Watched this earlier. It made David Carter grumpy đ
I hope Cunliffe (and Labour) are going somewhere with this: the speech tells us the state of things without proposing any solutions. Perhaps that’s coming in the next speech…
One of the ways to change (ie: become) the government is to seize the narrative, not just on this front, either. The Radio NZ (Catch-Up Funding) Amendment Bill isn’t going to do that.
Anyway, with their conference on Labour has a good chance to seize a few moments and I hope they do.
That speech is jammed full of issues and detail. Almost all of them covered here at The Standard by one author or another.
Now we know from the other thread that Stuart Nash will have written that speech off as ‘vile, negative bile’ and ‘out of touch with political realities’ – but what about – whose the Labour leader again? Haven’t heard boo from the guy in ages.
I’m afraid the solution is too threatening for any major party because as long as Parliament is sovereign the ruling party can do anything with impunity.
The solution lies in taking power from Parliament and distributing power to other parts of the system. It’s called “checks and balances” and we don’t have it. We never will until the people decide some of these watchdogs and their budgets must be beyond the control of the ruling party of the day.
Cunliffe should also have mentioned the bias of the Speaker of the House toward National Party. Especially the way he allows key to run off at the mouth without interruption. Deplorable.
It highlights why the Speaker should be appointed by Parliament, but not out of the existing stocks, it should be someone from the Judiciary, or someone of enough mana that all people agree on, and the person nominated shouldn’t want the job.
By a unanimous Parliament or at least 75% of MPs. We need some independent bodies in our political system. Sticking to the rugby metaphor. Rugby games were pretty crap when home countries used their own ref’s.
We need independent Speakers who act as actual referees, are committed to increasing public participation in Parliament, rigorous debate, and ensuring questions are answered in an apolitical fashion.
It would be better that Speakers were independently appointed, (not from the pool of MPs) were employees of Parliament, or perhaps directly elected. (there are disadvantages to each approach, especially the last one as it could turn just as politicized as electorate races)
Then folks like OAB and DTB et al won’t agree with who is appointed because national have a parliamentary majority and that’s not democracy because they didn’t win the election. they only got more votes than any other party by screwing the scrum. sob sob sob sob the media have elected this speaker, not parliament
the left in this country is so deluded about what the reality in New Zealand, on any subject, it’s appalling. having an effective opposition is a corner stone of parliamentary democracy. I can see now why the opposition is so terrible at being an opposition. Whoever still votes for labour and the greens and turn out in support at conferences and local electorate bodies are, to put it bluntly, stupid.
Further, the people who run the National Party know that he is spot on.
That is why they have taken all those extensive steps to “screw the scrum” – because National dare not give the public a fair chance and a level playing field with which to judge them on.
You’re right of course – the Gnats have put the fix on this voting system – so how are they to be removed from power, since they are manifestly incompetent to the tune of $100 billion dollars so far? This government is the most expensive failure in NZ history.
David Cunliffe is correct in every aspect in what he delivered in that speech.
Well done.
Where the hell is the Media in not high lighting these facts ?
Democracy , how the hell can we say that this country is still a democracy when it is obvious it is not.
We are being controlled by a slimy few from the inner National Party.
Never, ever has there been a more devious Govt.
Surely that other irritant in this debacle, Peter Dunne can see where we are heading in this country, why does he keep these parasites in power ?
Show some gumption Peter Dunne and pull the pin on National !
Same goes to the Maori Party, stop this charade.
Me too, and I wish David Cunliffe was still Labour’s leader, but… National’s msm and those self serving members within Labour would never had allowed that.
+100. Odious Nash got well and truly trounced by all those who commented on his article on the TDB, and he really did show his true colours, and they weren’t red.
He needed to have been giving that type of speech back at the last election around the time of Dirty Politics, instead of doing the ‘positive message regardless’ thing. Oh well.
+1 Bill – but who knows maybe Cunliffe wanted too – he probably had loads of ‘advice’ to the contrary by his ‘team’ to stay on ‘task’.
What Labour needs is political courage and to show they are prepared to fight back. Hence all this positive outpouring from Cunliffe’s speech in The Standard when Cunliffe shows political courage by this speech. Everyone also cheered when Little said ‘show some guts’.
The voters want Labour MP’s like Cunliffe who still have Labour values of anti corruption – not as has been implied by another Labour MP the National way of raising ‘shit loads of money and forget your principals to win’.
Cunliffes speech is resonating with the population!! And more importantly some in Labour seem to be more aware of the problem – it is not a FAIR fight or a FAIR election with dirty politics!
Don’t be dirty or pretend it’s not happening, fight the right, for a FAIR fight!
Little said ‘cut the crap!’ (show some guts was when Key was justifying sending troops overseas), but you are right otherwise, in this world of airbrushed pap & committee written speeches we are hungry for some truth.
Sorry mean’t cut the crap! Was also trying to also point out that it should not be one Labour line against another and not trying to pit Cunliffe against Little – when either says something good, it is good for all in Labour.
I’d like to see Little put Cunliffe as No 2 or 3. Key did not get on with English but he still put him into finance. Labour needs to do similar and put their best people at the top.
I heard the speech via the radio broadcast from Parliament, it was good to hear that at least one MP from the Labour caucus dares to state clearly the abysmal situation we have with the rotten, bought and manipulated mainstream media in this country. I am worried though, whether David Cunliffe did speak so openly, because he may consider not standing again for Parliament next election.
