Mike Moore

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, February 3rd, 2020 - 104 comments
Categories: class, class war, Free Trade, labour, trade, uncategorized - Tags:

It’s not often you find New Zealanders who give every single breath they have to the left and do it with resounding and even global success. Such a person was Mike Moore.

The media are calling him a working class hero. I’d like every single Labour Member of Parliament to grow up in a state house with not much like he did, and to do real hard working class work like a freezing works, and be a life union member, like he did. But I’m not going to dwell on that. I’m not going to go over the reasons he got so many national and international awards either.

Instead I want to concentrate on how he brought the most people in the world out of poverty – sure not single-handedly – but arguably he was our most effective player on the world stage since Fraser.

To give just a snippet into how he helped propel New Zealand beyond its agricultural mindset into doing something bold on the global stage, he was in charge of getting Auckland’s waterfront ready to host the first Americas Cup after we won it the first time. At the time, Auckland’s waterfront was a dreary industrial hole. It’s the way it is now because Mike Moore put through the Americas Cup Enabling Legislation that pushed through the planning framework, and got the money through Cabinet to host it. If you stroll from Beaumont Street to the end of Quay Street now, you can see the result of that seed being reborn: a fully rebuilt waterfront.

Mike Moore dying 48 hours after the United Kingdom left the European Union is pretty well perfect timing. We’ve just gone through the high point of globalization after 70 years of trying to form systems that enable us to engage through means other than global war.

Mike Moore strived to ensure that the weak and small countries like ourselves the best chance possible to have a common set of rules and enforcements that everyone large and small would be ruled by. He was a very strong part of this being successfully formed, after decades of diplomatic failure.A world without GATT and the WTO would probably have consigned New Zealand to near total trade reliance on Australia both in itself and to gain secondary market access to other countries. We as New Zealand as a whole are the stronger for Mike Moore’s work.

We were supposed to get an international trade organisation across the world as the United nations got going. That’s how important it was. It was supposed to have been a key pillar of post-WW2 economic reconstruction and development alongside the IMF and the World Bank. Such were the commercial forces within states determined to retain their trade superiority, that didn’t happen for decades. Mike Moore used his every professional breath from becoming Minister to form and strengthen that trade framework.

It took until the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade for New Zealand to see the promise that the entire world would fully and finally rid itself of the state subsidies that had held our agricultural economy back from global success. Following the completion of the critical Uruguay Round with Mike Moore leading the charge for New Zealand and which took 8 years of multilateral trade negotiations, the World Trade Organisation began operations on January 1 1995. Mike Moore took the Chair role on from 1999.

The WTO has six key objectives:
(1) to set and enforce rules for international trade,
(2) to provide a forum for negotiating and monitoring further trade liberalization,
(3) to resolve trade disputes,
(4) to increase the transparency of decision-making processes,
(5) to cooperate with other major international economic institutions involved in global economic management, and
(6) to help developing countries benefit fully from the global trading system.

Imagine a world where that didn’t exist. We’ve done really well for 30 years off it. Perhaps it’s coming again.

There’s no doubt Donald Trump has forced the WTO to stop functioning is precisely so he can break the rule-based trade global order that Mike Moore worked so tirelessly and effectively for. Hard-won frameworks can be undone. Trump and the many tyrant nationalists he has spawned want to smash rules and in doing so prepare U.S. companies to smash the weak.

Mike wrote about this intense need to enable small countries such as ourselves to be given a basic platform of fairness, so that the strong did not continue to dominate the weak by simple mercantile bullying. Perhaps now in 2020 it’s hard to remember how protected we were, how intensely vulnerable to British access for our goods, how scary it was when Britain joined the European Common Market and cut us adrift. We were adrift.

He wrote about the triumphs and tragedies of this need to form rules in which the rich and powerful would be held with the same playbook as the small in his book “A World Without Walls: Freedom, Development, Free Trade” (Cambridge, 2003). In it he laid out the benefits of trade untrammeled by global subsidy – higher incomes, lower poverty, better environment, improved governance, and more.

After his time as Chair of the World Trade Organisation, he also edited “Doha and Beyond: The Future of the Multilateral trading System”, which brought together a range of experts in the field and in the context of 2020 is well worth a read, because they anticipate so many of the issues we face right now.

Even in its current state, the WTO is a far more forceful and directive body than anything that’s been formed after Kyoto or the Paris summit on climate change. Gatt and the WTO are the multilateral benchmarks that have enabled the successful CPTPP and the upcoming RCEP (that’s the one with China in it).

It needs a whole fresh generation of leaders who will anticipate such problems as he did in “Saving Globalisation” (2009), and also be supreme operators that forge new internationalist agreements that bind all and that work for the good of all.

It was a piece of extraordinary luck that we had Mike Moore as Ambassador to the United States while President Obama was in power. As a trade expert, he could see no specific need to press an NZ-US bilateral trade deal when the bigger CPTPP lay in store. Pity that the U.S. withdrew from TPP under Trump. If the U.S. had stayed in, there would have been the potential for the U.S. to organize massive trade force against China in their trade dispute.

But he kept going at the post until he had a stroke in 2014. “I’m not a lifestyle guy – if you learn I’m playing golf, shoot me in the back of the head,” he retorted gruffly to one journalist. He needed no sinecure.

With the death of Moore goes a global leader of a generation who believed to his being in global connections and movements that could unite the entire world for good. Sure, that ideal has a high modernist impulse straight out of the post 1930s socialist international: that we are defined best by cooperating than by our nation-states.

We are on the other side of those giddy heights. Big regional blocs are about the best we can do.

Mike Moore gave it everything and left New Zealand and the world a far better place for it.

104 comments on “Mike Moore ”

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  1. millsy 1
    3 February 2020 at 9:17 am

    Mike Moore helped bring in WTO rules that forbid us from imposing an export levy on bottles water exports (or even setting up a state owned water company to do it), which means that overseas companies can just waltz in and take our water and give us a pittance in return. I'm not too sure how that benefits the 'working class' that Moore pretends he cares about.

    • Climaction 1.1
      3 February 2020 at 9:44 pm

      “Mike Moore didn’t care about something that was within the current governments control to fix, therefore he is my enemy”

      FIFY

  2. pat 2
    3 February 2020 at 9:21 am

    an alternative view…

    "Moore may have preached principled pragmatism, but the pragmatism he practiced was utterly ruthless. For pretty much the whole of his political life he was willing to apply the hardness and cynicism acquired in the course of an unsentimental working-class upbringing in the dirt-poor North, to the grim task of dismantling many of the New Zealand working-class’s most important achievements.

