Are some in the US with the help from their neighbor trying to make a case to kick NZ out of the Five Eyes system?
Is this the revenge for NZ not towing the US line?
As for Chinese influence, it was the National party that was getting a lot of Chinese money and even a member of their party is known to have trained Chinese Spies. There has been also been some suspicions they might be still under the employment of the Chinese government.
Yes, there’s something fishy about the claims. Labour’s president, Nigel Haworth is on record as saying there’s been no donations to the Labour Party from any Chinese based group – I paraphrase. Yet we know Chinese interests have been donating many thousands of dollars to the National Party in recent years. But the accusers wait until a Labour led government is in power before they make their claims.
I listened to the ex-CIA analyst interview on RNZ a few days ago and the tone of his claims and the way he delivered them made me suspicious. It was as if he was delivering pre-determined lines and trying not to deviate from them.
Old mate Paul, over at Kiwipolitico has put the RNZ link.
I think they told the “No Mates Party” senior leadership group, but got flog off with “She be right mate and we know what we are doing” so now they are having a wee chat to Jandals and the team and hoping they don’t flog them like the last mob did.
“MPI is captured by the fishing industry. We need an independent public inquiry into the Fisheries Management System and its regulator. Right now, MPI and the seafood industry are trying to prevent this independent inquiry and are instead pushing for an internal MPI review, but this further leaked report shows once again why that must not happen.
“MPI simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth or regulate the industry. Just last year when they didn’t prosecute anyone after their own video cameras exposed widespread fish dumping in the inshore fishery, MPI claimed the decision not to prosecute was due to legal advice. But it turned out that legal advice did not exist. MPI simply didn’t tell the truth.”
From what I’ve heard reported MPI’s response is usually along the lines of: “That was years ago and we’ve talked to them and they’re not being naughty now”.
Yeah right.
Like we believe you. Start doing your job! And that means not working in the interests of the fishing industry.
I’m afraid both major parties have colluded with the industry to let it do whatever the hell it wants. You may recall the foreign labour scandals that Key “couldn’t fix until 2016”, which was utter bullshit – all the charter vessels operating here are registered here and thus subject to NZ law in its entirety. Both parties are predominantly composed of lawyers, they knew it was bullshit, but went along with it – no doubt hoping for donations.
“Both parties are predominantly composed of lawyers”.
According to my dictionary the word “predominantly” is defined as
“for the most part; mostly; mainly’
In other words more than half.
That is certainly a spectacular claim. Can you produce even a skerrick of evidence to justify it?
I won’t go as far as making you prove that more than 50% of each parties members have practising certificates but can you please list the members of National and Labour who have the much lesser standard of a law degree?
By your claim there are at least 24 in Labour and 28 in the National Party.
Who are they?
What a tiny little point of order you raise. What a minuscule piece of pedantry you bring up. Instead of going with the essence of a comment and putting your view on that, you pick up on a single word and pontificate on your superior knowledge of what that word means.
This a prime perfect example of what trolling is. Never mind the thread, just drag a red herring across the topic trying to change the narrative. make it all about you and work hard at pissing people off.
I understand your MO because I went to school with annoying little pricks who did exactly the same thing.
I really should ignore you, but it’s like watching 2 monkeys at the zoo shagging their little hearts out. You have to watch and comment.
How fascinating. You have certainly answered one question. At least at the time that list was prepared the statement about the number of lawyers was false.
When on earth was it done? I was hard pressed to even vaguely remember some of the names.
Cunliffe? Goff? Mathers? Turei? Norman?
The names seem to ring a bell somewhere but they certainly aren’t shining lights in the current Parliament are they?
That quote I like.
Sounds like Lyndon Johnson.
When he got a bit down from what he thought were unfair attacks from the Washington Post he is reputed to have complained that
‘If I got up tomorrow and walked across the Potomac the headline in the Post the next day would be “President can’t swim”.’
I guess that explains why he continued for so long in Vietnam. He walked across, rather than swam in, the Sea of Knowledge.
Having made prostitution legal to enable the workers to insist on safety measures and not endure the two-faced disdain dumped on them, and to be able to earn a fair living at this therapeutic business, now it is said to be that NZs are undercut by foreign workers! What a pathetic society. Every time we take a step forward it seems to be followed by 2-3 steps back.
