*MAD AS HELL* reporter Andrea Vance about being spied on – a threat if you ask me and a not so quiet warning for anyone disagreeing with government policies.
This is a must read article for everyone as far as I’m concerned.
Anyone have tips on how to avoid being spied on?
I’ve heard about Silent Circle, communicating using the “drafts” folder in email (so messages aren’t actually sent and therefore can’t be intercepted). Seems timely to figure out ways around this. Not that I have anything to hide(!)
Asww
First away from the block! You get the medal for being the most wide-awake around 6 a.m. despite your pseudonym.
‘Anyone have tips on how to avoid being spied on?’
Radionz a.m. interview said something along these lines.
Media freedom – the monitoring of journalists calls ( 13′ 14″ )
09:31 An international press freedom organisation reveals its concerns regarding the monitoring of New Zealand journalists. With Bob Dietz, Asia Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
In answer to a question about what Labour will do about this bill on gaining power, David Cunliffe has said this bill should not, can not, and will not stand.
David Shearer has pointed out (Despite John Key’s denial), that documents reveal that the GCSB were instrumental in illegally passing on the time stamped metadata used to track Andrea Vance’ movements through parliament. This illegally collected and passed on metadata evidence, was used to finger Peter Dunne as the source of the leak of that revealed that 88 Kiwis were being illegally spied on by the GCSB.
In retalliation the GCSB/SIS, (without actually handing it over), let Winston Peters see Peter Dunne’s private email exchange with Andrea Vance. According to Peters, Dunne’s private emails included a lot of personal and embarrassing detail about Peter Dunne’s relationship with Andrea Vance that Peter Dunne would find deeply humiliating or even distressing for him if released.
The GCSB want the right to collect everyone’s metadata.
We have witnessed in microcosm how the GCSB are exercising that power illegally now.
Are you shocked are you appalled?
The GCSB ammendment bill seeks to make the abuse of metadata that we have witnessed in microcosm by this shadowy secret agency against Dunne and Vance not only legal, but universal, over every single inhabitant of this country. Not just monitoring reporters, but everyone. And not just movements through parliament, but the whole of society.
In defence of this (still currently) illegal activity our Prime Minister has lied.
“….I am that journalist and I’m mad as hell. Anyone who has had their confidential details hacked and shared around has the right to be angry.
My visit to Speaker David Carter’s office on Tuesday left me reeling. My jaw gaped open when he sheepishly confessed that a log of all calls I placed to people around Parliament over three months was released to an inquiry focused on the leak of the Kitteridge report on the GCSB.”
Andrea Vance
“On Tuesday, an IT staffer showed me pages of “metadata” – a record of hundreds of calls I made between February and May.
The conversations, of course, aren’t disclosed. But you can glean a lot from matching numbers, time and the dates of published stories.”
Andrea Vance
“Details of inquiry head David Henry’s intrusive and outrageous behaviour have had to be dragged from all parties. (He, curiously, omitted any reference of the swipe card records from his report.)
Can I, and my sources, be confident the records weren’t viewed? They were held on a Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet server up until Tuesday night. Why – if they had acted so properly – did the Henry inquiry not notify me of this intrusion? It rankles that Key was told days before I was.
I don’t know who had access to my records. And I’m suspicious why on June 5, less than a week after the unauthorised release, NZ First leader Winston Peters was making some startling allegations about phone records in the House. Neither the prime minister’s office, the Speaker or Parliamentary Service have been able to offer a guarantee that there was no leak to Peters.”
that documents reveal that the GCSB were instrumental in illegally passing on the time stamped metadata used to track Andrea Vance’ movements through parliament.
Bullshit. Card access data isn’t metadata, it’s the normal bog standard data. Collecting those ‘timestamps’ is what the cards do, it’s the bit of data they are designed to collect. The GCSB wouldn’t be needed to get that data, PS already have it. And the ‘documents’ don’t show anything like what you claim as fact.
Getting this stuff right is important, if you hype it and say stupid shit about it, it hurts the cause.
Community housing providers told a select committee yesterday that they generally supported social housing reforms which were designed to shift housing assistance from the state to the community sector.
Organisations especially supported a proposal to give non-government providers access to the same subsidies as Housing New Zealand. This meant churches, iwi, trusts and other NGOs would be able to charge tenants no more than 25 per cent of their income to rent social houses, and Government would top up the difference to the market rent of the house.
But the community housing sector and public health researchers strongly opposed moves to increase the “churn” or rate of turnover in social housing by making all tenancies fixed-term, three-year contracts.
I think the “churn” is a good idea and can’t see any reason why we should for example allow a single parent who’s children have left to remain in a 3brm house. It is inefficient and a total waste of housing stock not to mention subsidy.
Security of tenure though is important, and where applicable it is possible to persuade people to shift to smaller houses through a process of consultation; ensuring that they are not shoved out of their community and that their present needs really are met.
I somewhat agree with AWW, however and please correct me if i am in error but AWW seems to be pushing a punitive line,
Here is what SHOULD happen at the front end of the tenancy not at the back end when the kids have all grown up and left home,
It’s fine to want the right sized housing stock to match the size of the family that occupies them, BUT, when a tenant with a family is granted such a tenancy they should be informed both verbally and by a condition in the rental agreement that once the family has grown and if they still need State housing that they may be required to move to accommodation that matches their needs,AND,it must be the duty of the PROVIDER to those families required to downsize to provide them with the accommodation that meets their current needs at the same 25% of income as rent,
The only reason we are having this discussion is in fact because every government after the Kirk Labour Government has ensured that the number of State Houses for rent has not grown while the population has grown by 1 million,
We are woefully short of State houses by at least 30,000 houses, and , Auckland’s current and ongoing housing affordability issues in my opinion are a direct result of this,
What i am pleased with is that there now appears to be a consensus that Social and/or State housing should never exceed as a rental 25% of a tenants household income and i would like to see legislation that reflects this,
I still see no evidence or logical reason why large tranches of the States housing stock should be vested in the ‘social sector’, the State has been the major and successful provider of ‘social housing’ since the First Labour Government,
Tinkering with the current State Housing stock will provide nothing but confusion of responsibility, it is not tinkering that is required, what is required is an ongoing comprehensive State House building program which lifts the number of State Houses to such a number so that Low Waged working families can be housed…
Yep, the state should ensure that there is an over supply of housing. Having people living homeless isn’t efficient due to the social harm that it does.
30 years of the State not being a major player in the building of new housing stock isn’t long enough for you to ascertain that the market has failed to respond sufficiently to meet demand,
Even Slippery the Prime Minister has stated that in Auckland the market has failed…
Yes because state houses are cool places to live. I was raised in a state house, and lived in one until I was 17. It is not something anyone should aspire to.
srylands
You wouldn’t aspire to a state house? They probably have been run down since your day. But you are too proud and superior to want to live in a state house aren’t you, not like ‘those people’.
And economists don’t have to. They’re well paid. They can buy up a solid rather stolid old state house and give it a makeover – comes up like a polished gem. The old houses might be a little plain even rough but they were well built. Even today’s which may be less so are somewhere secure to live and are found good by people who want their own place.
It’s only bloody snobs that would turn up their noses at a healthy state house in good repair. And it’s only economists who love figures on a page, rather than real people who would put beneficiaries through an annual scare that they might be turned out for some spurious reason. It’s much like those pictures of Victorian landlords turning a fainting woman with a child in her arms out into the snow.
Further to my comment above – there is another reason why people would turn down a perfectly good state house. That is if it was too far from whatever work is available, whatever education is available, whatever medical help was available, whatever supportive family or friends that are available, and it takes too long to travel to these aids to living, the transport is too sparse, and that the transport is too dear to pay for the family to travel to these places and services.
