Daily review 31/07/2024

17 comments on “Daily review 31/07/2024 ”

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1. adam 1

   31 July 2024 at 6:08 pm

   Bloody nora Ismail Haniyeh assassinated. Not good.
2. Dennis Frank 2

   31 July 2024 at 6:33 pm

   Parliament's Speaker is hostile to political branding:

   The specific issue on Wednesday afternoon was a new ruling from Brownlee barring MPs from wearing lapel pins with political slogans or imagery.

   That would put an end to Seymour’s five-year-long habit of fixing an Act Party logo to his lapel everywhere he goes – one that has been picked up by many other Act MPs as well. MP Todd Stephenson, Children’s Minister Karen Chhour and Seymour were all forbidden from asking or answering questions during Question Time on Wednesday unless they removed the pins, which they refused to do. https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/07/31/discontent-brews-over-speaker-gerry-brownlee/

   Party uniforms would work better than lapel pins, I reckon. The sooner parliament becomes a team sport venue, the better. The Speaker would be way more authoritative if he blew a rugby whistle on each instance of disobedience from MPs.
   • dv 2.1

     31 July 2024 at 6:37 pm

     Sort of a bit like Gang patches!!!
     • Dennis Frank 2.1.1

       31 July 2024 at 6:50 pm

       Kinda. More stylised tho I expect. They could organise a design competition – could give the nation's textile designers some marketing leverage since copycat kids would wear them to school as a model of class unity. Trendy ways to boost the economy always appeal to neolibs so there'd be cross-party support…
   • bwaghorn 2.2

     31 July 2024 at 7:45 pm

     This is the same bunch of juveniles that protested the tmp mp with a logo on her lap top, fuck act there arsholes.

     https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350362488/logo-gate-act-goes-war-speaker
   • SPC 2.3

     31 July 2024 at 11:32 pm

     My rule on gang patches is to ban those of foreign gangs with links to organised crime.

     So I would check out their links to Atlas Network and its connection to organised tax evasion, hiding money in tax havens and money laundering to enable bribes to change nation state government investment rules and the like before extending the ban to outside of parliament.
3. Dennis Frank 3

   31 July 2024 at 7:42 pm

   Inability to comprehend racism is once again featuring in the assertions of young politicians:

   Menéndez March said the withdraw-and-apologise was not enough, because it did not address where the comments came from, and questioned whether the National Party had an issue with anti-migrant sentiment.

   During Question Time on Tuesday, Menéndez March raised a point of order to say McClay had said words to the effect of "you're not in Mexico now. We don't do things like that here".

   "There are some questions for the National Party over whether such overt and unchecked forms of racism are acceptable. Those questions are for Christopher Luxon, because in my time in Parliament I have yet to see, at least towards migrant communities, such an overt form of xenophobia displayed in the House," he said. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/523762/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-to-speak-to-todd-mcclay-over-mexico-remark-to-mp

   I suspect the Greenster would respond that he meant his own personal meaning of race rather than any standardised definition anyone can find multiple examples of real fast with Google. A slippery fish is often adept at wriggling through the credibility net.

   Obviously Lux rolled his eyes at this. Being ex-Mex is hard enough without political opponents calling attention to it. So its a lashing with wet bus ticket for his minister.

   I think it suggests an attitude towards migrant New Zealanders which has no place in modern New Zealand," Hipkins said.

   We're actually in postmodern NZ now, lad, have been since the 1980s. His point that migrants ought not to be publicly reminded of which country they originated in is only valid if you use snowflake theory – the poor wee things have fragile egos. Whinging poms, on the other hand, have been tough enough to take the barb without much complaint for the past century. Hipkins, thoroughly anchored in modernity, ought to have pointed this out to everyone, but he just can't seem to think straight.
   • Dennis Frank 3.1

     31 July 2024 at 7:52 pm

     Further clarification: https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350360916/trade-minister-hot-water-after-shouting-youre-not-mexico-now

     The trade minister’s comments were also heard and recorded by the official record of Parliament, Hansard, that reported him saying: “We're not in Mexico. That's not how we do it here.”

     The first sentence is a fact, the second an opinion. Unfortunately media reporting hasn't specified what "it" is that the trade minister referred to. Anyone know?

     Regardless, this could be the first time in history that Todd got something right, so the Nats ought to celebrate the occasion. It puts me in uncomfortable solidarity with Seymour in doubting the Speaker's competence – there was no need to demand Todd apologise for expressing such an innocuous opinion.
     • lprent 3.1.1

       31 July 2024 at 11:38 pm

       Wouldn’t have have taken much to find out what ‘it’ was… Took me less than 2 minutes.

       https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350360916/trade-minister-hot-water-after-shouting-youre-not-mexico-now

       It was…

       Menendez March raised a point of order, saying McClay’s heckling during question time had been offensive.

       Knowing about Todd McLay, probably the most useless MP Rotorua has ever had, and probably as useless as a minister (no track record o judge by so far), I’m pretty sure that he is just as useless about parliamentary procedure.

       However, raising a point of order in parliament to the speaker about the perceived piss-poor behaviour of MPs is exactly how ‘we do it here’. Anyone can watch parliamentary TV and see it in play most of the time when the house sits. It is written into the Parliamentary rules that govern behaviour of MPs and the processes that are used to constrain excessive behaviour.

