The Prime Minister will need fast and clear clear information from Fletchers and Sky City to provide assurance to all APEC participants (Putin, Xi, Trump etc) that this fire does not disturb that programme.
This fore is both a logistical and diplomatic problem for the government now.
Otherwise this is liqudated damages and court cases, as well as a catastrophic defeat for the government.
Apart from the difficulties this obviously poses for APEC planning, and the government is going to have to get on top of that real fast, I’d be pleased as hell if shitty Skycity’s ugly convention centre never rose from the ashes.
Catastrophic defeat for the government? How do you come to that conclusion?
It was the John Key government who insisted on building the thing. The Labour Oppo. was vehemently opposed because it was seen as a massive fiscal extravagance. And time has proved it to be so. Now add to the cost a humongous repair bill and how is that supposed to reflect badly on the Labour led government?
Ad is right. If the government doesn’t act fast and get planning for APEC back on track after this (Skycity convention centre was the big venue for it) and, worst case scenario, it has to be moved offshore because there is nowhere else to hold it in Auckland the government will pay big time.
While I absolutely don’t want that to happen it will be just rewards for our total inability to plan and execute national infrastructure in NZ
How’s Christchurch convention centre coming along?
You do realise this was being paid for privately and not by the government Anne?
So what were the labour opposition opposing then if they objected to this?
For some reason I believe you know the answers to your questions. In any case, the Opposition was opposed to the $128 million taxpayer top-up to build the Centre and to the gambling concessions they were given, estimated worth tens of millions per year.
"as well as a catastrophic defeat for the government"
You vastly overestimate the public liking for these non-performing trade deals – they've been oversold as being wonderful for decades without producing anything much.
Surely there would be quite well developed plans for a back-up venue in place since the proposed venue is still under construction, and just from the importance and stature of the event.
Wellington should have possible venues, there must be alternatives in Auckland. Queenstown hosted CHOGM at Millbrook in 1995, which was quite high profile but surprisingly low key with world leaders like Mandela, John Major and Howard wandering around Arrowtown with general public and tourists.
Millbrook would be as secure, maybe more. There's all sorts of things go on there that are kept out of sight.
Whether it can cope with the business side as well as the leader side could be another matter.
But more immediate is how this is going to affect Fletchers, insurance claim could be interesting if media reports of a blow torch being left on over smoko are correct. But not the first butynol job to go up in smoke, hopefully the risk was appropriately managed.
Ironically the NDP in Canada, having lost almost half their seats, will probably have more power than they have ever had in Ottawa as Trudeau will need to their votes to get his legislative agenda through the House of Commons. ProRep back on the agenda?
The Greens have made a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada too, winning Fredericton, the provincial capital in New Brunswick. They will hold their current two seats on Vancouver Island.
Sheer, the Tory leader is already fending off the predictable questions about his campaign strategy. If he couldn’t beat a PM that’s had a year as hellish as Trudeau who could he beat?
.
Yep … back in 2011 the New Dems take 31% of the vote & a record 103 seats (partly a sympathy vote for Jack Layton), official Opposition status for the first time but precisely zero power … fast-forward to 2019, a measly 16% / 24 seats … and the prospect of real influence on Govt direction.
Vancouver Island remains a Left stronghold. Overwhelmingly Orange with a couple of dabs of Green.
Major live feed fail on the telly in Canada. All three major party leaders have started their victory/concession speeches at the same time. Networks are all going with Trudeau of course. Pretty funny though.
Then there is the prairie provinces and BC outside Vancouver and its island, where all the seats, apart from 3 ,won by Conservatives. PQ of course only stands in Quebec
Noticed too the election slogans. Conservatives in Quebec were
"Plus. Pour vous. Dès maintenant." "More. For you. Starting now." They only won about 5 seats around Quebec City and none in Montreal
Wonder what it will take to change some attitudes – nothing worse than dirty cockies
Open Country Dairy was ordered to pay $221,250 after an objectionable smell from its Waharoa plant caused residents to vomit and suffer headaches last year.
It was also found to have unlawfully discharged wastewater into a stream causing contamination of the Waitoa River.
…The Waikato Regional Council – which took the prosecution – said Open Country Dairy must prove to the community that it can operate in a compliant way in the future.