One of the main sex work websites advertised more than 800 women, separated into Asian and non-Asian prostitutes.
A registration scheme on sites would mean only those eligible to work could advertise – and ensure everyone was paying tax, Ms O’Hara said…
Other prostitutes RNZ spoke to said they were being crowded out and undercut by immigrant sex workers, who were charging half the rates of their New Zealand counterparts.
Hamilton sex worker Lisa Lewis said most people who went on holiday maxed-out their credit cards.
“These girls are leaving with their credit cards in credit,” she said.
“It’s definitely a disadvantage for any legal sex worker because we are having to pay tax, the provisional, the income, the GST, ACC levies.
“They are leaving New Zealand without any of that taken off them, which is robbery of the government.”
Prostitution is not the same as installing technology in the ground or anywhere.
It is a delicate moral issue, and we have attempted to face up to it in NZ to the benefit of the workers and their clients. Allowing foreigners to come in and
exploit the workplace for this type of business shows the RW two-faced lack of integrity.
I’ve heard that some Indian students have made big sacrifices to come here. If they are allowed to come they should be treated fairly but I have also heard that Immigration can take people’s money, and when they have satisfied all the requirements, filled in the forms, the rules are changed and they are ineligible with no refund.
This time, in India, they have let sharks operating as agents operate in a feeding frenzy instead of establishing who is operating to standards, and registering them as officially recognised and reliable.
Matters of “fairness and natural justice” are enshrined in Immigration NZ’s immigration policy, created by Cabinet.
But one year ago – at about the same time that issues of fraud and exploitation in the Indian student market became common – Immigration dismantled the complaint process by bypassing the need for Cabinet to make changes to immigration policy and introducing a new complaints process.
It states: “Complaints which only raise matters of the merits of a decision will not be accepted for an investigation into that decision.”
At the same time, Immigration began advising the minister that its strategy to clamp down on migrant exploitation was to target those migrants who are at risk of exploitation – to deport people who may become victims, rather than stop the exploitation itself.
Immigration has suggested that budget constraints were responsible for this strategy.
Immigration in any country seems to attract behaviour that is abrupt and cold-blooded. Here they seem to have a similar attitude to Indians as Australians have to NZs. I feel, at base, it is a racial bias that doesn’t see them as worthy as whites. But they are good for getting money into the country, which counts as exports, bringing in live bodies, while we send so many dead ones (animals) overseas.
Arrogant and just plain nasty. The Immigration Protection Tribunal was set up as a judicial body independent of Immigration, and one of their functions is to review resident visa decisions. These decisions are published online.
While immigration instructions do not require Immigration to abide by principles set out in tribunal decisions, if the tribunal continues to point out that Immigration are making the same mistakes in their assessments, a responsive ministry would obviously correct those mistakes and amend its processes accordingly.
However, Immigration has taken the opposite approach over the past year and now makes it clear in its decisions that because it is not required to follow principles of policy interpretation in their decision-making, they are also entitled to ignore the tribunal’s criticisms of its decision-making.
McClymont sums up the situation well @grey.
I’m still waiting for the day when Immigration NZ (and its cohorts – Labour Inspectorate and Immigration Advisor’s Authority, etc.) realise that the best approach to reducing immigration and exploitation is to concentrate on the exploiters and scammers RATHER THAN their victims. The current approach means we’re just being complicit in what is effectively people trafficking. It’s actually quite disgusting.
Not sure whether you’ll see this or not because todays nooze is tomorrows fush’n’chups wrapper with Open Moik and Daily Reviews (unless there’s a dedicated strand for a discussion).
Recent events (changes announced yesterday) go SOMEWAY to stopping exploitation: i.e. stopping visa bondage to a specific employer. If the employer is good – count yourself lucky. If not – prepare to be faced with another round of shady ‘consultants’ clipping the ticket; plus visa applicat fees; and probably a $2-3K cost to break free of the arsehole. Bear in mind, that arsehole probably has interests in associated businesses they’ve been channeling labour through – and DON’T for a moment think those arseholes a simply those from the same background (culture/ethnicity/etc). They ARE signed-up PR’d up CITIZEN-up people who are complicit in keeping this gravy train rolling.
But……..we’ll see. The situation actually rivals the HCNZ methcon, MSD dysfunction/MPI bovis stuff.
