NZ Herald: Be journalists, check before ‘reporting’

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, June 27th, 2014 - 62 comments
Categories: labour, Media, national - Tags: , ,

There is a self-serving anonymously authored editorial in the NZ Herald this morning “Editorial: Cries of bias will not stop reporting“.

Well for a start the problem isn’t with the Herald reporting. The problem is that it’s reporting on this story appears to have been performed by amateur journalists in their investigations team  and facilitated by incompetent editors who didn’t check the story. This probably including whoever wrote this pathetic editorial. It appears to have been an abrupt change from their usual competent style of journalism. Of course the question has to be asked about what caused this change?

The anonymous editorial author points back to previous stories in previous elections that the Herald has done to prove that they aren’t biased.

However, these were done competently with considerable checking. This is what showed in their reporting at the time on such things as the Exclusive Brethren and even the recent Judith Collins and Maurice Williamson stories. You could argue over the NZ Herald reporters interpretations. However it was rather difficult to argue over their well checked facts.

That still showed in the uncovering of a 11 year form letter. Admittedly to get that appeared to require considerable help from the National party with its friendly policy of telling the Herald reporters what to ask for in an OIA after their initial failure. Then helpfully putting pressure on public servants to release in a unprecedented two days.

That the Herald reporters were too incompetent to find out what the electorate offices routinely do with immigration cases is perhaps excusable. After all a long time political reporter like John Armstrong appeared to also think that forgetting a 11 year old routine enquiry to the immigration department was abnormal enough to call for a resignation. So maybe they simply lacked astute guidance. Of course that there are hundreds and possibly thousands of ex-electorate office employees around that they could have asked, and clearly didn’t.

That may be merely poor journalism.

However it appears that this week, even that low level of competence and accuracy in the reporting at the NZ Herald is not required.

The Herald on Sunday at the weekend article “reported” from a still unreleased signed statement from Donghua Liu that appears to have been sourced  not from its author, but from some unnamed third source – probably the National party or associated sources.

Astonishly on Monday the editor of the Herald on Sunday Tim Murphy on Morning Report appeared to not understand the value of a signed statements.  For his benefit, let us reiterate. An affidavit is a sworn statement and stating something in it that is not truthful is equivalent to perjury and treated as such. A signed statement are legally about as worthless as used toilet paper, and this is what Donhua’s signed statement now appears to be.

It is now quite clear that the contents of that statement were never checked by the Herald before “reporting” on Sunday. Not with its author, nor with any sources inside Labour, nor apparently with anyone apart from its source.

That first statement appears to be completely false. To date the none of the substance of that statement about donations to Labour has been proved and many have been repudiated in a slightly less murky follow up statement on Wednesday by Donghua Liu. None the less, every day this week they have ‘reported’ stories from material in that first statement, including after the second statement was released with different details.

To date the only evidence of donations to the Labour party by Donghua Liu consist of nothing that can be verified.

Partially that was due to the required reporting in the pre-december 2007 reporting. But mostly because it appears that most were actually purchases at auctions and because they appear to have been done in small amounts (ie a few thousand dollars) over a period of time – probably many years.

The only real way to track them is for Donghua Liu or the Herald to provide details as to locations and dates. Needless to say the Herald has been continuing to “report” “donations”  to Labour all this week when they have no evidence that these ever occurred. For some reason this level of repeated systematic journalistic incompetence in reporting untruths does lead to questions of bias.

So far we have

  • A confirmed donation to the Hawkes Bay rowing club which has nothing to do with Labour.
  • There are no dates apart from one that appears to coincide with the Hawkes Bay Charity Wine Auction on the 3rd June 2007, which has nothing to do with Labour.
  • Of course there is the now infamous $5o-60k trip down the Yangtze river, which appears to have been a company outing that a Labour MP got dragged to, and had nothing to do with Labour.
  • We have a allegation about a purchase at auction of a book for $15k in the first statement by Donghua Liu and which does not appear to be in the second, however there are no dates or locations.

Meanwhile the statement by Donghua Liu that he gave other parties appears to have never been followed up by the NZ Herald.  Again leading to questions of bias.

It would probably help if the NZ Herald released the documents to some competent journalists/editors or even to the crowd sourced checking of the blogs. Clearly the reporters on the investigations team and their supporting editors are not capable of verifying these allegations.

