Are the Right trying to set up The Greens a scapegoat and Peters as a dangerous trouble-maker, then call on the country to reject the rules around MMP and instead crown National as the Right & True Government?
“The Greens’ environmental policies, on the other hand, would require National to actually seriously challenge farm owners, drilling/mining companies, and other capitalists. Currently the costs of these capitalists’ activities are largely falling on the environment, and therefore on the present and future public. The Greens want to stop these business activities destroying our shared home by preventing and internalising these external costs. They’ll ban some unjustifiably polluting business activities, such as drilling or mining or exploring for more fossil fuels at a time when even burning the fossil fuels already dug up will make the Paris target impossible. They’ll tax other business activities for their pollution—making those who produce the costs pay the costs, instead of externalising them. And they’ll use the tax revenue to clean up the damage and to subsidise farmers and other businesses moving to more sustainable ways of doing business.
Do you really see National doing that? The party whose base is farm owners and other capitalists? The party that think climate change is only an issue for “elites”, and that it’s not a “pressing concern”, and that we should adapt to climate change rather than mitigating it? The party who scaremongered on a small water tax for some big farms that are currently destroying the quality of Aotearoa’s awa and wai?”
That’s just the greens, I can imagine the gnashing of teeth when Labour clamp down on the free loading, property portfolio owning, tax manipulating land lords.
We will need compassion for our capitalist brethren, of right and left persuasion.
Sorry to hog the thread, only, I’m in full research mode right now 🙂
“National’s focus on having a strong economy prevents them from having any interest in what is fundamental to the Greens, which is sustainability and fairness. The challenge in forming this kind of coalition is that there would have to be a shift in the essence of their being.”
Nice. Although I would stay that the Greens want a strong economy where strength comes from sustainability and resiliency, and National want a perpetual growth until it falls over economy
Actually developing the economy costs and thus lowers profits. And it most definitely needs everyone working which would raise wages which also cuts profits.
There is no way for National’s economic management to actually work because everything that needs to be done cuts profits. And National only ever works to maximise profits while cutting costs.
There is a petition going:
“Show your support for the idea of a National/Green govt.” 6,000 signed up.
Reckon they were the desperate Nats?
And another one:
“We don’t support your water tax because:
“You can’t tell us what the impact of the tax will be on food producers, jobs, communities & food prices
You are only taxing……
UPDATE: we have surveyed irrigators and found that a water tax could lead to many arable, sheep and beef farms converting to more intensive farming like dairy and that farmers would reduce spending in rural communities to pay for the tax.”
5,011 signed up. Same folk as in the first petition?
Shall we tell that the Election is over?
lol..all very aspirational and just like current policy settings …Farrar kite flying by request no doubt….only one thing needed to know…..National lie.
Billshit – remember bill lying by omission when Todd declared that there is no recording and Bill each day there watching the misleading and putting his shameful head down? That list is more of that shit behaviour.
Farrar spins propaganda for the National Party for a living. What makes you think any of that list is real?
And even if it was, National can’t be trusted.
But thanks, because I think that list demonstrates very clearly that National don’t want to end poverty or clean up rivers, but they are willing to sell some policy to gain power. So they can keep running a poverty economy and destroying the environment.
Excellent Chris, if you believe any of it, I have a bridge you may like to buy.
Conveniently located in Auckland, many lanes, chance to expand,great views…
All of it? No. Some it? Absolutely, I mean the cycleways alone can be linked to greater tourism possibilities so thats an easy one, predator freer NZ is also easy as its only 65 million, children in poverty well Bill pledged something similar so that wouldn’t take much
All of which would be more than the Greens have achieved in over 20 years
smoke and mirrors…cycleways are already included in nat policy, as is the predator free and the climate target is already not going to met so increasing it just means it wont be met by more…now about that bridge…….
The cycleways? The ones we were promised from the 2009 job summit would create jobs and address the layoffs from GFC? You guys keep letting them retell you they are going to do something, you get excited, they do nothing, and when pushed, repeat it
Does beg the question, would the Greens achieve more in one deal with National then they have over the last 21 years and i think the answer would be yes and that includes when Labour had the opportunity to have the Greens in power and whatever concessions the Greens achieve is good for the country, isn’t it?
Perhaps just encourage National to formulate some effective and sustainable pro-environment policies – good luck with that.
If I had a week to spare I would start compiling a list of the posts/comments extolling the ‘advantages’ of a National-Green alliance: would make an excellent soporific. Nodding off now…
Christchurch Transport Plan
Clean water, great farming
South Taranaki Whale Sanctuary
Turning trash into cash
Wellington Transport Plan
Auckland Transport Plan
Thriving Nature
Protecting drinking water
Empowering NZ
Tourism Levy
Safer, cleaner freight
2015 Climate Action – Yes we can!
Climate Impact Disclosure Statement
Public Finance (Sustainable Development Indicators) Amendment Bill
Clean Groundwater Bill
Regional rail: connecting Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay
No, it doesn’t, though you’d have us believe otherwise; * thinks, shall I drink this goblet of hemlock juice? I’m ever so thirsty and this is the first drink I’ve been offered in ages!
