Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step right up to the mike…
plus 1,… the cartoonists been some of the only genuine voices against the govt narative, even old righties like tremain, & not only that they are usually even funny, im very proud of them, they are the real journalists as far as im concerned.
Hopefully we will see some decent left wing policies coming out of this conference, and not just some tinkering. And something more than living wages, etc. Im looking more at stuff like increasing public ownership and public services, etc.
Im thinking of joining Labour, but I have to have a reason. If I wanted to join National I would join National.
Two email providers forced to close their services in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations on mass surveillance have proposed a new open standard for secure email that would be harder for security services and others to eavesdrop upon.
The encrypted email service Lavabit, and Silent Circle, a firm also encrypting phone calls and texts, are the founding members of the Darkmail Alliance, a service that aims to prevent government agencies from listening in on the metadata of emails . . . </blockquote
I liked this bit in the exploded whale story (not done for reasons of cruelty mind, though some thought the aftermath was cruel to them), which is a comment from the reporting journalist.
“”Every time a whale washes ashore I get a call from Governor Kitzhaber telling me to get down there,” he told the website.
“He likes to watch the video when he needs cheering up.”
I like the Governor’s name. For a story like this it shouldn’t be Smith or the like.
It actually brings to mind the Katzenjammer Kids comics of my youth – anyone remember them? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Katzenjammer_Kids
Charter schools in NZ. The Greens very rightly complained about a definition of what charter schools are (as yet not even functioning), being taken from a political pamphlet and printed as unprovable fact by the on-line Maori dictionary. A naive academic? http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/226408/dictionary-changes-charter-school-definition The manager of the site at the Auckland University of Technology, Professor John Moorfield, admits the definition was taken from the Ministry of Education website, but does not agree that it is all government spin.
Google headings for NZ charter school Maori – (anytime)
“The reality is that 90% of Maori kids are in the mainstream, but instead of a helping those schools to develop a stronger, more robust learning and support network for Maori kids, government has instead scrapped the proven Te Kotahitanga programme and got them all worrying about ERO visits, school closures, cuts in funding, league tables, national standards, and Novopay.
“And finally, if it’s educational success for Maori kids that the government is after, why not increase the funding for Kura Kaupapa Maori, which has proven to be the highest achieving school system Maori kids have ever had?”
and
Charter schools: More input for Maori – National – NZ Herald News http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid…
Jun 6, 2013 – Charter schools will give Maori more input into a school model they can adapt to suit their children, the chairman of the Iwi Education Authority …
and
Māori Need More Than Charter Schools | Save Our Schools NZ
saveourschoolsnz.wordpress.com/…/maori-needs-more-than-charter-scho…
Jul 23, 2013 – Education For Māori Needs More Than Charter Schools – from Education Aotearoa Heni Collins investigates growing concerns in Māoridom ….
Rodel +100….thanks…case for public education and against privatization and right wing Charter School agenda in USA very succinctly put by Professor Dianne Raditch….and based on the research evidence
According to Lafer’s report, “The Legislative Attack on American Wages and Labor Standards, 2011-2012,” within those two years 15 states passed new restrictions on union collective bargaining or paycheck deductions; 16 passed new restrictions on unemployment benefits; four passed new restrictions on state minimum wage laws; and four reduced limitations on child labor. The child labor changes range from a Wisconsin law ending limits on 16- and 17-year-olds’ work hours to an Idaho law letting 12-year-olds be hired for manual labor at their school for 10 hours a week. Lafer notes that a Idaho school district spokesperson said that would both cut down on labor costs and teach kids “you have to be on time” and “do what you’re asked …”
Yep, the RWNJs are bringing back child labour to teach kids that “you have to be on time” and “do what you’re asked …”.
The fact that they’re sick enough to bring back child labour should prove that they should not be in office and that the corporations that support them need to be shut down.
“In various online communities there has been vigorous debate about what chemtrails actually mean. Some believe they spread barium as a highly-sensitive electromagnetic missile defense system. Others postulate they contain compounds that attack our blood cells and ultimately reduce populations, much like the fluoridation of our water supplies. The rise in disease and other unexplained medical phenomena does strangely coincide with the popularization of chemtrails.”
Funny how all they can do is speculate what they’re made of, instead of taking samples or doing a modicum of investigation.
I guess getting off the chair in front of the computer and going outside is too much effort.
nz post to restructure, sorting work to be done by non nz post employees, some kind of private contractor to take over, nz post will still deliver the mail, no more bikes, just walking & vans, up to 2000 jobs to go, michael cullen says its “sad”.
That’s one huge and hugely informative report. Thanks for posting it DTB. There’s a pile of troubling stats in there covering all aspects of precarious work. Imagine the stress individuals and households would be under working in these conditions, including the “tipped workers”. Their lives would be clouded by constant uncertainty and anxiety.
Above all, the most disturbing is the problem of child labour that you have discussed above and the attitude of the spokesperson. All that is teaching the child is that the world is an oppressive and authoritarian place and that you better get used to it because this is how your life will be lived. Zero respect, zero equality and zero prospects for a happy and fulfilling work life, let alone a comfortable and secure future. Welcome to the poorhouse kiddies.
Sir Michael Cullen says that some of the 1000 odd retrenchment from NZ Post will be from natural attrition. I think this applies also to him. He has been there long enough to cast any clever spell he could concoct over the place. Now its time to move on to better pastures to fertilise. I think he has over-dosed nz Post going by this explanation of animal poisoning. Nitrates may cause inflammation of the gut when eaten in large quantities, but their main … Severely affected animals will go down, convulse and die. … Poor old NZ Post, that sturdy animal. Now they are going for efficiency for the workers, seeing management hasn’t achieved it, or been effective, the other part of the cliche. They are going to have contractors sort the mail now, not the posties. Gutted isn’t the word.
It was an unpleasant indication that management of NZ Post was not too good when it took how many years to deal with undelivered mail from one postie in Queenstown , I think from the first day. The consequent disaster with a large amount of accumulated mail, over which they must have had many complaints that should have led to prompt action was a sign of failure that now this sham management is trying to fix by gutting what must be a very cost effective service. And which is appreciated by citizens getting on with real life in the physical world.
And what have they done to encourage more use of the postal system I wonder? Well I looked on Trademe where NZ Post used to be prominent amongst the postal options, now there is only Pass the Parcel which is part of Post Haste couriers and I have never seen NZ Post advertising there. And presumably they cannot decline an advertisement on the site which would be anti-business.
Screwed over by decades of old boy managers (Elmar etc), paying datacom bucket loads for SFA and a sell off of the parcels business into a JV with DHL that was never openly tendered.
DHL took what they could and handed it back a few years ago.
Filled with refugees from other gov’t bodies, telecom and armed forces, remember the debacle with that overseas consulting arm early in the 2000’s. Many failed technology ventures with the current UPost laughable if it wasn’t so sad.