But to date they haven’t released photo image copies of either of the two statements from Donghua Liu that would allow some more competent journalists than Jared Savage and his team to determine the truth. From what I have heard, even the Herald’s parliamentary press gallery haven’t seen them.

So I have to ask the question of the NZ Herald. Given such an abrupt change in the standards of checking that usually characterises your “news”  stories, what caused the change? Somehow I don’t expect that we will ever get an answer to that.

Just as I suspect that we will never see a copy of the first statement. It has all of the characteristics of being a smoking gun pointing back into National or one of their associated mouthpieces like Whaleoil or Kiwiblog. Probably from the name of a witness perhaps?

 

62 comments on “NZ Herald: Be journalists, check before ‘reporting’ ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. greywarbler 1
    27 June 2014 at 9:59 am

    Wasn’t it written or sanctioned by potatohead then? If not, why not?

    The female editor in the UK has just got off scot-free. Or seems to have. Nothing can be done apparently to hold onto British integrity and standards. They slip away like sand between the fingers. Why should The Hairy aim to keep to old-fashioned ideas already abandoned ‘overseas’ our university of learning and best practice?

    Aren’t we being like the Savage in Brave New World – whipping ourselves, flagellating ourselves and our society over failing to comply with outmoded morals and ethics. Let’s abandon ourselves to the new, go with the flow, inhale some soma and Enjoy!

  2. ianmac 2
    27 June 2014 at 10:06 am

    Your post is a great summation of the situation. It is a pity that there is no venue/organisation to whom your post could be addressed.
    Maybe I could send your entire post to Jared Savage. I have his email address. What do you say?

  3. karol 3
    27 June 2014 at 10:24 am

    Dear gods. This editorial is getting a hammering in the comments under it. I’ve read through a fair number and all but an occasional one come out against the editorial.

    Although, I do think the NZH releases comments in for and against clusters. They may be saving up the “fors” to have the last word.

    However, they have clearly angered a sizable number of people.

    • weka 3.1
      27 June 2014 at 10:51 am

      They’re getting a thrashing alright.

      My favourite so far,

      “The NZ Herald became a tabloid-style scandal blog so gradually I was almost fooled into believing that the basic tenets of integrity, honesty, balance and fairness (and, of course, fact checking) in journalism was just some kind of nostalgic myth I must have dreamed up.”

      Mike Rickson – 09:06 AM Friday, 27 Jun 2014

  4. Will@Welly 4
    27 June 2014 at 10:27 am

    With the exception of the ODT, we can now see the damage being wrecked upon New Zealand by the loss of control of the media organisations. There really is no accountability. Even the ‘Press Council’ is like a wet blanket.
    There was a time when editors prided themselves on their standard of journalism, and were prepared to fight the owners ‘tooth and nail’ to maintain that credibility.

  5. Te Reo Putake 5
    27 June 2014 at 10:34 am

    The golden rule is always get two sources. Don’t print any allegation without independent verification of its accuracy. The problem is that the Herald were prepared to rely on a single source and they should have known that the source was untrustworthy. It’s simply shabby, gossip column journalism. Back in the days when they had subs, their job was more than just spell checking. A reporter failing to get alternative confirmation would be told to go away and come back with something of substance to anchor the story.

    Now all we’ve got is political advertising masquerading as news on the front page of our ‘journal of record’.

    • Pete 5.1
      27 June 2014 at 10:44 am

      I think everyone at the Herald should sit down and re-watch All The President’s Men and take particular note of how much of a hard-ass Ben Bradlee was when it came to pushing his reporters to verify sources and confirm allegations

    • One Anonymous Bloke 5.2
      27 June 2014 at 10:45 am

      The Herald had not just two but three sources: Liu, Key and Slater, all of whom are independent from the Labour Party.

      What could possibly go wrong?

  6. One Anonymous Bloke 6
    27 June 2014 at 10:54 am

    I can’t see why the crowd in the cloud would want to lift a finger to help a bunch of Tories behind a paywall. They even have gated communities online 🙂

  7. dimebag russell 7
    27 June 2014 at 11:13 am

    its not just the herald. the whole country has sunk into an abyss of infantilism and kowtowing to the masters.
    the whole newsgathering industry has been infected from top to bottom with nepotism and inanity..
    as another poster said this week new zealand appears to be democratic on the surface but underneath its rotten. ditto for the press. the standard of personnel recruitment and their efforts has slipped so badly and then overlaid with a gloss of pure bullshit that most people dont even notice.
    the horse bolted long ago.

