Open Mike 02/01/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, January 2nd, 2019 - 54 comments
Categories: open mike, uncategorized - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

54 comments on “Open Mike 02/01/2019 ”

  1. Yorick 1

    It will be interesting to see what sort of post-imperial Britain emerges from Brexit.

    • millsy 1.1

      That’s if it ever happens. I’m picking it will be delayed a year. Then after that, delayed again, and so on.

    • James 2.1

      Your kink is broken.

    • Dennis Frank 2.2

      “But what cannot be dismissed is that there have been two major grassroots movements in the last 20 years in the UK that managed to put more than half a million people on the streets of London, and there is a distinct danger that Labour will be on the wrong side of both of them.”

      Raises the interesting question of the relation between grass-roots protest and democracy. The Greens have always been big on this. Eventually I detected a flawed assumption: that the former indicates the latter. Seems true, but the evidence (election results) continually proves it wrong. At the risk of over-simplifying, what you get is leftist greenies thinking numbers on street protests equates to a groundswell of opinion amongst the populace.

      Simon Wren-Lewis is Professor of Economic Policy in the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. He writes “I have to be doubly careful in posts like these because I am what one Corbyn loyalist described as an “arch-Remainer”. The emotions I ascribe to many of those who campaign for Remain are also my own. Like many of the other economists who made up Labour’s Economic Advisory Council I resigned because I saw the current leadership as too content with the referendum result. As a result I am not an impartial observer, so I need to be especially careful that what I write about Remainers as a whole is factually based.”

      Too content with the referendum result?? Corbyn et al are the target of Labour remainers because they chose to accept the will of the people? “Once you let a campaign of the right won by illegal means triumph, you open the doors to more of the same.” Ah, so he thinks Brexit is illegal. You’d think a professor would know to validate such a claim with evidence, eh? He doesn’t even try. He’s busy trying to create the impression in the minds of his readers that remainers are a bunch of puerile retards, and isn’t even self-aware enough to realise that!

      • Yorick 2.2.1

        Thanks for validating the link Dennis. I tend to part ways with you however

        “That Brexit is more than just another issue or a passing fad seems clear. After the 2016 vote, around half the Remain vote was prepared to accept the result, but the other half was not. Through two years when the two major parties and the BBC regarded the decision as made and irreversible, Remainers built various organisations with the aim of reversing the vote. They held protest marches around the UK that gradually grew in size, culminating in the biggest march in London since the Iraq war protest. Polls now suggest the Remain vote is more committed than the Leave vote, with a majority over either May’s deal or no-deal bigger than Leave’s margin in 2016.

        Where does this passion and energy come from? It is obviously a big issue, but would the kind of Brexit favoured by Corbyn and some Labour and Tory MPs (close to Brexit In Name Only – BINO) really be such a big deal compared to staying in the EU? On an emotional level I think there are three reasons why it would be. First and foremost is the question of identity. Many people in the UK regard themselves as also European, and any form of Brexit is clearly a way of cutting the UK off from the rest of Europe. Second, I think there is a strong feeling that leaving the EU represents the triumph of ideological over rational argument. Once you let a campaign of the right won by illegal means triumph, you open the doors to more of the same. A third factor is empathy for the position of European migrants in the UK, who are often friends, neighbours or colleagues.

        If a sceptical Labour leadership want to know what would happen if they enabled Brexit, the best comparison I can suggest is how they felt after parliament voted to put UK troops alongside US troops in the Iraq invasion.

        If you put these points to Corbyn loyalists you get a variety of responses that go from the misguided to downright depressing. ..”

        • Ad 2.2.1.1

          Brexit in the context of the upcoming European elections is going to resound with the issue eradicating centre rifht, centre left and hard left parties:

          immigration.

          its the fat rock in the river, and they need viable policy solutions different to Merkel’s “all in” career killer.

        • greywarshark 2.2.1.2

          The Brexit decision is so deeply flawed that i am amazed that any rational person can find an argument for it. Saying it was the will of the people is so specious it makes me gag. If a football crowd goes on a binge and a bash-up and break-up of everything they see, that is not acceptable, it is showing irresponsibility and actual damage to others.