And if Iain L-G (who incidentally I have a lot of respect for) thinks his “officials are just the ticket and tickety boo), he’s really in need of some further “learnings going forward” if he doeesn’t want to suffer a similar fate as Phil T has had with HCNZ and Andrew Master of the Universe.
There’s now been so much shit with our corrupted ‘ps’ that the possibilities for class action claims of compensation “are not fanciful”.
(Btw, I can hear the screams now – Woodhouse who’s just stuck his oar in has reminded me of one – better HE should STFU for a start! – his credentials rival those of the “Oim Layvung Pulla Bent” – even if with a haughtier grin and posher eggsent goan forwid)
No @ grey….. fuk ’em!
According to Hooton, over at the Herald salvage operation today, National’s support is “miraculous” ……Simon Bridges is the best thing since sliced bread.
Don’t you just love that old song “who do you think you are kidding Mr H…..”
National are trying to make themselves out to be the new socialists that want to care for the people now they are in opposition.
Does that make them National Socialists?
Yeah obviously he’s got an agenda behind that comment. The other option of course is that he’s really thick?
NZ. like most western democracy’s, has a roughly 50/50 split of voters between the left and right, with a center swinging vote block also. As National is the only party on the right you’d expect them to be between 40 and 5o percent at all times (unless they’re going through an amazingly bad patch)
So 45% IMO is the level they should be at without doing any work or any good at all, just by turning up and being the National party.
If our voting system was truly proportional (for example 100 list seats, 1% party vote threshold, 1% of total party vote =1 list MP) then ACT would have been gone ages ago as the Nats wouldn’t have been able to get extra seats off them
seems like willy j made judith collins flip her wig on the am show this am. hehehhe. and garner lost it too. hehehehe x 2. just tell em willie boy is here!
Immigration seems to operate on the edge of society. They are dealing with people who want to change status and cross the border line after applying for admittance and seem to lose rights on both sides of the border. NZ can’t seem to do anything for our nationals who have settled in Oz which is not a society known for its good behaviour, and no doubt has a lot of criminality, yet our people having already served one year of prison can be plucked out of their family and held on spurious grounds in a concentration camp.
Other people escape from some bad situation and end up camping out in an airport lounge for years lacking the entry agreement to any country worth escaping to.
Academics have noted the lopsided effect of the free market, with open borders welcoming foreign goods and seeking cheap prices; but ffor people the borders are chancy. Even the promise of being able to obtain cheap goods is patchy. Looking at some particular clocks, which are not made in NZ, (what is,?) the majority of sellers already state they will not trade with NZ. The new GST for under $40 comes in next year. What then?
The effect of open borders seems to have a long-term toxic effect.
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Bartlett, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle Reports of about 30 deaths among elderly nursing home residents who received the Pfizer vaccine have made international headlines. With Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) expected to approve the ...
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Dairy prices increased by 3.9% across the board at the latest Fonterra global auction. The lift followed rises of 1.3% and 4.3% in the December auctions which took dairy prices to their highest level in 11 months, defying those analysts who believed Covid-19 had disrupted dairy markets. In the latest ...
America's Cup team American Magic has spoken publicly after their boat Patriot capsized when on its way to their first win of the Challenger Selection Series yesterday. Patriot dramatically capsized yesterday, becoming temporarily airborne before crashing back into the water and tipping. The boat, helmed by New Zealander Dean Barker, could not be ...
It’s a seemingly age old question: why do Auckland’s beaches become unswimmable after every single downpour? Stewart Sowman-Lund investigates.Ah, the beach. A staple of the New Zealand summer. Unless, of course, you’re based in Auckland and it’s raining. The start of 2021 has been a lot like every other New ...
We have opened a book, among members of the Point of Order team, on how long it will be before the PM offers to sort out the land dispute at Wellington’s Shelly Bay and (to win the double) how much the settlement will cost taxpayers. Just a few weeks ago ...
Breakfast TV news is back for 2021, and Tara Ward got up early to watch. “Thank god it’s almost Christmas,” John Campbell said during the opening minutes of Breakfast’s premiere episode of the year. “2021’s been rough so far. I’m buggered”. We’re all buggered, to be fair, but I’m worried that ...
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Despite a popular and unifying leader of the governing party, divisions both in policy and culture will test the progressive movement, writes Peter McKenzie.‘I think we’re confused.” Marlon Drake is an organiser for the Living Wage Movement. His job takes him all over Wellington, trying to convince businesses to increase ...