    • greywarbler 7.1
      27 June 2014 at 11:22 am

      @ dimebag russell
      Get out the spade and see if that horse left any deposits. The dung is good for roses I think, and we need to have something positive to brighten our lives. It’s very depressing listening and looking at our news.. We have to keep bringing our news deposits to the Standard where they can be turned over and checked to see if they are worthwhile.

  8. Clemgeopin 8
    27 June 2014 at 11:15 am

    The unfair and biased behaviour of the Herald, Key, the RWN job blogers is a disgrace and a disservice to democracy. Unfortunately, I suspect that the public who are so ill served by our present media will not realise the deliberate slant and harm being dished out against Labour, and the blatant favouritism shown towards Key and National.

    IF the MSM, TV, commentators etc do NOT give us equal amount of positive coverage as they do for Key and National, then Labour and the progressive parties will have an uphill task during this election period. The media is supposed to be an unbiased, fair and accurate ‘fourth pillar’ of democracy! At the moment it is most certainly not when it seems to go deliberately harming Cunliffe and Labour without verifying facts with integrity and without being diligent and just in their reporting of ‘news’.

    Any one reading commentary or watching the media news coverage in a critical objective way can discern this distortion that is happening.

    I am hoping that the public will soon begin to see all this and dish out their own unforgettable backlash against National’s dirty tricks machine.

    • karol 8.1
      27 June 2014 at 11:24 am

      It’s up to the people, and the left wing blogs then, to hold the MSM and their powerful backers to account.

    • greywarbler 8.2
      27 June 2014 at 11:25 am

      Did anyone listen to Morning Report this a.m.? All about the terrible Labour poll, was mentioned a lot. Plus Mr Key given a nice slot and a mention of NACT conference and a plug for NACT – Labour given Mike Williams.

      • Tracey 8.2.1
        27 June 2014 at 12:30 pm

        a poll taken in the middle of the heralds (turns out) illusory labour and cunliffe scandal… And the editor thinks they do no harm.

        I havent seen the rabid right in here congratulating labour for gaining 4% on the last poll they all trumpetted as gospel.

  9. ianmac 9
    27 June 2014 at 11:21 am

    Might seem a bit odd but a Herald columnist has written a scathing rundown on recent events. Toby Manhire rightly decries the misinformation spread by the media and looks forward to policy debates.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11282589

    • karol 9.1
      27 June 2014 at 11:29 am

      Thanks. Pretty good, except for one or two sentences in the middle of the article – kind of tends to lean to false equivalence.

      • Tracey 9.1.1
        27 June 2014 at 12:32 pm

        Does Herald competitor, sunday star times not want to rip into the poor journalism practised by the Herald cos they have some kind onf unwritten rule in the media about that kind of thing?

  10. Bob 10
    27 June 2014 at 11:27 am

    The only thing I can take from that editorial is the fact that they are admitting to being shit reporters no matter what side of the house they are reporting on! The exclusive brethren was a story, the Owen Glenn saga may have beena story but they never found a smoking gun, but the Tea-pot Tapes and Donghua Liu stories were just that, stories and they refuse to back away from either of them.

    Last year John Campbell on Campbell Live blatantly stated that he doesn’t see any point of reporting both sides of a story if he feels strongly enough about a topic (such as Legal Highs), then as soon as he got his way on that campaign, he spent the next week telling the other side of the story and making it sound like the Government had made the wrong choice banning them!
    This pathetic attitude seems to be endemic amongst NZ media and something has to be done to bring these useless fuckers (apologies for the language but this gets me wound up) under control!

    Well done to Zetetic for their post on Wednesday, this type of mass action needs to be taken to make the media stand up and take note, although I fear our piss-weak Press Council will more than likely state that this editorial is enough to cover ‘balance’ to their prior bullshit reporting.

  11. Lez Howard 11
    27 June 2014 at 11:27 am

    I read the Herald this morning and gagged, it was not the Jimmy Saville item either

  12. Blue 12
    27 June 2014 at 11:38 am

    The Herald is pathetic. They went into this ‘investigation’ with the intention to pin something on Labour and they persevered despite all the warning signs that they were headed for trouble. There is no other way to explain their shoddy reporting and lack of oversight by editors other than institutional bias against the Labour Party.

