Daily Review 28/03/2018
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6:21 pm, March 28th, 2018 - 87 comments
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Chris Hipkins has become New Zealand’s 41st prime minister following Ardern’s unexpected resignation—perhaps the bold and unpredictable move Labour needed to improve its election chances. Just six days into his premiership and Labour had its first lead over National in thirteen weeks. National has had a largely uninterrupted run of ...14 hours ago - Tribute
Good people can come into your life imperceptibly. It can seem they’re just there one day being remarkable. Nat Torkington, for instance.We were both online from the early days, I’m assuming that’s where we first connected; maybe in the UseNet newsgroups, or maybe later through Public Address.But it was when ...15 hours ago - Genesis’ go-ahead for big solar farm in Canterbury has wider significance than just heating 10,00...
One of New Zealand’s biggest electricity generators, Genesis Energy, has given the go-ahead for a large solar farm near Lauriston on the Canterbury Plains, an hour’s drive south of Christchurch. It is part of Genesis’ strategy of replacing thermal baseload with renewable generation – a mix of wind and solar. ...15 hours ago 
Buzz from the Beehive We found just one fresh announcement on the Beehive website this morning, when we made our first visit since 4 February. It was posted in the name of Nanaia Mahuta, our Minister of Foreign Affairs, and explained why she was not at Waitangi at the weekend. ...15 hours ago- Political Roundup: 7 February 2023WAITANGI, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS Thomas Cranmer: Waitangi Day and the quiet revolution Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Waitangi in 2023: Plenty of networking, little sign of protest Tim Watkin (Pundit): Aotearoa New Zealand As A “Little Experiment”. The Rights, Wrongs & Other Wrongs Of Christoper Luxon Audrey Young (Herald): Such a good ...22 hours ago
- Monday's Dawn Chorus: The escape valve
Hipkins is doing the right thing for New Zealanders already living in Australia, but there’s now a growing risk of a fresh surge of net emigration of frustrated young Kiwis across the Tasman. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Employers here in Aotearoa are desperate to keep their best-trained, most-productive ...23 hours ago - Managing our stormwater
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TLDR: For paying subscribers, here’s the key breaking news, scoops and links I’ve found since 4 am this morning, as of 7 am, including:A 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,200 in Turkey near its border with Syria; ReutersMetService has warned a new cyclone is forming north of Aotearoa that ...1 day ago - The politics of the Treaty move on
The politics of Waitangi and the Treaty evident over the weekend have moved into a new space. The politics of Waitangi and the Treaty evident over the weekend have moved into a new space. There is a new wave of Maori activism, which sees the Treaty as a living ...1 day ago - Clean energy permitting reform needed to boost economy, protect climate and burn less coal
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Apology Accepted? “I dropped the ball on Friday, I was too slow to be seen …The communications weren’t fast enough – including mine. I’m sorry for that.”– Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.HOW OFTEN do politicians apologise? Sincerely apologise? Not offer voters the weasel words: “If my actions have offended anyone, then I ...2 days ago - Aotearoa New Zealand as a “little experiment”. The rights, wrongs & other wrongs of ...
At first blush, Christopher Luxon’s comment at the parliamentary powhiri at Waitangi this year sounded tone deaf. The Leader of the Opposition in talking about the Treaty of Waitangi described New Zealand as “a little experiment”. It seemed to diminish the treaty and the very idea of our nation. Yet ...2 days ago - Brian Easton: Co-Governance
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... 7 days ago - Isn't this the rainy day we're supposed to be saving up for?Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...7 days ago
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- February Stars.
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...7 days ago - Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Hipkins’ bread and butter reshuffle* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...7 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Hipkins’ bread and butter reshufflePrime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...7 days ago
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Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...1 week ago - Dusk Chorus: Mahuta and Little demotedNanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...1 week ago
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Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...1 week ago - 2023 More Reading: January (+ Old Phuul Update)
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...1 week ago - Is Britain doomed (again)?
