Considering the cowardly behaviour of National Party since, well, forever why do you still vote for them?
And, no, I don’t support the tagging. But, then, I most definitely don’t support the lying by National that has hurt so many people while they hide behind laws and self-righteousness.
Winston’s ultimate fantasy may be realised – effectively staying out of government but forcing minority Labour and National administrations come to him to beg permission to be PM for a month or two, until he decides to give the other side a turn. And shaping policy to suit his mood – otherwise down it goes.
If a government falls, does it automatically mean a general election? Or can a new government have an opportunity to form? I’m up to speed with how it works in Britain, where a government can be bundled out of office without it precipitating a new election (I long for the day Theresa May visits Queenie and utters the words, “Your majesty, I suggest you send for Mr Corbyn.”) but have to admit I’ve never bothered to find out if the same thing applies in New Zealand.
Obviously, the ‘every couple of months’ was hyperbole, but replacing one administration with another would delight Winston – people keep telling him he’s a kingmaker, after all. Why stop at one?
No, it only causes a general election if nobody can form a government. In theory, NZ First could change support from National to Labour + Greens or vice versa, and as long as the new government had 61 votes, it would be able to continue.
“Winston’s ultimate fantasy may be realised – effectively staying out of government but forcing minority Labour and National administrations come to him to beg permission to be PM for a month or two, until he decides to give the other side a turn.”
Explain how that would work? Doesn’t look constitutionally possible to me (or in any way likely).
Obviously the ‘couple of months’ part was hyperbole. But he could (maybe?) simply offer a sub confidence and supply deal to National – “Okay, Willy, you get to call yourself PM. But anything you want passed, you bring to me first. If I like it, I’ll back it. If you don’t like it, then you can try your luck with the Greens and Jacinda.”
That would work – assuming English liked being abused in this way (given he served with Brash and Key, both of whom treated him like garbage, you have to suspect theirs some weird Catholic guilt and subjection going on) – until Winston tired of it and tells Ardern it is her turn: “Okay, Cinders, you get to call yourself PM. But anything you want passed, you bring to me first. If I like it, I’ll back it. If you don’t like it, then you can try your luck with Bill.”
Obviously, it could be short circuited at any time by a snap election … But do either party have the stomach for an early poll?
Not quite following that. A C and S agreement and NZF is free to vote how it wants otherwise and say what they want otherwise? I don’t see the big deal with that, it’s an option for the Greens with a L/NZF govt too.
But the bit where he tries to get National to change legislation pre-emptively in private, and presumably had an open door agreement on that, sounds very dodgy and I can’t imagine National agreeing to it.
The bit about Peters getting tired of it and giving Ardern a go makes even less sense. He doesn’t control who forms government, the Governor General does. And they need to have confidence in the stability of any proposed govt or its back to the polls. If Peters pulled out of his C and S agreement with National for no good reason no-one would trust him (National, Labour, GG, voters). There’s lots of things I don’t like about the way he does business, but Peters isn’t stupid.
Go inspired by the tree planting. Not in a position to do that currently, but did start a new compost today. I’m renting so it’s the best way to build soil here. Great post-election therapy too. Practice sustainability and resiliency.
A fair few years back I put in a raised garden ( 200mm) x 1 meter, by about 5-6 meters long, had about 6 beds – did it the French intensive / Irish way and companion planted . Lived out of that garden , … had 6-7 vege types all through winter. Couldn’t give the produce away fast enough in summer. Never dug once,… just masses of compost I made , constantly layered on top, planted directly into that.
Just used pepper and garlic/ onion sprays mixed with soap for the pests.
I lived across from a paddock across the road with cattle, had 2 wheelbarrows and a shovel – double handed it over the fence. Also had a large fast growing hedge – that went into the shredder, when I had to regularly prune it back layered it with lawn clippings , bought in some commercial compost as a starter just for bulk. Rotated the beds , in summer, … the compost bin so hot you wouldn’t dare put your hand in it. That’s when we know the pathogens are killed. It was like cooking. Keeping that compost going was the key . 🙂
Don’t panic The New Zealand First Party and Winston no what has happened to OUR country over the last 8 years or so they will do what is good for the people
Winston at 72 is still a very inspiring man and is now needed more than ever with the ratpack of Government backstabbers, horse and rumour traders.
Parliament is where Winston will exel this term believe it mate.
The opposition knows this to that is why they are deserately trying to cobble Winston onto a National trainwreck Government who will implode within a year from now if the second GFC arrives and Winston would be blamed for all.
Am still celebrating the election result, our country has voted for change.
How about some of the new MP’s, Kiri Allan being one of them
Kiri was on some of the political tv shows earlier on in the year. On seeing her on the TV, my man and I were like.. who is this woman, she’s awesome, dang she’s a labour candidate, lucky Labour 😀 Thrilled she is one of our new MP’s.
Still 15% of special votes to count.
I’m happy with the result thus far
Am big on education and the three parties who were/are in opposition all support the scrapping of national standards and free tertiary education. I even had the opportunity to ask Winston about it a few months back and he reinforced their views of getting rid of the failed borrowed policy known as national standards.
As well their shared stance on Salisbury School.
Waste of time speculating until specials come in, but it’s bloody hard not to lolololz, crikey it’s like a political fortune tellers gossip fest
And hopefully support a review of the mess that early childhood education is getting into with the profit motive overtaking quality of teaching/learning
I’m with you Cinny. I was in education as well. Younger friends seriously considered leaving teaching for a pub!! Very unhappy at standards and BS passed off as desirable.
As I’ve heard, ad nauseam, about polls from posters on this site the only poll that counts is on election day and on election day National was more popular in 2017 then they were in 2008
National are more popular than Labour/Greens combined, when the people of NZ ackshully had to decide, to choose, more people chose National
If the people of NZ wanted a change they could have voted for change last Saturday but they didn’t, they gave National 46% of the vote when National are going for a fourth term
As I’ve heard, ad nauseam, about polls from posters on this site the only poll that counts is on election day and on election day National was more popular in 2017 then they were in 2008
That’s not how MMP works.
You seem to be ignoring what the voters of NZ1st want and they seemingly want NZ1st to go with Labour/Greens.
Excuse me , – 58 % DID vote for change ,… the simple fact is , if they were sold on National they would’ve voted National instead of NZ First.
Obviously they didn’t vote for National.
