This news is a bit of a shocker for the Government and I bet a Treasury staffer is having their nether regions roasted right now.
A draft of the discussion paper concerning the removal of the effect of the treaty clause in the SOE Act from the partially privatised companies was inadvertently put on Treasury’s website yesterday for a short while.
The Herald downloaded a copy. It reports the changes include removal of the following passages:
* “The Government … on balance, tends to favour no Treaty clause.”* “On balance, the Government tends to the view that continued application of section 9, or … a new Treaty clause … is not appropriate when its policy intent is for the companies to be treated like other private sector companies.”* “Ministers’ powers … will not be as great as the powers they have under the SOE Act … This is part of the intent of the policy – to move the companies into a legislative and governance framework that will create a greater commercial focus to their operations.”* “In respect of institutional investors, section 9 will not be well understood … and have a negative effect on investment ..”
Obviously the Government did not want to scare the MP. The reference to Ministers’ powers not being as great as under the SOE Act belies the line that some have been running that a shareholding of 51% provides just as much power as a shareholding of 100%. It does not and the draft document recognises this.
The problem for the Government is that once it decides to remove the effect of section 9, which it will, it will then be accused of having made its mind up and not consulting in good faith.
One question that the MSM should ask is that the issue has obviously been recognised for a while. When was it first identified? If this happened before the election why was the Government’s intentions kept silent?
I can’t believe that the Government would not be truthful to us about elements of asset sales including never intending to observe the Treaty, and always intending to limit the power of Ministers despite a theoretical 51% “controlling” Crown stake National continuously emphasize.
Its like National don’t give a shit about our strategic assets apart from how much cash they can be flogged off for. 🙄
and I bet a Treasury staffer is having their nether regions roasted right now.
Give the staffer a frakking medal I say. And the NZ Herald.
Because JK knows perfectly well that National would not have been re-elected if he’d campaigned on a full asset sales policy. This is a step change to the end goal.
We have seen directors of a finance company on trial recently for misleading in a prospectus. Currently the SOE’s have the following requirement :
1) The principal objective of every State enterprise shall be to operate as a successful business and, to this end, to be—
(a) as profitable and efficient as comparable businesses that are not owned by the Crown; and
(b) a good employer; and
(c) an organisation that exhibits a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates and by endeavouring to accommodate or encourage these when able to do so.”
Provision (a) may be accepted as a given whether it is retained or not, but any investor should be aware that government appointed directors (representing a majority), will adhere to (b) and (c) whether they are enshrined in company requirements or not.
By removing these requirements however, National may be seen subsequently as having misled minority shareholders. The sort of problem that may occur for example would be if a government determined to manage the company to put a priority on long term continuity of supply, for example by investment in new technology, rather than exploiting a short term opportunity for price increases and increased dividends.
John Key may be happy for investors to think that they can work to exploit the market (and employees) for short term gain, but he cannot bind future governments.
What’s the problem here? There were originally not going to put any Treaty clause in but when they realised that might be a problem they added a couple of options around this. Seems responsive to me. You do like Governments to be responsive don’t you mickeysavage?
here were originally not going to put any Treaty clause in but when they realised that might be a PR problem they added a couple of options around this. Once the cat is out of the bag they seem responsive to me.
FIFY
Basically National don’t understand the importance of the Treaty and the Iwi corporates who exist because of those Treaty settlements understand that now, too.
The information lower down in the same article re limiting of powers of relevant ministers over the new partially owned assets is frightening … let Parliament begin.
Fill the Board of Directors of the power generation venture with passive Government directors, effectively handing control to the remaining 49% private sector directors on the board.
It’s strange that an otherwise obsdcure draft clause would add the extra drop of petrol to the asset ownership bonfire this government has set itself around the Beehive.
As the complaint about this Treaty clease peaks around Waitangi Day and in the weeks after in Parliament, the Government will find itself against a particularly Maori version of nationalism against asset sales, perhaps in a manner that we have not seen since Tanui took the government to the Court of Appeal against Coalcorp for similar reasons some years ago.
It was excellent to hear Winston Peters on National Radio this morning railing against the American film-maker James Cameron buying land. At least, unlike the Labour party, he is being consequential in his criticisms of foreign ownership. If only the Labour Party had even a single spokesperson with similar penetrating clarity.
Oddly the Greens have been quite ineffective in this space to date. And yet as they have shown in the last decade with GE and mining in national parks, they have pushed civic action on the ground really well.
Between Maori, the Greens, and Labour, this asset ownership debate could be marshalled into the next great Foreshore and Seabed march to Parliament.
The simple question for the next three months of debate leading up to Budget 2012 is whether the “Xenophobia” argument wins over the “Own Our Future” argument.
At the moment “Own Our Future”, but from a Maori perspective, is winning. The government is being spectacularly inept and it will take an almighty effort of political management to get this back on track.
Remember this Government has already effectively “booked” the 50% sale of all the big four plus Air New Zealand, and without these sales proceding apace the Government’s debt position is many billions of dollars worse than it already is.
The trick in the next year will be to use every legal means to delay every sale, to make it so politically toxic to foreign buyers that taking a minority stake is not worth it. In turn, without being able to book those proceeds, the Gvoernment will look like it had no other means to manage the finances, other than a financial prescription that other political parties had laid out prior to the election (such as increasing the top tax rate back to where it was).
If anyone can remember this far back, the turning back of the Swiss aluminium firm at Aramoana was a massive blow to the Muldoon government – people power really can work even in the face of every organised government instrument and all scales of itnernational capital.
This little Treaty clause shows that there really are incendiary moments to stop this entire sale process, sometimes surprising ones.