    • they took Mr Liu’s statement as gospel truth despite no independent evidence corroborating it, Mr Liu’s lack of credibility as a reliable witness and his obvious political motivation in writing and signing it just after Maurice Williamson’s resignation.
    • they did not even question the ridiculous claim that Mr Liu paid $100,000 for a single bottle of wine.
    • they made a mountain out of a molehill over a form letter signed by David Cunliffe 11 years ago which does not support or advocate for Mr Liu’s application for residency, nor does it ‘give a hurry up’ despite what the Herald has claimed.
    • the editor of the Herald does not even understand the legal differences between a signed statement and an affidavit.
    • donating to a political party in NZ is neither illegal nor immoral, and the Herald failed to provide any reason why they were attacking Labour in the first place. They did not ‘join the dots’ and prove there was any failure to abide by the law surrounding donations or any special treatment given to Mr Liu by Labour in exchange for the alleged donations.
    • they appear to have placed no importance on the Labour Party’s repeated denials that Mr Liu had donated money or that they had any significant links with him. They presumed Labour to be liars and Mr Liu to be telling the truth.

    In short, there was never anything to the story, and the only motivation in publishing it had to be making Labour look bad in an election year.

    • Bob 12.1
      27 June 2014 at 12:35 pm

      Blue, are you surprised? Look back at the Teapot tape last year (you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvEOh2KOTqg), there is absolutely nothing wrong with anything said in the tape (unless you take John Key saying “NZ First support is dying off” literally rather than the election result context in which it was put), yet the NZ Herald and Duncan Garner ran with the story using innuendo to damage National support. They don’t care if there is an actual story, they only care if they can spin what they have to sell papers.

  13. freedom 13
    27 June 2014 at 11:51 am

    had to post this

    right now the NZH front page has 153 comments listed
    but on the editorial in question only 127 are shown …???

    • weka 13.1
      27 June 2014 at 12:35 pm

      some will be in moderation.

    • veutoviper 13.2
      27 June 2014 at 12:50 pm

      It happens all the time, freedom. Also, an opinion piece will be listed as having comments, but when you go to the article to read the comments, there are none and it still shows as just “Add a comment”. It can then take hours for the comments to appear in some cases, while in other cases, the comments come up straight away.

      I have been watching this for months, and can find no logic to it. Armstong and O’Sullivan’s articles are often the worst at comments not being shown for a long time – sometimes days, particularly at weekends. Also on some occasions, after the comments finally appear, the number of likes don’t appear for a long time either, sometimes hours. Yet, this doesn’t happen to other opinion pieces. Very innconsistent.

      A couple of years ago, I remember reading a comment by Deborah Coddington on Pundit (in reply to another woman poster there who she was having an argument with in the comments of a post) that suggested something to the effect that writers of opinion pieces in the Herald received commission on the number of times their articles were opened. This suggested that the holding back of releasing comments meant that they got more hits as people checked to see whether comments were there or not. I don’t know if this is true, but there is some logic in that approach (from the point of view of the writer) if it is.

  14. Tracey 14
    27 June 2014 at 12:23 pm

    Lynn

    That the herald think it is being accused of bias as opposed to being accused of not investigating its stories and sources, not showing its info to the accused party prior to comment etc speaks volumes.

    • Anne 14.1
      27 June 2014 at 12:40 pm

      One Herald commenter has said:

      David Cunliffe should “demand a written apology and published retraction”
      He should lodge a formal complaint to the NZ Press Council if this is not provided.

      Couldn’t agree more! It would be one complaint the Press Council would have to take very seriously otherwise their own reputation will be jeopardy…

      • Tracey 14.1.1
        27 June 2014 at 12:47 pm

        the Labour Party president should make the complaint and seek compensation for the time wasted looking for documents(donations) which dont exist.

        Cunliffe should stay out of it saying things like

        “i am sorry the public has been let down by this poor piece of journalism. Labour is sorry for the distraction but more galvanised to bring issues that matter to the attention of nzers, with or without the herald.”

        • Kiwiri 14.1.1.1
          27 June 2014 at 1:08 pm

          Yes, the Party President or someone on her or David’s behalf, or an assigned solicitor/spokesperson.

          A circuit breaker is needed to free up David from the Herald-Woodhouse-Key rubbish, and to allow David to campaign positively and advocate for Labour’s policies.