Time will tell. Most if not all in Labour dare say nothing about the biased and generally poorly informing media.
It has really troubled me to see a fair few turn up on the Paul Henry breakfast program, but it is always a balancing act, to be heard and taken note of at all, at the risk of being ridiculed by Henry, or to risk not being taken note of by staying away. You are damned if you do deal with the present MSM, you are damned if you do not. Hence also the Greens, NZ First and so talk with the most useless or biased reporters and program hosts at times.
The henry / gower segment this morning made some good points about labour around Little needing to show where labour is heading and how they have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it.Henry even commended Little for his success in unifying caucus.
Na I reckon labour /nzf with greens in support . I know you want radicle change and now but i’ll settle for a.government with integrity for starters.
I think Little is boxing clever and will get stronger as time goes on.
There will be very few members left in the Party if that happens I would think. Robertson couldn’t set a barbecue on fire. Just hasn’t got the chops for that job or the finance one either. You either have it, or you don’t, and he doesn’t! Robertson is not politically brave, it’s that simple.
“have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it”
I totally agree, they goad and demand Labour policies, then do a wek copy or hack them apart
I’ve been reading Chris Trotter’s Bowalley Road lately. He seems incandescent over the media being largely kept out of the coming Labour conference. Its all to be ‘in the family’ except for a few open opportunities to gather info. (Which family might that be – ‘the Cosa Nostra’?)
In his recent essay – Burning Down The House: Why Does The Labour Caucus Keep Destroying The Labour Party In Order To Save It? – he says this: Only a mass influx of people determined to make policy â not tea â can rescue the Labour Party from the self-perpetuating parliamentary oligarchy that currently controls it.
Only a rank-and-file membership that is conscious of, and willing to assert, its rights â as the Corbynistas are doing in the United Kingdom â has the slightest hope of selecting a caucus dedicated to circulating the whole oxymoronic notion of democratic elitism out of New Zealandâs political system altogether.
In his latest piece – All In The Family: Labourâs President Keeps The Media Out Of His Partyâs Annual Conference. – on what he sees is a disaster for progressive Labour in banning media scrutiny and report, he says – [Professor Nigel Haworth] the partyâs president explained that its proceedings needed to be kept âin the familyâ. Putting to one side the obvious fact that a political party is nothing like a family…. Families that shut their doors and draw their curtains against the outside world are often trying to hide something. …
Paradoxically, what Haworth and the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Little, are trying to hide isnât in the least bit shameful or ugly. Free and frank political debate is the declared objective of the media ban. âWe want people to be able to speak freely and frankly and be reported appropriatelyâ, was the way Haworth put it to Trevett
Curiously, the Herald journalist did not challenge Haworthâs implication that she and her colleagues would not report the delegatesâ statements âappropriatelyâ. Nor did Trevett point out to the Heraldâs readers that with the news media excluded from important debates party leaders can crack down hard on dissident delegates with impunity.
This is no small consideration. At the 2012 annual conference, held in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie, journalists were able to report the extraordinary vitriol hurled at disobedient delegates by Labour MPs. The latter were furious that the conference had voted contrary to their instruction. They were probably even more furious that their behaviour was reported…..
Free and frank discussion is actually much more likely when the whole worldâs watching. Absent the television lights, anyone daring to challenge the top table is likely to be flayed alive by individuals who throw insults for a living.
âONLY ONE political party conference matters in New Zealandâ, says veteran political journalist, Richard Harman. âThe National Partyâs conference is little more than a PR presentation; NZ First keeps theirs behind closed doors and the Greens is entirely predictable.â But, according to Harman, Labour conferences are different. As recently as 2012, he says, âLabourâs has been coloured by political blood on the floor.â
Thereâs a very good reason for paying attention to what goes on at Labour Party Conferences, and thatâs because the political fault line dividing the defenders of the status quo from the advocates of real change runs right down the middle of the conference floor. Itâs been that way since the 1980s
I think Chris fears that if they close off reports of dissent and bruising argument about policy and method, it will take a major earthquake to bring the present Labour edifice tumbling down despite the shoddy engineering that has gone into the soulless concrete slab construction of modern Labour.
Tracey
And here is an opposing and well argued viewpoint from Anonymous on Chris’s points.
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I won't deny that at least some of what you claim are indeed risks of closed conferences. But while I can't speak for Labour, as a Green Party member, I prefer it when our debates occur away from the media glare. There is far greater pressure to watch what one says when the media is present and why wouldn't there be? Most in the media wouldn't know nuance if they fell over it and aren't interested in policy debates despite protestations. They want to report controversy and personal animosity and are happy to invent it when there is not enough on offer. Rank and file members are very aware that what they read in the papers often bears little resemblance to what they experienced, and it pisses them off.
And as for your attempt at high principle in claiming the internal workings of a party are the property of the entire public rather than the party's members, that is just journalistic self interest. What a party owes the public is a clear statement of it's principles, it's policies and it's priorities, plus a commitment to stick with all three in return for a vote. It cannot ask for more.
5 November 2015 at 22:20
Nothing ever changes on the New Zealand left does it.
3 election defeats and still blaming everyone else. The world is against us. The media are bias. The NZ media could hardly be more left if they tried. The NZ Herald still offers column space to discredited far left economist Professor Jane Kelsey. You don’t see them offering the same space to the far right.