The council's investigations and incident response manager, Patrick Lynch said the company's record of now having five prosecutions relating to unlawful discharges into the environment was of concern.
"They will be looking at their own history of non-compliance now and they should be aghast at the amount of actions that the council has had to take to try and get them to a compliant place."
They are very open and straightforward – their name Open Country Dairy indicates their intention, to be transparent about sharing their pollution with all the surrounding country. That's bare-faced isn't it – quite a provocation to the local and central government. Do we put up with this sort of thing from business? Are they part of the entitled percentage cocking a finger or a leg at us whenever they feel the urge?
Or imprisonment with no early release. But maybe they were just too busy making ads about clean dairying? This is a black mark for those making nice ads about how farmers are trying so hard to be green and clean.
I think the reality of environmental responsibility has yet to sink in, not least with councils. So it's really WRC that need the hard talk, because if they continue to be as flaccid as overcooked pasta, companies will continue to take full advantage.
It's interesting (to linguists) that the origin of fine lies in its function of bringing an end to a legal dispute or debt. As such they are not appropriate to continuous breaches of operating conditions.
Open Country Dairy, New Zealand's second-largest milk processor, generated more than $1 billion of revenue last year but payments for milk rose faster than receipts from customers and profit fell.
Profit was $23 million in the year ended Sept. 30 from about $62 million a year earlier, its accounts show. Sales rose 34 percent to $1.1 billion while cost of sales gained about 44 percent.
Open Country didn't disclose volume figures in its public annual accounts but chair Laurie Margrain said it was up on a year ago.
"We have more market share, more farmers supplying us," he said. "We've got more of the market than a year ago and hugely more than 10 years ago."
Open Country is 76.6 percent owned by diversified agribusiness Talley's Group, slightly up on a year earlier and reflecting a share sale to Talley's by a small shareholder….
I general try to avoid Talleys because of their reputation. Suspect I might occasionally unknowingly buy some through supermarket own brands as there is no easy way to know who has packed what.
I remember seeing a Talleys list during the strikes, and noting that thankfully we did not purchase any of those items, but with the constant changes in ownership and shares it is always good to keep up to date.
I don't recall seeing Motueka Creamery brand before. The name sounds like a little local independent outfit (which I guess is the impression they want). Haven't seen any in the supermarket either but then I don't usually buy ice cream in tubs…
Me either. Thanks to a long-delayed realisation that I really need to do something about healthy eating, we avoid processed foods at the supermarket. Limited to buying tinned tomatoes and tomato paste.
Fully agree. But if they get new powers as currently proposed, we may barely be able to question their questionable activities. They are the holy crusaders fighting against crime, gangs and terrorism. How dare anyone question what they do?
Lets hope this idiot driver gets charged and goes to jail to get him off the roads. I feel sorry for the bloke driving to work that has been killed by him due directly to his dumb decision.
Bold Speaker in UK House of Parliament with verve, determination and a man holding onto the principles of Parliament so far. May he be able to stand against the Jester: 'You shall not pass'.
21 October 2019 9:05 Brexit: House of Commons Speaker refuses vote on Brexit deal- BBC News
Jacob Rees-Mogg and son, 12, heckled by anti-Brexit protesters who scream ‘Nazi’ and ‘traitor
Rees Mogg is starting to look like H..ler. I am interested in the loving gesture that this UK politician shows to his son's sensitive ear. (And I hadn't even noticed the caption then.)
556 comments I thought this one showed the depth of thought of many Brexiters. '
Shameful Positions 2 days ago (edited)
Typical anti Brexit mob that have been crying for 3 years. Learning to lose as well winning is part of life. Their behaviour is shameful.'
Anyone would think the matter discussed is a football match. This person doesn't realise that politics is about life; how people are to be treated in their country, and if they are to actually have a country to belong to. This sort of shallow thought is probably common.
Rafael Behr has consistently been a critic of Jeremy Corbyn on the Guardian. And it's not surprising that during this short video his criticism is based on the Labour Party, and no mention – at all – is made of the Torys.
I found his point about the remainers being just as in the dark as the brexiteers (a group that bojo is part of) during the referendum to be interesting. And his evaluation of the generalised clusterfuck that brings the UK to this point didn't seem unreasonable.
How was his description of political attitudes after the brexit negotiations were started incorrect?