Bearing in mind also , – 77% of NZ First membership want a coalition with Labour , I wouldn’t get too hasty in claiming NZ First as a win for the right if I were you.
Not saying NZFirst is with National, I’m saying National gained more votes than Labour/Greens combined so National has a better mandate for forming the next government because thats what the voters want
No , that’s what NATIONAL supporters want , – 58% don’t want that.
And that effectively puts the kiwash on any notion of some misconstrued ‘ morality’ that desperate right wingers and their media hacks are trying to attach to having the most party votes for a single given party in an MMP environment.
The facts are , – that the combined results of Labour, Greens and NZ First give them a ruling majority , whereas Nationals do not.
“The facts are , – that the combined results of Labour, Greens and NZ First give them a ruling majority , whereas Nationals do not.”
That is true however as someone once said to me: ” I wouldn’t get too hasty in claiming NZ First as a win for the right if I were you.” (you do need to substitute left for the right but I’m sure you get my point)
So if we take NZFirst out of the equation then we’re left with more voters wanting National than Labour/Green which to me means National has the more convincing argument as to why they should form the next government
I’m saying National gained more votes than Labour/Greens combined so National has a better mandate for forming the next government because thats what the voters want
Which is a lie.
The majority of voters don’t want National because the majority of NZ1st voters want a Labour led government.
Hehehehe,… it takes a while for the penny to drop among some stalwarts , Draco,…
And if its not remembered this time round ? ,… it certainly will be in the next,.. and if I was in charge of National ?… I’d be weighing up the balance of short term aspiration as against the health and future of the longevity plan of the party’s survival at this stage…
Too much sugar rots the teeth.
Bow out gracefully , National ,… the combined vote against you has spoken.
Well. you wont be getting a Randian paradise. Winston will put a stop to any privatisation or deregulation that National might have hidden away.
The current charter schools will probably stay, but there will be no new ones. meaning that kids in South Auckland will grow up knowing that humans evolved from apes and the world is round. There will be no more state asset sell off, even the sneaky ones, like what happened to Solid Energy, and Learning Media, as well as Landcorp. There will be employment schemes for young people, and employers will not be able to bypass the local workforce in favour of the Chinese and Indian reserve armies of labour that they have been drawing on over the past few years.
Absolutely stoked with how the left have gone this election, as others have said, what’s out of the box won’t be put back. However I’m really disappointed Mojo Mathers won’t be returned, she’s done some amazing work giving a face and voice to disabled New Zealanders.
Fingers crossed that specials will pull her back in… we can hope. Shaw said they were something like 0.13% from getting an 8th MP. Mathers is 9th on the list.
They must fantacise about NZ workers being in some kind of servile stupor like Baldric ,… unfortunately they are not stupid and the illusion exists only inside their heads… and in the pages of their favorite ideology’s handbook ,… that of neo liberalism.
Nasty shock for them on the not too distant horizon.
Blackadder: Baldrick’s cunning plan – YouTube
Video for baldric you tube▶ 0:21
Only if we want to hear more of their bullshit justifications ,… why let them have that privilege of co opting their right wing media?
By contrast, let the Left show them in their full light as ETHELRED THE UNREADY.
Let them bear the full brunt of their disgusting short term avarice filled vision. Take power , and lay at the foot of blame their indiscretions. Let them feel the full wrath of their betrayal of the citizens of this country.
Nine years they had to insulate the citizens of this country from the fall out of global crisis,… yet they did nothing.
Hence therefore , .. so should be their reward.
Let them bask in their failures, let them wear it as a mantle around their necks.
And never again , .. will they be able to accuse Labour or the Left of their avarice and indiscretions.
From the polling stations at individual Uni campuses. So it misses students who voted elsewhere, and can’t tell who is a student or staff.
…
…and some voters living in the immediate neighbourhood may also have voted on campuses!
…
For averages I got:
Labour 39.1% (41.72%)
National 31.03% (26.29%)
Greens 19.64% (21.91%)
*adjusted for amount of votes per uni in brackets
Here are the votes for Ara (formerly CPIT) here in Christchurch:
City Campus:
Chch Central Total – 502 votes; G – 98; L – 214; N – 137
Chch East Total – 208 votes; G – 23; L – 109; N – 58
Ilam Total – 204 votes; G – 23; L – 76; N – 77
Port Hills Total – 339 votes; G – 70; L – 144; N – 90
Selwyn Total – 142 votes; G – 14; L – 60; N – 58
Waimakariri Total – 125 votes; G – 10; L – 53; N – 48
Wigram Total – 211 votes; G – 23; L – 86; N – 82
Te Tai Tonga Total – 109 votes; G – 20; L – 63; N – 17
Woolston Campus:
Chch Central Total – 431 votes; G – 56; L – 198; N – 117
Chch East Total – 27 votes; G – 0; L – 15; N – 7
Ilam Total – 12 votes; G – 2; L – 3; N – 6
Port Hills Total – 414 votes; G – 53; L – 204; N – 101
Selwyn Total – 19 votes; G – 2; L – 6; N – 9
Waimakariri Total – 18 votes; G – 0; L – 9; N – 8
Wigram Total – 12 votes; G – 1; L – 7; N – 4
Te Tai Tonga Total – 39 votes; G – 2; L – 26; N – 5
Overall total – 2812 votes; G – 397 (14.12%); L – 1273 (45.27%); N – 824 (29.3%); Other – 318 (11.31%).
I’m not really expecting 60% of specials to L/G, but it would be amazing.
therefore its pointless, the accuracy can only be judged when the result is known….what can be commented on however is the turnout…one has to wonder what it will take for the over 20% of disengaged to voice their opinion (or even a proportion of them)
not sure where you draw that conclusion from….it may not change the fact Winston has balance of power but there is considerable potential for it to change party voter support levels….that which is (supposedly) predicted by advance polls.
I have been studying people I know – friends and acquaintences and their voting preferences. Its not like the old days when people didn’t discuss what their preferences were. One thing that really resonates with me is that people who vote right wing generally are conservative, like the status quo, have boring interiors in their homes, an absence of books, artwork on the walls and general clutter about the place and do not have a lot to offer in conversations at restaurant tables. Some of these people have homes which look for motel or hotel rooms. Prefer to look at sport on Sky for evening’s entertainment and most certainly will always have an excuse for the way the Government is acting out with hospitals, schools and WINZ for example. In other words will not enter into any sort of “opening up the mind” to alternatives or have the ability to debate these topics. A closed mind.
