Groser: an arrogant git with a tin ear

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, August 15th, 2015 - 36 comments
Categories: Economy, exports - Tags: , , , ,

I’m continuously amazed about how mind-numbingly stupid and outright ignorant Tim Groser is in his pursuit of the TTP. This really comes through in Fran O’Sullivan’s article in the Herald this morning

He also made the point to NBR that a TPP deal will create new opportunities for New Zealand services exporters, including the rapidly expanding ICT sector which already generates nearly $1 billion in exports: “It will help make it easier for online entrepreneurs to do business across borders by reducing barriers that require exporters to invest offshore in order to do business, and by making it easier to transfer information around the TPP region.”

Let me try to make this clear enough for even a ICT industry outsider like Groser to understand. I’ve working in companies that have been exporting software for a few decades. This has been across a range of market segments from online training “games” to my code being in embedded navigation hardware.

No company I have been in has ever had problems border problems or transferring with data between the countries in the TPP. Never ever…. I suspect that is a delusional fantasy that this or some other MFAT bozo made up.

The reason that NZ ICT companies set up operations in other countries is usually to provide local sales and support structures. The timezone differences will always make that necessary because tech heads who can support complex software prefer to not work weird hours (unless they feel like it). Besides having people on the ground in key markets makes sense.

It also makes it easier to have people doing face to face accessing capital in markets that don’t just stuff money into property.

But borders? There are few borders in ICT.

In other forums Groser has dismissed concerns that NZ software and ICT entrepreneurs will find their ability to do business constrained by US-style IP protections.

Which again shows Tim Groser’s profound ignorance of the industry. We have watched the stupidity of software patent trolls in the US for many decades. As far as I can see, the US Patent and intellectual property laws that are currently in practice flying directly against the stated intent of why patents are awarded. They are meant to encourage innovation, but the reality is that they appear to do the opposite.

But to give a clear example of a basic issue that the local ICT industry doesn’t want brought here, this was on the blog of my favourite programming editor a few years ago.

In October of 2012, Uniloc USA, Inc. filed a lawsuit against SlickEdit, Inc., alleging patent infringement (U.S. patent 5,579,222) concerning a license management system.

Uniloc USA, Inc. is a patent-assertion entity or “patent troll,” i.e. a company whose sole business is to sue software companies including Adobe, Microsoft, Sony, and Symantec. It has sued more than a dozen companies over this patent.

In an unusual turn of events, after more than a year of litigation Uniloc USA, Inc. asked the Court to dismiss its own lawsuit against SlickEdit, Inc.  This came a week after the court held a three-hour Markman hearing on February 13, 2014 in which SlickEdit argued that Uniloc’s patent covered far less than what Uniloc was claiming.

Make no mistake, this is a BIG win for SlickEdit in what amounts to be a David vs. Goliath scenario.

Patent infringement suits are considered extremely costly to defend against. Even in cases like this where there is no infringement, small companies are often forced to settle due to the astronomical legal fees associated with patent cases.

The only thing that is atypical about this for US ICT companies, is that it didn’t go to court. But it wasted a lot of time, and the bug fixes and feature improvements in my editor were somewhat light that year.

We need this ‘protection’ in NZ ICT like we need Tim Groser’s hearing and intellect – not at all.

36 comments on “Groser: an arrogant git with a tin ear ”

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  1. stever 1
    15 August 2015 at 4:21 pm

    Good points!

    The IITP has been moved to make some noise too…not that you’d no due to almost zero press coverage:

    http://techblog.nz/977-TransPacificPartnershipITProfessionalsreraiseconcernsaboutSoftwarePatents?utm_source=email

    Ian Taylor’s letter (link at the foot of that article) is very very good.

    The tactic was to try to call out what was seen as possible backsliding as well as (as you’ve said here) ignorance.

  2. Simple Simon 2
    15 August 2015 at 4:27 pm

    Groser has had a lifetime with his snout in the public trough.

    And he knows damn well if he pulls this TPP off he will continue to suck on in the same trough for as long as he likes.
    Every thing provided, booze, food, travel expenses whatever he wants, he will get, most likely even a bloody knighthood.
    Can you imagine it, Sir SnoutSuck Groser. ?

    And it will be all payed for by the tax payers of NZ.
    But he will be despised by so many Kiwis until the day he dies, along with his pal Key.

  3. Skinny 3
    15 August 2015 at 4:29 pm

    Groser was quoted during the week saying “This has all the smell of a negotiation that is ripe for the plucking.”

    Talk like this sounds like Tim is off on a Turkey shoot, which he will be. Just he is too blinded wanting a deal, that he doesn’t realise he is the tukey that will end up getting plucked and Kiwi’s as a result get f%#ked over by corporations.

  4. les 4
    15 August 2015 at 4:29 pm

    when will you breathless children realise the genius of Tim and STFU.

  5. Ad 5
    15 August 2015 at 6:12 pm

    He’s one of a number of cabinet whose arrogance is building up for the most almighty electoral rollback we’ve seen since English got creamed.

    With only Auckland’s real estate market holding up public confidence in the economy, when that inevitably peaks, the tide will roll out faster on this government.