In the admittedly short clip provided, only Labour is mentioned. And tbh, they were not the architects or the current party in charge of this delivering a solution.
The full interview might be more balanced, but the clip itself just reinforces a strange continual media narrative that blames Labour – particularly Jeremy Corbyn – for the current state of affairs.
And no, the clip doesn't blame Labour for the current state of affairs. It does, however, criticise Labour for standing back from the entire affair in the hope that complete failure or catastrophe will get it elected.
How was his description of political attitudes after the brexit negotiations were started incorrect?
Which, in part, is to blame for the latest yougov poll putting them 15% behind the conservatives. Total mismanagement of the agenda and a complete failure of Labour voters.
I thought that twitter thread was great. I liked the summation of the barebones of the UK Brexit Grand Funfair Slide. The comments were not at all the low mindless stuff as common. And Behr's attitude re Labour fairly found fault with their softly softly catchee monkee approach. I think they are suffering from the new sign of these debilitated modern times – a low sperm count. For women the feminists should be putting up those that have gone transgender, with the sensitivity, intelligence and BMI of blokes and girls mixed, or just females letting out more of their masculine side. These are changes that have happened at the same time as the trend to machine-run systems high on algorithms, and programmed thinking and nelibeconomics. The finding your own a-gender may be the new vanguard that saves us all. That and more vitamins and minerals to replace sugar, so we can get our teeth into our problems and those dozy pollies who need a bite on the bum, and then supporters and minders for those who venture forth into those enchanted and uncharted waters, watching their backs.
Git is a term of insult with origins in English denoting an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, annoying, senile, elderly or childish person. As a mild oath it is roughly on a par with prat and marginally less pejorative than berk.
The man who allegedly led a group of armed white citizens assisting in a search for a black burglary suspect in Sumner has a history of taking the law into his own hands.
#John Whitten III is a prosecutor for Tallahatchie County and the town attorney for Tutwiler. On Aug. 20, 2009, he attempted to assist law enforcement officers in searching for 28-year-old Will Pittman on the outskirts of the town of Sumner. Although he holds no law enforcement position, after hearing about the burglary, Whitten drove his Jeep to the cotton field and wooded area that officers were searching.
For me I think this racist bastard should be resigned from his role – he is a dim witted racist wanker – and we don't need more of those arseholes running the place.
The newly elected Tauranga councillor is already facing calls for his resignation.
While councillor Andrew Hollis was campaigning, he said the Treaty of Waitangi was "past it's use-by-date" and "a joke".
Local iwi leader Buddy Mikaere is a former director of the Waitangi Tribunal and said he wanted Mr Hollis to step aside.
"I think that in saying things like, the Treaty is a joke and that it's past its use-by-date and I think in one instance also saying, the Treaty should be burnt, that seems to me to be in direct contradiction of part one of the Local Government Act, and part four and six, where treaty principles are clearly something which councils needed to taking into account.
"So this guy has got a conflict of interest which seems to me would disqualify him from any participation in any council business that has to do with Māori interests because the whole purpose of those sections of the LGA is to give Māori input into the business of council.
"How can he participate on any reasonable debate on issues such as that?"
The sad thing is, though marty. That even if he does resign – which seems unlikely – he was vocal on his views during his campaign, and many Tauranga voters voted him in.
So, the issue is about a lot more than one man's views and the response to them. It is about the fact that such a climate of misunderstanding and bias exists that someone who holds those views is considered fit for office by a fairly significant number of voters, 5091 before iterations.
Yep we are good at growing racists – wilding racists can be plucked one at a time. Replacing the wilding racists with solid thinking migrants would be good imo.
Wilding racists – good term – act as a good indicator of how well we educate and discuss. They are part of New Zealand, and we get to figure out how to reduce their numbers and impact. We need to do better, but we also need to recognise that regardless of best intentions – we have created the environment that allowed them to take root.
The immigration issue is another one that requires more responsive discussion, both online and in person.
Having lived in another country for a few years, I have enjoyed the benefit of travel and living elsewhere. I can't deny the value of such an experience.
But I can also see how being prepared to do any job, for any money which was only possible because I was prepared to live lightly in order to travel, and contributed to the degradations of the working conditions of workers who lived there. It is also true that due to very high levels of ignorance and self-interest, I contributed nothing to the communities in which I lived or the political direction of that country.