You guys spend so much time stressing over conspiracy theories rather than considering what’s steering you in the face. You policies suck and you don’t have a credible leader.
“steering” us “into the face”? Grammar check, perhaps, spelling check, perhaps? The steering is done from the PM’s Office, and their lackey’s offices, the staring is also there, but it is that of hopeless players in government, doing all to play smoke and mirrors and make the ones in public (apparently incl. you) think, it is all fair dink-um and real.
What a waste of an argument, perhaps consult your computer for the spelling check button first, mate.
Mr Hoot on and off, TV will be with us for many years to come, the only difference will be, they will not broadcast and present programs in the old fashioned way, they will embrace multi media, have many platforms, and use web based and other services, like On Demand, much more.
You will never have a nice large screen in a living room be replaced for viewing by tiny tablet and smart phone screens. It is not the same experience, and people will continue to watch TV, same as some will continue to buy hard copy books, mags and papers also.
It is better for the eyes, as that much blue light from screens we use here, is not at all good for your eyes, for your general health, and especially not the nervous system. It makes for poor sleep and information uptake, due to poor concentration. It can worsen or cause depression. Also are online and internet services quite addictive, which will explain your and some of our presence here, will it not?
That is just one other aspect of the wider problem of dumbing down people, which is a main problem we have.
As you will likely earn money paid by companies promoting this technology, to dumb down, you will not want to discuss this, I bet.
“loony”, a throwaway comment with no evidence or anything worth noting, what a tosser, I reckon. I like people presenting an argument and some stuff to back them up, but not such rubbish. You lost as soon as you came with that word I first mentioned.
brilliant speech. Highlights so much that is wrong with politics in NZ, as practised by the National party. Creeping authoritarianism to keep themselves in power because they have no solutions to the issues facing NZ, just want to give themselves and their mates more money at the expense of ordinary NZ’ers.
That was quite an amazing speech he gave. It was certainly nothing like his anodyne performance in the campaign.
It does appear that he needs some advice on side-effects of medications though.
Even a small amount of alcohol can have results like this when the person is on medicines like Clozapine or Risperidone. I think he should have been warned, as it certainly looks like those side-effects in his behaviour.
Scoop is seeking 1000 Kiwis who care about the future of NZ News media
Dear Scoop Foundation Pledgers,
Thank you for your very generous support.
With 12 days to go we have reached 37% of our target. However that means we have 63% of the target to go and we really need your help to get there
If you can please forward this email to friends, family, colleagues and or people who you think will be interested. We only need 600 more people to join us to get this show on the road!. http://www.scoop.co.nz/sections/comment.html
Pledgeme’s update on the latest from Scoop’s fundraiser. Now is the time to come to the aid of the party. And Scoop is the party providing news and views to be trusted so we can understand what is going on behind the wordy smoke screens and smiley images.
If you can’t afford much give the $16 pledge which they have obviously put in knowing the state of many people’s finances. A responsive thoughtful move. But do something if you want to see NZ improve, even stop sliding over the cliff. Their words will be more effective than yours here, but together make a worthy tool to prick the barriers of the self-centred.
(lprent I thought that Scoop’s situation would justify the rare use of so much bold. Hope you agree. How is the weather in…Italy?)
Lyn, not sure if you’ll get a chance, but I would thoroughly recommend Assisi. I had a great week there in April this year.
It’s right up on the side of a mountain, and in the evening the son sets the length of a great u-valley that stretches for hundreds of kilometres in each direction, and the light and shadow and colour change every 30 seconds I swear. Particularly in the colder months.
Slightly closer to where you are, make sure you get to The Last Supper in Milan. Milan’s pleasures are few – so you have to plan carefully. And the main cathedral honestly is too twee for me. But if you don’t come back with a decent pair of shoes for Her In Doors, you’ll have a few questions I’m sure.
Cunliffe deserved to be PM obviously.
“Sorry for being a Man” would have been a real winner in the changing rooms after the AB’s won the RWC.. especially in that faux PI inflection he did on the back of the bus a few years ago.
I’m surprised he hasn’t given up and tried to get a real job by now, or better yet started a business & paid maximum tax – & maximum wage to the parents of the million kids in poverty…
FFS, delusional seems to not only exist, but seems mandatory to Lefties.
you think you’re smart but you just keep showing us what an imbecile you really are.
[lprent: Pointless abuse and stupid flame inducing at that. But for your comment I’d have had been able to moderate Mr Rylands. On the other hand he probably wouldn’t have made such a comment without this pinheaded comment to induce it. ]
Freemark
You can talk the talk, but in fact you’d be walking for ever if you had to ask for directions to find your way home. Pop out and let off your firecrackers and bangers, that is something you could manage. Try not to set the hillside on fire, or go on past 10pm will you. There are responsible adults trying to get their sleep before again coping with the real world.
I guess mine is pointless abuse too. I should just leave them alone in their own gated community, and ignore their stupidity of which they seem inordinately proud.
“Freemark” All I can say it is just as well that none of the ABs are sporting long hair and ponytails because JK’s ponytail debacle (and creepy fetish) far outweighs any supposed gaffes that DC has committed.
“Sorry for being a man” was in the context of us winning the world cup …… for domestic violence
Cunliffe was quite correct …………. New Zealand men should be ashamed of our number 1 ranking for domestic violence in the developed world
FreeMark like John Key would never get near an AB’s changing room based on anything they’d ever achieved playing the game rugby ……………
Jockstrap sniffers and pony tail pulling hanger-on s like freemark and Key grease they way into places like that ……….and act like stalkers when they get there
Cunliffe is also correct that our media is pretty rooted and a right wing stitch up on places like tv3, the herald etc
People generally make the logical and correct choices when presented with all the information ………..