The postal business was one of the better run sectors till numptys like Peter Fenton were given the controls.
tc
Thanks for that interesting stuff. The number of times I have read of some bloke enriching himself from screwing his employer while he sets up some internet system to do something, not well, implies that it is frequent. The bloke often walks away from the failure into another internet job, or retires with a nice package. (A woman dying of cancer vows that women in Southland aren’t getting timely treatment because of all the money lost from the guy Swan’s depredations – I think he is in prison.)
I keep thinking about Ansett and the lack of acuity in directorship skills by the NZs on that board. Since then I have regarded NZ management with a septical eye (sic). If they can’t do it, they should know it, and get off the pot.
I thought that NZ Post was making a profit. Small, covering costs. So why can’t we have some hot shot come in and give it a go. NZ Post were so big at one time, advising others on how to set up postal systems, South Africa etc. Ozymandias! I have a book that I must stick my nose into going back to early days of beefing up the Dinosaur that was NZ Post so that’s next to catch up.
idlegus
There. That is what I find great about paper and hard copy. The complaints would have been on the desk if they had been written, letter or memo, in the file where the middle manager or anyone could see them. Instead they’re shut away out of sight in a computer system.
The mail division was the jewel being smudged across other divisions to make them look better than the dogs they were (transend, eBusiness, Courier post etc) they made a meal out of rural post and whined about their charter but in truth they were blowing it out their incompetant middles and upper managed A’s in these ventures.
they’ve been screwing contractor drivers down for years but eventually it all catches up, just look at Chore-us
re: queenstown, there certainly were complaints, they sat on a middle managers computer in dunedin all that time, he was very promptly sacked (when the shit hit the fan of course).
also, theres certainly been a feeling of these bosses running the place into the ground, little by little, they took away delivery boxes a few years ago, which were mostly used by old ppl, who mostly use personal mail, & then shutting down post shops, the rumours of 3 day delivery slowed the mail right down as many ppl believe it is already happening, shifting the sorting to chch out of dunedin so now it can take 3-5+ days for mail to be sent from one dunedin to the other. its either deliberate or stupid.
Ae. A couple of years ago they changed the pricing of packages being sent by mail, and made it so f*cking complicated that no-one could understand how it worked. So you had to go into a Post Shop and stand in a queue and then the person behind the counter had to measure and weigh and calculate, just to get a price. Maybe NZP thought people would just hand over whatever, but in the age of Trade Me etc, people want to know beforehand how much something is going to cost to post. They don’t want to have to do a trip to town or wait ages on the phone and then be given the wrong information. I suspect that a while back someone in NZ post thought we would all switch to their own packaging and that that would make things simpler. Fat chance.
I sat at home and read the instructions, and looked on line, and I got a ruler to measure the thickness of books, and I took measurements of paperbacks to see which size group they went into. All to find out how you worked out costs on parcels. It was worthwhile even though it took time. And I am happy with the system and want to keep it like it is NZ Post.
Soon I could work out quickly how much to charge. And I could send things cheaply. And it worked well for me and all the book traders I bought from. And knew enough to know when the Post shop at the dairy was wrong. I never found out how to work out the nationwide parcels over a certain limit that go on volume and seem to require algebra. There is help on-line but even then you can be limited by not using the right term, or looking in the wrong classification.
One time I put something in a great big bag and thought it went on weight. But no it was going to cost $22 so helpful assistant folded in half, pulled the edges in and stuck them down and the price went down to $14 or so.
The staff at our Nelson main post shop are helpful, pleasant, I can’t bear to lose these important services. Computerisation is so dependent on electricity, on the flagfall of many dollars to first buy your machine, or take to a centre and pay for using theirs. It takes nous to keep this vulnerable thing going, and there is an expectation that everything will change within 5 years.
They have been sitting on their chuffs at NZ Post director and manager level. And we lose more people friendly stuff. And it is strange how it goes. When you use the alternative wonder-systems they provide, they don’t do the job as well. The designers leave out things that have been useful. They choose a style, appearance, that looks new modern sleek and the old one may have been the best, the most effective.
idlegus re: queenstown, there certainly were complaints, they sat on a middle managers computer in dunedin all that time, he was very promptly sacked (when the shit hit the fan of course).
Just thinking. Was there a connection between middle manager and Queenstown postie?
Family, friend connection? So got job, knew good ol’ so and so at main office wouldn’t make trouble and just kept on (not) doing the business. That scenario would explain what to me is unexplainable. Is it known?
the contract owner (whatever the real term is) is the parent of the offender. the parents of the offender run queenstown posties, or have the contract to run it. sorry, im not sure what the proper terms are. the manager running it from dunedin had no association, it was someone that used to get shifted from post to post in the branch.
idlegus
What a bad idea contractors are. Obviously this ‘efficiency’ has resulted in a moral hazard. Instead of NZ Post keeping control over its business by running it with its own employees, this contracting system in effect places the brand and the public perception of its quality, in the hands of one or two people with a small interest limited to their own returns.
I’m just thinking here of the hot air balloon tragedy. One guy runs his part in a manner satisfactory to him to a low level of responsibility, getting high in a way that a responsible operator would not have. Voluntary, self-regulation, self-enforcement, I spit on it. His crash, the deaths caused, have caused untold anguish and others have gone out of the business – 8 operators now 4. So individuals cannot be trusted to follow their own standards, there is far more to be lost than the immediate within the reach of the physical damage and the firm’s recompense to the damaged and payment of creditors.
yep, certainly seems a way to avoid liability, yet the whole nz post got smeared by this queenstown thing (but as i said, it was a nz post employee who was supposed to be responding to the complaints, he was a manager & well paid etc…but infamous for being useless within the branch.)
i have been away from work back tomorrow, talked to my team leader on the phone & all the changes were news to him, he had no idea baout the sorting being contracted out, & his job is to look after a team of sorters, & god knows how they going to walk some of these routes, some of these streets are long & flat & straight, theres a reason bicycles delivered them, walking is so inefficient! but ours not to reason why, the guys in the offices in suits in their high buildings know betterer!!
but like national its hard to actually know their ultimate motives, if it is to drive these companies into bankruptcies & massive job losses then they are doing bloody well. the original restructuring we were told with the 3 day week thing most of us could live with, but just delivering (& not sorting) means a loss of 3-4 hours of work a day, & considering the big branches (most urban centers) get paid by volume, thats gonna suck. its already hard to make the hours without killing oneself, the rounds are upto 20kms, 25-40 for bikes, theres only so much walking with that weight anyone can handle.
probably find out more tomorrow, but again our team leaders & regional managers seem to be in the dark too.
Key referring to the decision to allow Doug Graham to retain his knighthood -“a third reason being that his conviction was not in an area related to his knighthood” (treaty negotiations). Are they not both concerning theft and fraud.
NZ Oil and Gas will not be paying the District Court judgement of $3.5M reparation to the families of lost miners as
-they are “only” 29% shareholders in Pike River
-they invested approx a total of $20M following the explosion- salaries, contractors etc- some paid out by insurers, while the mine remained viable…
-the Royal Commission didn’t find them a “responsible party”
BUT
most importantly- “our shareholders have said ‘NO, we’ve done enough!'”