I believe that is is really important that our New Zealand immigration policies are reviewed, not because I am against immigrants, but because new New Zealanders – alongside existing ones, should be protected against exploitation and should expect a better standard of living than many experience. We also do have to look at how badly prepared many of our systems are set up to deal with a high population increase, in terms of infrastructure, work regulation, housing, health and education. And we need to invest in these aspects of living, which will return dividends for both new immigrants, and existing New Zealanders.
At the moment, we appallingly treat immigrants purely as investors both financially in terms of bringing money into the country, and socially, as invigorating our diversity. We act as passive investors and contribute very little in return. We also devalue existing New Zealanders because they are not considered as contributing to the vitality of the country. It is not good enough.
The conditions that made you do what you did and others do it too are economic and nothing to do with migrants and immigrants imo – a bit like saying the world food issue is a distribution and waste issue, not a 'not enough food' issue. Low wages and poor conditions are NOT driven by migrants – migrants are used within these conditions, they are exploited. We don't blame the starving people for starving do we?
I've just driven from the top to the bottom to the top of Te Waka a Māui – we have plenty of room for more people who can contribute to this country. And with the amount of things that will need to be moved to higher ground there should be tons of work to do around the whole country imo.
“The conditions that made you do what you did and others do it too are economic and nothing to do with migrants and immigrants imo…” Really. Just young and self interested, not concerned with the wider ramifications of meeting low expectations and conditions, and working within a regulatory system that provided opportunity for exploitation.
“Low wages and poor conditions are NOT driven by migrants – migrants are used within these conditions, they are exploited.”
Pretty much my point, marty. Obviously not clear enough about expressing it:
"…but because new New Zealanders – alongside existing ones, should be protected against exploitation and should expect a better standard of living than many experience."
The discussion needs to be broader than 'migration is good', in order to address valid concerns about what kind of country we are welcoming people to. New Zealanders, of all shapes sizes and origins are a diverse group of people. Some very self-interested, some community minded and with wider perspectives – irrespective of whether they are recent arrivals or not.
We need to ensure that our policies and support systems for critical infrastructure and facilities are working and robust before we place further burdens upon them. For many who have not travelled any further than New Zealand, they already have experience of failed systems. Even if you don't agree with them, surely you can understand their concerns.
" I've just driven from the top to the bottom to the top of Te Waka a Māui – we have plenty of room for more people who can contribute to this country. "
I agree. But I think we currently fail at welcoming them because our focus is on what they bring, rather than what we offer. And we still need to look after our own – economic contributors or not.
I think we have some alignment of views – and some differences
"We need to ensure that our policies and support systems for critical infrastructure and facilities are working and robust before we place further burdens upon them."
The burdens are there and aren't going away and as we move into the future the burdens change and expand and very rarely reduce, so waiting for them is not really an option imo. Seems like waiting for the perfect time to get pregnant – that time never comes imo – you just have to do it and that becomes the right time.
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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. ...
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 ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
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, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
Thirty years on from Rwanda’s genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
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The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
A $1.8b funding boost for Pharmac still won’t enable it to buy more drugs, raising questions about the Government’s approach to the agency The post Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
Wansolwara The news media’s crucial role in climate change and environment journalism was the focus of The University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme 2024 World Press Freedom Day celebrations. The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna were the chief ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Adams, Professor of Corporate Law & Academic Director of UNE Sydney campus, University of New England Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
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Yeah well… I guess that's the end of the new convention centre.
Let's wait until morning.
The Prime Minister will need fast and clear clear information from Fletchers and Sky City to provide assurance to all APEC participants (Putin, Xi, Trump etc) that this fire does not disturb that programme.
This fore is both a logistical and diplomatic problem for the government now.
Otherwise this is liqudated damages and court cases, as well as a catastrophic defeat for the government.
Apart from the difficulties this obviously poses for APEC planning, and the government is going to have to get on top of that real fast, I’d be pleased as hell if shitty Skycity’s ugly convention centre never rose from the ashes.
Both National and Labour are committed to it.
We will see the extent of the damage tomorrow, but there's no starting from scratch.
One of them is going to open it in 2021.
So Sir John Key did so well to negotiate the Sky City deal. A great deal. Thanks you so much,
Wonder if this will finally send Fletchers finally bust. Online it was said workers on the roof left a blow torch unsupervised.
