Everything you need to know about National, in two paragraphs

Written By: - Date published: 3:12 pm, November 16th, 2013 - 60 comments
Categories: national - Tags:

Andrea Vance reports: “Foreign minister Murray McCully returned from the Tamil-led north of Sri Lanka last night and indicated he believes New Zealand should not support an independent investigation into war crimes.

Shortly after his return to Colombo, McCully signed a dairy co-operation agreement with his counterpart Professor GL Peiris, worth about $2 million.”

60 comments on “Everything you need to know about National, in two paragraphs ”

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  1. Rogue Trooper 1
    16 November 2013 at 4:30 pm

    Yep! (not wasting a mellow afternoon thinking about these hypocrites).

  2. Tiger Mountain 2
    16 November 2013 at 4:54 pm

    The atrocious war crimes committed against the Tamil population require little further comment. To add to genocide the Sri Lankan state is also anti union surprise surprise.

    Over ten years ago now the NZ Dairy Workers Union signed an international agreement covering workers rights in overseas operations. http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&ww=1&uid=default&ID=271&view_records=1&en=1

    It is renewed periodically with increasing difficulty union sources have told me as local managers particularly in places such as Sri Lanka do not observe the agreement and in fact frustrate and victimise workers that do try and organise. So from our dirty filthy tory Prime Minister and Foreign Minister it is “we know nuzzink about that” and they don’t want to know. The sooner they are dispatched the better.

  3. Tracey 3
    16 November 2013 at 5:03 pm

    2m to ignore abuse and killing…thats nz inc for ya.

  4. Will@Welly 4
    16 November 2013 at 5:54 pm

    War crimes, what war crimes?
    Just have a look at our education sector, history is being re-written as we speak.
    Steven Joyce, Hekia Parata, Bill English – wiping out 170 years of an education tradition.
    When you re-write history, you re-write the past.
    No wonder these Tory bastards are so smug.

  5. Dumrse 5
    16 November 2013 at 7:25 pm

    Willy@welly….. It’s called choice. Parents get a choice. We decide, not the state or the
    Labour Party or the teachers fucking union or the PPTA or any other such dictatorial body. I get to choose, not you.

    • Molly 5.1
      16 November 2013 at 7:40 pm

      .. what exactly is it that you are choosing?..

      • Dumrse 5.1.1
        16 November 2013 at 8:16 pm

        Where and how to school my children. Was willyswelly a bit cryptic for you ?

        • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1.1
          17 November 2013 at 12:58 am

          I feel sorry for your children as it’s obvious you haven’t got a friggen clue about good education.

          • Dumrse 5.1.1.1.1
            17 November 2013 at 7:58 am

            I acknowledge we can’t all live in a “choice environment” and that many of you need to be spoon fed in the nanny state, not forgetting what light bulbs to buy and how much water to shower with. And you talk about clues. Clueless perhaps ?

        • David H 5.1.1.2
          17 November 2013 at 10:12 am

          @Dumarse
          It’s not only about where and how. It’s also about who, with, and with what. To say nothing on what are they allowed to teach. With Craig, who believes that global warming is caused by the Planets, Banks who’s as crooked as the day is long, and Parata who acts like she should go back to 3rd grade, they are or are going to (If they get a chance) sell our education system to the highest bidder. All under the guise of PPP’s or what ever acronym they come up with for the next round of ‘Parata’s’. And some of the ‘wanna be’ buyers of our schools have some real strange idea’s. Especially around Religion and climate change. Yes I agree they are trying to rewrite history. And thats the one thing that defines a country. I know I’m English and my History teacher had the gift of the Gab, and could and would make your imagination fire so you could see what he was talking about, it was his Passion. And thats what the Nats are trying to kill, the Teachers passion for the job, look at the Nova Pay debacle, and the Christchurch Screwup.

          As the parent of a 2.6 year old I am horrified at what is happening to our education system. And I wonder what he will have for a school. McDonalds Primary and Burger King Secondary School’s, or one of the first class schools we already have, run by people that have a passion for teaching and not just watching the bottom line.

          • Dumrse 5.1.1.2.1
            17 November 2013 at 6:32 pm

            David, I’m immensely happy for you given the addition of McDonalds Primary and Burger King Secondary, you have choices that many will be envious of…. Well done I hope 2.6 does well and grows up knowing all about choice.

        • Puddleglum 5.1.1.3
          17 November 2013 at 3:54 pm

          But Dumrse, you already (pre-charter schools) have many choices in education: Private schools, integrated schools, special character public schools, standard state schools.

          In amongst that there are as many ways to educate children as there are known.

          I admit, though, that it would be ideal if we could choose something like the Finnish system.

          Edit: Oh, and home schooling of course.

    • Paul 5.2
      16 November 2013 at 7:41 pm

      National.”know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
      Dairy farms……Genocide
      Ashamed to be a New Zealander.

      • Ian 5.2.1
        16 November 2013 at 8:10 pm

        I don’t see any Dairy farmers caught up in the Kiddy porn and paedophilia sting going on at the moment. Looks like teachers,preists and associated left wing scum rising to the surface here.40 teachers out of 300,probably all registered too.