Even if Lab/NZ1 go it alone, whatever they would do on their own would still be better than the “concessions” from the nats. Not the same, but better overall.
The only thing they’ve achieved in 21 years is some insulation in homes, isn’t the point of being in parliament that you get to do some of the things you want to do?
No, the point of being in parliament is that the things you want done get done.
When you don’t care about the credit, they’ve achieved a lot more than that.
The Greens played a significant role in NZ poverty being recognised, counted and now even reduction targets being included as national party election policy. In making water quality an election issue that the nats are the only ones holding back on. In making the housing crisis a recognised problem.
They didn’t do that by accepting “compromises” that included largely what the nats were going to do anyway.
Pffffffft Jacinda wasn’t a feature at the previous election and The Greens done good 🙂 And the election before that, and before that. Chris, your reckons are feeble.
Obviously, making her leader was far more than a cosmetic change, she completely reversed the public dialogue on half a dozen major election issues all by herself.
Credit where credits due she did a pretty impressive job, not quite enough to topple English but from where she started to now was not a bad effort at all
She just needs to shore up on the economy and she’ll be near on unstoppable in 2020
Best and most likely case they go with National, worst case we have Lab/NZFirst/Greens but most likely (of the worst situation) is Lab/NZFirst with a severely neutered Greens, I dunno C & S or something
And yet ended on 36.5%, roughly the same figures David Shearer was polling before he got rolled years ago…..come on, she fizzled out when it came down to it.
Why do you even want the Greens in govt when you voted National and the recent leader considers them looine left wing activists? Is it so you can be on the “winning” team. Greens reasons for not going with Nat is clear. There have been so many posts on it with people like you asking and saying the same things over and over again. By all means disagree with it but doing the online version of holding up your hands and wailing “but why. But why” is redundant.
Start an open mike chat with Wayne. Then you can both say the same thing over and over to each other and see at which number of repetition the Greens say “god chris, you are right”
What about cycleways … don’t really recall what happened the last nine years… perhaps a bit of dishonesty along the way, oh, and poisoned waterways, and “50 K” in poverty
Why would they be satisfied with a few paltry concessions – when the long term game is to keep getting the message out there and to make right-wing ideology unthinkable? (Overton’s window and all that.)
Well thats one way of thinking but while that happens, another 20 years maybe, thats a lot of wasted time
The longest journey may begin with a single step but that step still needs to be taken and even if they didn’t reach an agreement with National it would still mean Labour would have to negotiate with the Greens and not take them for granted
While you are going all Confucius on us try ruminating on the cost of lying to keep power, and how it ruins trust in future relationships required to coexist in govt.
I feel a bit sorry for the Nats and their supporters: short of a majority, no natural support parties left, and increasingly out of touch with reality….
I’ve changed my mind the Greens are fucking hopeless, National shouldn’t even bother.
The best thing going forward is they do Cand P for a Lab/NZ First, that way they’ll drop under 5% in 2020 and then NZ will be rid of the useless pricks and a decent flexible, cross-party like TOP can take its place.
You guys have National derangement syndrome, you’d prefer to suck up and work with a xenophobic ultra-conservative party like NZ First then deal with a party that’s basically continued on from where Helen Clarks Labour left off.
The logical disconnect does my head, It’s so fucking ridiculous, as I said the sooner the Greens are gone the better, you’re just getting in the way of a decent functioning MMP system.
Really though, BM, you sound like a baby diplodocus, left behind in the swamp, bawling, while mummy diplodicus browses the tree tops.
Have you no pride?
And you think that calling them infantile will make Green party members reading your comments want to vote for a coalition agreement with the nats, just to prove how machua they rooly are?
After nine years in government, you guys still think that gaining a coalition partner involves the “negging” date technique so popular among male young nats.
“You guys have National derangement syndrome, you’d prefer to suck up and work with a xenophobic ultra-conservative party like NZ First then deal with a party that’s basically continued on from where Helen Clarks Labour left off.
The logical disconnect does my head, It’s so fucking ridiculous, as I said the sooner the Greens are gone the better, you’re just getting in the way of a decent functioning MMP system.”
Lol, the new Crosby Textor memo. National are basically Helen Clark. The Greens ruin MMP.
Not enough 🙄 🙄 for that.
Pretty sure you’re not supposed to be so tetchy with it though.
The only religious zealotry that has place in an MMP environment is allowed in the National Party as espoused by the double dipper from Dipton Mr. Bill English – especially when it comes to the right of a women to choose. Then of course religious zealotry is a sign of devout piousness and no one is more pious then the double dipper from Dipton, after all confession on Saturday, taking mess on Sunday and then its all good for another week. Right?