    He did it for their own good – of course – because the world was changing and what had worked in the 1930s and 40s could no longer be made to work in the 1970s and 80s. Did he understand how important this uncompromising working-class persona was to the success of Roger Douglas’s revolution? How useful it was to have someone who could defend radical free-market capitalism in the absolutely authentic accents of a working-class Kiwi bloke? I suspect he did – especially when so many of the opponents of Rogernomics were university-educated “socialists” from the professional middle-class – with the vocabulary and diction to prove it!"

    https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/103460/chris-trotter-looks-back-political-career-mike-moore-new-zealands-34th%C2%A0prime-minister

  3. RedLogix 3
    3 February 2020 at 9:57 am

    Thank Ad. I must confess I never paid enough attention to Mike Moore, and now I regret that. I appreciate this OP a lot and I certainly learned from it.

    In it he laid out the benefits of trade untrammeled by global subsidy – higher incomes, lower poverty, better environment, improved governance, and more.

    On reading it through, the thought passed my mind that perhaps the greatest gamble of the WTO order was the bringing in of China into the system. While the outcomes promised are being delivered, the price was a CCP that was prepared to game the system with policies of rampant intellectual property theft and hypersubsidisation. The inability or unwillingness of the global community to confront this has inevitably undermined the credibility of globalisation, and triggered the resurgence of nationalism the world is now seeing.

    There were of course many other factors involved, but this one is among the dominant. As a walk along any aisle of any hardware shop looking for something not made in China will attest.

    Once again, thanks for this OP. It's managed to both cheer me up and depress me at the same time. It's changed my mind about Mike Moore, before I had him vaguely lumped in with a clutter of the usual media misrepresentations, now I have a much clearer and positive view.

  4. Sanctuary 4
    3 February 2020 at 10:24 am

    So many of that generation are dead now. Rowling, Lange, Moore, DeCleene and the old men of the FOL. Of the rest, Roger Douglas and Michael Bassett have descended into the madness of fanaticism that comes to many in their decrepitude. Some, like Palmer, spend their time howling at the moon, like musty, doddering Oxford dons politely avoided at all costs by anyone living in the present and real.

    Moore was clearly a memorable character who thought he had NZ's interests at heart. He was a man of his times, with all the entrenched anti-intellectualism that infected the frontier mentality of New Zealanders of his generation. I'll never forgive him and his generation for destroying forever my belief in the idea that politics can be intellectually stimulating, for smashing the Labour party and the trashing of democracy and the hope of transformative government for the betterment of all. he sacrificed socialism on a small minded altar that held working people should commit class suicide out of hatred towards people who think about what a better society might look like. I can't imagine a bigger betrayal of the transformative vision of Michael Joseph Savage.

    I grew up in a really lefty, working class household. People who owed their ascent from poverty to the middle class to the hand up from the reforms of first Labour government. A house stuffed full of all sorts of books, because while my parents left school at 14 they valued education and ideas and thought no one should be forced into the workforce when they were still curious about the world around them. The reward Labour got from them was an unquestioning tribal loyalty from people who trusted them. Those Tory bastards – whose every social and economic humiliation inflicted on the impoverished was remembered when Labour voting jack did, indeed, become good as his National voting master – were the enemy. I recall phoning my mum to tell her big Norm had died, and the shock at the defeats of 1975 and 1978. I joined Labour as soon as I could. I canvassed day and night for Fran Wilde and Peter Dunne in 1984, a callow youth inadequately clothed against a Wellington July but determined to give that bastard Muldoon and his mates like Ron Don the electoral kicking they deserved.

    What I got in return was the greatest act of political betrayal in our history. I'll never forgive Moore and the rest of them what they did to working class New Zealand, not just economically but in the extinguishing the idea – the hope – NZ really was the egalitarian laboratory for the world.

    A huge part of Moore's legacy is a modern Labour party that is an intellectually exhausted husk, a collection of self interested cadres that serves mainly as a vehicle for the politically ambitious neoliberal middle class that and exists on the fumes of memories and hollow rhetoric, a party that owes its continual existence to an inertia of defeatism on the left that has made it to hard to get rid of.

    His service and loyalty needs to be acknowledged and honoured. But I don't beleve that in death we should whitewash his legacy or that he should escape being judged by socialists and found wanting for his role in the Rogernomics revolution.

    • Tony Veitch (not etc.) 4.1
      3 February 2020 at 1:19 pm

      Absolutely agree, Sanctuary. Mike Moore was part of the 'fish'n'chips' brigade – Prebble, Douglas, Caygill, etc., who sold out the NZ worker. I tore up my Labour Party card in 1987 (or thereabouts) and although I have always voted Labour and I have worked in a small way for Duncan Webb in ChCh Central, I've never rejoined the party.

    • OnceWasTim 4.2
      3 February 2020 at 1:24 pm

      Congrats @Sanctuary. Some things need to be said at times. And thanks also for having the decency in acknowledging his service and loyalty.

      "But I don't belIeve that in death we should whitewash his legacy or that he should escape being judged by socialists and found wanting for his role in the Rogernomics revolution."

      It's not just socialists that will judge.

      That's the unfortunate part of the neo-liberal religion. Some are actually true believers.

      I'm glad people like Toby Hill didn't have to witness the half of it – but that's another story that might be told after we get past the post-truth era (probably half a decade in the future).

      Just remember though that there are a shitload of people that have grown up knowing – and therefore experiencing nothing else (PM included, along with a few others). As such, whatever their political affiliation, it becomes their raison d'etre and their life blood.

      I 'spose my tribute to MM would be along the lines that "He was a battler, and passionate about what he did (going forward)". Shame the lamb burger didn't take hold because sure as shit, there are way too many Holy Cows, and even the most non-devout Hindu or Sikh will know how they're regularly abused in the pursuit of an economy MM worshipped (at the altar of an brain fart ideology that became a faith).

      But you know dear boy……Too soon……….too soon. Admonished and discharged – Stand down

    • Ad 4.3
      3 February 2020 at 1:59 pm

      It is damnable bad luck that you went canvassing for Dunne and Wilde – two parasitical Wellington Labour insider centrists if there ever were. Your "betrayal" from the structural adjustments of that government were felt by many and was needlessly painful, I'd agree.

      But laying the charge of anti-intellectualism at the feet of Mike Moore doesn't stack up. The last time we had a crossover of left activism and academia and Labour was in the two decades before World War Two, and it dropped off fast once Fraser lost (There's a couple of useful books on it if you're interested).

      Moore often reacted to the tiresome pettifoggery of Labour's minor English Department cliques who were forever splitting into different kinds of Marxism. There were even shades of it in the mid-1980s. They were stale and useless and quite devoid of proletarian impact.

      You sure weren't going to get intellectual encouragement out of Nordmeyer, Kirk, or Rowling. Come on be honest.

      It's precisely the intellectual laziness of the left in the decades from Fraser through to Muldoon that enabled the hard monetarists to emerge nearly unchallenged through Labour in the early 1980s. Just imagine if they'd done the thinking to resist the ideologues within Treasury and from Roger Douglas when they finally got to power in 1984.

      There Was No Alternative because the Labour left and the unions didn't do the thinking to form one.

      All the while through this, there was accusations of Splitter! and Trotskyist! and Maoist! through our University student faculties – as if any of that mattered after Vietnam.