Olwyn
You offer a practical approach to ‘efficient’ housing for low income people. People shouldn’t be pushed around like pieces on a chess board. There are deep human reasons such as being social animals why people should be able to live in an area where they know others and are familiar with the location.
But more, children from homes with money and/or other difficulties tend not to learn well if they are shifted from one school to another as the family is forced to move when they are in their early to mid school years. Then when they are in college level education their studies and learning routines, if disrupted, can mean poor assessments or examination outcomes. Secure housing is more important than not having a spare bedroom.
It is beginning to sound like Russia after communism arrived. The wealthy had spare rooms in their houses given to the poor as it was deemed to be fair when there were so many poor and needy. In NZ you become equivalent to a decadent aristocrat if living in a 3 bedroom house when you could fit into a 2 bedroom. Garages next!
Hey what about renting those large people movers for overnight accommodation for the homeless. They and large 4wds are often left parked at the kerb just empty. What a waste of expense and space, when opening them up to doss down for the night would be so efficient, and would save land and expense on alternative accommodation. What a brilliant idea!
+1 agreed Rosetinted….”People shouldnt be shifted around like pieces on a chess board” ….and there is no reason they should if the state were to keep up the numbers of houses to accommodate NZers….as well as the jobs and free education and skills training
Another reason for preventing those non NZ overseas residents from buying up scarce NZ housing stock….and helping create unaffordable house pricing.
Indeed, especially as it’s often the older people who have settled down (and whose kids have flown) who have the time and inclination to say “hi” to regulars on the street, have a natter, and generally build a community. It’s one thing to meet in day care or in the school or church (other important community anchors), but actually having people in the street also helps.
Of the people I’ve known that were in state housing, many, many more were overcrowded rather than underutilised. I knew of situations with up to 10 in a 3 bedroom house, but none with a single person. I think we have to be very careful, as always, to frame the dialogue on the basis of need rather than greed. In this case, the greed of developers to get their paws on any appealing land still in the public domain.
One presentation claims the XKeyscore program covers ‘nearly everything a typical user does on the internet’
“Nice” to see that NZ contributes to this – Waihopi highlighted as a data source location.
Given this statement…
“The government doesn’t need to ‘target’ Americans in order to collect huge volumes of their communications,” said Jaffer. “The government inevitably sweeps up the communications of many Americans” when targeting foreign nationals for surveillance.
… I wouldn’t be surprised if the GCSB uses a similar rationale to ‘target’ far more than the 80 odd people they have admitted to.
If everyone is in a raw panic over the threat of a new housing price bubble, why is there seemingly no concern whatsoever about the agricultural land price bubble going on? Today on the rural news they noted a new increase in the milk solids payout to dairy farmers, followed by the usual platitudes abut farmers prudently using it to retire debt, yet then the commentating analyst from the bank noted the total farm debt is actually up again. Surely that is a huge red flag to the government??? Could it be that at a time of unprecedented high dairy prices, farmers appear to be using the money not to retire debt but to get into a pryamid scheme of speculative land purchasing for dairy conversions that can be flicked on for tax-free capital gain? We had better all pray the milk solid prices stay firmly high, because if the bubble ever bursts in the dairy sector you might as board up half of provincial New Zealand.
Yes, its happening. Agricultural debt is now over $50 billion.
When the North Island was in drought early this year the international dairy prices increased. http://www.interest.co.nz/charts/commodities/dairy-prices
A westpac economist claimed that part of the explanation for the increase in the international dairy price was because of the fall in volume caused by the North Island drought, I was surprised when I heard this. I would have thought that a relatively small fall in volume would not impact dairy prices. This just highlights how incredibly volatile the dairy commodity price is. Given the supply of dairy products that are coming out of Chile, Uruguay and other South American countries I guess it is possible that dairy prices could go the same way as coal. But the Bank economists are saying that China etc are going to consume any extra supply, but as we have seen with what happened during the drought, small changes in supply can have fairly big impacts in dairy prices.
Why would farm debt be a “huge red flag to the government”?
The government is owned by the banking system controllers, farming and control over NZ’s primary export industry, and the resources required to keep the industry moving, was identified, long ago, along with NZ’s mineral/oil/gas resources, as required to keep under control.
Can’t have a nation accessing its resources for the greater good of anyone but the so called, elite!
LOLZ, your post jiggled free a LIE that Bill from Dipton told in the Parliament yesterday, in answer to a patsy question from some non-entity on National’s back bench who i have never heard of and probably never will again,
English said this, this National Government has ensured that interest rates are low and families have lowered their household debt as a result of this,
Say what Bill, household debt is higher than it’s ever been and whoever is holding the brown end of the stick as Government when the Reserve Bank finally gets round to raising interest rates wont last longer than the following election as the pain from the over-blown debt being carried by the middle class gets translated into votes…
“We had better all pray the milk solid prices stay firmly high, because if the bubble ever bursts in the dairy sector you might as board up half of provincial New Zealand.”
You had better buy timber company shares then, because when the Chinese and the Russians start using the expertise they have siphoned from buying up our farms and agriculture companies to establish huge super dairy farms the size of this country on the steppes of Siberia, etc, and simply railing the produce out to Europe, then our farmers will go the way of our manufacurers.
Excepting of course that the major competitive advantage we have over most is the relativily friendly climate which helps keep production high and input costs comparitivily low…
the Russians start using the expertise they have siphoned from buying up our farms and agriculture companies to establish huge super dairy farms the size of this country on the steppes of Siberia, etc,
The Russians (lavrov) offered us substantive low cost land for enhanced sustainable agriculture development key and Grocer stuffed it up by insisting on short term (tariff reduction) in the FTA.
Sanctuary
What a blow to find that every time we appear to be going ahead successfully in farming or anything it gets screwed up and we end up pressing the wrong buttons and going down the wrong track. If we do well our dollar goes up and our exports stagnate and we import too much stuff.
(Theres a book looking at the role of clothing on consumption in the world, I think it is second in the spending stakes after food.) If anyone wants to know the name of the book I’ve got it, just have to look it up.
And you wonder, is it actually a one-way track. Is there no way back? And then you think about who is driving this thing – are they well-trained, practical and careful thinkers or are they like that Spanish guy, in the wrong place and going too fast to stop wrecking everything.
Is this the framework for our bill ?? STOP THE GCSB BILL AT ALL COSTS !
“The Guardian today has revealed a training guide for a program called XKeyscore, which NSA documents call the agency’s “widest-reaching” system for gathering Internet information. The program monitors everything anyone does on the Internet, from the content of emails to websites visited, searches, chats, and metadata. It can also be used to watch real-time Internet activity. The quantity of data collected is so huge—1 billion to 2 billion records a day—that they can only be stored for several days, with more “interesting” data saved for longer.
Though an NSA worker would need a warrant to target a U.S. citizen, the agency can collect data on any citizen in communication with someone on foreign soil without a warrant.
I doubt if Labour, whether under Cunliffe or Shearer, will repeal the GCSB bill. Once in government they would like nothing more than to be able to spy on us. So don’t think it will ever be repealed. Such talk from Labour leaders is there to appease the masses and to get votes in 2014. Secretly they will welcome the bill, they are revelling in the fact that it is the current government giving them a nice present. This bill is designed to create a Gestapo (right wing) or a Stasi (left wing) organisation to keep us all under surveillance.
It will be an election issue. You really think Labout are going to campaign saying they will repeal the bill, and then renege after the election, given that if they win they will most likely win by a small margin? Don’t forget the GP either.
Wrong approach, if I may suggest. You pressure Labour to commit to completely reworking the GCSB legislation to ensure the absolute maximum of democratic transparency and oversight possible as part of their manifesto, and then when Labour get in you pile on the pressure and absolutely force them to do it via popular pressure, as part of their first year in Government.
No more fucking trusting any politician bastards to keep their word, we have to make them do the right thing.