This asset sales process can be stopped, not just railed against.
I think the James Cameron purchase of land is different from the Crafar farms sale. Cameron intends to be resident, and presumably will pay taxes and rates here. It’s a small farm, which will hopefully keep any profits in NZ, unlike the Crafar farms.
However, I’m not keen on wealthy overseas buyers pushing up NZ land prices because they are willing to pay more.
I am more concerned about the continuation of the Hollywoodisation of the NZ film industry, in which Peter Jackson has played a major part, and Cameron looks like extending.
“However, I’m not keen on wealthy overseas buyers pushing up NZ land prices because they are willing to pay more.”
This concern is understandable if you are looking to buy a property. It is less understandable if you are looking to sell. Getting a higher price for your property as a seller is always beneficial.
Russell Norman on TV3 a couple of days ago spoke of a citizens’ referendum emerging in about two weeks for our delight and support against asset sales … anyone have any further details ? Thank you for the bonfire imagery .. let it blaze !
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.3.2.1
Explain how the Chinese are going to be magically exempt from paying rates and GST and income tax.
Vertical integration – The Chinese will be running the farms at a loss. Rates will still be paid but they’ll be minor compared to how much we’ll be losing.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.3.2.1.1.1
Yes, I do remember Muldoon and Aramoana. And with joy I also remember it took only one brilliant woman to cross the floor and bring him down on the nuclear issue … who might be the Marilyn Waring of this paltry government ? Auckland Central might be promising ? ( And refer here for those to young to know …http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Waring )
If I read you right, you are suggesting Nikki Kaye, might have the potential to do “a Marilyn Waring” – I would advise against holding your breath!
Any email response had by NK, is 100% a hack job cut and paste from the party propaganda booklet! Not really an indication that she might cross the floor at any point in time…..happy to be proved wrong!
Muzza .. you’re probably right, simply offering my thoughts .. but Marilyn also might have seemed an unlikely ‘floor-crosser’ so early on in a new parliament … not holding my breath but I do believe someone is going to bring it all down … it’s wobbly like an Edmonds jelly used to be !
Still reckon it was strange for an openly lesbian feminist woman to win a hardcore blue National electorate in the 1970′s…
Except that she wasn’t open about it! Her lesbianism was still just a rumour until after she’d left Parliament. She went for a policy of deliberate concealment, she said later, so that she would get into Parliament.
You have to wonder who the winner will be from driving down the value of these assets?, which is inevitable now.
If the government don’t get the price they have already banked for these assets (which was never realist) they’ll now be able to blame the Maori.
So cheap shares for there mates and a scapegoat allowing them to sell off more assets or and make more cuts to the public services, seems to me the way this may play out.
A reporter from the website Scoop will resign from Parliament’s press gallery after being caught photographing documents in Labour leader David Shearer’s office.
Lyndon Hood was among a number of journalists waiting in the office for an interview with Mr Shearer yesterday afternoon, and was spotted taking photos of documents on the leader’s desk by a Labour Party press secretary.
It’s tough when a momentary indiscretion can have major repercussions but the political media needs to be held accountable too, they are as much a part of our political process as the MPs, albeit unelected.
Surely that photo should be able to be given to MSM. We should be able to know what was in the document that was photographed. Afterall, the reporters were invited to Shearers office, so its not like he sneaked in to take the photograph or anything. So, in this context Shearer’s office was probably a public place. Shearer shouldn’t have left the documents lying around if he wanted the contents kept secure. The public have a right to know what was in the documents that were photographed. And if Shearer has nothing to hide, he should welcome the contents being disclosed.
Don’t be so hard on tsmithfield, he’s the kind of guy who invites mates over for dinner, and has no problem if they happen take phtotos of his wife’s knicker drawers while waiting for dessert to be served.
If I knew I had friends who were into sniffing womens underwear, and I still left the underwear out, they would probably assume I had left it out as a little treat for them. 🙂
So going full circle, are we now saying that we expect the Labour Leader, the PM, the Deputy PM etc to first clear their desks, password protect their laptop and lock their desk drawers and brief case every time they have journalists in their office?
“So going full circle, are we now saying that we expect the Labour Leader, the PM, the Deputy PM etc to first clear their desks, password protect their laptop and lock their desk drawers and brief case every time they have journalists in their office?”
Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.
What say there was something really juicy on the desk that passed the public interest test? Surely that would be fair game whether its a private place or not?
“If Key owned or operated the cafe and asked everyone to go then yes.”
Well, it hasn’t been determined if it is a private setting or not yet. So, I take it from your answer that if it is so determined by the courts then you would agree that Ambrose has broken the law.
“…whereas in the teacup case the cameraman said the recording was accidental.”
And the simple and gullible would probably believe him.
Could someone “reasonably expect” documents on their desk in their office to be “private”. The answer to that, is yes.
Could Key and Banks “reasonably expect” a conversation held in full view of the media, that they invited, in a public space, where someone was standing not more than 1m behind Key with NO glass between him and key, was “private”? The answer to that, is no.
This is doubly confirmed by the fact that Key and Banks deliberately don’t use Brash’s name but instead refer to him as “that odd fellow” – because they knew they could be overheard.
Mickey, in principle you are correct and TS is basically shoveling shit uphill (I would expect nothing less from a cyclopean idiot).
I often have employees etc in my room, there is never anything left out or on screen….Shearer has got to learn you don’t trust even the most innocent to see what should not be seen, even by accident. And journos are no innocents. Good thing is he took action…he should however never have needed to.
This whole thing reminds me of the expenses fiasco last year: the Party needs to get its collective administrative / behavoiral **** together.
