupito William Sio.   “The Ministry for Pacific ...
    Labour
    6 days ago

  • Bill English misleads Parliament on Police statement
    Bill English's attempt to restore his damaged credibility over the Todd Barclay affair has backfired after his claim to have "reported" Mr Barclay's actions to Police has proven not to be true, says Labour MP for Wellington Central Grant Robertson. ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Keep it Public
    The Green Party strongly supports the Tertiary Education Unions call to #KeepitPublic Keep what public? Out quality tertiary education system that National is trying to open up to more private for-profit providers with a new law change. The (Tertiary Education ...
    GreensBy Gareth Hughes
    1 week ago

  • This ‘technical error’ is hurting big time
    Jonathan Coleman cannot resort to his ongoing litany that the Ministry of Health’s $38 million budget blunder is an error on paper only, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark. “He might keep saying it’s a ‘technical error’ but the reality ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Labour to invest in public transport for Greater Christchurch
    Labour will commit $100m in capital investment for public transport in Greater Christchurch, including commuter rail from Rolleston to the CBD, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “As the rebuild progresses, there are huge opportunities for Greater Christchurch, but ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Green Party will repeal solar tax
    It’s ridiculous for an electricity distribution monopoly to apply a charge on solar panels but worse than that, it’s harming our effort to tackle climate change. Hawke’s Bay lines company Unison last year announced a new solar charge for their ...
    GreensBy Gareth Hughes
    1 week ago

  • English fails the character test over Barclay
    Bill English is hoping this scandal will go away, but he is still dodging important questions over his role in covering up for Todd Barclay, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Government must apologise for Christchurch schools stuff-up
    The Ombudsman’s findings that the Ministry of Education botched the reorganisation of Christchurch schools after the 2011 earthquake are damning for an under-fire National Government, says Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. “The Ombudsman has found the reorganisation of schools in ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Government’s multinational tax measures weak
    The Government’s proposals to crack down on multinational tax avoidance, by its own admission only recovering one third of the missing money, means hardworking Kiwis will bear more of the tax burden, says Labour’s Revenue spokesperson Michael Wood. “The Government ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • World Refugee Day – we can do our bit
    I’m really proud that yesterday, on World Refugee Day, the Greens launched an ambitious plan to increase the refugee quota to 5000 over the next six years. Of those places, 4,000 will be directly resettled by the government and another ...
    GreensBy Denise Roche
    1 week ago

  • PM’s leadership in question over Barclay affair
    The Prime Minister must belatedly show some leadership and compel Todd Barclay to front up to the Police, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “Twice today Bill English has been found wanting in this matter. ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Another memory lapse by Coleman?
    The Minister of Health ‘couldn’t recall’ whether the Director General of Health Chai Chuah offered his resignation over the Budget funding fiasco involving the country’s District Health Boards, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark. “In the House today Jonathan Coleman ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Bill English needs to come clean over Barclay
    Bill English needs to explain why he failed to be upfront with the public over the actions of Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay, following revelations that he knew about the secretly recorded conversations in the MP’s electorate office, says Labour Leader ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Minister, show some backbone and front up and debate
    Rather than accusing critics of his Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill of telling ‘lies’, Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell should show some backbone and front up to a debate on the issue, says Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “Te ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Equal pay for mental health workers
    Today, mental health workers are filing an equal pay claim through their unions. Mental health support workers do important and difficult work in our communities. But because the workforce is largely female, they are not paid enough. It’s wrong for ...
    GreensBy Jan Logie
    1 week ago

  • Nats’ HAM-fisted housing crisis denial
    National’s decision to knowingly release a flawed Housing Affordability Measure that underestimates the cost of housing is the latest evidence of their housing crisis denial, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • New Pike footage builds compelling case for mine re-entry
    New footage of the Pike River Mine deep inside the operation, revealing no fire damage or signs of an inferno, provides a compelling reason to grant the families of Pike River’s victims their wish to re-enter the drift, says Labour ...
    Labour
    1 week ago