BTW you can’t just have the new legislation repealed, because the old legislation is an absolute dogs breakfast full of loopholes to start with.
I see there will be an Privileges committee inquiry into the leaking of Andrea Vances Emails/phone records. However I feel there will be another coverup/whitewash as the leader of the inquiry is the NAT MP Finlayson. Why oh Why can’t they JUST have an independent inquiry?
It’s not easy to look at Tamati, 1/3 of the screen is taken up with battleship grey. It’s a bloody screen use it all, and don’t say just lose it by pressing a few more buttons, useability should mean pressing less bloody buttons. BTW, that was a beauty, a real big jolt.
From what the Boffins have been saying Christchurch was more or less ‘direct hits’ whereas Wellingtons lot where more of ‘proximity’,
Should the 6.5 have occurred on the Wellington Fault which hasn’t apparently moved in a zillion years i could well imagine that the damage would have been way more severe and widespread,
The last biggy that moved things around a bit in Wellington was on the Wairarapa Fault and raised parts of Wellington by a meter, Kairangi, the island i live on, at that point i believe stopped being an island…
It looks pretty good on my Samsung only snag been I don’t have a reply button on each of the comments.
Am enjoying the fast load of comment heavy posts previously once a post got near 100 comments I had to flush the cache etc to even have a chance of getting them to load let alone have the ability to scroll through with any speed
Wow! Now that is better, so easy to see now. I am commenting on my Laptop but i just had to have a look on phone. A LG Optimus one with a 320 x 480 pixel, 3.2 inch (~180 ppi pixel density) screen
Second reading of the GCSB bill today and the reality has to now be setting in.
Sir Bruce Ferguson and Sir Jeffery Palmer have been out spoken in the last week exposing how undemocratic this bill is, e.g. rushed, will pass with a 1 vote majority and how the bill needs to be a conscience vote.
The sad reality is that Key cannot see the damage which he is going to cause with the passing of the bill and his attitude is I will have it my way like a SPOILT BRAT. Also Key has excluded many other better options e.g. having a review, looking at other international models, appointing people with intelligence and legal experience to have oversight of the GCSB/SIS (Shearer raised these points on morning report).
Yeah who does he think he is? The Prime Minister of the country or something? Its almost as if he thinks that getting enough votes to pass a bill means it becomes law or something…the gall of the man
“Yeah who does he think he is? The Prime Minister of the country or something?”
What makes a good Prime Minister?
Power corrupts as in being a dictator and those who surround a dictator are also culpable. Palmer even used the word “dictator” when he was interviewed on Campbell Live earlier in the week.
Golly gee well if Geoff Palmer says it then it was be true, that explains why JKs cancelled all elections, banned other political parties and why editors and journalists are being thrown in prison left right and centre
I am not going to split hairs, on second thoughts Palmer may have said dictatorial.
If you think a good Prime Minister can run the GCSB using legislation going back to 1976 before computers/smart phones were part of everyday life and knowlingly being aware of how the public feel about the management of the GCSB I find this to be short sighted.
Does an inquiry into an inquiry which is not independent some how make it alright?
And I note there is no clock as to what time comments were made. Handy if replying to something that may be hours ( or days old ), and the whole argument has moved on. And also handy to see if it’s just the booze talking at 2am.
There is a one wee problem with the new mobile version – no reply button.
Adrian *might* be using a mobile. I have a query off with the developers asking WTF! It isn’t a hard trick to do, they have the threading ok in this version…
Prime Minister John Key has justified the changes to the country’s spying laws by saying some people in New Zealand have been trained by al-Qaeda in places such as Yemen.
Mr Key said in “the real world” powers to spy on civilians was necessary.
“In New Zealand there are people who’ve been trained for al-Qaeda camps who operate out of New Zealand, who are in contact with people overseas, who have gone off to Yemen and other countries to train.
“I’m sorry, but that’s the real world.”
He said it was a “robust regime” before a signature was placed on a warrant to spy on someone.
“I wish those things didn’t happen in New Zealand,” Mr Key said.
“But if people don’t believe there’s the odd person in New Zealand who presents a potential threat, either on the international stage or in New Zealand, unfortunately they’re wrong.”
The question is why are they still trading in the NZ marketplace?
Whilst Key suggests that we need to be guarded as to a handful of people who have trained in Yemen,do we also have to have watching briefs on MBA from Harvard.
We know US residents are more prone to criminal behavior as the US has 25% of the worlds prison population,should we enhance our border protection to target visitors from the US?
Following the Roy Morgan poll it is noticable that alot of the Cunliffe harpies (excluding the institutionalised ones) on this site have gone very quiet. The Shearer hating appears to have died down.
It is not like there hasn’t been bait laid either. Alot of recent posts have provided ample opportunity to put the boot in.
Of course we all know that Shearer is going to get rolled, what we don’t know is when.
This weird lull could be viewed as a barometer reading for a very fast approaching storm.
I haven’t noticed a decrease in criticism of Shearer here. It’s just that we’ve been talking about the GCSB so much. But when the talk turns to Labour, amongst the good discussion on policy, there’s still plenty of comments about Shearer. What blog are you actually reading?
A vote for Labour is a vote for Shearer or a vote for Shearer is a vote for Labour?
Either way it makes no difference even though a person may have a preference for whom they would like to be the leader of a political party. E.g. Banks and the Act party.
The polls always reflect last month or so. At the moment they reflect Duncan Garner’s solo Labour leadership challenge, and the “man ban” beat up. Next month (or the next) they will reflect this lot…
Yep. After watching the damn things closely for the last 6 years, the lag seems to vary between 5 and 8 weeks most of the time. It shortens to about 2-3 weeks at election times. But they are always laggy.
On the other hand, there is a distinct trend over the last 3 polls and that GCR is “disturbing”
I take much heart from your previous comments McFlock that we mustn’t look at a single poll result and cry that the sky is falling. Shearer is doing fine, Labour is sitting on a natural rate of 32%-33% and this is most likely a one off low result which won’t be repeated.
Even at 29%, its still a good deal higher than the actual 2011 election result and Shearer must be given credit for that, as you have correctly mentioned on previous occasions.
🙄
It’s not the 29% that’s a concern (although it is a threshold-breaker), it’s the last four polls results. And what about the Greens, bucko? Is their lowest result since the election (and below their election performance) Shearer’s fault, too?
I mean, I know nobody’s happier than you at the thought of the left being back to where it was 18 months ago (not even Key), but you might have the decency to cut a hole in your trouser pocket rather than simply unzipping to show everyone your ecstatic reaction.
I do love how the new tactic to deflect commentary on Labour’s poll results is “butbutbut the GREENS are down too!!!! You must think that’s Shearer’s fault!!!!”
Makes just as much sense as demanding that we ignore Labour’s performance unless we also talk about Act’s.
No, because I’ve always argued for a left government, not just a labour one.
Try thinking about it a bit:
Problem: national are gaining support, the opposition are losing support. Both of them. Both the greens and labour have lost similar proportions of support in the same time period.
Whatever caused the sudden shift is not just restricted to labour. I know it goes against the gripefest mantra that it’s all just down to the (possibly imaginary) warring faction in the labour caucus that the fanclub doesn’t support, but reality can be a bitch like that.
When the Greens DO get into government watch their support crash to 6% as the Oriental Bay and Aro Valley Greens who own 2 rental properties see the light.
What? Greens support is hovering totally within its true level of 12% +/- 2%.
yeah, we’ll just ignore their couple of 14.5%s since 2011, shall we?
So basically, what you’re sarcastically arguing is that labour has a “true level” of something like 32% (and this is due to their bad performance), whereas their likely coalition partners have a “true level” of around 12% (perfectly fine performance from them, though).
If your idea of a “true level” of support is not complete bullshit, what is national’s “true level” of support?
And doesn’t that mean an eternity of national rule, because 31+12 will always be 43, never 53?