      Even the mass liberative movements of the 1980s failed to produce challenging tomes or fresh thinking to revive your bookshelves, although a few of their policy ideas started to seep into the outer edges of policy remits. We were told we were Passionless People (Gordon McLaughlin), and what he meant was people who don't engage with fresh thinking.

      And sure Moore was no academic heavyweight, but no other Prime Minister other than Palmer has bothered to write anything more substantial than self-serving biographies. That's true of the left and right together. What Moore wrote was well received and reviewed internationally – particularly in the field of international trade. You can't find that from any previous leader back in time until you hit Fraser.

      • RedLogix 4.3.1
        3 February 2020 at 2:45 pm

        It's precisely the intellectual laziness of the left in the decades from Fraser through to Muldoon that enabled the hard monetarists to emerge nearly unchallenged through Labour in the early 1980s.

        That reads like a thunderbolt of truth. This and the utter demolition of marxism's legitimacy by the Stalinist and Maoist regimes drove many of the left's more energetic thinkers either into tiny marginalised niches, or into the arms of post-modernism. By the late-70's the radical left had been largely humiliated into silence and the centre left vainly imagined it could expand it's ponderous state-centric welfare model unchallenged into the future.

        When the hard monetarist came along and told us 'there is no alternative', it was in a sense true. No-one had prepared any argument or ground to challenge them.

        • McFlock 4.3.1.1
          3 February 2020 at 8:12 pm

          Yup.

          My impression is that stagflation and the oil shocks gave Chicago School an opening against Keynesianism and Socialism. An untested system has no track record of failure.

          And when economic knowledge has atrophied within the left, pseudoscientific gobbledygook runs rings around supporters of principles that have apparently failed.

        • adam 4.3.1.2
          3 February 2020 at 11:45 pm

          Ah but the tiny marginalised niches produced some wonderful work.

          Murray Bookchin

          Dorothy Day

          Michael Albert

          Noam Chomsky

          and one of my personal fav's

          Jacques Ellul

    • the other pat 4.4
      3 February 2020 at 4:46 pm

      well felt and said sir….i felt the same back in those heady days.

    • sumsuch 4.5
      14 February 2020 at 8:49 pm

      Well put. Penultimate paragraph emphasised by Jacinda today at his funeral calling him ' a working class hero' . The MSM and present Labour Party's response to him is devastating in its vapidity, nonunderstanding and picture of where we are now.

      I agree about the immense good of the worldwide freemarket for the poor but it was done by cutting across our thing, destroying us. As per all the anglo countries. Hence Trumpism as the only way forward for capitalism in America. Bad faith from a to z.

  5. mosa 5
    3 February 2020 at 10:29 am

    ” There will be fine words given, kind stories and attempts by Journalists who weren’t even born when he was PM trying to sum up his legacy ”

    Yeah that started at 10 am Sunday morning when the corporate media began their political eulogies.

    The last ” working class PM ” they reported and even that lizard Bridges described him as something he will never be a man who cared for struggling kiwi battlers.

    It was not true and i find it a total reprehensible when the neo liberals claim one of their own as a ” working class hero of the people , the spin they like too use too remind people that you can be both.

    You cant !!!

    It is like oil and water they simply don’t mix.

    Moore was elected in the Kirk landslide of 1972 ( for the record the last real working class PM ) but he sold out too the intoxicating policies of Douglas and the neo liberal revolution sweeping the globe where the promise of huge wealth at the expense of everything else was the main objective.

    He bought into the bullshit being peddled that there was no alternative , a famous quote at the time to describe the harsh medicine we were told could would lead too the nirvana of the South Pacific.

    He was he proclaimed not a chardonnay socialist during the bitter fight for the leadership in 1993.

    But then neither was Clark any more a socialist.

    It was a remarkable transformation from 1972 when he stood as a Labour candidate at a time when the Labour party still believed in policies that actually helped and supported people and their institutions and the welfare state and there was not a shred of doubt about that , no mythical bullshit ” third way ”

    He never backed away from the fact that he had supported the ” right'” approach and the attempted take over of the NZLP against Anderton who he loathed and ridiculed as the ” looney left ” and even long after 1984 and with the carnage all but complete against his ” good and tough kiwi battler ” and the theft of all their tax payer funded companies sold too the highest and lowest bidders he maintained the charade of being for the struggling kiwi family , most of them being forced into financial slavery by his government and then the vile actions of the Nasty Natz for nine years.

    Somehow representing the country as ambassador to America was a perfect fit for him and his love of their capitalist system forgetting rather conveniently how the Americans had treated New Zealand after the ANZUS rift and schmoozing with Key after being appointed Mike was where he was at his most comfortable and a hundred years away from the government he swore too up hold and its policies in 1972.

    Working class hero ?

    There is no such thing , just a figment of the corporate media’s imagination.
    And those who like too re write history to suit the narrative.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/02/02/mike-moore-1949-2020-working-class-battler-to-neoliberal-architect/

  6. Adrian Thornton 6
    3 February 2020 at 10:31 am

    Personally I like this take..

    Mike Moore 1949-2020: Working class battler to neoliberal architect

    "He was a tragic political figure, caught between his working class union background and his refusal to believe the political ideology he had unleashed upon NZ alongside Roger Douglas had permanently damaged those communities he called home."

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/02/02/mike-moore-1949-2020-working-class-battler-to-neoliberal-architect/?fbclid=IwAR2ARo4CnUO8sf0ErH3lUoAiq2i6o3X5pDFZet7-dr_EXxfOpjPEYgOarF4

  7. Anne 7
    3 February 2020 at 10:40 am

    Yes I know there were things Mike Moore did that were more to do with political ambition than anything else but despite everything, he never stopped being a Labour man and I am saddened by his passing.

    I knew him as a young political up and comer and you couldn't help but be affected by his almost 'over the top' enthusiasm. One amusing anecdote about Mike Moore that is not generally known:

    He lost his Mt Eden seat in the Muldoon massacre of 1975 after only one term. The next morning saw him banging on the door of his MP neighbour, Warren Freer. He told Warren:

    You've been in parliament a long time and it's my turn now. It's time you stepped aside and let me have Mt. Albert..

    Warren Freer wasn't very keen about this young whipper snapper telling him what to do so he stayed on as an MP for another two terms.

    I think that rather poorly executed reaction to his early loss taught Mike a lesson he never repeated.

    • Blazer 7.1
      3 February 2020 at 6:10 pm

      I think MM was unemployable outside political life,and realised it.

      His ego showed when he was defeated as Labour P.M number?

      Mosa sums him up rather ..well.

      • Anne 7.1.1
        3 February 2020 at 7:02 pm

        He never backed away from the fact that he had supported the "right" approach and the attempted take over of the NZLP against Anderton who he loathed and ridiculed as the ”looney left ” and even long after 1984 and with the carnage all but complete against his ”good and tough kiwi battler” and the theft of all their tax payer funded companies sold to the highest and lowest bidders he maintained the charade of being for the struggling kiwi family, most of them being forced into financial slavery by his government and then the vile actions of the Nasty Natz for nine years.

