In the context of Robertson’s speech to business yesterday, a very nice line from Fran O’Sullivan this morning that encapsulates this challenge of this government:
“Ensuring the country buys the argument that the Government is simply out to introduce fairness will not be easy, after New Zealand has enjoyed being part of the global market for nigh on three decades.”
When a government’s committed to “opportunity” (as this NZ Labour led one is), it’s ”fair enough” that you wind up fucked up – because bad choices and all of that jazz.
This government is the bride, the groom and the church of “status quo”.
Here we are entering the silly season and the weather is great at last, but there is still the gloom and doom of impending nuclear war and accelerating, unmitigated climate change. However there are positives out there for the Left at the end of 2017…..
1. NZ. The new govt is off to a good start. The opposition, for all the biased media support, just looks to be negative, tired, yesterdays men.
2. Aus. Turnbull is on his last legs.
3. Brit. May is on her last legs.
4. USA. Trump is doing as predicted (pre election) and destroying America. I find it interesting watching the USA unfolding on a daily basis.
5. The AngloZionist Empire ( USA, Israel, NATO Countries) plan for world ownership is being successfully challenged by the likes of Russia and China.
6. The Middle East. The Iran/ Syria/Hezbollah/ Russia bloc are successfully holding up the Saudi/ ISIS/ Israeli/ USA bloc.
7. Nth Korea. Maybe all they want is recognition as a World Power and a bit of respect.
Have a great summer everyone and be careful out there. The New Year promises many challenges.
Don says we shouldn’t have Te Reo (Guyon) on National Radio because no one understands it.
Kim says therefore we shouldn’t have business report on National Radio because no one understands it.
Ha!
I think she realised he was never going to give up his position using logical arguments because it’s a political position that has nothing to do with logic.
The only way he would change his mind is if his position no longer had political utility.
But the good thing is that after his performance he may find his position no longer has political utility.
~~~~~~~~~~
As an aside, it shows the power of the baby boomers – their weight of numbers means that airtime could be given over to a cultural perspective that belongs to the distant past.
I strongly disagree that business does not belong on non-commercial radio.
It is at the basis of a modern advanced society and everyone should realise it.
It was thinking that business could be constantly pressed for more money that brought the severe hatred of the business class to do away with unions. If the WEA had spent more time teaching workers about business, turnover, not-for-profit, co-operatives, profitsharing and the role of worker involvement in them we would not have been so easily sidelined by Labour 1984.
Business is everyone’s business. We need intelligent approaches to it, to how much efficiency, how much time off, how to manage markets and not allow ourselves into a race to the bottom for wages and conditions and export prices. Too much complacency. No one is promising us a rose garden, a nice lounger for all. A holiday is not even offered to those that business won’t employ, just ceaseless striving for a job.
But business, work, that we want and want to do. Circulating money with many inputs, and many payments – at present business is poorly and needs a boost from the bottom-up.
I say this because RNZ s now so cash trapped that the CEO has sent us a letter after we asked them why we in HB/Gisborne has no reporter here now for two years to cover our regional community RNZ media issues of deep public concern to our communities.
For instance, like loosing our rail services in 2012 as many bussiness owners are requesting we push government now again for rail to return, and RNZ said they have no staff now to cover our rail issues.
The RNZ CEO said we have no reporter in our HB/Gisborne region and offered no assistence.
So you are happy that we miss out on our regional “public affairs” media coverage while Bussiness gets to cover all their own issues everywhere else now?
That is the logic that drove our community’s wild to reject private bussiness interests taking our last RNZ media coverage dollars for their interests and denying us the funding for a regional reporter for HB/Gisborne?
We need business news on RNZ – just in a totally different format, where the present high priests of the economic ideology of neo-liberalism are challenged, not simply given an amplifier. I don’t want or need to hear the unquestioned views of the CEO of one of the 4 Australian banks. Instead I expect them to be interrogated and their arguments and actions put under the blowtorch. In its present format, all we get is neoliberal propaganda.
We should be presented with alternative economic voices and philosophies.
The current ‘RNZ Bussiness news’ is just a copy of CNBC, and smells of Steven Joyce all over again.
We need the labour model of “corporate environmental & social responsibility” but of course the corporates dont want that as it hurts their shareholder bottom line eh?
We object giving the corporates a free ride on ur public service money while our provinces loose their voice as a result of corporate greed using RNZ for their ibenefit and stopping our community public vioces.
Maybe this was their intent to make the mioney dry up so regional environmental and social issues can’t get RNZ media coverage on our only voice on public radio?
Yes and unbiased reports of how the economy is going and the reason and hopes for whatever policies are being pursued with concrete examples of where the good will land instead of just saying it will be good for NZ.
“Though we want Goyon Espiner gone as heis a national biased supporter and unfit to show balanced reporting.”
I heard the same sentiments, but from exactly the opposite side of the political spectrum in 2014 when Guyon Espiner took Key to bits over DP. Had an ex Nat Minister in the gallery (he’s a regular who admires one of our artists) the morning after the interview saying some very uncharitable things about Mr Espiner and his political preferences.
Graeme, Thanks for that flashback, as I remembered it so very well.
I recall that day when John Key looked at Guyon Espiner as if he was about to put out a contract to kill him; – as Keys ‘rivetting’ glaring stare’ he sent to Espiner even sent a chill down my spine too.!!!!!!!!
After that day we saw Guyon never try to tackle Key again and since then, Espiner has flipped to being the ‘verbial trumpet-chorus boy’ for English, Joyce, Bridges, Bennett, Maggie, Collins, Brownlee and co.
So we suspect Espiner just lost his will to fight any further against the Key Government that day.
lol…Mr Espiner’s problem is not a political bias (imo) rather it is his inability to think on his feet and consequently he misses so many opportunities to explore issues in greater depth…superficial would best describe him.
bwaghorn
So true. They have a contract with God that they wrote out themselves that says they are entitled to whatever they want throughout life and in their declining years to the end.
As for us at The Standard, I think we are on a Mission from God like the Blues Brothers.
OMG. He is a carbunkled caricature of the most grostesque sort of 1970s white settler racism. The idea he was giving as good as he got is nonsense to my mind. Kim Hill was giving him the rope to hang himself, which he ultimately did by claiming the Moriori were the first settlers of NZ.
At which point Kim Hill terminated the interview, having removed all doubt in any intelligent pesons mind that the guy is a superannuated crank and a crackpot fringe merchant.
Still, Don Brash would probably still win a seat in Queensland. Or Alabama.
And even worse he proclaims to speak for 99% of white people.
Maybe 99% of the white people he meets i.e. the stale, pale, males …
… and he only thinks they agree with him because they don’t argue with him
…. and they don’t argue with him because their wives give them the “no, please not here” look.
Wasn’t able to listen to it all but agree. Kim Hill did a masterly job providing him with the rope etc. He talked about encouraging people to speak their own languages among themselves. Indians need to talk Indian. Chinese need to talk Chinese. Laplanders need to talk Laplandese and so on. And of course he encourages Maori to learn to speak Maori. Yes folks, he thinks that’s a good thing. He supports that.
Okay my paraphrasing is a bit naughty but that was the essence of what he was saying.
He comes from the “I’m not racist BUT……”, and “How can I be racist – I married an Ayeshun myself” and emotion, culcha, ambition and opportunity all measured in terms of cost, and “it’s not fair because they’re getting more than me for my hard-earned tax payer dollar” mindset. “No such thing as sussoighty” all expressed in his most practiced WASP eggsent thinking he has the tone of authority, whereas “the truth is” (as they say in best neo-liberalese), he’s a worn out, pompous, holier-than-thou, bitter old queen who probably spends most of his time worrying about how he’s going to take his [supposedly hard-earned] luxuries in life across to the other side. And the most insulting thing to my limited level of intelligence is that he’ll have an expectation that I should feel sympathy for the prick when that happens. I hope I last long enough to be able to piss on his grave (which is likely to me some kitsch monument to his ego).
There’s a lot of it about. There might be a gene or two missing. And of course there’ll be a rw troll along shortly to remind me of how unkind and uncaring I am – no doubt. Not unlike that Whaleoil Mr Creosote that called someone from the West Coast ‘ferral’. Pots and Kettles
Gideon Levy is the most hated man in Israel – and perhaps the most heroic. This “good Tel Aviv boy” – a sober, serious child of the Jewish state – has been shot at repeatedly by the Israeli Defence Force, been threatened with being “beaten to a pulp” on the country’s streets, and faced demands from government ministers that he be tightly monitored as “a security risk.” This is because he has done something very simple, and something that almost no other Israeli has done. Nearly every week for three decades, he has travelled to the Occupied Territories and described what he sees, plainly and without propaganda. “My modest mission,” he says, “is to prevent a situation in which many Israelis will be able to say, ‘We didn’t know.’” And for that, many people want him silenced. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/is-gideon-levy-the-most-hated-man-in-israel-or-just-the-most-heroic-2087909.html
Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. Levy joined Haaretz in 1982, and spent four years as the newspaper’s deputy editor. He is the author of the weekly Twilight Zone feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza over the last 25 years, as well as the writer of political editorials for the newspaper.
Levy was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996.
“Heroes” is a series devoted to those courageous and brilliant people who show us that, in a world seemingly run by crooks, abusers, scoundrels, mass murderers and liars, there are still reasons for optimism.
This video popped up in my feed yesterday and with the recent brouhaha over Golriz Ghahraman I can recognise the same techniques at play in New Zealand.
Winston Peters won the election and has rather demonstrated a glaring weakness in the MMP system.
It doesn’t work particularly well unless you’ve got at least three independent parties of a similar size, the current mix of two large parties(I consider lab-green one party) hands a disproportionate amount of power to whoever can get the bigger party across the line, which in this case is Winston Peters.
Also, Golriz Ghahraman backstory has more holes than a rusty colander.
BM: “Also, Golriz Ghahraman backstory has more holes than a rusty colander.”
Now we are supposed to leap into explanations and defend of her.
BM treats us like a cheap sport. Drop a short punt into the pot and watch the boil.
When that dies down BM will drop in another prompt.
Don’t fall for it people.
Bullshit BM. You pull the legs off spider to see if they can still walk and giggle at your cleverness.
You put up short little claims that are usually false. Then giggle over the fallout as good people try and explain/defend.
Hard luck BM. Try somewhere else.
DRAIN THE SWAMP Remember Dirty Politics, the Nicky Hager book that exploded like a noisy but confusing bomb during the 2014 election? The premise was that Right-wing bloggers were doing the former government’s para-journalistic dirty work. It went underground after that but with a new centre-Left coalition in place, it was bound to rear its ugly head again. Which it certainly did this week when new Green MP and former refugee Golriz Ghahraman was targeted by the usual cabal of critics and stirrers over claims that she had deliberately misrepresented her legal career. Her calm response to every hostile interview and accusation, even a petty one from blogger David Farrar that she had not really seen anything traumatic during the Iran-Iraq war, was a masterclass in seeing off a minor political crisis while her critics looked small and obsessive. The final score: Golriz 1, dirt peddlers nil. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99428911/week-in-review-the-filth-and-the-fury
Both those articles completely miss the mark. Outside of an outraged fringe, the problem isn’t that she defended an accused in a court of law. That is an unreasonable standard to hold a lawyer to. To say that’s the problem is creating a strawman argument easy to knock down. From my reading of most commentators, the problem is the way Golriz [allegedly] marketed herself. Personally I don’t think it was deliberate. Plenty of people have said she talked about it before the election. I think she was just very loose in the way she sometimes phrased things, a bad habit for a politician and a lawyer.