       But Todd McLay being a self-entitled mostly useless dickhead clearly didn’t seem to think that those rules apply to him nor that raising points of order should constrain his behaviour.
       • Dennis Frank 3.1.1.1

         1 August 2024 at 3:52 am

         Still nothing offensive evident! If you're implying that anyone claiming to be offended by an implication noticed only by them must be mollycoddled by the Speaker due to protocol, then the entire system brings parliament into disrepute and they should all be suspended for wasting our valuable time…
         • lprent 3.1.1.1.1

           1 August 2024 at 8:41 am

           I didn't bother to look for the offensive behaviour by McLay before the point of order was made. It was simply wasn't relevant to the MPs (that is a matter for the speaker to rule on), nor the point you were making and nor the point that I was making.

           The right of an MP to raise a point of order is enshrined in the standing orders of the house. With small exceptions (kings speech etc) it can be raised at any point by any MP, subject to ruling by the speaker at the time.

           It requires a reason, usually some explanation, from the person raising the point of order. If McLay wanted to oppose it, then the would be able to raise it either if the speaker asked him, or as a point of order himself.

           What was clearly offensive was Todd McLay (as usual) being a racist arsehole in his interjection and doing it without respectfully waiting to hear what the speaker had to say. Both are offensive under standing orders and previous rulings.

           If you'd want to research what the offensive heckling was (and link to it), then be my guest. However it is completely irrelevant to the point that you made and that I responded to. It would have been considered seperatly anyway in response to the point of order about McLay’s interjection across the speaker to March.

           Basically playing a stupid diversion game tends to indicate that you have absolutely no idea yourself, and are just acting like a dickhead yourself. I am of course assuming that you have enough knowledge of the parliamentary rules to know better. However if you do not, then please tell me. I will then switch to the child mode and explain basics to a political idiot.
4. SPC 4

   31 July 2024 at 11:10 pm

   Consents fall to their lowest level since 2019.

   No incentives for landlords to move their equity into new builds.

   https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/new-home-consents-fall-to-levels-last-seen-five-years-ago/QC5X7KMQ5VCJFN3RIXJSO4DZAY/
   • Bearded Git 4.1

     31 July 2024 at 11:45 pm

     Everything this government does turns to gold…hang on that's the wrong 4-letter word.

     But seriously economies are like super tankers. Once they start to turn one way it takes a lot of time and effort to turn them around. The way things are going the economy isn't going to look too flash in 2026.

     Shame
   • lprent 4.2

     1 August 2024 at 12:07 am

     Can't see any economic building consents and completed residences not to keep falling.

     The levels of capital required to get into a house exceed the ability for most people to pay them off, even if the interest rates drop back to 4-5%.

     The money goes straight into the pockets of people who are already wealthy and are landlords, the building materials industry, and the banks taking a rake off. Each of them are operating on the basis of whatever the market will bear. That means that every pay rise or housing subsidy gets sucked into house buying and mortgage payments. Totally useless as a economic driver because it is inherently unproductive.

     And this useless and self-serving government has once again stopped one of the only building programs actually producing affordable housing. I can't see Kainga Ora being able to restart their building programs in less than 5 years. So we will have a bust in the building industry followed by a exodus of trades yet again.

     Opening up land 20 km out in Auckland (where 30+% of the population live) is totally useless. All it does is to increase the cost of commuting to jobs. It also effectively raises rates for every other part of Auckland because we wind up paying to put in expensive infrastructure for the sole benefit of property developers.

     There is literally nothing pushing housing prices vs income down.

     If I was younger, or even if my partner let me, I'd be leaving to go somewhere that did some economic planning. National and Act are inherently incapable of understanding how to make a economy productive. They are like aristocratic rentiers. Stupid and only interested in negative sum games that benefit themselves..
5. SPC 5

   31 July 2024 at 11:22 pm

   The government is leaking its plan to

   1. end the provision of a rail enabled ferry service across the Cook Strait

   2. end a role of Kiwi Rail in providing ferry services

   3. seek a partner in providing a replacement service

   https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/how-the-government-could-remove-interislander-ferry-business-from-kiwirail-the-front-page/HSUAOACG6NCJ5DVCWD76ZMLXWQ/

   It raises questions about the future of rail freight from Picton to Christchurch and the impact on South Island roads of more freight by truck.
   • Bearded Git 5.1

     31 July 2024 at 11:38 pm

     I guess Labour/Greens can simply buy an extra rail-capable ferry when they get elected in 2026.
6. Joe90 6

   1 August 2024 at 12:08 am

   Thread (1/26)

   .

   @MouinRabbani

   THREAD: I’m interrupting my review of Arab-Israeli wars, which I will resume next week, to comment on a current development:

   […]

   On the morning of Monday 29 July, a contingent of Israel’s military police – the agency responsible for policing the security forces – showed up at Sde Teiman, an Israeli military base in the Negev Desert that now serves as a prison camp for Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

   […]

   The military police had come to arrest nine of the soldiers – apparently all reservists – who serve at the camp. They were wanted for their involvement in the gang rape of a prisoner who was subsequently taken to the camp’s infirmary with severe rectal injuries.

   https://x.com/MouinRabbani/status/1818144763524047001

   https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1818144763524047001.html

   Edit:
   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouin_Rabbani

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