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...1 week ago - After The Deluge.On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...1 week ago
- Minister of Education (who might be replaced later today) left it to his ministry to apologise for i...Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...1 week ago
- Waitangi Day – a time to reflect and learn
Kia ora e te whānau. Today, we mark the anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and our commitment to working in partnership with Māori to deliver better outcomes and tackle the big issues, together. ...2 days ago - Greens call on the government to end perpetual leases
The Green Party calls on the Government to end perpetual leases over Māori land so that Māori landowners can directly control their lands. ...4 days ago - Thousands more homes under LabourWe’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...5 days ago
- Time for Labour to deliver on No New MinesThe Green Party is today welcoming reports of Government progress towards having no new mines on conservation land. ...5 days ago
- Time for Labour to deliver on No New MinesThe Green Party is today welcoming reports of Government progress towards having no new mines on conservation land. ...5 days ago
- Greens join call for immediate rent freeze after floodsThe Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...5 days ago
- Extra cost of living support for New ZealandersWhen Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...6 days ago
- Greens not on board with fossil fuel subsidyThe Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...7 days ago
- Urgent action needed to support familiesThe tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party writes to new Prime MinisterThe Green Party has written to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins outlining a plan for a fairer Aotearoa. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party looks forward to working with Chris HipkinsThe Green Party welcomes Chris Hipkins as the sole nominee for leader of the Labour Party, and the next Prime Minister of Aotearoa New Zealand. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens recognise Prime Minister Ardern’s serviceThe Green Party is today acknowledging Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s service to Aotearoa. ...3 weeks ago
- Prime Ministers’ meeting reaffirms close trans-Tasman relationship
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held their first bilateral meeting in Canberra. It was Chris Hipkins’ first overseas visit since he took office, reflecting the close relationship between New Zealand and Australia. “New Zealand has no closer partner than Australia. I was pleased to ...13 hours ago - Immediate humanitarian support to Türkiye and Syria following earthquakesNew Zealand will immediately provide humanitarian support to those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by these earthquakes. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected,” ...17 hours ago
- Pākinga Pā site to be gifted back to local hapūAn historic Northland pā site with links to Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is to be handed back to iwi, after collaboration by government, private landowners and local hapū. “It is fitting that the ceremony for the return of the Pākinga Pā site is during Waitangi weekend,” said Regional Development Minister ...19 hours ago
- New initiatives to unlock Māori science and research resourcesThe Government is investing in a suite of initiatives to unlock Māori and Pacific resources, talent and knowledge across the science and research sector, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Two new funds – He tipu ka hua and He aka ka toro – set to ...20 hours ago
- Advancing our relationship in IndiaForeign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...3 days ago
- Government Northland housing investment to spark transformational changeOver $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...5 days ago
- Government investment safeguards Waitangi Treaty GroundsThe Government is supporting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a taonga that we should protect and look after. This additional support will mean people can continue to ...5 days ago
- Battle of Ohaeawai rememberedA memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...6 days ago
- More Police deployed to the frontlineMore Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...6 days ago
- Further support for upper North Island regions hit by significant weatherThe Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...6 days ago
- The Princess Royal to visit New ZealandPrime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...6 days ago
- Government and horticulture sector target $12b in exports by 2035A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...7 days ago
- Cost of living support extended for families and businesses25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...7 days ago
- More Kiwis in work as rising wages match inflationThe strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...7 days ago
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- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces resignationJacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...3 weeks ago
- Covid-19 health funding quietly halved
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Chris Hipkins’ first offshore trip as leader went without a hitch, albeit with a low bar to clear. The challenge now is ensuring that Australian rhetoric around expat rights becomes reality, while Hipkins himself needs to figure out his own foreign policy agenda. Sam Sachdeva reports, in Canberra. Given the ...2 hours ago - Christchurch offers waterlogged Auckland three brutal lessons in resilience
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...3 hours ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 8 February
Loading...(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...3 hours ago - Former FBC head’s pay package – ‘We have proof’, says Amrit
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- Earthquake footage shows Turkey’s buildings collapsing like pancakes. An expert explains whySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Quigley, Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne Mustafa Karali / AP A pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, ...16 hours ago
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Willie Jackson warned his colleagues what would happen in a vacuum on co-governance. 'Terrible' abuse suffered by Nanaia Mahuta is one outcome. ...1 day ago - Defining braided rivers will help avoid future disasters
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...1 day ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 February
Loading...(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...1 day ago - Prime Minister Hipkins welcomes less politics, more commemoration on Waitangi DayRNZ News New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has described today’s Waitangi Day dawn service as moving and says he welcomes the shift away from a focus on politics. Hundreds of people gathered before dawn to commemorate 183 years since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed. Hipkins said the national ...1 day ago
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Cheer up Lefties, it can’t get any worse for Labour
Or can it…. 🙂
What because Griffin lost his rag and essentially declared himself unwilling to work with the coalition? If he’d meant to keep his sinecure he wouldn’t have made it into a drama. With or without Curran, Griffin is gone. The wails of grief will not reach heaven.