          • Anne 14.1.1.1.1
            27 June 2014 at 3:59 pm

            Yes, that is a better idea. Leaves Cunliffe and co. to concentrate on policy announcements etc.

            I. for one, would be more than happy to donate to a Labour initiated fund so they could hire lawyers to fight the case for them without dipping into campaign funds. If the Herald comment section is any indication, I think there would be a substantial amount of money flowing in from non-members and even non Labour voters who nevertheless want to see a fair election campaign on a relatively even playing field.

  15. JohnB 15
    27 June 2014 at 1:09 pm

    My Comment on NZH:

    As a long time reader of the NZ Herald, I’ve been able to accept the slow slide into grammar diarrhoea, the automatic postings of the AP stories online (with US spellings), and the generally ‘right wing vibe’ of the commentators (it’s a point of view). But when that crosses over into poor and biased reporting (whether for ‘conspiratorial’ motives, or because like Key you stick your finger into the wind to check how public opinion is blowing), then you lose all basis for your reputation as a national paper of record. This might have been forgettable 100 years ago in 1914 when there were few other newspapers (and yes, a reference to the Herald’s flip-flopping on the ‘German question’), but today there are many other news sources from which I can be informed. As a ‘consumer of news’, I no longer want to buy what you’re selling – it’s poor quality rubbish. Democracy demands balanced debate, and you don’t provide it. By that definition you’re no longer a newspaper, but a propaganda piece, whether in the service of profit or ideology. It’s time to bring some balance, moral fibre and sagacity into your news room, otherwise readers will leave in droves. Who knows, it may yield results

  16. ropata 16
    27 June 2014 at 1:28 pm

    winners from this saga
    – herald sales of manufactured ‘news’
    – whaleoil’s claim to being a real journalist
    – national’s scandals (Oravida, Liu, Banks) are out of the news cycle

    losers
    – nz public
    – real jorunalism

    • lprent 16.1
      27 June 2014 at 1:30 pm

      Exactly. Plus NZ Herald’s credibility as a news source. I think everyone is going to look pretty hard at whatever they produce over the next few years. I know I will be looking a lot harder at their stories, and I wasn’t a fan of them in the first place.

      • ropata 16.1.1
        27 June 2014 at 2:31 pm

        I would expect journalists to have a reasonable IQ and critical thinking skills but it seems that the bar for publication has been lowered to tabloid standards.. i.e. any old gossip floating around

        Agree that whatever credibility NZH may have had is now in tatters. If they have any ethics or integrity they need to demonstrate a bit of independence from the old boys network, start doing their job, and question the media narratives from the rich and powerful.

        It’s journalism 101 people. Otherwise what the hell is the use of the so-called “fourth estate”?

  17. finbar 17
    27 June 2014 at 1:32 pm

    A good piece by Frank Macskaskey in The Daily Blog is a good companion piece to the above post.

    • Kiwiri 17.1
      27 June 2014 at 1:49 pm

      Thanks for pointing out Frank’s piece. I will re-read but quickly just at this point …

      “However, my [i.e. Frank’s] advice to Cunliffe and the Labour Party is to defer legal action until after 20 September. The Labour Party cannot afford distractions this close to an election.”

      On this side of the election, any preliminary steps towards legal action should be positioned or headed up in a way that frees up Cunliffe for positive, affirmative, good news campaigning by him. There should be a small team of people that can be referenced for comment (or to whom further queries can be put) if and when any stupid questions or statements from jonolists, or their idiotic friends, come up during the campaign.

    • ianmac 17.2
      27 June 2014 at 2:24 pm

      And Frank had a short sharp comment under the Herald Editorial as did Phillip Ure, and others.

  18. Cemetery Jones 18
    27 June 2014 at 2:03 pm

    The Herald’s agenda has become increasingly obvious. They are engaged in a cunning, devious, and finely crafted political conspiracy. Knowing how much trouble they’d be in if they were caught failing to do anything more than support National with full blown enthusiasm, they have thought long and hard about how they can give support and credibility to the opposition without alerting Slater, Ede, Farrar, and Joyce to their intentions. By engaging in the tackiest, flimsiest, and most transparently baseless attack campaign they could possibly imagine, the editorial staff at the Herald have found an ingenious way to motivate habitual non-voters to enrol and ditch this government, and to convince even the weariest and most moderate of left wingers that they must turn out for the election and vote for change.