So I get that if you don’t carry out duties correctly you can keep your knighthood, wonder how other knighted people feel about that, how it makes them look, their potential value in having them on the board. Wonder what other companies have a knight or a dame on the board. Is Key decision merited? Time will tell if companies with Sir this and Sir that are less trustworthy because everyone knows the Sir might not do due diligence, etc. Now if Key had polled those who have been honour and said as much, point out this wasnt just his decision. Look I get intent was not proven, but Key is also running around suggest balance of probabilities in other cases, and how matters have to be serious to get to a court, a fairly good case much have been present.
Now for a company whose pickup a fire sale, do they have a responsibility to the wrongs of the previous company, would you buying a car be liable for the fines on that car? But of course they were a partial shareholder. what does it say about businesses if their employees die, and the costs of securing the viability of the business soak up the compensation that would have flowed to the rightly bereaved families. And given how much this all has to do with a government policy to deregulate, and how the value of the mine was been protected by the spending of that money for the good of the west coast, seems to me that was a political decision. What does it say, that a heap of coal, already sold off but sitting on the mine property, has continued funding to send to the ‘owners’, yet that money maybe now said to have ‘gone’.
I think the government should pay a proportion as it was its policy that played so much a part, I think any shareholder should be paying up a share depending on their collective wins and losses because the dead should be the first in line, unless we are to believe that the workers in someway caused their own demise? we hear about suicide by police, suicidal murders, etc. It seems to me that those responsible aren’t be held responsible, and where nobody comes to the party, government should step in (and then maybe would not be so gunhoe about deregulation mines oversight).
I have commented on the message that came from the Min of Education that the Christchurch disaster was an opportunity to try out a new system of education for the schools affected by the earhquake. Experiment with the pigeons! Who really just want to stay home.
I heard something chilling about plans for Christchurch hospital that is going to be set in place,
something new. I have forgotten just what but it was fairly recently so keep an eye out.
And I have just been writing about NZ Post and noted that new things provided on the internet , can be disappointing and provide less service than previously.
Press Release: Penny Bright “Doug Graham should be stripped of his knighthood – John Banks and Don Brash should have been charged with the same ‘strict liability’ offence re: Huljich Wealth Management NZ Ltd.”
“… he was convicted of a strict liability offence, where dishonest or criminal intent wasn’t required for conviction…”
“At least Doug Graham was CHARGED for ‘for making false statements in a company prospectus’,” says anti-corruption campaigner Penny Bright.
“So – why weren’t John Banks and Don Brash equally charged, when, as Directors of Huljich Wealth Management NZ Ltd, they too signed the following registered prospectuses which contained false statements?
“It wasn’t for want of trying on my behalf, having formally requested that the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and Auckland Central Police, apply ‘one law for all’ and equally charge John Banks and Don Brash, under 58 (3) of the Securities Act 1978.”
58Criminal liability for misstatement in advertisement or registered prospectus
(1)Subject to subsection (2), where an advertisement that includes any untrue statement is distributed,—
(a)the issuer of the securities referred to in the advertisement, if an individual; or
(b)if the issuer of the securities is a body, every director thereof at the time the advertisement is distributed—
commits an offence.
(2)No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (1) if the person proves either that the statement was immaterial or that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe, and did, up to the time of the distribution of the advertisement, believe that the statement was true.
(3)Subject to subsection (4), where a registered prospectus that includes an untrue statement is distributed, every person who signed the prospectus, or on whose behalf the registered prospectus was signed for the purposes of section 41(1)(b), commits an offence.
(4)No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (3) if the person proves either that the statement was immaterial or that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe, and did, up to the time of the distribution of the prospectus, believe that the statement was true.
(5)Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to—
(a)imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; or
(b)a fine not exceeding $300,000 and, if the offence is a continuing one, to a further fine not exceeding $10,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence is continued.
__________________________________________________________________________
“I think it is a disgrace that neither the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), or NZ Police, chose to apply ‘one law for all’, to the former (and current) leaders of the NZ ACT Party, Don Brash, nor John Banks.”
“In my considered opinion, it is also a disgrace that the Commerce Committee of ‘Highest Court in the land – the NZ House of Parliament – chose not to “conduct an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009”, and has no matters to bring to the attention of the House. ”
“In my considered opinion, both John Banks and Don Brash should have been equally charged with the same ‘strict liability’ offence, and Doug Graham should be stripped of his knighthood”.
Penny Bright
Ph (09) 846 9825
021 211 4 127
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
I love your work and I voted for you. I’m likely to vote for you again if you stand. I disagree with you about Doug Graham giving up his knighthood. While I think all knighthoods should be banned, Doug Graham shouldn’t be vilified over any decision not to strip him of his knighthood or his refusal to give it up. The offence he was convicted of was not one that required him to actively and knowingly set out to do something that hurt others or that benefited himself. The offence he was found guilty of is pretty much about negligence only. We’ve just happened to have created within the criminal law a standard in relation to finance companies which is akin to negligence. This is because we place value on the need to ensure that in relation to finance companies dealing with people’s money, often life savings, we need to make sure the players do things correctly, and if they don’t then we’ve decided it’s a crime.
Compare what Graham did, with cars backing over toddlers in driveways. There’s no specific offence for killing a toddler by backing over them in a driveway. Unless there are other factors it’s regarded as an accident. Look at what Graham was convicted of. Take the offence away and all that’s left was a mistake – not an intentional act designed to harm anyone. I don’t think an offence for making the mistake of driving over a toddler in a driveway should be created. But it doesn’t follow that because there happens to be a criminal offence attached to doing something negligently all of a sudden that person should be seen as somehow unworthy or so bereft of integrity that we need to punish them further.
This was the inside news that was going around my Nat-voting brother’s social circles in Auckland.
It was about a well known National figure [name suppressed by the Court] being, let’s say, not very nice to his wife.
richard’s comment can be solved quite easily. Type the following into Google search:
site:wikileaks.org zealand wife national
Btw, John Key talks about people phoning in with stories and he writes them on a piece of paper and files them away in his top drawer as part of his dirt file.
Well, he is just as keen, if not more so, about his own MPs and keeps a file on them for when it might be convenient to use. And the Nat ones have really salacious stories.
Until Greg Hamilton came along the actual National Party membership was a closely guarded secret. In a heartwarming display of openness in what is usually a closed organisation, Greg has told members that there are about 28,000 members. What he hasn’t told us card carrying members is that there are more members over 80 than under 30, and that the median age is somewhere close to 70.
And while I am mentioning “card carrying” there really has to be more to membership than a little blue card and two begging letters a year from the President. Though I must say with the frost in Auckland the past few days the card has come in handy for removing ice from the windscreen.
The implications are obvious. National, without fresh recruiting, is in for a massive membership collapse. By 2022 a large number of current members will be dead, or infirm or senile. This is not a condemnation of people aging, it is just a statement of fact.
the rest is pretty much touting for business for the WhaleLusk School for How to do Politics Wrong, but that bit is funny.