Yes. As the story unfolds, Curran actually looks increasingly to have acted within the rules. Her handling of it was clumsy and landed Hirschfeld in it, unfortunately. But then Curran is no match for the Nats’ underhand political plays.
And Griffin is increasingly looking like a dodgy manipulator who doesn’t want to follow the government’s plans for a repurposing of RNZ.
Griffin in his role should not be playing politics. He should work within the framework put in place by the government.
For 9 long years RNZ had to work on a shoestring, because the Nats want to give more power to the corroborates owning and running commercial media, while public service media has been undermined.
Now it’s all change and Griffin and Thompson will just have to suck it up or resign.
And there’s been some dodgy collusion between Griffin and Melissa Lee – that is unacceptable for a chairman of a state broadcaster.
I posted a Newsroom opinion piece below on the politics of the RNZ revamp. Do you see Thompson as being RW? Jennings appears to be saying that Thompson is supportive of RNZ although nervous about the move to TV broadcasting.
Thompson is currently in the position of having to play the line expected of him by the Board, and in particular the Chair, Griffin. He may well have been walking a tightrope himself and had to suppress his own real views.
As I reported yesterday on OM at 9.3.1.2.1.3, Griffin’s two year reappointment by Amy Adams in 2016 runs out on 30 April, just four weeks away. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/appointments-radio-new-zealand-board
I was 99% sure that Griffin would not be rolled over again (he’s done 8 years as RNZ Chair) because of the change of government; now my bet is 100% that he is gone. Griffin has always played politics; he know no other way and does know all the tricks in the book. He’s now in his mid 70s, semi-retired, and knows he is unlikely to get any appointments under this government. He’s got nothing to lose re ‘feeding’ Lee etc at this stage.
In fact, having seen how he operates, my bet is that he may have been the one who ‘fed’ her right back on 7 December – the day that Curran met the Board of RNZ and two days after the Curran/Herschfeld meeting on 5 December. December 7 was also the same day that Lee filed her first written question No 19129 (2017) to Curran re her meeting with Herschfeld. The next day (8 Dec) Lee filed 24 more Written Questions on various matters relating to RNZ directly or indirectly via ‘fishing’ questions as I reported in my comment at 13.3 in OM 27 March: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27-03-2018/#comment-1466525
IMHO Lee did not pull those questions out of thin air.
And re your 1.1.1.2.1 below, I really don’t think CH would want the Chair job. Obviously under Griffin it has essentially been a part time job, but also it is a “governance” strategic/overview position, not a hands-on management/operational position. CH appears to someone who is an ‘in there doing it’ type of person.
Was Curran meeting Hirschfeld to sound her out about Hirschfeld replacing Griffin.
Works for me.
Except for the theory that CH wouldn’t want Griffin’s job.
Well I was thinking more along the lines of:
Shane Jones blatantly ignoring Jacinda,
Sexual assaults at Labour affiliated camps,
Ron Mark treating the air force as his own personal taxi service,
the Greens giving their share of questions to National (powerful symbolism), NZFirst attempting to bribe/blackmail/threaten Mark Mitchell (not sure of the correct terminology),
Claire Curran being well Claire Curran
But hey on the bright side
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/102577041/ed-sheeran-pops-over-to-prime-minister-jacinda-arderns-for-a-cuppa-and-scones
And? He’s not in her party and she doesn’t have control over him.
A well handled situation it seems. Labour did everything right on it.