    So many people I talk to are just shaking their heads now.

  6. ropata 6
    15 August 2015 at 7:07 pm

    SlickEdit?! What kind of programmer are you? REAL computer scientists use ed.

    From: [email protected] (Patrick J. LoPresti)
    Subject: The True Path (long)
    Date: 11 Jul 91 03:17:31 GMT
    Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs,alt.slack

    When I log into my Xenix system with my 110 baud teletype, both vi and Emacs are just too damn slow. They print useless messages like, ‘C-h for help’ and ‘“foo” File is read only’. So I use the editor that doesn’t waste my VALUABLE time.

    Ed, man! !man ed

    ED(1) Unix Programmer’s Manual ED(1)

    NAME
    ed – text editor

    SYNOPSIS
    ed [ – ] [ -x ] [ name ]
    DESCRIPTION
    Ed is the standard text editor.

    —

    Computer Scientists love ed, not just because it comes first alphabetically, but because it’s the standard. Everyone else loves ed because it’s ED!

    “Ed is the standard text editor.”

    And ed doesn’t waste space on my Timex Sinclair. Just look:

    -rwxr-xr-x 1 root 24 Oct 29 1929 /bin/ed
    -rwxr-xr-t 4 root 1310720 Jan 1 1970 /usr/ucb/vi
    -rwxr-xr-x 1 root 5.89824e37 Oct 22 1990 /usr/bin/emacs

    Of course, on the system I administrate, vi is symlinked to ed. Emacs has been replaced by a shell script which 1) Generates a syslog message at level LOG_EMERG; 2) reduces the user’s disk quota by 100K; and 3) RUNS ED!!!!!!

    “Ed is the standard text editor.”

    Let’s look at a typical novice’s session with the mighty ed:

    golem$ ed

    ?
    help
    ?
    ?
    ?
    quit
    ?
    exit
    ?
    bye
    ?
    hello?
    ?
    eat flaming death
    ?
    ^C
    ?
    ^C
    ?
    ^D
    ?

    —

    Note the consistent user interface and error reportage. Ed is generous enough to flag errors, yet prudent enough not to overwhelm the novice with verbosity.

    “Ed is the standard text editor.”

    Ed, the greatest WYGIWYG editor of all.

    ED IS THE TRUE PATH TO NIRVANA! ED HAS BEEN THE CHOICE OF EDUCATED AND IGNORANT ALIKE FOR CENTURIES! ED WILL NOT CORRUPT YOUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS!! ED IS THE STANDARD TEXT EDITOR! ED MAKES THE SUN SHINE AND THE BIRDS SING AND THE GRASS GREEN!!

    When I use an editor, I don’t want eight extra KILOBYTES of worthless help screens and cursor positioning code! I just want an EDitor!! Not a “viitor”. Not a “emacsitor”. Those aren’t even WORDS!!!! ED! ED! ED IS THE STANDARD!!!

    TEXT EDITOR.

    When IBM, in its ever-present omnipotence, needed to base their “edlin” on a Unix standard, did they mimic vi? No. Emacs? Surely you jest. They chose the most karmic editor of all. The standard.

    Ed is for those who can remember what they are working on. If you are an idiot, you should use Emacs. If you are an Emacs, you should not be vi. If you use ED, you are on THE PATH TO REDEMPTION. THE SO-CALLED “VISUAL” EDITORS HAVE BEEN PLACED HERE BY ED TO TEMPT THE FAITHLESS. DO NOT GIVE IN!!! THE MIGHTY ED HAS SPOKEN!!!

    ?

    • lprent 6.1
      15 August 2015 at 7:33 pm

      My god. You weren’t using terse back then? A fullscreen brief type editor in 4096 bytes? What were you – a luddite?

      But then I was using brief

      In 1991, I also programmed almost entirely in MSDOS, some excursions into Mac, and just a little in *nix – mostly Xenix.

      • Ad 6.1.1
        15 August 2015 at 8:45 pm

        Get a room you two.

      • ropata 6.1.2
        16 August 2015 at 12:28 am

        Wasn’t using ed deliberately, back in 91 I used vi editor (and sometimes ed) on VAX/VMS to write FORTRAN.
        I remember learning this new program called “microsoft word” and thinking how weird and annoying it was.
        Vim is still my all time favourite editor.

      • Murray Simmonds 6.1.3
        16 August 2015 at 7:10 am

        What was all that stuff we read last week on this blog concerning postings that are totally irrelevant to the topic under discussion??

        • Murray Simmonds 6.1.3.1
          16 August 2015 at 7:45 am

          . . . which isn’t to say that you are totally correct in your summation of Groser and his tin ear.

          RNZ National, in its lead item on the 7.30 news bulletin this morning has Groser saying that the government will not be influenced in its support for the “Trade rort” (my words, not his) by yesterday’s turnout.

          We were told that the NZ public have been misled by misinformed activists and by people who have opposed every trade deal in the past . . .

          Not only a git with a tin ear, but an ignorant, ill-informed arrogant fool . . . . and I could go on, but I won’t.