A combination membership drive and constitutional reform of the party, driven by Whaleoil readers, for the win. What could possibly go wrong, except for the global depletion of all available popping-corn supplies.
I wonder how the nats stack up against NZ1, demographically? After key’s snide comments at the mad hatter’s tea party, it seems his cognitive dissonance was well-entrenched.
The fact that Douglas Graham can keep his Knighthood should serve as a reminder of this Frédéric Bastiat Quote:
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”Frédéric Bastiat, Economic sophisms, 2nd series (1848), ch. 1 Physiology of plunder.
Yes, but she’s cottoned on to simply going back and doing things again, probably with the view of doing things properly this time but still reaching the same result. Parata’s making the mistake, however, of only going back to do the bits the High Court said they did wrong. Mai Chen called her out by pointing to the fact that doing this ignores the changes that have happened in relation to the other areas the High Court didn’t say were handled wrongly. This still leaves it open to argue later that the further consultation was flawed because it wouldn’t be a completely accurate picture of circumstances now, only in parts, because it would assume nothing had changed since the first consultation, and would essentially mean that the second consultation was not proper consultation at all. Just like last time.
Lots in fact has changed, including pupil numbers going through the roof. If Parata had half a brain she’d see this as an opportunity to make political capital by accepting that “the people have spoken and this National government listens to people. We’ve listened to the people of Phillipstown and we believe that they need their school. We have been convinced by their unfaltering loyalty to their community and that this is the right decision to make. This is an example of democracy in action, and this National government is about democracy. We listen to the people!”
There’s everything for Parata and the government to lose by retaining her bullying approach to all of this. At the same time there’s everything to gain, politically, by backing away from the original stance citing consultation and the democratic process. If the government did this it would of course be a total PR sham because this government does not believe in democracy. But if it were smart it would do this. It’s probably the prudent thing to do now anyway now that student numbers have increased by so many – another reason Parata can point to for allowing Phillipstown to keep its school, that “the situation has now changed in a way that government had not envisaged at the time of the original decision.”
Part of me wants Parata to try to steamroll over everything here so that it adds to the bag of ammunition that’s going to ensure the downfall of this hateful government. But that’s not good for Phillipstown. If Parata and the government knew what was good for them then they’d too make sure that Phillipstown kept their school.
Parata is challenged by a question on Te Karere ( 4/11) on this issue of will a name change prevent CSA? You could see just a little flash of trepidation as she knows what’s coming ….
Councils, Boards, the best of experts, sorting machines cannot make any CSA- er openly declare on any form or in any interview say ” yeah, I’m a KF er.” .
Believing that this Council name and member change is really about stopping paedophiles …?
or is about the issue of child sex abuse?
KF-ers are not an homogenous group defined by any one variable, gender, ethnicity, age, sex, profession, look…stereotype. And unsafe for anyone to think otherwise (or suggest to others to think there is) when aiming to keep children safe.
CSA Perpetrators are not paedophiles because they are teachers, priests, nuns, politicians the ones that grab shock news headlines; they are perpetrators because they want to be KF-ers; male and female !!!
Parata is not a simpleton that she believes the new “Council” can sniff a child predator out. But she thinks the public simpletons will believe this line !
CSA is a timely excuse for her to implement an already pre-planned move for the States ‘new vision’, a distraction whereby she is shamelessly using the abuse of children and subversively deflecting blame this time on teachers [All of them?] to further exert control on education and educators. These moves have been underway since 2010 under Nacts watch.
Green papers, white papers, Parata toilet paper YET
coming VERY soon to a news channel near you……wait for it, the next lot of victims
Aha! I now get Al Jazeera English 24/7 on my Freeview TV! That’s something because it has some good docos. So now Freeview isn’t looking so bare, with Maori TV, a little sport, a little Choice, as Lindsay Shelton says….. pity we still don’t have TVNZ7 and that regional TV is being sidelined.
And it nows appears that The Economist is waking up to the way that banks create money:
This is not capitalism, [Duncan] suggests, but “creditism”. It is this system which has broken down, and unless you understand it, you will not be able to fix it.
It was the main fund to donate to Canterbury and donations could be either tagged or not. It has spent about $80m out of $100m so far.Of the $80m spent around $12m was tagged funds that could only be spent as the donor directed.
The spending is interesting.
Cricket and rugby have had $8m in total around 15% of the untagged funds spent.
Youth and education scored about $3m, lots of small grants that I hope made a real difference and $0.25m to rebuild a library which I would have thought was covered by the Council insurance.
Hardship Spiritual and Faith $9m. Again a lot of tagged funds to mostly mainstream charities doing on the ground work and rebuilding a couple of community centers -needed- but again why not the council? Did they not want to give a donation to the council in case it provoked too many questions so did a bit here, a bit there?
And a few items which looked like they should have been central govt funding – $0.23m to the retirement commissioner to fund legal advice to red zone residents. WTF
Now the legal advice surely was necessary but is this what the donors would have intended? Money to fend off the govt?
Heritage and culture $14.2m to rebuild the arts centre clock tower and grand hall
I dunno. I struggle to see why professional sport has managed to scoop so much of the untagged funds. I struggle to see why so many needed counsellors are funded by charity not central govt and why needed community centres didn’t come out of the council budgets. Is the Chch city council being directd by central govt to spend its funds on other things?
Good God. It’s official. As if any further proof that we abide in the twilight zone of utter and complete morono-tory domination of media was needed, they’re bringing back Paul Henry. Failed, rejected, talentless right-wing hack; revolting, repulsive, hatemongering filth of the most extreme order, paid zillions to further molest innocent sensibilities. Please, someone, find out who made this decision. Name and address please.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
The last bits of brilliant commentary in the MSM is now coming only from the cartoonists:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news-cartoons/news/article.cfm?c_id=500814&objectid=11149702
plus 1,… the cartoonists been some of the only genuine voices against the govt narative, even old righties like tremain, & not only that they are usually even funny, im very proud of them, they are the real journalists as far as im concerned.
This cannot be true. No way. What if Sky City buys some?
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Conference-materials-for-mailing.pdf
kiwiblog mischief Red Horse?
It’s going to be one heck of a weekend.
Hopefully we will see some decent left wing policies coming out of this conference, and not just some tinkering. And something more than living wages, etc. Im looking more at stuff like increasing public ownership and public services, etc.
Im thinking of joining Labour, but I have to have a reason. If I wanted to join National I would join National.
If you wanted to join National I’d call for an ambulance to check on you…
Join Mana and hold your head high.
What the hell happened to legal aid?? The stripping away began around 2008.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/11/01/8-interest-rate-on-legal-aid-will-please-private-prisons/
‘
A new email encryption standard announced by DarkMail . . .
This guy passed on before his work was complete….
The blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn7D-pikXNU
I liked this bit in the exploded whale story (not done for reasons of cruelty mind, though some thought the aftermath was cruel to them), which is a comment from the reporting journalist.
“”Every time a whale washes ashore I get a call from Governor Kitzhaber telling me to get down there,” he told the website.
“He likes to watch the video when he needs cheering up.”