Read it again, I would not do that full fekkin stop. Only cyclopean cretins would even contemplate that, and to paraphrase that new right zeitgeist soaked TV show “TS, you are the weakest link”.
You mean the evil foreigner that’s going to become a NZ citizen or resident? Well, I would have preferred it if he’d become a NZ citizen first but our laws don’t work that way ATM.
Since yesterdy afternoon, I’ve been having trouble with the recent comments links in the box to the right of the screen.
I click on one of the latest comment links, get taken to the post thread but not to the comment, and the individual comment (from the designated commenter), is nowhere to be seen, and the link I clicked on has disappeared from the box on the right. Using firefox.
I have now discovered that, once I click the link and get taken to the lead post for the thread, if I refresh, I then get taken to the specific recent comment.
Odd. Hang out for the weekend. It is probably related (somehow) to the hack I used to get past the outage yesterday. I’ll be fixing that up on the weekend.
While I am at it, I want to have another look at that box on the right. It uses JQuery to load it late in the process. I think that the intent was to make it dynamic (ie so new comment show soon after they are made) and I might put that in.
Be nice to add some filters if I can figure out a good screen process for it.
There was a protest in Christchurch yesterday, with people voicing their concerns about the pay rise of council CEO Tony Marryatt. The mainstream media plucked their crowd estimates out of thin air… over-exaggerating by a whopping 300%.
If it were just 750 people there it wouldn’t take long to count each person. 12-15 minutes tops.
However, some of the very dense grids have 35-40 heads present. Some of the lighter grids only 10-15. With say 45 decently populated grids and an average count of 26 peeps each.
I used the higher definition photo as well and got to an average 35 in the denser grids, of which there are seven. The point is that the MSM saying there were 3000 to 4000 people attending is completely wrong!
It just occurred to me that there is a correlation between the Occupy Movement and the Christchurch Protest. Many feel helpless in the face of the power of “The System” but here there was a chance for a specific focus of their discontent, as opposed to the vague discontent lacking defined targets.
when is Radio New Zealand going to fire brian krump.
there is soemthing terminally tacky about that man and when I hear him say you are going into the draw to win then I want to barf my tea all over the wireless.
Today marks the 41 anniversary of the Ramsar Convention, which is designed to raise public awareness and safeguard what wetlands remain. It’s also meant to protect the environmental, economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value of wetlands…
The Otago Fish and Game Council has unveiled plans to restore a large drained wetland off the lower Taieri River.
Operations manager Ian Hadland said today was World Wetlands Day and Fish and Game was taking the opportunity to announce plans to reflood the 80ha Takitakitoa Wetland near Henley, which is now a low-lying, rush-covered valley floor.
Mr Hadland said the Taieri project was an example of the sort of work Fish and Game was doing around New Zealand to create or restore wetlands, which have been fast disappearing with urban growth and intensified land use.
While it was involved in some large wetland projects, such as this one, Fish and Game also provided free help to farmers and landowners who wanted to create or enhance wetlands on their property.
Yeah, noticed that. Nothing but pure ideology in there – the ideology that has just been thoroughly shown as pure BS. It seems that Treasury is out to make us worse off.
Nope,not mad just panicked about the global road crash further down the highway, and disguising budgetary austerity as ‘policy for growth’. Where are our borrowing billions to come from?
Careful Jackal. you will offend every dingbat with a bobcat and a truck who wants to fill in every bit of swamp in the world because they are offended by nature.
I was actually hoping to offend those bastard farmers who let their cows mess up the place… but offending a few other dingbat environmental criminals is all good as well.
OK, so where’s the TPK thread? Just wondering, 16% of a ministry staff being scrapped, it’s budget being capped/slashed and the only person I have heard in the media about it is Winston.
Key creates a crisis, slaming us all with the notion that a 49% private shareholding shall not be held to the treaty of Waitangi, because weep weep private investers need certainty. Exactly how does the 51% holding by the Crown produce this uncertainty? well it doesn’t — unless — Key plans on fully selling the assets.
So let’s sum up this for a moment, Key plans on selling renewable energy sources held in trust by, for and of public, at the bottom of the market just before the greatest collapse in oil reserves known to Humanity. And now he wants to bleed small NZ investers who will pay more ‘because’ of perceived certainty (which they actually don’t get unless fully sold), to provide the big investors who will buy out the assets in full the benefit of the uncertainty being removed. There is no innovation in buying an asset over to the private sector to hoard, though a lot of innovation (distortion) in how to achieve the firesale in the public arena.
And that’s not enough, Key then pulls out the tried old technique in misappriopiating Maori. By talking only with Maori inside the tent (who just left the tent). The Maori party is not the sole representative of Maori, in fact the recent election saw them drop to less than half the Maori Seats, and Mana also got 1% of the list vote. So seems to me that Key echo chamber with the Maori party ‘consenting’ for all Maori, which even the Maori party is hesitating to provide, is shocking given NZ history and give the Maori just left the tent because of Asset sales.
Why should the public who have had to hold assets in trust for the future suddenly found just when they are going to become so valuable, when the market is so weak, when global soverign nations are printing money (a buyers market), justifies the PM sweeting the deal by shifting the benefit to the full sale of the assets.
Welll lucky old Key has no real opposition since the Media are gagging to white wash his astonishing position, that there is a crisis of certainty in the partial asset sale, that will leave a asset that under partial ownership will still have to take the Treaty into account (as the largest shareholder is the govt, i.e no crisis).