Left wingers are more keen for change, have the guts to agree make the “huge decisions” which are what need to be done to make our society a better place. Books there are by the truck loads and clutter abounds as well. They usually have done “out of the way” things on their OE and generally have exciting things to offer in a conversation. They may have comfortable lives and jobs as well but they have that joy of anticipation for change and do not seem to be fearful of change. Just my observations but for sure there is depth in left wingers and not such a money oriented interest in their lives.
Is there some different side of the brain that makes us what we are – be interesting if some academic study was done on his phenonema.
There is much academic study out of the US on the general subject, and it basically agrees with what you’ve said here. And yes, MRIs show different parts of the brain engage for RW compared to LW.
History shows that major innovations were created while Labour was in power.
History shows that National made few innovations while in power. National tended to just tinker round the edges to modify detrimentally to wages and conditions for wage and salary earners.
I agree with you Whispering Kate. Something else I have noticed about right wingers I know: they are phenomenally ignorant about current affairs and political subjects. They are not necessarily unintelligent but they have no interest in keeping themselves informed about issues unless it affects them. But mention house prices and related property matters and they are all well read experts.
A perceptive comment. What you’re writing about here is what really interests me about politics … why is it that voting has so little to do with rationality and so very driven by emotion, tribalism and sheer short-sighted folly ?
Why are some people willing to embrace new ideas and others so very resistant to them? There is a deep neuro-biology driving all this; aspects of how our brain is working beyond our immediate awareness.
Yet emphatically I still believe people can change. It just takes confidence, courage and hope.
It is all in the cognitive perception ,… conservatism ,… whether it is the fearful , doubtful aspect that plagued the Generals of the battle of the Somme, or the ego that drove General Robert E Lee to wage a full frontal attack uphill against entrenched Yankee troops with mechanized Gatling guns and artillery ,… … or the goad that prompted the cold war ,… there is a common element,… the paralyzing inability to action !!!
It is a human condition,… based on fear.
Now,… if we were to exploit that fear , we would apply a bold general , such as Sun Tsu. Or General George ‘ Blood and Guts ‘ Patton.
We would take the initiative.
If there is one thing absent from the New Zealand Left it is boldness.
That uncompromising , unapologetic spirit that General Patton expressed ,…
………………………………….
” Have taken Trier with two divisions. What do you want me to do? Give it back?”
Reply to a message from General Dwight Eisenhower to bypass the German city of Trier because it would take four divisions to capture it (2 March 1945), as quoted in the Introduction to War as I Knew it (1947) by George Smith Patton, Jr., with Paul Donal Harkins, p. 20
………………………………….
When Jacinda Adern said ” we are in the fight of our lives”,…
A bit late only just seen it, but excellent post Kate. The follow-on comments were also good especially Annes @15.3
We have a right-wing acquaintance who will discuss Rugby and Master Chef all day every day and has a theory a vote for the left is the start of the slippery slope to communism. When we told this person, this summer we were planning to go to Farewell Spit photographing some of the bird life there, the response was, WHERE IS IT, WHAT IS IT! Surely I thought that would have been one of the basic geography lessons of New Zealand. and I am sure the geography of NZ would have been taught in schools.
I think his questions confirms your theory Kate.
you think it has nothing to do with Puerto Rico drowning, North Korea calling him an old fool or dotard :), his son in law using a private email account for offical business, the repeal and replace with nothing ACA debacle, no just him trolling some black folks calling them son of bitches?
Yeah … everything about Trump is appalling … except for how successful he has been in mobilising his support base with fear, lies and misdirection. National just did a watered down version of it on us and I think it’s worthwhile to think about that.
no, i think it is worthwhile calling them out on it.
You can not live your live on fear and demonetization of others, eventually you run out of others.
so instead of calling him the most successful troll you could call him a President who is such a racist that he is not coming to the aid of the Puerto Ricans, who are US Citizens, who have been without electricity, water for a few days now, and who are currently under water and will not have electricity back for maybe a full half to a year.
I know that is boring, so much more fun discussing the fears of the white working class and other assorted bullshit, cause clearly the fears of the non white working class matter little.
Lets all just pander to fear. Yei.
And in NZ, Blinglish did not pander to fear, he pandered to greed. Simple as that.
And again, when that boat sinks, the poor have the least to loose. It is the rich that are going to eat crow and it is them who will not like it.
Greed is nothing more than a ‘fear of loss’; so it’s pretty closely linked really.
I’m not endorsing Trump or National at all; just pointing to the fact that despite all their numerous human and moral deficiencies .. they keep winning elections. Unless we are willing to closely look at how they do this; we the left will keep losing them.
again, i do not see National as a winner in this country. In MMP there are no true winners unless they can form stable coalitions and sadly National has killed everyone it ever worked with, so clearly National should have had more reason to ‘win bigly’ in order to manage its fourth term on its on and now it is a lame duck.
The US – and i am one who considered Clinton the smaller of two evils – will most likely see either a civil war or will see Trump removed by hook or by crook within a year. I am going with martial law first, then some civil unrest, then President Pence – whom i actually consider worse then Trump. Not sure if Trump believes he won, he does not behave like a winner to be honest.
But to diminish his dehumanizing of people as an act of troll is what allows him to keep on going. He is not trolling, he is inciting violence. He is past trolling.
And no i don’t think that the farmers and landowners of NZ have fear of loss, they just have a fear of being forced to pay their fair share and finally behave as if they were citizens instead of “landlords”. Greed is not the same as fear.
It is not that you are right or i am right, it is about how we now frame the disconnect that is being spread.
The US can no more go back to the 1850s where everyone knew their place – especially people of colour and women, no matter how hateful Trump will be then we can pretend that we can sell our land to the highest bidder to the point where we end up needing a passport internally to get from point a to point b because everything is fenced off for ‘cows’, or mining, or road building.
This is not about scoring points. this is about how do we address is. Call Trump a troll? He is not, he is the fucking President of the US with the biggest weaponry at his disposal and Troops in over 150 countries. That is some troll.
Blinglish is not sowing fear he is sowing greed, vote me and you get 20$ per week, or no taxes and all the water for free. Greed.