          Brexit vote showed similar emotionality. It is understandable with the turmoil over past years, the scandal of the brothels set up in a northern city by young Pakistanis I believe, that the police were wary of investigating because of racism claims. So racist, assimilation problems, growing with refugees both landless and economic, and the depressing state of UK standards of living and standards of responsibility in the gilded pollies and wealthy power brokers.

          It was a hair’s breadth majority, totally unsuitable to regard as the large majority wanting to use it as a driver to break the UK apart. It could be compared more to the troubled person who has a go at suicide because everything is going wrong for them, and there is diminishing hope of improvement.

          Yet the Party in power, and apparently Labour, believe that this virtual protest by the silent majority should replace all reasoned, informed policy. They no doubt have visions that it will make them a great country again! Not when the wealthy are willing to walk on the poor to get upwards – the UK is becoming a nationwide version of the football Hillsborough tragedy.

          After that tragedy with 96 dead and 766 injured, English teams were banned from playing in Europe. If the English parliament think that they will be stronger and better largely banning themselves from Europe, they are suffering terminal delusions.

          It resulted in all English football clubs being banned from playing in Europe for five years. Fourteen Liverpool fans were found guilty of manslaughter and each jailed for three years.May 29, 2015
          Heysel disaster: English football’s forgotten tragedy? – BBC News
          https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-32898612

          And Yorick you write very persuasively but please do not let your rhetoric interfere with the facts.
          “Once you let a campaign of the right won by illegal means triumph…”
          The word illegal is quite wrong. But here is a choice from google. You should be able to find something appropriate.
          cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics.
          “a whole range of outrageous Machiavellian manoeuvres”
          synonyms: devious, cunning, crafty, artful, wily, sly, scheming, designing, conniving, opportunistic, insidious, treacherous, perfidious, two-faced, Janus-faced, tricky, double-dealing, unscrupulous, deceitful, dishonest; informal foxy

          • greywarshark 2.2.1.2.1

            Reading the large paragraphs through I find I was confused. Some of it is quotes from the original link which was to a New Statesman America article.

            • Yorick 2.2.1.2.1.1

              Yep, no problems. Cheers ..

              • greywarshark

                Glad to help though with that great collection of put-downs for the rather grimy in society. What a lovely collection of mud balls to throw, if the spirit moves you.

          • shadrach 2.2.1.2.2

            “that tragedy with 96 dead and 766 injured, English teams were banned from playing in Europe.”

            1. Your analogy is deeply offensive to anyone associated with the Hillsborough tragedy.
            2. Your claim about the European ban confuses two separate events, Hillsborough and Heysel. There was no ban of English clubs from Europe after Hillsborough.

            The survivors and relatives of the victims of Hillsborough have suffered enough from official incompetence and the extent of Police cover-up. And that includes the pathetic (Labour Government) Stuart-Smith review.

            96 supporters were crushed to death on April 5, 1989. A least have the respect to get your basic facts correct before using those deaths to make a cheap political point.

        • Wayne 2.2.1.3

          The Brexit result is not illegal. Neither was it a hairbreadth result. It was close, but 52 to 48 is a clear result. In NZ parliamentary electorate terms it would be a 1500 majority. Some campaigners may have broken spending limits, but that does not invalidate the result. It is not the same as a specific candidate breaching spending rules in their own favour. Campaigners, either for remain or leave, were too diffuse for such a conclusion.

          In any event, it looks like the second referendum idea has run out of steam, probably because too many proponents for a second referendum said the first one was illegal, or that those who voted to leave were stupid. Both these approaches have discredited the idea of a second referendum.

          It now seems to be “Leave on May’s terms” or a “No deal Brexit.” We will know in about two weeks.

  2. ScottGN 3

    Walking along Quay Street at Britomart in Auckland the other day. Traffic was light. There were AT Metro double deckers as well as cars (and quite a few limes and cycles) but no trucks.
    You could smell the briny tang of the sea rather than the usual whiff of diesel. The end of the holidays will obviously be the big test but so far, so good.
    It wouldn’t be a surprise if the last minute threat of legal action to halt the project by residents of Princes Wharf was quietly shelved.

    • Sacha 3.1

      “You could smell the briny tang of the sea rather than the usual whiff of diesel.”

      A taste of the future for that whole part of town when cross-traffic is reduced and only electric buses and trams remain.