I like the Governor’s name. For a story like this it shouldn’t be Smith or the like.
It actually brings to mind the Katzenjammer Kids comics of my youth – anyone remember them? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Katzenjammer_Kids
I’m sure some village in Ireland tried the same thing once as well – with the same result.
Charter school b-s. Interesting interview on the Daily show with Dianne Raditch.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/?xrs=eml_tds_103113
Charter schools in NZ. The Greens very rightly complained about a definition of what charter schools are (as yet not even functioning), being taken from a political pamphlet and printed as unprovable fact by the on-line Maori dictionary. A naive academic?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/226408/dictionary-changes-charter-school-definition
The manager of the site at the Auckland University of Technology, Professor John Moorfield, admits the definition was taken from the Ministry of Education website, but does not agree that it is all government spin.
Google headings for NZ charter school Maori – (anytime)
Military, Maori among first charter schools – Radio New Zealand
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/…/govt-announces-first-charter-school…
Sep 17, 2013 – The Education Minister has announced the first five charter schools, with one to use a military training ethos and two to be Maori bilingual.
and
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1309/S00312/harawira-new-charter-schools-for-maori-in-the-north.htm
and
Charter schools: More input for Maori – National – NZ Herald News
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid…
Jun 6, 2013 – Charter schools will give Maori more input into a school model they can adapt to suit their children, the chairman of the Iwi Education Authority …
and
Māori Need More Than Charter Schools | Save Our Schools NZ
saveourschoolsnz.wordpress.com/…/maori-needs-more-than-charter-scho…
Jul 23, 2013 – Education For Māori Needs More Than Charter Schools – from Education Aotearoa Heni Collins investigates growing concerns in Māoridom ….
Rodel +100….thanks…case for public education and against privatization and right wing Charter School agenda in USA very succinctly put by Professor Dianne Raditch….and based on the research evidence
Newt’s revenge: Child labor makes a comeback
Yep, the RWNJs are bringing back child labour to teach kids that “you have to be on time” and “do what you’re asked …”.
The fact that they’re sick enough to bring back child labour should prove that they should not be in office and that the corporations that support them need to be shut down.
Reply to you at #13…………
Mighty River investors re-evaluate the windfall from their investment…
ChemTrails busted wide open, Snowden to leak dox.
http://web.archive.org/web/20130821112549/http://usahitman.com/mauctpa/
“In various online communities there has been vigorous debate about what chemtrails actually mean. Some believe they spread barium as a highly-sensitive electromagnetic missile defense system. Others postulate they contain compounds that attack our blood cells and ultimately reduce populations, much like the fluoridation of our water supplies. The rise in disease and other unexplained medical phenomena does strangely coincide with the popularization of chemtrails.”
Funny how all they can do is speculate what they’re made of, instead of taking samples or doing a modicum of investigation.
I guess getting off the chair in front of the computer and going outside is too much effort.
Actually this story is even better: http://usahitman.com/4mcdufnh/
Pb….lol ..never heard that argument before ie blaming the atheists …..scientists….. for chemtrails!
New Zealand Post chairman Sir Michael Cullen announced the state-owned company would slash between 1500 and 2000 jobs from its processing, delivery, retail and corporate operations.
http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8748460/nz-post-announces-job-cuts
Dear, oh dear.
nz post to restructure, sorting work to be done by non nz post employees, some kind of private contractor to take over, nz post will still deliver the mail, no more bikes, just walking & vans, up to 2000 jobs to go, michael cullen says its “sad”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9350304/NZ-Post-job-losses-restructure-revealed
EPMU it’s “simply cruel”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11150048
2000 ‘middle income earners’ ?
That’s one huge and hugely informative report. Thanks for posting it DTB. There’s a pile of troubling stats in there covering all aspects of precarious work. Imagine the stress individuals and households would be under working in these conditions, including the “tipped workers”. Their lives would be clouded by constant uncertainty and anxiety.
Above all, the most disturbing is the problem of child labour that you have discussed above and the attitude of the spokesperson. All that is teaching the child is that the world is an oppressive and authoritarian place and that you better get used to it because this is how your life will be lived. Zero respect, zero equality and zero prospects for a happy and fulfilling work life, let alone a comfortable and secure future. Welcome to the poorhouse kiddies.
Oops. That was meant to be a reply to Draco at 8
A Wise Man
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11149719
Welby Ings, AUT
Yes with the award being presented by an evil man whose gov’t is dumbing down and gutting that system
yes, there is always irony in politics tc
very interesting…thanx
A wonderful man and a wise, generous teacher.
Sir Michael Cullen says that some of the 1000 odd retrenchment from NZ Post will be from natural attrition. I think this applies also to him. He has been there long enough to cast any clever spell he could concoct over the place. Now its time to move on to better pastures to fertilise. I think he has over-dosed nz Post going by this explanation of animal poisoning.
Nitrates may cause inflammation of the gut when eaten in large quantities, but their main … Severely affected animals will go down, convulse and die. … Poor old NZ Post, that sturdy animal. Now they are going for efficiency for the workers, seeing management hasn’t achieved it, or been effective, the other part of the cliche. They are going to have contractors sort the mail now, not the posties. Gutted isn’t the word.
It was an unpleasant indication that management of NZ Post was not too good when it took how many years to deal with undelivered mail from one postie in Queenstown , I think from the first day. The consequent disaster with a large amount of accumulated mail, over which they must have had many complaints that should have led to prompt action was a sign of failure that now this sham management is trying to fix by gutting what must be a very cost effective service. And which is appreciated by citizens getting on with real life in the physical world.
And what have they done to encourage more use of the postal system I wonder? Well I looked on Trademe where NZ Post used to be prominent amongst the postal options, now there is only Pass the Parcel which is part of Post Haste couriers and I have never seen NZ Post advertising there. And presumably they cannot decline an advertisement on the site which would be anti-business.
Screwed over by decades of old boy managers (Elmar etc), paying datacom bucket loads for SFA and a sell off of the parcels business into a JV with DHL that was never openly tendered.
DHL took what they could and handed it back a few years ago.
Filled with refugees from other gov’t bodies, telecom and armed forces, remember the debacle with that overseas consulting arm early in the 2000’s. Many failed technology ventures with the current UPost laughable if it wasn’t so sad.
The postal business was one of the better run sectors till numptys like Peter Fenton were given the controls.
tc
Thanks for that interesting stuff. The number of times I have read of some bloke enriching himself from screwing his employer while he sets up some internet system to do something, not well, implies that it is frequent. The bloke often walks away from the failure into another internet job, or retires with a nice package. (A woman dying of cancer vows that women in Southland aren’t getting timely treatment because of all the money lost from the guy Swan’s depredations – I think he is in prison.)
I keep thinking about Ansett and the lack of acuity in directorship skills by the NZs on that board. Since then I have regarded NZ management with a septical eye (sic). If they can’t do it, they should know it, and get off the pot.