Once we can name it, how do we counter it. Just saying he is the biggest troll of them all is not countering.
So from where i am standing WE, you , i and humpty dumpty next door are the real losers. Feel better now?
The Left are deflecting and already licking their wounds and conceding defeat.
The hell with that.
Grab your balls and get on top of the situation and show some fight, stop wallowing in self pity and apportioning blame. We’ve got a future to fight for the next generation coming through. No more of this self pitying bullshit.
So put on your helmets and get on with the program of winning.
A lucid explanation of Trump … and what we’re up against:
Well, an Australian would make excuses.
/
Four years later at the 1972 Summer Olympics that took place in Munich, Germany, Norman wasn’t part of the Australian sprinters team, despite having run qualifying times for the 200 meters thirteen times and the 100 meters five times.
Norman left competitive athletics behind after this disappointment, continuing to run at the amatuer level.
Back in the change-resisting, whitewashed Australia he was treated like an outsider, his family outcast, and work impossible to find. For a time he worked as a gym teacher, continuing to struggle against inequalities as a trade unionist and occasionally working in a butcher shop. An injury caused Norman to contract gangrene which led to issues with depression and alcoholism.
As John Carlos said, “If we were getting beat up, Peter was facing an entire country and suffering alone.” For years Norman had only one chance to save himself: he was invited to condemn his co-athletes, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s gesture in exchange for a pardon from the system that ostracized him.
A pardon that would have allowed him to find a stable job through the Australian Olympic Committee and be part of the organization of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Norman never gave in and never condemned the choice of the two Americans.
He was the greatest Australian sprinter in history and the holder of the 200 meter record, yet he wasn’t even invited to the Olympics in Sydney. It was the American Olympic Committee, that once they learned of this news asked him to join their group and invited him to Olympic champion Michael Johnson’s birthday party, for whom Peter Norman was a role model and a hero.
Yes you are correct about fuck trump.
But joe90 link tell of how a neo liberals western government can hammer a great indigenous PERSON and the local media will not tell his stories
And Norman was the BEST in the World at 100 200 mtr sprints he should have been celebrated by OUR WORLD as Husan Bolt is . EVERYONE IN THE WORLD should have Know who Norman is
ONE of the greatest Australian Indigenous and the World s Greatest sport Stars .We all should have been talking about him.
This is how the systems oppress The people of the land they won’t let the people have leaders or role model s to help raise there Wairua /self worth and all the people suffer oppressive .
FUCK THIS DUM ASS SYSTEM because Ours is oppressing me who a broke ass father half caste PROUD MAORI And the systems are not use to dealing with people like US.
I said absolutely nothing about tRump but let me spell it out –
A very concerned white Australian, whose own Australia made a pariah of Peter Norman, a man who dared stand alongside men who were voicing the very same opinions as those taking a knee in 2017, writes DNFTT. objecting about what someone who hates you says only encourages people who hate you, so best you STFU, he’s only trolling you.
Future generations rely on how we conduct ourselves right here , and right now.
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Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
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. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11926235
Some people need a hug…
Typical, cowardly behavior from some losers that didn’t get the result they wanted
Considering the cowardly behaviour of National Party since, well, forever why do you still vote for them?
And, no, I don’t support the tagging. But, then, I most definitely don’t support the lying by National that has hurt so many people while they hide behind laws and self-righteousness.
More than 25,000 in Selwyn think that Amy Adams deserved their vote.
Her latest actions in the Teina Pora case reaffirms why I would not not voted for her because of the type of human being she is.
Yep the transactional cost of this will be way more than what is at stake. Give Teina his compensation. It is the least we should do.
Winston’s ultimate fantasy may be realised – effectively staying out of government but forcing minority Labour and National administrations come to him to beg permission to be PM for a month or two, until he decides to give the other side a turn. And shaping policy to suit his mood – otherwise down it goes.
No – that would precipitate another election and NZF would get seriously punished for causing it. He’s not stupid.
If a government falls, does it automatically mean a general election? Or can a new government have an opportunity to form? I’m up to speed with how it works in Britain, where a government can be bundled out of office without it precipitating a new election (I long for the day Theresa May visits Queenie and utters the words, “Your majesty, I suggest you send for Mr Corbyn.”) but have to admit I’ve never bothered to find out if the same thing applies in New Zealand.
Obviously, the ‘every couple of months’ was hyperbole, but replacing one administration with another would delight Winston – people keep telling him he’s a kingmaker, after all. Why stop at one?
No, it only causes a general election if nobody can form a government. In theory, NZ First could change support from National to Labour + Greens or vice versa, and as long as the new government had 61 votes, it would be able to continue.
“Winston’s ultimate fantasy may be realised – effectively staying out of government but forcing minority Labour and National administrations come to him to beg permission to be PM for a month or two, until he decides to give the other side a turn.”
Explain how that would work? Doesn’t look constitutionally possible to me (or in any way likely).
Obviously the ‘couple of months’ part was hyperbole. But he could (maybe?) simply offer a sub confidence and supply deal to National – “Okay, Willy, you get to call yourself PM. But anything you want passed, you bring to me first. If I like it, I’ll back it. If you don’t like it, then you can try your luck with the Greens and Jacinda.”
That would work – assuming English liked being abused in this way (given he served with Brash and Key, both of whom treated him like garbage, you have to suspect theirs some weird Catholic guilt and subjection going on) – until Winston tired of it and tells Ardern it is her turn: “Okay, Cinders, you get to call yourself PM. But anything you want passed, you bring to me first. If I like it, I’ll back it. If you don’t like it, then you can try your luck with Bill.”
Obviously, it could be short circuited at any time by a snap election … But do either party have the stomach for an early poll?
Not quite following that. A C and S agreement and NZF is free to vote how it wants otherwise and say what they want otherwise? I don’t see the big deal with that, it’s an option for the Greens with a L/NZF govt too.
But the bit where he tries to get National to change legislation pre-emptively in private, and presumably had an open door agreement on that, sounds very dodgy and I can’t imagine National agreeing to it.
The bit about Peters getting tired of it and giving Ardern a go makes even less sense. He doesn’t control who forms government, the Governor General does. And they need to have confidence in the stability of any proposed govt or its back to the polls. If Peters pulled out of his C and S agreement with National for no good reason no-one would trust him (National, Labour, GG, voters). There’s lots of things I don’t like about the way he does business, but Peters isn’t stupid.