Funny how workers get the blame right out of the gate.
I hope there is a right prober insurance investigation – hearing all sorts of nasty rumors about sky city being saved by this accident….
I know Ad. But I can dream and hope for some decent architecture in Auckland sometime surely?
Aye dat
Catastrophic defeat for the government? How do you come to that conclusion?
It was the John Key government who insisted on building the thing. The Labour Oppo. was vehemently opposed because it was seen as a massive fiscal extravagance. And time has proved it to be so. Now add to the cost a humongous repair bill and how is that supposed to reflect badly on the Labour led government?
Ad is right. If the government doesn’t act fast and get planning for APEC back on track after this (Skycity convention centre was the big venue for it) and, worst case scenario, it has to be moved offshore because there is nowhere else to hold it in Auckland the government will pay big time.
While I absolutely don’t want that to happen it will be just rewards for our total inability to plan and execute national infrastructure in NZ
How’s Christchurch convention centre coming along?
You do realise this was being paid for privately and not by the government Anne?
So what were the labour opposition opposing then if they objected to this?
For some reason I believe you know the answers to your questions. In any case, the Opposition was opposed to the $128 million taxpayer top-up to build the Centre and to the gambling concessions they were given, estimated worth tens of millions per year.
Depends what you mean by being paid for.
How about an increase in the number of pokies and changes to legislation to make it all happen.
Great symbolism though eh?
"as well as a catastrophic defeat for the government"
You vastly overestimate the public liking for these non-performing trade deals – they've been oversold as being wonderful for decades without producing anything much.
Both kinds of government are neck-deep in them, and the national and international media know it.
SCCC is like the big motorway jobs: National start them, but Labour front them to the finish.
Surely there would be quite well developed plans for a back-up venue in place since the proposed venue is still under construction, and just from the importance and stature of the event.
Wellington should have possible venues, there must be alternatives in Auckland. Queenstown hosted CHOGM at Millbrook in 1995, which was quite high profile but surprisingly low key with world leaders like Mandela, John Major and Howard wandering around Arrowtown with general public and tourists.
It's the security features.
There will be a scramble in the next 48 hours, or we will have to give it up.
It will come up the post-Cabinet media briefing anyway.
Millbrook would be as secure, maybe more. There's all sorts of things go on there that are kept out of sight.
Whether it can cope with the business side as well as the leader side could be another matter.
But more immediate is how this is going to affect Fletchers, insurance claim could be interesting if media reports of a blow torch being left on over smoko are correct. But not the first butynol job to go up in smoke, hopefully the risk was appropriately managed.
The Fire Chief said this morning the roof made of straw and butynol layers was "complex".
There's the word.
Yes, but we still had an Airforce back then as well, unlike the glorify Flying Club/ Airfarce we have these days.
Ironically the NDP in Canada, having lost almost half their seats, will probably have more power than they have ever had in Ottawa as Trudeau will need to their votes to get his legislative agenda through the House of Commons. ProRep back on the agenda?
The Greens have made a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada too, winning Fredericton, the provincial capital in New Brunswick. They will hold their current two seats on Vancouver Island.
Sheer, the Tory leader is already fending off the predictable questions about his campaign strategy. If he couldn’t beat a PM that’s had a year as hellish as Trudeau who could he beat?
.
Yep … back in 2011 the New Dems take 31% of the vote & a record 103 seats (partly a sympathy vote for Jack Layton), official Opposition status for the first time but precisely zero power … fast-forward to 2019, a measly 16% / 24 seats … and the prospect of real influence on Govt direction.
Vancouver Island remains a Left stronghold. Overwhelmingly Orange with a couple of dabs of Green.
Major live feed fail on the telly in Canada. All three major party leaders have started their victory/concession speeches at the same time. Networks are all going with Trudeau of course. Pretty funny though.