      • Anne 3.1.1

        “You could smell the briny tang of the sea rather than the usual whiff of diesel.”

        Yep. that is what it was like when I was a kid. A taste of what was to come when travelling on the old “Baroona” to our dream holidays at Onetangi, Waiheke.

    • Ad 3.2

      plenty of consultation on the record.

      any High Court judicial review will be thrown out

      we have a city to liberate.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.3

      It wouldn’t be a surprise if the last minute threat of legal action to halt the project by residents of Princes Wharf was quietly shelved.

      Um, what?

      • ScottGN 3.3.1

        This Draco.
        Though just because Anne Gibson chooses to describe them as a ‘powerful group of waterfront residents and businesses’ doesn’t meant they really are.

        https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/business/auckland-businesses-plan-legal-action-over-quay-street-roadworks/

        • Draco T Bastard 3.3.1.1

          I assume in this case ‘powerful’ = rich.

          And I can’t say that I’m surprised by such a bunch of bludgers complaining that the council is making things better.

          Auckland Transport’s plan is to rework the waterfront street, creating wider footpaths and easier navigation, designed for a 30km/h speed. The area will also feature street furniture, trees and various opportunities for business and events. These changes will, however, necessitate a reduction of the number of lanes.

          Once there are actually more people strolling past their business instead of driving and they get more customers I wonder if they’ll be declaring loudly that they tried to stop it?

          • ScottGN 3.3.1.1.1

            They’re a funny lot though Draco, set in their ways. There’s been a few retailers who have stymied plans to get cars out of High St for years. They’re adamant that if people can’t park right outside their shops they’ll lose business. Even though common sense should tell you that the number of car parks in that street couldn’t possibly support all the businesses there. And they have the example of O’Connell St right next door which is doing really well without cars parked along it all day long.

  3. joe90 4

    Ferreting around down the twitter rabbit hole as you do, and this wee charmer leapt out at me.

    Tomorrow I'll tell you how cannibalism was just a normal thing for Victorian sailors & how it was only in 1884 that it was made clear to everyone that it wasn't legal to kill and eat people no matter what the circumstances, and how the Victorian public were Very Angry about that.— Jay Hulme (@JayHulmePoet) December 23, 2018

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1076799054066135043.html

    (h/t, Adele)

  4. greywarshark 5

    Thinking about air travel, and whether we might have to give up some of our cherished machinery, I thought of Richard Pearse at the beginning of the 19th century working on his designs and trying them. And I thought of the author John Christopher who wrote about a man wanting to enter a semi-industrial age in The Sword of the Spirits trilogy, first book being The Prince in Waiting.

    The Prince had his life upturned, tried to recapture it, looked at an alternative way of living, and settled for a life a little isolated from his fellows where he could carry out his ideas for technical advance. The Prince had wanted to introduce machines and new ideas and they had been rejected in his original land and he had abandoned his country. Once the curiosity is aroused and the ability to make something original and useful and apparently better takes hold, you end up being possessed by the idea.

    Our NZ inventor of a plane, Richard Pearse, was a sort of Prince in Waiting.
    He carried on with different designs but in the end he thought if he did succeed somebody or organisation would steal it. There was disagreement about the date of his first flight, about 1903-4.
    Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Pearse continued to work on constructing a tilt-rotor flying-machine for personal use – sometimes described as a cross between a windmill and a rubbish-cart. His design resembled an autogyro or helicopter, but involved a tilting propeller/rotor and monoplane wings, which, along with the tail, could fold to allow storage in a conventional garage. He intended the vehicle for driving on the road (like a car) as well for flying.

    However he became reclusive and paranoid that foreign spies would discover his work. Committed to Sunnyside Mental Hospital in Christchurch in 1951, Pearse died there two years later. Researchers believe that many of his papers were destroyed at that time.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse

  5. millsy 6

    And so, Jair Bolosinaro is sworn in as Brazilian president, rounding off a slow motion coup that has been going on for the last 2 years.

    Those fancy helicopters of the armed forces are going to get worked to the limited over the next few years, as gays, environmtalists, trade unionists, “Marxists”, feminists, and ‘non traditional family units’ are thrown out of them over the Atlantic.

    • Wayne 6.1

      Not likely. While Bolosinaro may be a populist, he is not in the same zone as the Argentinian generals.