That’s a great photograph. Not a real laugh though.
Braying like an ass ..
Go inspired by the tree planting. Not in a position to do that currently, but did start a new compost today. I’m renting so it’s the best way to build soil here. Great post-election therapy too. Practice sustainability and resiliency.
A fair few years back I put in a raised garden ( 200mm) x 1 meter, by about 5-6 meters long, had about 6 beds – did it the French intensive / Irish way and companion planted . Lived out of that garden , … had 6-7 vege types all through winter. Couldn’t give the produce away fast enough in summer. Never dug once,… just masses of compost I made , constantly layered on top, planted directly into that.
Just used pepper and garlic/ onion sprays mixed with soap for the pests.
Those were the days….
Nice one. How did you make your compost?
I lived across from a paddock across the road with cattle, had 2 wheelbarrows and a shovel – double handed it over the fence. Also had a large fast growing hedge – that went into the shredder, when I had to regularly prune it back layered it with lawn clippings , bought in some commercial compost as a starter just for bulk. Rotated the beds , in summer, … the compost bin so hot you wouldn’t dare put your hand in it. That’s when we know the pathogens are killed. It was like cooking. Keeping that compost going was the key . 🙂
That and a bit of lime to make the ph neutral.
Don’t panic The New Zealand First Party and Winston no what has happened to OUR country over the last 8 years or so they will do what is good for the people
100000% Eco Maori,
Winston at 72 is still a very inspiring man and is now needed more than ever with the ratpack of Government backstabbers, horse and rumour traders.
Parliament is where Winston will exel this term believe it mate.
The opposition knows this to that is why they are deserately trying to cobble Winston onto a National trainwreck Government who will implode within a year from now if the second GFC arrives and Winston would be blamed for all.
Am still celebrating the election result, our country has voted for change.
How about some of the new MP’s, Kiri Allan being one of them
Kiri was on some of the political tv shows earlier on in the year. On seeing her on the TV, my man and I were like.. who is this woman, she’s awesome, dang she’s a labour candidate, lucky Labour 😀 Thrilled she is one of our new MP’s.
I don’t think NZ has voted for change, currently National is on 46% of the vote (beat their 2008 result) and Labour/Greens can’t match what National
Winston will do whats right for the country and it’ll be National/NZFirst, with a lot of dead rats swallowed
Still 15% of special votes to count.
I’m happy with the result thus far
Am big on education and the three parties who were/are in opposition all support the scrapping of national standards and free tertiary education. I even had the opportunity to ask Winston about it a few months back and he reinforced their views of getting rid of the failed borrowed policy known as national standards.
As well their shared stance on Salisbury School.
Waste of time speculating until specials come in, but it’s bloody hard not to lolololz, crikey it’s like a political fortune tellers gossip fest
And hopefully support a review of the mess that early childhood education is getting into with the profit motive overtaking quality of teaching/learning
I’m with you Cinny. I was in education as well. Younger friends seriously considered leaving teaching for a pub!! Very unhappy at standards and BS passed off as desirable.
54% of voters did not, vote for National.
After lying and cheating their way into the most votes they should be in jail, not Parliament
58% didn’t vote for Labour/Greens which would suggest National has a stronger mandate for forming the next government
Polls say more prefer a Labour led Government.
As I’ve heard, ad nauseam, about polls from posters on this site the only poll that counts is on election day and on election day National was more popular in 2017 then they were in 2008
National are more popular than Labour/Greens combined, when the people of NZ ackshully had to decide, to choose, more people chose National
If the people of NZ wanted a change they could have voted for change last Saturday but they didn’t, they gave National 46% of the vote when National are going for a fourth term
Still stuck on the FPP idea of single party dictatorships eh Chris.
We all voted for MMP, because of the damage single parties did, from 1981 to 1993.
Call me curious but how many elections, under MMP, have Labour won vs National?
and yet you guys still have no friends in parliament.
Suddenly the regime that destroyed democratic governance in SDHB and environment Canterbury is all about moral mandates to govern? Lol.
In case you didn’t know National have won more elections under MMP than Labour
And yet they still thought that shitting on every possible coalition partner was an awesome way of winning another one.
Oh, I forgot: National is being led by Bill English. What’s his track record like, just out of interest?
Failed in 2002, lead National to a higher percentage in 2017 then they got 2008 while going for a fourth term
So almost no votes in ’02, and no friends in ’17.
He does know how MMP works, right?
Hey, I’m reading in Stuff that Peters offered to be friends with National before the election, and Blinglish told him to fuck off. Bold move from mister percentage. I wonder if it will bite him in the arse.
You know what they say about assumptions
No assumptions. I’m not the one pretending that 46% and no friends means a damned thing under mmp.
Sure, we could have another three years of you vampires. Equally possible is the chance that blinglish will be the most successful loser MMP has seen.
That’s not how MMP works.
You seem to be ignoring what the voters of NZ1st want and they seemingly want NZ1st to go with Labour/Greens.
Excuse me , – 58 % DID vote for change ,… the simple fact is , if they were sold on National they would’ve voted National instead of NZ First.
Obviously they didn’t vote for National.
Bearing in mind also , – 77% of NZ First membership want a coalition with Labour , I wouldn’t get too hasty in claiming NZ First as a win for the right if I were you.
Not saying NZFirst is with National, I’m saying National gained more votes than Labour/Greens combined so National has a better mandate for forming the next government because thats what the voters want
So you’d like to disenfranchise NZF voters? Interesting.
No but I would like to see the party (whatever party that is) with the biggest majority be part of the government
I wouldn’t, nor would all those New Zealanders who didn’t vote National.
I’m nothing if not helpful, try this: http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/contact
A majority of New Zealanders do not want a National Government ?
You’d like to see that but that doesn’t mean to say that it will happen.
Particularly when the majority of people just don’t want that party anywhere near government.
No , that’s what NATIONAL supporters want , – 58% don’t want that.
And that effectively puts the kiwash on any notion of some misconstrued ‘ morality’ that desperate right wingers and their media hacks are trying to attach to having the most party votes for a single given party in an MMP environment.
The facts are , – that the combined results of Labour, Greens and NZ First give them a ruling majority , whereas Nationals do not.
“The facts are , – that the combined results of Labour, Greens and NZ First give them a ruling majority , whereas Nationals do not.”