Neoliberal economics may be a travesty of religion, but it is the closest thing to a Church that Americans have thesedays, replete with its Inquisition operating out of the universities of Chicago, Harvard and Columbia.
was it not just this year that Blinglish invoked his faith in regards to the ‘criminal’ act of abortion that forces women in this country to literally declare themselves mentally unwell in order to receive an abortion?
As a centre right voter, I admit id prefer for Winston to go with Labour and the Greens, im sick of all his nonsense. Let the three of them try to govern for the next term, oh what fun that will be…..they deserve each other.
No. When you have the chance for power you always take it because you never whats going to happen later and even if what you say comes to pass then NZ will suffer for it.
Just cannot cope with not knowing if you are on the winning team BM? Try to lure them over and then resort to name calling when they dont do what you want?
They have got over the 5% thrrshold every time since 1999.
Surely now that the votes have come in and there is now a waiting period for the overseas vote to come in – then there should be a limbo period where the MSM and other vested interests should be kept out of any news, electronic and newspapers.
Once the completed votes have been counted then that’s the time to sit and wait patiently until a new government can be formed. The way its carrying on is absolutely a disgrace. Maybe the Governor General should step in and inform all the hysteric much rakers to just keep the hell out of it – a government will be formed – let the voters have their say as a democratic society decrees.
There should be no persuading, leaning, goading and deciding what and who should be doing what – the electorate must be absolutely sick to death of it – the MSM seriously needs a rein in. Our family have completely turned off all MSM and now get videos out and watch overseas content online. How many other people have had a guts full of mouthy “no it alls” who spout heaps and know nothing.
I saw them play in pretty much the same spot but facing the other way (and without the camera), must have been 1981. Don’t Point That Thing at Me drifting across the Square, fucking awesome.
Hugh Hefner non-consensually published nudes that endangered Marilyn Monroe's career & then purchased the right to be buried with her corpse— Sady Doyle (@sadydoyle) September 28, 2017
A serious organised criminal group has come to power in Crimea, Ilmi Umerov said after being sentenced to two years in prison. https://t.co/ckrIqSwaYQ— X Soviet (@XSovietNews) September 27, 2017
(Kyiv) – A Russian court in Crimea on September 27, 2017, convicted a prominent Crimean Tatar leader on bogus separatism charges following an unfair trial, Human Rights Watch said today.
The court imposed a two-year prison sentence and banned Ilmi Umerov, the Crimean Tatar leader, from involvement in public activities, which includes contact with the media, for two years. The sentence is harsher than the three-year suspended sentence sought by the prosecution. Russian authorities should take the necessary steps to have Umerov’s two-year prison sentence set aside, and stop persecuting him and other Crimean Tatars for their peaceful opposition to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
And the speculation continues, what a crack up this 2-week wait is. As I type the political panel comes on radiolive, hard case, at least Rodney and Chris have a clue, I very much enjoy their segment on Thursday nights.
The real election horror is this seasons American Horror Story, now that’s some twisted trump/clinton based storyline, bravo to the writers
I have recently shifted (retired) back to my childhood and early adult region – the Waikato after 40 years of living in Auckland, in both National and Labour seats, latterly Mt Albert, Waitakere and finally Te Atatu electoral districts. Of course Waikato is just sooooo blue, one could pin a blue rosette to a rabid dog running down Broadway in Matamata and the locals would gladly vote for it. I attended a couple of meetings prior to the election to see what the candidates were made of – it was indeed an interesting exercise. The Nat guy came across as such a self-entitled, arrogant, born to rule Tory, I suspect he has a long career as part of their cabal if he so chooses. The other candidates were an interesting group – they’ll be all the wiser for their experience, if they so decide to have another crack next time, particularly Brooke Loader, who stood for Labour. I hope she recalls that Helen Clark stood in the same electorate, then Piako in 1975 and then went on to greater heights. I read today that the N Z First candidate, who was interesting to observe in his naivety, but total dedication to his party, did not only have that bloody Myrtle tractor run over his foot at that National Party/Farmers’ rally at Morrinsville prior to the election, but has been attacked and mocked about his misfortune at his various farming ventures. I’m not in any shape or form a N Z First supporter, but can’t help feeling for Stu Husband. I recall Ed Hillary stating many years ago – probably at the time he was part of the ‘Citizens for Rowling’ campaign, that we needed a few ‘honest to God politicians’ in Wellington to bring some reality to politics. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/97324748/farmer-candidate-abused-by-my-own-people
Hey there Jilly, thanks for the link, crikey that was an eye opener of a read, so was your post.
One thing I’ve come to realise is that bullying is rife in most sectors of NZ society, put-downs and intimidation usually from those with a lack of knowledge or understanding on particular subjects and its freaking disgusting.
I strongly feel this bullying behaviour as demonstrated by the actions of protesting farmers outlined in your link and a particular political party is one of the factors in our devastatingly high suicide rates.
One of the reasons I lean left is because the opposition parties value people over personal power trips, made clear by how they’ve interacted this election.
“Local Māori and conservationists have claimed the right to access a Northland river today – by driving though the middle of a working dairy farm.
