Open mike 01/10/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 1st, 2023 - 41 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step up to the mike …

41 comments on “Open mike 01/10/2023 ”

  1. Sanctuary 1

    "Yes, but apart from that what did you think of the show Mr. Lincoln?" moment from Stuff as we are told how wonderful Saudi Arabia is, as long as you don't miss habeas corpus, can overlook extra judicial state murder of dissidents, feel the routine use of indiscriminate torture doesn't apply to you, think the 24,000+ Houthi killed in Saudi air attacks probably had it coming, regard the right to protest as a silly western idea, actually love misogyny as state policy, and consider despotic theocracy a reasonable form of government…

    Dollars to donuts Bridget Dunn git a nice little stuffed Manila envelope for that piece.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/kiwi-traveller/300971717/expat-tales-the-truth-about-life-in-saudi-arabia-according-to-a-kiwi-who-lives-there

    • joe90 1.1

      …the most generous and welcoming people.

      /

      Saudi border guards have been accused of killing hundreds of Ethiopians using small arms and explosive weapons in a targeted campaign that rights advocates suggest may amount to a crime against humanity.

      https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/aug/21/fired-on-like-rain-saudi-border-guards-accused-of-mass-killings-of-ethiopians

    • Grey Area 1.2

      I tried commenting to this puff piece for the House of Saud but funnily enough it hasn't been published. I toned it down but questioned what alternate reality this piece came from when there is no hint of the dark side of Saudi Arabia.

      I didn't mention the irony (right term?) of the headline that this was: "The truth about life in Saudi Arabia according to a Kiwi who lives there".

      When Ms Dunn was asked what the biggest disadvantage of living in Saudi Arabia was she said: "People who've never visited have strong preconceptions about the country. Convincing them to change their minds takes time."

      Got it. We're the problem. The issue is not a blindness to reality on her part then.

      I will wonder now about the censorship moderation on Stuff whenever I see (as I still do now on this piece): "There are no comments yet. Why don't you write one?"

      • Dennis Frank 1.2.1

        Outsider is an extremely influential social archetype. When circumstances treat someone as such, pondering the meaning of the experience is natural. Systems often incorporate gate-keepers for quality control. Robotic dysfunction happens too.

        Lacey's House of Saud book was an eye-opener way back when. The role played by the bin Laden family is an interesting dimension, with Osama as naughty boy.

        According to the International Organisation of Migration, more than 750,000 Ethiopians are living in Saudi Arabia, 450,000 of them without proper documents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia%E2%80%93Saudi_Arabia_relations

        When most folk are not a card-carrying member of X (x=group) they participate in the category natural whereas card-carriers do so in the category official. Big-picture views of the cultural reality must integrate the dualism to be credible.

  2. PsyclingLeft.Always 2

    Change of government a threat to 200,000 people's Fair Pay Agreements – union

    The first industries in the upcoming negotiations include hospitality, grocery supermarkets, security officers and guards, commercial cleaners and early childhood education workers, with negotiations for bus drivers slightly ahead of the pack.

    Tradtionally…Hospo, Cleaners and others…have been treated "mostly" like shit by employers. Min wage,On call, etc..

    BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope opines…

    "I think it's significantly wasting people's time," Hope said.

    there would be better ways to deal with vulnerable workers in particular sectors."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/495299/change-of-government-a-threat-to-200-000-people-s-fair-pay-agreements-union

    Really Kirk ?..we know just how vulnerable Workers have been treated.

    On that….David Seymour lays it all out…

    Instead of Fair Pay Agreements, which the party's leader David Seymour called "anti business" policy, it would be "supporting freedom to contract".

    "'Fair pay' agreements amount to compulsory unionism that will reduce productivity and make it harder for employers to grow their businesses. ACT will get rid of them immediately.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/499093/act-s-business-plan-removing-january-holiday-putting-minimum-wage-on-hold

    Any Worker..should be voting Left as if their Future depends. Because it does!

    • Barfly 2.1

      New Zealand is a funny old place –

      A TMP candidate has her house broken into and threats left

      A Labour MP gets slapped around by some RW arsehole while campaigning

      Yet David Seymour has seemingly no pushback after his threats and attacks on Superannuatants, drug addicts, the mentally ill and minimum wage workers. Apparently emboldened by this he now promises to strip employment rights from New Zealand workers.