Looking at the % of votes and the seats won its way out of kilter from what we expect here under MMP
However Canada seats are allocated by provinces, with some places like Maritime provinces 'over represented'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_federal_electoral_redistribution,_2012
Then there is the prairie provinces and BC outside Vancouver and its island, where all the seats, apart from 3 ,won by Conservatives. PQ of course only stands in Quebec
Noticed too the election slogans. Conservatives in Quebec were
"Plus. Pour vous. Dès maintenant." "More. For you. Starting now." They only won about 5 seats around Quebec City and none in Montreal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Canadian_federal_election#Results
Wonder what it will take to change some attitudes – nothing worse than dirty cockies
They are very open and straightforward – their name Open Country Dairy indicates their intention, to be transparent about sharing their pollution with all the surrounding country. That's bare-faced isn't it – quite a provocation to the local and central government. Do we put up with this sort of thing from business? Are they part of the entitled percentage cocking a finger or a leg at us whenever they feel the urge?
It's their fifth prosecution for this shit – ordinary protocol would expect to begin closedown procedure after three.
Or imprisonment with no early release. But maybe they were just too busy making ads about clean dairying? This is a black mark for those making nice ads about how farmers are trying so hard to be green and clean.
Jailing company directors would sure focus their minds.
I think the reality of environmental responsibility has yet to sink in, not least with councils. So it's really WRC that need the hard talk, because if they continue to be as flaccid as overcooked pasta, companies will continue to take full advantage.
No argument there.
What's that line – something like "an offence only punishable by fine means 'legal for rich people'"
Surely, that should be ‘pretty legal for rich people’?
Depends on whether they figured out how to pay the fine without committing a corrupt practise that could get them up to two years in the klink 🙂
It's interesting (to linguists) that the origin of fine lies in its function of bringing an end to a legal dispute or debt. As such they are not appropriate to continuous breaches of operating conditions.
Open Country Dairy = Talleys
Thanks for that, Alice. Adds yet another layer of information.
NBR article: Open Country Revenue tops $1 billion
Molly, you might be interested in other Talleys Group brands:
Talleys also "process and pack a range of private label products across the food range"
source
I general try to avoid Talleys because of their reputation. Suspect I might occasionally unknowingly buy some through supermarket own brands as there is no easy way to know who has packed what.
Thanks Alice.
I remember seeing a Talleys list during the strikes, and noting that thankfully we did not purchase any of those items, but with the constant changes in ownership and shares it is always good to keep up to date.
I don't recall seeing Motueka Creamery brand before. The name sounds like a little local independent outfit (which I guess is the impression they want). Haven't seen any in the supermarket either but then I don't usually buy ice cream in tubs…
Me either. Thanks to a long-delayed realisation that I really need to do something about healthy eating, we avoid processed foods at the supermarket. Limited to buying tinned tomatoes and tomato paste.
"nothing worse than dirty cockies"
Typical of you to try to blame cockies for the actions of Talleys.
lol – own it gnatyman – imo the company is dirty, the cockies are dirty – thus the rivers are dirty, the land is dirty.
When can we get some control over our Police Force? They, and the Defence Force don't impress with their perspicacity, and self-discipline.
What if we all started behaving like the police, where would be? We set them a good example by most of us being law abiding citizens and they give us the wrong steer too often.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/401572/police-don-t-seem-to-know-when-to-back-off-papanui-road-resident
Fully agree. But if they get new powers as currently proposed, we may barely be able to question their questionable activities. They are the holy crusaders fighting against crime, gangs and terrorism. How dare anyone question what they do?
Lets hope this idiot driver gets charged and goes to jail to get him off the roads. I feel sorry for the bloke driving to work that has been killed by him due directly to his dumb decision.
Bold Speaker in UK House of Parliament with verve, determination and a man holding onto the principles of Parliament so far. May he be able to stand against the Jester: 'You shall not pass'.
21 October 2019 9:05 Brexit: House of Commons Speaker refuses vote on Brexit deal- BBC News
Codewords: ‘Patchwork Principles’.
He’s outta there as soon as the election is called.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL2GrszjSXk
Jacob Rees-Mogg and son, 12, heckled by anti-Brexit protesters who scream ‘Nazi’ and ‘traitor
Rees Mogg is starting to look like H..ler. I am interested in the loving gesture that this UK politician shows to his son's sensitive ear. (And I hadn't even noticed the caption then.)
556 comments I thought this one showed the depth of thought of many Brexiters. '
Shameful Positions 2 days ago (edited)
Typical anti Brexit mob that have been crying for 3 years. Learning to lose as well winning is part of life. Their behaviour is shameful.'