The farm belongs to Northland Regional Council chairman Bill Shepherd.
Northland Environmental Protection Society, Fiona Furrell, opined that …”It gives the only public access to this part of the river; to the waterfalls and the rapids. Kayakers and young people into adventure sports would love it.”
She said in its earlier days the Wairua River and its rapids had been singled out for praise by the American adventurer and sports fisherman Zane Grey.
On the riverbank where his ancestors used to camp and wait for the eels to come down the river in autumn, Mr Ruka eyed the fast-flowing Wairua and choked up a little.
He said all over the country, Māori and Pākehā had been shut out of riversides like this one because of land development …
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 29 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
“It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume.”
‘You will have no lack of water as you walk in Ithilien, but do not drink of any stream that flows from Imlad Morgul, the Valley of Living Death.”
New Zealand’s capital city, Orc Land?
Are the Right trying to set up The Greens a scapegoat and Peters as a dangerous trouble-maker, then call on the country to reject the rules around MMP and instead crown National as the Right & True Government?
Probly.
Yes – expect one of the Nat’s proxies to start a petition about replacing MMP – with the aim getting enough signatures to force a referendum.
“The Greens’ environmental policies, on the other hand, would require National to actually seriously challenge farm owners, drilling/mining companies, and other capitalists. Currently the costs of these capitalists’ activities are largely falling on the environment, and therefore on the present and future public. The Greens want to stop these business activities destroying our shared home by preventing and internalising these external costs. They’ll ban some unjustifiably polluting business activities, such as drilling or mining or exploring for more fossil fuels at a time when even burning the fossil fuels already dug up will make the Paris target impossible. They’ll tax other business activities for their pollution—making those who produce the costs pay the costs, instead of externalising them. And they’ll use the tax revenue to clean up the damage and to subsidise farmers and other businesses moving to more sustainable ways of doing business.
Do you really see National doing that? The party whose base is farm owners and other capitalists? The party that think climate change is only an issue for “elites”, and that it’s not a “pressing concern”, and that we should adapt to climate change rather than mitigating it? The party who scaremongered on a small water tax for some big farms that are currently destroying the quality of Aotearoa’s awa and wai?”
https://cutyourhair.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/blue-green-is-not-going-to-happen-and-its-not-the-greens-fault/
That’s just the greens, I can imagine the gnashing of teeth when Labour clamp down on the free loading, property portfolio owning, tax manipulating land lords.
We will need compassion for our capitalist brethren, of right and left persuasion.
Sorry to hog the thread, only, I’m in full research mode right now 🙂
“National’s focus on having a strong economy prevents them from having any interest in what is fundamental to the Greens, which is sustainability and fairness. The challenge in forming this kind of coalition is that there would have to be a shift in the essence of their being.”
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/could-a-national-greens-coalition-work
Nice. Although I would stay that the Greens want a strong economy where strength comes from sustainability and resiliency, and National want a perpetual growth until it falls over economy
😉
I’m not sure the Gnats are serious about growth – short term profit sure – but they’ve been happy to fake their growth numbers instead of fixing them.
Actually developing the economy costs and thus lowers profits. And it most definitely needs everyone working which would raise wages which also cuts profits.
There is no way for National’s economic management to actually work because everything that needs to be done cuts profits. And National only ever works to maximise profits while cutting costs.
The Nats want us to be using our energy refuting their lies. Why?? What are we not doing.??
Shouldn’t we be reaching out to others on the left and painting a picture of what could be a great coming together of the true majority.??
The forming of a strong community based social and environmental coalition???
Just wondering …. they always have an agenda!! We should stick to ours instead of looking for Wally in their picture.
Yes, indeed, Patricia. Better still, employ some of that latent lampooning skill we all have and give the Natty shills a good thrashing!
There is a petition going:
“Show your support for the idea of a National/Green govt.” 6,000 signed up.
Reckon they were the desperate Nats?
And another one:
“We don’t support your water tax because:
“You can’t tell us what the impact of the tax will be on food producers, jobs, communities & food prices
You are only taxing……
UPDATE: we have surveyed irrigators and found that a water tax could lead to many arable, sheep and beef farms converting to more intensive farming like dairy and that farmers would reduce spending in rural communities to pay for the tax.”
5,011 signed up. Same folk as in the first petition?
Shall we tell that the Election is over?
Time for Action Stations, then …
http://www.actionstation.org.nz/
And more! to counter the Fake, Dirty politics!
Interesting from David Farrar, does he have the ear of anyone…
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/09/what_could_the_greens_get_if_they_went_with_national_not_winston.html
$1 billion over ten years for cycleways
A levy on nitrate pollution
A South Taranaki Whale Sanctuary
A levy on plastic bags
Accelerated timetable for rail to Auckland Airport
Doubling the funding for DOC
$65 million a year more for predator-free NZ
Stricter water quality standards to increase the number of water bodies rated
excellent from 42% to 70%.