      Is it that the man's narcissism is so powerfull that it is inconcevible to him that his safety may be compromised by his own actions? Or is it just that Seymour is actually well aware that the politically violent are pretty much all on the Right Wing? (IMO it's the latter)

      • AB 2.1.1

        The latter mainly. And because he knows that if he is threatened it will be given wall to wall media coverage with no slippery "all sides do it" equivocation to obscure the truth. He will then grandstand endlessly about it and use it as an excuse to plan even more punitive attacks. .

        • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.1.1

          That could well be. Wouldnt be the first time a fascist….right wing party did something like that : (

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.2

        As you say, I think he has Narcissism at such a level..that he has absolutely no care of what the effects will be. Just watching him ..there is a palpable disconnect…between his words and the effects of same.

        "Guy Fawkes"…amongst many others. IMO a dangerous person.

  3. Dennis Frank 3

    There's this triad driving politics: left/right/other. The counter-culture was always other. This excellent review provides an authentic glimpse of othering as lifestyle dissidence: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/book-of-the-week-hippies-nude-and-useful

    In 1980 or thereabouts I passed the author at the Tahuna Farm commune, and then at another community at Graham Downs commune where my father and sister lived. In both places, Olive Jones appeared at the centre of things, a "key person", as she describes it in her new book Commune: Chasing a utopian dream in Aoteoroa. I was just out of adolescence.

    Olive was magnetically androgynous, seriously can-do, an Amazonian other. She was very visibly a pioneer of the rural counterculture. I sensed she possessed agency, although we didn’t call it that then. ‘Assertive’ was the aspiration for young, would-be feminists of my generation.

    From less than 1% of the whole when I jumped aboard in '68, back to the landers trended above 5% by the late '70s then emerged as Green ethos in politics the decade following.

    a core membership of those who wish to create alternative ways of living and being from the ground up; international itinerants on the word-of-mouth-circuit, and those on the outer fringes of society with nowhere left to go – the needy and the opportunist.

    Triadic framing of the communards like that is sociological.

    Here she is usefully spelling out the math: "The price of a fuck in the mid-1970s was around $60. And that was for less than half an hour of contact, often only 10 or 15 minutes, tax-free. It was an immense sum of money when you compared it with the average hourly wage for unskilled labour, which was around $5 before tax." Ultimately, she becomes ambivalent about prostitution. Its splitting of love and intimacy from sex finally bugs her too much to continue.

    The cost/benefit analysis of sex is another useful triad: the slash symbol represents the mental blend in our decision-making process, thus 3 as archetype emerging in the coming together of the binary. Family is produced by 3 if child happens from the binary sex act.

  4. Dennis Frank 4

    The splitter is an extremely influential social archetype: it has fractured christianity into upward of 40,000 sects since the disintegration of the original monolith (catholic).

    The mass psychology driving the archetype into cultural process is here:

    Splitting (also called black-and-white thinking, thinking in extremes or all-or-nothing thinking) is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both perceived positive and negative qualities of something into a cohesive, realistic whole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_(psychology)

    The exclusive nature of the thinking used (my way or the highway) is opposed by communal thought (inclusive) which generates community and human groups.

    Inside or outside the tent is a perennial question for players & groups in politics. MMP changed us up a gear, then pointed us toward transcendent collaboration. That means finding common ground upon which to proceed. That will feature in the aftermath of the election, whichever way it goes.

    To transcend a dichotomy, players must imagine a preferable third alternative to the binary views of partisans: big-picture thinking. The triad created mentally by the user gets transcendence from the framing organically: cohering players into group. The wiki definition cited above describes how holism transforms group process into system, producing "a cohesive, realistic whole." Candidates, representatives and activists cohere when grounding themselves in collective reality. This is the deep Green view of politics.

  5. Vivie 5

    I watched Q and A this morning. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a About 20 minutes in Jack Tame interviewed James Shaw, and put forward a scenario of National forming a coalition with either Act, New Zealand First or the Greens. Tame commented a few times that Labour and the Greens won't be able to form a government. Tame repeatedly asked Shaw whether the Greens would form a government with National. Tame came across as very biased towards National and almost hectoring. Shaw replied that the polls have been inaccurate in previous elections, repeatedly commented that the Greens want to form a government with Labour, and that voters will again determine the outcome this election outcome.

    It seems the media have been instructed to present a supposed forgone conclusion that National will form the next government. The media's negative attitude towards Labour has accelerated over the past couple of years, even more so this year. Presumably this is linked to the huge amounts of donations to National from the business sector which provides funding for advertising, and the vested interests of high earners and many in the real estate, business and farming sectors.