I thought that NZ Post was making a profit. Small, covering costs. So why can’t we have some hot shot come in and give it a go. NZ Post were so big at one time, advising others on how to set up postal systems, South Africa etc. Ozymandias! I have a book that I must stick my nose into going back to early days of beefing up the Dinosaur that was NZ Post so that’s next to catch up.
idlegus
There. That is what I find great about paper and hard copy. The complaints would have been on the desk if they had been written, letter or memo, in the file where the middle manager or anyone could see them. Instead they’re shut away out of sight in a computer system.
The mail division was the jewel being smudged across other divisions to make them look better than the dogs they were (transend, eBusiness, Courier post etc) they made a meal out of rural post and whined about their charter but in truth they were blowing it out their incompetant middles and upper managed A’s in these ventures.
they’ve been screwing contractor drivers down for years but eventually it all catches up, just look at Chore-us
Shore-us up.
re: queenstown, there certainly were complaints, they sat on a middle managers computer in dunedin all that time, he was very promptly sacked (when the shit hit the fan of course).
also, theres certainly been a feeling of these bosses running the place into the ground, little by little, they took away delivery boxes a few years ago, which were mostly used by old ppl, who mostly use personal mail, & then shutting down post shops, the rumours of 3 day delivery slowed the mail right down as many ppl believe it is already happening, shifting the sorting to chch out of dunedin so now it can take 3-5+ days for mail to be sent from one dunedin to the other. its either deliberate or stupid.
“its either deliberate or stupid.”
Ae. A couple of years ago they changed the pricing of packages being sent by mail, and made it so f*cking complicated that no-one could understand how it worked. So you had to go into a Post Shop and stand in a queue and then the person behind the counter had to measure and weigh and calculate, just to get a price. Maybe NZP thought people would just hand over whatever, but in the age of Trade Me etc, people want to know beforehand how much something is going to cost to post. They don’t want to have to do a trip to town or wait ages on the phone and then be given the wrong information. I suspect that a while back someone in NZ post thought we would all switch to their own packaging and that that would make things simpler. Fat chance.
I sat at home and read the instructions, and looked on line, and I got a ruler to measure the thickness of books, and I took measurements of paperbacks to see which size group they went into. All to find out how you worked out costs on parcels. It was worthwhile even though it took time. And I am happy with the system and want to keep it like it is NZ Post.
Soon I could work out quickly how much to charge. And I could send things cheaply. And it worked well for me and all the book traders I bought from. And knew enough to know when the Post shop at the dairy was wrong. I never found out how to work out the nationwide parcels over a certain limit that go on volume and seem to require algebra. There is help on-line but even then you can be limited by not using the right term, or looking in the wrong classification.
One time I put something in a great big bag and thought it went on weight. But no it was going to cost $22 so helpful assistant folded in half, pulled the edges in and stuck them down and the price went down to $14 or so.
The staff at our Nelson main post shop are helpful, pleasant, I can’t bear to lose these important services. Computerisation is so dependent on electricity, on the flagfall of many dollars to first buy your machine, or take to a centre and pay for using theirs. It takes nous to keep this vulnerable thing going, and there is an expectation that everything will change within 5 years.
They have been sitting on their chuffs at NZ Post director and manager level. And we lose more people friendly stuff. And it is strange how it goes. When you use the alternative wonder-systems they provide, they don’t do the job as well. The designers leave out things that have been useful. They choose a style, appearance, that looks new modern sleek and the old one may have been the best, the most effective.
idlegus
re: queenstown, there certainly were complaints, they sat on a middle managers computer in dunedin all that time, he was very promptly sacked (when the shit hit the fan of course).
Just thinking. Was there a connection between middle manager and Queenstown postie?
Family, friend connection? So got job, knew good ol’ so and so at main office wouldn’t make trouble and just kept on (not) doing the business. That scenario would explain what to me is unexplainable. Is it known?
the contract owner (whatever the real term is) is the parent of the offender. the parents of the offender run queenstown posties, or have the contract to run it. sorry, im not sure what the proper terms are. the manager running it from dunedin had no association, it was someone that used to get shifted from post to post in the branch.
idlegus
What a bad idea contractors are. Obviously this ‘efficiency’ has resulted in a moral hazard. Instead of NZ Post keeping control over its business by running it with its own employees, this contracting system in effect places the brand and the public perception of its quality, in the hands of one or two people with a small interest limited to their own returns.
I’m just thinking here of the hot air balloon tragedy. One guy runs his part in a manner satisfactory to him to a low level of responsibility, getting high in a way that a responsible operator would not have. Voluntary, self-regulation, self-enforcement, I spit on it. His crash, the deaths caused, have caused untold anguish and others have gone out of the business – 8 operators now 4. So individuals cannot be trusted to follow their own standards, there is far more to be lost than the immediate within the reach of the physical damage and the firm’s recompense to the damaged and payment of creditors.
yep, certainly seems a way to avoid liability, yet the whole nz post got smeared by this queenstown thing (but as i said, it was a nz post employee who was supposed to be responding to the complaints, he was a manager & well paid etc…but infamous for being useless within the branch.)
i have been away from work back tomorrow, talked to my team leader on the phone & all the changes were news to him, he had no idea baout the sorting being contracted out, & his job is to look after a team of sorters, & god knows how they going to walk some of these routes, some of these streets are long & flat & straight, theres a reason bicycles delivered them, walking is so inefficient! but ours not to reason why, the guys in the offices in suits in their high buildings know betterer!!
but like national its hard to actually know their ultimate motives, if it is to drive these companies into bankruptcies & massive job losses then they are doing bloody well. the original restructuring we were told with the 3 day week thing most of us could live with, but just delivering (& not sorting) means a loss of 3-4 hours of work a day, & considering the big branches (most urban centers) get paid by volume, thats gonna suck. its already hard to make the hours without killing oneself, the rounds are upto 20kms, 25-40 for bikes, theres only so much walking with that weight anyone can handle.
probably find out more tomorrow, but again our team leaders & regional managers seem to be in the dark too.
Key referring to the decision to allow Doug Graham to retain his knighthood -“a third reason being that his conviction was not in an area related to his knighthood” (treaty negotiations). Are they not both concerning theft and fraud.
NZ Oil and Gas will not be paying the District Court judgement of $3.5M reparation to the families of lost miners as
-they are “only” 29% shareholders in Pike River
-they invested approx a total of $20M following the explosion- salaries, contractors etc- some paid out by insurers, while the mine remained viable…
-the Royal Commission didn’t find them a “responsible party”
BUT
most importantly- “our shareholders have said ‘NO, we’ve done enough!'”
Yep!
So I get that if you don’t carry out duties correctly you can keep your knighthood, wonder how other knighted people feel about that, how it makes them look, their potential value in having them on the board. Wonder what other companies have a knight or a dame on the board. Is Key decision merited? Time will tell if companies with Sir this and Sir that are less trustworthy because everyone knows the Sir might not do due diligence, etc. Now if Key had polled those who have been honour and said as much, point out this wasnt just his decision. Look I get intent was not proven, but Key is also running around suggest balance of probabilities in other cases, and how matters have to be serious to get to a court, a fairly good case much have been present.
