Daily Review 21/04/2016
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6:00 pm, April 21st, 2016 - 40 comments
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“Do something about the bloody trees” would be the most common refrain I hear around Clutha and when travelling about rural New Zealand. Forestry has been, and is, a legitimate land use option for farmers and forestry companies. Always has been, always will. Sensible farmers have incorporated planting out of ...6 days ago
- OPED – Jenny Marcroft: Supporting our oyster farmers
Most of us who live in the Mahurangi region are well aware of the ongoing challenges faced by oyster farmers because of multiple significant sewage spills into Mahurangi Harbour. Watercare’s sewerage network in Warkworth is infiltrated with stormwater following rainfall, resulting in overflows into the Mahurangi River and the wider ...7 days ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Protect New Zealanders’ Ability to Use Cash
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would protect New Zealanders’ ability to use cash. The Bill will provide for the enduring use of cash as a private, accessible, and reliable method of payment. “People who rely on cash due to barriers to digital banking deserve ...1 week ago
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As the Government pulls out of global climate commitments, a significant new report shows that sea ice around Antarctica is melting at unprecedented speed. ...1 week ago
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Today’s announcement on the Family Boost scheme is little more than tinkering around the edges while real issues in the ECE system are ignored, says the Green Party. ...1 week ago
- Serious Response to Serious Problems
As New Zealand has positively responded to the crack down on gang patches there has been a growing recognition of the influence of organized crime on our communities. New Zealand First continues to be focused on all aspects that undermine the safety and security in our neighbourhoods, businesses, and ...2 weeks ago
- NZ First Bill: Only Official New Zealand Flag to Fly on Government Buildings
New Zealand First has today introduced a member's bill which would make it law that government buildings can only display the official flag of New Zealand. “Government buildings are for all New Zealanders and should not be hijacked to force cultural, woke, or divisive political ideology down the throats of ...2 weeks ago
- Healthy Homes standards need more teeth
With mandatory Healthy Homes standards coming into effect for all tenancies tomorrow, the Green Party is calling for a new Rental Warrant of Fitness system to give the new standards true effect. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party pays tribute to Takutai Tarsh Kemp
The Green Party has paid tribute to Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp who sadly passed away early this morning. ...3 weeks ago
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- Fiji govt offers NZ$1.5m settlement to former anti-corruption head for ruined career
By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior reporter The Fiji government looks set to pay around NZ$1.5 million in damages to the disgraced former head of the country’s anti-corruption agency FICAC. The state is offering Barbara Malimali an out-of-court settlement after her lawyer lodged a judicial review of her sacking in ...3 hours ago - Federal Court rules Australian government doesn’t have a duty of care to protect Torres Strait Isl...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Hicks, Lecturer in Law, The University of Melbourne Australian Climate Case The Federal Court has handed down its long-awaited judgement in a four-year climate case brought by Torres Strait Islanders. Elders Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai took the ...6 hours ago
- No more card surcharges: what the Reserve Bank’s proposed changes mean for your wallet
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angel Zhong, Professor of Finance, RMIT University That extra 10c on your morning coffee. That $2 surcharge on your taxi ride. The sneaky 1.5% fee when you pay by card at your local restaurant. These could all soon be history. The Reserve ...6 hours ago
- President Xi Jinping tells Albanese China ready to ‘push the bilateral relationship further’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Anthony Albanese China stands ready to work with Australia “to push the bilateral relationship further”, in their meeting in Beijing on Tuesday. During the meeting, Albanese raised Australia’s concern ...7 hours ago
- Online casino bill: Greens vote with coalition govt to pass first reading
The Greens have broken with their opposition party colleagues to vote in support of the online casino bill. ...9 hours ago - Online casino bill: Greens vote with coaltion govt to pass first reading
The Greens have broken with their opposition party colleagues to vote in support of the online casino bill. ...9 hours ago
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Wellington-based MPs condemn the councillor's email about the mayor and say they feel "embarrassed" to be from the Capital. ...9 hours ago
- Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Classical Greece and China dealt wi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny. This may all feel very new ...10 hours ago
- A person in the US has died from pneumonic plague. It’s not just a disease of history
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Corona Borealis Studio/Shutterstock A person in Arizona has died from the plague, local health officials reported on Friday. This marks the first such death in this region in 18 years. But it’s ...10 hours ago
- Supermarket treatments for depression don’t require a prescription. But do they work?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Wardle, Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University Australians have long been some of the highest users of herbal and nutritional supplements that claim to boost mood or ease depression. These include omega-3s (found in fish oil), St John’s wort, probiotics ...10 hours ago
- Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Ancient Greece and China dealt with...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast Panasevich/Getty Images We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny. This may all ...10 hours ago
- State of Wayne’s Auckland: No easy fixes
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It’s an impressive return on $100,000 investment. How wealthy do you need to be to qualify for ‘aid money’ from the NZ tax-payer?