But, then, there was John Key’s ongoing sexual assault of a waitress that got… nothing.
You mean like John Key?
Have to agree with that – she doesn’t appear to have ministerial capability.
“Sexual assaults at Labour affiliated camps
A well handled situation it seems. Labour did everything right on it.”
Even you couldn’t believe that.
I’ve read the expert stuff – Labour did everything right.
You don’t like it because it’s Labour doing everything right.
It’s not worth going over again – but I think you are on your own with this view after reading a lot of comments on this.
Being right is more important than hanging with the crowd.
So your still being two faced over this James ….. you intrepid defender of Rugby players who sexually assault
No not at all.
So reason – as opposed to trying to deflect and start a flame war – Do you agree with DTB that Labour did everything right?
“We understand we failed in our duty of care during the event…and in support we’ve offered since then,” Haworth said.”
^ That is doing everything right according to DTB.
I’ll answer your question James …. when you answer mine and Tracys …. which were made well over a week ago just as you were being banned for being an arse.
Its very discourteous and arrogant to ask questions without having the decency to address ones made to you ….
So you first.
In the meantime I recommend this comedian who makes more appropriate comments about sexual assaults than those who seek to defend it ….
David Cameron …. the masculine version of theresa May, gets a good mention over the pigs head rumor that Lord Ashcroft started
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXsL-4a8dg
5 minute mark approx
Which was really stupid of Labour. They’re buying in to National’s rhetoric which is a lie.
Labour did everything right. Shit happened. They learn a few lessons and move on.
It is impossible to plan for every possible eventuality.
And demanding that people do so is demanding the impossible.
The Shane Jones. I believe he was speaking as a minister with his regional hat on. I would have thought the MP Adern would have some influence in that regard.
perhaps it need to be stated That the fellow that misbehaved himself at the Youth camp was not a Labour Party member .Was he a Nat mischief maker?
The Radio NZ carry on is small beer, beltway stuff. No one really cares about the ins-and-outs of Curran and Hirshfeld meeting in a Wellington caff, though both of them should have known better.
Ardern and Peters frankly weird response to the Russia spy/poisoning though has the capacity to really undermine her premiership. She needs to finetune that sort of stuff pretty smartly.
On its own it is but when you add up everything thats gone wrong in the first 6 months its eventually going to catch up with you
Actually I think less has gone wrong in the first 6 months than you would have liked. And a lot has gone right.
Almost nothing has gone wrong. What we have is the RWNJs trying really hard to make it look like things have gone wrong.
The Russian Spy thing is also an exaggerated beat up. My guess is that May has used the Skripal poisoning as an excuse to stir up popular sentiment against Russia. It was all done too hastily without all the evidence being in.
There’s various elements of uncertainty about what has been stated publicly.
I think NZ should not jump on the bandwagon at this point. Ardern expressing certainty about the origin of the Skripal attack seems like appeasing allies, while not getting sucked into reprisals.
Ardern says there no plausible alternative explanation other than the attempted murders were committed by the Kremlin. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Yeah. Well, she’s just repeating the UK government line. And I was aware of Ardern’s statement on that when I made my comment @ 7.22pm.
So, why not just wait and see when all the evidence is in and fully published?
There are questions to be asked – though I think this article is stretching it a bit (or more than a bit) to make it 30 questions.
But the UK and US governments have a track record of stretching evidence to fit their foreign adventure plans.
But some of those questions are worth asking.
‘Plausible’ explanations aren’t evidence.
Ardern saying that reduces my respect for her – and it wasn’t that great anyway.
Jacinda claims to have been briefed by the SIS. The SIS have no doubt been briefed by MI6. But MI6, whatever their actual beliefs, would not wish to be seen to be contradicting their PM, so how much is Jacinda’s reason for supporting Britain (TINA) really worth?
Can it really be true that no other country possesses the chemistry smarts that the Russians possess?
Can it really be true that no other country possesses the chemistry smarts that the Russians possess?
Has anyone made that claim? No. Funny how all the Kremlin’s “arguments” are strawmen.
Once again you miss the point. You really are a hopeless case.
Once again you’ve produced a comment with no substantive material, other than a personal attack. Did your father enjoy the movie you made with him and your pet goat?