        • Paul 5.2.1.1
          16 November 2013 at 8:34 pm

          Relevance to Sri Lanka?

        • emergency mike 5.2.1.2
          16 November 2013 at 8:36 pm

          Teachers and preists = left wing scum? Righto then.

        • Murray Olsen 5.2.1.3
          16 November 2013 at 8:51 pm

          Get back to WhaleSpew, fuckwit. The only scum here is you. Go and cry on Graeme Capill’s shoulder about the nasty left. He might give you a lolly.

          • Paul 5.2.1.3.1
            16 November 2013 at 8:55 pm

            There are really some hate filled people in this country.

          • Ian 5.2.1.3.2
            16 November 2013 at 8:56 pm

            sorry to upset you sir,But,you need to catch up on the news. 40 teachers have been caught in a Capill moment. Do you use lollies,you little charmer!

            • Paul 5.2.1.3.2.1
              16 November 2013 at 9:06 pm

              Had to check.
              Held my nose.
              Yes, Ian, your message comes pretty much copied and pasted from whale oil.
              Funny that.

              • Ian …
                16 November 2013 at 9:08 pm

                so it’s not true ,sir ?

              • McFlock …
                16 November 2013 at 9:14 pm

                what I find fascinatig is that he’s talking about 40 teachers globally, and their crimes are condemned by everyone legitimately in the profession.

                In NZ, several advertisers removed their custom from WJ&JT because they minimised abuse, not even anything illegal.

                And how many dairy farmers will make the ethical decision to not to sell likely war criminals?

                How many dairy farmers will come out and say that they oppose this dirty deal to turn a blind eye to atrocities?

                • Ian …
                  16 November 2013 at 9:19 pm

                  Probably none Mcflock. dairy farmers sell food and produce that food from animals they love. I know no dairy farmers that would hold back food food and deliberately starve humans for political gain.As for those pedophile teachers,I know of no dairy farmers that would be too worried to see them die of starvation .If you look back in history I think that you might find that NZ dairy farmers helped keep the people of Iraq alive ,during your mate Saddam’s reign.

                  • North …
                    16 November 2013 at 9:26 pm

                    I smell a sociopath with a developing fascistic streak in one of his personae.

                    Away with thee Ian, sir !

                  • McFlock …
                    16 November 2013 at 9:41 pm

                    Yeah well, some dairy farmers find it easier to watch things die of starvation than others do.

                    But if they really were that fucking ethical that they wanted to supply people food regardless of politics, they wouldn’t be in one of the most wasteful and environmentally damaging food production industries on the planet. They’d grow lentils or some such thing – that would help them feed even more millions.

                    But really, your average dairy farmer switched over from sheep and so on in the last 30 or 40 years, purely just for the coin.

                  • Crunchtime …
                    18 November 2013 at 11:46 am

                    “Your mate Saddam”? Intentional arsehole behaviour. Fix up or get out

        • halfcrown 5.2.1.4
          17 November 2013 at 12:58 pm

          Comrade, who are the “associated left wing scum” ?

      • tricledrown 5.2.2
        19 November 2013 at 1:06 am

        ian don’t forget law enforcement officers Rwingers Doctors and nurses teachers probably from charter schools clerics ie graham capill types

    • foreign waka 5.3
      17 November 2013 at 7:58 am

      As I understand it Will@Welly is talking about mainstream schooling, this is the majority.
      Besides, there is no History Teaching in Schools anyway. They learn why Anzac day is a holiday like a Hollywood story and some Maori traditions as the true history is somewhat distorted anyway. Because of this there is void in peoples minds about their past and culture with a demotivating factor as there is nothing to defend, nothing to stand for and nothing to define the future by.

  6. gobsmacked 6
    16 November 2013 at 9:41 pm

    Come on Moderators, do some zapping.

    There’s too much of this deliberate derailing going on, it’s happening more and more, it’s concerted and is killing discussions on topic.

    To everyone else: DNFTT.

    • Dumrse 6.1
      17 November 2013 at 8:02 am

      What a fucking cry baby. Get a fucking life and post a comment. Put the tissues away.

      • Crunchtime 6.1.1
        18 November 2013 at 11:47 am

        @Dumarse get a life and post a comment worth posting.

        Every post you’ve made on this page so far has been a waste of your time and the time of everyone who has read it. Completely off-topic nonsense ramblings about teachers and schools.

    • Murray Olsen 6.2
      17 November 2013 at 9:24 pm

      I second that. The morons add nothing. As for dumbarse, who thinks having a life is posting comments……pfft! All these idiots do is post their crap here, then rush back to their WhaleSpew/KiwiBog circle jerk with half an erection to beat their hollow chests in front of the assembled dribblers. They’re not even amusing.