A commitment to double the reduction of children in poverty from 50,000 to 100,000
Double the reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 11% to 22%
lol..all very aspirational and just like current policy settings …Farrar kite flying by request no doubt….only one thing needed to know…..National lie.
Billshit – remember bill lying by omission when Todd declared that there is no recording and Bill each day there watching the misleading and putting his shameful head down? That list is more of that shit behaviour.
Farrar spins propaganda for the National Party for a living. What makes you think any of that list is real?
And even if it was, National can’t be trusted.
But thanks, because I think that list demonstrates very clearly that National don’t want to end poverty or clean up rivers, but they are willing to sell some policy to gain power. So they can keep running a poverty economy and destroying the environment.
You don’t like my principals.. …well, these are my new ones….
//
Excellent Chris, if you believe any of it, I have a bridge you may like to buy.
Conveniently located in Auckland, many lanes, chance to expand,great views…
All of it? No. Some it? Absolutely, I mean the cycleways alone can be linked to greater tourism possibilities so thats an easy one, predator freer NZ is also easy as its only 65 million, children in poverty well Bill pledged something similar so that wouldn’t take much
All of which would be more than the Greens have achieved in over 20 years
smoke and mirrors…cycleways are already included in nat policy, as is the predator free and the climate target is already not going to met so increasing it just means it wont be met by more…now about that bridge…….
The cycleways? The ones we were promised from the 2009 job summit would create jobs and address the layoffs from GFC? You guys keep letting them retell you they are going to do something, you get excited, they do nothing, and when pushed, repeat it
I am trying to understand why Nats want to be in govt with “loonies” “rent a mob” “communists” etc…
Misses the point by so far. Does he have any idea of what their policies are………
Does he have the ear of anyone?
Only his dysfunctional commentariat.
Even they can see through his pish.
Does beg the question, would the Greens achieve more in one deal with National then they have over the last 21 years and i think the answer would be yes and that includes when Labour had the opportunity to have the Greens in power and whatever concessions the Greens achieve is good for the country, isn’t it?
The Green party would indeed ‘achieve’ much more – their self-destruction for a start.
Perhaps just nodd off. M. Kram
Perhaps just encourage National to formulate some effective and sustainable pro-environment policies – good luck with that.
If I had a week to spare I would start compiling a list of the posts/comments extolling the ‘advantages’ of a National-Green alliance: would make an excellent soporific. Nodding off now…
You have a couple of weeks, so No pressure.
Sleep well.
It’d probably result in the self destruction of the National Party as well. and probably before the Green Party.
Seriously, can you see Judith Collins and Anne Tolley going along wiht the Green Party’s social objectives? Living wage? Changing WINZ culture?
The bright spark who put together a National government supported by the Green Party would be rolled by lunchtime….
Green Party social objectives are what the Nat-Green proponents are expecting the Greens to drop.
Ah, well, of course no problem getting the Nats to take up the Green Party environment policies if the GP give up the social policies.
Includes:
Christchurch Transport Plan
Clean water, great farming
South Taranaki Whale Sanctuary
Turning trash into cash
Wellington Transport Plan
Auckland Transport Plan
Thriving Nature
Protecting drinking water
Empowering NZ
Tourism Levy
Safer, cleaner freight
2015 Climate Action – Yes we can!
Climate Impact Disclosure Statement
Public Finance (Sustainable Development Indicators) Amendment Bill
Clean Groundwater Bill
Regional rail: connecting Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay
What part of NO do Nats and their cheerleaders not understand? But, I guess they probably are just trying to follow the lead of the ponytail puller.
Nats, please attend: No means NO.
Now go sort out your own policies, and do your own negotiations with NZ First, or its off to the opposition benches for you!
No. All that would happen is that the Greens would be destroyed.
But that’s probably what you and National want.
BTW, The Greens have achieved quite a bit over their lifetime.
That Nats even have some slightly Green ideas is because the Green Party existed for over 20 years.
No, it doesn’t, though you’d have us believe otherwise; * thinks, shall I drink this goblet of hemlock juice? I’m ever so thirsty and this is the first drink I’ve been offered in ages!
So rather then gain some concessions with National its better to hope Winston invites them in?
Even if Lab/NZ1 go it alone, whatever they would do on their own would still be better than the “concessions” from the nats. Not the same, but better overall.
The only thing they’ve achieved in 21 years is some insulation in homes, isn’t the point of being in parliament that you get to do some of the things you want to do?
No, the point of being in parliament is that the things you want done get done.
When you don’t care about the credit, they’ve achieved a lot more than that.
The Greens played a significant role in NZ poverty being recognised, counted and now even reduction targets being included as national party election policy. In making water quality an election issue that the nats are the only ones holding back on. In making the housing crisis a recognised problem.
They didn’t do that by accepting “compromises” that included largely what the nats were going to do anyway.
With all due respect, bollix, the only reason they’re to the forefront is Jacinda Ardern, not the Greens.
Pffffffft Jacinda wasn’t a feature at the previous election and The Greens done good 🙂 And the election before that, and before that. Chris, your reckons are feeble.