Covid-19 Recovery Minister Chris Hipkins says vaccinations should be available to the public by the middle of the year, but other countries are prioritised. ...
It’s as true now as it ever has been: nowhere else offers an education experience like that of Dunedin. But rather than resting on their laurels, the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic have plans to make the city an even more inspiring place for students.From high in the summit ...
Haggis, neeps and tatties and whisky may not be a traditional spread for a summer gathering in NZ, but trust Auckland city councillor and Kiwi-Scot Cathy Casey on this one. Gie it laldy! Rule one: Hold it on (or near) January 25Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759. Since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University It could be argued artificial intelligence (AI) is already the indispensable tool of the 21st century. From helping doctors diagnose and treat patients to rapidly advancing new drug discoveries, it’s our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Through recent natural disasters, global upheavals and a pandemic, Australia’s political centre has largely held. Australians may have disagreed at times, but they have also kept faith with governmental norms, eschewing the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Seale, Associate professor, UNSW Health workers are at higher risk of COVID infection and illness. They can also act as extremely efficient transmitters of viruses to others in medical and aged care facilities. That’s why health workers have been prioritised to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Orchard, Adjunct Lecturer, Monash University Last week, somewhat overshadowed by the events in Washington, the Democrats took control of the US Senate. The Democrats now hold a small majority in both the House and the Senate until 2022, giving President-elect Joe ...
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Some families in emergency housing are reporting their children are becoming emotionally distressed because of their living conditions. Demand for emergency accommodation has escalated this past year with the number of emergency housing grants increasing by half. Data showed nearly 10,000 people were given an Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant between ...
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With few Covid-19 infections and negiligible natural immunity, New Zealand faces being a victim of its own success when it is left till last to get the vaccines, argues Dr Parmjeet Parmar. ...
Steve Braunias reports on a literary cancelling. The Corrections department has refused to allow Jared Savage's best-selling book Gangland inside prison on the grounds that it "promotes violence and drug use". An inmate at Otago Corrections Facility in Dunedin was sent a copy of the book – but it was ...
New data from the CTU’s annual work life survey shows a snapshot of working people’s experiences and outlook heading out of 2020 and into the new year. Concerningly 42% of respondents cite workplace bullying as an issue in their workplace - a number ...
An international player, selector and self-confessed cricket stats nerd, Penny Kinsella has now played a hand in recording the rich history of the women's game in New Zealand. Penny Kinsella’s cricketing career was perched on the cusp of change for the White Ferns. “My first tour to Australia, we ...
The dramatic capsize of American Magic brought out the best in the America's Cup sailing fraternity. But, Suzanne McFadden asks, what does it mean to the crippled New York Yacht Club campaign and to the Prada Cup? It was a scene as unreal as it was calamitous. Right at the moment the ...
The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of ...
The experience in the Brazilian city of Manaus reveals how mistaken, and dangerous, the herd-immunity-by-infection theory really is. As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop ...
As New Zealand gears up to fight climate change, experts warn that we need to actually reduce emissions, not just plant trees to offset our greenhouse gases. ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
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A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
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The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
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As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
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Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
Are some in the US with the help from their neighbor trying to make a case to kick NZ out of the Five Eyes system?
Is this the revenge for NZ not towing the US line?
As for Chinese influence, it was the National party that was getting a lot of Chinese money and even a member of their party is known to have trained Chinese Spies. There has been also been some suspicions they might be still under the employment of the Chinese government.
NZ labelled ‘soft underbelly’ of Five Eyes spy network in Canadian report
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/nz-labelled-soft-underbelly-of-five-eyes-spy-network-in-canadian-report/ar-AAy2ET2?li=BBqdg4K
Yes, there’s something fishy about the claims. Labour’s president, Nigel Haworth is on record as saying there’s been no donations to the Labour Party from any Chinese based group – I paraphrase. Yet we know Chinese interests have been donating many thousands of dollars to the National Party in recent years. But the accusers wait until a Labour led government is in power before they make their claims.
I listened to the ex-CIA analyst interview on RNZ a few days ago and the tone of his claims and the way he delivered them made me suspicious. It was as if he was delivering pre-determined lines and trying not to deviate from them.
I’ll see if I can find the item and link to it.