Where is media balance when the Media let the PM lie firstly that there is a crisis, then that the crisis is a crisis, then suggest that the Maori party represents Maori, then that the Maori party has no seat at the table due to its supply agreement. Sorry but who the hell do the editors of MSM think they are??? That a snowstorm of lies go unchallenged without any rigor at all. There is no need to remove the treaty obligations since full privatisation is not on the cards. Maori are not solely represented by the Maori Party, and the Maori party does not provide consent for the treaty to be removed because they signed a supply agreement not to be at the table on asset sales.
Then look at the Maori party, like they are hanging out for iwi to buy the assets, what a bunch of two faced… …Maori are disproportionately represented in the jails, in the courts, in the poverty metrics, and why because if the bridges were collapsed in the Pakeha dominated heartland of NZ they’d get fixed aleady, but since the social bridges, economic bridges, careers bridges, access to transport, etc, etc are all broken in Maori, Pacific Island (and Pakeha poor) areas its okay for the Maori party to ignore them and talk solely about government programs. The poor of NZ dont need more government, they need better goverance, we as a nation need capital fairness, capital independance, capital freedom for NZ and seating with Mr ‘big capital’ Key is not going to help Maori.
The Maori party has just been insulted by the PM, who says they are not at the table because of the supply agreement says nothing about asset sales, this is like you or I being told by our bank that we signed up to mortgage our home because we trusted our bank to look after our money (as we didn’t arrange a mortgage). Key broke trust with the Maori by suggesting that the supply agreement means consent does not need to be sort from, amongst others, the Maori Party. (i.e. Mana, Maori Labour MP, and other Maori MPs). Key needs to engage with Maori in Parliament who have won the votes to represented Maori not have a few staged events outside of parliament.
Key is not to be trusted, he does not come to the table in good faith.
The Maori party will loose what little credibility remains to them if they continue to support a National led government that has shown them such contempt…
Wow that was ‘fun’. A previously used plugin that was meant to delete the older post revisions went berserk. It deleted all of the posts.
I dumped the binary log out as SQL using mysqlbinlog and edited the resulting 750k line files. Have to love Visual Slickedit. At one stage it had 5 of the binlog SQL files of similar size open at once.
Did a selective display of all statements so I only saw those SQL statements with the three tables that may have been affected (problem statement below). Dumped those three files out with a slickedit macro “copy-selective-display” that copies the visible lines and ignores collapsed lines.
Looked at the tables to see what the problem was. Just wp_posts was a problem – had 5 rows left out of the 74k. Dumped that table back in from the last backup. Figured out what the last update was. Clipped between that and the error statement. Told slickedit to add a semicolon on the end of every line.
Opened up Navicat in wine (because I own a windows version and their ‘linux’ version is just Wine anyway). Told it to load and run the file out of slickedit.
Checked everything and turned maintenance mode off. Good thing that I not only have backups, but I also have the binary log running
What I now have to figure out is why this following statement caused the problem…
DELETE a,b,c
FROM wp_posts a
LEFT JOIN wp_term_relationships b
ON (a.ID = b.object_id)
LEFT JOIN wp_postmeta c
ON (a.ID = c.post_id)
WHERE a.post_type = ‘revision’
It looks fine to me ! In particular why in the hell it only affected one table as far as I can see. But I don’t do SQL a lot. I did have some problems with left outer joins converting from an older windows MySQL database to linux MySQL. But left inner joins? WTF.
Updated: Ah. LEFT JOIN is a LEFT OUTER JOIN. I’m always pedantic about saying it exactly (the way Codd would have liked it)
I really have to start doing some of these maintenance jobs right after I have taken a backup. There are so many plugin updates that I never read the code or fully test them.
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Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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 The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
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This news is a bit of a shocker for the Government and I bet a Treasury staffer is having their nether regions roasted right now.
A draft of the discussion paper concerning the removal of the effect of the treaty clause in the SOE Act from the partially privatised companies was inadvertently put on Treasury’s website yesterday for a short while.
The Herald downloaded a copy. It reports the changes include removal of the following passages:
* “The Government … on balance, tends to favour no Treaty clause.”* “On balance, the Government tends to the view that continued application of section 9, or … a new Treaty clause … is not appropriate when its policy intent is for the companies to be treated like other private sector companies.”* “Ministers’ powers … will not be as great as the powers they have under the SOE Act … This is part of the intent of the policy – to move the companies into a legislative and governance framework that will create a greater commercial focus to their operations.”* “In respect of institutional investors, section 9 will not be well understood … and have a negative effect on investment ..”
Obviously the Government did not want to scare the MP. The reference to Ministers’ powers not being as great as under the SOE Act belies the line that some have been running that a shareholding of 51% provides just as much power as a shareholding of 100%. It does not and the draft document recognises this.
The problem for the Government is that once it decides to remove the effect of section 9, which it will, it will then be accused of having made its mind up and not consulting in good faith.
One question that the MSM should ask is that the issue has obviously been recognised for a while. When was it first identified? If this happened before the election why was the Government’s intentions kept silent?
Oops link is wrong. The article is here.
I can’t believe that the Government would not be truthful to us about elements of asset sales including never intending to observe the Treaty, and always intending to limit the power of Ministers despite a theoretical 51% “controlling” Crown stake National continuously emphasize.
Its like National don’t give a shit about our strategic assets apart from how much cash they can be flogged off for. 🙄
Give the staffer a frakking medal I say. And the NZ Herald.
Its like National don’t give a shit about our strategic assets apart from how much cash they can be flogged off for
Were that the case, they would not be selling only a minority stake.
Incorrect. You don’t boil a frog by dropping it into boiling water QSF…
Oh very nice 🙂
Why not? That would actually work pretty well (just not for the frog).