That is true however as someone once said to me: ” I wouldn’t get too hasty in claiming NZ First as a win for the right if I were you.” (you do need to substitute left for the right but I’m sure you get my point)
So if we take NZFirst out of the equation then we’re left with more voters wanting National than Labour/Green which to me means National has the more convincing argument as to why they should form the next government
Problem with that is we CANNOT take NZ First out of the equation.
Neither can National or Labour / Greens.
And there we have it.
MMP.
Not FFP.
And going by the results?,… more people wanted change than didn’t.
And if they didn’t ?… they would have voted exclusively National.
They didn’t.
Well thats one way of looking at it but another is if change was wanted then, at the very least, Labour/Greens would have got more votes
I think you’ll find that is the ONLY way to look at it in an MMP environment. Anything else is a perversion of the facts.
It wouldn’t perhaps have been if we were still under FFP.
But we are not.
No we are not and for my prediction it’ll be National/NZFirst
Which is a lie.
The majority of voters don’t want National because the majority of NZ1st voters want a Labour led government.
Which means that National has no mandate at all.
Hehehehe,… it takes a while for the penny to drop among some stalwarts , Draco,…
And if its not remembered this time round ? ,… it certainly will be in the next,.. and if I was in charge of National ?… I’d be weighing up the balance of short term aspiration as against the health and future of the longevity plan of the party’s survival at this stage…
Too much sugar rots the teeth.
Bow out gracefully , National ,… the combined vote against you has spoken.
Yes, my 80 year old neighbour voted for Winston and hopes he goes with Labour
Well. you wont be getting a Randian paradise. Winston will put a stop to any privatisation or deregulation that National might have hidden away.
The current charter schools will probably stay, but there will be no new ones. meaning that kids in South Auckland will grow up knowing that humans evolved from apes and the world is round. There will be no more state asset sell off, even the sneaky ones, like what happened to Solid Energy, and Learning Media, as well as Landcorp. There will be employment schemes for young people, and employers will not be able to bypass the local workforce in favour of the Chinese and Indian reserve armies of labour that they have been drawing on over the past few years.
Rubbish Chris, see my coment 5.1 above on Winston and learn the truth.
Absolutely stoked with how the left have gone this election, as others have said, what’s out of the box won’t be put back. However I’m really disappointed Mojo Mathers won’t be returned, she’s done some amazing work giving a face and voice to disabled New Zealanders.
When you mean the left you actually mean Labour?
You are pretty pity BM.
Pretty petty? Agree.
Not really, Greens bombed, Mana didn’t make it and labour ditched their leader and replaced him with a Helen Clark controlled marionette.
Call me negative but I don’t see a lot of win for the left.
translation: BM doesn’t like women in power, and he thinks that a shift left in the electorate isn’t a gain for the left.
What shift left? Labour just regained all the votes they lost to the Greens and NZ First.
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-election-result/#comment-1390894
I don’t know what goes for moderating on here but ….
you say call you “negative’. For saying that Arden is a “Helen Clark controlled marionette” I’d call you stupid.
The howls and squeals of fear from the neo liberal right wing , – that and their perverse justifications for going against MMP and democracy ,…
Are music to my ears.
And as the years roll by ?
It will become a symphony.
Oh look, another put down and lie by a sexist RWNJ.
It is all ,… that they have left…
BM We add NZF as left when compared to Nartional as being wrongly stated by English as a centre right, which is tortal falicy!!!
National are a sellout party for foreign corporations, foriegn speculators and landowners.
Nothing centre about that.
Fingers crossed that specials will pull her back in… we can hope. Shaw said they were something like 0.13% from getting an 8th MP. Mathers is 9th on the list.
Seeing as we are country of oligopoly, watching this might help.
Time stamp: Just short of a half and hour.
Farmers are angry at the wrong people. First working day post election we find out Fontera ED gets 75% pay rise.
I am sure they didnt hold that back though…
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/chief-executive-fonterra-receives-75-per-cent-pay-rise-over-8-million
Any workers had 75% payrise in the last 9 years? 20?
nah, we only get butter the block at 6$ cause rock star economy or how to raise the money to pay the CEO. 🙂
They must fantacise about NZ workers being in some kind of servile stupor like Baldric ,… unfortunately they are not stupid and the illusion exists only inside their heads… and in the pages of their favorite ideology’s handbook ,… that of neo liberalism.
Nasty shock for them on the not too distant horizon.
Blackadder: Baldrick’s cunning plan – YouTube
Video for baldric you tube▶ 0:21
You can decide for yourself who is addressing who….
do we really want to be government ???
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/08/30/hous-a30.html
sobering article from Australia are we better to walk away and let national wear the collapse and the fall out????
Only if we want to hear more of their bullshit justifications ,… why let them have that privilege of co opting their right wing media?
By contrast, let the Left show them in their full light as ETHELRED THE UNREADY.
Let them bear the full brunt of their disgusting short term avarice filled vision. Take power , and lay at the foot of blame their indiscretions. Let them feel the full wrath of their betrayal of the citizens of this country.
Nine years they had to insulate the citizens of this country from the fall out of global crisis,… yet they did nothing.
Hence therefore , .. so should be their reward.
Let them bask in their failures, let them wear it as a mantle around their necks.
And never again , .. will they be able to accuse Labour or the Left of their avarice and indiscretions.
Let them wear it as a crown.
Bill English calling Winston Peters a maverick ‘not very smart’, NZ First leader says…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11926394
Some interesting stats on voting at Unis this election – need to scroll down comments for some explanations.
eg:
Smart people, those Uni voters 😉
Also doesn’t (yet) include specials, which will have been enrol + vote (mostly), so will likely go higher in L/G favour. Nice to see Canty doing well!
Looking at it, it’s missing the polytechs – any volunteers? http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/voting-place-statistics.html then check the PDFs of the relevant electorates.