Perhaps both the Bar association and the Criminal Bar Association have had second thoughts.
I get 404, page not found for both the first two links.
I think they may have realised that the defence they were providing had absolutely nothing to do with what people were complaining about.
Her sin was to not come out at the beginning and say that she had been doing defence as well as prosecution work and also to enormously exaggerate the level she was operating at.
Would she really have been ranked so highly on the party list if the members had seen a truthful CV?
Poor old Mojo.
Strange that you got 404, page not found because I just checked them using the links below which I put up yesterday on Open Mike – and they worked perfectly, as did the additional link for the NZ Law Society.
Your links work just fine.
However the ones TMM put in certainly don’t.
Looking at them more closely I see he(she) seems to have added “…” at the end of each of them and that is presumably what is doing it.
If people are going to put in links it would be helpful if they check them. Why waste other people’s time.
They still don’t seem to have anything to do with what people were complaining about though. It wasn’t doing the defence work that was the problem. It was the Walter Mitty attitude shown in her CV that is the problem, and a very sad problem it is as the story shows.
Poor old Mojo.
I’m seeing people going on the offensive all the time and they don’t get banned. There are limits to that, but there’s no reason why you can’t attack BM’s arguments.
National offered up far more concessions than Labour, but Winnie was just “Taking the Piss”, good on him, Billshit Bill deserves all the crap that lands on him, if you live by the gun, you die by the gun.
“National offered up far more concessions than Labour”
You have some evidence for this claim do you?
Something other than the deep recesses of your imagination?
Come on. Out with it or we can just assume you are under the influence of some powerful hallucinogen.
See how simple it is to make stuff up, and spread half truths james. You should remember those feeling you are having now james, as you make people feel the same way when you make stuff and peddle half truths.
Which by the way, you do quite often. So you really don’t get the moral higher ground.
And the extra ministerial seat National was offering Peters over what the coalition was offering? funny how ppl forget the details of these negotiations though, no harm rubbing it in.
I watch these guys spew their BS and then 20 retaliatory comments follow to defend the position of the left, hit and run, peddling BS, the Goritz argument was a classic example, arguing semantics. Goritz’s response exemplifies the real politician that she is, all the BS hadn’t fazed her and the diplomacy was inspiring.
The concessions Peters got were what the market determined were necessary. The free market at work I’ve heard about a zillion times, is a thing of beauty.
Nick ‘swimmable rivers’ Smith, Steven ‘pretty legal, fiscal hole’ Joyce, Judith ‘Oravida’ Collins, Bill ‘discovered poverty last week’ English, Paula ‘put ’em in motels’ Bennett, John ‘no legacy’ Key…
Natz MPs, and cheerleaders for the National ‘no mates’ party are coming across as embittered victims of a NZ1st hit job. I think Winston chose what was, on the face of it, a less straightforward coalition because of nine years of neglect, corruption, lies, and growing inequality in NZ. “Time for a change.”
Cheer up BM, you’re just experiencing a small measure of the hopelessness the NZ left felt over the last 9 years.
‘Good, I can feel your anger… Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!’
Foreign Affairs budget to be increased and Mr. Peter’s Foreign Affairs budget requests cannot be vetoed. Mr Peters can spend his budget how he chooses.
All budget requests from New Zealand First Ministers that have been approved by Mr Peters must get priority.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Peters has the sole right to nominate all Ambassadors and other diplomatic posts not just Washington and London but he cannot be stopped from appointing his mates to be consuls as he tried with Owen Glenn.
As Minister of SOEs Mr Peter’s has the sole power to appoint all the chair and directors of every SOE. Dozens of appointments.
New Zealand First can nominate over three years six people to be knights and its nominations will be favourably considered for other honours.
New Zealand First will appoint the next Chief of Defense.
A provision requires all Ministers to refer any request from or to a New Zealand First Minister to go through Mr Peters office.
The PM has agreed that she will not dismiss any NZ1 Minister, MP or appointee without Mr Peters approval and the PM has also agreed to dismiss any NZ First minister, MP or appointee if asked to by Winston Peters.
LABOUR/GREEN GOVERNMENT
The government budget must be submitted to NZ1 (Winston) for approval
Labour has agreed to a 10 percent a year increase in the Foreign Affairs budget.
Labour has agreed that NZ1 manifesto promises will have priority. The Northland port and railway.
NZ1 nominations will be approved. For example to the port inquiry.
No concessions can be made to the Greens without prior approval from NZ1
No new policy not contained in the coalition agreement can be advanced by Labour Ministers without NZ1 approval.
All government appointments must be approved by NZ1
Also, Golriz Ghahraman backstory has more holes than a rusty colander.
If that’s a reference to her work in and around the UN where, some would insinuate, she refused to fight on the side of “the good guys” and for “the forces of good”, then you might want to consider that the UN has more holes in its integrity than would take to fill the Albert Hall.
Not something many liberals are comfortable to contemplate mind.
Bluddy good video Ovid! Very fitting of what happens on The Standard. Must watch.
John Key was expert at putting critics in boxes. Therefore he could just dismiss Nicky Hagar.
English/Joyce accuse Labour. Robertson spends long time with long explanations. Joyce is wrong but wins the popular vote. Almost won an election.
The Right Wing Trolls here do it all the time. Short pithy accusation. We spend many replies to refute. Troll shifts ground to a new point without ever conceding the original one. We spend many replies in hopeless refution. Troll wins.
Now National and Media henchmen are pouring on the accusations so that the Left must explain. No smoke without fire?
Except Jacinda knows. Her best response when a critic was quoted to her? “He’s wrong.” End of story.
Heh. I say “Don’t let them make us play defence” and BM immediately goads us into playing defence. Hats off to you, man. You’re certainly skilled in this.
So not a link of our cultural shift from treating authority with healthy irreverence (eg Keystone Cops) to one of (arguably) unhealthy reverence (eg – all those cop shows of cops saving us from our despicable selves). Ah well…
Contrary to my reputation as a rwnj, I do sometimes try and be a good human being. I’d like some advice. Growing up white, upper middle class in tidy neighborhoods with white picket fences and any problems kept strictly behind closed curtains, I’ve never really been exposed much to drug use. Recently, a young mother who fate made us meet, has been begging for help. She’s a drug user. She goes for periods of being clean, then for a week or two spends all her money on substance abuse. Now I’m a comparative stranger, but she keeps asking for money and rides to pick up drugs. Obviously that’s a no, though I have driven her home twice near midnight when she threatened to walk herself home and I couldn’t in good conscience let her do that. I’ve encouraged her to see a drug counselor, which she claims to have done. But she still now asks for money for food/or just food.
Anyway, long question medium, how can one assist such a person (or anyone; so hopefully the replies may help others, such as family members), without enabling them. If kids are involved, it makes it even harder. Can’t let them starve, but can’t enable them with food and gifts when they spend all their money. NB not so much interested in what government can do, I want practical advice for individuals and whanau.
If you don’t want to get involved then it’s probably none of your business. Give her some food at least though. That’s not enabling, that’s called helping another human being eat and not starve.
Agreed. Limit to what I can do as I don’t actually want to get too close to the situation. Won’t go into her house, won’t talk to her any longer than necessary. Don’t really “want” to help, but then this is a human with kids involved.
Stop supporting governments that increase inequality and defund mental health services. If you know anyone who voted for a government that increased inequality and defunded mental health services, make it clear that they are social lepers.
Good grief come on – asking an honest practical question here on what we as individuals do. We can have opinions about government till the cows come home, but sometimes we as individuals are called (or put in a position) to do something. Telling them to vote Labour in three years (assuming their enrolled) isn’t going to a) help the addiction now, or b) put food on the table. So up front – what would you do for them, besides refer them to rehab (which as far as I can tell is voluntary)?
Nah, you made your bed, and now you want everyone else to lie in it for you. What if your stain doesn’t wash out?
Given that you vote for human rights abuse, I think the best thing you can do for those kids is leave them alone and let the government get on with cleaning up after you.
“Anyway, long question medium, how can one assist such a person ”
Short answer is you can’t, well probably not anyway. If they hit you up when they’re stoned you’re wasting your time and when they hit you up when they’re straight they’re probably hanging out for a hit.
It’s a deadly spiral and a wise person would keep a respectable distance IMO, you can buy yourself a lot of trouble walking into a scene like you’ve described.
However, if you want to buy the conditions that create the scene you just described, you can do that at the organisation previously known as Cabinet Club.
A lot of trouble yes, but then when someone comes asking for money or food, I’m not the sort of person to easily turn them away. Running into a burning house to save someone also can bring a lot of trouble. But people do it. I dunno. Maybe an optomistic side of me thinks redemption is possible. The other side is a cynic. Or as weka said it is none of my business, so turn a blind eye, refuse charity and hope the government does it’s job (well weka said give food but I feel that allows her to spend her money elsewhere).
That’s a pretty good illustration of the obscenity of charity: the very people who helped create the conditions for poverty and inequality, debating amongst themselves which of their victims deserve help, and in doing so, justifying poverty.
Of course, anyone who points this out to them is being mean and insulting.
It’s not about turning a blind eye it’s about using a bit of street nous and not inserting yourself into a scene you know nothing about. Meth is a class A drug, it could be your friend there is mixing with some people that you really don’t want to know about,
The drug foundation has some useful info: https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/info/helping-someone/
You are doing a good thing.
Remember:
Alcoholism or addiction is a disease. It isn’t necessarily about the quantity consumed, but the behaviour. The good news is it’s treatable.
Telling a person dependent on alcohol or drugs to just “stop” won’t work. The abuse is typically a symptom of mental illness.
And as weka suggests above, when they have spent their money on drugs – food is the best help you can give, then an ear, and and finally when they are ready, encouragement to try again. They need to find the trigger that causes the relapse.
Meanwhile, whilst your back was turned. Fighting for scraps from the masters table, or being incremental – Slavery is back. How progressive we all are, how truly wonderful human beings.
I read somewhere that BM molests goats. I find this behavior detestable and as a goat owner am now fearful for my goats. Being a nom de plume, I have no idea who this BM is, but by his general tone and writing I’m gonna assume he’s an older, white male. As there’s a number of those round these parts, I’m rightly concerned for my goats. I think BM should stop his indecent actions, seek help and be more forthright and honest about his awful nature as these habits aren’t natural and the goats (or any of gods creatures) should never be subjected to BM’s sick ways.
I think you started it with that rubbish about a colander, and got a deliberately exaggerated example of what you like to dish out. Fair enough, too.
Work it out for yourself if you aren’t playing the innocent. (Which I suspect you are.)
I look forward to the day when you disappear from this blog.
Yes, James – almost inclined to apologise: it was in fact BM (Bullshit Mountain?) who made the inane comment about the colander, so you are in fact innocent of that bit of trolling. But then again, you are both so alike…
And apologising to somebody silly enough to misspell Vino, then throw childish insults just doesn’t seem right. So I am not sorry, even if I was wrong on that point. You remain what you are.