        Mosa is pretty spot on there re-Mike. In a strange kind of a way I think he was caught between a rock and a hard place during those years. He chose to go with the Rogernomes.

        I was a Labour activist during those years and I chose to opt out altogether – saved having to make a choice. 🙄

        Still, he never joined ACT even though they tried very hard to lure him over to them. He stayed with Labour which makes me wonder whether he may have ultimately rued that original choice he made to go with the Douglas contingent.

        Btw, the "looney left" was the trendy catch phrase for all those who didn't blindly follow the Rogernomes in the 1980s and 90s.

    • Chris 7.2
      3 February 2020 at 8:19 pm

      That's the trouble with Labour. They keep being Labour people.

    • sumsuch 7.3
      14 February 2020 at 9:09 pm

      Amusing? Freer thought he was cracked and didn't change his mind. And I find no good evidence to suggest he was wrong.

      Freer thought the 84 govt's personnel were all unbalanced. Not infused in the foundation of socialism, or the people being a separate entity to the interests of the powerful. And anyone who thinks knows that's right now after Roger's 'latest enthusiasm' of 36 years standing.

      Why does the bullshit of the powerful last decades and centuries and demo-cracies disappear with the rain? Rhetorical.

  9. David Garrett 9
    3 February 2020 at 11:04 am

    God what a vicious sour lot the lefties are! Like me (Andrew Little told me so) Moore was apparently "a traitor to his class" because he recognised that the old left wing solutions from the 30's weren't working any more. Ironically, I was a Labour activist at the time of the 1984 election, and felt the same sense of betrayal articulated by a couple of commenters above about what felt like a complete con job by those we had helped to elect. I remember being particularly pissed off when Prebble's "Save Rail" policy turned out to involve gutting it. Rail, together with the MOW, was of course a giant welfare scheme: it "employed" 60,000 odd IIRC, but only needed 10% of that number to run it. Whether such giant work scheme(s) – paid for by marginal tax rates of 65% – was socially justified is certainly a worthwhile debate. I have mixed views still on that.

    But over the years my views changed, as I slowly but surely drifted to the right. However I was – and remain – still very much aware of my working class roots, and still saw myself as an oilfield roughneck with a law degree rather than a lawyer who had once been a roughneck.

    When I was asked to stand for ACT I attended a meeting with several party luminaries including Roger Douglas. During that meeting I said that I needed to be convinced that ACT was NOT just a "party for the rich pricks". Roger became more animated than I have ever seen him – and we later became and remain good friends. He said "I came to parliament in 1969 representing the poor people. I have always represented the poor people. It is my people who die on waiting lists when the hospitals don't work. It is my constituents who come out of school with no qualifications if the teachers are no good" etc etc. I was quite taken aback by his passion. But I had no doubt that he was entirely genuine.

    The next most animated I saw him was during a debate on youth pay rates – anathema to Labour of course – during my time in parliament. In his speech for ACT Roger said something like "Those people on the Labour benches would rather unskilled young people sat at home watching TV (Roger doesn't quite "get" the interweb) getting 'paid' $2 an hour on the dole rather than earning $10 or $12 an hour learning some life skills and job skills; something to put on a CV. After a couple or three years of that, that young person will be permanently unemployable". No doubt some commenter here will try and argue with that logic.

    And after Moore's death we see the massive irony in the PM making lukewarm positive comments on his achievements – after miraculously converting the supposedly evil TPP into the <i>Comprehensive and progressive</i> TPP. The addition of those three words – when virtually nothing in the document had changed – apparently turned lead into gold. Mike must have laughed like a drain.

    RIP Mike Moore – the last working class PM Labour will ever have.

    • The Al1en 9.1
      3 February 2020 at 11:33 am

      When you were asked to stand for act, did you declare you had stolen a dead baby's identity, and that you were a total swivel eyed loon?

      [I was afraid someone would attack the messenger rather than address his considered comment and personal view on Mike Moore and NZ politics. Banned for a week – Incognito]

  10. Sanctuary 10
    3 February 2020 at 11:37 am

    "…as I slowly but surely drifted to the right…"

    A model of understatement from a man last spotted fitting himself out in a 1930's German tram conductors uniform.

    • Incognito 10.1
      3 February 2020 at 11:49 am

      Don’t have a go at the commenter but address his comment or keep quiet. No more warnings!

      • Sanctuary 10.1.1
        3 February 2020 at 12:48 pm

        I don't consider anything he says as worth addressing.

        • come get some 10.1.1.1
          3 February 2020 at 12:51 pm

          Classic.

          [Please stick to your original user handle, thanks]

        • David Garrett 10.1.1.2
          3 February 2020 at 12:59 pm

          …What not even my being "a traitor to my class" for going off and getting an education? Surely you'd agree with Little's assessment? No doubt you see Mike as also being a "class traitor" by heading up the WTO – with great success most would say – or accepting an ambassadorship

          [Commenting here is a privilege and not a right. You should not be surprised there has been negative responses to you. How about you respect the depth of feeling and not engage in flame wars – MS]

          • sumsuch 10.1.1.2.1
            3 February 2020 at 10:13 pm

            Love one of the few complimenters of Moore being David Garrett. That The Standard found someone to illuminate him in their obituary rather than piss him further down the drain says a lot about your blog. Roge is still alright, alright, alright around here. ACT, like for Labour, is your leader.

            • RedLogix 10.1.1.2.1.1
              3 February 2020 at 11:22 pm

              I've been participating here from the first week or so this blog started in 2007. In all that time I've never noticed any of the regulars who has any support whatsoever for Douglas. You are plain wrong on that assertion.

              As for Moore, well yes he will always be closely associated with those events, but unlike Douglas and Prebble, Mike managed to transcend them afterward. He was more than just Rogernomics.

              Like most people fulminating over the 80's, you never express an alternative vision. It was not like there was a magical force-field bubble around NZ that was going to keep the big wider world away from us, free to bumble along untouched in our backwater hobbit ways. Change was going to happen and the left failed to lay the groundwork so that it went the way we wanted.

              • Incognito …
                4 February 2020 at 8:22 am

                Thank you for stating my thoughts on this, which I was going to put into a comment but you beat me to it.

                It is obvious and typical that many seem to think that everything in the past happened in some weird isolation bubble. Like Douglas single-handedly created or brought neo-liberalism and free market dogma to good old New Zealand. Like the PM, our PM, single-handedly converted TTP(A) to CPTPP. Like this Government is to blame for the coronavirus arriving here. I know that Kiwis suffer from isolated-island mentality, have a wee chip on their shoulders, and just love binary and reductionist thinking with a passion but surely they know better, yes?

              • sumsuch …
                14 February 2020 at 10:31 pm

                'There is no alternative'

                Roge rattling on about the dangers of interventionism.

                There was another course. OZ did it gentler for instance. Read Brian Easton.

                Roge was the sort of simpleton who clears away everything, because he's simple.