Piffle to your pfft, the Greens only do well when Labour does poorly
The Greens have been in Parliament for yonks.
They’re regulars.
Wow. She did that all by herself?
Obviously, making her leader was far more than a cosmetic change, she completely reversed the public dialogue on half a dozen major election issues all by herself.
Credit where credits due she did a pretty impressive job, not quite enough to topple English but from where she started to now was not a bad effort at all
She just needs to shore up on the economy and she’ll be near on unstoppable in 2020
We’ll see what nz1 does first.
Best and most likely case they go with National, worst case we have Lab/NZFirst/Greens but most likely (of the worst situation) is Lab/NZFirst with a severely neutered Greens, I dunno C & S or something
lol reverse that for my perspective.
There’s only a few options. I suppose another one is if he decides to abstain from all C&S, but argue from issue to issue.
I don’t think even Winston would go that far
shhh don’t jinx it lol
And yet ended on 36.5%, roughly the same figures David Shearer was polling before he got rolled years ago…..come on, she fizzled out when it came down to it.
Well yes but Labour were looking at historic low levels and then (7?) weeks later the numbers are back up
Even as a National voter I can still say she did a pretty good job
Why do you even want the Greens in govt when you voted National and the recent leader considers them looine left wing activists? Is it so you can be on the “winning” team. Greens reasons for not going with Nat is clear. There have been so many posts on it with people like you asking and saying the same things over and over again. By all means disagree with it but doing the online version of holding up your hands and wailing “but why. But why” is redundant.
Start an open mike chat with Wayne. Then you can both say the same thing over and over to each other and see at which number of repetition the Greens say “god chris, you are right”
If Shearer had boosted his party’s polling by 12% or more from when he took over as leader, He’d be prime minister to this day.
I always thought they ditched him too early
nah. The fish trick killed him.
Didn’t Grant Robertson have something to do with that?
I figured it was more that his office panicked because of the incessant bitching of the self-loathing labourites of the time.
Fuck it’s nice to see a strong, stable Labour party under a popular leader again.
Bit early to say that yet I reckon, if Winston chooses National I can see a few knives being drawn behind Jacinda.
In two months she delivered the best polls in years.
Blinglish, on the other hand…
Nope
Last Polls of Shearer’s leadership
Roy Morgan 12–25 Aug 2013
Lab 31.5
Fairfax Media Ipsos 10–15 Aug 2013
Lab 31.6
Roy Morgan 29 Jul – 11 Aug 2013
Lab 34
Colmar Brunton 27–31 Jul 2013
Lab 33
Roy Morgan 15–28 Jul 2013
Lab 29
Reid Research 9–14 Jul 2013
Lab 31
Roy Morgan 1–14 Jul 2013
Lab 31
Roy Morgan 17–30 Jun 2013
Lab 31.5
Herald-DigiPoll 12–23 Jun 2013
Lab 30.9
What about cycleways … don’t really recall what happened the last nine years… perhaps a bit of dishonesty along the way, oh, and poisoned waterways, and “50 K” in poverty
Why would they be satisfied with a few paltry concessions – when the long term game is to keep getting the message out there and to make right-wing ideology unthinkable? (Overton’s window and all that.)
Well thats one way of thinking but while that happens, another 20 years maybe, thats a lot of wasted time
The longest journey may begin with a single step but that step still needs to be taken and even if they didn’t reach an agreement with National it would still mean Labour would have to negotiate with the Greens and not take them for granted
While you are going all Confucius on us try ruminating on the cost of lying to keep power, and how it ruins trust in future relationships required to coexist in govt.
Rather than align with proven liars and enemies of Green principles, try our luck with Winston?
Yes. Alright.
Cheers, chris73.
Make it so.
Another scene from the *brighter future* we were promised.
https://twitter.com/NZStuff/status/913285427603181569
I feel a bit sorry for the Nats and their supporters: short of a majority, no natural support parties left, and increasingly out of touch with reality….
I’ve changed my mind the Greens are fucking hopeless, National shouldn’t even bother.
The best thing going forward is they do Cand P for a Lab/NZ First, that way they’ll drop under 5% in 2020 and then NZ will be rid of the useless pricks and a decent flexible, cross-party like TOP can take its place.
And then that’s the kind of response that happens when the harasser finally realises No does mean No – abuse follows.
Oh, and btw, NO
🙂
Yep – textbook and ugly
+111
Nothing to do with harassing it’s just realisation what a fruitless effort it would be trying to deal with the Greens.
Religous zealotry has no place in an MMP environment, sooner the Green disappear from the NZ political scene the better.
Roll on 2020.,
You are not “trying to deal with the Greens”.
You are trying to demean and undermine them. No wonder you are constantly being shown the door.
You guys have National derangement syndrome, you’d prefer to suck up and work with a xenophobic ultra-conservative party like NZ First then deal with a party that’s basically continued on from where Helen Clarks Labour left off.