With people living in cars and what not coupled with the expected upward pressure on rents due to Labour’s Healthy Homes Guarantee Act, do Labour need to commit to building more state homes a year?
BM if it looks like ____ and smells like _____ than it is bulshit .
These people think I just dropped out of the sky yesterday I see they are using someone in Pukekohe to try and use my son in laws origins against me . I say to the these people stop pissing in the wind and find a real crim to waste your time on you no I no that your shit stinks to Ana to kai Pukekohe is nice a lot friendly Maori people this is the true nature of Maori please take care of my daughter and my moko.s We will be back in January when our daughter is due for her 4 child . Ka pai
Here’s a little story from yesterday about how politics is going across the ditch for the federal Liberal party and in particular, Malcom Turnbull, it’s quite amusing, and in stark contrast to politics in NZ with regard to coalition partners.
Film coming in 2018.
I became vegan this year.
It is the biggest thing you can do for your health, the planet and for animals.
Don’t believe me. Research the topic with an open mind.
Duncan “Vyshinsky” Garner’s laughable attempt to intimidate Golriz Ghahraman
FULL TRANSCRIPT
three a.m. show, Thursday 29 November 2017,
Duncan Garner tries to be harsh and cold and aggressive, but he doesn’t really have his heart in it. Someone obviously wrote his questions for him, and told him to “get” Golriz, but it’s clear that he early on recognizes Golriz is far brighter than him, as well as holding the moral high ground over him. This clip finishes a bit early, unfortunately, and doesn’t include the very interesting back and forth between Garner, Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies, immediately after this travesty. All of them acknowledged that Golriz had done nothing wrong, and Amanda Gillies did not hide her distaste for what Garner had been instructed to do…..
DUNCAN GARNER: Green M.P. Golriz Ghahraman has come under criticism for failing to mention her work defending a war criminal convicting of inciting genocide IN RWANDA. Around eight hundred thousand TUTSI are estimated to have been killed during the nineteen ninety-FOUR ethnic cleansing, uh, by the Hutu EXTREMISTS. Ghahraman was involved in the deFENCE, and she joins me now, Golriz good to have you on the program, really apPRECiate it. Why didn’t you just tell us? Why hasn’t this been OUT there before?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I did. It was out there. There’s been a number of journalists that have come forward, Kirsty Johnston from the Herald, Vice New Zealand’s released a transcript, I did a number of interviews before the election where I talked about this. I went around, um, various law schools, I’ve talked about this in the past. My C.V. was online and completely open. Um, so it’s not a problem for me at all, it’s not a problem for any lawyer, and the U.N. is certainly really proud that we now have these trials where there is a defense and a prosecution. It’s about returning communities to a rule of law model, to a human rights model.
GARNER: Okaaaayyy. Okay.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So it is actually about stopping the cycle of violence. Having the defense ensures that, so either side can’t say, you know, it was victor’s justice, you just came in and arrested our people. Um, so it’s something that I’m really proud of, and I’ve put it out there, there’s been a number of articles, um, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to hide it—
GARNER:[brusquely] I put it to you that you HAVEN’T, actuallyyyy. I put it to you that the GREEN Party, you see the GREEN Party WEBSITE said, uh, “Golriz worked in Africa, The Hague, and Cambodia, putting on trial world leaders for abusing their power.” It DOESN’T SAY that you DEFENDED these war criminals.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So in the context of all of these articles that I’ve done and all of these talks that I’ve given, and making my C.V. public well before the election, there’s just this ONE line that people have gotten a hold of and—-
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Well, I would, I mean I would suggest if the Green Party was trying to hide this, someone would have brought me up and said you’ve got to stop doing Herald interviews about this work, it would’ve been a no-brainer, um, for someone from the party to pull me up and say, Stop, stop doing these interviews about it, um, and it di–, it hadn’t occurred to me, I mean the reason it’s come up NOW is because, again, there was a Herald article where they said to me, What’s a defining era in your life? And I said, well actually this was the difficult, you know, this was the thing that was really life-changing for me is when I first went in to the U.N. system, um, it was working for the defense and, what do, you know it really made me think about—
GARNER:[interrupting] Weeeell, I, I READ some of the articles.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: —-and that—
GARNER: And I’ve READ some of these articles, Golriz, and—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: It was me that brought it up, I mean it wouldn’t have occurred to me to hide it.
GARNER: Yyeeah. But it HAS been hidden by the GREEN Party. Why was, so let’s, okay, so the media might have SAID it, but what about your own Green Party, it wasn’t on your website and you’ve since CHANGED that of course which is the right thing to do.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Oh of course I asked them to change it immediately. I had, ha–, I hadn’t even, er, looked at that, I don’t think, but I mean— GARNER: Well hang on, hang on, lemme test that, lemme TEST that. You say you hadn’t looked at it, you DON’T THINK. Did you know that it said it, or it didn’t say it?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I, to be honest, would have skimmed it at some point, but I would’ve gone Yep, it’s got the places I worked, moving on. I mean, those trials are ABOUT the defense being there as well. Otherwise we wouldn’t have trials, we’d take people out the back. You know, it’s, as a law student, I was inspired essentially by the Nuremberg Trials, you know, when we went, okay, you’re not above the law, genocide IS a crime, but we’re not gonna sink to your level, we’re not gonna be tyrants, we’re gonna have these open, transparent, fair trials—
GARNER:[interrupting] So the GUARDIAN—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: It’s so INSPIRING as a lawyer—
GARNER: Hmmm.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: You know, I wouldn’t have, there’s NO WAY I would have hidden something like that, that’s why I was doing the articles about it. GARNER: Did you complain to the Guardian, ‘cos the Guardian, ahh, three weeks ago, doing a tri–, a piece on you, a really good piece on you too, said that you “represented the U.N. in tribunals, prosecuting some of the world’s worst war criminals, including perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.” They said that you PROSECUTED THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Yeah I understand our comms team has written to the Guardian. I understand they have written to the Guardian. I mean, yeah, that’s blatantly not what I’ve ever said in interviews. And I mean, the Vice article was all about the defense work, um, Kirsty Johnston’s came forward and said that the latest Herald piece was all about the defense work, and that’s ‘cos I wanted to talk about it. I think it’s an important conversation actually, um, and it IS about the human rights framework—
GARNER:[interrupting] Do you acCEPT—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: It’s not about denying genocide. That’s what I find offensive. Because we’re all there, the United Nations is there because we want to say genocide is a crime, but we will have a process, we’re not going to have cycles of violence, um, continuing. So that’s the part of it that’s really offensive to me.
GARNER: Okay. And some people might be offended at, in your maiden SPEECH, in parliament, in recent weeks, you talk about your WORK, and this is in your own words, you no doubt wrote your own speech, you talk about this criminal justice system internationally on the front li-i-i-ine, where you went out the-e-ere, y’know, you fought hard for what you di-i-id, and you worked in Africa, worked alongside these genocide trials, and you saw it at the Rwanda tribunal, you saw it at the Hague, and when you PROSECUTED the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, you “held politicians and armies to account for breaching their powers, giving voice to women, and minorities.” You don’t ONCE [brandishing his notes accusingly] describe it in your OWN words, in your OWN maiden SPEECH in parliament that you were DEFENDING some of these people!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: That IS putting people on trial. I mean, everyone in that trial is putting those people on trial. It’s not the prosecutors putting them on trial—
GARNER:[interrupting] But you don’t say you were deFENDing them, Golriz. You’re happy to talk about PROSECUTING.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: My maiden speech is all about being a DEFENCE lawyer. I raised the fact that I defended a child MURDERER at the Auckland High Court. It’s— my maiden speech talks about human rights in terms of defense work. I mean, to isolate a line out of it, is just, it’s just wrong. And I mean you have to—
GARNER:[interrupting] See I think you’re MINIMIZING it.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: You have to take it in the context that for the entire year of the election I was doing these interviews about both the defense and the prosecution work that I’ve done. So to me it’s VERY public, and it SHOULD be very public, we should be really proud of adv—-
GARNER:[interrupting] So why didn’t you sa-a-a-a-yyy…..
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: —of advocating for a justice system that has both.
GARNER: Why didn’t you saaaay, why didn’t you SAY in your maiden SPEECH that you learned a lot—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: But why did I make all these Herald articles about the defense work?
GARNER: Can I just finish the question?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I mean—
GARNER: I, I’ll just finish the question if I CAN, Golriz, because I’ve let you finish, I, if I could just please finish this question.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Go for it.
GARNER: Why didn’t you in your maiden speech say that you defended some of the world’s most evil men? Like the BUTCHER of Bosnia.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: No, I never had anything to do with that trial. That’s patently wrong. That’s the Mladić trial you’re talking about and I’ve never had anything to do with the Mladić trial at all.
GARNER: You didn’t do any pre, pre-TRIAL work?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: That was on the Karadžić trial, so that’s a completely different defendant.
GARNER: But the same sort of THING, though, isn’t it!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: What happened in the Karadžić trial, I can explain that, is that that defendant was self-represented, and in the pre-trial stage the court needs lawyers to actually make the legal arguments when you’re coming up to, you know, defining the crimes and defining, um, the, essentially the spectrum of the trial. Um, and so there are lawyers that work on that, it’s to assist the trial, because actually the prosecution has lawyers, and a self-represented defendant doesn’t, so you can’t have a fair trial without those legal points being hashed out properly. That’s what I did for about five or six months, before I went to prosecutio—
GARNER:[interrupting> Right so obviously he was an EVIL man, okay, a convicted war criminal. Did you morally STRUGGLE with any of this?
…[Here there are a couple of seconds of silence as she tries to deal civilly with the imbecility and insolence of that question]…
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I don’t want us to resort back to, we take people out back and shoot them. These are, this is what these trials are about, and like I say, from Nuremberg onwards we’ve said, No, we have the moral authority. You ARE criminals, I don’t care if you’re the head of the army, I don’t care if you’re the president of a country, but we’re not gonna resort to what YOU resorted to, we’re gonna put you into a fair process, this community gets to see exactly who’s responsible, we’re not denying that genocide happened, but we wanna know exactly who did what, we want it to be transparent, we want the evidence to be tested and the historical record to be set right. Every lawyer in that system is proud to be involved in that, as was I, and as was I of my prosecution work. Is it difficult work? Totally. It’s REALLY hard to act on the defense in those trials but you’ve got to be really, really committed to that human rights-based process.
GARNER: Mmmkay. Ah, d-, have you EVER deFENDED anyone in New Zealand, say a Rwandan refugee who’s linked to that brutal reGIME?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Ah, I’ve defended a Rwandan refugee that’s been accused of being linked to, not the regime per se, but yeah that’s something I’ve spoken to on radio before as well. It was around the confidentiality measures of the refugee process in New Zealand that we were challenging.
GARNER: Hmmm. And he was—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So it was about, it was about people who were trying to disprove claims being able to go back in to a repressive regime and get witnesses and for us to protect those witnesses.
GARNER:[interrupting> Wasn’t he 2-i-c?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: And I’ve—
GARNER:[interrupting> Wasn’t he 2-i-c in the regime? Okay, so—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: —I’ve openly spoken about that.