Here are the votes for Ara (formerly CPIT) here in Christchurch:
City Campus:
Chch Central Total – 502 votes; G – 98; L – 214; N – 137
Chch East Total – 208 votes; G – 23; L – 109; N – 58
Ilam Total – 204 votes; G – 23; L – 76; N – 77
Port Hills Total – 339 votes; G – 70; L – 144; N – 90
Selwyn Total – 142 votes; G – 14; L – 60; N – 58
Waimakariri Total – 125 votes; G – 10; L – 53; N – 48
Wigram Total – 211 votes; G – 23; L – 86; N – 82
Te Tai Tonga Total – 109 votes; G – 20; L – 63; N – 17
Woolston Campus:
Chch Central Total – 431 votes; G – 56; L – 198; N – 117
Chch East Total – 27 votes; G – 0; L – 15; N – 7
Ilam Total – 12 votes; G – 2; L – 3; N – 6
Port Hills Total – 414 votes; G – 53; L – 204; N – 101
Selwyn Total – 19 votes; G – 2; L – 6; N – 9
Waimakariri Total – 18 votes; G – 0; L – 9; N – 8
Wigram Total – 12 votes; G – 1; L – 7; N – 4
Te Tai Tonga Total – 39 votes; G – 2; L – 26; N – 5
Overall total – 2812 votes; G – 397 (14.12%); L – 1273 (45.27%); N – 824 (29.3%); Other – 318 (11.31%).
I’m not really expecting 60% of specials to L/G, but it would be amazing.
How did the polls perform?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/97203753/election-how-did-the-polls-perform
article is somewhat premature…
Not really, unless you’re expecting a substantial change (most are expecting one or two seats to change) due to the special votes.
its a measure of how the polls performed…and we dont have the final result to judge them by…irrespective of whether theres a significant change or not
No, we don’t have the final result. But the article acknowledges that.
And unless there is substantial change (which is unlikely) they’re not as bad as some have claimed.
therefore its pointless, the accuracy can only be judged when the result is known….what can be commented on however is the turnout…one has to wonder what it will take for the over 20% of disengaged to voice their opinion (or even a proportion of them)
“Therefore its pointless”
At this stage, not totally. The election has been held, the provisional result is out and there is expected to be little change.
Direct democracy is said to encourage participation, thus deserves consideration.
“….and there is expected to be little change”
not sure where you draw that conclusion from….it may not change the fact Winston has balance of power but there is considerable potential for it to change party voter support levels….that which is (supposedly) predicted by advance polls.
I have been studying people I know – friends and acquaintences and their voting preferences. Its not like the old days when people didn’t discuss what their preferences were. One thing that really resonates with me is that people who vote right wing generally are conservative, like the status quo, have boring interiors in their homes, an absence of books, artwork on the walls and general clutter about the place and do not have a lot to offer in conversations at restaurant tables. Some of these people have homes which look for motel or hotel rooms. Prefer to look at sport on Sky for evening’s entertainment and most certainly will always have an excuse for the way the Government is acting out with hospitals, schools and WINZ for example. In other words will not enter into any sort of “opening up the mind” to alternatives or have the ability to debate these topics. A closed mind.
Left wingers are more keen for change, have the guts to agree make the “huge decisions” which are what need to be done to make our society a better place. Books there are by the truck loads and clutter abounds as well. They usually have done “out of the way” things on their OE and generally have exciting things to offer in a conversation. They may have comfortable lives and jobs as well but they have that joy of anticipation for change and do not seem to be fearful of change. Just my observations but for sure there is depth in left wingers and not such a money oriented interest in their lives.
Is there some different side of the brain that makes us what we are – be interesting if some academic study was done on his phenonema.
There is much academic study out of the US on the general subject, and it basically agrees with what you’ve said here. And yes, MRIs show different parts of the brain engage for RW compared to LW.
History shows that major innovations were created while Labour was in power.
History shows that National made few innovations while in power. National tended to just tinker round the edges to modify detrimentally to wages and conditions for wage and salary earners.
I agree with you Whispering Kate. Something else I have noticed about right wingers I know: they are phenomenally ignorant about current affairs and political subjects. They are not necessarily unintelligent but they have no interest in keeping themselves informed about issues unless it affects them. But mention house prices and related property matters and they are all well read experts.
Lefties are the other way around.
@WKate…totally agree!
@WK
A perceptive comment. What you’re writing about here is what really interests me about politics … why is it that voting has so little to do with rationality and so very driven by emotion, tribalism and sheer short-sighted folly ?
Why are some people willing to embrace new ideas and others so very resistant to them? There is a deep neuro-biology driving all this; aspects of how our brain is working beyond our immediate awareness.
Yet emphatically I still believe people can change. It just takes confidence, courage and hope.
Whispering Kate ,… magnificent !
It is all in the cognitive perception ,… conservatism ,… whether it is the fearful , doubtful aspect that plagued the Generals of the battle of the Somme, or the ego that drove General Robert E Lee to wage a full frontal attack uphill against entrenched Yankee troops with mechanized Gatling guns and artillery ,… … or the goad that prompted the cold war ,… there is a common element,… the paralyzing inability to action !!!
It is a human condition,… based on fear.
Now,… if we were to exploit that fear , we would apply a bold general , such as Sun Tsu. Or General George ‘ Blood and Guts ‘ Patton.
We would take the initiative.
If there is one thing absent from the New Zealand Left it is boldness.
That uncompromising , unapologetic spirit that General Patton expressed ,…
………………………………….
” Have taken Trier with two divisions. What do you want me to do? Give it back?”
Reply to a message from General Dwight Eisenhower to bypass the German city of Trier because it would take four divisions to capture it (2 March 1945), as quoted in the Introduction to War as I Knew it (1947) by George Smith Patton, Jr., with Paul Donal Harkins, p. 20
………………………………….
When Jacinda Adern said ” we are in the fight of our lives”,…
She needed to have Blood and Guts Patton in mind.
George S. Patton – Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_S._Patton
A bit late only just seen it, but excellent post Kate. The follow-on comments were also good especially Annes @15.3
We have a right-wing acquaintance who will discuss Rugby and Master Chef all day every day and has a theory a vote for the left is the start of the slippery slope to communism. When we told this person, this summer we were planning to go to Farewell Spit photographing some of the bird life there, the response was, WHERE IS IT, WHAT IS IT! Surely I thought that would have been one of the basic geography lessons of New Zealand. and I am sure the geography of NZ would have been taught in schools.
I think his questions confirms your theory Kate.
A lucid explanation of Trump … and what we’re up against:
http://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/nfl-stars-are-falling-into-donald-trumps-trap/news-story/5c4ea843402408249c7966945b634ab2
Essentially Trump is the world’s most successful troll.
you think it has nothing to do with Puerto Rico drowning, North Korea calling him an old fool or dotard :), his son in law using a private email account for offical business, the repeal and replace with nothing ACA debacle, no just him trolling some black folks calling them son of bitches?
yeah, i guess you could call that a troll.