Now for a company whose pickup a fire sale, do they have a responsibility to the wrongs of the previous company, would you buying a car be liable for the fines on that car? But of course they were a partial shareholder. what does it say about businesses if their employees die, and the costs of securing the viability of the business soak up the compensation that would have flowed to the rightly bereaved families. And given how much this all has to do with a government policy to deregulate, and how the value of the mine was been protected by the spending of that money for the good of the west coast, seems to me that was a political decision. What does it say, that a heap of coal, already sold off but sitting on the mine property, has continued funding to send to the ‘owners’, yet that money maybe now said to have ‘gone’.
I think the government should pay a proportion as it was its policy that played so much a part, I think any shareholder should be paying up a share depending on their collective wins and losses because the dead should be the first in line, unless we are to believe that the workers in someway caused their own demise? we hear about suicide by police, suicidal murders, etc. It seems to me that those responsible aren’t be held responsible, and where nobody comes to the party, government should step in (and then maybe would not be so gunhoe about deregulation mines oversight).
While Roger Douglass holds a knighthood after destroying our country, they’re meaningless anyway.
The next step to the incremental gutting of the NZ education system –
Parata: New Zealand Teachers Council to be replaced
I have commented on the message that came from the Min of Education that the Christchurch disaster was an opportunity to try out a new system of education for the schools affected by the earhquake. Experiment with the pigeons! Who really just want to stay home.
I heard something chilling about plans for Christchurch hospital that is going to be set in place,
something new. I have forgotten just what but it was fairly recently so keep an eye out.
And I have just been writing about NZ Post and noted that new things provided on the internet , can be disappointing and provide less service than previously.
FYI
Press Release: Penny Bright “Doug Graham should be stripped of his knighthood – John Banks and Don Brash should have been charged with the same ‘strict liability’ offence re: Huljich Wealth Management NZ Ltd.”
1 November 2013
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/sir-douglas-retain-knighthood-key-sf-147974
“… he was convicted of a strict liability offence, where dishonest or criminal intent wasn’t required for conviction…”
“At least Doug Graham was CHARGED for ‘for making false statements in a company prospectus’,” says anti-corruption campaigner Penny Bright.
“So – why weren’t John Banks and Don Brash equally charged, when, as Directors of Huljich Wealth Management NZ Ltd, they too signed the following registered prospectuses which contained false statements?
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1OfbKNxoyZgDs1gZtA1zJLTYAl7sqjYDZgKrIXdUU21S2WRG2D7quY_VyXOKA/edit?usp=drive_web&urp=http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz/&pli=1
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1VFcJz_lUp51NMOdoJKpTTKVY0hJHLxYwSytctgRZzKTEbCD726XkkIKkyEpj/edit?usp=drive_web ”
Only fellow former Director Peter Huljich was ever charged.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10754678
“It wasn’t for want of trying on my behalf, having formally requested that the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and Auckland Central Police, apply ‘one law for all’ and equally charge John Banks and Don Brash, under 58 (3) of the Securities Act 1978.”
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1978/0103/latest/DLM29406.html?search=ts_act_Securities+Act+1978_resel&p=1#DLM29406
58Criminal liability for misstatement in advertisement or registered prospectus
(1)Subject to subsection (2), where an advertisement that includes any untrue statement is distributed,—
(a)the issuer of the securities referred to in the advertisement, if an individual; or
(b)if the issuer of the securities is a body, every director thereof at the time the advertisement is distributed—
commits an offence.
(2)No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (1) if the person proves either that the statement was immaterial or that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe, and did, up to the time of the distribution of the advertisement, believe that the statement was true.
(3)Subject to subsection (4), where a registered prospectus that includes an untrue statement is distributed, every person who signed the prospectus, or on whose behalf the registered prospectus was signed for the purposes of section 41(1)(b), commits an offence.
(4)No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (3) if the person proves either that the statement was immaterial or that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe, and did, up to the time of the distribution of the prospectus, believe that the statement was true.
(5)Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to—
(a)imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; or
(b)a fine not exceeding $300,000 and, if the offence is a continuing one, to a further fine not exceeding $10,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence is continued.
__________________________________________________________________________
“I think it is a disgrace that neither the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), or NZ Police, chose to apply ‘one law for all’, to the former (and current) leaders of the NZ ACT Party, Don Brash, nor John Banks.”
“In my considered opinion, it is also a disgrace that the Commerce Committee of ‘Highest Court in the land – the NZ House of Parliament – chose not to “conduct an urgent inquiry into the decisions regarding prosecutions relating to the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009”, and has no matters to bring to the attention of the House. ”
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com/corruption/commerce-select-committee-report-on-banks/
“In my considered opinion, both John Banks and Don Brash should have been equally charged with the same ‘strict liability’ offence, and Doug Graham should be stripped of his knighthood”.
Penny Bright
Ph (09) 846 9825
021 211 4 127
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Hi Penny,
I love your work and I voted for you. I’m likely to vote for you again if you stand. I disagree with you about Doug Graham giving up his knighthood. While I think all knighthoods should be banned, Doug Graham shouldn’t be vilified over any decision not to strip him of his knighthood or his refusal to give it up. The offence he was convicted of was not one that required him to actively and knowingly set out to do something that hurt others or that benefited himself. The offence he was found guilty of is pretty much about negligence only. We’ve just happened to have created within the criminal law a standard in relation to finance companies which is akin to negligence. This is because we place value on the need to ensure that in relation to finance companies dealing with people’s money, often life savings, we need to make sure the players do things correctly, and if they don’t then we’ve decided it’s a crime.
Compare what Graham did, with cars backing over toddlers in driveways. There’s no specific offence for killing a toddler by backing over them in a driveway. Unless there are other factors it’s regarded as an accident. Look at what Graham was convicted of. Take the offence away and all that’s left was a mistake – not an intentional act designed to harm anyone. I don’t think an offence for making the mistake of driving over a toddler in a driveway should be created. But it doesn’t follow that because there happens to be a criminal offence attached to doing something negligently all of a sudden that person should be seen as somehow unworthy or so bereft of integrity that we need to punish them further.
So if doug had beaten his wife wld he still be a sir cos its not in the area of his expertise.
So if doug had beaten his wife wld he still be a sir cos its not in the area of his expertise.
have a look at the wikileaks NZ page
??
This was the inside news that was going around my Nat-voting brother’s social circles in Auckland.
It was about a well known National figure [name suppressed by the Court] being, let’s say, not very nice to his wife.
richard’s comment can be solved quite easily. Type the following into Google search:
site:wikileaks.org zealand wife national
Btw, John Key talks about people phoning in with stories and he writes them on a piece of paper and files them away in his top drawer as part of his dirt file.
Well, he is just as keen, if not more so, about his own MPs and keeps a file on them for when it might be convenient to use. And the Nat ones have really salacious stories.
Fuck what’s with all the trade stands at the Labour conference ?
zzzz
Best you get the narcolepsy looked at.