National are masters at suppressing and manipulating information …… and running dirty politics smear campaigns………..
Northlands bye-election drubbing for the Nats showed what happens when the majority get it together and act semi-cohesively against the largest minority …………………. which is all the Nats/act are.
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The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housingâs ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Ministerâs metaphor of âflooding the marketâ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is Americaâs un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is Americaâs Octavian, the Republicâs youthful undertaker â and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMPâS SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the âilliberalâ prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi MÄori rallied against the Crownâs attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hÄ«koi of a generation and the birth of Te PÄti MÄori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Governmentâs move to dilute child poverty targets is a reminder that it is actively choosing to preserve hardship for thousands of households. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israelâs illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinianâs have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinianâs who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israelâs occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Governmentâs disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whÄnau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they canât escape on ...
Te PÄti MÄori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. âThis announcement is just another example of the governmentâs anti-Tiriti, anti-MÄori agenda.â Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. âSeymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
Nationalâs Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now itâs been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didnât declare and said wasnât pre-arranged. ...
Te PÄti MÄori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. âReinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of MÄori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. âThis legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whÄnau out onto the street for no reasonâ said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âTheir solution to the housing ...
âNationalâs campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,â Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
âThere are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,â Jan Tinetti said. ...
âThis government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this governmentâs agenda and the future of our mokopuna,â said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
âTodayâs climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,â Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how theyâre taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. âThe Abuse in Care Inquiryâs report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faithâbased institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Governmentâs online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. âIt is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
TÄnÄ tÄtou katoa, NgÄ mihi te rangi, ngÄ mihi te whenua, ngÄ mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealandâs payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. âThe Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre â Te PokapĆ« WÄina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. âThe research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âRegions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesiaâs Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIndonesia is important to New Zealandâs security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,â says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kĆrero, he kĆrero, he kĆrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of NgÄti Maniapoto, Minister for MÄori Development Tama Potaka says. âMy thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust â NgÄti Maniapoto for bringing their important kĆrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.âI have received Ms Fredricâs resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,â Mr Brown says.âOn behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliamentâs test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. âSection 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are âdangerous changesâ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. âIssues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. âThe level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations Iâve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatƫ rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawkeâs Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. Itâs the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care âWhanaketia â through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,â was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry âWhanaketia â through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. âTax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. âIt includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. âCompetitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. âUnder current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and WhangÄrei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âFor too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIt is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,â Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. âI am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. âASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,â Mr Peters says. âThis will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. âThis $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,â Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. âThis support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealandâs commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. âCabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. âThe previous governmentâs botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. âNew Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. âAttending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,â Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the regionâs fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministersâ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Governmentâs plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. âOn the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.âIncreasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. âNew Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,â Mr Peters says. âWe are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, itâs a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealandâs foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kÄkÄ shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro â winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 â died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Wattsâ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Governmentâs emissions reduction plan. Now Iâve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayersâ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. âThey didnât explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still havenât. Thereâs no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character sheâd like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. âIf the phone rings, I have to answer it,â Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of PĆneke writer Flora Feltham.In âThe Raw Materialâ, the longest essay in Flora Felthamâs dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. âPounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the bandâs perfect weekend and new release. âGood speakers, good food, good music, no distractionsâ: thatâs all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Prettiesâ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this yearâs showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing â a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our Whatâs Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babuâs humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field â especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the âteal waveâ into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the worldâs most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman â specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Googleâs parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the cityâs eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, itâs predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Ă kerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether youâd have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out whatâs next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because itâs not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te RĆ«nanga Nui o NgÄ Kura Kaupapa MÄori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa MÄori ...
If you havenât started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. Thereâs the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my motherâs furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The governmentâs announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old MÄori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,â Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkinsâ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any MÄori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among MÄori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this weekâs mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its âget tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing â the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the bodyâs immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
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Watched this earlier. It made David Carter grumpy đ
I hope Cunliffe (and Labour) are going somewhere with this: the speech tells us the state of things without proposing any solutions. Perhaps that’s coming in the next speech…
So OAB
The solution is to change the Government. As you well know. But perhaps that won’t please You or your carping Greens. More the Pity.
Congratulations David Cunliffe. You are outstanding.
One of the ways to change (ie: become) the government is to seize the narrative, not just on this front, either. The Radio NZ (Catch-Up Funding) Amendment Bill isn’t going to do that.
Anyway, with their conference on Labour has a good chance to seize a few moments and I hope they do.
That speech is jammed full of issues and detail. Almost all of them covered here at The Standard by one author or another.
Now we know from the other thread that Stuart Nash will have written that speech off as ‘vile, negative bile’ and ‘out of touch with political realities’ – but what about – whose the Labour leader again? Haven’t heard boo from the guy in ages.
And with Grant Robertson advising Little on strategy, you’re not likely to.
But I thought no MP read TS đ
@ One Anonymous Bloke
I’m afraid the solution is too threatening for any major party because as long as Parliament is sovereign the ruling party can do anything with impunity.