[ edit: yes I know the metaphor, but it is scientifically incorrect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog#Scientific_background ]
Because JK knows perfectly well that National would not have been re-elected if he’d campaigned on a full asset sales policy. This is a step change to the end goal.
We have seen directors of a finance company on trial recently for misleading in a prospectus. Currently the SOE’s have the following requirement :
1) The principal objective of every State enterprise shall be to operate as a successful business and, to this end, to be—
(a) as profitable and efficient as comparable businesses that are not owned by the Crown; and
(b) a good employer; and
(c) an organisation that exhibits a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates and by endeavouring to accommodate or encourage these when able to do so.”
Provision (a) may be accepted as a given whether it is retained or not, but any investor should be aware that government appointed directors (representing a majority), will adhere to (b) and (c) whether they are enshrined in company requirements or not.
By removing these requirements however, National may be seen subsequently as having misled minority shareholders. The sort of problem that may occur for example would be if a government determined to manage the company to put a priority on long term continuity of supply, for example by investment in new technology, rather than exploiting a short term opportunity for price increases and increased dividends.
John Key may be happy for investors to think that they can work to exploit the market (and employees) for short term gain, but he cannot bind future governments.
What’s the problem here? There were originally not going to put any Treaty clause in but when they realised that might be a problem they added a couple of options around this. Seems responsive to me. You do like Governments to be responsive don’t you mickeysavage?
Responsive, as in “9 months response to the crafer farms decision”
That kind of manipulative responsiveness eh Gosman!
What’s this got to do with the issue over the Section 9 clause?
Do you really need “manipulative response” explained G!
FIFY
Basically National don’t understand the importance of the Treaty and the Iwi corporates who exist because of those Treaty settlements understand that now, too.
The information lower down in the same article re limiting of powers of relevant ministers over the new partially owned assets is frightening … let Parliament begin.
Yep I suggested here that this is one way the NATs could do it:
http://thestandard.org.nz/summer-service-open-mike-05012012/#comment-422943
Fill the Board of Directors of the power generation venture with passive Government directors, effectively handing control to the remaining 49% private sector directors on the board.
It’s strange that an otherwise obsdcure draft clause would add the extra drop of petrol to the asset ownership bonfire this government has set itself around the Beehive.
As the complaint about this Treaty clease peaks around Waitangi Day and in the weeks after in Parliament, the Government will find itself against a particularly Maori version of nationalism against asset sales, perhaps in a manner that we have not seen since Tanui took the government to the Court of Appeal against Coalcorp for similar reasons some years ago.
It was excellent to hear Winston Peters on National Radio this morning railing against the American film-maker James Cameron buying land. At least, unlike the Labour party, he is being consequential in his criticisms of foreign ownership. If only the Labour Party had even a single spokesperson with similar penetrating clarity.
Oddly the Greens have been quite ineffective in this space to date. And yet as they have shown in the last decade with GE and mining in national parks, they have pushed civic action on the ground really well.
Between Maori, the Greens, and Labour, this asset ownership debate could be marshalled into the next great Foreshore and Seabed march to Parliament.
The simple question for the next three months of debate leading up to Budget 2012 is whether the “Xenophobia” argument wins over the “Own Our Future” argument.
At the moment “Own Our Future”, but from a Maori perspective, is winning. The government is being spectacularly inept and it will take an almighty effort of political management to get this back on track.
Remember this Government has already effectively “booked” the 50% sale of all the big four plus Air New Zealand, and without these sales proceding apace the Government’s debt position is many billions of dollars worse than it already is.
The trick in the next year will be to use every legal means to delay every sale, to make it so politically toxic to foreign buyers that taking a minority stake is not worth it. In turn, without being able to book those proceeds, the Gvoernment will look like it had no other means to manage the finances, other than a financial prescription that other political parties had laid out prior to the election (such as increasing the top tax rate back to where it was).
If anyone can remember this far back, the turning back of the Swiss aluminium firm at Aramoana was a massive blow to the Muldoon government – people power really can work even in the face of every organised government instrument and all scales of itnernational capital.
This little Treaty clause shows that there really are incendiary moments to stop this entire sale process, sometimes surprising ones.
This asset sales process can be stopped, not just railed against.
I think the James Cameron purchase of land is different from the Crafar farms sale. Cameron intends to be resident, and presumably will pay taxes and rates here. It’s a small farm, which will hopefully keep any profits in NZ, unlike the Crafar farms.
However, I’m not keen on wealthy overseas buyers pushing up NZ land prices because they are willing to pay more.
I am more concerned about the continuation of the Hollywoodisation of the NZ film industry, in which Peter Jackson has played a major part, and Cameron looks like extending.
“However, I’m not keen on wealthy overseas buyers pushing up NZ land prices because they are willing to pay more.”
This concern is understandable if you are looking to buy a property. It is less understandable if you are looking to sell. Getting a higher price for your property as a seller is always beneficial.
Great if your an older farmer thinking of retirement…Not so great if your a young one working hard for a deposit.
Russell Norman on TV3 a couple of days ago spoke of a citizens’ referendum emerging in about two weeks for our delight and support against asset sales … anyone have any further details ? Thank you for the bonfire imagery .. let it blaze !
and presumably will pay taxes and rates here
Explain how the Chinese are going to be magically exempt from paying rates and GST and income tax.
And I just love the idea that a land sale to James Cameron should be blocked in an effort to stop the “Holywoodisation of the NZ film industry”.
Vertical integration – The Chinese will be running the farms at a loss. Rates will still be paid but they’ll be minor compared to how much we’ll be losing.
So they’ll be getting around the transfer pricing regime? Nice trick.