    The media's analysis of National’s evidently failed fiscal plan as confirmed by various economists, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/election-2023/497974/economists-analysis-rubbishes-national-s-foreign-buyers-tax-numbers has been mainly superficial. Why has National not been challenged in detail on the detrimental effects of their policies on beneficiaries, low and many middle-income workers, the inevitable increased house prices resulting from non-residents being able to buy properties, the vastly overestimated tax revenue from these hypothetical non-residents to supposedly pay for most of the planned tax cuts, the inevitable public services cuts and the decrease in workers' rights?

    Labour's fiscal plan has been costed and endorsed by Infometrics. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/133018004/labour-lays-down-its-financial-gauntlet-with-tight-budgets-and-a-challenge-to-national

    Prime time discussion panels with political analysts/scientists, including interviewing the relevant candidates, would likely provide more objectivity and information for voters, rather than combative interviews with current and potential MPs.

    • weka 5.1

      Jack Tame's job is to ask the hard questions of whichever politician is in front of him, and to pressure the politician to answer the questions.

      Shaw got off lightly compared to the Winston Peters interview immediately before him. Part of the Peters interview was that Peters was being an arse, so no sympathy at all for how Tame managed it.

      I don't think anyone is instruction the MSM to believe the polls. Who would have done that anyway? It's just that a number of the political classes like to predict, and in doing so influence outcomes. It's wrong imo for Tame to state it in the way he did, but it's pretty standard, not just journalists.

      What might come across as hectoring in the Shaw interview is just Tame trying to get Shaw to be clear. Green politics can be hard to understand and while I think the Greens are better at communicating this than in the past, I think Shaw still doesn't have a succinct enough way to explain things like the wealth tax, or post-election negotiations and why he won't be drawn on speculating. He did ok, but the answers are still unusual and a bit unclear so it's Tame's job to try and get clarity.

    • Dennis Frank 5.2

      Why has National not been challenged in detail on the detrimental effects of their policies

      My guess is that media are reluctant to predict the future. There's been an establishment bias against doing so for more than 3 centuries, so there's substantial inertia to overthrow if you are a revolutionary aspiring changemaker.

      It can be done in contemporary society using conditional framing: you just suggest a likely outcome of implementing the policy. Journos do so often.

      You could email Jack to ask him why he didn't, but framing a discussion is the prerogative of the framer (media pro), so be polite if you want a response.

      Nothing wrong with scaremongering by opponents of the Nats, so could be he believes a forensic examination of likely outcomes of Nat policies is best left to politicians opposed to them, huh? The PM has had a go at that in the media I suggest Jack is likely to do a bit of that when the realising looms larger…

      • Patricia 2 5.2.1

        Anyone with a memory of the Ruth Richardson "Mother of all Budgets" will know what lies ahead if NACT wins the election. In 1991 benefit reductions / Housing NZ increases to market rental / vulnerable families moved off the housing waiting list – all these caused disruption for years. As a budgeter / food bank worker during those years my work load increased substantially – many families existed on food parcels for months because of stand down penalties. I am dreading the outcome of this coming election and hope I have the energy to support my clients for a few more years to come. I have concerned clients ringing daily and all I can advise them is to make sure they, their friends and families get out and vote wisely over the next 2 weeks.

        • SapphireGem 5.2.1.1

          Patricia 2, it’s frightening to think of what possibly lies ahead if NACT win- particularly concerning for the vulnerable/ at-risk members of society- the ones Luxon calls bottom feeders.

          As demonstrated in Jack Tame’s interview of James Shaw, the media are now treating a Right victory as guaranteed. It’s very depressing and makes me wonder how much this fair accompli mindset influences people to vote for the Right OR to not vote at all…

    • AB 5.3

      Part of the problem is the media obsession with the horse race purely as a race. What the race is about, or means for real people, gets lost in the media coverage. It should probably be illegal to publish any political poll for 12 months before the latest date an election must be held. Then there is very little to talk about except policy and its implications.

      • Patricia 2 5.3.1

        I am finding already that the attitude at some WINZ offices has changed and case managers are being more hard nosed about some applications than in previous months. I feel they are pre-empting a NACT win.

  6. Chris Hipkins has Covid, and could not be at the west Auckland rally. Get well Chippy.

    The Press Debate date may be changed, or a stand in called up.

    Grant Robertson?

    • alwyn 6.1

      Why not just do it with Hipkins using Zoom?