The solution lies in taking power from Parliament and distributing power to other parts of the system. It’s called “checks and balances” and we don’t have it. We never will until the people decide some of these watchdogs and their budgets must be beyond the control of the ruling party of the day.
+100
Yes.
Most definitely we need it.
Our last bastion of checks and balances at this stage may be the judiciary.
Cunliffe should also have mentioned the bias of the Speaker of the House toward National Party. Especially the way he allows key to run off at the mouth without interruption. Deplorable.
Have you ever heard of Margaret Wilson?
So much for personal responsibility…
but but but Llllaaaabbbbooooouuuuurrrrrr!!!!!!
It highlights why the Speaker should be appointed by Parliament, but not out of the existing stocks, it should be someone from the Judiciary, or someone of enough mana that all people agree on, and the person nominated shouldn’t want the job.
Sounds sensible. ‘Let’s not do it.’
By a unanimous Parliament or at least 75% of MPs. We need some independent bodies in our political system. Sticking to the rugby metaphor. Rugby games were pretty crap when home countries used their own ref’s.
What about the Speaker coming from one of the Opposition parties?
Same problem, but in reverse.
We need independent Speakers who act as actual referees, are committed to increasing public participation in Parliament, rigorous debate, and ensuring questions are answered in an apolitical fashion.
It would be better that Speakers were independently appointed, (not from the pool of MPs) were employees of Parliament, or perhaps directly elected. (there are disadvantages to each approach, especially the last one as it could turn just as politicized as electorate races)
Then folks like OAB and DTB et al won’t agree with who is appointed because national have a parliamentary majority and that’s not democracy because they didn’t win the election. they only got more votes than any other party by screwing the scrum. sob sob sob sob the media have elected this speaker, not parliament
the left in this country is so deluded about what the reality in New Zealand, on any subject, it’s appalling. having an effective opposition is a corner stone of parliamentary democracy. I can see now why the opposition is so terrible at being an opposition. Whoever still votes for labour and the greens and turn out in support at conferences and local electorate bodies are, to put it bluntly, stupid.
David Cunliffe’s analysis is spot on.
Further, the people who run the National Party know that he is spot on.
That is why they have taken all those extensive steps to “screw the scrum” – because National dare not give the public a fair chance and a level playing field with which to judge them on.
+100 CV
Cheese with your whiiiiiine?
You’re right of course – the Gnats have put the fix on this voting system – so how are they to be removed from power, since they are manifestly incompetent to the tune of $100 billion dollars so far? This government is the most expensive failure in NZ history.
John Campbell
Ah the Labour did it too defence … totally ignoring Keys promise to enforce higher standards from his government
I have long argued the Speaker should be an impartial judge approved by 75% of the MPs.
How can you have a fair debate when the judge belongs to one of the debating teams.
Who would mind going to trial if they could appoint the judge deciding the case.
David Cunliffe is correct in every aspect in what he delivered in that speech.
Well done.
Where the hell is the Media in not high lighting these facts ?
Democracy , how the hell can we say that this country is still a democracy when it is obvious it is not.
We are being controlled by a slimy few from the inner National Party.
Never, ever has there been a more devious Govt.
Surely that other irritant in this debacle, Peter Dunne can see where we are heading in this country, why does he keep these parasites in power ?
Show some gumption Peter Dunne and pull the pin on National !
Same goes to the Maori Party, stop this charade.
Where the hell is the Media in not high lighting these facts ?
Cunliffe explains that pretty clearly: the writers and journalists who might have done so have been sacked.
On that line….where’d all the good people go?
https://youtu.be/hxuCLopcEy4
This puts me in mind of hawaii… lies and our PM
http://youtu.be/tG4Y1Kq9ZHQ
Cunliffe, his team and his supporters were hardly media friendly during the election.
What does being “media friendly” actually mean? Can you give examples?
Probably has something to do with John Armstrong waiting over a year to make an apology for his disgusting lies.
Put money and support behind Scoop initiative!
Yup
+100 Simple Simon
More important than making David Carter grumpy, Cunliffe explained how The High Court found The Ombudsman illegally sucked up to Groser.
She has thoroughly trashed her integrity for John Key; and dirtied her once proud office for him.
Sick
David Cunliffe has integrity and depth – Stuart Nash the polar opposite.
+1 Hami
yes! & killer speech Cunliffe! I was wanting him to be PM.
@Gangnam Style
Me too, and I wish David Cunliffe was still Labour’s leader, but… National’s msm and those self serving members within Labour would never had allowed that.
What a shame that so many voters disagreed with you.
@Melb
What did you expect when John Key used dirty politics to rig… oops I mean, win an election?
@Hami Shearlie
+100. Odious Nash got well and truly trounced by all those who commented on his article on the TDB, and he really did show his true colours, and they weren’t red.
+1 Hami
He needed to have been giving that type of speech back at the last election around the time of Dirty Politics, instead of doing the ‘positive message regardless’ thing. Oh well.
+1 Bill – but who knows maybe Cunliffe wanted too – he probably had loads of ‘advice’ to the contrary by his ‘team’ to stay on ‘task’.
What Labour needs is political courage and to show they are prepared to fight back. Hence all this positive outpouring from Cunliffe’s speech in The Standard when Cunliffe shows political courage by this speech. Everyone also cheered when Little said ‘show some guts’.
The voters want Labour MP’s like Cunliffe who still have Labour values of anti corruption – not as has been implied by another Labour MP the National way of raising ‘shit loads of money and forget your principals to win’.