GARNER: So who WAS he?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Sorry?
GARNER: Okay, so wha-, wha-, wha-, so who WAS he? Wasn’t he 2-i-c in the regime?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Um, the problem with that case is that actually the courts have suppressed a lot of the information, but I’ve spoken about the legal point that we were taking before on radio, which was about the confidentiality measures. Um, in terms of the details of the case I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna be breaching any of the suppression orders that the court imposed. That’s an ongoing case which I’m not on any more.
GARNER: So WHY did YOU get involved in THAT?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: But you can talk to Deborah Maning about that, you know, refugee lawyers who’ve, um, previously defended people like, you know, Ahmed Zaoui, and it’s a similar case to that—
GARNER:[interrupting> This is a guy that LIED. This is a guy that LIED on his refugee, ahmmm, application to come—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Ooh, I’d be careful there. That’s all been disproven. [laughs derisively] So, yeah.
GARNER: You tell me what ‘e DID.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Sorry?
GARNER: You tell me what ‘e DID.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Ahmed Zaoui?
GARNER: No, not Zaoui. No I’m talking about—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Oh I’m sorry.
GARNER: I’m talking about this RWANDAN, ahhhmm, who was here in New Zealand that you were—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: That’s an ongoing case and there’s suppression orders around it, but he’s being accused by the Rwandan government, um, and sought for extradition. So it’s an extradition case, um, and we were trying to get a fair process around it HERE, so that everyone could present their witness evidence, essentially.
GARNER: Right. Where did you— so you were in AFRICA. You LIVED in Africa, did you?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: In Tanzania, sort of on and off when I worked on cases, yeah.
GARNER: Right. Have you been to RWANDA? Did you go in there and have a look?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Yeah I’ve been into Rwanda, yeah, but the court isn’t in Rwanda, so you go into Rwanda, you speak to witnesses or, y’know, I mean you’re next door, so you go into Rwanda a lot, yeah. But nobody lives in Rwanda and works on the trial.
GARNER: No, sure. Um, and just, just finally, did you ever have a choice, I don’t know how this works, I mean did the U.N. ever give you a choice and say, Golriz you don’t HAVE to work on this if you have any issues with it, y’know morally or ETHICALLY. Did you ever have a choice to say, I don’t WANTA defend this, y’know, this man?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I certainly don’t have any moral, ethical choice, as does NO lawyer that works on criminal trials, in terms of working for either side. You are there to make the process fair. So to say that there’s a moral problem, you know, to suggest that all of these United Nations lawyers, where the U.N. requires that there is a defense and a prosecution, are somehow, um, you know, morally repugnant, um, is just, it is actually offensive, to be honest. I mean, nobody there is denying that a genocide happened—
GARNER:[interrupting] What SOME people—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: We’re there because we KNOW a genocide happened.
GARNER: Course. Yeah. And what some people are also saying that THEY’re offended by the fact that y-you, y-y-you are in PHOTOS, sort of you know, like a SELFIE with, with some of these WAR criminals, here you are standing with one of these RWANDAN guys who was convicted. Y’know, like a, like a HOLIDAY SNAP!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Yeah, he was convicted, but I, well, we believe in innocent till proven guilty, right? So when you go over and you’re representing someone, you don’t treat them like they’re guilty. That would kind of subvert the whole process.
GARNER: But do you take HOLIDAY SNAPS with a mass MURDERER?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I can absolutely see how it’s jarring to people. But if you actually believe in the system you’re not going there and going, You’re a mass murderer. The minute you start representing them that would be you making the decision for the Court. So it’s not, it doesn’t work that way.
GARNER: Mm.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: But I can totally see how it’s jarring. And, I mean, it’s a process that not many people would wanna be involved in, but to me it’s really important, as my prosecution work was important. It’s really important that we make sure these trials are fair, so that community can actually rely on those verdicts and move forward.
GARNER: Okay, look, um, Golriz, um, we’d better GO-O-O-O. I appreciate you coming on the program. Do you REGRET any of, any of your approach, or the lack of coming FORWARD in terms of the public stuff on the Green Party website and your maiden SPEECH? Do you regret that you could have been fuller?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I mean, I’ve had the Green Party website fixed, but I don’t think, because I’ve been so open and I’ve done all of these interviews, coming out to the election, I think taking all of that in context it was all VERY public. But the thing is, I’m glad we’re having this conversation, because we DO need to have a conversation about what fair trials mean, and what justice means to us. Um so, no, let’s, you know, let’s keep talking about it.
GARNER: That you don’t think you have anything to apologize for?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: No, as I don’t think anyone working in our justice system has anything to apologize for. We’re all there making the process fair.
Duncan Garner tries to be harsh and cold and aggressive, but he doesn’t really have his heart in it. Someone obviously wrote his questions for him, and told him to “get” Golriz, but it’s clear that he early on recognizes Golriz is far brighter than him, as well as holding the moral high ground over him. This clip finishes a bit early, unfortunately, and doesn’t include the very interesting back and forth between Garner, Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies, immediately after this travesty. All of them acknowledged that Golriz had done nothing wrong, and Amanda Gillies did not hide her distaste for what Garner had been instructed to do…..
DUNCAN GARNER: Green M.P. Golriz Ghahraman has come under criticism for failing to mention her work defending a war criminal convicting of inciting genocide IN RWANDA. Around eight hundred thousand TUTSI are estimated to have been killed during the nineteen ninety-FOUR ethnic cleansing, uh, by the Hutu EXTREMISTS. Ghahraman was involved in the deFENCE, and she joins me now, Golriz good to have you on the program, really apPRECiate it. Why didn’t you just tell us? Why hasn’t this been OUT there before?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I did. It was out there. There’s been a number of journalists that have come forward, Kirsty Johnston from the Herald, Vice New Zealand’s released a transcript, I did a number of interviews before the election where I talked about this. I went around, um, various law schools, I’ve talked about this in the past. My C.V. was online and completely open. Um, so it’s not a problem for me at all, it’s not a problem for any lawyer, and the U.N. is certainly really proud that we now have these trials where there is a defense and a prosecution. It’s about returning communities to a rule of law model, to a human rights model.
GARNER: Okaaaayyy. Okay.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So it is actually about stopping the cycle of violence. Having the defense ensures that, so either side can’t say, you know, it was victor’s justice, you just came in and arrested our people. Um, so it’s something that I’m really proud of, and I’ve put it out there, there’s been a number of articles, um, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to hide it—
GARNER: [brusquely] I put it to you that you HAVEN’T, actuallyyyy. I put it to you that the GREEN Party, you see the GREEN Party WEBSITE said, uh, “Golriz worked in Africa, The Hague, and Cambodia, putting on trial world leaders for abusing their power.” It DOESN’T SAY that you DEFENDED these war criminals.
I watched the reply from Golriz, what wonderful candidate, if only we had more politicians like her, articulate, intelligent, well spoken and most importantly, a true diplomat, hadn’t seen her before, but with ppl like her in Govt, the countries on a winner.
This whole topic is already dead, just a few stupid, arrogant men, who are struggling to adapt to a change in the style of politics think they can control the narrative by “click baiting” to gain attention, only the stupid are sucked in and we all know who they vote for.
There is nothing inherently unlawful about instructing employees to use disappearing messaging apps, said Timothy Heaphy, a lawyer at Hunton & Williams and a former U.S. Attorney in Virginia.
However, companies have an obligation to preserve records that may be reasonably seen as relevant to litigation or that fall under data retention rules set by industry regulators.
Anybody else see the contradiction in those two sentences?
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 → ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
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 ...
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In the context of Robertson’s speech to business yesterday, a very nice line from Fran O’Sullivan this morning that encapsulates this challenge of this government:
“Ensuring the country buys the argument that the Government is simply out to introduce fairness will not be easy, after New Zealand has enjoyed being part of the global market for nigh on three decades.”
Translated means.
Rich New Zealanders,banks and large corporations have made billions as NZ’s assets were sold under their citizens’ feet.
What Fran means is “redefine ‘fairness’ to mean the status quo or I will foment trouble just like I did in 2000”
+111
Robertson doesn’t need to redefine “fairness”.
When a government’s committed to “opportunity” (as this NZ Labour led one is), it’s ”fair enough” that you wind up fucked up – because bad choices and all of that jazz.
This government is the bride, the groom and the church of “status quo”.
You will never unsee this. Talking Heads will never be the same again.
https://youtu.be/nSuregWhlWk
Ha ha ha ha ….my favourite TH song destroyed….thanks Andre
Absolute hoot! Thanks.
just a shame it included the bit where Trump was insulting that disabled journo, the man has no sense of decency.
Here we are entering the silly season and the weather is great at last, but there is still the gloom and doom of impending nuclear war and accelerating, unmitigated climate change. However there are positives out there for the Left at the end of 2017…..
1. NZ. The new govt is off to a good start. The opposition, for all the biased media support, just looks to be negative, tired, yesterdays men.
2. Aus. Turnbull is on his last legs.
3. Brit. May is on her last legs.
4. USA. Trump is doing as predicted (pre election) and destroying America. I find it interesting watching the USA unfolding on a daily basis.
5. The AngloZionist Empire ( USA, Israel, NATO Countries) plan for world ownership is being successfully challenged by the likes of Russia and China.
6. The Middle East. The Iran/ Syria/Hezbollah/ Russia bloc are successfully holding up the Saudi/ ISIS/ Israeli/ USA bloc.
7. Nth Korea. Maybe all they want is recognition as a World Power and a bit of respect.
Have a great summer everyone and be careful out there. The New Year promises many challenges.
Here here Garabaldi and the best to you too, we enjoy your input.
By their own ownership plan.
Oh! oh! Oh! Rush to your radio comrades! Kim Hill is interviewing Don Brash on the use of te reo….
Highlight of the morning.
Very funny though Brash giving as much as Kim is giving him.
Yes, he is proving he is a tired, negative, yesterdays man ( and a silly git to boot).
Don says we shouldn’t have Te Reo (Guyon) on National Radio because no one understands it.
Kim says therefore we shouldn’t have business report on National Radio because no one understands it.
Ha!
Bloody brilliant! But I felt even Kim had given up on Brash as a total lost cause at the end…
I think she realised he was never going to give up his position using logical arguments because it’s a political position that has nothing to do with logic.
The only way he would change his mind is if his position no longer had political utility.
But the good thing is that after his performance he may find his position no longer has political utility.
~~~~~~~~~~
As an aside, it shows the power of the baby boomers – their weight of numbers means that airtime could be given over to a cultural perspective that belongs to the distant past.
ianmac (4.2.1) … she’s good, bloody good that Kim Hill.
True that ianmac –
‘Bussiness report; doesn’t belong on our “public service radio’ bussiness belongs on commercial media not the radio NZ non commercial media.
Though we want Goyon Espiner gone as heis a national biased supporter and unfit to show balanced reporting.
I strongly disagree that business does not belong on non-commercial radio.
It is at the basis of a modern advanced society and everyone should realise it.
It was thinking that business could be constantly pressed for more money that brought the severe hatred of the business class to do away with unions. If the WEA had spent more time teaching workers about business, turnover, not-for-profit, co-operatives, profitsharing and the role of worker involvement in them we would not have been so easily sidelined by Labour 1984.