      I'm sure they could supply a decent camera for him to give a better picture, or he could just do it from a studio in Wellington. After all he is the only one who would need to be in the room.

  7. Anne 7

    What rotten luck! I hope they postpone it until either later in the week or early the following week.

    • alwyn 7.1

      Voting starts tomorrow. If they were to delay it to early next week half the population could have already voted.

      • Bearded Git 7.1.1

        700,000 people voted in the first week of advanced voting at the last election in 2020. This represents less than a quarter of the votes cast.

        Those 700k would have been people who had already made their minds up (like me; I will vote this week).

        So it makes complete sense to postpone the press debate until early next week.

        • alwyn 7.1.1.1

          By next week I mean the week starting Monday 9 October and by "early" I was thinking of the evening of Tuesday 10 October.

          By then 9 of the 12 days available for early voting would have passed.

          On the other hand I am not sure how much any of the debates after the first one matter. Anyone who might be swinging will probably have only watched the first one and will work on what they saw there. I doubt if the audience for any debate after the first will be that large. It is only the political tragics (like me) who watch all the debates and we have, like you, already decided on what we intend to do.

      • Matiri 7.1.2

        There seem to be far fewer advance voting places this year, at least in my West Coast Tasman electorate.

  8. Muttonbird 8

    Question: Did National Party activists on orders from the office of Chris Bishop deliberately infect the Prime Minister with Covid-19?

    • joe90 8.1

      The Natzi brains trust is onto it.

      The Labour spin doctors have probably told Chippy that the more he campaigns the less votes he gets, so his best option is to shut the hell up. Catching covid is awfully convenient, because it is designed to remind voters that "Labour saved everyone from covid, remember that?". All too convenient.

      [..]

      He’s given up…not a committed stalwart like Clark

      […]

      It’s likely an excuse.
      The MP that replaces him for the debates will be the one in the front seat to take over post election.
      They won’t change out leaders this close to election, but it appears 💩kins is kaka-kaput

    • SapphireGem 8.2

      Hadn’t thought of this; wouldn’t surprise me.

  9. Dennis Frank 9

    I guess it gives his deputy the opportunity to shine. I hope his immune system deals with the invasion swiftly. Folks ought to google human microbiome if they do not yet know that each one of us is an ecosystem host!

    Some will wonder about God's will but the possibility of Gaia's will being involved is more likely to occur to anyone who's ever encompassed the new age or Green belief systems. I wonder what his own thoughts are about being taken out as leader in the campaign. There's potential for some floaters to give Labour a sympathy vote: everyone knows a fair competition is based on equity of opportunity.

    He has had cold and flu symptoms since yesterday and will be isolating for five days or until he returns a negative test. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/499146/bugger-labour-leader-chris-hipkins-tests-positive-for-covid-19-at-crucial-point-in-election-campaign

  10. Dennis Frank 10

    James nails the Nats lack of credibility from the Green perspective:

    We don’t see the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis, or the crisis of intergenerational poverty as separable from each other.

    Any agreement that we form with any party, to form a government, has got to ensure that we’re able to progress those things in equal measure … you cannot solve the climate crisis without bringing everyone with you and having an inclusive society and an inclusive economy.

    National has never been about that. They’ve always been about, essentially, making intergenerational poverty worse….there’s no chance on God’s green earth that [National would offer a better environmental policy to the Greens than Labour]. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/vote2023-qa-with-james-shaw

    Could have added a challenge to the bluegreens: take me to your real leader (no need to point to the fake) but asking the Nats to provide a basis for consensus would freak them out even more…

    • Mike the Lefty 11.1

      You never see a photo of Simeon Brown without a fossil-fuel guzzling vehicle somewhere in the picture. Three guesses who was behind National's policy of ending the clean car rebate.

    • joe90 11.2

      Take the kid to work day.

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  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago
  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    3 days ago
  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    3 days ago
  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    4 days ago
  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    4 days ago
  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    4 days ago
  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    5 days ago
  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    6 days ago
  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    6 days ago
  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    7 days ago
  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 23-November-2023
    It’s Friday again! Maybe today we’ll finally have a government again. Roll into the weekend with some of the articles that caught our attention this week. And as always, feel free to add your links and observations in the comments. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s strategy for COP28 in Dubai
    The COP28 countdown is on. Over 100 world leaders are expected to attend this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which starts next Thursday. Among the VIPs confirmed for the Dubai summit are the UK’s Rishi Sunak and Brazil’s Lula da Silva – along ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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