Anyone would think the matter discussed is a football match. This person doesn't realise that politics is about life; how people are to be treated in their country, and if they are to actually have a country to belong to. This sort of shallow thought is probably common.
Interesting take on different groups' approaches to Brexit.
Nobody mentioned comes out looking good.
Rafael Behr has consistently been a critic of Jeremy Corbyn on the Guardian. And it's not surprising that during this short video his criticism is based on the Labour Party, and no mention – at all – is made of the Torys.
He was specifically asked about Labour.
I found his point about the remainers being just as in the dark as the brexiteers (a group that bojo is part of) during the referendum to be interesting. And his evaluation of the generalised clusterfuck that brings the UK to this point didn't seem unreasonable.
How was his description of political attitudes after the brexit negotiations were started incorrect?
" Nobody mentioned comes out looking good. "
In the admittedly short clip provided, only Labour is mentioned. And tbh, they were not the architects or the current party in charge of this delivering a solution.
The full interview might be more balanced, but the clip itself just reinforces a strange continual media narrative that blames Labour – particularly Jeremy Corbyn – for the current state of affairs.
Remainers and brexiteers were also mentioned.
And no, the clip doesn't blame Labour for the current state of affairs. It does, however, criticise Labour for standing back from the entire affair in the hope that complete failure or catastrophe will get it elected.
How was his description of political attitudes after the brexit negotiations were started incorrect?
Which, in part, is to blame for the latest yougov poll putting them 15% behind the conservatives. Total mismanagement of the agenda and a complete failure of Labour voters.
I thought that twitter thread was great. I liked the summation of the barebones of the UK Brexit Grand Funfair Slide. The comments were not at all the low mindless stuff as common. And Behr's attitude re Labour fairly found fault with their softly softly catchee monkee approach. I think they are suffering from the new sign of these debilitated modern times – a low sperm count. For women the feminists should be putting up those that have gone transgender, with the sensitivity, intelligence and BMI of blokes and girls mixed, or just females letting out more of their masculine side. These are changes that have happened at the same time as the trend to machine-run systems high on algorithms, and programmed thinking and nelibeconomics. The finding your own a-gender may be the new vanguard that saves us all. That and more vitamins and minerals to replace sugar, so we can get our teeth into our problems and those dozy pollies who need a bite on the bum, and then supporters and minders for those who venture forth into those enchanted and uncharted waters, watching their backs.
FPTP Has delivered the following in Canada in a House of Commons of 338 seats
Liberals 156 seats
Conservatives 122
Bloc Québécois 32
NDP 24
Green Party 3
Ind 1
Our system of MMP would give the following (not allowing for discarded votes)
Liberals 112
Cons 117
Bloc 27
NDP 54
Greens 22
Ind 1
Shocked!
Ms Ardern’s tweet came days after Mr Jones made comments about Julia Gillard's late father John saying he "died of shame”.
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/1186446802037268480
Lol, very slow news day for Sky. Twitter are having fun with it.
Git is a term of insult with origins in English denoting an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, annoying, senile, elderly or childish person. As a mild oath it is roughly on a par with prat and marginally less pejorative than berk.
Git (slang) – Wikipedia
I'd say she was being very mild considering what Jones said, when and where, and why.
Jones was publicly criticised by Labour and Green politicians in 2012 for his comments. He apologised later. This from the ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-30/jones-apologises-for-black-parody-remarks/4288118
I think Twitter is having more fun with Russell Norman's tweet about the fire.
Aerial timelapse of the Sky City fire over 4 1/2 hours
https://twitter.com/NiwaWeather/status/1186519410820833285
'Murica's original sin.
(Whitten is son of a man who defended two men accused of killing Emmett Till).
https://twitter.com/hodgman/status/1185920931610464256
The man who allegedly led a group of armed white citizens assisting in a search for a black burglary suspect in Sumner has a history of taking the law into his own hands.
#John Whitten III is a prosecutor for Tallahatchie County and the town attorney for Tutwiler. On Aug. 20, 2009, he attempted to assist law enforcement officers in searching for 28-year-old Will Pittman on the outskirts of the town of Sumner. Although he holds no law enforcement position, after hearing about the burglary, Whitten drove his Jeep to the cotton field and wooded area that officers were searching.
'
https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2009/sep/09/a-sordid-history-manhunt-leader-has-history-of/
In that area of the USA they need to have properly defined hunting season regulations. He probably thought they were hunting for skunks.