Business is everyone’s business. We need intelligent approaches to it, to how much efficiency, how much time off, how to manage markets and not allow ourselves into a race to the bottom for wages and conditions and export prices. Too much complacency. No one is promising us a rose garden, a nice lounger for all. A holiday is not even offered to those that business won’t employ, just ceaseless striving for a job.
But business, work, that we want and want to do. Circulating money with many inputs, and many payments – at present business is poorly and needs a boost from the bottom-up.
greywarshark,
I say this because RNZ s now so cash trapped that the CEO has sent us a letter after we asked them why we in HB/Gisborne has no reporter here now for two years to cover our regional community RNZ media issues of deep public concern to our communities.
For instance, like loosing our rail services in 2012 as many bussiness owners are requesting we push government now again for rail to return, and RNZ said they have no staff now to cover our rail issues.
The RNZ CEO said we have no reporter in our HB/Gisborne region and offered no assistence.
So you are happy that we miss out on our regional “public affairs” media coverage while Bussiness gets to cover all their own issues everywhere else now?
That is the logic that drove our community’s wild to reject private bussiness interests taking our last RNZ media coverage dollars for their interests and denying us the funding for a regional reporter for HB/Gisborne?
We need business news on RNZ – just in a totally different format, where the present high priests of the economic ideology of neo-liberalism are challenged, not simply given an amplifier. I don’t want or need to hear the unquestioned views of the CEO of one of the 4 Australian banks. Instead I expect them to be interrogated and their arguments and actions put under the blowtorch. In its present format, all we get is neoliberal propaganda.
We should be presented with alternative economic voices and philosophies.
agreed Ed, Thanks for that. 100%
The current ‘RNZ Bussiness news’ is just a copy of CNBC, and smells of Steven Joyce all over again.
We need the labour model of “corporate environmental & social responsibility” but of course the corporates dont want that as it hurts their shareholder bottom line eh?
We object giving the corporates a free ride on ur public service money while our provinces loose their voice as a result of corporate greed using RNZ for their ibenefit and stopping our community public vioces.
Maybe this was their intent to make the mioney dry up so regional environmental and social issues can’t get RNZ media coverage on our only voice on public radio?
Yes and unbiased reports of how the economy is going and the reason and hopes for whatever policies are being pursued with concrete examples of where the good will land instead of just saying it will be good for NZ.
“Though we want Goyon Espiner gone as heis a national biased supporter and unfit to show balanced reporting.”
I heard the same sentiments, but from exactly the opposite side of the political spectrum in 2014 when Guyon Espiner took Key to bits over DP. Had an ex Nat Minister in the gallery (he’s a regular who admires one of our artists) the morning after the interview saying some very uncharitable things about Mr Espiner and his political preferences.
Graeme, Thanks for that flashback, as I remembered it so very well.
I recall that day when John Key looked at Guyon Espiner as if he was about to put out a contract to kill him; – as Keys ‘rivetting’ glaring stare’ he sent to Espiner even sent a chill down my spine too.!!!!!!!!
After that day we saw Guyon never try to tackle Key again and since then, Espiner has flipped to being the ‘verbial trumpet-chorus boy’ for English, Joyce, Bridges, Bennett, Maggie, Collins, Brownlee and co.
So we suspect Espiner just lost his will to fight any further against the Key Government that day.
It was expressed to me that Mr Espiner had to understand his place in the scheme of things and show due respect to the office of Prime Minister….
lol…Mr Espiner’s problem is not a political bias (imo) rather it is his inability to think on his feet and consequently he misses so many opportunities to explore issues in greater depth…superficial would best describe him.
OWG Why do we have extended lives these days? Too long of Don Brash – white – and Robert Mugabe – black.
So what – you wish them to die. That’s is pathetic and disgusting.
the barstards are to miserable to die
bwaghorn
So true. They have a contract with God that they wrote out themselves that says they are entitled to whatever they want throughout life and in their declining years to the end.
As for us at The Standard, I think we are on a Mission from God like the Blues Brothers.
OMG. He is a carbunkled caricature of the most grostesque sort of 1970s white settler racism. The idea he was giving as good as he got is nonsense to my mind. Kim Hill was giving him the rope to hang himself, which he ultimately did by claiming the Moriori were the first settlers of NZ.
At which point Kim Hill terminated the interview, having removed all doubt in any intelligent pesons mind that the guy is a superannuated crank and a crackpot fringe merchant.
Still, Don Brash would probably still win a seat in Queensland. Or Alabama.
Indeed!
The whole theme being that although he proclaims constantlt that he doesn’t believe in separatism, that is exactly what he advocates.
And even worse he proclaims to speak for 99% of white people.
Maybe 99% of the white people he meets i.e. the stale, pale, males …
… and he only thinks they agree with him because they don’t argue with him
…. and they don’t argue with him because their wives give them the “no, please not here” look.
Maybe that’s because 99% of the voices on the corporate media are pale, male and stale.
He can never take that Orewa speech back. Amazing that he would have been PM because of it but for walking the plank and the racing car pic.
Wasn’t able to listen to it all but agree. Kim Hill did a masterly job providing him with the rope etc. He talked about encouraging people to speak their own languages among themselves. Indians need to talk Indian. Chinese need to talk Chinese. Laplanders need to talk Laplandese and so on. And of course he encourages Maori to learn to speak Maori. Yes folks, he thinks that’s a good thing. He supports that.
Okay my paraphrasing is a bit naughty but that was the essence of what he was saying.
How patronising can one be…
“How patronising can one be…” ?
For Don Brash – very easily!
He comes from the “I’m not racist BUT……”, and “How can I be racist – I married an Ayeshun myself” and emotion, culcha, ambition and opportunity all measured in terms of cost, and “it’s not fair because they’re getting more than me for my hard-earned tax payer dollar” mindset. “No such thing as sussoighty” all expressed in his most practiced WASP eggsent thinking he has the tone of authority, whereas “the truth is” (as they say in best neo-liberalese), he’s a worn out, pompous, holier-than-thou, bitter old queen who probably spends most of his time worrying about how he’s going to take his [supposedly hard-earned] luxuries in life across to the other side. And the most insulting thing to my limited level of intelligence is that he’ll have an expectation that I should feel sympathy for the prick when that happens. I hope I last long enough to be able to piss on his grave (which is likely to me some kitsch monument to his ego).
There’s a lot of it about. There might be a gene or two missing. And of course there’ll be a rw troll along shortly to remind me of how unkind and uncaring I am – no doubt. Not unlike that Whaleoil Mr Creosote that called someone from the West Coast ‘ferral’. Pots and Kettles
Or epsom.
Or Epsom
Heroes
No. 2: GIDEON LEVY
Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. Levy joined Haaretz in 1982, and spent four years as the newspaper’s deputy editor. He is the author of the weekly Twilight Zone feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza over the last 25 years, as well as the writer of political editorials for the newspaper.
Levy was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996.
His new book, The Punishment of Gaza, has just been published by Verso Publishing House in London and New York.
https://www.haaretz.com/misc/writers/gideon-levy-1.402
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-QNP4Zw-KQ
“Heroes” is a series devoted to those courageous and brilliant people who show us that, in a world seemingly run by crooks, abusers, scoundrels, mass murderers and liars, there are still reasons for optimism.
No. 1 Edward Snowden
+100
Here’s your chance to meet a real hero
Gideon Levy will deliver a public lecture tomorrow (Sunday) at the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, 487 Dominion Rd, Balmoral, Auckland
Sunday 3 December 2017 3:00pm – 5:00pm
https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2017/gideon-levy-public-lecture/auckland/balmoral
This video popped up in my feed yesterday and with the recent brouhaha over Golriz Ghahraman I can recognise the same techniques at play in New Zealand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmVkJvieaOA
Don’t forget that the left won the election. The right is desperate. Don’t let them make us play defence.
Winston Peters won the election and has rather demonstrated a glaring weakness in the MMP system.
It doesn’t work particularly well unless you’ve got at least three independent parties of a similar size, the current mix of two large parties(I consider lab-green one party) hands a disproportionate amount of power to whoever can get the bigger party across the line, which in this case is Winston Peters.
Also, Golriz Ghahraman backstory has more holes than a rusty colander.
Straight out of Ovid’s video!
BM: “Also, Golriz Ghahraman backstory has more holes than a rusty colander.”
Now we are supposed to leap into explanations and defend of her.
BM treats us like a cheap sport. Drop a short punt into the pot and watch the boil.
When that dies down BM will drop in another prompt.
Don’t fall for it people.
Now we are supposed to leap into explanations and defend her.
You don’t have to do anything.
My personal view from what I’ve read is that she’s rather embellished her backstory to make herself more marketable for the Greens.
Having said that I don’t really care what she did or didn’t do, I’m sure she’s got some skills that might be useful in parliament.
Bullshit BM. You pull the legs off spider to see if they can still walk and giggle at your cleverness.
You put up short little claims that are usually false. Then giggle over the fallout as good people try and explain/defend.
Hard luck BM. Try somewhere else.
Yes ianmac, bm is a waste of space, never got anything worth reading, you summed bm up exactly.
Try reading these, BM.
New Zealand Bar Association statement on the criticism of Golriz Ghahraman https://www.nzbar.org.nz/news/nzba-responds-criticism-lawyers-defending-war-criminals …
Press statement from the NZ Criminal Bar Association on Golriz Ghahraman http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1711/S00347/nz-criminal-bar-association-defends-golriz-ghahraman.htm …
and from Philip Matthews today:
DRAIN THE SWAMP
Remember Dirty Politics, the Nicky Hager book that exploded like a noisy but confusing bomb during the 2014 election? The premise was that Right-wing bloggers were doing the former government’s para-journalistic dirty work. It went underground after that but with a new centre-Left coalition in place, it was bound to rear its ugly head again. Which it certainly did this week when new Green MP and former refugee Golriz Ghahraman was targeted by the usual cabal of critics and stirrers over claims that she had deliberately misrepresented her legal career. Her calm response to every hostile interview and accusation, even a petty one from blogger David Farrar that she had not really seen anything traumatic during the Iran-Iraq war, was a masterclass in seeing off a minor political crisis while her critics looked small and obsessive. The final score: Golriz 1, dirt peddlers nil.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99428911/week-in-review-the-filth-and-the-fury
Both those articles completely miss the mark. Outside of an outraged fringe, the problem isn’t that she defended an accused in a court of law. That is an unreasonable standard to hold a lawyer to. To say that’s the problem is creating a strawman argument easy to knock down. From my reading of most commentators, the problem is the way Golriz [allegedly] marketed herself. Personally I don’t think it was deliberate. Plenty of people have said she talked about it before the election. I think she was just very loose in the way she sometimes phrased things, a bad habit for a politician and a lawyer.
Perhaps both the Bar association and the Criminal Bar Association have had second thoughts.
I get 404, page not found for both the first two links.
I think they may have realised that the defence they were providing had absolutely nothing to do with what people were complaining about.
Her sin was to not come out at the beginning and say that she had been doing defence as well as prosecution work and also to enormously exaggerate the level she was operating at.
Would she really have been ranked so highly on the party list if the members had seen a truthful CV?