No, don’t ignore them, but I would expect a couple of results (very marginally) outside the +/-2% margin of error on the basis of a 95% CI
actually, fair call on that given your broad MoE and 37 datapoints..
and your thoughts on:
If your idea of a “true level” of support is not complete bullshit, what is national’s “true level” of support?
And doesn’t that mean an eternity of national rule, because 31+12 will always be 43, never 53?
I’m being at all negative – I’ve just adopted your view that the Labour Leader, whoever it may be, is not really an important factor for electoral success.
BTW, National can’t help but sabotage themselves and help out their crony millionaire mates. They’ll be thrown out eventually. But post WWII, National has been in power for many more years than Labour.
I’ve just adopted your view that the Labour Leader, whoever it may be, is not really an important factor for electoral success.
Come now, not “just”, by any means. You are being far to modest. You’ve added an entirely new and boldly innovative sociopolitical model of a static “true level” of party support within the NZ population.
Thank goodness Labour now has your political genius working for it!
May I also commend you on your boldly innovative concept that a political party’s leader is largely irrelevant to how that party performs in the electorate. Quite stunning thinking, really.
You are most kind, but it’s hardly revolutionary to suggest that a single person might have slightly less effect on an outcome than their three-dozen (give or take) colleagues, 65 more powerful competitors, and the aligned ranks of the New Zealand media.
“.. so how how come they are going up in the polls ?
What does that say about New Zealand today ?”
The real question might be: What does that say about the polling system?
Are polls conducted via landlines only? Of those wealthy enough/culturally still interested in paying for a landline? Many people I know now only use cell phones.
[lprent: Off topic – moved to OpenMike. Read the policy and consider yourself warned. ]
I hear Roy Morgan only polls people still on party lines.
The polls are complete nonsense, Labour is incredibly popular and these polls are purely a bankster neo liberalist smoke screen to keep the population in the dark and prop up a dying rich prick fascist dictatorship.
Irony is not your thing BM…….you’re far too piggishly “my own selfishly perceived interests” driven. Arising no doubt out of your prideful claims of having “done fabulously well in business blah blah blah.”
I was just thinking when looking at the Open Parachute rankings about how nice it’d been not having long server outages last month. And then the server system had an outage….
Drat… And I still haven’t finished having the fallbacks all running – 2 out of 3 bits ain’t good enough.
At least this support crew were on to it immediately
Big ups to the person or persons who have written statements in chalk on the footpaths in the Johnsonville shopping area about why Peter Dunne is an arse. I noticed people stopping and reading and some were even smiling with acknowledgment. Well done! We need more and more awareness raising exercises like this in the sleepy hamlet of Ohariu.
I am curious about the ‘Feeds’ box to the left of the screen. It seems that ‘No Minister’ is a bit of an oddball among the other sites that are there. Is there any particular reason for having this site among the Feeds?
Copyright advocates have long (and successfully) argued that keeping books copyrighted assures that owners can make a profit off their intellectual property, and that that profit incentive will “assure [the books’] availability and adequate distribution.” The evidence, it appears, says otherwise.
And another capitalist truism blown out of the water.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10906694
Soon there will be minimal ability with rising interest rates for a CGT to achieve any revenue for the govt. My worry is that should Labour win the next election (still possible with Dave) and to extract any revenue from a CGT that the LLG (Lab led govt) will be forced to supporting & implementing additional neo-lib policies in allowing for even greater housing inflation in order to balance the books.
Conformance to the neoliberal monetary system will always have this result. The Government spends its entire effort on trying to “balance the books” (a pointless and unproductive task) instead of getting done what is required.
Damn it looks like my planned annual holiday to the Yemen will have to be cancelled this year, i might get accused of being an Al Quaeda training recruit,
If the Slippery little Shyster is going to try and protect Himself by Him and his office not only spying upon the private communications between Members of the Parliament and the Fourth Estate by releasing what to all extents and purposes is classified information about New Zealand residents supposedly training at Al Quaeda camps in the Yemen then the little Shyster should release the names of these supposed trainees as well so that wrong aspersions cannot be directed in any direction,
The Prime Minister should also tell the Parliament NOW whether either the SIS or GCSB are or ever have been monitoring all the cell phone traffic going into and out of the Parliamentary precinct…
Yeah. Yemen. So tell me the US and UK don’t have capabilities to spy on (digitally surveil) people in Yemen?
I am puzzled by Key’s statement:
Academics believe the terror threat from New Zealanders being trained by al-Qaeda is too minimal to change the country’s spying laws.
Their comments follow an interview with John Key on More FM today in which the Prime Minister justified changes to the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) law because he said some people in New Zealand were being trained by the terror organisation in places such as Yemen.
He said there was the “odd person” here who presented a potential threat, either on the international stage or in New Zealand.
Otago University head of politics Professor Robert Patman said while it could not be ruled out that some members of the public were being trained by al-Qaeda, “it’s difficult to know whether the Prime Minister is accurate in his depiction of New Zealand members of al-Qaeda”.
“But that actually, is not really the point. The point, I think is that many people are concerned that we’re creating a national security state in order to deal with what is a relatively minor threat.”
And wouldn’t the SIS be monitoring any alleged terrorist threats from Kiwis in NZ?
Prof Jackson also said there was no evidence that mass surveillance of the type being put forward in the GCSB bill would stop terrorism.
“Most terrorist attacks are stopped by community policing and by directed intelligence operations.”
To correct Professor Jackson most terrorist attacks are stopped by no-one in spite of the billions and billions of dollars worldwide spent upon security and intelligence…
Remember who was the last high profile person to visit the country ?
“..Holmes said. “But the amazing thing is I cannot recall ever going to a friendlier country than this. Even people who are taken hostage report that they’re treated beautifully by the people who have taken them hostage. So they’re welcoming even when they’re holding you prisoner. Fantastic.” – Who are we to believe ?? http://tvnz.co.nz/intrepid-journeys/paul-holmes-yemen-1754392
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Ngāi Tahu wants to introduce contamination charges to address contamination in Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, the High Court has been told.In the second week of the two-month case against the Attorney-General over wai māori (freshwater), Dr Elizabeth Brown, the Rangatira of Taumutu, which sits on the lake’s edge, told Justice Melanie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra ASIO chief Mike Burgess has warned that over the next five years Australia’s security environment will become more dynamic, diverse and degraded, with “more security surprises” in the second half of the decade than in ...
There is certainly plenty of room for better police training for dealing with protest activity that starts with a rights-based approach to ensuring people can fully exercise their human rights. ...
“We are thrilled that this Bill is making its way through the House and looks set to become law,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8987970/Spy-scandal-journalist-speaks-out
*MAD AS HELL* reporter Andrea Vance about being spied on – a threat if you ask me and a not so quiet warning for anyone disagreeing with government policies.
This is a must read article for everyone as far as I’m concerned.
Anyone have tips on how to avoid being spied on?
I’ve heard about Silent Circle, communicating using the “drafts” folder in email (so messages aren’t actually sent and therefore can’t be intercepted). Seems timely to figure out ways around this. Not that I have anything to hide(!)
Asww
First away from the block! You get the medal for being the most wide-awake around 6 a.m. despite your pseudonym.
‘Anyone have tips on how to avoid being spied on?’
Radionz a.m. interview said something along these lines.
Media freedom – the monitoring of journalists calls ( 13′ 14″ )
09:31 An international press freedom organisation reveals its concerns regarding the monitoring of New Zealand journalists. With Bob Dietz, Asia Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
Permanent link
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2564121/media-freedom-the-monitoring-of-journalists-calls
In answer to a question about what Labour will do about this bill on gaining power, David Cunliffe has said this bill should not, can not, and will not stand.