Wouldn’t often recommend a whaleoil post, but here. you. go:
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/06/how-many-national-party-members-will-still-be-alive-in-2022/#axzz2jMZotUOQ
the rest is pretty much touting for business for the WhaleLusk School for How to do Politics Wrong, but that bit is funny.
LOL
Chris73 must be…
And from that piece “there really has to be more to membership than a little blue card and two begging letters a year from the President” …
That is quite ok considering the President can be a bit preoccupied with other matters, sometimes.
A combination membership drive and constitutional reform of the party, driven by Whaleoil readers, for the win. What could possibly go wrong, except for the global depletion of all available popping-corn supplies.
I wonder how the nats stack up against NZ1, demographically? After key’s snide comments at the mad hatter’s tea party, it seems his cognitive dissonance was well-entrenched.
Sounds like a pitch for Slater and his Young-Nat-affiliated mates like Wewege to get paid big wads of cash for recruitment services.
Does indeed. And he wants more power for the members too. Good. national has been a wingnut farm for too long. It’s time for the animals to shine.
Fukushima : The Ongoing Reality
Fukushima : The Ongoing Reality .
The fact that Douglas Graham can keep his Knighthood should serve as a reminder of this Frédéric Bastiat Quote:
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”Frédéric Bastiat, Economic sophisms, 2nd series (1848), ch. 1 Physiology of plunder.
seen this talk on Fukushima above ev?
Well its a good start by Hekia I guess:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/9352077/Government-replaces-Teachers-Council
who has backed down from challenging the illegality findings of her conduct over Phillipstown School 😀 Have A Nice Day
Yes, but she’s cottoned on to simply going back and doing things again, probably with the view of doing things properly this time but still reaching the same result. Parata’s making the mistake, however, of only going back to do the bits the High Court said they did wrong. Mai Chen called her out by pointing to the fact that doing this ignores the changes that have happened in relation to the other areas the High Court didn’t say were handled wrongly. This still leaves it open to argue later that the further consultation was flawed because it wouldn’t be a completely accurate picture of circumstances now, only in parts, because it would assume nothing had changed since the first consultation, and would essentially mean that the second consultation was not proper consultation at all. Just like last time.
Lots in fact has changed, including pupil numbers going through the roof. If Parata had half a brain she’d see this as an opportunity to make political capital by accepting that “the people have spoken and this National government listens to people. We’ve listened to the people of Phillipstown and we believe that they need their school. We have been convinced by their unfaltering loyalty to their community and that this is the right decision to make. This is an example of democracy in action, and this National government is about democracy. We listen to the people!”
There’s everything for Parata and the government to lose by retaining her bullying approach to all of this. At the same time there’s everything to gain, politically, by backing away from the original stance citing consultation and the democratic process. If the government did this it would of course be a total PR sham because this government does not believe in democracy. But if it were smart it would do this. It’s probably the prudent thing to do now anyway now that student numbers have increased by so many – another reason Parata can point to for allowing Phillipstown to keep its school, that “the situation has now changed in a way that government had not envisaged at the time of the original decision.”
Part of me wants Parata to try to steamroll over everything here so that it adds to the bag of ammunition that’s going to ensure the downfall of this hateful government. But that’s not good for Phillipstown. If Parata and the government knew what was good for them then they’d too make sure that Phillipstown kept their school.
And there you go again …
W. Oil posts, and 5 minutes later, you copy. We can set our watches to you.
Do you have an original thought in your head, Chris?
He’s just doing his job.
the tories do seem to have an awful lot of self-proclaimed pr experts… perhaps they should hire some competent policy analysts?
Parata is challenged by a question on Te Karere ( 4/11) on this issue of will a name change prevent CSA? You could see just a little flash of trepidation as she knows what’s coming ….
Councils, Boards, the best of experts, sorting machines cannot make any CSA- er openly declare on any form or in any interview say ” yeah, I’m a KF er.” .
Believing that this Council name and member change is really about stopping paedophiles …?
or is about the issue of child sex abuse?
KF-ers are not an homogenous group defined by any one variable, gender, ethnicity, age, sex, profession, look…stereotype. And unsafe for anyone to think otherwise (or suggest to others to think there is) when aiming to keep children safe.
CSA Perpetrators are not paedophiles because they are teachers, priests, nuns, politicians the ones that grab shock news headlines; they are perpetrators because they want to be KF-ers; male and female !!!
Parata is not a simpleton that she believes the new “Council” can sniff a child predator out. But she thinks the public simpletons will believe this line !
CSA is a timely excuse for her to implement an already pre-planned move for the States ‘new vision’, a distraction whereby she is shamelessly using the abuse of children and subversively deflecting blame this time on teachers [All of them?] to further exert control on education and educators. These moves have been underway since 2010 under Nacts watch.
Green papers, white papers, Parata toilet paper YET
coming VERY soon to a news channel near you……wait for it, the next lot of victims
Aha! I now get Al Jazeera English 24/7 on my Freeview TV! That’s something because it has some good docos. So now Freeview isn’t looking so bare, with Maori TV, a little sport, a little Choice, as Lindsay Shelton says….. pity we still don’t have TVNZ7 and that regional TV is being sidelined.
Referendum poll: 69.3% against partial state asset sales
Still around 70% oppose asset sales which means that Key and National are selling our assets solely at the behest of the minority.
And it nows appears that The Economist is waking up to the way that banks create money:
Just noticed this donation from the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal Trust.
Quake-funds-for-Hagley-Oval
and clicked on a few more links. Interesting.
It was the main fund to donate to Canterbury and donations could be either tagged or not. It has spent about $80m out of $100m so far.Of the $80m spent around $12m was tagged funds that could only be spent as the donor directed.
The spending is interesting.
Cricket and rugby have had $8m in total around 15% of the untagged funds spent.
Youth and education scored about $3m, lots of small grants that I hope made a real difference and $0.25m to rebuild a library which I would have thought was covered by the Council insurance.
Hardship Spiritual and Faith $9m. Again a lot of tagged funds to mostly mainstream charities doing on the ground work and rebuilding a couple of community centers -needed- but again why not the council? Did they not want to give a donation to the council in case it provoked too many questions so did a bit here, a bit there?
And a few items which looked like they should have been central govt funding – $0.23m to the retirement commissioner to fund legal advice to red zone residents. WTF
Now the legal advice surely was necessary but is this what the donors would have intended? Money to fend off the govt?
Heritage and culture $14.2m to rebuild the arts centre clock tower and grand hall
I dunno. I struggle to see why professional sport has managed to scoop so much of the untagged funds. I struggle to see why so many needed counsellors are funded by charity not central govt and why needed community centres didn’t come out of the council budgets. Is the Chch city council being directd by central govt to spend its funds on other things?
Good God. It’s official. As if any further proof that we abide in the twilight zone of utter and complete morono-tory domination of media was needed, they’re bringing back Paul Henry. Failed, rejected, talentless right-wing hack; revolting, repulsive, hatemongering filth of the most extreme order, paid zillions to further molest innocent sensibilities. Please, someone, find out who made this decision. Name and address please.