The logical disconnect does my head, It’s so fucking ridiculous, as I said the sooner the Greens are gone the better, you’re just getting in the way of a decent functioning MMP system.
Really though, BM, you sound like a baby diplodocus, left behind in the swamp, bawling, while mummy diplodicus browses the tree tops.
Have you no pride?
Good honesty for a change – your plans are broken and you never gave a shit anyway – hint – we ALL knew it lol
But when you lot try to negotiate a coalition deal with that very same “xenophobic ultra-conservative party”, that’s cool?
Maybe you’d prefer going back to the polls?
It’s about trying to work with what you’ve got.
Greens don’t seem to even remotely understand what MMP is all about.
Almost 25 five years in and the Greens haven’t got past the equivalent of toilet training, it’s embarrassing.
‘How much is he asking? Tell him he’s dreaming…’
It’s about values mate, you just don’t want to get that.
The Greens Are Still Here.
Eat It.
And you think that calling them infantile will make Green party members reading your comments want to vote for a coalition agreement with the nats, just to prove how machua they rooly are?
After nine years in government, you guys still think that gaining a coalition partner involves the “negging” date technique so popular among male young nats.
Hey, hey hey we’re not all PUAs thank you very much
At least I learnt a new word tonight
“Negging”
Work with what you’ve got BM = 0.7% Seymour
“You guys have National derangement syndrome, you’d prefer to suck up and work with a xenophobic ultra-conservative party like NZ First then deal with a party that’s basically continued on from where Helen Clarks Labour left off.
The logical disconnect does my head, It’s so fucking ridiculous, as I said the sooner the Greens are gone the better, you’re just getting in the way of a decent functioning MMP system.”
Lol, the new Crosby Textor memo. National are basically Helen Clark. The Greens ruin MMP.
Not enough 🙄 🙄 for that.
Pretty sure you’re not supposed to be so tetchy with it though.
Yep he’s definately gone early on these lines – Paula is still trying to flatter them lol
😆
LOL how quickly the facade of reason unravels… and they Wonder why Greens dont trust them
Wah wah why wont people do what I want wah wah I need to win wah wah I hate youwah wah
Shaw said English was welcome to call him … Odd way of showing someone the door.
He’s a gennelmin, inny.
The only religious zealotry that has place in an MMP environment is allowed in the National Party as espoused by the double dipper from Dipton Mr. Bill English – especially when it comes to the right of a women to choose. Then of course religious zealotry is a sign of devout piousness and no one is more pious then the double dipper from Dipton, after all confession on Saturday, taking mess on Sunday and then its all good for another week. Right?
Good grief BM ask for better talking points.
Actually, t’is the post 1980s version of free market, small government capitalism (often referred to as neoliberalism) that has all the features of faith-based religion:
was it not just this year that Blinglish invoked his faith in regards to the ‘criminal’ act of abortion that forces women in this country to literally declare themselves mentally unwell in order to receive an abortion?
…what a fruitless effort it would be trying to deal with the Greens.
Religous zealotry has no place in an MMP environment…
What’s wrong with you assholes? We’re offering beads and blankets, for fuck’s sake! Don’t you hicks recognise a good deal when someone offers you one?
Lets not forgot the syphilis and typhoid in the blankets.
Heh, that’s pretty spot on.
LOL
As a centre right voter, I admit id prefer for Winston to go with Labour and the Greens, im sick of all his nonsense. Let the three of them try to govern for the next term, oh what fun that will be…..they deserve each other.
No. When you have the chance for power you always take it because you never whats going to happen later and even if what you say comes to pass then NZ will suffer for it.
No im off the National-NZF bandwagon let the left deal with him.
It hasnt even been a week. Maybe go and do some gardening or play with the kids. NAT supporters really are no good at patience or the long game.
Mostly they hate not knowing if they are on the winning side.
BM: “I’ve changed my mind the Greens are fucking hopeless”
Classic!” I’ve changed my mind” – ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Poor BM, he’s not getting what he wanted and feeling all upset with the Greens for not giving it to him.
Just cannot cope with not knowing if you are on the winning team BM? Try to lure them over and then resort to name calling when they dont do what you want?
They have got over the 5% thrrshold every time since 1999.
Hey! Where are those pandas we were promised???
coming on the same ship as the hospital and all those bridges.
You guys are cracking me up…
Isnt it good that those who run the country have more patience and stability than these voters… oh wait
Surely now that the votes have come in and there is now a waiting period for the overseas vote to come in – then there should be a limbo period where the MSM and other vested interests should be kept out of any news, electronic and newspapers.
Once the completed votes have been counted then that’s the time to sit and wait patiently until a new government can be formed. The way its carrying on is absolutely a disgrace. Maybe the Governor General should step in and inform all the hysteric much rakers to just keep the hell out of it – a government will be formed – let the voters have their say as a democratic society decrees.
There should be no persuading, leaning, goading and deciding what and who should be doing what – the electorate must be absolutely sick to death of it – the MSM seriously needs a rein in. Our family have completely turned off all MSM and now get videos out and watch overseas content online. How many other people have had a guts full of mouthy “no it alls” who spout heaps and know nothing.