  • Labour will get tough on slum boarding houses
    The next Labour-led Government will legislate a Warrant of Fitness based on tough minimum standards to clean out slum boarding houses, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. “It’s not acceptable for New Zealanders in the 21st Century to be living ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Green Party tribute to Dame Nganeko Minhinnick
    Haere ngā mate ki tua o paerau; te moenga roa o ngā mātua tupuna. Haere, haere, haere. It was with a huge sense of loss that we learned of the death of Dame Nganeko Minhinnick yesterday. The Green Party acknowledges ...
    GreensBy Catherine Delahunty
    2 weeks ago

  • Urgent answers needed on DHB funding
      Jonathan Coleman must come clean and answer questions about what actual funding DHBs received in Budget 2017, says Labour Health Spokesperson David Clark.   ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Treasury puts Māori Land Service on red alert
    A damning Treasury report raises serious questions about the delivery of Te Ururoa Flavell’s proposed Māori Land Service, giving it a ‘red’ rating which indicates major issues with the project, says Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri.  “Treasury’s Interim Major Projects Monitoring ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Economy stalling after nine years of National’s complacency
    The second successive quarterly fall in per person growth shows the need for a fresh approach to give all New Zealanders a fair share in prosperity, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Kiwi kids deserve much more
    All Kiwi kids deserve so much more than the impoverished picture painted by the shameful rankings provided by the UNICEF Innocenti Report Card, says Labour’s children spokesperson Jacinda Ardern. ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • NZ Zone a precursor to a total nuclear weapon ban
    New Zealand’s nuclear-free zone, legislated by Parliament in 1987, is something we all take pride in. It’s important, however, that we don’t let it thwart its own ultimate purpose – a world free of nuclear weapons. That goal must be ...
    GreensBy Kennedy Graham
    2 weeks ago

  • English must confirm we still stand by our principles on UN resolution
    Bill English must tell New Zealand whether we remain in support of the UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “After Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee’s evasive answers to repeated questions on ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Māori party drop the poi on Māori health
    The Māori Party have dropped the poi when it comes to supporting Ngati Whakaue and Māori interests in Bay of Plenty by allowing an iwi owned and operated service Te Hunga Manaaki to be brushed aside in favour of a ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Labour to invest in Whanganui River infrastructure
    Labour will work in partnership with the Whanganui Council to repair and redevelop the city’s Port precinct in advance of planned economic development and expansion. To enable Whanganui’s plans, Labour will commit $3m in matching funding for repairing the Whanganui ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Parihaka: an apology
    An apology only works for healing if it is sincere and if it is accepted. We teach our children to apologise and to be genuine if they want to be forgiven. On Friday, June 9 at Parihaka, the Crown apologised ...
    GreensBy Catherine Delahunty
    2 weeks ago

  • Survey shows many international students plan to stay in NZ after study
    Most international students in New Zealand at PTEs (private training establishments) who have a plan for themselves after study intend to stay in New Zealand to work. This shows how low-level education has become a backdoor immigration route under National, ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Councils step up as Nats drop the ball on housing crisis
    Phil Goff’s Mayoral Housing Taskforce is another positive example of councils stepping up where National has failed on housing, says Labour Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Time for a breather on immigration
    Labour will introduce moderate, sensible reforms to immigration to reduce the pressure on our cities, while ensuring we get the skilled workers our country needs, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “New Zealand is a country built on immigration. ...
    Labour
    2 weeks ago

  • Inaction puts Māui dolphins at risk
    Conservation Minister Maggie Barry was at the United Nations Oceans Conference in New York last week, trying to convince the world that the New Zealand Government is doing a good job at protecting our marine environment.  Yet last week after ...
    GreensBy Eugenie Sage
    2 weeks ago

  • National unprepared as immigration runs four times faster than forecast
    National has been caught asleep at the wheel by record immigration that has outstripped Budget forecasts, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. ...
    Labour
    3 weeks ago

  • First home buyers shouldn’t carry the can for National’s failed policies
    The introduction of tighter limits on lending to first home buyers would see them paying the price for the National Party’s failure to recognise or fix the housing crisis, Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson says. “Nine years of denial and ...
    Labour
    3 weeks ago

Older posts

Older posts