      • millsy 6.1.1

        Bolosinaro is a hard right reactionary. He is way more right wing and reactionary than you ever hope to be, Wayne. He would probably have you jailed for being a “Marxist” or whatever.

        And I was thinking more of Pinochet/Franco than the Argentine mob.

    • joe90 6.2

      He’s off to a flyer.

      For 24-year-old Cinthia Souza, from Bahia state, today is the new Independence Day of Brazil. “An independence from corruption,” she says. pic.twitter.com/LiDGcGhWZ3— The Brazilian Report (@BrazilianReport) January 1, 2019

      Bolsonaro, who spent nearly 30 years in Congress, takes office on Jan. 1 after an electoral win that gave him a mandate to hobble violent drug gangs, cut through red tape to kick-start Brazil’s economy and go after the corrupt political class.

      But a regulator’s questions about a bank account of the former driver of his son, Rio de Janeiro state lawmaker and Senator-elect Flavio Bolsonaro, has clouded his big day, leading critics to doubt the president-elect’s graft-busting credentials and his ability to deliver a new type of politics.

      […]

      The scandal arose after Brazil’s Council for Financial Activities Control (COAF) identified 1.2 million reais ($305,033) that in 2016-17 flowed through the bank account of Queiroz, who for years was on Flavio Bolsonaro’s payroll as a driver and adviser. Some payments were made to the president-elect’s wife, Michelle Bolsonaro.

      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics/scandal-involving-brazil-president-elects-son-clouds-inauguration-idUSKCN1OQ158

  6. The Chairman 7

    Good to see Jacinda finally acknowledging (on her facebook page re video at city mission) Labour’s family package and energy payments aren’t doing enough to meet growing poverty.

    The questions now are what is she and her coalition government going to about it and when are they going to do it?

    Will they increase core benefit rates? Will they increase and extend out energy payments? Will they fast forward minimum wage increases?

    Susan St John of the Child Poverty Action Group assesses the government’s impact on the lives of the most deprived children after its first full year.
    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/30-12-2018/grading-the-governments-first-year-for-children-in-poverty/

    • The Chairman 7.1

      Sign in if you would like to see the Government do more now to address poverty.

      And if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see done, feel free to share.

      If enough sign in, perhaps Jacinda will take note. We could post a link to her facebook page.

      Democracy is more than just voting at elections.

      • patricia bremner 7.1.1

        The Chairman, so you are saying “Not enough is being done” even though it is far more than under JK. Your comments make Jacinda sound as though she begrudges the help. That is far from the truth. Write directly on her facebook page.
        Unlike the last PM she reads and replies to the posts. She also actually cares.

        • The Chairman 7.1.1.1

          Indeed, patricia. Moreover, the PM acknowledges this.

          While they may have done more than Key, in this crisis they haven’t acted with the urgency required and evidently, haven’t done enough.

          I hope she cares enough to do more sooner rather than later.

    • millsy 7.2

      “Will they increase core benefit rates?”

      Do that in the current climate, and watch rents climb even further up.

      • The Chairman 7.2.1

        I think you will find private rents will go up regardless.

        Unlike rates and insurance, peoples income isn’t a cost landlords incur.

        Moreover, the largest landlord in the country is the state.

  7. joe90 8

    Fucker’s are killing with impunity.

    “The bullet that killed her..was fired by an Israeli sniper into a crowd that included white-coated medics in plain view..[None] posed any apparent threat of violence..[T]he shooting [was] reckless at best & possibly a war crime.” No one has been punished. https://t.co/lRc8Iw8Pdd— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) December 30, 2018

    On June 1, an Israeli soldier shot into a crowd, killing a volunteer medic named Rouzan al-Najjar. Israeli officials say soldiers only use live fire as a last resort. Our investigation shows otherwise. We analyzed over 1,000 photos and videos, froze the fatal moment in a 3-D model of the protest, and interviewed more than 30 witnesses and I.D.F. commanders to reveal how Rouzan was killed.

    http://archive.li/zYiCV

    Of course, the Israeli’s are crying foul and doing their DARVO thing.

    The New York Times’ 4700-word story on the death of a young Gazan woman in June 2018 during border riots is a powerful reminder of the depth and breadth of bias at the paper. (“A Day, a Life: When a Medic Was Killed in Gaza, Was It an Accident?”)