Old mate Paul, over at Kiwipolitico has put the RNZ link.
I think they told the “No Mates Party” senior leadership group, but got flog off with “She be right mate and we know what we are doing” so now they are having a wee chat to Jandals and the team and hoping they don’t flog them like the last mob did.
Found the link:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018646774/ex-cia-analyst-admits-trump-irony-in-china-influence-warning
I think I’d prefer my car actually.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018647386/whanganui-emergency-housing-providers-labelled-unliveable
From the 29th – this is pretty scathing about MPI.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1805/S00459/another-leaked-mpi-report-reveals-scale-of-underreporting.htm
“MPI is captured by the fishing industry. We need an independent public inquiry into the Fisheries Management System and its regulator. Right now, MPI and the seafood industry are trying to prevent this independent inquiry and are instead pushing for an internal MPI review, but this further leaked report shows once again why that must not happen.
“MPI simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth or regulate the industry. Just last year when they didn’t prosecute anyone after their own video cameras exposed widespread fish dumping in the inshore fishery, MPI claimed the decision not to prosecute was due to legal advice. But it turned out that legal advice did not exist. MPI simply didn’t tell the truth.”
The leaked compliance risk profile report can be downloaded at http://greenpeace.nz/leaked-sbw-fishery-repor
From Russel Norman
From what I’ve heard reported MPI’s response is usually along the lines of: “That was years ago and we’ve talked to them and they’re not being naughty now”.
Yeah right.
Like we believe you. Start doing your job! And that means not working in the interests of the fishing industry.
And I don’t have much confidence in Nash holding either the MPI or fishing companies to account.
I’m afraid both major parties have colluded with the industry to let it do whatever the hell it wants. You may recall the foreign labour scandals that Key “couldn’t fix until 2016”, which was utter bullshit – all the charter vessels operating here are registered here and thus subject to NZ law in its entirety. Both parties are predominantly composed of lawyers, they knew it was bullshit, but went along with it – no doubt hoping for donations.
“Both parties are predominantly composed of lawyers”.
According to my dictionary the word “predominantly” is defined as
“for the most part; mostly; mainly’
In other words more than half.
That is certainly a spectacular claim. Can you produce even a skerrick of evidence to justify it?
I won’t go as far as making you prove that more than 50% of each parties members have practising certificates but can you please list the members of National and Labour who have the much lesser standard of a law degree?
By your claim there are at least 24 in Labour and 28 in the National Party.
Who are they?
Or are you just making it up?
What a tiny little point of order you raise. What a minuscule piece of pedantry you bring up. Instead of going with the essence of a comment and putting your view on that, you pick up on a single word and pontificate on your superior knowledge of what that word means.
This a prime perfect example of what trolling is. Never mind the thread, just drag a red herring across the topic trying to change the narrative. make it all about you and work hard at pissing people off.
I understand your MO because I went to school with annoying little pricks who did exactly the same thing.
I really should ignore you, but it’s like watching 2 monkeys at the zoo shagging their little hearts out. You have to watch and comment.
That’s nice dear.
You certainly seem to have the most peculiar hobbies.
Just keep away from young children.
As part of my contribution to the Sisyphean task of educating RWNJ:
https://fyi.org.nz/request/2412/response/7816/attach/html/2/MPs%20Qualifications.xlsx.html
You might be interested in de Toqueville’s predictions with respect to lawyers within a democratic system.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/DETOC/1_ch16.htm
How fascinating. You have certainly answered one question. At least at the time that list was prepared the statement about the number of lawyers was false.
When on earth was it done? I was hard pressed to even vaguely remember some of the names.
Cunliffe? Goff? Mathers? Turei? Norman?
The names seem to ring a bell somewhere but they certainly aren’t shining lights in the current Parliament are they?
“You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out completely dry. Most people do.” – The Phantom Tollbooth.
That quote I like.
Sounds like Lyndon Johnson.
When he got a bit down from what he thought were unfair attacks from the Washington Post he is reputed to have complained that
‘If I got up tomorrow and walked across the Potomac the headline in the Post the next day would be “President can’t swim”.’
I guess that explains why he continued for so long in Vietnam. He walked across, rather than swam in, the Sea of Knowledge.