David Shearer has pointed out (Despite John Key’s denial), that documents reveal that the GCSB were instrumental in illegally passing on the time stamped metadata used to track Andrea Vance’ movements through parliament. This illegally collected and passed on metadata evidence, was used to finger Peter Dunne as the source of the leak of that revealed that 88 Kiwis were being illegally spied on by the GCSB.
In retalliation the GCSB/SIS, (without actually handing it over), let Winston Peters see Peter Dunne’s private email exchange with Andrea Vance. According to Peters, Dunne’s private emails included a lot of personal and embarrassing detail about Peter Dunne’s relationship with Andrea Vance that Peter Dunne would find deeply humiliating or even distressing for him if released.
The GCSB want the right to collect everyone’s metadata.
We have witnessed in microcosm how the GCSB are exercising that power illegally now.
Are you shocked are you appalled?
The GCSB ammendment bill seeks to make the abuse of metadata that we have witnessed in microcosm by this shadowy secret agency against Dunne and Vance not only legal, but universal, over every single inhabitant of this country. Not just monitoring reporters, but everyone. And not just movements through parliament, but the whole of society.
In defence of this (still currently) illegal activity our Prime Minister has lied.
Andrea Vance speaks out:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8987970/Spy-scandal-journalist-speaks-out
As David Cunliffe says “this bill cannot stand”.
ffs.
that documents reveal that the GCSB were instrumental in illegally passing on the time stamped metadata used to track Andrea Vance’ movements through parliament.
Bullshit. Card access data isn’t metadata, it’s the normal bog standard data. Collecting those ‘timestamps’ is what the cards do, it’s the bit of data they are designed to collect. The GCSB wouldn’t be needed to get that data, PS already have it. And the ‘documents’ don’t show anything like what you claim as fact.
Getting this stuff right is important, if you hype it and say stupid shit about it, it hurts the cause.
Please stop.
+1, PB. And this piece of ‘fact’ also got me
“In retalliation the GCSB/SIS, (without actually handing it over), let Winston Peters see Peter Dunne’s private email exchange with Andrea Vance.”
Further: Read section 65-66 on page 9 of the Henry report:
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Henry%20Report.pdf
Could that explain why the GCSB provided records, (and what records they might be), to the inquiry Jenny?
Income related rent subsidy extended to all:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10906247
Community housing providers told a select committee yesterday that they generally supported social housing reforms which were designed to shift housing assistance from the state to the community sector.
Organisations especially supported a proposal to give non-government providers access to the same subsidies as Housing New Zealand. This meant churches, iwi, trusts and other NGOs would be able to charge tenants no more than 25 per cent of their income to rent social houses, and Government would top up the difference to the market rent of the house.
But the community housing sector and public health researchers strongly opposed moves to increase the “churn” or rate of turnover in social housing by making all tenancies fixed-term, three-year contracts.
I think the “churn” is a good idea and can’t see any reason why we should for example allow a single parent who’s children have left to remain in a 3brm house. It is inefficient and a total waste of housing stock not to mention subsidy.
Security of tenure though is important, and where applicable it is possible to persuade people to shift to smaller houses through a process of consultation; ensuring that they are not shoved out of their community and that their present needs really are met.
I somewhat agree with AWW, however and please correct me if i am in error but AWW seems to be pushing a punitive line,
Here is what SHOULD happen at the front end of the tenancy not at the back end when the kids have all grown up and left home,
It’s fine to want the right sized housing stock to match the size of the family that occupies them, BUT, when a tenant with a family is granted such a tenancy they should be informed both verbally and by a condition in the rental agreement that once the family has grown and if they still need State housing that they may be required to move to accommodation that matches their needs,AND,it must be the duty of the PROVIDER to those families required to downsize to provide them with the accommodation that meets their current needs at the same 25% of income as rent,
The only reason we are having this discussion is in fact because every government after the Kirk Labour Government has ensured that the number of State Houses for rent has not grown while the population has grown by 1 million,
We are woefully short of State houses by at least 30,000 houses, and , Auckland’s current and ongoing housing affordability issues in my opinion are a direct result of this,
What i am pleased with is that there now appears to be a consensus that Social and/or State housing should never exceed as a rental 25% of a tenants household income and i would like to see legislation that reflects this,
I still see no evidence or logical reason why large tranches of the States housing stock should be vested in the ‘social sector’, the State has been the major and successful provider of ‘social housing’ since the First Labour Government,
Tinkering with the current State Housing stock will provide nothing but confusion of responsibility, it is not tinkering that is required, what is required is an ongoing comprehensive State House building program which lifts the number of State Houses to such a number so that Low Waged working families can be housed…
I dont know about anyone else, but I seem to think that increasing the state housing stock would solve the problem of housing affordability….
Yep, the state should ensure that there is an over supply of housing. Having people living homeless isn’t efficient due to the social harm that it does.
“Yep, the state should ensure that there is an over supply of housing”
Or markets could provide houses. We need efficient markets.
No such thing as an efficient market. If there was then the government wouldn’t need to step in to provide housing.
30 years of the State not being a major player in the building of new housing stock isn’t long enough for you to ascertain that the market has failed to respond sufficiently to meet demand,
Even Slippery the Prime Minister has stated that in Auckland the market has failed…
Yes because state houses are cool places to live. I was raised in a state house, and lived in one until I was 17. It is not something anyone should aspire to.
My experience with state houses is that they’re no different to any other house and in many cases a lot better.
Is this another of your ‘story’s akin to i am a big time economist looking to hire employees for 150 grand a year,
People aspire to be housed in such a situation where their income can pay the rent plus put a decent feed on the table at meal times,
What do you find to be so ‘wrong’ with State Housing…
srylands
You wouldn’t aspire to a state house? They probably have been run down since your day. But you are too proud and superior to want to live in a state house aren’t you, not like ‘those people’.
And economists don’t have to. They’re well paid. They can buy up a solid rather stolid old state house and give it a makeover – comes up like a polished gem. The old houses might be a little plain even rough but they were well built. Even today’s which may be less so are somewhere secure to live and are found good by people who want their own place.
It’s only bloody snobs that would turn up their noses at a healthy state house in good repair. And it’s only economists who love figures on a page, rather than real people who would put beneficiaries through an annual scare that they might be turned out for some spurious reason. It’s much like those pictures of Victorian landlords turning a fainting woman with a child in her arms out into the snow.
Further to my comment above – there is another reason why people would turn down a perfectly good state house. That is if it was too far from whatever work is available, whatever education is available, whatever medical help was available, whatever supportive family or friends that are available, and it takes too long to travel to these aids to living, the transport is too sparse, and that the transport is too dear to pay for the family to travel to these places and services.
And you want other kids to live on the street…?
Olwyn
You offer a practical approach to ‘efficient’ housing for low income people. People shouldn’t be pushed around like pieces on a chess board. There are deep human reasons such as being social animals why people should be able to live in an area where they know others and are familiar with the location.
But more, children from homes with money and/or other difficulties tend not to learn well if they are shifted from one school to another as the family is forced to move when they are in their early to mid school years. Then when they are in college level education their studies and learning routines, if disrupted, can mean poor assessments or examination outcomes. Secure housing is more important than not having a spare bedroom.
It is beginning to sound like Russia after communism arrived. The wealthy had spare rooms in their houses given to the poor as it was deemed to be fair when there were so many poor and needy. In NZ you become equivalent to a decadent aristocrat if living in a 3 bedroom house when you could fit into a 2 bedroom. Garages next!
Hey what about renting those large people movers for overnight accommodation for the homeless. They and large 4wds are often left parked at the kerb just empty. What a waste of expense and space, when opening them up to doss down for the night would be so efficient, and would save land and expense on alternative accommodation. What a brilliant idea!
+1 agreed Rosetinted….”People shouldnt be shifted around like pieces on a chess board” ….and there is no reason they should if the state were to keep up the numbers of houses to accommodate NZers….as well as the jobs and free education and skills training
Another reason for preventing those non NZ overseas residents from buying up scarce NZ housing stock….and helping create unaffordable house pricing.