                But, yes, the political Left was hollow. The generation brought up in the new wealth-distribution had forgotten what it was about and were all about ridiculous Vietnam and nuclear free. But almost instantly I understood they were in the wrong and so did many better people than me, therefore, heroes. Not inclined to forgive. Labour hasn't flung off ACT.

            • Incognito 10.1.1.2.1.2
              4 February 2020 at 7:59 am

              The Author of this Post has written hundreds of Posts here over many years and has participated on this site for donkey’s years. Authors write in their own capacity about the things that interest them. You may want to read the About page: https://thestandard.org.nz/about/#post_regular and https://thestandard.org.nz/about/#you_must. I hope this helps because you demonstrate ignorance and unbased negative criticism.

              • sumsuch …
                14 February 2020 at 10:13 pm

                The PM just called Mike Moore ' a working class hero'.

                I admit the immense enrichment of the world poor by the freemarket.

                Binary, no; ignorant, no.

                I endorse Sanctuary's penultimate para in his big post about Labour above, apart from the respect for Mike Moore. Read that Incognito. You support 'Labour' despite everything. I support my unbalanced furious great grandfather who found his certainty in fighting for, what he called, social-democracy. The people. He was 70 when his work amounted to anything, MJS was 65.

                I'm as negative as Sanders is judged by the Democratic and Republican oligarchy. Progressives there get a fairer hearing on Fox. And to a lesser degree our 84 elite is the same. See the unopposed obituaries of Mike Moore in the mainstream for instance. Let alone here, with your implicit 'cap'-doffing, at the least.

                Of course you're not explicitly for Roge and Act but like Labour you're implicitly for his ideas, such as they are (looking forward to your obituary of him). Again see Sanctuary's penultimate para.

                One of the things I like about here is the large participation and the good computery (yep, that's my best guess at the right word). Hence the archive of my negativity.

  11. Quinnjin 11
    3 February 2020 at 1:05 pm

    What is this crap? The WTO is an imperialist arm of US foreign policy, just like the IMF.
    Mike Moore's careerist free trade fanaticism was delusional in the extreme, and certainly did nothing for unionism or the working class.
    Who wrote this fucking horse whit?

    • RedLogix 11.1
      3 February 2020 at 1:14 pm

      free trade fanaticism was delusional in the extreme

      Says the person typing on the imported computer, full of high tech components from dozens of locations worldwide, and connected to an internet that spans the globe.

      You're free to mourn the upheavals of the 80's; I know I did for a long time. Yet ultimately whining takes us nowhere but into darkness and irrelevancy. Construct an alternative vision if you want to be taken seriously.

      • Quinnjin 11.1.1
        3 February 2020 at 6:20 pm

        HAHAHA yeah "Okay Boomer" ( lets hazard a guess.
        You're an idiot and your whiny apologism is offensive. I'm in 40's , so pull your f'n head in, I remember the 80's. I am also well aware of the cherry picked stats and the reality that free trade really means free exploitation. All of the technology in this f'n computer was developed and paid for by government research and tax payer dollars.
        You are perpetuating the same idiotic lies of apologists for rampant free market exploitative capitalism every where, what happened under Douglas was nothing but the whole sale rape and pillage of this country so that a bunch of boomer scum and at least one paedophile apparently, could get rich quick, ala Richwhite, Bob Jones, Ron Brierly et al, and other mates of Douglas and round table associates.
        The experiment was an utter failure and we are still paying for it.
        So you can shove that pathetic jibe; "computer your typing on" where the sun don't shine you nausiating boot licker.
        Your feeble, spineless kow towing to the libertarian free market nut job mantra sound byte is typical of sell out boomers every where.
        Well you scum bags robbed my generation and every generation after me, and we'll be paying for your selfish, short sighted greed for decades to come, if not with the end of organised civilisation itself.
        Yes, the economy needed opening up after Muldoons crony capitalist, farmer bribing, vote buying, import licence racket, bankrupt the country BS.
        But Douglas was a madman, and the WTO along with IMF are regressive organisations which are merely arms of the global corporate hegemony, and US foreign policy.
        The fact that a muppet like the above author could eulogise a sell out like Moore with such Rose tinted epithets in what is supposed to be a socialist leaning organ is beyond a joke and is in fact offensive.
        So don't patronise me mate, you’re out of your bloody depth son.
        Also the idea that it is up to me to single handedly " create an alternative vision " to be taken seriously?
        Oh right another " there is no alternative" fallacy. Who the fuck are you ? A walking free trade propaganda bot?
        Here is some reality for you mate, there is no free trade, only deals between countries, that's the reality, there is not a country on this earth that does not subsidise some industries and charge duties on some imports.
        For a start, we should never have signed any trade deal with any country that doesn't have reciprocal labour laws.
        Her'es an alternative … we don't ram through a bunch of changes that fuck the unions and sell of all our infrastructure to be asset stripped by predator scum.
        We invest using government credit in value added business.
        We educate our young. W@e get out of mass export of raw commodities.
        We farm green organic and charge a fn premium.
        Getting the picture yet? There are plenty of alternatives and they are fairly straight forward and obvious. People have been pointing them out for decades.
        No it is you have to defend the failed status quo: the exploitation of slave labour in foreign countries for you to have the luxury of ignorantly patronising your intellectual betters in an online forum, even though things wouldn't have to be so cheap of all the money didn't go to the global plutocrat parasites and wagses were decent and profits more equitably distributed with those who actually create them, you f'n idiot, unlike the current global corporate plutocratic model that is destroying the planet.
        It is you and your ilk, and the pathetic, whining, revisionist apologism you stand for, that cannot be taken seriously.
        Who the fuck do you think you're kidding. You'v been told. Don't you dare waste my time with any more of your idiotic piffle.
        Idiot.

        • Ad 11.1.1.1
          3 February 2020 at 7:20 pm

          Please stop commenting on this post.

          You are a simple bully.

        • sumsuch 11.1.1.2
          3 February 2020 at 10:23 pm

          Agree with you.

          Bullying is not a term you can apply to arguments about ideas, let alone in the medium of written words.

          We lacked the venom necessary for the last decades. And it sure was present prior to 1935.

        • Obtrectator 11.1.1.3
          4 February 2020 at 9:35 am

          Continued on page 94, Mr Spart?

        • tony kirk 11.1.1.4
          15 February 2020 at 8:59 am

          well said sir !

          your comment has cured my sick belly nausea caused by the creepy crawling platitude from so called lefties.

          The trade union was full of of opportunist creeps like Moore…we even had a song for them (sung to the tune of The Red Flag )

          "The working class can kiss my arse

          I've got the bosses job at last "

          just listened to Adam McGrath singing about John A Lee

          a true hero of the working class

        • sumsuch 11.1.1.5
          17 February 2020 at 10:57 pm

          Immense compliment for a good NZer. Unlike the 45 % solid for the 10 % produced by Stephen Mills’s Labour Party.