Poor old Mojo.
Strange that you got 404, page not found because I just checked them using the links below which I put up yesterday on Open Mike – and they worked perfectly, as did the additional link for the NZ Law Society.
NZ Criminal Bar Association – http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1711/S00347/nz-criminal-bar-association-defends-golriz-ghahraman.htm
New Zealand Bar Association – https://www.nzbar.org.nz/news/nzba-responds-criticism-lawyers-defending-war-criminals
NZ Law Society – http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1711/S00326/implied-criticism-of-defence-lawyers-unacceptable.htm
Your links work just fine.
However the ones TMM put in certainly don’t.
Looking at them more closely I see he(she) seems to have added “…” at the end of each of them and that is presumably what is doing it.
If people are going to put in links it would be helpful if they check them. Why waste other people’s time.
They still don’t seem to have anything to do with what people were complaining about though. It wasn’t doing the defence work that was the problem. It was the Walter Mitty attitude shown in her CV that is the problem, and a very sad problem it is as the story shows.
Poor old Mojo.
Like I said, desperate.
Also, Golriz Ghahraman backstory has more holes than a rusty colander.
Also, BM molests goats. It’s a fun game anyone can play!
Winston Peters won the election and has rather demonstrated a glaring weakness in the MMP system.
The government reflecting the voters’ choices isn’t “a glaring weakness,” it’s “democracy.”
No, it’s not Peters got far more concessions then what his 7% party vote was worth
Labour basically gave him whatever he asked for, Christ the old prick might end up as PM, that not democracy!
Here we go again. BM is baiting – again. Ignore him. He will not concede a scrap. He will just try a new dig.
The truth is in that 36-page document “the most transparent government ever” refuses to release.
33 page, in 10 font now, if it’s reduced to an 8 font probably around 25 pages, so how many pages should it be?
We are not allowed to move on the offensive or we get banned.
I’m seeing people going on the offensive all the time and they don’t get banned. There are limits to that, but there’s no reason why you can’t attack BM’s arguments.
BM mostly traffics in bullshit. The few arguments he presents don’t belong to him.
@BM Labour and the Greens were more than happy to go along with things like the $1 billion regional investment fund-fitted fine with their policies.
To date there have been no meaningful ructions between the 3 coalition parties-these are all in the minds of the Nats.
Please stop talking this bollocks that Winston might be PM-that was always a fantasy of the Right to try to drive NZF under 5%….epic fail.
National offered up far more concessions than Labour, but Winnie was just “Taking the Piss”, good on him, Billshit Bill deserves all the crap that lands on him, if you live by the gun, you die by the gun.
“National offered up far more concessions than Labour”
You have some evidence for this claim do you?
Something other than the deep recesses of your imagination?
Come on. Out with it or we can just assume you are under the influence of some powerful hallucinogen.
So what were the concessions that national offer Winston in negotiations?
You make a statement of fact to form a naritive – but you are all bullshit.
How about posting some evidence to back up your claim – or are you just a bullshiting liar ?
See how simple it is to make stuff up, and spread half truths james. You should remember those feeling you are having now james, as you make people feel the same way when you make stuff and peddle half truths.
Which by the way, you do quite often. So you really don’t get the moral higher ground.
And the extra ministerial seat National was offering Peters over what the coalition was offering? funny how ppl forget the details of these negotiations though, no harm rubbing it in.
I watch these guys spew their BS and then 20 retaliatory comments follow to defend the position of the left, hit and run, peddling BS, the Goritz argument was a classic example, arguing semantics. Goritz’s response exemplifies the real politician that she is, all the BS hadn’t fazed her and the diplomacy was inspiring.
That’s not a 1/2 truth – I think it a total fabrication- and it’s not unreasonable for them to be called up on it.
The concessions Peters got were what the market determined were necessary. The free market at work I’ve heard about a zillion times, is a thing of beauty.
Hey – that is funny.
Nick ‘swimmable rivers’ Smith, Steven ‘pretty legal, fiscal hole’ Joyce, Judith ‘Oravida’ Collins, Bill ‘discovered poverty last week’ English, Paula ‘put ’em in motels’ Bennett, John ‘no legacy’ Key…
Natz MPs, and cheerleaders for the National ‘no mates’ party are coming across as embittered victims of a NZ1st hit job. I think Winston chose what was, on the face of it, a less straightforward coalition because of nine years of neglect, corruption, lies, and growing inequality in NZ. “Time for a change.”
Cheer up BM, you’re just experiencing a small measure of the hopelessness the NZ left felt over the last 9 years.
‘Good, I can feel your anger… Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!’
Nah, Labour rolled over and gave him all the power.
http://act.org.nz/labour-nz-first-the-missing-five-pages-free-press-monday-27-november-2017/
NEW ZEALAND FIRST GOVERNMENT
LABOUR/GREEN GOVERNMENT
ffs BM. This is one of those instances where the source has to be named, or the info becomes rendered useless.
Any bullshit artist could have scribbled up that wee shopping list of conjecture and (probably) nonsense.
I guess we’ll find out sooner or later if its bullshit or not.
So you’re not sure?
That’s wise.
The Act Party is no more a reliable source than Don Brash a New Zealand historian.
or not, and in the meantime you get to rumourmonger. As others have said, getting desperate.
Is that even the right font size?
T
R
O
L
L
BM …. Yes definitely bloody minded.
Also, Golriz Ghahraman backstory has more holes than a rusty colander.
If that’s a reference to her work in and around the UN where, some would insinuate, she refused to fight on the side of “the good guys” and for “the forces of good”, then you might want to consider that the UN has more holes in its integrity than would take to fill the Albert Hall.
Not something many liberals are comfortable to contemplate mind.
If you want a nasty back story…. JOHN KEY
Nada BM = that just bullshit.
BM says
MMP doesn’t work; – quote – “It doesn’t work particularly well unless you’ve got at least three independent parties of a similar size,”
In your dreams as you right winers always rejected MMP right from it’s inception, as you still suffer from the “born to rule syndrome” poor you.
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmVkJvieaOA
clever that is. lol Ed.
MMP works fine. You RWNJs are just pissed that you didn’t win and you’re blaming MMP rather than the fact that you’re unelectable.
You cannot say that of all right leaning people.
I’ve always agreed that the government we have is the government that won and that’s mmp.
National has only one strategy: TATTY.
That stands for Trivializing And Tantrum Throwing Yobbery.
“Bloody yobbery, morning, noon, and night!”—Victor Meldrew
“I’ll get me coat…”
Love it 1000% 7.3 Morrissey.
Thank you patricia! And this is for YOU….
http://www.adagio.com/images2/custom_blends/103645.jpg
Bluddy good video Ovid! Very fitting of what happens on The Standard. Must watch.
John Key was expert at putting critics in boxes. Therefore he could just dismiss Nicky Hagar.
English/Joyce accuse Labour. Robertson spends long time with long explanations. Joyce is wrong but wins the popular vote. Almost won an election.
The Right Wing Trolls here do it all the time. Short pithy accusation. We spend many replies to refute. Troll shifts ground to a new point without ever conceding the original one. We spend many replies in hopeless refution. Troll wins.
Now National and Media henchmen are pouring on the accusations so that the Left must explain. No smoke without fire?
Except Jacinda knows. Her best response when a critic was quoted to her? “He’s wrong.” End of story.
Heh. I say “Don’t let them make us play defence” and BM immediately goads us into playing defence. Hats off to you, man. You’re certainly skilled in this.
Excellent link Ovid. I’ve already watched this and one other. Very helpful.
Worth a thread….
The pr and the reality
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/345242/we-re-not-seeing-funny-running-cops
So not a link of our cultural shift from treating authority with healthy irreverence (eg Keystone Cops) to one of (arguably) unhealthy reverence (eg – all those cop shows of cops saving us from our despicable selves). Ah well…
Contrary to my reputation as a rwnj, I do sometimes try and be a good human being. I’d like some advice. Growing up white, upper middle class in tidy neighborhoods with white picket fences and any problems kept strictly behind closed curtains, I’ve never really been exposed much to drug use. Recently, a young mother who fate made us meet, has been begging for help. She’s a drug user. She goes for periods of being clean, then for a week or two spends all her money on substance abuse. Now I’m a comparative stranger, but she keeps asking for money and rides to pick up drugs. Obviously that’s a no, though I have driven her home twice near midnight when she threatened to walk herself home and I couldn’t in good conscience let her do that. I’ve encouraged her to see a drug counselor, which she claims to have done. But she still now asks for money for food/or just food.
Anyway, long question medium, how can one assist such a person (or anyone; so hopefully the replies may help others, such as family members), without enabling them. If kids are involved, it makes it even harder. Can’t let them starve, but can’t enable them with food and gifts when they spend all their money. NB not so much interested in what government can do, I want practical advice for individuals and whanau.
Some people want to take drugs. Some don’t. Some can be helped out. Some can’t.
And everything’s subjective and personal. There is no “rule book” or “Ten Point Plan”.
When you spend your entire income on meth and can’t look after or feed your kids, we’re a bit beyond the “some people take drugs” defense.
If you don’t want to get involved then it’s probably none of your business. Give her some food at least though. That’s not enabling, that’s called helping another human being eat and not starve.
Try and get her to try a rehab programme,and whatever you do,don’t have sex with her.
Agreed. Limit to what I can do as I don’t actually want to get too close to the situation. Won’t go into her house, won’t talk to her any longer than necessary. Don’t really “want” to help, but then this is a human with kids involved.
Have you spoken to Social Welfare? Or better still, any grandparents.
practical advice for individuals and whanau
Stop supporting governments that increase inequality and defund mental health services. If you know anyone who voted for a government that increased inequality and defunded mental health services, make it clear that they are social lepers.
Good grief come on – asking an honest practical question here on what we as individuals do. We can have opinions about government till the cows come home, but sometimes we as individuals are called (or put in a position) to do something. Telling them to vote Labour in three years (assuming their enrolled) isn’t going to a) help the addiction now, or b) put food on the table. So up front – what would you do for them, besides refer them to rehab (which as far as I can tell is voluntary)?
Nah, you made your bed, and now you want everyone else to lie in it for you. What if your stain doesn’t wash out?
Given that you vote for human rights abuse, I think the best thing you can do for those kids is leave them alone and let the government get on with cleaning up after you.
Otherwise I’d suggest you adopt them.
“Anyway, long question medium, how can one assist such a person ”
Short answer is you can’t, well probably not anyway. If they hit you up when they’re stoned you’re wasting your time and when they hit you up when they’re straight they’re probably hanging out for a hit.
It’s a deadly spiral and a wise person would keep a respectable distance IMO, you can buy yourself a lot of trouble walking into a scene like you’ve described.
However, if you want to buy the conditions that create the scene you just described, you can do that at the organisation previously known as Cabinet Club.
A lot of trouble yes, but then when someone comes asking for money or food, I’m not the sort of person to easily turn them away. Running into a burning house to save someone also can bring a lot of trouble. But people do it. I dunno. Maybe an optomistic side of me thinks redemption is possible. The other side is a cynic. Or as weka said it is none of my business, so turn a blind eye, refuse charity and hope the government does it’s job (well weka said give food but I feel that allows her to spend her money elsewhere).