Indeed, especially as it’s often the older people who have settled down (and whose kids have flown) who have the time and inclination to say “hi” to regulars on the street, have a natter, and generally build a community. It’s one thing to meet in day care or in the school or church (other important community anchors), but actually having people in the street also helps.
Of the people I’ve known that were in state housing, many, many more were overcrowded rather than underutilised. I knew of situations with up to 10 in a 3 bedroom house, but none with a single person. I think we have to be very careful, as always, to frame the dialogue on the basis of need rather than greed. In this case, the greed of developers to get their paws on any appealing land still in the public domain.
XKEYSCORE
One of the NSAs most powerful tools now revealed.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data
“Nice” to see that NZ contributes to this – Waihopi highlighted as a data source location.
Given this statement…
… I wouldn’t be surprised if the GCSB uses a similar rationale to ‘target’ far more than the 80 odd people they have admitted to.
Authoritarianism pure and simple.
Yesterdays joke on fb, –“GCSB and NSA, the only NZ and US government departments that really listen to you”
If everyone is in a raw panic over the threat of a new housing price bubble, why is there seemingly no concern whatsoever about the agricultural land price bubble going on? Today on the rural news they noted a new increase in the milk solids payout to dairy farmers, followed by the usual platitudes abut farmers prudently using it to retire debt, yet then the commentating analyst from the bank noted the total farm debt is actually up again. Surely that is a huge red flag to the government??? Could it be that at a time of unprecedented high dairy prices, farmers appear to be using the money not to retire debt but to get into a pryamid scheme of speculative land purchasing for dairy conversions that can be flicked on for tax-free capital gain? We had better all pray the milk solid prices stay firmly high, because if the bubble ever bursts in the dairy sector you might as board up half of provincial New Zealand.
Yes, its happening. Agricultural debt is now over $50 billion.
When the North Island was in drought early this year the international dairy prices increased.
http://www.interest.co.nz/charts/commodities/dairy-prices
A westpac economist claimed that part of the explanation for the increase in the international dairy price was because of the fall in volume caused by the North Island drought, I was surprised when I heard this. I would have thought that a relatively small fall in volume would not impact dairy prices. This just highlights how incredibly volatile the dairy commodity price is. Given the supply of dairy products that are coming out of Chile, Uruguay and other South American countries I guess it is possible that dairy prices could go the same way as coal. But the Bank economists are saying that China etc are going to consume any extra supply, but as we have seen with what happened during the drought, small changes in supply can have fairly big impacts in dairy prices.
Watch this space.
Why would farm debt be a “huge red flag to the government”?
The government is owned by the banking system controllers, farming and control over NZ’s primary export industry, and the resources required to keep the industry moving, was identified, long ago, along with NZ’s mineral/oil/gas resources, as required to keep under control.
Can’t have a nation accessing its resources for the greater good of anyone but the so called, elite!
LOLZ, your post jiggled free a LIE that Bill from Dipton told in the Parliament yesterday, in answer to a patsy question from some non-entity on National’s back bench who i have never heard of and probably never will again,
English said this, this National Government has ensured that interest rates are low and families have lowered their household debt as a result of this,
Say what Bill, household debt is higher than it’s ever been and whoever is holding the brown end of the stick as Government when the Reserve Bank finally gets round to raising interest rates wont last longer than the following election as the pain from the over-blown debt being carried by the middle class gets translated into votes…
“We had better all pray the milk solid prices stay firmly high, because if the bubble ever bursts in the dairy sector you might as board up half of provincial New Zealand.”
You had better buy timber company shares then, because when the Chinese and the Russians start using the expertise they have siphoned from buying up our farms and agriculture companies to establish huge super dairy farms the size of this country on the steppes of Siberia, etc, and simply railing the produce out to Europe, then our farmers will go the way of our manufacurers.
Excepting of course that the major competitive advantage we have over most is the relativily friendly climate which helps keep production high and input costs comparitivily low…
the Russians start using the expertise they have siphoned from buying up our farms and agriculture companies to establish huge super dairy farms the size of this country on the steppes of Siberia, etc,
The Russians (lavrov) offered us substantive low cost land for enhanced sustainable agriculture development key and Grocer stuffed it up by insisting on short term (tariff reduction) in the FTA.
Sanctuary
What a blow to find that every time we appear to be going ahead successfully in farming or anything it gets screwed up and we end up pressing the wrong buttons and going down the wrong track. If we do well our dollar goes up and our exports stagnate and we import too much stuff.
(Theres a book looking at the role of clothing on consumption in the world, I think it is second in the spending stakes after food.) If anyone wants to know the name of the book I’ve got it, just have to look it up.
And you wonder, is it actually a one-way track. Is there no way back? And then you think about who is driving this thing – are they well-trained, practical and careful thinkers or are they like that Spanish guy, in the wrong place and going too fast to stop wrecking everything.
Is this the framework for our bill ?? STOP THE GCSB BILL AT ALL COSTS !
“The Guardian today has revealed a training guide for a program called XKeyscore, which NSA documents call the agency’s “widest-reaching” system for gathering Internet information. The program monitors everything anyone does on the Internet, from the content of emails to websites visited, searches, chats, and metadata. It can also be used to watch real-time Internet activity. The quantity of data collected is so huge—1 billion to 2 billion records a day—that they can only be stored for several days, with more “interesting” data saved for longer.
Though an NSA worker would need a warrant to target a U.S. citizen, the agency can collect data on any citizen in communication with someone on foreign soil without a warrant.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data?CMP=twt_gu
And frakking General Alexander claims that the system is so safe that he can’t even access his daughter’s emails. Fucking lying prick.
I doubt if Labour, whether under Cunliffe or Shearer, will repeal the GCSB bill. Once in government they would like nothing more than to be able to spy on us. So don’t think it will ever be repealed. Such talk from Labour leaders is there to appease the masses and to get votes in 2014. Secretly they will welcome the bill, they are revelling in the fact that it is the current government giving them a nice present. This bill is designed to create a Gestapo (right wing) or a Stasi (left wing) organisation to keep us all under surveillance.
It will be an election issue. You really think Labout are going to campaign saying they will repeal the bill, and then renege after the election, given that if they win they will most likely win by a small margin? Don’t forget the GP either.
Wrong approach, if I may suggest. You pressure Labour to commit to completely reworking the GCSB legislation to ensure the absolute maximum of democratic transparency and oversight possible as part of their manifesto, and then when Labour get in you pile on the pressure and absolutely force them to do it via popular pressure, as part of their first year in Government.
No more fucking trusting any politician bastards to keep their word, we have to make them do the right thing.
BTW you can’t just have the new legislation repealed, because the old legislation is an absolute dogs breakfast full of loopholes to start with.
I see there will be an Privileges committee inquiry into the leaking of Andrea Vances Emails/phone records. However I feel there will be another coverup/whitewash as the leader of the inquiry is the NAT MP Finlayson. Why oh Why can’t they JUST have an independent inquiry?
Because then there will need to be an inquiry into the Privileges Committee inquiry. Then an inquiry into that inquiry…
Cheers to who made the new mobile site! Very clean and easy to use.
No it’s not!
Not new or not easy to use?
It’s not easy to look at Tamati, 1/3 of the screen is taken up with battleship grey. It’s a bloody screen use it all, and don’t say just lose it by pressing a few more buttons, useability should mean pressing less bloody buttons. BTW, that was a beauty, a real big jolt.
I am out East of the city, sure felt that one, not quite as big out here tho i think, maybe a third of the power of the 6.5…
4.9 geonet says?
Has there been any discussion about the current quakes in light of what happened to Chch? Smaller quake first and then big one 6 months later?