Cunliffes speech is resonating with the population!! And more importantly some in Labour seem to be more aware of the problem – it is not a FAIR fight or a FAIR election with dirty politics!
Don’t be dirty or pretend it’s not happening, fight the right, for a FAIR fight!
Little said ‘cut the crap!’ (show some guts was when Key was justifying sending troops overseas), but you are right otherwise, in this world of airbrushed pap & committee written speeches we are hungry for some truth.
Sorry mean’t cut the crap! Was also trying to also point out that it should not be one Labour line against another and not trying to pit Cunliffe against Little – when either says something good, it is good for all in Labour.
I’d like to see Little put Cunliffe as No 2 or 3. Key did not get on with English but he still put him into finance. Labour needs to do similar and put their best people at the top.
media would have criticised his tie being wonky anyway
I guess that certain faction in caucus hates Cunliffe just a little bit more after he pulls good shit like this off.
I heard the speech via the radio broadcast from Parliament, it was good to hear that at least one MP from the Labour caucus dares to state clearly the abysmal situation we have with the rotten, bought and manipulated mainstream media in this country. I am worried though, whether David Cunliffe did speak so openly, because he may consider not standing again for Parliament next election.
Time will tell. Most if not all in Labour dare say nothing about the biased and generally poorly informing media.
Remember, most of the Labour Caucus view the MSM as their main constituency, not us poor saps in the voting public.
It has really troubled me to see a fair few turn up on the Paul Henry breakfast program, but it is always a balancing act, to be heard and taken note of at all, at the risk of being ridiculed by Henry, or to risk not being taken note of by staying away. You are damned if you do deal with the present MSM, you are damned if you do not. Hence also the Greens, NZ First and so talk with the most useless or biased reporters and program hosts at times.
The henry / gower segment this morning made some good points about labour around Little needing to show where labour is heading and how they have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it.Henry even commended Little for his success in unifying caucus.
My prediction – Little will lose the next election and Robertson will put his hand up for the Leadership yet again. And this time he will get it.
Na I reckon labour /nzf with greens in support . I know you want radicle change and now but i’ll settle for a.government with integrity for starters.
I think Little is boxing clever and will get stronger as time goes on.
There will be very few members left in the Party if that happens I would think. Robertson couldn’t set a barbecue on fire. Just hasn’t got the chops for that job or the finance one either. You either have it, or you don’t, and he doesn’t! Robertson is not politically brave, it’s that simple.
If so Labour will reach 10% next election.
“have to be careful releasing policy to soon because the nats will flog it”
I totally agree, they goad and demand Labour policies, then do a wek copy or hack them apart
A Paul Henry commendation is like a cyanide capsule dropped into your drink, while you are not aware of it (done behind your back).
I’d vote for him.
I’ve been reading Chris Trotter’s Bowalley Road lately. He seems incandescent over the media being largely kept out of the coming Labour conference. Its all to be ‘in the family’ except for a few open opportunities to gather info. (Which family might that be – ‘the Cosa Nostra’?)
In his recent essay – Burning Down The House: Why Does The Labour Caucus Keep Destroying The Labour Party In Order To Save It? – he says this:
Only a mass influx of people determined to make policy â not tea â can rescue the Labour Party from the self-perpetuating parliamentary oligarchy that currently controls it.
Only a rank-and-file membership that is conscious of, and willing to assert, its rights â as the Corbynistas are doing in the United Kingdom â has the slightest hope of selecting a caucus dedicated to circulating the whole oxymoronic notion of democratic elitism out of New Zealandâs political system altogether.
In his latest piece – All In The Family: Labourâs President Keeps The Media Out Of His Partyâs Annual Conference. – on what he sees is a disaster for progressive Labour in banning media scrutiny and report, he says –
[Professor Nigel Haworth] the partyâs president explained that its proceedings needed to be kept âin the familyâ. Putting to one side the obvious fact that a political party is nothing like a family…. Families that shut their doors and draw their curtains against the outside world are often trying to hide something. …
Paradoxically, what Haworth and the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Little, are trying to hide isnât in the least bit shameful or ugly. Free and frank political debate is the declared objective of the media ban. âWe want people to be able to speak freely and frankly and be reported appropriatelyâ, was the way Haworth put it to Trevett
Curiously, the Herald journalist did not challenge Haworthâs implication that she and her colleagues would not report the delegatesâ statements âappropriatelyâ. Nor did Trevett point out to the Heraldâs readers that with the news media excluded from important debates party leaders can crack down hard on dissident delegates with impunity.
This is no small consideration. At the 2012 annual conference, held in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie, journalists were able to report the extraordinary vitriol hurled at disobedient delegates by Labour MPs. The latter were furious that the conference had voted contrary to their instruction. They were probably even more furious that their behaviour was reported…..
Free and frank discussion is actually much more likely when the whole worldâs watching. Absent the television lights, anyone daring to challenge the top table is likely to be flayed alive by individuals who throw insults for a living.