      • Adrian Thornton 11.1.2
        4 February 2020 at 9:28 am

        @RedLogix

        AAhhh the old using all the benefits of the capitalist commodities troupe..I though you were better then that..

        Obviously that neo liberal cool aid tasted real good to you…however, I know for a fact it still tastes bitter for workers here in the Hawkes Bay, bitter enough to make you sick.

        • RedLogix 11.1.2.1
          4 February 2020 at 10:15 am

          Capitalism is a tool, it is a system that serves it's particular purpose very well. But it doesn't do fairness. Never did, never will. It's like asking a table saw to weld steel. Yet when faced with the task of welding many pieces of steel together, only a fool first demands that all the saws be thrown out.

          The bitter truth for marxists is that capitalism has been the engine of an economic growth which has pulled the majority of humanity out of poverty. It didn't set out to do social justice, it didn't plan fairness into the outcome … it just delivered the material elements of human welfare and prosperity to a degree we've never before achieved in all of our history. And we all use them daily, even when we vainly profess to hate the system that delivered them.

          If you want to tell us about capitalist exploitation, feel free. And then I demand you listen to the truly brute exploitation that absolute poverty imposed on most of the human race before industrialisation. Simply compare your modern life with that of your ancestors 200 years ago … and you have your answer.

          The left has of course the vital role of proposing improvements, negotiating to reduce the extremes of wealth and poverty, arguing for extending human dignity, and protecting the commons. But merely ranting as some have done here at the faults of the past amounts to little more than resentment and bitterness masquerading as transparent leftie virtue signalling.

          • Paddington 11.1.2.1.1
            4 February 2020 at 3:02 pm

            Your comment is a thing of beauty. Just one suggestion:

            "The left has of course the vital role…"

            I don't believe that is only a feature of the left. I'm certainly not on the 'left', but I view capitalism (or it's derivatives) as the most successful way of delivering the best overall outcome for the most people.

  12. adam 12
    3 February 2020 at 1:18 pm

    This post is great. It shows the difference between the liberal left and their continued support of Liberalism as an ideology. And the economic left, who think that ideological is well – stupid.

    Mick was an interesting guy to serve liquor to. At times he was buoyant and full of sage advice – at others he was deeply morase. He didn't like to sit at the bar like other politicians, but would ask myself and other staff to sit down with him. He was one of the few politicians to tip (in the form of buying you a beer or wine as well his drink)

    I liked him, but didn't like his liberalism. I did like he never got rattled by my sly anarchist jibes. He was very interested that I had read Kropotkin and was reading 'The Ecology of Freedom" – which funny enough is the only time I remember him standing at the bar to ask me what I thought about the book.

    I agree with you Ad, he wanted to help working people as best he could. Of that people should not dispute. I just had a problem with how he did that, and the unintended consequences of the ideology which has spawned more, and more demagogues with each economic crisis that ideology produces.

  13. AB 13
    3 February 2020 at 1:19 pm

    This OP strikes me as a highly sophisticated version of the 'Polish shipyard' myth about NZ prior to 1984. Even despite that, it would all make sense if the international rules that were imposed had the actual outcomes claimed.. What we have actually seen is the marked bifurcation of our society into winners and losers. The OP is history from the perspective of the winning side of that ledger.

    I'd also acknowledge Moore's positive qualities. I think his intentions were good, even if he hitched them to an ideological horse that could never fulfill them.

    • David Garrett 13.1
      3 February 2020 at 2:00 pm

      AB: I have no idea how old you are, but I wonder if you were old enough in 1984 to understand what was going on? Please accept that I am not intending to be rude, but as someone who was in his mid twenties in 1984, I think the "Polish shipyard" comparison was a fair one.

      Some examples: Imports were tightly controlled by the issuing of import licences – which were effectively licences to print money – issued to Muldoon's cronies. We were regulated up the wazzoo in absolutely everything. Strikes which literally cut the country in half really were as predictable as the sun rising every school and Christmas holidays. Looking back, the excuses to go on strike were quite amusing (I remember one ferry strike because the mince the seamen were served – by their brothers in the Cooks and Stewards union – was too cold). Believe me, they weren't funny at the time, especially for families who had booked and paid for holidays in the other Island.

      Despite all the regs, there was a waiting list of, IIRC, about six weeks to get a new phone line (no mobiles then of course) so you could start your highly regulated new business. Of course that could be "fixed" by a small payment to the right people…a mate of mine worked for the old P&T division of the Post Office, and a significant part of his income came from cash bribes. Yep, low level corruption in little ol' NZ. Of course Don's bribes were small potatoes to what importers were probably paying the Nats to get their import licences.

      The railways were so chaotic that large pieces of machinery regularly went missing (You had to ship everything by rail if it was over certain distance, 50 miles IIRC). There was one documented case of a combine harvester going missing. The farmer who had bought and paid for it got no joy from NZR so he followed the route it had to have taken himself, and found said machine sitting on a wagon down a siding. It was never established why it was put there.

      In one of his books Prebble talks about coming across a signals gang on a mothballed branch line. Apparently no-one had realised they were still "working" so said signals gang came to work every day on a disused line. I can't remember now how long this had gone on; some months IIRC.

      All sounds very much like a Polish shipyard to me.

      • RedLogix 13.1.1
        3 February 2020 at 2:14 pm

        But the Polish shipyard did have one important virtue, it was the 'employer of last resort', it created a social safety net that a benefit cannot. All those big state owned enterprises like NZR, MoW, Post Office etc that neo-liberalism ran it's fiscal tape measure over and found wanting, provided a social dimension that you thought was irrelevant. And that neglect hurt a lot of people badly.

        And in my career I've lost count of the skilled technical people I've met who started their working lives in one of these organisations. They provided a unique mix of training, mentoring and hands on experience that has not been replicated by anything that came to replace them.

        I'll acknowledge that NZ could not continue to insulate itself from a rapidly changing world forever, but the puritan neoliberal ideology imposed on us very high price still resented by that generation who paid it.

        There is little point in whining about it now, the Polish shipyard that NZ may have been was probably unsustainable in that form, it had to change. And the neo-liberal extremism that was allegedly the cure, went too far, it was arguably worse than the disease. Time to bury the hatchet, let go the old resentments and put our energy into devising a future that actually works for everyone.

        • Ad 13.1.1.1
          3 February 2020 at 2:48 pm

          The hard thing to judge is whether New Zealand would have been as successful as Australia from the mid-1980s if it had followed the more measured liberalisation of Hawke, rather than the Douglas-Richardson version.

          Personally I don't think so. Most of the luck we've had is the kind that comes working in very tight teams under hard conditions until you succeed.

          But I do think the Douglas-Richardson budgets forced really massive and unnecessary inequality, poverty and intergenerational asset loss.

          IMHO Moore was a very specific and generally pretty useful part of the Lange government, in the fields I describe above.

          • RedLogix 13.1.1.1.1
            3 February 2020 at 2:58 pm

            The hard thing to judge is whether New Zealand would have been as successful as Australia from the mid-1980s if it had followed the more measured liberalisation of Hawke, rather than the Douglas-Richardson version.