From what the Boffins have been saying Christchurch was more or less ‘direct hits’ whereas Wellingtons lot where more of ‘proximity’,
Should the 6.5 have occurred on the Wellington Fault which hasn’t apparently moved in a zillion years i could well imagine that the damage would have been way more severe and widespread,
The last biggy that moved things around a bit in Wellington was on the Wairarapa Fault and raised parts of Wellington by a meter, Kairangi, the island i live on, at that point i believe stopped being an island…
What kind of phone? What screen size?
How does it compare to the old theme? Which had the banner at the top.
It looks pretty good on my Samsung only snag been I don’t have a reply button on each of the comments.
Am enjoying the fast load of comment heavy posts previously once a post got near 100 comments I had to flush the cache etc to even have a chance of getting them to load let alone have the ability to scroll through with any speed
Wow! Now that is better, so easy to see now. I am commenting on my Laptop but i just had to have a look on phone. A LG Optimus one with a 320 x 480 pixel, 3.2 inch (~180 ppi pixel density) screen
Second reading of the GCSB bill today and the reality has to now be setting in.
Sir Bruce Ferguson and Sir Jeffery Palmer have been out spoken in the last week exposing how undemocratic this bill is, e.g. rushed, will pass with a 1 vote majority and how the bill needs to be a conscience vote.
The sad reality is that Key cannot see the damage which he is going to cause with the passing of the bill and his attitude is I will have it my way like a SPOILT BRAT. Also Key has excluded many other better options e.g. having a review, looking at other international models, appointing people with intelligence and legal experience to have oversight of the GCSB/SIS (Shearer raised these points on morning report).
Yeah who does he think he is? The Prime Minister of the country or something? Its almost as if he thinks that getting enough votes to pass a bill means it becomes law or something…the gall of the man
“Yeah who does he think he is? The Prime Minister of the country or something?”
What makes a good Prime Minister?
Power corrupts as in being a dictator and those who surround a dictator are also culpable. Palmer even used the word “dictator” when he was interviewed on Campbell Live earlier in the week.
Golly gee well if Geoff Palmer says it then it was be true, that explains why JKs cancelled all elections, banned other political parties and why editors and journalists are being thrown in prison left right and centre
I am not going to split hairs, on second thoughts Palmer may have said dictatorial.
If you think a good Prime Minister can run the GCSB using legislation going back to 1976 before computers/smart phones were part of everyday life and knowlingly being aware of how the public feel about the management of the GCSB I find this to be short sighted.
Does an inquiry into an inquiry which is not independent some how make it alright?
The position of PM isn’t that of a dictator no matter how much you RWNJs wish it was.
some journalist said ‘temporary leader’ which i thought was the right description.
And I note there is no clock as to what time comments were made. Handy if replying to something that may be hours ( or days old ), and the whole argument has moved on. And also handy to see if it’s just the booze talking at 2am.
If you use the reply button, your comments will make more sense 🙂
There is a one wee problem with the new mobile version – no reply button.
Adrian *might* be using a mobile. I have a query off with the developers asking WTF! It isn’t a hard trick to do, they have the threading ok in this version…
Interesting. So is this something written specifically for ts, or is it a more general thing that you’ve adapted?
I presume this is for the new mobile version? I’ll be attacking that part of the theme tonight. I didn’t notice it when I was testing *bad lprent*
The lack of a reply is the most severe functional problem though.
Works a whole lot better than the old version. I get some rendering hassles on my android test phone which are irritating.
Thank you for your practical suggestion and I usually give the day at least!
Re the booze, not applicable concerning me.
The best I can do is to provide the following info.
GCSB bill heads back to Parliament for second reading 08:09 1 August 2013 morning report.
Mr Key’s latest… Al Qaeda have “trainees” in NZ, they have been trained in places like Yemen… ffs
The man thinks we’re fools..or something else.
Prime Minister John Key has justified the changes to the country’s spying laws by saying some people in New Zealand have been trained by al-Qaeda in places such as Yemen.
Mr Key said in “the real world” powers to spy on civilians was necessary.
“In New Zealand there are people who’ve been trained for al-Qaeda camps who operate out of New Zealand, who are in contact with people overseas, who have gone off to Yemen and other countries to train.
“I’m sorry, but that’s the real world.”
He said it was a “robust regime” before a signature was placed on a warrant to spy on someone.
“I wish those things didn’t happen in New Zealand,” Mr Key said.
“But if people don’t believe there’s the odd person in New Zealand who presents a potential threat, either on the international stage or in New Zealand, unfortunately they’re wrong.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10906592
Sounds sensible to me and it will for most New Zealanders. No traction there.
The changes in the GCSB bill emphasize the “economic well being of New Zealand”.
Which entails the careful watch of money launderers and recidivist cartels that have gone rogue.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/130291230/GF-Co-JPM-Out-of-Control
The question is why are they still trading in the NZ marketplace?
Whilst Key suggests that we need to be guarded as to a handful of people who have trained in Yemen,do we also have to have watching briefs on MBA from Harvard.
We know US residents are more prone to criminal behavior as the US has 25% of the worlds prison population,should we enhance our border protection to target visitors from the US?
Looks like the Mark Taylor story is about to get dusted off for another outing:
Key’s initial spin: http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-confirms-Kiwi-linked-to-al-Qaeda-living-in-NZ/tabid/423/articleID/224171/Default.aspx
But then the truth comes out: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10751170
Problem for Key is that this all happened in 2009-2011
Following the Roy Morgan poll it is noticable that alot of the Cunliffe harpies (excluding the institutionalised ones) on this site have gone very quiet. The Shearer hating appears to have died down.
It is not like there hasn’t been bait laid either. Alot of recent posts have provided ample opportunity to put the boot in.
Of course we all know that Shearer is going to get rolled, what we don’t know is when.
This weird lull could be viewed as a barometer reading for a very fast approaching storm.
I haven’t noticed a decrease in criticism of Shearer here. It’s just that we’ve been talking about the GCSB so much. But when the talk turns to Labour, amongst the good discussion on policy, there’s still plenty of comments about Shearer. What blog are you actually reading?
I think there’s not all that much left to say on Shearer. We’re just waiting now.
Which one?
A vote for Labour is a vote for Shearer or a vote for Shearer is a vote for Labour?
Either way it makes no difference even though a person may have a preference for whom they would like to be the leader of a political party. E.g. Banks and the Act party.
.. so how how come they are going up in the polls ?
What does that say about New Zealand today ?
[lprent: off topic – moved to OpenMike. Read the policy and consider yourself warned. ]
The polls always reflect last month or so. At the moment they reflect Duncan Garner’s solo Labour leadership challenge, and the “man ban” beat up. Next month (or the next) they will reflect this lot…
The polls reflect that most peoples exposure to politics is the shit John Key spins on More FM etc.
Yep. After watching the damn things closely for the last 6 years, the lag seems to vary between 5 and 8 weeks most of the time. It shortens to about 2-3 weeks at election times. But they are always laggy.
On the other hand, there is a distinct trend over the last 3 polls and that GCR is “disturbing”
Indeed. I’m not liking the vibe. Even if there’s a slight bounce next time, it’ll still not mean labour’s out of the woods.
I take much heart from your previous comments McFlock that we mustn’t look at a single poll result and cry that the sky is falling. Shearer is doing fine, Labour is sitting on a natural rate of 32%-33% and this is most likely a one off low result which won’t be repeated.
Even at 29%, its still a good deal higher than the actual 2011 election result and Shearer must be given credit for that, as you have correctly mentioned on previous occasions.
🙄
It’s not the 29% that’s a concern (although it is a threshold-breaker), it’s the last four polls results. And what about the Greens, bucko? Is their lowest result since the election (and below their election performance) Shearer’s fault, too?