Yes, I do remember Muldoon and Aramoana. And with joy I also remember it took only one brilliant woman to cross the floor and bring him down on the nuclear issue … who might be the Marilyn Waring of this paltry government ? Auckland Central might be promising ? ( And refer here for those to young to know …http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Waring )
If I read you right, you are suggesting Nikki Kaye, might have the potential to do “a Marilyn Waring” – I would advise against holding your breath!
Any email response had by NK, is 100% a hack job cut and paste from the party propaganda booklet! Not really an indication that she might cross the floor at any point in time…..happy to be proved wrong!
Why would Nikki Kaye do this when she has not indicated any strong objection to partial sale of State assets previously?
People can and sometimes do grow a conscience …Not JK though
http://greystar.co.nz/node/458
Yep. The ‘capitalism at everyone else’s cost’ chip they put in usually precludes that happening.
Muzza .. you’re probably right, simply offering my thoughts .. but Marilyn also might have seemed an unlikely ‘floor-crosser’ so early on in a new parliament … not holding my breath but I do believe someone is going to bring it all down … it’s wobbly like an Edmonds jelly used to be !
The weakest link on asset sales is Peter Dunne. He’s already said he doesn’t like asset sales in principle.
Thx Lanthanide et al … so then, instead of ‘cherchez la femme’, it should be ‘cherchez le coif ‘ ??
Still reckon it was strange for an openly lesbian feminist woman to win a hardcore blue National electorate in the 1970’s…
Must have been a weird place to be, 1970’s NZ. Contradictions a go-go
Except that she wasn’t open about it! Her lesbianism was still just a rumour until after she’d left Parliament. She went for a policy of deliberate concealment, she said later, so that she would get into Parliament.
You have to wonder who the winner will be from driving down the value of these assets?, which is inevitable now.
If the government don’t get the price they have already banked for these assets (which was never realist) they’ll now be able to blame the Maori.
So cheap shares for there mates and a scapegoat allowing them to sell off more assets or and make more cuts to the public services, seems to me the way this may play out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16812185
Do we have any similar info graphics for a NZ situation?
Some of the comments on that page are very critical of that family’s spending – Sky Movies, weekend pints, mobile phones cigarettes. Reminded me of this Hand Mirror post: http://thehandmirror.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/luxuries-necessities-and-right-to-make.html
Snappy snooping in Shearer’s office results in resignation.
It’s tough when a momentary indiscretion can have major repercussions but the political media needs to be held accountable too, they are as much a part of our political process as the MPs, albeit unelected.
Surely that photo should be able to be given to MSM. We should be able to know what was in the document that was photographed. Afterall, the reporters were invited to Shearers office, so its not like he sneaked in to take the photograph or anything. So, in this context Shearer’s office was probably a public place. Shearer shouldn’t have left the documents lying around if he wanted the contents kept secure. The public have a right to know what was in the documents that were photographed. And if Shearer has nothing to hide, he should welcome the contents being disclosed.
Repeating Cameron ts?
An office is clearly not a public place. The fact the reporters were invited in clearly indicates that.
Interesting that you should try and argue the clearly unarguable.
Don’t be so hard on tsmithfield, he’s the kind of guy who invites mates over for dinner, and has no problem if they happen take phtotos of his wife’s knicker drawers while waiting for dessert to be served.
At least my wife’s knickers aren’t left lying on the dining table on open display when people come for dinner!
And if your wife’s knickers were there, you’d be quite happy with your mates taking photos and light sniffs?
“And if your wife’s knickers were there, you’d be quite happy with your mates taking photos and light sniffs?”
I wouldn’t be happy. But I couldn’t really complain about it either.
TS you have crossed over into the realms of fantasy there.
If I knew I had friends who were into sniffing womens underwear, and I still left the underwear out, they would probably assume I had left it out as a little treat for them. 🙂
Are you angling for an invite to dinner ?
😛
So going full circle, are we now saying that we expect the Labour Leader, the PM, the Deputy PM etc to first clear their desks, password protect their laptop and lock their desk drawers and brief case every time they have journalists in their office?
“So going full circle, are we now saying that we expect the Labour Leader, the PM, the Deputy PM etc to first clear their desks, password protect their laptop and lock their desk drawers and brief case every time they have journalists in their office?”
Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.
What say there was something really juicy on the desk that passed the public interest test? Surely that would be fair game whether its a private place or not?
What you said indicates that journalists are a security risk and should be kept away from areas where sensitive information might be present.
“An office is clearly not a public place…”
So, would you accept that if it is found that Key’s cup-of-tea locale was also a private setting, then Ambrose has broken the law?
If Key owned or operated the cafe and asked everyone to go then yes.
Besides it appears the photography here was deliberate whereas in the teacup case the cameraman said the recording was accidental.
“If Key owned or operated the cafe and asked everyone to go then yes.”
Well, it hasn’t been determined if it is a private setting or not yet. So, I take it from your answer that if it is so determined by the courts then you would agree that Ambrose has broken the law.
“…whereas in the teacup case the cameraman said the recording was accidental.”
And the simple and gullible would probably believe him.
ts, this is really quite simple.
Could someone “reasonably expect” documents on their desk in their office to be “private”. The answer to that, is yes.
Could Key and Banks “reasonably expect” a conversation held in full view of the media, that they invited, in a public space, where someone was standing not more than 1m behind Key with NO glass between him and key, was “private”? The answer to that, is no.
This is doubly confirmed by the fact that Key and Banks deliberately don’t use Brash’s name but instead refer to him as “that odd fellow” – because they knew they could be overheard.
deliberately don’t use Brash’s name but instead refer to him as “that odd fellow”
Yes, apparently that was a secret code for Brash that no one was supposed to be able to decipher.