Ardern’s announcement yesterday that MFAT had advised her there were no ‘non declared’ Russian spies in NZ took me by surprise. Spies, be they of the western or eastern variety, are the province of the NZSIS.
She corrected it today but it suggested a lack of knowledge on her part.
Btw, why has this government not looked into the circumstances surrounding the National MP, Jian Yang who was discovered to have had close ties to the Chinese military intelligence?
Because that’s a job for the SIS, not the government.
Who said they aren’t? Or rather that the new government has not asked the NZ SIS to do further investigations?
It is not something that would be splashed all over the media while it is under investigation.
Sorry Anne, I meant to include in my comment at 1.1.3.3.2 this link to an article by Matt Nippert in the Herald in Dec 2017 where Winston Peters was calling for an investigation into Jian Yang. Considering Peters’ position in the new govt, it would not surprise me if there was an investigation in progress.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11963295
So ex Chinese spies working for the National Government is okay ?
We have to find the Russian spies b4 we can expell them duh ?
We have to find the spies b4 we can expell them ?
You’ll probably find them hiding under their beds.
Scott Watson did the poisoning Scott ….
Cheer up chris, only 12+ years to go 🙂
I was going to reply with something like it being closer to 2 years nine months but at the rate its going even that might be pushing it 🙂
weren’t you one of the righties utterly convince National were going to win the election? 🙂
The only perfect person was Jesus* and look what happened to him 🙂
*If you believe in that kind of thing
cool, so you accept that Key had some flaws then.
I don’t accept Key as a person, I accept Key as my lord and saviour 🙂
Oh no! Not another happy clapping ANZ customer!
Top that one 73. 😀
These doco’s remind me of Johnny made-off ( bent key )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f524UFheysY
Many a true word spoken in jest
Dream on troll.
The Nats pathetic, tissue paper thin strategy of claiming this government is incompetent is laughable.
If you want incompetence, look at the mess the Nats have left the public health service in-John Campbell covered this on Checkpoint tonight. Oh but that’s right, only the plebs use the public health service so that doesn’t matter when you can afford to roll up to Coleman’s private health service.
Yeah I’m sure you’re right, not likely to be any more scandels for a while 🙂 at the very least its going to be interesting to see what happens when Jacinda goes on maternity leave on Winstons running the show 🙂
Feel better? I’m so glad.
Newsroom.
That’s more than I expected from this government. The inquiry members are yet to be announced…
This story got posted in twitter about an Aussie guy who nearly got shot by the police in the US for getting out of his car, walking towards the police and reaching for his wallet after he had been pulled over (tweet is a decent warning about how to behave in the US).
I’m curious how many people in NZ get out of the car and walk towards the police when pulled over?
I’ve been pulled over twice and stayed in my car both times because walking towards someone is generally considered threatening (I’m guessing from the polices point of view)
Much better to stay in the car and follow the polices instructions
I stay in the car too, not sure why. Sometimes a safety thing, mostly probably laziness. Might be about changing the power dynamic though.
I used to work on the states a lot.
I often preferred to take a day and drive than flying on the wee commuter fights.
Was warned about this several times by people I work with. Sadly the risk is real.
Opinion piece from Mark Jennings at Newsroom,
There are some things about the Carol Hirschfeld RNZ saga that just don’t add up.
Why would a highly respected, experienced broadcasting executive like Hirschfeld repeatedly lie to her boss?
Especially given that she had enjoyed a highly successful partnership with that boss?
Hirschfeld and RNZ CEO Paul Thompson are widely credited with pulling off a remarkable revival of RNZ in the face of a funding freeze and a somewhat staid culture.
Thompson’s digital and strategic skills married with Hirschfeld’s style and TV experience seemed to be the perfect combination.
He suggests that the meeting was a relationship building one, and that Hirschfeld’s lying about its planning was around the politics of Cullen’s plans for RNZ to do public television. Still doesn’t make sense of Hirschfeld lying to Thompson though.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/27/100637/coffee-meeting-leaves-rnz-in-a-mess#
Maybe a management / board directive that only the CEO and Chair were to meet with the Minister or MPs. We haven’t heard much about the culture within RNZ, but I’m wondering what went on too.