I mean, I know nobody’s happier than you at the thought of the left being back to where it was 18 months ago (not even Key), but you might have the decency to cut a hole in your trouser pocket rather than simply unzipping to show everyone your ecstatic reaction.
I do love how the new tactic to deflect commentary on Labour’s poll results is “butbutbut the GREENS are down too!!!! You must think that’s Shearer’s fault!!!!”
Makes just as much sense as demanding that we ignore Labour’s performance unless we also talk about Act’s.
No, because I’ve always argued for a left government, not just a labour one.
Try thinking about it a bit:
Problem: national are gaining support, the opposition are losing support. Both of them. Both the greens and labour have lost similar proportions of support in the same time period.
Whatever caused the sudden shift is not just restricted to labour. I know it goes against the gripefest mantra that it’s all just down to the (possibly imaginary) warring faction in the labour caucus that the fanclub doesn’t support, but reality can be a bitch like that.
What? Greens support is hovering totally within its true level of 12% +/- 2%.
Don’t panic McFlock, the sky is NOT falling, the “Left” which you are so proud of is still on track to win.
As you wish it, so it will be. I have total faith in Labour and the Greens. Why don’t you? Find your faith again, and let’s get this ride moving!
When the Greens DO get into government watch their support crash to 6% as the Oriental Bay and Aro Valley Greens who own 2 rental properties see the light.
yeah, we’ll just ignore their couple of 14.5%s since 2011, shall we?
So basically, what you’re sarcastically arguing is that labour has a “true level” of something like 32% (and this is due to their bad performance), whereas their likely coalition partners have a “true level” of around 12% (perfectly fine performance from them, though).
If your idea of a “true level” of support is not complete bullshit, what is national’s “true level” of support?
And doesn’t that mean an eternity of national rule, because 31+12 will always be 43, never 53?
No, don’t ignore them, but I would expect a couple of results (very marginally) outside the +/-2% margin of error on the basis of a 95% CI.
But the vast majority of results for the Greens lie exactly +/- 2% of 12%.
actually, fair call on that given your broad MoE and 37 datapoints..
and your thoughts on:
National could actually rule the country permanently, if they were focussed on serving the top 33%, instead of just the top 1%.
so everything is futile, and the leadership really doesn’t matter.
Bit of a fucking grim viewpoint, though.
I’m being at all negative – I’ve just adopted your view that the Labour Leader, whoever it may be, is not really an important factor for electoral success.
BTW, National can’t help but sabotage themselves and help out their crony millionaire mates. They’ll be thrown out eventually. But post WWII, National has been in power for many more years than Labour.
Come now, not “just”, by any means. You are being far to modest. You’ve added an entirely new and boldly innovative sociopolitical model of a static “true level” of party support within the NZ population.
Thank goodness Labour now has your political genius working for it!
May I also commend you on your boldly innovative concept that a political party’s leader is largely irrelevant to how that party performs in the electorate. Quite stunning thinking, really.
You are most kind, but it’s hardly revolutionary to suggest that a single person might have slightly less effect on an outcome than their three-dozen (give or take) colleagues, 65 more powerful competitors, and the aligned ranks of the New Zealand media.
Worth a laugh: http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/8988229/Meridian-sends-letter-to-lamp-post
“.. so how how come they are going up in the polls ?
What does that say about New Zealand today ?”
The real question might be: What does that say about the polling system?
Are polls conducted via landlines only? Of those wealthy enough/culturally still interested in paying for a landline? Many people I know now only use cell phones.
[lprent: Off topic – moved to OpenMike. Read the policy and consider yourself warned. ]
I hear Roy Morgan only polls people still on party lines.
The polls are complete nonsense, Labour is incredibly popular and these polls are purely a bankster neo liberalist smoke screen to keep the population in the dark and prop up a dying rich prick fascist dictatorship.
Irony is not your thing BM…….you’re far too piggishly “my own selfishly perceived interests” driven. Arising no doubt out of your prideful claims of having “done fabulously well in business blah blah blah.”
I have an opening for a shoe shiner if you’re interested.
BM – how wonderfully you illustrate my point ! Thanks.
No worries, Uncle North.
Read the Roy Morgan report (linked elsewhere). Not just landlines.
Also read the date of polling period.
I’m on an Ipad lprent. on broadband wi=fi in a house, yeah and no reply button.
As always, the motive, happen here…nah…never
/
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/money-nsa-vote/
why didnt dunne just tell hendry he had soup on his tie and why didnt he just piss off?
what sort of whore is he?
I was just thinking when looking at the Open Parachute rankings about how nice it’d been not having long server outages last month. And then the server system had an outage….
Drat… And I still haven’t finished having the fallbacks all running – 2 out of 3 bits ain’t good enough.
At least this support crew were on to it immediately
Big ups to the person or persons who have written statements in chalk on the footpaths in the Johnsonville shopping area about why Peter Dunne is an arse. I noticed people stopping and reading and some were even smiling with acknowledgment. Well done! We need more and more awareness raising exercises like this in the sleepy hamlet of Ohariu.
Nice tidy writing too:-)
yes, good job!
So, the head of Parliamentary Services has taken the knife in the back. There are no words to describe key. He’s just a pimple on the r sole of life.
I am curious about the ‘Feeds’ box to the left of the screen. It seems that ‘No Minister’ is a bit of an oddball among the other sites that are there. Is there any particular reason for having this site among the Feeds?
Decades of books have vanished because of US copyright protections
And another capitalist truism blown out of the water.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10906694
Soon there will be minimal ability with rising interest rates for a CGT to achieve any revenue for the govt. My worry is that should Labour win the next election (still possible with Dave) and to extract any revenue from a CGT that the LLG (Lab led govt) will be forced to supporting & implementing additional neo-lib policies in allowing for even greater housing inflation in order to balance the books.
Conformance to the neoliberal monetary system will always have this result. The Government spends its entire effort on trying to “balance the books” (a pointless and unproductive task) instead of getting done what is required.
Damn it looks like my planned annual holiday to the Yemen will have to be cancelled this year, i might get accused of being an Al Quaeda training recruit,
If the Slippery little Shyster is going to try and protect Himself by Him and his office not only spying upon the private communications between Members of the Parliament and the Fourth Estate by releasing what to all extents and purposes is classified information about New Zealand residents supposedly training at Al Quaeda camps in the Yemen then the little Shyster should release the names of these supposed trainees as well so that wrong aspersions cannot be directed in any direction,
The Prime Minister should also tell the Parliament NOW whether either the SIS or GCSB are or ever have been monitoring all the cell phone traffic going into and out of the Parliamentary precinct…
Yeah. Yemen. So tell me the US and UK don’t have capabilities to spy on (digitally surveil) people in Yemen?
I am puzzled by Key’s statement:
And wouldn’t the SIS be monitoring any alleged terrorist threats from Kiwis in NZ?
To correct Professor Jackson most terrorist attacks are stopped by no-one in spite of the billions and billions of dollars worldwide spent upon security and intelligence…
Remember who was the last high profile person to visit the country ?
“..Holmes said. “But the amazing thing is I cannot recall ever going to a friendlier country than this. Even people who are taken hostage report that they’re treated beautifully by the people who have taken them hostage. So they’re welcoming even when they’re holding you prisoner. Fantastic.” – Who are we to believe ??
http://tvnz.co.nz/intrepid-journeys/paul-holmes-yemen-1754392
LOL
http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/al-qaeda-offered-charter-school-contract-after-showing-proficiency-in-training-new-zealanders/
Indeed triples the LOLZ…
Was Key talking about Tamati Iti and the rest of Tuhoe, I wonder. They were real terrorists weren’t they. Even Auntie Helen’s mob thought so.
Who on Earth is Tamati Iti? Get back to the slime from whence you crawled. The WhaleSpew Army is missing you.
“They were real terrorists weren’t they”
Of course they weren’t, what makes you think that?
Ooops.