For me I think this racist bastard should be resigned from his role – he is a dim witted racist wanker – and we don't need more of those arseholes running the place.
The sad thing is, though marty. That even if he does resign – which seems unlikely – he was vocal on his views during his campaign, and many Tauranga voters voted him in.
So, the issue is about a lot more than one man's views and the response to them. It is about the fact that such a climate of misunderstanding and bias exists that someone who holds those views is considered fit for office by a fairly significant number of voters, 5091 before iterations.
Yep we are good at growing racists – wilding racists can be plucked one at a time. Replacing the wilding racists with solid thinking migrants would be good imo.
Wilding racists – good term – act as a good indicator of how well we educate and discuss. They are part of New Zealand, and we get to figure out how to reduce their numbers and impact. We need to do better, but we also need to recognise that regardless of best intentions – we have created the environment that allowed them to take root.
The immigration issue is another one that requires more responsive discussion, both online and in person.
Having lived in another country for a few years, I have enjoyed the benefit of travel and living elsewhere. I can't deny the value of such an experience.
But I can also see how being prepared to do any job, for any money which was only possible because I was prepared to live lightly in order to travel, and contributed to the degradations of the working conditions of workers who lived there. It is also true that due to very high levels of ignorance and self-interest, I contributed nothing to the communities in which I lived or the political direction of that country.
I believe that is is really important that our New Zealand immigration policies are reviewed, not because I am against immigrants, but because new New Zealanders – alongside existing ones, should be protected against exploitation and should expect a better standard of living than many experience. We also do have to look at how badly prepared many of our systems are set up to deal with a high population increase, in terms of infrastructure, work regulation, housing, health and education. And we need to invest in these aspects of living, which will return dividends for both new immigrants, and existing New Zealanders.
At the moment, we appallingly treat immigrants purely as investors both financially in terms of bringing money into the country, and socially, as invigorating our diversity. We act as passive investors and contribute very little in return. We also devalue existing New Zealanders because they are not considered as contributing to the vitality of the country. It is not good enough.
The conditions that made you do what you did and others do it too are economic and nothing to do with migrants and immigrants imo – a bit like saying the world food issue is a distribution and waste issue, not a 'not enough food' issue. Low wages and poor conditions are NOT driven by migrants – migrants are used within these conditions, they are exploited. We don't blame the starving people for starving do we?
I've just driven from the top to the bottom to the top of Te Waka a Māui – we have plenty of room for more people who can contribute to this country. And with the amount of things that will need to be moved to higher ground there should be tons of work to do around the whole country imo.
“The conditions that made you do what you did and others do it too are economic and nothing to do with migrants and immigrants imo…” Really. Just young and self interested, not concerned with the wider ramifications of meeting low expectations and conditions, and working within a regulatory system that provided opportunity for exploitation.
“Low wages and poor conditions are NOT driven by migrants – migrants are used within these conditions, they are exploited.”
Pretty much my point, marty. Obviously not clear enough about expressing it:
"…but because new New Zealanders – alongside existing ones, should be protected against exploitation and should expect a better standard of living than many experience."
The discussion needs to be broader than 'migration is good', in order to address valid concerns about what kind of country we are welcoming people to. New Zealanders, of all shapes sizes and origins are a diverse group of people. Some very self-interested, some community minded and with wider perspectives – irrespective of whether they are recent arrivals or not.
We need to ensure that our policies and support systems for critical infrastructure and facilities are working and robust before we place further burdens upon them. For many who have not travelled any further than New Zealand, they already have experience of failed systems. Even if you don't agree with them, surely you can understand their concerns.
" I've just driven from the top to the bottom to the top of Te Waka a Māui – we have plenty of room for more people who can contribute to this country. "
I agree. But I think we currently fail at welcoming them because our focus is on what they bring, rather than what we offer. And we still need to look after our own – economic contributors or not.
I think we have some alignment of views – and some differences
The burdens are there and aren't going away and as we move into the future the burdens change and expand and very rarely reduce, so waiting for them is not really an option imo. Seems like waiting for the perfect time to get pregnant – that time never comes imo – you just have to do it and that becomes the right time.
Yeah, I think we are in alignment mostly. However, rather than waiting, we should be prioritising, and I don't see that happening.