Having made prostitution legal to enable the workers to insist on safety measures and not endure the two-faced disdain dumped on them, and to be able to earn a fair living at this therapeutic business, now it is said to be that NZs are undercut by foreign workers! What a pathetic society. Every time we take a step forward it seems to be followed by 2-3 steps back.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/358658/nz-sex-workers-undercut-by-illegal-foreign-prostitutes
One of the main sex work websites advertised more than 800 women, separated into Asian and non-Asian prostitutes.
A registration scheme on sites would mean only those eligible to work could advertise – and ensure everyone was paying tax, Ms O’Hara said…
Other prostitutes RNZ spoke to said they were being crowded out and undercut by immigrant sex workers, who were charging half the rates of their New Zealand counterparts.
Hamilton sex worker Lisa Lewis said most people who went on holiday maxed-out their credit cards.
“These girls are leaving with their credit cards in credit,” she said.
“It’s definitely a disadvantage for any legal sex worker because we are having to pay tax, the provisional, the income, the GST, ACC levies.
“They are leaving New Zealand without any of that taken off them, which is robbery of the government.”
No difference to NZ companies out sourcing our labour to India or wherever it is cheaper.
Take a look and see who is putting fibre in for your internet connections these past ten years.
Prostitution is not the same as installing technology in the ground or anywhere.
It is a delicate moral issue, and we have attempted to face up to it in NZ to the benefit of the workers and their clients. Allowing foreigners to come in and
exploit the workplace for this type of business shows the RW two-faced lack of integrity.
I’ve heard that some Indian students have made big sacrifices to come here. If they are allowed to come they should be treated fairly but I have also heard that Immigration can take people’s money, and when they have satisfied all the requirements, filled in the forms, the rules are changed and they are ineligible with no refund.
This time, in India, they have let sharks operating as agents operate in a feeding frenzy instead of establishing who is operating to standards, and registering them as officially recognised and reliable.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/358564/students-left-stranded-by-immigration-s-lack-of-oversight
Matters of “fairness and natural justice” are enshrined in Immigration NZ’s immigration policy, created by Cabinet.
But one year ago – at about the same time that issues of fraud and exploitation in the Indian student market became common – Immigration dismantled the complaint process by bypassing the need for Cabinet to make changes to immigration policy and introducing a new complaints process.
It states: “Complaints which only raise matters of the merits of a decision will not be accepted for an investigation into that decision.”
At the same time, Immigration began advising the minister that its strategy to clamp down on migrant exploitation was to target those migrants who are at risk of exploitation – to deport people who may become victims, rather than stop the exploitation itself.
Immigration has suggested that budget constraints were responsible for this strategy.
Immigration in any country seems to attract behaviour that is abrupt and cold-blooded. Here they seem to have a similar attitude to Indians as Australians have to NZs. I feel, at base, it is a racial bias that doesn’t see them as worthy as whites. But they are good for getting money into the country, which counts as exports, bringing in live bodies, while we send so many dead ones (animals) overseas.
Arrogant and just plain nasty.
The Immigration Protection Tribunal was set up as a judicial body independent of Immigration, and one of their functions is to review resident visa decisions. These decisions are published online.
While immigration instructions do not require Immigration to abide by principles set out in tribunal decisions, if the tribunal continues to point out that Immigration are making the same mistakes in their assessments, a responsive ministry would obviously correct those mistakes and amend its processes accordingly.
However, Immigration has taken the opposite approach over the past year and now makes it clear in its decisions that because it is not required to follow principles of policy interpretation in their decision-making, they are also entitled to ignore the tribunal’s criticisms of its decision-making.
McClymont sums up the situation well @grey.
I’m still waiting for the day when Immigration NZ (and its cohorts – Labour Inspectorate and Immigration Advisor’s Authority, etc.) realise that the best approach to reducing immigration and exploitation is to concentrate on the exploiters and scammers RATHER THAN their victims. The current approach means we’re just being complicit in what is effectively people trafficking. It’s actually quite disgusting.
Once was Tim
What you say fits in with what I have heard. Totally agree with you.
Not sure whether you’ll see this or not because todays nooze is tomorrows fush’n’chups wrapper with Open Moik and Daily Reviews (unless there’s a dedicated strand for a discussion).