That’s a great photo. One of my favourites from the other day.
This bit suggests that Thompson doesn’t want to go with Currran’s full plan, and is more in step with Griffin:
It’s possible that anything that Hirschfeld said to Thompson about Curran’s planned changes would be relayed directly to Griffin.
True, but we don’t know what the meeting content was, and the lie was about whether the meeting was planned or not. Why lie about that?
Yep. It’s the lie that’s the problem. It may have been their way of trying to hold off the manipulations of Griffin. But, if so, it backfired and was not the best way to go about dealing with Griffin’s resistance.
if it had been formally planned then CH would have had to inform her boss?
If your theory is correct then that’s even more damning of CH. I get it, but it was still a daft move. I had been thinking she had just told a stupid lie at the start and then needed to keep telling it, but if it was part of an intentional strategy that’s way worse.
There’s always stuff going on behind the scenes that we don’t see.
My impression is that there’s been a lot of right wing maneuvering behind the scenes to undermine public service media. I think that’s why Hirschfeld and Mihingarangi Forbes left Maori TV, and also probably why Forbes and Campbell left TV3. Their experience was probably of some pretty dodgy dealings.
However, it sounds like the pre-meeting texts shows that Curran initiated the meeting. A better minister would have been more aware of what she would be leading CH into, and would have managed the whole situation better.
Drawing a public sector employee into discussions that lead to self-destructive behaviour does nothing to help implement the changes Curran is after.
The Cabinet Manual tells what is expected of Cabinet Ministers. Claire Curran has done nothing wrong according to the Cabinet Manual. Its a beat-up like the Russian spy story.
Australia with over 20millon people could find only 2. NZ with 4 million nil. And the members of the Five Nations agree and accept that.
Except this part of the Cabinet Manual….
3.81
If an employee wishes to communicate privately with a Minister about a matter concerning the agency by which he or she is employed, the Minister should ensure that the employee has first raised the matter with the agency’s chief executive.
Not relevant this time Rof.
On what basis?
god, what a mess. A whole lot of behind the scenes stuff does make the most sense.
I’ve have been wondering to myself for the best part of the day about Jacinda Ardern’s comment about the general lack of Russian spies in Aotearoa presently. I would presume she is going on advice from – well, whom, exactly. If this advice has been proffered by the GSCB via the Five Eyes network are they bumbling nincompoops or deliberately undermining her.
2 in big Australia. Nil so far in NZ. She gets her information from the NZ SIS whose job it is to Know. She cannot just deport someone/anyone who looks Russian can she?
And although it was a Russian missile that brought down the airliner, they are still trying to find out who fired it. An international Tribunal is still deciding.
On the other hand if we want to deport some Chinese spies, don’t go to the embassy, go to the National party office.
Yes please Keepcalm. Lots to choose from.
She’s getting advice from the spies that are not here. 🙂
If there are any here anyway they’d be damned bored, albeit highly amused.
“Jacinda Ardern’s comment about the general lack of Russian spies in Aotearoa presently.”
She did not really say that but her wording was a bit off. The action taken to expel Russian “spies” by other countries is in relation to only one small category of intelligence operatives – namely what are known as “undeclared intelligence staff”.
Andrew Geddis on Stuff and on the Pundit Blog has done the best job I have ever seen of explaining this category of intelligence operatives I have ever seen.
Here is the link and an excerpt
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/my-spy-boy-told-your-spy-boy-im-gonna-set-you-flag-on-fi-yo
And so the action that obviously was agreed behind the scenes was to kick out the “undeclared intelligence agents” that each country has identified as working out of its various Russian diplomatic posts. Exactly what is meant by an “undeclared intelligence agent” is then very important, as it is the key to why NZ acted (or, didn’t act) as it did.
An undeclared intelligence agent is not an ordinary diplomat who gathers gossip, monitors news media and attends cocktail functions in order to report to their government at home what is happening in NZ. All diplomats do this – our embassy staff overseas just as much as Russian embassy staff here. So “collecting information for your government” does not make someone an undeclared intelligence agent.