    This is the only possible explanation for the smug, unapologetic, biased, and craven lines of attack that they are running against the New Zealand Labour Party. Nobody who possesses a legally sound frame of mind could believe that today’s editorial had any other purpose than that which I have outlined above, or that the Herald’s poorly researched and flimsily justified assertions could have been made with the intention that they be taken seriously. Tim Murphy and Shayne Currie are in fact moral and intellectual giants in tory gnomes’ clothing who have cunningly infiltrated the heart of the enemy camp. I just hope that by posting this, I don’t blow their cover, as I understand that they’ve recently redone the floor in the basement of the Northern Club. Digging it all back up again just to bury the pair of them alive for their treachery would be a terrible expense for that fine institution to face right now, what with the Atlas-like burden of Labour’s tax changes looming in the near future.

    Take courage, brave agents of change – on September the 21st, we will be thanking Tim Murphy and Shayne Currie for supplying the left with a much-needed turning point. I for one will send flowers – or leave them on the doorstep out front of the Northern Club.

  19. Jack 19
    27 June 2014 at 4:39 pm

    Labour require a media crisis team to handle issues like the Dong Liu Affair, National walked Labour into this one and sat back laughing and watching them squirm when there was no substance to the allegations, this is what happens when you have a media source which is plaible and easily manipulated.

  20. NZ Femme 20
    27 June 2014 at 7:02 pm

    Herald editor has just tweeted the following:

    “Donghua Liu – seems like some premature claims of the story ‘unravelling’ have been going on….”

    https://twitter.com/tmurphyNZH/status/482413071403462656

    *sigh – Getting ready for the next fizzing pile of poo.

  21. Jack 21
    27 June 2014 at 7:33 pm

    No doubt more will be revealed over the weekend about the missing $150k in donations, hope Labour have found it or did someone just pocket the cash?

    • karol 21.1
      27 June 2014 at 7:43 pm

      It was never about $150k. That figure included a boat ride for Liu’s staff, and some non-Labour stuff.

      left with some small change in multiple anonymous donations.

    • NZ Femme 21.2
      27 June 2014 at 8:21 pm

      Have you sleepwalked through the last couple of days Jack? I understand they have sleep clinics for that kind of thing.

      Google is your friend – it allows you to check for egg on your face before entering the public arena. Today’s retraction in the herald would be a good place to start:

      “We regret having reported inflated and conflated dollar figures.”
      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11282539

      • Jack 21.2.1
        27 June 2014 at 8:27 pm

        I was just being sarcastic in relation to the NZ Herald’s coverage of this whole affair, I think Dong Liu has been played like a fiddle by someone or some particular organisations???

        He is now a political football.

  22. Jilly Bee 22
    27 June 2014 at 7:37 pm

    John Campbell started his half hour with a few pertinent questions mainly aimed at the Herald editorial. He then detailed the several visits he has made to Donghua Liu’s property [close to Mt Hobson, I would think], it ended with Mr Liu departing rapidly in his people mover. Made my day it did!

  23. Jrobin 23
    27 June 2014 at 9:21 pm

    If it wasn’t premature and unravelling, then why did the editorial express regret over the exaggerated amount of donations claimed as fact. Tim Murphy has such faith in Woodhouse, Slater, Key, because they have been powerful. He feels safe behind their skirts. That could change rapidly if the public suddenly feel safe to express negativity towards Key. The polls have kept this in check, but they are in question too. Note the Nats are ignoring the polls so as to avoid “complacency” (RNZ this morning). Is this because they know something we don’t about the methodology used?
    There may be a pent up anger towards Key relating to asset sales, power prices, GCSB, inequality, child poverty, low wages, Pike River, Christchurch payouts, that is supressed because of the desire to fit in with the idea of the most popular PM ever. When people fall out of love with him and that illusion is dispelled it could get quite ugly, quite fast. Keep your horse saddled John, for a rapid getaway back to America.

  24. Sable 24
    28 June 2014 at 11:11 am

    Given the generally dismal public perception of journalists in this country, they rate alongside sex workers (I’m not sure why the latter rate so low in pubic perception, many are victims of circumstance but there you go) and sleazy politicians. I do not think self serving articles by the Herald or any one of the other MSM outlets has that much value in he public eye.