  7. Will@Welly 7
    16 November 2013 at 9:45 pm

    Gee, there’s some real thicko’s here. John Key and Murray McCully both denied there is/was a problem in Sri Lanka – human rights aren’t an issue. Yeah right.
    Then half you people want to turn it into a discussion about pedophillia – spare me. The point I was making, in Sri Lanka history is being re-written, the same here. This arsehole of a Government is doing the same here – civil rights – what civil rights !! Remember John Key thinks it’s okay to blockade boat people, and maroon them on islands with no future, no hope, just as Australia is doing – now there’s a country well versed in human rights and treating it’s ethnic minorities well – not !!
    My point, comparing what has and is happening in Sri Lanka and here with the education system, the ruling elite are re-writing the history books so that what happened previously is obliterated from the past.. In another 10 – 20 years will anyone remember that tertiary education was once free in this country, and that we valued intellectual thought and debate. Today anyone with a free thought gets shot down as a radical and a communist by the Minister-in-charge-of-everything, Steven Joyce.
    As for the trip to Sri Lanka, $2 million is our Government’s 30 pieces of filthy lucre – John Key would betray anyone and everyone for a bit of dosh.

  8. Tigger 8
    16 November 2013 at 10:50 pm

    From the article:
    No, it’s not. And I don’t think that our stance is soft by comparison. We sit pretty much in the middle of the spectrum,” he insisted.

    Dreadful misquote here. Surely his real words were We sit pretty much in the middle of the FENCE,” he insisted.

    • Chocolate 8.1
      16 November 2013 at 11:09 pm

      He is a twerp. And people working in the area know it and laugh about him when they talk about him.

      Middle of the spectrum, btw, is …

      red
      orange
      yellow
      GREEN !
      blue
      indigo
      violet

    • miravox 8.2
      17 November 2013 at 1:33 am

      Key is sitting a whole paddock away from his mates Stephen Harper of Canada, who boycotted, and <David Cameron, who appears to have been compelled to attend but has made his view clear

      The British prime minister has been the most vocal critic of Sri Lanka’s record on human rights at the end of its 26-year civil war, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (Chogm) being held in the capital, Colombo.

      Cameron said on Saturday: “Let me be very clear. If an investigation is not completed by March, then I will use our position on the United Nations human rights council to work with the UN human rights commission and call for a full credible and independent international inquiry.”

      I guess he doesn’t have a trade deal to complete.

  9. BrucetheMoose 9
    16 November 2013 at 11:07 pm

    Just to prove what a majestic hypocrite Key is, when questioned on concerns on the treatment of peoples in Sri Lanka, Key repeatedly mentioned how NZ holds Human Rights in high esteem. Yet in Christchurch, the NZ Human Rights Commission has on various occasions raised serious concerns over the treatment of the people in the worst areas, especially the Red Zones. The HRC even supported one group that took their case to the High Court over their plight, which they won. Yet, not only did Key completely ignore the Human Rights Commission’s concerns and advice over the matter, but he ignored the judges ruling from the court decision and is now appealing it. He also ignored advice from the HRC on the GSCB bill. Yet here we have the lowly vile vermin rolling out the Human Rights card to deflect any controversial ramifications associated with this trip. Do you think the journalists will challenge him on his sudden holy than thou stance on human rights matters and his true intent. Next story bite please, and give me my weekly pay check.

  10. chrissy 10
    17 November 2013 at 10:06 am

    john key.*I can say anything I like because I never mean any of it, whatever it takes mate*

  11. Michael Morris 11
    17 November 2013 at 7:06 pm

    John Key chooses to ignore suffering to humans in order to promote more suffering to non-humans (cows and elephants).

  12. Psycho Milt 12
    17 November 2013 at 7:33 pm

    Actually, that tells us about nation-states, diplomacy, trade and politics. It tells us little about the National Party, other than that they’re involved in the above. I’d be surprised if a Labour foreign minister had done any different.

  13. Ron 13
    17 November 2013 at 11:02 pm

    I cannot understand why so many right wing people seem drawn to The Standard for the sole purpose of leaving right-wing propaganda. Are they expecting that the ‘brilliance’ of their rhetoric is suddenly going to cause a rash of honest people suddenly abandoning their political stance and heading over to a party that regards political prostitution as they only measure of success.
    If not why on earth are they wasting their time leaving diatribes on this site.
    I imagine there might be a psychological reason in that they are secretly desirous of being in a left wing political movement but they realise that their intellectual ability is not of a sufficient standard. This might be why they want to change the education system. Dumb it down to their own level?

    • Ian 13.1
      18 November 2013 at 11:04 pm

      Well ,actually Ron ,I come here to observe herd mentality. But I can learn more from my cows .

      • tricledrown 13.1.1
        18 November 2013 at 11:46 pm

        Ian yes you could especially as you talk so much of what comes out of their rear’s!
        Mad cows disease Ian foaming at the mouth yet.

      • Arfamo 13.1.2
        19 November 2013 at 12:04 am

        Your cows would probably manage punctuation better than you do too, Ian. All the best with your mucking out.

  14. Tracey 14
    18 November 2013 at 9:06 am

    Mccully says there is no human rights issue yet key pretends to spends his 15 mins with sri lanka pm talking about human rights.