Instead, an undeclared intelligence agent is a member of a country’s secret service who pretends to be a diplomat in order to actually undertake covert operations in the country to which they are posted. They are really spies who are pretending to be diplomats so as to get the benefits of diplomatic immunity should they get caught spying.
Because these two things are not the same, they are not viewed the same in diplomatic interactions. A country kicking out a diplomat because they actually are an undeclared intelligence agent is a lesser deal than is kicking out a diplomat proper, because the “diplomat’s” country knows that they’ve basically been rumbled misusing their diplomatic privileges.
So, that’s the level of response that the UK’s various friends collectively decided was warranted – not kicking out “real” diplomats (which is a major step) but kicking out spies-in-diplomats-clothing (which is a lesser step). Which then is a problem for New Zealand.
Because it appears that we don’t have any Russian undeclared intelligence agents on hand to kick out. This claim has, I know, been met with ridicule by many. I mean, it’s Russia! We all know they spy all the time on everyone!! And New Zealand is so very, very important that they must spy on us, too!!! Please? We need the validation … .
Except – maybe there just aren’t any down here at the bottom of the world. And even if there is some undeclared intelligence agent kicking about in the Russian embassy, our SIS doesn’t know who it is. Nor do our overseas intelligence partners, apparently, because we asked them and they couldn’t finger anyone either.
I hope that helps but I also suggest that you read the whole article to put the above into context.
Apparently the man directly responsible for the post invasion insurgency, the ongoing violence and the deaths of perhaps 100K or more Iraqis is much more at peace now.
.
Gradually, Bremer appears to have come to terms with the vitriol. “He still answers hate mail,” Francie told me. “People will say, ‘Do you consider yourself a war criminal?’ Or ‘Why don’t you go commit harakiri?’ Nice things like that. But I think he’s much more at peace now. We both are.”
Still, it’s quite a comedown for a man who, back in the summer of 2003, was being talked up for a top cabinet post himself. At a high point of his CPA tenure, Bremer received a note from Colin Powell joking that he was probably measuring the drapes in the Secretary of State’s office. The viceroy’s reply: “‘When I get out of here — if I ever get out of here — I’m going to Vermont and I’m going to show you a Rip Van Winkle act like you’ve never seen,” he vowed. “I’m going to sleep for years.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/paul-bremer-iraq-war-ski-instructor/
https://taskandpurpose.com/paul-bremer-iraq-war-ski-instructor/
Adern risks being a one term prime minister according to Hooton.
Ominously possible but not for the reasons he is stating. This is death by a thousand cuts from every single branch of commercial media which is arrayed against the government. Relentless antigovernment propaganda.
This has to be aggressively countered.
If National can fund friendly media, shut down their detractors and stack boards then it’s time to get cracking.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12022002
That photo is hyperbole…
Managed hyperbole…
Can’t reason with the NRA,
Time to try some hyperbole.
“From my cold, dead hands.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiwmeEENx4A
There is obviously a clash of cultures at RNZ, an intelligent attractive indigenous woman vs an aged white man, ex National Party PR man, who is past his best b4 date ?
In broad terms that imo is exactly what is happening and it explains why she felt she couldn’t tell him the truth.
Veutoviper on open Mike (I think) had past dealings with Griffin and she described him – among other things – as a misogynist.
so brown woman breaks the rules and it’s a white mans fault , got any proof, or was she trying to climb the ladder behind his back ?
It would be interesting to know what CH thought the meeting was going to be about. She might have initially thought the meeting was about things besides RNZ – the minister wanted a run down on the media sector based on her experience or maybe she thought the minister was head hunting her for a job. She might not have thought she needed to get permission if those were the topics and it was only during/after the meeting that she found that she had been dropped into it. The only safe way was to lie because telling the truth would have got her fired sooner.
I am just guessing but I would politely say “she has probably just had a guts full of working in a toxic environment with not particularly nice people” ?
Hopefully the worms will come out of the woodwork ?
MSM in NZ and Worldwide are a disgrace to journalism and accurate reporting, and that is a fact ?
MSM in NZ and Worldwide are a disgrace to journalism and accurate reporting, and that is a fact.
Hear, hear.