Hear hear. Just wait and all will be revealed.
Stop making sense Kate. These here Nat voters just wanna know if they voted for the winning team.
Silver Scrolls 2017.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/201860259/live-silver-scrolls-2017
Happening now in Dunners.
30 + years of iconic music. “The Clean” are being inducted into the Hall of Fame,
Legends!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tf1wzg4rdE
And we’ve come a long since!
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201860240/silver-scrolls-five-women-finalists-vie-for-award
I saw them play in pretty much the same spot but facing the other way (and without the camera), must have been 1981. Don’t Point That Thing at Me drifting across the Square, fucking awesome.
Great post, with links, up on Public Address.. if you haven’t seen it..
https://publicaddress.net/hardnews/music-god-save-the-clean/
Spenser Rapone is ruffling feathers…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKrOairVwAA6Ukn.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKtIOQ4W4AAu304.jpg
cheers Joe, I enjoy your contributions.
Creeper’s final creep.
“He was the greatest living feminist” Hugh Hefner on Hugh Hefner
When the Kremlin invades your country,
(Kyiv) – A Russian court in Crimea on September 27, 2017, convicted a prominent Crimean Tatar leader on bogus separatism charges following an unfair trial, Human Rights Watch said today.
The court imposed a two-year prison sentence and banned Ilmi Umerov, the Crimean Tatar leader, from involvement in public activities, which includes contact with the media, for two years. The sentence is harsher than the three-year suspended sentence sought by the prosecution. Russian authorities should take the necessary steps to have Umerov’s two-year prison sentence set aside, and stop persecuting him and other Crimean Tatars for their peaceful opposition to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/27/crimea-crimean-tatar-leader-convicted-spurious-charges
And the speculation continues, what a crack up this 2-week wait is. As I type the political panel comes on radiolive, hard case, at least Rodney and Chris have a clue, I very much enjoy their segment on Thursday nights.
The real election horror is this seasons American Horror Story, now that’s some twisted trump/clinton based storyline, bravo to the writers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-27J0sR9268
I have recently shifted (retired) back to my childhood and early adult region – the Waikato after 40 years of living in Auckland, in both National and Labour seats, latterly Mt Albert, Waitakere and finally Te Atatu electoral districts. Of course Waikato is just sooooo blue, one could pin a blue rosette to a rabid dog running down Broadway in Matamata and the locals would gladly vote for it. I attended a couple of meetings prior to the election to see what the candidates were made of – it was indeed an interesting exercise. The Nat guy came across as such a self-entitled, arrogant, born to rule Tory, I suspect he has a long career as part of their cabal if he so chooses. The other candidates were an interesting group – they’ll be all the wiser for their experience, if they so decide to have another crack next time, particularly Brooke Loader, who stood for Labour. I hope she recalls that Helen Clark stood in the same electorate, then Piako in 1975 and then went on to greater heights. I read today that the N Z First candidate, who was interesting to observe in his naivety, but total dedication to his party, did not only have that bloody Myrtle tractor run over his foot at that National Party/Farmers’ rally at Morrinsville prior to the election, but has been attacked and mocked about his misfortune at his various farming ventures. I’m not in any shape or form a N Z First supporter, but can’t help feeling for Stu Husband. I recall Ed Hillary stating many years ago – probably at the time he was part of the ‘Citizens for Rowling’ campaign, that we needed a few ‘honest to God politicians’ in Wellington to bring some reality to politics.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/97324748/farmer-candidate-abused-by-my-own-people
Hey there Jilly, thanks for the link, crikey that was an eye opener of a read, so was your post.
One thing I’ve come to realise is that bullying is rife in most sectors of NZ society, put-downs and intimidation usually from those with a lack of knowledge or understanding on particular subjects and its freaking disgusting.
I strongly feel this bullying behaviour as demonstrated by the actions of protesting farmers outlined in your link and a particular political party is one of the factors in our devastatingly high suicide rates.
One of the reasons I lean left is because the opposition parties value people over personal power trips, made clear by how they’ve interacted this election.
Thanks for this. And lol@ rabid dog
“Local Māori and conservationists have claimed the right to access a Northland river today – by driving though the middle of a working dairy farm.
The farm belongs to Northland Regional Council chairman Bill Shepherd.
Northland Environmental Protection Society, Fiona Furrell, opined that …”It gives the only public access to this part of the river; to the waterfalls and the rapids. Kayakers and young people into adventure sports would love it.”
She said in its earlier days the Wairua River and its rapids had been singled out for praise by the American adventurer and sports fisherman Zane Grey.
On the riverbank where his ancestors used to camp and wait for the eels to come down the river in autumn, Mr Ruka eyed the fast-flowing Wairua and choked up a little.
He said all over the country, Māori and Pākehā had been shut out of riversides like this one because of land development …
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/340472/northland-hapu-and-conservationists-fight-for-river-access