+100 greywarshark…good points..”Free and frank discussion is actually much more likely when the whole worldâs watching…
Its the stategy that works for the nats
Tracey
Yes Chris noted that and it worries him to see Labour choosing the same tactic.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2015/11/litmus-test-will-labours-rank-and-file.html
âONLY ONE political party conference matters in New Zealandâ, says veteran political journalist, Richard Harman. âThe National Partyâs conference is little more than a PR presentation; NZ First keeps theirs behind closed doors and the Greens is entirely predictable.â But, according to Harman, Labour conferences are different. As recently as 2012, he says, âLabourâs has been coloured by political blood on the floor.â
Thereâs a very good reason for paying attention to what goes on at Labour Party Conferences, and thatâs because the political fault line dividing the defenders of the status quo from the advocates of real change runs right down the middle of the conference floor. Itâs been that way since the 1980s
I think Chris fears that if they close off reports of dissent and bruising argument about policy and method, it will take a major earthquake to bring the present Labour edifice tumbling down despite the shoddy engineering that has gone into the soulless concrete slab construction of modern Labour.
Tracey
And here is an opposing and well argued viewpoint from Anonymous on Chris’s points.
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I won't deny that at least some of what you claim are indeed risks of closed conferences. But while I can't speak for Labour, as a Green Party member, I prefer it when our debates occur away from the media glare. There is far greater pressure to watch what one says when the media is present and why wouldn't there be? Most in the media wouldn't know nuance if they fell over it and aren't interested in policy debates despite protestations. They want to report controversy and personal animosity and are happy to invent it when there is not enough on offer. Rank and file members are very aware that what they read in the papers often bears little resemblance to what they experienced, and it pisses them off.
And as for your attempt at high principle in claiming the internal workings of a party are the property of the entire public rather than the party's members, that is just journalistic self interest. What a party owes the public is a clear statement of it's principles, it's policies and it's priorities, plus a commitment to stick with all three in return for a vote. It cannot ask for more.
5 November 2015 at 22:20
Nothing ever changes on the New Zealand left does it.
3 election defeats and still blaming everyone else. The world is against us. The media are bias. The NZ media could hardly be more left if they tried. The NZ Herald still offers column space to discredited far left economist Professor Jane Kelsey. You don’t see them offering the same space to the far right.
You guys spend so much time stressing over conspiracy theories rather than considering what’s steering you in the face. You policies suck and you don’t have a credible leader.
Much easier to blame everyone and everything else for your problems then it is to realise the worlds moved on and that you’re stuck in the past
Hell it’s you righties who want a return to feudalism – you expect to avoid jacquery as well? The two go hand in hand.
The policies suck so much Dear Leader has to keep copying them. Fish, meet barrel.
The R Matthew
You…………………suck and you don’t have a credible………………
You can fill in the gaps in your own fashion. Which won’t amount to much I am sure.
lol
I’m maybe an undecided voter “The Real Matthew”, and I will be dead before the next elections, dammit.
But it’s far right thinking that got this country into such a mess, no wonder MSM have finally started to figure out the truth.
There maybe not many decent journalists left after the recent “crystal nights”, but their words sneak through.
Without the likes of Jane Kelsey, how can we find balance in bullshit !!!!
“steering” us “into the face”? Grammar check, perhaps, spelling check, perhaps? The steering is done from the PM’s Office, and their lackey’s offices, the staring is also there, but it is that of hopeless players in government, doing all to play smoke and mirrors and make the ones in public (apparently incl. you) think, it is all fair dink-um and real.
What a waste of an argument, perhaps consult your computer for the spelling check button first, mate.
Spot on David Cunliffe, that was an awesome speech. No mincing of words there, Cunliffe laid it all out.
He nailed it !!
Still waiting for Labour to come out with unequivocal support for a non-commercial, government funded national television channel.
What is a “television channel”?
What will a “television channel” be in 2020?
What do you mean by “will”, “is”, and “be”?
What do you mean by “mean”?
Mr Hoot on and off, TV will be with us for many years to come, the only difference will be, they will not broadcast and present programs in the old fashioned way, they will embrace multi media, have many platforms, and use web based and other services, like On Demand, much more.
You will never have a nice large screen in a living room be replaced for viewing by tiny tablet and smart phone screens. It is not the same experience, and people will continue to watch TV, same as some will continue to buy hard copy books, mags and papers also.
It is better for the eyes, as that much blue light from screens we use here, is not at all good for your eyes, for your general health, and especially not the nervous system. It makes for poor sleep and information uptake, due to poor concentration. It can worsen or cause depression. Also are online and internet services quite addictive, which will explain your and some of our presence here, will it not?
That is just one other aspect of the wider problem of dumbing down people, which is a main problem we have.
As you will likely earn money paid by companies promoting this technology, to dumb down, you will not want to discuss this, I bet.
Ah, TVNZ 7, we knew you so little.
You will be waiting a very long time.
Great speech – good on you David Cunliffe!
Long time lurker, first time commenter.
The mere fact that you are all loving Cunliffe’s speech, demonstrates how out of touch a loony it was!
Seems very much like that speech was paypack for Mickey’s hit on Nash.
Ban me if you like, I have no interest in engaging, only laughing at your continuing collective intellectual dishonesty and stupidity
Happy Thursday all!
So having been ignoring us you’ve decided to move to the laughing stage. No, wait, you’re the joke.
Defensive much Batman? It’s more like your intellectual dishonesty and stupidity is being laughed at.
“loony”, a throwaway comment with no evidence or anything worth noting, what a tosser, I reckon. I like people presenting an argument and some stuff to back them up, but not such rubbish. You lost as soon as you came with that word I first mentioned.