That’s a pretty good illustration of the obscenity of charity: the very people who helped create the conditions for poverty and inequality, debating amongst themselves which of their victims deserve help, and in doing so, justifying poverty.
Of course, anyone who points this out to them is being mean and insulting.
It’s not about turning a blind eye it’s about using a bit of street nous and not inserting yourself into a scene you know nothing about. Meth is a class A drug, it could be your friend there is mixing with some people that you really don’t want to know about,
This is an American site about Meth,but maybe someone knows a NZ equivalent.
http://somechicksblog.com
The drug foundation has some useful info:
https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/info/helping-someone/
You are doing a good thing.
Remember:
Alcoholism or addiction is a disease. It isn’t necessarily about the quantity consumed, but the behaviour. The good news is it’s treatable.
Telling a person dependent on alcohol or drugs to just “stop” won’t work. The abuse is typically a symptom of mental illness.
And as weka suggests above, when they have spent their money on drugs – food is the best help you can give, then an ear, and and finally when they are ready, encouragement to try again. They need to find the trigger that causes the relapse.
Meanwhile, whilst your back was turned. Fighting for scraps from the masters table, or being incremental – Slavery is back. How progressive we all are, how truly wonderful human beings.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/outrageous-reality-libya-171201085605212.html
http://fortune.com/2017/11/29/libya-slave-trade/
I read somewhere that BM molests goats. I find this behavior detestable and as a goat owner am now fearful for my goats. Being a nom de plume, I have no idea who this BM is, but by his general tone and writing I’m gonna assume he’s an older, white male. As there’s a number of those round these parts, I’m rightly concerned for my goats. I think BM should stop his indecent actions, seek help and be more forthright and honest about his awful nature as these habits aren’t natural and the goats (or any of gods creatures) should never be subjected to BM’s sick ways.
Shame on you BM.
The goats are bm mentors
Wasn’t it mentioned a few weeks ago about how TROLLs live under bridges and eat goats, relates very closely to him.
Are you insulting homeless people who live under bridges?
Not unless BM just happens to be a homeless person.
BM is metaphorically homeless: the National Party will lock their doors to him the moment their owners tell them to.
So is this the standard of comment that is acceptable on this blog these days ?
Can we accuse anyone we like of being a goat fucker?
I think you started it with that rubbish about a colander, and got a deliberately exaggerated example of what you like to dish out. Fair enough, too.
Work it out for yourself if you aren’t playing the innocent. (Which I suspect you are.)
I look forward to the day when you disappear from this blog.
In Vito.
I think you are obviously a moron. I haven’t said anything about a colander at all. Far from playing innocent- the fact is you are just wrong.
In vino is just getting their tory trolls confused. Easily done.
Yes, James – almost inclined to apologise: it was in fact BM (Bullshit Mountain?) who made the inane comment about the colander, so you are in fact innocent of that bit of trolling. But then again, you are both so alike…
And apologising to somebody silly enough to misspell Vino, then throw childish insults just doesn’t seem right. So I am not sorry, even if I was wrong on that point. You remain what you are.
Has Labour got their priorities right when it comes to building more homes?
Mr Twyford says trade-offs may have to be made (state homes vs KiwiBuild homes) with a priority on KiwiBuild.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/top/345178/government-pledges-to-build-more-state-houses
With people living in cars and what not coupled with the expected upward pressure on rents due to Labour’s Healthy Homes Guarantee Act, do Labour need to commit to building more state homes a year?
Yes.
I can see the political reasoning though. Voters will be dazzled by the numbers, and KiwiBuild will be cheaper.
Alternatively, voters will be appalled Labour are going to prioritise housing those that are already housed rather than housing those in dire straits.
BM if it looks like ____ and smells like _____ than it is bulshit .
These people think I just dropped out of the sky yesterday I see they are using someone in Pukekohe to try and use my son in laws origins against me . I say to the these people stop pissing in the wind and find a real crim to waste your time on you no I no that your shit stinks to Ana to kai Pukekohe is nice a lot friendly Maori people this is the true nature of Maori please take care of my daughter and my moko.s We will be back in January when our daughter is due for her 4 child . Ka pai
Here’s a little story from yesterday about how politics is going across the ditch for the federal Liberal party and in particular, Malcom Turnbull, it’s quite amusing, and in stark contrast to politics in NZ with regard to coalition partners.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/38112814/deputy-premier-john-barilaro-urges-malcolm-turnbull-to-resign-before-christmas/
Film coming in 2018.
I became vegan this year.
It is the biggest thing you can do for your health, the planet and for animals.
Don’t believe me. Research the topic with an open mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpDJlEQsDoA
Duncan “Vyshinsky” Garner’s laughable attempt to intimidate Golriz Ghahraman
FULL TRANSCRIPT
three a.m. show, Thursday 29 November 2017,
Duncan Garner tries to be harsh and cold and aggressive, but he doesn’t really have his heart in it. Someone obviously wrote his questions for him, and told him to “get” Golriz, but it’s clear that he early on recognizes Golriz is far brighter than him, as well as holding the moral high ground over him. This clip finishes a bit early, unfortunately, and doesn’t include the very interesting back and forth between Garner, Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies, immediately after this travesty. All of them acknowledged that Golriz had done nothing wrong, and Amanda Gillies did not hide her distaste for what Garner had been instructed to do…..
DUNCAN GARNER: Green M.P. Golriz Ghahraman has come under criticism for failing to mention her work defending a war criminal convicting of inciting genocide IN RWANDA. Around eight hundred thousand TUTSI are estimated to have been killed during the nineteen ninety-FOUR ethnic cleansing, uh, by the Hutu EXTREMISTS. Ghahraman was involved in the deFENCE, and she joins me now, Golriz good to have you on the program, really apPRECiate it. Why didn’t you just tell us? Why hasn’t this been OUT there before?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I did. It was out there. There’s been a number of journalists that have come forward, Kirsty Johnston from the Herald, Vice New Zealand’s released a transcript, I did a number of interviews before the election where I talked about this. I went around, um, various law schools, I’ve talked about this in the past. My C.V. was online and completely open. Um, so it’s not a problem for me at all, it’s not a problem for any lawyer, and the U.N. is certainly really proud that we now have these trials where there is a defense and a prosecution. It’s about returning communities to a rule of law model, to a human rights model.
GARNER: Okaaaayyy. Okay.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So it is actually about stopping the cycle of violence. Having the defense ensures that, so either side can’t say, you know, it was victor’s justice, you just came in and arrested our people. Um, so it’s something that I’m really proud of, and I’ve put it out there, there’s been a number of articles, um, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to hide it—
GARNER: [brusquely] I put it to you that you HAVEN’T, actuallyyyy. I put it to you that the GREEN Party, you see the GREEN Party WEBSITE said, uh, “Golriz worked in Africa, The Hague, and Cambodia, putting on trial world leaders for abusing their power.” It DOESN’T SAY that you DEFENDED these war criminals.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So in the context of all of these articles that I’ve done and all of these talks that I’ve given, and making my C.V. public well before the election, there’s just this ONE line that people have gotten a hold of and—-
GARNER: [interrupting] Quite CRUCIAL, it’s quite CRUCIAL, Golriz.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Well, I would, I mean I would suggest if the Green Party was trying to hide this, someone would have brought me up and said you’ve got to stop doing Herald interviews about this work, it would’ve been a no-brainer, um, for someone from the party to pull me up and say, Stop, stop doing these interviews about it, um, and it di–, it hadn’t occurred to me, I mean the reason it’s come up NOW is because, again, there was a Herald article where they said to me, What’s a defining era in your life? And I said, well actually this was the difficult, you know, this was the thing that was really life-changing for me is when I first went in to the U.N. system, um, it was working for the defense and, what do, you know it really made me think about—
GARNER: [interrupting] Weeeell, I, I READ some of the articles.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: —-and that—
GARNER: And I’ve READ some of these articles, Golriz, and—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: It was me that brought it up, I mean it wouldn’t have occurred to me to hide it.
GARNER: Yyeeah. But it HAS been hidden by the GREEN Party. Why was, so let’s, okay, so the media might have SAID it, but what about your own Green Party, it wasn’t on your website and you’ve since CHANGED that of course which is the right thing to do.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Oh of course I asked them to change it immediately. I had, ha–, I hadn’t even, er, looked at that, I don’t think, but I mean—
GARNER: Well hang on, hang on, lemme test that, lemme TEST that. You say you hadn’t looked at it, you DON’T THINK. Did you know that it said it, or it didn’t say it?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I, to be honest, would have skimmed it at some point, but I would’ve gone Yep, it’s got the places I worked, moving on. I mean, those trials are ABOUT the defense being there as well. Otherwise we wouldn’t have trials, we’d take people out the back. You know, it’s, as a law student, I was inspired essentially by the Nuremberg Trials, you know, when we went, okay, you’re not above the law, genocide IS a crime, but we’re not gonna sink to your level, we’re not gonna be tyrants, we’re gonna have these open, transparent, fair trials—
GARNER: [interrupting] So the GUARDIAN—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: It’s so INSPIRING as a lawyer—
GARNER: Hmmm.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: You know, I wouldn’t have, there’s NO WAY I would have hidden something like that, that’s why I was doing the articles about it.
GARNER: Did you complain to the Guardian, ‘cos the Guardian, ahh, three weeks ago, doing a tri–, a piece on you, a really good piece on you too, said that you “represented the U.N. in tribunals, prosecuting some of the world’s worst war criminals, including perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.” They said that you PROSECUTED THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Yeah I understand our comms team has written to the Guardian. I understand they have written to the Guardian. I mean, yeah, that’s blatantly not what I’ve ever said in interviews. And I mean, the Vice article was all about the defense work, um, Kirsty Johnston’s came forward and said that the latest Herald piece was all about the defense work, and that’s ‘cos I wanted to talk about it. I think it’s an important conversation actually, um, and it IS about the human rights framework—
GARNER: [interrupting] Do you acCEPT—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: It’s not about denying genocide. That’s what I find offensive. Because we’re all there, the United Nations is there because we want to say genocide is a crime, but we will have a process, we’re not going to have cycles of violence, um, continuing. So that’s the part of it that’s really offensive to me.
GARNER: Okay. And some people might be offended at, in your maiden SPEECH, in parliament, in recent weeks, you talk about your WORK, and this is in your own words, you no doubt wrote your own speech, you talk about this criminal justice system internationally on the front li-i-i-ine, where you went out the-e-ere, y’know, you fought hard for what you di-i-id, and you worked in Africa, worked alongside these genocide trials, and you saw it at the Rwanda tribunal, you saw it at the Hague, and when you PROSECUTED the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, you “held politicians and armies to account for breaching their powers, giving voice to women, and minorities.” You don’t ONCE [brandishing his notes accusingly] describe it in your OWN words, in your OWN maiden SPEECH in parliament that you were DEFENDING some of these people!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: That IS putting people on trial. I mean, everyone in that trial is putting those people on trial. It’s not the prosecutors putting them on trial—
GARNER: [interrupting] But you don’t say you were deFENDing them, Golriz. You’re happy to talk about PROSECUTING.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: My maiden speech is all about being a DEFENCE lawyer. I raised the fact that I defended a child MURDERER at the Auckland High Court. It’s— my maiden speech talks about human rights in terms of defense work. I mean, to isolate a line out of it, is just, it’s just wrong. And I mean you have to—
GARNER: [interrupting] See I think you’re MINIMIZING it.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: You have to take it in the context that for the entire year of the election I was doing these interviews about both the defense and the prosecution work that I’ve done. So to me it’s VERY public, and it SHOULD be very public, we should be really proud of adv—-
GARNER: [interrupting] So why didn’t you sa-a-a-a-yyy…..