    I have noticed that even the bigger on line polls on sites like Stuff and Yahoo attract at most 5000 hits its safe to assume the actual viewership of these sites constitutes a small portion of the country’s overall population. And yet Labour and its supporters endlessly carp on about them. Did it occur to anyone this actually lends credence to their claims false or otherwise?

    The best thing Labour could do is publicly renounce them for the disingenuous creeps they are, point out the facts and then ignore them (Winston Peters is a master in kicking them to the curb, Cunliffe should take note). Refocus on issues that matter and make a effort to actually get their message out rather than chasing their tails (this is playing Nationals game).

    Where Labour in particular has failed is in getting its message out to constituents in my opinion is in the following areas:

    (1) Asset sales
    (2) TPPA (why is Labour less than emphatic in rejecting this?)
    (3) Spy laws (again why so silent?)
    (4) Lack of support for environmental issues (why did they vote down the Greens move to clean up NZ rivers)
    (5) Taxes-why do the most highly paid get a free ride in this country whilst the middle and working classes carry the tax burden
    (6) Immigration-we need to ensure those coming into NZ actually add value. There is also a need to ask why we are not retraining our own people.

    No post drops spelling out the problems and the solutions, on going newsletters, Youtube (only a rather uninspired web site Polity and a modest presence on sites like Twitter). I have no idea if they are using Facebook but they should be.

    Its not that people support National its more that they see no real alternative in Labour and this is Labour’s real Achilles heel.

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    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.   Chris Trotter writes – THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 30
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Labour presented a climate manifesto that aimed to claim the high ground on climate action vs National, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    9 hours ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    9 hours ago

  • Climate Change: The wrong direction
    This week the International Energy Association released its Net Zero Roadmap, intended to guide us towards a liveable climate. The report demanded huge increases in renewable generation, no new gas or oil, and massive cuts to methane emissions. It was positive about our current path, but recommended that countries with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    24 hours ago

  • “Racism” becomes a buzz word on the campaign trail – but our media watchdogs stay muzzled when...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Oh, dear.  We have nothing to report from the Beehive. At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website. But the drones have not gone silent.  They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    24 hours ago

  • Play it, Elvis
    Election Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t have time for. You’re welcome, etc. Let us press on, etc. 1.  What did Christopher Luxon use to his advantage in ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • Pure class warfare
    National unveiled its fiscal policy today, announcing all the usual things which business cares about and I don't. But it did finally tell us how National plans to pay for its handouts to landlords: by effectively cutting benefits: The biggest saving announced on Friday was $2b cut from the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to Sept 29
    Photo by Anna Ogiienko on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour, including:duelling fiscal plans from National and Labour;Labour cutting cycling spending while accusing National of being weak on climate;Research showing the need for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Weekly Roundup 29-September-2023
    Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago

  • Protest at Parliament: The Reunion.
    Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • Labour cuts $50m from cycleway spending
    Labour is cutting spending on cycling infrastructure while still trying to claim the higher ground on climate. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government released a climate manifesto this week to try to claim the high ground against National, despite having ignored the Climate Commission’s advice to toughen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • The Greater Of Two Evils.
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
    Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or  not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
    IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    3 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    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
    4 days ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    4 days ago

  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    5 days ago

  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW:  It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week  Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • The End Of The World.
    Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's Children
    Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Has There Been External Structural Change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • Another Labour bully
    Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problem
    Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Immigration settings updates
    Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
    Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
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    1 week ago

  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
    The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
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    1 week ago

  • Appointment of District Court Judge
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    1 week ago

  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
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    1 week ago

  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
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    1 week ago

  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
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    1 week ago

  • There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
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    1 week ago

  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
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    1 week ago

  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
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    1 week ago

  • Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
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    1 week ago

  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
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    1 week ago

  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
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    1 week ago

  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
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    1 week ago

  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
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    2 weeks ago

  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
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    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in Greymouth’s future
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    2 weeks ago

  • Nanaia Mahuta to attend PIF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
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    2 weeks ago

  • PREFU shows no recession, growing economy, more jobs and wages ahead of inflation
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    3 weeks ago

  • New cancer centre opens in Christchurch
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...
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    3 weeks ago

  • Government invests in top of the south’s roading resilience
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    3 weeks ago

  • New Zealanders continue to support the revitalisation of te reo as we celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Mā...
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    3 weeks ago

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