    The hagiographic December 30th account spans a remarkable three and a half full pages of the paper, tracing Rouzan al-Najjar’s personal life and sad end. Yet it manages, in all the words and images (and online videos), not to report the nature of the violence in which she was entangled nor the murderous and implacable hatred of Israel fueling it.

    http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/ny-times-end-of-year-epic-smear/2019/01/02/

    • Ad 8.1

      and a much stronger chance Netanyahu will get re-elected in the upcoming contest with the left parties no longer speaking.

      • joe90 8.1.1

        If he can survive until the election.

        BREAKING: Israeli PM Netanyahu's lawyers respond: Announcing the intent to indict me before elections would be an injustice and harm to the rights of voters and to the democratic process.— Yonah Jeremy Bob (@jeremybob1) January 1, 2019

        Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit will publicize his leaning to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for public corruption by February despite election season, Channel 10 reported Wednesday night.

        Channel 10 also confirmed previous Jerusalem Post reports that Case 4000 (the “Bezeq-Walla Affair”) is the strongest case; that Mandelblit will likely go after Netanyahu for breach of trust, but not bribery, in Case 1000 (the “Illegal Gifts Affair”); and that Case 2000 (the “Yediot Ahronot-Israel Hayom Affair”) may still be closed entirely.

        https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/AG-to-decide-on-PM-indictment-announcement-before-April-elections-576052

    • Draco T Bastard 8.2

      Israel itself is a war crime as laid out by the founding charter of the UN.

  8. greywarshark 9

    Could a national legal case be mounted by the Brexit protesters against the UK parliament on the basis of contra proferentem.

    Contra proferentem – Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_proferentem
    Contra proferentem (Latin: “against [the] offeror”), also known as “interpretation against the draftsman”, is a doctrine of contractual interpretation providing that, where a promise, agreement or term is ambiguous, the preferred meaning should be the one that works against the interests of the party who provided the …

    Contra Proferentem Rule – Investopedia
    https://www.investopedia.com › Investing › Financial Analysis
    Feb 20, 2018 – The contra proferentem rule is a rule in contract law which states that any clause considered to be ambiguous should be interpreted against the interests of the party that requested that the clause is included. Contra proferentem rules guide the legal interpretation of contracts …

  9. Draco T Bastard 10

    More delusional BS coming at you from the world of shares:

    Stock markets in Asia Pacific made a cautious start to 2019 after figures showing that China’s manufacturing sector contracted for the first time in 19 months in December.

    Equities across the region were broadly lower, after the worst year for global stock markets since the financial crisis in 2018 in the face of concerns over a slowing global economy, tightening monetary policy and trade tensions. 

    Despite gaining 0.9 per cent in the last trading session of 2018 on the heels of a phone call between the US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which Mr Trump described as “long and very good”, the S&P 500 ended down 6.2 per cent for the year, while the FTSE All World Index shed 11.5 per cent.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the worst performer in the region on the first trading day of the new year on Wednesday, sliding 2.3 per cent with the financial and technology sectors falling 1.9 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index of Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies fell 2.7 per cent.

    This, boys and girls, is called speculation. It’s done, not on the hope that the business will succeed, but on the hopes of being able to sell the shares at a higher monetary value.

    Such a transaction causes no value to be produced and thus is just another syphon employed by the rich upon on the productivity of the poor.

    It’s called bludging.

    PS. I seem to be having trouble verifying the address.