            Yes I was thinking the same myself just now. Counterfactual history is always a guessing game, but I think the odds are better than evens. The thing about Australian politics is that with it's complex system, with a least four layers from shire to senate, it's much harder to grab it all at once and shove it in any radical direction and Douglas managed.

            While many Australians I've met are quite grumpy about how clumsy and inefficient their system can be, I take some delight as a kiwi in pointing out to them it's less obvious virtues. They don't expect it …. devil

        • David Garrett 13.1.1.2
          3 February 2020 at 2:56 pm

          Red: That's a very measured and thoughtful comment. Roger and I have often talked about the 80's revolution. His position – unchanged today – was that radical change had to happen, and the route which would cause the least pain was to do it FAST. I have never been entirely convinced by that argument; as just one example, closing post offices in remote areas caused a tremendous amount of social dislocation at the time. Some of those small communities have never quite recovered. But then many have – the former Post Office is now quite likely to be a cafe serving coffee as good as Auckland…and a few dollars cheaper.

          But as you acknowledge, change was inevitable. Free movement to Australia meant that the highly talented and even more highly taxed were free to fuck off – and many did, never to return.

          And more than 30 years on, it's easy to forget – more especially for the young who weren't even yet born – just what a dire state NZ was in back then. We had gone from having the second or third highest living standard in the world to coming close to defaulting on loan payments. Perhaps Roger's radical surgery WAS the only alternative. But whether it was or wasn't is still a perfectly fair topic of discussion.

          • RedLogix 13.1.1.2.1
            3 February 2020 at 3:11 pm

            Good; that makes sense. What I'm interested in is 'how do we learn from our imperfect past and progress from here?' There won't be a magical silver bullet answer, if the 20th century has anything to teach us at all, it is to be deeply skeptical of anyone claiming simple answers to complex problems.

            And I can accept that from a pragmatic perspective, that in 1984 there probably was no other competing argument to the radical monetarist surgery. But almost 50 years later there most certainly is now.

            Because there is no question that NZ is still struggling with a dark social legacy of that era, that I don't see in Australia. More than anything else lefties like me would like to hear a sincere acknowledgement of this; and maybe we can move forward from here over time.

            • In Vino 13.1.1.2.1.1
              3 February 2020 at 8:00 pm

              Good thread. I was about 40 at the time, and always doubted the veracity of what Roger Douglas etc were pushing. As a Teacher, I saw the Picot Report as an attempt to placate teachers ("Good people – Bad System") but bring in huge cost-cutting in the name of change. With hindsight, I think I was right.

              The winners write history, and for that reason I still doubt Garrett's claim about NZ coming close to defaulting on loan payments. Bollocks. The run on the currency was because Douglas had won, and all the Finance people (like John Key) knew he was going to float the currency, ie, devalue hugely. If Muldoon had won the election, I suspect there would have been no such crisis at all. ACT party people usually react furiously to that suggestion…

              And roblogic below – please note that at least one Boomer did NOT champion neoliberalism.

              Like Redlogix, I wonder how and when we get to move forward.

              • roblogic …
                3 February 2020 at 9:48 pm

                Thanks In Vino, appreciate that. I know a lot of Boomers were horrified at Lab4's betrayal of the workers who supported them, my family included. An equal or greater number benefited hugely simply by sitting on a quarter acre and ignoring the cries of the poor.

                • sumsuch …
                  3 February 2020 at 10:39 pm

                  Well, I've been cut in 2 by that comment.

                  Are we ever gonna get a positive comment about Moore apart from the Standard official obiturist and former NZ First folk.

                  Have no idea how Standard thinks, understands, after this. Stephan Mills is alright by you?That dichotomy is impressive. But then again that is Labour. And they keep getting voted in. Except the ideas don't shape up despite you doing your best. Keep up the split personality. Like the Whigs did to the end.

                  • roblogic …
                    3 February 2020 at 10:43 pm

                    Moore could well have been a good person, but even so he was seriously misguided and unfortunate to be a part of an experiment that ruined the lives of thousands of people.

                    People are complicated & flawed, even NZ Prime Ministers

                    • sumsuch …
                      17 February 2020 at 11:12 pm

                      I, being there , am not inclined to give him a pass. That generation had forgotten the basis of our society. So being human , fine. But both the older and younger generation sprung up immediately to fight for society before anything.

                      And all is left is blind Stephen Mills. So, an open frame for fascism capturing the just above against the just below.

                  • Incognito …
                    4 February 2020 at 8:09 am

                    The Standard does not think! It exists on a server and somewhere in hyperspace AKA the internet. If you keep making these stupid attributions to suit your negative narrative then I will let you know what I think and give you the official TS treatment.

                    • sumsuch …
                      14 February 2020 at 11:22 pm

                      The Standard does not think but has a downer on my 'negativity'? Look yourselves in the mirror and admit what you are.

                      Fellow commenters what do you think The Standard thinks?

                      About as Left as 'Mike Moore was a working class hero'. The 84ist Party comes before the people's interest for you is my own opinion. hence your ridiculous obiturist here.

                      And why don't you let it play out, Incognito, free speech sorts out everything. Your excessive guardianship only says you can't bear truth. Do you want to be like CNN, MSNBC and National Radio's 4 pm discussion programme? Where all that is tolerable to the present status quo is allowed unmitigatedly. And nothing else.

                      Mainly, I'm angry at the state we've reached where the News says someone was known as a man of 'intellect' with a 'big heart' and the fucken Labour Party leader describes him as a'working class hero'. These absurd Alice in Wonderland falsehoods prove 't'Cause' of my Lancashire great grandfather is in a very dire state. But of course, events …

                      And Garrett was from ACT.

                    • Incognito []
                      14 February 2020 at 11:40 pm

                      This isn’t about free speech or Mike Moore. This is about you making up shit about Authors, this site, and the motivations of Authors (and of me!) for what they write (about) here. You also seem to attribute motivations and thinking to the site and I have already explained that this is utter nonsense because the site does not have a mind.

                      Therefore, if you cannot separate your free speech crusade from attacking the site and its Authors, I will be more than happy to give you the official TS treatment. It seems to me that you don’t really deserve your privilege to comment on this free platform so it won’t be a loss to the site.

            • Nic the NZer 13.1.1.2.1.2
              4 February 2020 at 7:38 pm

              "And I can accept that from a pragmatic perspective, that in 1984 there probably was no other competing argument to the radical monetarist surgery."

              There was a fairly widely known attack on alternative views in the media and academia.

              • Warren Doney …
                5 February 2020 at 6:52 pm

                That would be really interesting to look at. Apart from media archives, I wonder if there are contemporaries from the Jim Anderton side who could comment.

                [Changed to the user handle you have previously used here]

                • pat …
                  5 February 2020 at 7:29 pm

                  From within Labour?….there wernt any with his courage, he was pretty much a lone voice in the party at the time hence New Labour and then the Alliance….curiously Minister Woods and Willie Jackson were later compatriots.