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: —of advocating for a justice system that has both.
GARNER: Why didn’t you saaaay, why didn’t you SAY in your maiden SPEECH that you learned a lot—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: But why did I make all these Herald articles about the defense work?
GARNER: Can I just finish the question?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I mean—
GARNER: I, I’ll just finish the question if I CAN, Golriz, because I’ve let you finish, I, if I could just please finish this question.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Go for it.
GARNER: Why didn’t you in your maiden speech say that you defended some of the world’s most evil men? Like the BUTCHER of Bosnia.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: No, I never had anything to do with that trial. That’s patently wrong. That’s the Mladić trial you’re talking about and I’ve never had anything to do with the Mladić trial at all.
GARNER: You didn’t do any pre, pre-TRIAL work?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: That was on the Karadžić trial, so that’s a completely different defendant.
GARNER: But the same sort of THING, though, isn’t it!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: What happened in the Karadžić trial, I can explain that, is that that defendant was self-represented, and in the pre-trial stage the court needs lawyers to actually make the legal arguments when you’re coming up to, you know, defining the crimes and defining, um, the, essentially the spectrum of the trial. Um, and so there are lawyers that work on that, it’s to assist the trial, because actually the prosecution has lawyers, and a self-represented defendant doesn’t, so you can’t have a fair trial without those legal points being hashed out properly. That’s what I did for about five or six months, before I went to prosecutio—
GARNER: [interrupting> Right so obviously he was an EVIL man, okay, a convicted war criminal. Did you morally STRUGGLE with any of this?
…[Here there are a couple of seconds of silence as she tries to deal civilly with the imbecility and insolence of that question]…
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I don’t want us to resort back to, we take people out back and shoot them. These are, this is what these trials are about, and like I say, from Nuremberg onwards we’ve said, No, we have the moral authority. You ARE criminals, I don’t care if you’re the head of the army, I don’t care if you’re the president of a country, but we’re not gonna resort to what YOU resorted to, we’re gonna put you into a fair process, this community gets to see exactly who’s responsible, we’re not denying that genocide happened, but we wanna know exactly who did what, we want it to be transparent, we want the evidence to be tested and the historical record to be set right. Every lawyer in that system is proud to be involved in that, as was I, and as was I of my prosecution work. Is it difficult work? Totally. It’s REALLY hard to act on the defense in those trials but you’ve got to be really, really committed to that human rights-based process.
GARNER: Mmmkay. Ah, d-, have you EVER deFENDED anyone in New Zealand, say a Rwandan refugee who’s linked to that brutal reGIME?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Ah, I’ve defended a Rwandan refugee that’s been accused of being linked to, not the regime per se, but yeah that’s something I’ve spoken to on radio before as well. It was around the confidentiality measures of the refugee process in New Zealand that we were challenging.
GARNER: Hmmm. And he was—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So it was about, it was about people who were trying to disprove claims being able to go back in to a repressive regime and get witnesses and for us to protect those witnesses.
GARNER: [interrupting> Wasn’t he 2-i-c?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: And I’ve—
GARNER: [interrupting> Wasn’t he 2-i-c in the regime? Okay, so—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: —I’ve openly spoken about that.
GARNER: So who WAS he?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Sorry?
GARNER: Okay, so wha-, wha-, wha-, so who WAS he? Wasn’t he 2-i-c in the regime?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Um, the problem with that case is that actually the courts have suppressed a lot of the information, but I’ve spoken about the legal point that we were taking before on radio, which was about the confidentiality measures. Um, in terms of the details of the case I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna be breaching any of the suppression orders that the court imposed. That’s an ongoing case which I’m not on any more.
GARNER: So WHY did YOU get involved in THAT?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: But you can talk to Deborah Maning about that, you know, refugee lawyers who’ve, um, previously defended people like, you know, Ahmed Zaoui, and it’s a similar case to that—
GARNER: [interrupting> This is a guy that LIED. This is a guy that LIED on his refugee, ahmmm, application to come—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Ooh, I’d be careful there. That’s all been disproven. [laughs derisively] So, yeah.
GARNER: You tell me what ‘e DID.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Sorry?
GARNER: You tell me what ‘e DID.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Ahmed Zaoui?
GARNER: No, not Zaoui. No I’m talking about—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Oh I’m sorry.
GARNER: I’m talking about this RWANDAN, ahhhmm, who was here in New Zealand that you were—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: That’s an ongoing case and there’s suppression orders around it, but he’s being accused by the Rwandan government, um, and sought for extradition. So it’s an extradition case, um, and we were trying to get a fair process around it HERE, so that everyone could present their witness evidence, essentially.
GARNER: Right. Where did you— so you were in AFRICA. You LIVED in Africa, did you?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: In Tanzania, sort of on and off when I worked on cases, yeah.
GARNER: Right. Have you been to RWANDA? Did you go in there and have a look?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Yeah I’ve been into Rwanda, yeah, but the court isn’t in Rwanda, so you go into Rwanda, you speak to witnesses or, y’know, I mean you’re next door, so you go into Rwanda a lot, yeah. But nobody lives in Rwanda and works on the trial.
GARNER: No, sure. Um, and just, just finally, did you ever have a choice, I don’t know how this works, I mean did the U.N. ever give you a choice and say, Golriz you don’t HAVE to work on this if you have any issues with it, y’know morally or ETHICALLY. Did you ever have a choice to say, I don’t WANTA defend this, y’know, this man?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I certainly don’t have any moral, ethical choice, as does NO lawyer that works on criminal trials, in terms of working for either side. You are there to make the process fair. So to say that there’s a moral problem, you know, to suggest that all of these United Nations lawyers, where the U.N. requires that there is a defense and a prosecution, are somehow, um, you know, morally repugnant, um, is just, it is actually offensive, to be honest. I mean, nobody there is denying that a genocide happened—
GARNER: [interrupting] What SOME people—
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: We’re there because we KNOW a genocide happened.
GARNER: Course. Yeah. And what some people are also saying that THEY’re offended by the fact that y-you, y-y-you are in PHOTOS, sort of you know, like a SELFIE with, with some of these WAR criminals, here you are standing with one of these RWANDAN guys who was convicted. Y’know, like a, like a HOLIDAY SNAP!
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: Yeah, he was convicted, but I, well, we believe in innocent till proven guilty, right? So when you go over and you’re representing someone, you don’t treat them like they’re guilty. That would kind of subvert the whole process.
GARNER: But do you take HOLIDAY SNAPS with a mass MURDERER?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I can absolutely see how it’s jarring to people. But if you actually believe in the system you’re not going there and going, You’re a mass murderer. The minute you start representing them that would be you making the decision for the Court. So it’s not, it doesn’t work that way.
GARNER: Mm.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: But I can totally see how it’s jarring. And, I mean, it’s a process that not many people would wanna be involved in, but to me it’s really important, as my prosecution work was important. It’s really important that we make sure these trials are fair, so that community can actually rely on those verdicts and move forward.
GARNER: Okay, look, um, Golriz, um, we’d better GO-O-O-O. I appreciate you coming on the program. Do you REGRET any of, any of your approach, or the lack of coming FORWARD in terms of the public stuff on the Green Party website and your maiden SPEECH? Do you regret that you could have been fuller?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I mean, I’ve had the Green Party website fixed, but I don’t think, because I’ve been so open and I’ve done all of these interviews, coming out to the election, I think taking all of that in context it was all VERY public. But the thing is, I’m glad we’re having this conversation, because we DO need to have a conversation about what fair trials mean, and what justice means to us. Um so, no, let’s, you know, let’s keep talking about it.
GARNER: That you don’t think you have anything to apologize for?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: No, as I don’t think anyone working in our justice system has anything to apologize for. We’re all there making the process fair.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/11/i-ve-been-so-open-golriz-ghahraman.html
Duncan “Vyshinsky” Garner’s laughable attempt to
intimidate Golriz Ghahraman: FULL TRANSCRIPT
three a.m. show, Thursday 29 November 2017
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com
Duncan Garner tries to be harsh and cold and aggressive, but he doesn’t really have his heart in it. Someone obviously wrote his questions for him, and told him to “get” Golriz, but it’s clear that he early on recognizes Golriz is far brighter than him, as well as holding the moral high ground over him. This clip finishes a bit early, unfortunately, and doesn’t include the very interesting back and forth between Garner, Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies, immediately after this travesty. All of them acknowledged that Golriz had done nothing wrong, and Amanda Gillies did not hide her distaste for what Garner had been instructed to do…..
DUNCAN GARNER: Green M.P. Golriz Ghahraman has come under criticism for failing to mention her work defending a war criminal convicting of inciting genocide IN RWANDA. Around eight hundred thousand TUTSI are estimated to have been killed during the nineteen ninety-FOUR ethnic cleansing, uh, by the Hutu EXTREMISTS. Ghahraman was involved in the deFENCE, and she joins me now, Golriz good to have you on the program, really apPRECiate it. Why didn’t you just tell us? Why hasn’t this been OUT there before?
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: I did. It was out there. There’s been a number of journalists that have come forward, Kirsty Johnston from the Herald, Vice New Zealand’s released a transcript, I did a number of interviews before the election where I talked about this. I went around, um, various law schools, I’ve talked about this in the past. My C.V. was online and completely open. Um, so it’s not a problem for me at all, it’s not a problem for any lawyer, and the U.N. is certainly really proud that we now have these trials where there is a defense and a prosecution. It’s about returning communities to a rule of law model, to a human rights model.
GARNER: Okaaaayyy. Okay.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN: So it is actually about stopping the cycle of violence. Having the defense ensures that, so either side can’t say, you know, it was victor’s justice, you just came in and arrested our people. Um, so it’s something that I’m really proud of, and I’ve put it out there, there’s been a number of articles, um, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to hide it—
GARNER: [brusquely] I put it to you that you HAVEN’T, actuallyyyy. I put it to you that the GREEN Party, you see the GREEN Party WEBSITE said, uh, “Golriz worked in Africa, The Hague, and Cambodia, putting on trial world leaders for abusing their power.” It DOESN’T SAY that you DEFENDED these war criminals.
…..Read more, if you can bear it…
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_2_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2090955
Morrissey
I watched the reply from Golriz, what wonderful candidate, if only we had more politicians like her, articulate, intelligent, well spoken and most importantly, a true diplomat, hadn’t seen her before, but with ppl like her in Govt, the countries on a winner.
This whole topic is already dead, just a few stupid, arrogant men, who are struggling to adapt to a change in the style of politics think they can control the narrative by “click baiting” to gain attention, only the stupid are sucked in and we all know who they vote for.
Fair comment, NewsFlash.
Uber’s use of encrypted messaging may set legal precedents
Anybody else see the contradiction in those two sentences?