  10. Eco Maori 11

    We need to stop havesting our forest all over the world Papatuanuku to save our world for the grandchildren I posted a story yestesday to show how the oo.1 % control the world power is all about the people beleving in the storys told be it fact or FICTION the 00.1% use fiction to CON us . Its fact we are part of mothernatures creatures and if we let them kill them off our mokopunas will be the ones to suffer.
    Australia is among one of the world’s wealthiest nations; yet, its relatively small human population (22.5 million) has been responsible for extensive deforestation and forest degradation since European settlement in the late 18th century. Despite most (∼75%) of Australia’s 7.6 million-km2 area being covered in inhospitable deserts or arid lands generally unsuitable to forest growth, the coastal periphery has witnessed a rapid decline in forest cover and quality, especially over the last 60 years. Here I document the rates of forest loss and degradation in Australia based on a thorough review of existing literature and unpublished data.Overall, Australia has lost nearly 40% of its forests, but much of the remaining native vegetation is highly fragmented. As European colonists expanded in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries, deforestation occurred mainly on the most fertile soils nearest to the coast. In the 1950s, southwestern Western Australia was largely cleared for wheat production, subsequently leading to its designation as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot given its high number of endemic plant species and rapid clearing rates. Since the 1970s, the greatest rates of forest clearance have been in southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales, although Victoria is the most cleared state. Today, degradation is occurring in the largely forested tropical north due to rapidly expanding invasive weed species and altered fire regimes. Without clear policies to regenerate degraded forests and protect existing tracts at a massive scale, Australia stands to lose a large proportion of its remaining endemic biodiversity. The most important implications of the degree to which Australian forests have disappeared or been degraded are that management must emphasize the maintenance of existing primary forest patches, as well as focus on the regeneration of matrix areas between fragments to increase native habitat area, connectivity and ecosystem functions. Ka kite ano links below

    https://academic.oup.com/jpe/article/5/1/109/1294916

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3pH46uq5cQ

  11. Eco Maori 13

    Its good to see that our Aotearoa law schools value our Young Wahine like they deserve to be valued as Equal people in Aotearoa society Mana Wahine
    All six law schools cut ties with Russell McVeagh All six of the country’s university law faculties have now rejected ties with the troubled law firm Russell McVeagh while it conducts an independent review into incidents of sexual misconduct and its culture.
    The University of Auckland joined the fray in a powerfully-worded statement saying it had put its relationship with Russell McVeagh on hold for the rest of the year, and that there should have been a strong apology from the firm.
    Otago, Canterbury, Waikato, AUT and Victoria universities had already announced they were rejecting any recruitment branding, and Russell McVeagh-related events on their campuses.
    Auckland’s Dean of Law, Professor Andrew Stockley, told staff and students today that students “invited to an event or employed in any capacity should expect appropriate and professional behaviour at all times, and that the school would not accept any student being subjected to inappropriate behaviour, pressure, or sexual harassment”.“Our caution in part relates to the on-going allegations of prior alcohol-fuelled sexual impropriety between senior staff and students on the firm’s premises but also the firm’s recent description of such events as ‘consensual’. This description suggests the culture that fostered these behaviours may very well remain well ingrained in the firm. Ka kite ano Links below

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/01/02/93125/hold-law-schools-slash-ties-with-russell-mcveagh

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGc7KfQ3uWs

  12. Eco Maori 15

    Kia ora Te Kaea it cool seeing the Pa wars of Ngati-porou 21 pa competeing Ka pai . Taro Black looks like we might have a new Wahine tennis star good to see Venus Williams at the event to.
    Looks like the Waka ama sprint is going strong Ka kite ano P.S te Mokopunas just turned up

  13. Eco Maori 16

    Kia ora Newshub Milisa Ruaumoko has been doing a Haka in Tamaki makaurau and North land.That boy who has blocked the tunnel in Auckland must be high on Pee.
    There is nothing wrong with freed camping the Aotearoa needs to be good host and prove for them quite a good phylosophy that our tipuna have.
    trump should be spending money on the people who have no fix abode in Calafornia whom were affected by the Campfire.
    I have had a few events of the sandflys playing silly buggers on the roads every time I go on a journey??????????????.
    Is that a phenomenon the fright train in Denmark losing crates of beer and causing a accident on a passenger train.
    Space travel is the future and the more Nasa can learn about space from the Horizon space probe the faster we will inhabit Mars. Oliver Newton John All the best Grease was a big hit when the nehio were short.
    The wool serf boards is a very good invention that could turn into a billion dollar industry Make sure you patient your invention someone will steal it from under your nose.
    The magpie is so qute playing with the cat is the magpie missing hope it comes.
    The sports looks good Niki. Ingrid I see the weather radar picked up a swam of insect moving from the south island to the north. Ka kite ano P.S te Mokopunas are here

  14. greywarshark 17

    Happy New Year Eco Maori.
    I’ts a bit late for some of this but it’s using te reo which I should be doing more of;
    Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te tau hou ki a koutou katoa.
    Mauri ora to you.

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    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    4 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    12 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
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