You are aware that Hagaman’s company operates the hotel. He doesn’t own it and he didn’t have the aid money passed to him. That went to the owners to carry out the expansion.
But of course you know that. You just ignore it because you are following your little leader Andy in his smear campaign.
Was the multi million dollar refurbishment publicly known when the contract was signed?
If not, could it possibly have been discussed at a Cabinet Club meeting, thereby giving a certain hotel chain an opportunity to adjust their tender to be more competitive?
So do you know the details of the funding or how much the company is paid to manage the resort. Please tell.
“how much the company is paid to manage the resort”
I haven’t the faintest idea. Why should I?
Sabine posted a great long spiel on the subject where she kept repeating that it was $7.5 million. When I asked the source of this number, which she had repeated 4 times she never gave me a sensible reply.
Perhaps she will tell you whether there is any truth in that figure or whether she just made it up. I suspect the latter.
Here is what she had to say. It is followed by my request for a link and then a very long reply by Sabine which had nothing to do with the question.
http://thestandard.org.nz/gould-on-nats-sleaze-and-corruption/#comment-1162946
Little is too stupid to be PM.
Hooray! Basic Mind is back.
Lol, is that some kind of bot? I love how it just comes out of nowhere. If that isn’t a flaming troll line I don’t know what is 🙄
“…the left underestimate Key to its peril” & if Little gets under your skin he must be doing something right!
“Little gets under your skin”.
So does melanoma. Now what is the “something right” about that?
You guys are spinning a lot lately. Whats up?
Very exercised over this matter aren’t they. They remind me of when I was a kid… caught out doing something I wasn’t allowed to do. The screams of denial could be heard far and wide.
Yeah the reaction to Little’s call for the AG to take a look at a story that broke on RadioNZ seems way out of proportion. What’s going on?
Obviously a sensitive subject. It has happened for a while. The right clearly believe that the best form of defence is attack.
If Little is the melanoma that puts paid to NZ’s political Right, then there is something very, very right about him
The prognosis for melanoma is actually really good when detected and treated early before it has spread to other tissues or organs. When ignoring the signs the prognosis rapidly drops off to a near-death sentence. Need I say more?
Judging from the present and many past PMs stupidity is hardly a deal breaker to becoming PM.
Bother we had a school group going down to that…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/79192287/person-infected-with-measles-attended-kapa-haka-regionals-in-hamilton
..I hope they were all up to date with their immunisations.
That’s a great graph. It should be disseminated far and wide!!!
Gosh, even the Nat.rwnj simpletons will be able to understand it.
Not so sure Anne – unless Andrew Little is very sure he has evidence of some wrongdoing he’s buying into a very public legal fight with Earl Hagaman for defamation.
In this article, Little is calling out the government not Hagaman. Has he defamed Hagaman in some way too?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/79163924/Labour-leader-Andrew-Little-defends-suspicion-over-Niue-resort-contract
The blue visual above… if it was my name and I’d done nothing wrong I’d be none too pleased with the inference.
What inference? It’s a timeline of events isn’t it?
Read the headline of the graphic. Little is clearly commenting on National. The inference is that National will give contracts to its donors.
The Nat machine has no problems with calling out any beneficiary who happens to stray / get dragged into into the political arena and cause them the slightest embarrassment. For example the two women that Bennet named and Selwyn Clarke.
But they take a different view when it’s one of their star donors getting the same scrutiny.
Mr Hagaman should step back for a moment and consider the societal and political environment that his donations are facilitating.
+1.
No that’s your spin line to deflect away from the issue, he referred to the govt….come on you can do better than that.
Oh they understand it ,its just that they see no problem with it.
Yes. There was a bit of sarcasm for their benefit in my comment.
I’m reminded of the screaming and howling by the right wing over Dirty Politics. Methinks they’re trying the same trick on again but not sure it will work this time because its all about money. And $7.5 million of it is OUR money!!
Food for thought….
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/politicians-should-be-psychologically-assessed-says-hr-expert-20150621-ghtsji.html
They seem to think that they can test whether someone is a fool or not 😆
Leading psychologist is an oxymoron.
LOL
Anybody else having trouble accessing certain posts? Tonight when I clicked on the Oravida post, a red flag popped up on the tab and the page was blank. This has been happening to the Open Mic post too. As an avid reader of The Standard I hate to miss anything!
Cheers.
I got a page saying that there was some maintenance going on. Maybe Lynn is tinkering.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/21/britain-corporate-fatcat-party-till-we-turn-music-off
because we let them
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/20/eu-dropped-climate-policies-after-bp-threat-oil-industry-exodus
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/20/india-drought-affecting-330-million-people-weak-monsoons
Methinks Hagaman’s do protest too much
Earl is probably doing as told to help the DP machine, dogs n fleas comes to mind.
Hagamans, not Hagaman’s