Yeah … everything about Trump is appalling … except for how successful he has been in mobilising his support base with fear, lies and misdirection. National just did a watered down version of it on us and I think it’s worthwhile to think about that.
no, i think it is worthwhile calling them out on it.
You can not live your live on fear and demonetization of others, eventually you run out of others.
so instead of calling him the most successful troll you could call him a President who is such a racist that he is not coming to the aid of the Puerto Ricans, who are US Citizens, who have been without electricity, water for a few days now, and who are currently under water and will not have electricity back for maybe a full half to a year.
I know that is boring, so much more fun discussing the fears of the white working class and other assorted bullshit, cause clearly the fears of the non white working class matter little.
Lets all just pander to fear. Yei.
And in NZ, Blinglish did not pander to fear, he pandered to greed. Simple as that.
And again, when that boat sinks, the poor have the least to loose. It is the rich that are going to eat crow and it is them who will not like it.
Greed is nothing more than a ‘fear of loss’; so it’s pretty closely linked really.
I’m not endorsing Trump or National at all; just pointing to the fact that despite all their numerous human and moral deficiencies .. they keep winning elections. Unless we are willing to closely look at how they do this; we the left will keep losing them.
again, i do not see National as a winner in this country. In MMP there are no true winners unless they can form stable coalitions and sadly National has killed everyone it ever worked with, so clearly National should have had more reason to ‘win bigly’ in order to manage its fourth term on its on and now it is a lame duck.
The US – and i am one who considered Clinton the smaller of two evils – will most likely see either a civil war or will see Trump removed by hook or by crook within a year. I am going with martial law first, then some civil unrest, then President Pence – whom i actually consider worse then Trump. Not sure if Trump believes he won, he does not behave like a winner to be honest.
But to diminish his dehumanizing of people as an act of troll is what allows him to keep on going. He is not trolling, he is inciting violence. He is past trolling.
And no i don’t think that the farmers and landowners of NZ have fear of loss, they just have a fear of being forced to pay their fair share and finally behave as if they were citizens instead of “landlords”. Greed is not the same as fear.
OK if you just want to score points for the fun of it … you win. You’re right I’m wrong. Happy?
It is not that you are right or i am right, it is about how we now frame the disconnect that is being spread.
The US can no more go back to the 1850s where everyone knew their place – especially people of colour and women, no matter how hateful Trump will be then we can pretend that we can sell our land to the highest bidder to the point where we end up needing a passport internally to get from point a to point b because everything is fenced off for ‘cows’, or mining, or road building.
This is not about scoring points. this is about how do we address is. Call Trump a troll? He is not, he is the fucking President of the US with the biggest weaponry at his disposal and Troops in over 150 countries. That is some troll.
Blinglish is not sowing fear he is sowing greed, vote me and you get 20$ per week, or no taxes and all the water for free. Greed.
Once we can name it, how do we counter it. Just saying he is the biggest troll of them all is not countering.
So from where i am standing WE, you , i and humpty dumpty next door are the real losers. Feel better now?
Que sera sera… whatever will be , will be…
Like FUCK.
The Left are deflecting and already licking their wounds and conceding defeat.
The hell with that.
Grab your balls and get on top of the situation and show some fight, stop wallowing in self pity and apportioning blame. We’ve got a future to fight for the next generation coming through. No more of this self pitying bullshit.
So put on your helmets and get on with the program of winning.
FFS.
Well, an Australian would make excuses.
/
Four years later at the 1972 Summer Olympics that took place in Munich, Germany, Norman wasn’t part of the Australian sprinters team, despite having run qualifying times for the 200 meters thirteen times and the 100 meters five times.
Norman left competitive athletics behind after this disappointment, continuing to run at the amatuer level.
Back in the change-resisting, whitewashed Australia he was treated like an outsider, his family outcast, and work impossible to find. For a time he worked as a gym teacher, continuing to struggle against inequalities as a trade unionist and occasionally working in a butcher shop. An injury caused Norman to contract gangrene which led to issues with depression and alcoholism.
As John Carlos said, “If we were getting beat up, Peter was facing an entire country and suffering alone.” For years Norman had only one chance to save himself: he was invited to condemn his co-athletes, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s gesture in exchange for a pardon from the system that ostracized him.
A pardon that would have allowed him to find a stable job through the Australian Olympic Committee and be part of the organization of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Norman never gave in and never condemned the choice of the two Americans.
He was the greatest Australian sprinter in history and the holder of the 200 meter record, yet he wasn’t even invited to the Olympics in Sydney. It was the American Olympic Committee, that once they learned of this news asked him to join their group and invited him to Olympic champion Michael Johnson’s birthday party, for whom Peter Norman was a role model and a hero.
http://griotmag.com/en/white-man-in-that-photo/
WTF has Trump got to do with it?
This is New Zealand and we’ve got to focus here – not how many thousand kilometers away in a land that has nothing to do with us.
Fuck Trump and fuck the National party.
This is the here and now we are talking.
Future generations rely on how we conduct ourselves right here , and right now.
Yes you are correct about fuck trump.
But joe90 link tell of how a neo liberals western government can hammer a great indigenous PERSON and the local media will not tell his stories
And Norman was the BEST in the World at 100 200 mtr sprints he should have been celebrated by OUR WORLD as Husan Bolt is . EVERYONE IN THE WORLD should have Know who Norman is
ONE of the greatest Australian Indigenous and the World s Greatest sport Stars .We all should have been talking about him.
This is how the systems oppress The people of the land they won’t let the people have leaders or role model s to help raise there Wairua /self worth and all the people suffer oppressive .
FUCK THIS DUM ASS SYSTEM because Ours is oppressing me who a broke ass father half caste PROUD MAORI And the systems are not use to dealing with people like US.
I said absolutely nothing about tRump but let me spell it out –
A very concerned white Australian, whose own Australia made a pariah of Peter Norman, a man who dared stand alongside men who were voicing the very same opinions as those taking a knee in 2017, writes DNFTT. objecting about what someone who hates you says only encourages people who hate you, so best you STFU, he’s only trolling you.
Barking mad spider bites self, delusions ensue,
//