Recent events (changes announced yesterday) go SOMEWAY to stopping exploitation: i.e. stopping visa bondage to a specific employer. If the employer is good – count yourself lucky. If not – prepare to be faced with another round of shady ‘consultants’ clipping the ticket; plus visa applicat fees; and probably a $2-3K cost to break free of the arsehole. Bear in mind, that arsehole probably has interests in associated businesses they’ve been channeling labour through – and DON’T for a moment think those arseholes a simply those from the same background (culture/ethnicity/etc). They ARE signed-up PR’d up CITIZEN-up people who are complicit in keeping this gravy train rolling.
But……..we’ll see. The situation actually rivals the HCNZ methcon, MSD dysfunction/MPI bovis stuff.
And if Iain L-G (who incidentally I have a lot of respect for) thinks his “officials are just the ticket and tickety boo), he’s really in need of some further “learnings going forward” if he doeesn’t want to suffer a similar fate as Phil T has had with HCNZ and Andrew Master of the Universe.
There’s now been so much shit with our corrupted ‘ps’ that the possibilities for class action claims of compensation “are not fanciful”.
(Btw, I can hear the screams now – Woodhouse who’s just stuck his oar in has reminded me of one – better HE should STFU for a start! – his credentials rival those of the “Oim Layvung Pulla Bent” – even if with a haughtier grin and posher eggsent goan forwid)
No @ grey….. fuk ’em!
My latest musings on immigration and borders at 10 Once was Tim. I
got it out of sequence by a big margin.
According to Hooton, over at the Herald salvage operation today, National’s support is “miraculous” ……Simon Bridges is the best thing since sliced bread.
Don’t you just love that old song “who do you think you are kidding Mr H…..”
Hear, hear Kat I had a quick look at the op ed and quickly decided that it was simply a love in with Soimun. Puke inducing stuff.
National are trying to make themselves out to be the new socialists that want to care for the people now they are in opposition.
Does that make them National Socialists?
Yes, pretty much.
NZ Jester
You are well named. Lol. Keep the quips up please to give us a needed giggle.
Yeah obviously he’s got an agenda behind that comment. The other option of course is that he’s really thick?
NZ. like most western democracy’s, has a roughly 50/50 split of voters between the left and right, with a center swinging vote block also. As National is the only party on the right you’d expect them to be between 40 and 5o percent at all times (unless they’re going through an amazingly bad patch)
So 45% IMO is the level they should be at without doing any work or any good at all, just by turning up and being the National party.
If our voting system was truly proportional (for example 100 list seats, 1% party vote threshold, 1% of total party vote =1 list MP) then ACT would have been gone ages ago as the Nats wouldn’t have been able to get extra seats off them
Despite mycoplasma bovis, the stock trucks are out in force tonight in the foggy Waikato.
Happy Gypsy Day, it’s business as usual…https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=12062147
IDEA Services…again the object of a damning Health and Disability Commission report.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/104356676/idea-services-blasted-over-treatment-of-vulnerable-man-found-with-surgical-glove-in-his-bowel
Seems like there was poor staff coverage…again…and yet, their annual returns would indicate their income (what they were being funded to provide the care) exceeded their expenditure, (what they actually spent on providing care…usually measured in person hours.) https://www.register.charities.govt.nz/CharitiesRegister/ViewCharity?accountId=bc751b66-268a-dc11-98a0-0015c5f3da29&searchId=4229de60-ee6f-4d1b-8404-6292e07b8c3a
seems like willy j made judith collins flip her wig on the am show this am. hehehhe. and garner lost it too. hehehehe x 2. just tell em willie boy is here!
Immigration seems to operate on the edge of society. They are dealing with people who want to change status and cross the border line after applying for admittance and seem to lose rights on both sides of the border. NZ can’t seem to do anything for our nationals who have settled in Oz which is not a society known for its good behaviour, and no doubt has a lot of criminality, yet our people having already served one year of prison can be plucked out of their family and held on spurious grounds in a concentration camp.
Other people escape from some bad situation and end up camping out in an airport lounge for years lacking the entry agreement to any country worth escaping to.
Academics have noted the lopsided effect of the free market, with open borders welcoming foreign goods and seeking cheap prices; but ffor people the borders are chancy. Even the promise of being able to obtain cheap goods is patchy. Looking at some particular clocks, which are not made in NZ, (what is,?) the majority of sellers already state they will not trade with NZ. The new GST for under $40 comes in next year. What then?
The effect of open borders seems to have a long-term toxic effect.