Mickey, in principle you are correct and TS is basically shoveling shit uphill (I would expect nothing less from a cyclopean idiot).
I often have employees etc in my room, there is never anything left out or on screen….Shearer has got to learn you don’t trust even the most innocent to see what should not be seen, even by accident. And journos are no innocents. Good thing is he took action…he should however never have needed to.
This whole thing reminds me of the expenses fiasco last year: the Party needs to get its collective administrative / behavoiral **** together.
So, if you had one of your competitors in your office, and you left your full marketing plan up on a white-board in plain view of all?
Read it again, I would not do that full fekkin stop. Only cyclopean cretins would even contemplate that, and to paraphrase that new right zeitgeist soaked TV show “TS, you are the weakest link”.
Any hysterical posts in the pipeline about the evil foreigner James Cameron buying up our farmland?
You mean the evil foreigner that’s going to become a NZ citizen or resident? Well, I would have preferred it if he’d become a NZ citizen first but our laws don’t work that way ATM.
Since yesterdy afternoon, I’ve been having trouble with the recent comments links in the box to the right of the screen.
I click on one of the latest comment links, get taken to the post thread but not to the comment, and the individual comment (from the designated commenter), is nowhere to be seen, and the link I clicked on has disappeared from the box on the right. Using firefox.
+1. Using Chrome
Having similar problems. Using Firefox on Apple. Firefox has been doing some erratic stuff. Might switch to Safari.
I have now discovered that, once I click the link and get taken to the lead post for the thread, if I refresh, I then get taken to the specific recent comment.
Odd. Hang out for the weekend. It is probably related (somehow) to the hack I used to get past the outage yesterday. I’ll be fixing that up on the weekend.
While I am at it, I want to have another look at that box on the right. It uses JQuery to load it late in the process. I think that the intent was to make it dynamic (ie so new comment show soon after they are made) and I might put that in.
Be nice to add some filters if I can figure out a good screen process for it.
I also want to look at the screen real estate
Thanks. I can work with this by refreshing after clicking. The site is much improved from the outages yesterday.
How many people attended?
There was a protest in Christchurch yesterday, with people voicing their concerns about the pay rise of council CEO Tony Marryatt. The mainstream media plucked their crowd estimates out of thin air… over-exaggerating by a whopping 300%.
If it were just 750 people there it wouldn’t take long to count each person. 12-15 minutes tops.
However, some of the very dense grids have 35-40 heads present. Some of the lighter grids only 10-15. With say 45 decently populated grids and an average count of 26 peeps each.
IMO it looks like a crowd of 1100-1200.
I used the higher definition photo as well and got to an average 35 in the denser grids, of which there are seven. The point is that the MSM saying there were 3000 to 4000 people attending is completely wrong!
I used a photo published on the Press I think. Enlarged it and sampled and easily reached 2,000 +
Stuff says 4,000
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6345250/Angry-Christchurch-residents-to-protest-council
It just occurred to me that there is a correlation between the Occupy Movement and the Christchurch Protest. Many feel helpless in the face of the power of “The System” but here there was a chance for a specific focus of their discontent, as opposed to the vague discontent lacking defined targets.
when is Radio New Zealand going to fire brian krump.
there is soemthing terminally tacky about that man and when I hear him say you are going into the draw to win then I want to barf my tea all over the wireless.
Has banker bashing gone to far? You be the judge!
Wetlands day nothing to celebrate
Today marks the 41 anniversary of the Ramsar Convention, which is designed to raise public awareness and safeguard what wetlands remain. It’s also meant to protect the environmental, economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value of wetlands…
This may or may not be coincidental:
This isn’t far from another redeveloped wetland area:
http://milton-district.co.nz/sinclair-wetlands/
Treasury has gone full retard.
Yeah, noticed that. Nothing but pure ideology in there – the ideology that has just been thoroughly shown as pure BS. It seems that Treasury is out to make us worse off.
Nope,not mad just panicked about the global road crash further down the highway, and disguising budgetary austerity as ‘policy for growth’. Where are our borrowing billions to come from?
No Draco T Bastard – think cup half full here in line with the sweetness and light New Zealand.
Treasury is not out to make the 90+% worse off; they’re out to make the 1-10% better off. Now, d’ya see?
Kind regards
crosby and textor
in their absence signed by: john key and bill english
Careful Jackal. you will offend every dingbat with a bobcat and a truck who wants to fill in every bit of swamp in the world because they are offended by nature.
I was actually hoping to offend those bastard farmers who let their cows mess up the place… but offending a few other dingbat environmental criminals is all good as well.
OK, so where’s the TPK thread? Just wondering, 16% of a ministry staff being scrapped, it’s budget being capped/slashed and the only person I have heard in the media about it is Winston.
http://business.scoop.co.nz/2012/02/01/nz-post-drags-down-kiwibank-credit-rating-outlook/
Now what are these bastards up to – separate and sell off ?
Key creates a crisis, slaming us all with the notion that a 49% private shareholding shall not be held to the treaty of Waitangi, because weep weep private investers need certainty. Exactly how does the 51% holding by the Crown produce this uncertainty? well it doesn’t — unless — Key plans on fully selling the assets.
So let’s sum up this for a moment, Key plans on selling renewable energy sources held in trust by, for and of public, at the bottom of the market just before the greatest collapse in oil reserves known to Humanity. And now he wants to bleed small NZ investers who will pay more ‘because’ of perceived certainty (which they actually don’t get unless fully sold), to provide the big investors who will buy out the assets in full the benefit of the uncertainty being removed. There is no innovation in buying an asset over to the private sector to hoard, though a lot of innovation (distortion) in how to achieve the firesale in the public arena.