          • Nic the NZer 13.1.1.2.2
            4 February 2020 at 5:35 pm

            "We had gone from having the second or third highest living standard in the world to coming close to defaulting on loan payments."

            Getting basic facts like this wrong undermines the credibility of the conclusions quite severely.

            NZ was going through a currency crisis and was at risk of running out of foreign exchange reserves at the time and having to close the close the exchange window or de-value.

            There is also the obvious question of what had actually happened to living standards by the 1984 election and since. There is no consensus that thinks improved here due to rogernomics.

        • roblogic 13.1.1.3
          3 February 2020 at 3:23 pm

          I was doing School C. when Lange took over, and my history teacher, an avowed Labour supporter, was fully on board with Rogernomics. The reforms were probably justified at the time, but that's 40-odd years ago, and neoliberalism as a political and economic philosophy is no longer a lean thoroughbred; it's flogged and worn out & should have been put out to pasture decades ago.

          The elite technocratic class still thinks they can run business as usual as they busily hollow out the working class and destroy even middle class aspirations, as they propagandise the masses and arm the police. Neoliberalism has spawned Trump, Brexit, GiletsJaunes, Bolsonaro. Arrogant and selfish US elites outsourced their strategic industries to China & elsewhere, and facilitated the rise of tyranny everywhere.

          There's a saying in science that old theories are replaced one death at a time, as the orthodoxy of the old guard is only reformed when they relinquish their positions of power. Only with the passing of the short-sighted Boomers who championed it, can neoliberalism be finally repudiated and real democratic progress be made toward solving the problems of today.

      • pat 13.1.2
        3 February 2020 at 3:08 pm

        I suspect im much the same age as yourself and there are elements of truth (stress, elements) in what you describe…..the criticism is not the necessity for changes, but rather the form the the changes took.

        It is difficult to understand how a wholesale embracing of laissez faire economics was self justified by those within the Labour Party…..as is the apparent ignorance of the inevitable outcomes

      • McFlock 13.1.3
        3 February 2020 at 8:39 pm

        Yeah, but he doesn't have any anecdotes about youth or farmer suicide rates that coincided with his reforms. But many NZers do.

  14. Tiger Mountain 14
    3 February 2020 at 3:24 pm

    Some eloquent contributions above–take a bow sanctuary…I am not going to bag “Lamb Burger” Moore the man particularly, but his politics…

    Todays multi generational underclass and working poor/precariously employed, remain substantially “the children of Roger’n’Ruth”. Thousands of those cast aside were never retrained or “repurposed”, initially forgotten, and then blamed for their own fate–heh–macro economic decisions way beyond the scope of the average car plant worker say, and it was “your fault Loser!” as unemployment zoomed, hospitals closed and market rents charged for state houses.

    Roger swung a wrecking ball through the provinces and public sector in particular, created some of the freest in and out flows of capital in the world, sold off public infrastructure allowing the penetration of private capital into areas they should be kept well out of.

    So Mike Moore’s legacy is a dog eat dog New Zealand where everyone knows their Flybuys points tally, but many would not have a clue what they should be paid for working a public holiday or how to participate in public and community affairs.

    • roblogic 14.1
      3 February 2020 at 3:54 pm

      Exactly. Toby Morris expressed it perfectly in his latest comic at the Spinoff. Polite society finds it all to easy to forget what has happened to the precariat and blames the working poor for their own misfortunes. The reality is, we have such terrible social dislocation because of deliberate, vindictive policies by Beehive beancounters. Much of middle NZ actively hates the poor, whom they perceive as bludgers. They cannot conceive that poverty for the most part is a random circumstance, and the real bludgers are the white collar criminals who got off scot free from selling out NZ

      https://twitter.com/xtotl/status/1222628826951192577?s=21

      • In Vino 14.1.1
        3 February 2020 at 8:08 pm

        The sad state we have arrived at. Had uncomfortable feelings about it all at the time, but change was constantly being promoted as good, and without the hindsight we now have, we didn't know enough to argue back then. Damned pity. Not all us boomers wanted this, and as soon as we saw what was happening, we supported Jim Anderton and voted against it all. Still trying to make ours the winning side.

        Sad to say, we have so many voters who have little idea of all this.

    • Marcus Morris 14.2
      4 February 2020 at 8:23 am

      Couldn't have put it better myself Tiger Mountain. There is so much more to say about the legacy of those Lange years and the negative long term effect they had on so many areas of society but the catch phrase of the time that still rings in the ears and was the justification for such excessive changes in economic direction was "the trickle down effect". How cynical that turned out to be. "Avalanche up" was the real outcome.

      • Tiger Mountain 14.2.1
        4 February 2020 at 1:14 pm

        Ah yes, “trickle down”, that term whose usage went from “win win” to pejorative!
        ‘Hyper individualism’ as Naomi Klein has termed it, is the outcome of the 30 year psychological hegemony of neo liberalism around the world.

  15. Philg 15
    3 February 2020 at 4:51 pm

    So there are major differences about MM. Does our MSM reflect this difference? M was an opportunist, who made the most of it. Did he leave NZ better off?

  16. McFlock 16
    3 February 2020 at 8:41 pm

    Can't say his death cheers me up like Thatcher's did, but he caused a lot of pain as well as the good interr'd with his bones.

  17. Muttonbird 17
    3 February 2020 at 9:36 pm

    My only interaction with Mike Moore was as a young and inexperienced hospitality worker at an event he was attending.

    Moore arrived early and we didn't have the bubbles opened in time. He stood reasonably patiently, but I remember the event manager to my right losing it while I struggled with the cage and cork.

    Perhaps this contributed to my lifelong hostility toward authority management.

  18. Alec Larsen 18
    3 February 2020 at 9:55 pm

    mike moore was like all labour politicians elected by the poor govern for the rich

  19. sumsuch 19
    16 February 2020 at 1:16 am

    Incognito, see Trotter's latest sub-photo Shakespeare quote. He anticipated you by — only — 400 years. Why does Bunnings need to greet you at entry and stamp your receipt at exit but everyone else just lets you go in and out? Or, why do you lot have ferocious dogs guarding a people's power discussion site , unlike every other Left blog?

    Like the best bouncers, you should be like the wallpaper until you're needed.

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    Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago

  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
    1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 hours ago

  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago

  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    11 hours ago

  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago

  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago

  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    12 hours ago

  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago

  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    14 hours ago

  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    15 hours ago

  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    17 hours ago

  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A Step–by–Step Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and third–party applications. So, let‘s dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. That‘s why they introduced the “Recently Deleted“ folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Here‘s how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the “Recents“ tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on “Edit“. Select “Show Recently Deleted“. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose “Recover“ to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Here‘s how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose “Erase All Content and Settings“. Follow the on–screen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose “Restore from iCloud Backup“ during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore Third–Party Apps (with Caution): ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    19 hours ago

  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 day ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    1 day ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
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  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
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  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
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  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
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