Did you know that in some parts bat is slang for wank.
brilliant speech. Highlights so much that is wrong with politics in NZ, as practised by the National party. Creeping authoritarianism to keep themselves in power because they have no solutions to the issues facing NZ, just want to give themselves and their mates more money at the expense of ordinary NZ’ers.
Great speech DC. I bet he has been longing to say that for some time. I see Bryce Edwards has tweeted it.
That was quite an amazing speech he gave. It was certainly nothing like his anodyne performance in the campaign.
It does appear that he needs some advice on side-effects of medications though.
Even a small amount of alcohol can have results like this when the person is on medicines like Clozapine or Risperidone. I think he should have been warned, as it certainly looks like those side-effects in his behaviour.
I stopped in amazement when he referred to “right wing” media. FFS
Yeah, Cunnliffe seems a bit unhinged.
Hope he doesn’t go postal.
Why don’t you three point out what parts weren’t true instead of having a little love in down the back here.
bwaghorn
lol
Scoop is seeking 1000 Kiwis who care about the future of NZ News media
Dear Scoop Foundation Pledgers,
Thank you for your very generous support.
With 12 days to go we have reached 37% of our target. However that means we have 63% of the target to go and we really need your help to get there
If you can please forward this email to friends, family, colleagues and or people who you think will be interested. We only need 600 more people to join us to get this show on the road!.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/sections/comment.html
Pledgeme’s update on the latest from Scoop’s fundraiser. Now is the time to come to the aid of the party. And Scoop is the party providing news and views to be trusted so we can understand what is going on behind the wordy smoke screens and smiley images.
If you can’t afford much give the $16 pledge which they have obviously put in knowing the state of many people’s finances. A responsive thoughtful move. But do something if you want to see NZ improve, even stop sliding over the cliff. Their words will be more effective than yours here, but together make a worthy tool to prick the barriers of the self-centred.
(lprent I thought that Scoop’s situation would justify the rare use of so much bold. Hope you agree. How is the weather in…Italy?)
If. – The mighty word with huge potential!
I might have to contribute a little myself.
Italy: Pretty chilly, good work, great weather, and I have to say that I haven’t found a decent wine yet. But the food….
Sunday afternoon in Innsbruck
![](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-11-01-14.00.17.jpg?x42494)
What happens when you leave your car out, 15 minutes of ice chipping. Now I use the garage.
![](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-11-01-07.28.44.jpg?x42494)
This evening…
![](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-11-05-16.34.06.jpg?x42494)
Lyn, not sure if you’ll get a chance, but I would thoroughly recommend Assisi. I had a great week there in April this year.
It’s right up on the side of a mountain, and in the evening the son sets the length of a great u-valley that stretches for hundreds of kilometres in each direction, and the light and shadow and colour change every 30 seconds I swear. Particularly in the colder months.
Slightly closer to where you are, make sure you get to The Last Supper in Milan. Milan’s pleasures are few – so you have to plan carefully. And the main cathedral honestly is too twee for me. But if you don’t come back with a decent pair of shoes for Her In Doors, you’ll have a few questions I’m sure.
Cunliffe deserved to be PM obviously.
“Sorry for being a Man” would have been a real winner in the changing rooms after the AB’s won the RWC.. especially in that faux PI inflection he did on the back of the bus a few years ago.
I’m surprised he hasn’t given up and tried to get a real job by now, or better yet started a business & paid maximum tax – & maximum wage to the parents of the million kids in poverty…
FFS, delusional seems to not only exist, but seems mandatory to Lefties.
you think you’re smart but you just keep showing us what an imbecile you really are.
[lprent: Pointless abuse and stupid flame inducing at that. But for your comment I’d have had been able to moderate Mr Rylands. On the other hand he probably wouldn’t have made such a comment without this pinheaded comment to induce it. ]
Freemark
You can talk the talk, but in fact you’d be walking for ever if you had to ask for directions to find your way home. Pop out and let off your firecrackers and bangers, that is something you could manage. Try not to set the hillside on fire, or go on past 10pm will you. There are responsible adults trying to get their sleep before again coping with the real world.
I guess mine is pointless abuse too. I should just leave them alone in their own gated community, and ignore their stupidity of which they seem inordinately proud.
Says the vaccine denier.
Srylands
So they let you out did they?
“Freemark” All I can say it is just as well that none of the ABs are sporting long hair and ponytails because JK’s ponytail debacle (and creepy fetish) far outweighs any supposed gaffes that DC has committed.
Obviously the trolls coming out …..
“Sorry for being a man” was in the context of us winning the world cup …… for domestic violence
Cunliffe was quite correct …………. New Zealand men should be ashamed of our number 1 ranking for domestic violence in the developed world
FreeMark like John Key would never get near an AB’s changing room based on anything they’d ever achieved playing the game rugby ……………
Jockstrap sniffers and pony tail pulling hanger-on s like freemark and Key grease they way into places like that ……….and act like stalkers when they get there
Cunliffe is also correct that our media is pretty rooted and a right wing stitch up on places like tv3, the herald etc
People generally make the logical and correct choices when presented with all the information ………..
National are masters at suppressing and manipulating information …… and running dirty politics smear campaigns………..
Northlands bye-election drubbing for the Nats showed what happens when the majority get it together and act semi-cohesively against the largest minority …………………. which is all the Nats/act are.
Hope-fully the lesson stuck a bit ………….
Very important for the trolls to silence Cunliffe’s message for some reason – painful truths to a crowd entirely unfamiliar with truth perhaps.
+1