And that’s not enough, Key then pulls out the tried old technique in misappriopiating Maori. By talking only with Maori inside the tent (who just left the tent). The Maori party is not the sole representative of Maori, in fact the recent election saw them drop to less than half the Maori Seats, and Mana also got 1% of the list vote. So seems to me that Key echo chamber with the Maori party ‘consenting’ for all Maori, which even the Maori party is hesitating to provide, is shocking given NZ history and give the Maori just left the tent because of Asset sales.
Why should the public who have had to hold assets in trust for the future suddenly found just when they are going to become so valuable, when the market is so weak, when global soverign nations are printing money (a buyers market), justifies the PM sweeting the deal by shifting the benefit to the full sale of the assets.
Welll lucky old Key has no real opposition since the Media are gagging to white wash his astonishing position, that there is a crisis of certainty in the partial asset sale, that will leave a asset that under partial ownership will still have to take the Treaty into account (as the largest shareholder is the govt, i.e no crisis).
Where is media balance when the Media let the PM lie firstly that there is a crisis, then that the crisis is a crisis, then suggest that the Maori party represents Maori, then that the Maori party has no seat at the table due to its supply agreement. Sorry but who the hell do the editors of MSM think they are??? That a snowstorm of lies go unchallenged without any rigor at all. There is no need to remove the treaty obligations since full privatisation is not on the cards. Maori are not solely represented by the Maori Party, and the Maori party does not provide consent for the treaty to be removed because they signed a supply agreement not to be at the table on asset sales.
Then look at the Maori party, like they are hanging out for iwi to buy the assets, what a bunch of two faced… …Maori are disproportionately represented in the jails, in the courts, in the poverty metrics, and why because if the bridges were collapsed in the Pakeha dominated heartland of NZ they’d get fixed aleady, but since the social bridges, economic bridges, careers bridges, access to transport, etc, etc are all broken in Maori, Pacific Island (and Pakeha poor) areas its okay for the Maori party to ignore them and talk solely about government programs. The poor of NZ dont need more government, they need better goverance, we as a nation need capital fairness, capital independance, capital freedom for NZ and seating with Mr ‘big capital’ Key is not going to help Maori.
The Maori party has just been insulted by the PM, who says they are not at the table because of the supply agreement says nothing about asset sales, this is like you or I being told by our bank that we signed up to mortgage our home because we trusted our bank to look after our money (as we didn’t arrange a mortgage). Key broke trust with the Maori by suggesting that the supply agreement means consent does not need to be sort from, amongst others, the Maori Party. (i.e. Mana, Maori Labour MP, and other Maori MPs). Key needs to engage with Maori in Parliament who have won the votes to represented Maori not have a few staged events outside of parliament.
Key is not to be trusted, he does not come to the table in good faith.
National and Maori party to split?
The Maori party will loose what little credibility remains to them if they continue to support a National led government that has shown them such contempt…
Case thrown out, careless use of a motor vehicle should of been the charge…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6354563/Judge-drops-cycle-death-case
Judge points out the confusion caused by the markings that push cyclists onto he busy footpath.
So why ws this man dragged into court, at considerable cost emotionally?
Because seems to me the council was at fault, the judge pointed out that it was a busy place for recreational cyclists (and also pedestians).
Parking should never have been allow at that choke point.
“Ring, Ring”, “Hello” “Bill I need a diversion fast, my image is suffering with this Maori thing”
Bill: “hang on a minute John”, “how about we try some teacher bashing, you know the old making class sizes bigger line”
“Teachers! Brilliant Bill that will also take the pressure of Mad Banks & Isaac as well, two birds with one stone thanks Billy”
Wow that was ‘fun’. A previously used plugin that was meant to delete the older post revisions went berserk. It deleted all of the posts.
I dumped the binary log out as SQL using mysqlbinlog and edited the resulting 750k line files. Have to love Visual Slickedit. At one stage it had 5 of the binlog SQL files of similar size open at once.
Did a selective display of all statements so I only saw those SQL statements with the three tables that may have been affected (problem statement below). Dumped those three files out with a slickedit macro “copy-selective-display” that copies the visible lines and ignores collapsed lines.
Looked at the tables to see what the problem was. Just wp_posts was a problem – had 5 rows left out of the 74k. Dumped that table back in from the last backup. Figured out what the last update was. Clipped between that and the error statement. Told slickedit to add a semicolon on the end of every line.
Opened up Navicat in wine (because I own a windows version and their ‘linux’ version is just Wine anyway). Told it to load and run the file out of slickedit.
Checked everything and turned maintenance mode off. Good thing that I not only have backups, but I also have the binary log running
What I now have to figure out is why this following statement caused the problem…
DELETE a,b,c
FROM wp_posts a
LEFT JOIN wp_term_relationships b
ON (a.ID = b.object_id)
LEFT JOIN wp_postmeta c
ON (a.ID = c.post_id)
WHERE a.post_type = ‘revision’
It looks fine to me ! In particular why in the hell it only affected one table as far as I can see. But I don’t do SQL a lot. I did have some problems with left outer joins converting from an older windows MySQL database to linux MySQL. But left inner joins? WTF.
Updated: Ah. LEFT JOIN is a LEFT OUTER JOIN. I’m always pedantic about saying it exactly (the way Codd would have liked it)
I really have to start doing some of these maintenance jobs right after I have taken a backup. There are so many plugin updates that I never read the code or fully test them.