          • Tracey 6.1.3.1.1
            16 August 2015 at 3:29 pm

            “been misled by misinformed activists and by people who have opposed every trade deal in the past . . ”

            OooooOOOOOooo Wayne Mapps’ meme being used by groser et al. He will have gone all tingly.

            The fact that the same logic means we shouldnt listen to groser or Mapp cos they have never opposed any trade deal in the past…

        • lprent 6.1.3.2
          16 August 2015 at 11:31 am

          Indeed…

          However in this case I did mention my favourite editor. Thereby annoying all of the programmers and inciting a religious war.

        • ropata 6.1.3.3
          16 August 2015 at 12:12 pm

          Sorry Muz. I’m a refugee from the EmacsVsVi holy wars and tend to lose sanity when someone mentions an incorrect choice of editor.

    • Paul Campbell 6.2
      15 August 2015 at 10:03 pm

      I spent a bunch of years in the early 80s porting unix to new hardware for a living – no one used ed if they could possible help it

      As someone who makes a great living writing open source software and designing open source hardware – the last thing I need is the ability of US patent trolls to come knocking on my door

    • infused 6.3
      16 August 2015 at 11:52 am

      Im a newb. I use nano

      • lprent 6.3.1
        16 August 2015 at 1:04 pm

        Nano (or pico on older systems) is my bash script/configuration script editor of choice for console (ie ssh/telnet access on remote or embedded systems). It beats the time and effort of firing up a X server and client.

  7. Ovid 7
    15 August 2015 at 9:43 pm

    John Oliver did a great segment on patent trolls a while back. Not the kind of thing we want here.

    https://youtu.be/3bxcc3SM_KA

  8. Draco T Bastard 8
    16 August 2015 at 12:36 am

    Which again shows Tim Groser’s profound ignorance of the industry. We have watched the stupidity of software patent trolls in the US for many decades.

    Weren’t National somewhat ambivalent about dropping software patents in NZ?

    IIRC, it was all set that they would be dropped and then a few large US companies got in and almost changed it so that they would be able to keep some which would have meant all once they got active in lawyering. Only the huge outcry from the NZ tech industry prevented that change but even back then there was speculation that we’d have to conform to US IP laws for the TPPA.

    To me it almost seems like National are trying to bring software patents back but they can’t just come out and say that or do it because of the massive backlash that they would get.

    • Matthew Whitehead 8.1
      16 August 2015 at 3:42 pm

      You are remembering correctly.

      National is one of the worst parties on IT issues yet maintains a reasonable degree of support among the industry due to its tax policies.

  9. Stuart Munro 9
    16 August 2015 at 1:14 am

    The people have started marching now, and found that they like it more than waiting for these arseholes to do the right thing. This was how Muldoon was shifted; it will do for this lounge bar lizard and his creepy accomplices.

  10. AB 10
    16 August 2015 at 9:00 am

    “The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces”
    Timmy is the latter.

  11. Paul 11
    16 August 2015 at 7:07 pm

    The hubris continues.

    “How do these people think NZ can earn a living?’

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/281506/'how-do-these-people-think-nz-can-earn-a-living-‘

    • dv 11.1
      16 August 2015 at 7:20 pm

      Mr Groser dismissed the rallies as a combination of people being misled about the deal.

      Well that an easy fix – TELL US about the deal

      • mickysavage 11.1.1
        16 August 2015 at 7:28 pm

        Exactly. We are apparently being misled but they refuse to tell us what is in the deal.

        • Paul 11.1.1.1
          16 August 2015 at 7:56 pm

          “The reality is that if we didn’t have these trade agreements and were shut out of markets, this country would be the Greece of the South Pacific.”

          I think many Greeks wish they’d never signed up to the trade deal involving the Euro.

    • Draco T Bastard 11.2
      16 August 2015 at 8:03 pm

      “How do these people think New Zealand can earn a living in this world? Because nobody out there thinks they owe New Zealand a living.

      Well, we could use our own resources to produce what we need as we once did. At least then we wouldn’t be exporting our wealth.

      • Paul 11.2.1
        16 August 2015 at 8:30 pm

        “How do these people think New Zealand can earn a living in this world? Because nobody out there thinks they owe New Zealand a living.”

        We could trade with countries like Russia rather than boycott them just because America told us to.
        We could not waste our money on foreign adventures in Iraq.
        We could nationalise our banks so $16 billion doesn’t leave our shores every year.

        Need more ideas, Mr Groser?

  12. Paul 12
    16 August 2015 at 8:01 pm

    But Mr Groser said it would be impossible to reach the necessary compromises if the discussions were not held in confidence.
    “It is literally impossible to take a workmanlike approach to sorting through people’s concerns about change if every single detail is out there on the public domain – and then you get your lobbies all lined up … ‘no you can’t agree to that word’ and so on …

    But no details at all are in the public domain.
    Hardly every single detail!

  13. Smilin 13
    17 August 2015 at 11:42 am

    [deleted]

    [lprent: Pointless comment. Irrelevant to the post. Don’t do it again. ]

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    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    3 days ago

  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago

  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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